Chapter 20: The Dark Sea

The flying boat, a thousand zhang long, pitch-black and spindle-shaped, was traveling through the void toward the Dark Sea.

For Ji Ning to reach the Heavenly Cang Palace, the Dark Sea was a necessary passage. If he took a detour, it would be far longer. Moreover, the star map given to him by Daoist Tian Yi only showed this one route, as it was relatively safer; other routes were even more dangerous!

Even this relatively safe route was fraught with peril for World-level cultivators, and a single misstep could cost them their lives.

Thus, such long-distance territorial wanderings were rarely undertaken by World-level cultivators. When Ji Ning had asked Mistrock Planet Lord and the others about the 'Heavenly Cang Palace' in the Da Mo territory, they had never even heard of it. This was because the two territories were so far apart that even the strongest power in Da Mo, the 'Da Mo Academy,' had only a few who had heard of it.

"We're almost at the Dark Sea," Ji Ning transmitted. "You'd better take control of the puppet early and not stray too far from me."

"Master, I know my limits," Su Youji said excitedly. "The legendary Dark Sea—I've never even heard of it before! Now I have the chance to explore it. Ah, from the Da Mo territory all the way to the Heavenly Cang territory, haha, this is something I can boast about for a very, very long time."

Ji Ning smiled, then closed his eyes, sensing the sword intent of the Eternal Divine Weapon 'Purple Light Qiong' behind him.

He constantly felt this sword intent, comprehending the sword.

...

"Whoosh."

The flying boat shuttled through the void time and again. After a little over a day, it finally reached the edge of the Dark Sea.

The entire flying boat was silent. The ninety-nine cultivators gazed into the distance, where a chaotic and turbulent spatial ocean lay. Even at the edge, they could feel the flying boat being battered by waves of spatial currents.

"Everyone," World God Xiang Lu spoke.

The other cultivators' eyes fell on him.

"According to what Fellow Daoist Feizhen said, although his flying boat is fast, crossing the Dark Sea will still take over six hundred years. During these six hundred years, we will be in constant danger... So, fellow daoists with greater strength must not hold back at critical moments and should help the weaker ones. After all, if one of us dies, the power of the formation will be greatly diminished. The more we lose, the weaker the formation becomes, making it even harder to cross the Dark Sea," World God Xiang Lu urged.

"Of course."

"Since we're on the same boat, we must help each other."

"Fellow daoists, I hope we can all safely traverse this Dark Sea together."

The cultivators on the flying boat were still very tense, for this was the Dark Sea. If they had to cross it alone, none of them would dare.

Ji Ning, in a corner, was relatively calm. His original plan was to cross the Dark Sea with Su Youji alone, which would have been quite dangerous. Now, with ninety-nine World-level cultivators joining forces, there was normally over a ninety percent chance of success. Considering Ji Ning's strength, it was almost a certainty.

"Boom—"

The pitch-black flying boat, traveling at high speed, charged directly into the Dark Sea. Its speed continuously increased, quickly breaking the limits of the Heavenly Dao. It continued to accelerate until it reached about twice the speed of light, the boat's limit, and then flew at that high speed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the dark waves crashed violently against the flying boat.

Inside, all ninety-nine cultivators stared outside cautiously. Ji Ning also drew the divine sword Purple Light Qiong from his back.

"So tense," Su Youji said, also staring outside.

Whether World Gods or Chaos Immortals, they were far beyond ordinary mortals. Even without using any eye-type divine abilities, Ji Ning's eyes were now far more powerful than when he had used the 'Candle Dragon's Eye' as a Celestial Immortal.

"Everyone, don't be nervous. I've crossed the Dark Sea once before," said a chubby, big-headed youth beside Ji Ning, smiling. "The most dangerous thing in the Dark Sea is the 'Batfolk tribe,' but they live in groups. Based on my last experience, the flying boat is usually attacked once every three to five days."

"Squeak—" A piercing shriek sounded.

A strange lifeform, entirely black with a pair of bat wings, emerged from the spatial currents, swinging its claws as it pounced on one of the cultivators. The cultivator, ever vigilant, immediately swung his giant axe. Where the axe passed, the surrounding space seemed to freeze.

