Chapter 303: 303
The weather was beautiful as the sun shone down from the clear sky . The temperature was rather high, and no one felt like doing anything special, all of them lazing around in the middle of the deck of the ship .
Xue Wei spent some time with his Heritage Ring . He had not used it while in Yan Dalu, but now that he was on board the ship, nothing was happening, and thus he had the time to find the abilities he could learn after reaching the Sky Knight rank .
He had been at the Sky Knight rank for a long time, but he never took the time to actually learn the skills .
Xue Wei began sitting on the deck, his expression complicated as his gaze scrutinized the Heritage Ring .
Whenever he looked at it, he was reminded about Xiao Lei and their complicated relationship . Xiao Lei was someone whom he deeply cared for, someone he respected and revered, but he was also the murderer of his father and the subject of his hatred .
The ring could help him enhance his strength, so he had been using it, but he could not help but feel conflicted whenever he was .
After a deep sigh, he poured his Qi into the ring, and when he did, he suddenly felt abilities appear in his mind .
Devouring Fist!
Kick of the Raging Tempest!
Twenty-seven-layer Azure Sword!
The Devouring Fist was a technique that allowed for the user’s punch to devour the energy of the opponent . Whether or not they used their energy to protect or attack, Devouring Fist was capable of devouring this energy and converting it into the energy of the user .
The Kick of the Raging Tempest was quite a different attack from what Xue Wei was used to . It was an attack that worked from a distance . The user would use their legs to kick up a raging tempest that would rampage uncontrolled, impossible to cut apart and impossible to overwhelm before the energy used in the kick was entirely spent . This was the benefit of water; it was simply impossible to chop apart and even more difficult to defend against .
The final attack was called Twenty-seven-layer Azure Sword . From the name, Xue Wei could assume that this was an attack that, much like the Azure Light Finger, was made for Azure Dragons to use in their human shape .
The attack was split into three ranks of difficulty with nine layers in each rank . The first nine layers were the first rank, from the tenth to the eighteenth was the second rank, and from the nineteenth to the twenty-seventh was the third rank .
The attack would grow stronger and stronger the more layers one could control . If one controlled one layer, then there would be only enough energy for one sword slash . If one controlled two layers, then there was enough energy to make a second slash, and it would continue to ramp up all the way until the twenty-seventh layer .
It would be like being hit by layer after layer of waves . These waves would come crashing down upon the enemy, and once one reached the twenty-seventh layer, the attacks were simply overwhelming .
These three attacks were new to Xue Wei, but he could feel that their strength and potential were much higher than the skills he had gained from the ring before .
These skills were not ranked like the previous ones . Instead, they depended on the user's comprehension to be able to enhance their strength and produce better results . These attacks were evolving ones .
After that, Xue Wei was usually seen on the deck of the ship training one ability after another, spending all his Qi before meditating to restore it and then repeating his actions .
Two weeks went by like this, and no one interrupted him . Even the spoiled Luoluo who enjoyed spending time with her big brother left him alone . Fortunately, she had become the darling of everyone on the ship, and she was spoiled silly not only by the Yan Dalu experts, but also the crew and the delegation from the Demon Phoenix Continent .
Lin Xiao was spending most of his time in the cabin cultivating, while Hei Gou was hiding in some dark corner, trying to get past his seasickness . Bai Tianyi was the most casual of them all and spent most of his time lazing around, fishing or doing a few fun chores .
There was not much soul power on board the ship, so there was not any real possibility for him to cultivate .
The King was not wasting time either . She was not able to cultivate her spiritual energy due to the same reason as Bai Tianyi, but she had begun to cultivate her Qi, and she had found that she had an outstanding talent for this .
It seemed that the multi-eyed experts were truly geniuses that were favored by the heavens . They had a great talent for everything .
While sailing, the weather was good and they encountered no issues . Everyone was busy doing their own thing, and the novelty of sailing quickly became normal .
The third week was ending when the first inkling of trouble appeared . Xue Wei had cultivated the Devouring Fist to a decent proficiency, and he had also gained a decent understanding of Kick of the Raging Tempest, but most of his time had been spent on the Twenty-seven-layer Azure Sword .
He managed to reach the eighth layer, still in the first rank, but eight layers was not to be belittled .
The weather started to turn overcast . Rain was slowly drizzling down from the sky, and everyone sought shelter . The cultivation was temporarily paused, and people gathered together to chat and play cards .
