The giant crab had advanced to ninth-rank White Fang more than a hundred years ago.
In other words, this treasure ship had lain here at the bottom of the sea for over a century.
Inside the cabin, everything in sight was wrapped thickly with coral and seaweed.
Holding his iron spike, Jing Qian poked here and scraped there, searching for anything of value.
But despite the ship's massive size, it was nearly empty. After rummaging back and forth for half a day, all he managed to dig out were seventy-some copper knife-coins and two small ingots of Fate Silver.
By then, he had searched nearly eighty percent of the ship's interior. Most of it had already decayed beyond recognition, whether living or dead; nothing could withstand the erosion of seawater, the passage of time, and the gnawing destruction of the giant crab.
The ship's timbers, however, were made of a most unusual material: wood that had lasted a hundred years underwater without rotting, not even allowing seawater to seep inside.
When Jing Qian pressed against it with Life Essence, even that could not break through the hull's defense.
No wonder the crab had chosen this ship as its lair.
Fortunately, because of this, a cabin deep inside the vessel had survived by sheer chance.
The cabin was at the very end of a long corridor, in the deepest part of the ship.
The passage was too narrow for the giant crab's claws to reach, so it escaped destruction.
And with its heavy wooden door sealed tight, the room's contents were likely still intact.
Jing Qian stepped forward, turning the massive wooden crank that locked the door. Slowly, he shifted open a gap in the door that had been sealed shut for over a hundred years.
Then, calmly, he slipped inside.
He had already scanned it with his divine sense. There were no living things, no trace of energy.
The cabin held only a narrow bed and a desk.
Jing Qian had every reason to believe this had once been the captain's quarters.
Not only was its position special, but in the entire ship, this was the only cabin lavish enough to be a single room.
Jing Qian searched this room even more carefully.
He even put away his iron spike, instead casting out two silk threads, sweeping them meticulously across every corner, not sparing the cracks.
Sure enough, his patience was rewarded!
At the lower right corner of the bed, he found a hidden storage compartment, so well concealed that it blended seamlessly into the frame.
The compartment cut off all aura from within. If not for Jing Qian's strange threads probing every crevice, brushing against the seam, he never would have discovered it.
Guiding the threads, he slipped them carefully into the crack, moving with the utmost delicacy, afraid to cause unnecessary damage.
Then, wrapping the threads around the compartment, he slowly pulled it open.
With a burst of bubbles, the secret storage box came free!
The very next second, Jing Qian and everything inside the hidden compartment vanished from the depths of the sea.
Needless to say, he had entered the Void Realm.
Jing Qian was worried that seawater might damage the contents of the box, so the first thing he did was move them into the Void Realm.
Here, everything was under his control. He finally relaxed and began carefully examining his spoils.
Inside the compartment were only two items, both preserved for over a century without decay.
The first was a palm-sized turtle shell, fully intact, covered in densely inscribed seal script.
Studying it closely, Jing Qian realized it recorded the method for refining a Life Pattern:
Life Pattern: Tides
Rank: White Fang
"Ride the waves and sing, dance upon the tides!"
Refining Method: Atop the crests of waves and waters, gather ninth-grade White Fang materials of the Kui-water attribute. With mana, inscribe the runes onto the shell. Rise upon the waves and carve the rune upon the sole.
Beyond the refining method, the shell also contained detailed notes on how to cultivate and develop this Life Pattern.
Normally, with a golden and an azure Life Pattern already in his body, a mere White Fang Life Pattern shouldn't have drawn much of Jing Qian's interest.
But this Tides Life Pattern seemed almost tailor-made for someone living upon the sea!
Once refined, the ocean would cease to be a danger or obstacle.
Instead, it would become his true domain.
Whether controlling the waters and summoning waves, or roaming freely beneath the surface, he would be no different from a creature born of the sea.
For Jing Qian's present circumstances, this was the most practical Life Pattern he could hope for.
With Tides, his mobility and safety across the ocean would increase beyond measure.
Even though it was only a White Fang rank, he felt a powerful urge to refine it.
The bright-yellow crab treasure he had just acquired was perfectly suited as a refining material for this Life Pattern, and he was confident he could master it quickly.
Unfortunately, White Fang was still too low a rank. For an ordinary rogue cultivator, this would be an extraordinary inheritance, but for Jing Qian, it didn't yet meet his standards.
Reluctantly, he put the turtle shell away, then turned to the second item.
This was an even stranger object.
A round green dumpling-like pellet, exuding a faint fragrance of fresh grass.
Stuck to it was a small slip of paper, bearing some words that had grown wrinkled and blurry with time.
Jing Qian carefully peeled it free, flattened it out, and studied it.
Up close, the writing became clear:
Dragon Gate Grass Dumpling
Grade: Azure Wing
This is the favorite food of Red-Scaled Dragon Carp. It can attract every Red-Scaled Dragon Carp within three thousand li.
Usage: Remove the sealing slip and place it in seawater.
Jing Qian was speechless. What a waste!
He had finally unearthed an eighth-grade Azure Wing treasure, only to have foolishly triggered it by removing the seal!
Now, without the sealing slip, the Dragon Gate Grass Dumpling in his hand began to tremble.
Not daring to linger, Jing Qian quickly exited the Void Realm and tossed the pellet into the sea.
The moment it touched water, it began to swell, rapidly expanding!
Jing Qian could not predict the artifact's effects, so he retreated into the Void Realm, observing the real world through the veil of space.
The strange dumpling grew larger and larger, soon expanding into a massive ball of grass over a meter long upon the seabed.
From within it pulsed a surge of pure Azure Wing Life Essence, rippling outward through the water like concentric waves.
That power carried with it an irresistible allure, like a call from the ocean's depths, a fatal temptation to certain creatures.
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