"Kill."

"Kill."

One after another, strange lifeforms emerged from the spatial currents. They all had bat wings, sharp spear-like tail tips, and claws.

"The Batfolk tribe," Ji Ning said, holding the divine sword Purple Light Qiong. Su Youji had already entered the puppet, controlling it and a large number of blade-like treasures.

"Hah—kill, kill."

A Batfolk creature charged onto the flying boat, straight at Ji Ning. Ji Ning's divine sword Purple Light Qiong transformed into an ethereal sword light, slashing diagonally toward the Batfolk's neck. The Batfolk's left claw swung lightly.

Clang!

The divine sword and claw collided with a metallic sound.

"According to the Dark Sea records on the star map, the hardest parts of these Batfolk creatures are their claws and tails, no less than Dao-level divine weapons. It's true," Ji Ning thought, easily shifting his sword light.

Pfft! With such profound and unpredictable swordplay, how could a low-intelligence Batfolk creature resist? The sword sliced through the Batfolk's neck, cutting off its head. Then the creature's body completely dissolved and vanished without a trace.

Batfolk creatures...

They were special lifeforms bred by the unique environment of the Dark Sea, with extremely low intelligence and normally very short lifespans. Although they possessed World-level strength, their lifespans were astonishingly short—less than three hundred years. Once their time was up, they would naturally dissipate, leaving nothing behind, unless their life level underwent a leap.

Batfolk creatures were classified by life level into black Batfolk, silver Batfolk, and golden Batfolk. Black Batfolk lived less than three hundred years, silver Batfolk less than one chaos cycle, while golden Batfolk could exist forever.

However, golden Batfolk were entirely treasures... Usually, when a Daoist of Life and Death passed by, they would kill and take them. Thus, golden Batfolk were very rare in the Dark Sea.

"Kill."

"Pfft."

"Whoosh."

Treasures flew.

Blades and swords flashed.

Divine power surged.

The cultivators on the flying boat used their various techniques, swiftly slaughtering any Batfolk that dared to invade. After a brief skirmish, the remaining Batfolk retreated.

This attack involved several hundred Batfolk, all black Batfolk, relatively weak.

"So easy."

"We routed them so simply."

"I barely did anything."

The World-level cultivators, who had been tense, now felt much more relaxed after this battle.

"We were lucky this time—all black Batfolk. If there had been a silver Batfolk, it would have been much more troublesome. I hear silver Batfolk are almost beyond the peak of World-level strength," the big-headed youth said cheerfully.

"Brother Jiuxin, you'd better say less. I don't want to run into a silver Batfolk," said an old man with bark-like skin beside him, helplessly.

"What's a silver Batfolk? Legend has it there are golden Batfolk too," the big-headed youth said.

...

Time passed.

Indeed, as 'World God Jiuxin' had said, attacks came roughly every three to five days. Occasionally, among the black Batfolk groups, a silver Batfolk would appear.

The ninety-nine cultivators on the flying boat were all quite strong, most at the World-level perfection stage. There were at least three at the World-level peak—at least on the surface.

A World-level peak cultivator, with the formation's boost, could match a silver Batfolk.

"There's strength in numbers," Ji Ning thought leisurely in his corner. So far, he hadn't even used the power of the Blueflower Mist, let alone any divine abilities.

Because the combined strength of the ninety-nine cultivators was indeed formidable. There was no need for Ji Ning to exert himself; they easily repelled each wave of Batfolk attacks.

...

In the three hundred and eleventh year on the Dark Sea.

The flying boat continued forward.

"Brother Beiming, come, have a drink."

"Brother Feizhen."

"Fairy Yun."

Inside the flying boat, they chatted and laughed, drinking wine, but always ready to fight. After more than three hundred years, they had long grown accustomed to battle.

And the battles were indeed easy. Many World-level cultivators on the boat, including Ji Ning, only revealed part of their strength.

...

In a chaotic void a hundred billion li from the flying boat, surrounded by a dense swarm of black Batfolk and some silver Batfolk, a golden Batfolk slightly spread its golden bat wings. Its intelligent eyes gazed into the distance at the flying boat.

...