There was really nothing to do aboard a boat, especially when it was raining, and the rain continued to pour throughout the days and nights . The ones who had it hardest were the energetic Luoluo and the seasick Hei Gou .
Hei Gou was pale and listless as he sat in a corner, feeling sick every time the ship bobbed, and Luoluo was bored to death, unable to run across the entire ship playing with wayward cats and the crew .
Having originally planned to cultivate, Xue Wei changed his mind and spent his time together with Luoluo, hearing stories about her life onboard the ship and telling her about his life back in Chang'an .
Many of the crewmembers and the delegations from both the Demon Phoenix Continent and Yan Dalu listened intently to what he had to say .
They were familiar with one another, but not so much with this newfound continent of Chang'an . In fact, they were quite curious as to where it was located, but the more they heard, the more they felt that it was not suitable for them to enter .
The continent was split between beasts and humans, and if a third race appeared, such as the people from Yan Dalu with multiple eyes, they would likely be made into slaves for one or the other race–if they managed to survive, that was .
If a new race appeared out of nowhere, they were likely to become the common enemy of the two native races .
The beasts from the Demon Phoenix Continent were also apprehensive . They were not pleased with the fact that beasts had to remain hidden in danger zones and conceal their identities when roaming the land, pretending to be human .
They could not imagine that they, who were seen as superior creatures on the Demon Phoenix Continent, would be treated with such hostility .
Although humans were not the most prominent race in the Demon Phoenix Continent, there were still some outstanding human cultivators who were given the same attention as beasts .
At the same time, humans were on the rise, and the beasts did nothing to stop it . They all believed in competition to better themselves .
But amongst the common people, humans were much weaker than the beasts, and as a result, they were often bullied .
The Demon Phoenix Continent was no peaceful place . It was a continent with many kingdoms and empires, and these countries would vie for more land by engaging in frenzied battles against one another .
While all those aboard the ship spent time talking about their home continents and exchanging stories, the weather outside was getting worse and worse, the bobbing of the ship more and more evident .
Hei Gou's already pale face had begun to look like wax, his eyes bulging; he was clearly feeling uncomfortable .
Luoluo was giggling as she felt her body start to sway in the same manner as the ship . She was not afraid of the sudden bad weather and what problems it might cause for the ship and its passengers . Rather, she only found it fun to feel how the ship was constantly tilting from one side to the other, and her sweet giggling voice could be heard in the crowded room .
Unfortunately, the adults were not as carefree–all of them had grave expressions on their faces . Although they were cultivators and could fly, it was simply impossible for them to fly from one continent to another, and they had to rely on a ship to travel the whole way .
If this ship were to sink, then they would all definitely experience some troubles . They would be able to use their Qi or spiritual energy to walk on the water, but at some point, they would run out of energy, and then they would sink .
The sea was vast . It was impossible to be fully traversed unless one was a supreme Heavenly Saint, and these experts were so rare that only a handful of them existed in the entire world .
The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier . It was becoming a direct downpour, and the wind—which blew everywhere fiercely—was making the ship rock from side to side in the massive waves .
As time went by, tremors began to run through the entire structure of the ship as the waves crashed into the sides . It was truly troubled waters ahead, and the further they sailed the worse it became .
The crew was all out on the deck, doing their utmost to ensure that the ship would be able to get through the storm without too much damage, and no loss of people .
Xue Wei had wanted to go out and help, but Tang Tao had informed him that doing so would just put him in the way and interrupt the experienced sailors .
Thinking about it, he realized that this was likely correct . He had no previous experience on board a ship, nor did he know anything about the rigs and different sails . He only knew that they were needed for the ship to move .
While the sailors were busy out on the deck, the light within the room where all the experts were gathered was flickering because of the tempestuous elements that were constantly battering the ship from the outside .
The night passed . Luoluo fell asleep in Xue Wei's arms, but the adults could not sleep as the weather did not show any signs of letting up; instead, it seemed to get worse and worse .
Whenever they went to look out the door, all they saw was a curtain of rain so dense that it was almost impossible to see anything through it . Even the crew who were outside could not see each other, nor hear their words when they yelled at one another . It was a mess .
The main mast suddenly started creaking . The water and wind kept on battering against it until finally, it was unable to withstand the strain, and with a tremendous tremor and cracking sound, it came crashing down, bringing with it destruction .
The crash was so loud that everyone within the shelter under deck heard it and felt the intense tremor that ran through the ship .
Even though they knew that they should not be in the way outside, they all rushed out, and even Xue Wei rushed out with Luoluo in his arms .