Chapter 159 - Northbound to the Deep Sea
Chapter 159: Northbound to the Deep Sea
Chapter 158
When Jiang Lin came out of seclusion, it was already the next afternoon. The ship remained in the water and did not move at all.
“How did things go?” Jiang Lin hurriedly asked upon seeing Chen Jingzhai return.
“They’re all dead! Oh, this is for you.” Chen Jingzhai smiled and took out the storage bag.
“I can’t accept it! What kind of person does Little Master-Uncle think I am?” Jiang Lin did not take it and shook his head in refusal. He accepted the 18 Flying Daggers with a clear conscience. After all, he had also contributed by killing a man. However, this storage bag was Chen Jingzhai’s spoils of war. He did not want to take advantage of it.
“You really don’t want it? Why don’t you open it and take a look first?” Chen Jingzhai looked at him and smiled.
“I really don’t want it. Master-Uncle, please take it back! These 18 Flying Daggers are enough of a surprise this time. They’re of good quality and I can use my strength.” Jiang Lin refused firmly. He did not want to be looked down upon by Little Master-Uncle.
Chen Jingzhai put away his storage bag and patted his shoulder without saying anything. He did not mind sharing the spoils. He was even willing to offer more. After all, he had no use for spirit pearls and spirit shells when cultivating. But the more this was the case, the more he could not give Jiang Lin openly. The human heart was unpredictable. Giving too much might not be a good thing.
Chen Jingzhai was very gratified by Jiang Lin’s choice, but he did not feel a sense of accomplishment. Turning around, he gave the spirit pearls and spirit shells to the female servants on the ship. Even the female cultivators of the Liu clan received something.
The items he gave them were all their personal possessions. Even if they reached the Foundation Establishment Plane or even Core Formation in the future, it would all belong to them. This was protected by the sect unless he was willing to give or sell them away. Chen Jingzhai was still very willing to nurture his female maidservants.
Without staying long, Chen Jingzhai left on the second night.
His search on the Crescent Moon Bay had already proven that there was no sign of Chu Jingsong. This time, Chen Jingzhai prepared to search according to Chu Jingsong’s route. According to the information given by Shopkeeper Qin, every time Chu Jingsong came to the East Pole, he had to go north to find a giant whale called Lan Li.
“The giant whale Lan Li is also known as the giant ice whale. This is a real deep-sea behemoth. Its mature form is even longer than a black tiger-striped whale. It never comes to the surface.” Hei Ji said after being summoned by Chen Jingzhai.
Her face was hidden behind a black mask, making it impossible to see her expression. However, her tone was very solemn. Clearly, this giant ice whale was not to be underestimated.
“I know about the giant ice whale. It’s said that most of their time is spent freezing themselves into a deep sleep. They will absorb the essence power in the water on their own after they sleep. There are only two periods of the giant ice whale’s life where it will be awake and active.”
“The first is upon adulthood, for mating and reproduction, and the other is when it is looking for a place to die after its lifespan ends.” Jiang Lin’s expression was solemn as he spoke.
The giant ice whale was a legendary creature in the Eastern Ocean. It was widely discussed, but no one had seen it before, so they treated it as a fictional story. He had not expected it to be Chu Jingsong’s target. No wonder this guy did not participate in the Battle of Dragon. Just looking for the giant ice whale was not easy. It would take luck and even more time.
“The strange properties of the giant ice whale make it the perfect target. If I were Chu Jingsong, I would definitely go to the coldest place. Let’s search the north first. If there’s not enough time, we’ll come back. In any case, the Eastern Ocean Remains is of utmost importance.” Chen Jingzhai made his final decision.
The Eastern Ocean Remains was related to his resources, and both he and the sect valued it. Although he was worried about Chu Jingsong, he had other priorities. Jiang Lin agreed with Chen Jingzhai. He did not want to miss out on the Eastern Ocean Remains. If he wanted to help his fellow disciples, the prerequisite was that he could not care about one thing and lose the other. Little Master-Uncle was right.
The tower ship was wrapped in a thin Restriction barrier and shuttled through the seawater. Before dawn, the tower ship had already arrived at the northern waters of Crescent Moon Bay.
There were very few islands here. Waves stretched as far as the eye could see. In the sea, the temperature had changed. It was indeed getting colder.
The tower ship continued to move, and Jiang Lin still used his communication technique to contact them from time to time. He used a unique water communication technique that could pass thoughts into the distance using water as a medium. He kept casting his communication technique, but there was no response.
As time passed, the ship continued forward, and the barrier gained an additional layer of icicles. Cold air began to seep in from outside. The maidservants no longer came out of the ship and even activated the Restrictions. In particular, the spirit silkworm room had to be isolated from the cold. Otherwise, a large number of spirit silkworms would die.
On the third night, they had to put away the tower ship.
After all, the ship was only a Grade Two spiritual item. Even though it had used a lot of ocean star black metal in its construction, it still could not withstand the cold. If he used it forcefully, it would only damage the tower ship.
Chen Jingzhai took out the Great Heaven Mirror and continued forward with Jiang Lin. The Great Heaven Mirror had a Grade 3 Restriction aura. The cold air would be absorbed by the Restriction. It could even turn into the power of the Great Heaven Mirror, making the Restriction more agile. With the protection of the Great Heaven Mirror, they were finally safe.
If they found any natural treasures or extraordinary species along the way, Chen Jingzhai would even use the Grotto-heavens divine light to take it away. If not for these gains, he would probably have returned immediately.
In the sea north of the Eastern Ocean, not only was the temperature low but there were also frequent storms. The weather was harsh and the sea was dangerous. It was no wonder that no cultivators came here.
Not only were there no cultivators, but there were also fewer unique species. In order to advance smoothly, Chen Jingzhai had no choice but to escape into the deep sea.
In the deep sea, there were no traces of sea beasts. Instead, they discovered some small silver fish that seemed to be extremely resistant to the cold. There were quite a number of them. Every time they appeared, there was a school of them.
No one recognized what they were. Chen Jingzhai tried to put them into the Primordial Essence Grotto-heavens.
It was very successful! These deep-sea silver fish could survive in the Primordial Essence Grotto-heavens.
When Chen Jingzhai saw this, he directly cast a ray of Grotto-heavens divine light and took most of it. These small silver fish did not have a grade, but their bodies were robust and their speed was fast, comparable to Grade 1 fish.
Chen Jingzhai wanted to try raising them. If he could nurture an army of fishes, that would be a surprise.
On the fourth day, Chen Jingzhai also found a Grade 4 material, cold star sand, in the deep sea. This was a material that had frigid water, and earth attributes. Although it was just sand, its particles were larger than normal gravel. Moreover, the sand was angular. The transparency was high, and it contained a frigid air within.
As a Grade 4 material, the cold star sand could be directly used to refine Grade 4 spiritual treasures. However, its greatest value was to be used to refine vessels that hosted the Nascent Soul.
A Grade 4 Nascent Zhenjun, or to be precise, an Intermediate Nascent Plane cultivator, could make a Nascent Soul leave the body. The Nascent Soul was fragile and could not travel far, and if he wanted to travel far, he needed natural treasures to protect it.
Grade 4 cold star sand was the best material to host a Nascent Soul. It needed to be refined first before slowly refining it into the Nascent Soul. After the Nascent Soul was completely refined, it could gather and disperse as it pleased. At that time, the cold star sand would be the vessel and host the Nascent Soul. It could be used against enemies, for escaping, and for protection.
Grade 4 cold star sand was extremely precious and could only be chanced upon by luck. Even Nascent Zhenjuns had to come to the Eastern Ocean to search and spend a long time finding this material.
Chen Jingzhai did not expect to be so lucky. This surprising discovery diluted all the previous gloom. Just this gain alone was worth the trip.
He instantly put all the cold star sand into the Grotto-heavens. In the end, the Grotto-heavens trembled slightly and expanded greatly. The mountains on the ground became taller, and even more Innate Qi was emitted. In the past, it emitted an Innate Qi a month, but now, it was emitted every half a month. In other words, the Primordial Essence Grotto-heavens could produce 24 Innate Qi a year.
This was really great news for Chen Jingzhai. This meant that he could do more things, and even cultivate with the help of Innate Qi. This made Chen Jingzhai very motivated. He no longer deliberately looked for Chu Jingsong but swam about in the deep sea.
Unfortunately, his luck ran out. On the fourth night, there was still nothing to be found.
Jiang Lin had long been unable to withstand the cold and escaped into the inner space of the Great Heaven Mirror.
Meanwhile, Chen Jingzhai was still at ease.
The male and female spirit deities within him and the Black Tortoise spirit deity in his body were extremely active. The pure frigid essence power was automatically absorbed into his body and quickly digested. The awakened spirit deities in Chen Jingzhai’s body began to cultivate in turn.
This made him stand on the Great Heaven Mirror like a monster and absorb a large amount of frigid essence power. The frigid essence power entered his body and was refined into pure spiritual essence that flowed through his meridians and acupoints. The cold air of the deep sea was no longer harmful to Chen Jingzhai at this moment.
Chen Jingzhai put away the Great Heaven Mirror and slowly swam through the deep sea alone. His body automatically cultivated on its own. The longer he stayed, the more frigid essence power he absorbed. And so, he became a small whirlpool in the deep sea.
As he moved around, his speed was faster than the tower ship, but he felt good. There was a feeling of being filled with spiritual power.
Previously, because he was unable to absorb the spirit pearls and spirit shells, even if the acupoints in his body were cultivating on their own, helping him absorb the essence power of the outside world was still a drop in the bucket.
This time, he was actually able to absorb frigid essence power in the deep sea. Chen Jingzhai naturally would not let go of this opportunity. He directly let the 36 True Deities in his body take action, and the other acupoints opened.
He was originally looking for Chu Jingsong, but Chen Jingzhai began to lose himself in cultivation.