Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Newbie Sets Sail

The scorching noon sun beat down on the main city.

As Xu Qing walked through the streets, he told himself that he had to help Zhang San out in the future if he ever got the chance in order to repay the favor of refining the boat this time. He also had to repay Zhou Qingpeng for the Ghost Desire Limuli when he found the opportunity.

Although he hadn’t seen the refined magic boat yet, Xu Qing felt that Zhang San would probably need to use up far more than 200 spirit stones to successfully refine it.

After keeping this matter in his heart, Xu Qing observed the crowds and the environment all around him. He didn’t see any difference from the past.

It seemed that the death of the merfolk youth didn’t cause any waves in the main city, nor did the Homicide Department take any actions. Of course, it was also possible that not enough people knew about it yet.

Xu Qing’s eyebrows furrowed in thought as he walked towards the city’s Sea Records Pavilion.

The Sea Records Pavilion was a place that every disciple had to enter before they went out to sea for the first time.

That was because the Sea Records Pavilion stored extremely valuable information about the sea. It held comprehensive records of all sorts of strange happenings that countless Seven Blood Pupils disciples had experienced out at sea over the years, as well as information on countless sea beasts.

The value of these records was astonishing.

Thus, these records couldn’t be copied and spread out. If you wanted to check them, you could only spend some money and come read them in person.

Moreover, if a disciple went out to sea and encountered a strange happening or a new sea beast, they could report it to the Sea Records Pavilion. If the information was confirmed to be true, they would be rewarded greatly. The more precious the information, the more valuable their reward would be.

However, if there was no conclusive evidence, the review period would usually be extremely long since it would be impossible to determine the truth and falsehood of the information from a one-sided report. It wasn’t impossible for the review period to last for hundreds of years, which also helped to prevent frivolous reports and attempts to fabricate information in order to get the reward.

And this sort of unconfirmed information also wouldn’t be listed in the Sea Records Pavilion.

The records that could be listed in the pavilion were all true and had been confirmed multiple times.

Xu Qing read through the records very seriously. He knew that any piece of information in here might be able to save his life at a critical moment.

As for his direction this time, he had already determined it.

The sea chart he found in the merfolk youth’s storage bag was extremely comprehensive. After studying it, Xu Qing decided that his ultimate goal on this trip was a certain island marked on the chart.

This island was located behind an area called the Western Reef Archipelago. That area was filled with hidden coral reefs and was very dangerous. As for the island itself, because it was the place where nearby sea lizards went to shed their skin, it was called Sea Lizard Island.

Sea lizards were ferocious and rarely seen creatures that mostly lived in groups in the deep sea. They would only come up to the surface when it was time for them to shed their skin. Their shed skin was extremely valuable, but only for a short period of time. After a while, the shed skin would lose its spirituality and become completely worthless.

Thus, it was extremely difficult for outsiders to get it.

Moreover, because the defensive power of a sea lizard’s shed skin far surpassed that of similar materials, it was considered a high-grade magic boat material that low- and middle-grade materials couldn’t compare to. Xu Qing had seen it in the Sixth Peak’s shops before. The skin of a third level Qi Condensation sea lizard sold for 30 spirit stones.

And as the cultivation level of the sea lizard increased, the price of the skin would skyrocket. A fifth level Qi Condensation sea lizard’s skin was worth 150 spirit stones. Xu Qing had even seen eighth level Qi Condensation sea lizard skins that were priced at 500 to 600 spirit stones.

Such astonishing value meant that this Sea Lizard Island attracted fierce cultivators of the Forbidden Sea’s alien races all year round. Going there to snatch sea lizard skins was extremely dangerous.

Without a certain degree of strength, those who headed to Sea Lizard Island would at best be able to narrowly escape death.

And Xu Qing’s goal was exactly this Sea Lizard Island.

Time passed slowly as he flipped through the records, and dusk arrived silently. Xu Qing had finally memorized all the contents of the sea records. He closed his eyes to engrave the information deeply in his heart before turning to leave.

“Everything is ready, now I’m just waiting for the magic boat.” Walking through the streets under the twilight, Xu Qing looked towards the sea. The sound of waves echoed in his ears, and his eyes revealed anticipation.

Finally, when dusk had passed long ago and the bright moon hung high in the sky, Xu Qing went over to the Transportation Department.

When he arrived, the laborers who had worked busily all day were leaving in groups. From a distance, Xu Qing saw Zhang San, who was squatting on a pile of merchandise and smoking a pipe.

Under the dim light, Zhang San’s figure was somewhat blurry. As he smoked his pipe, the light from the fire cast flickering shadows over his face, allowing Xu Qing to clearly see the fatigue in his expression.

Xu Qing felt a little apologetic and he started to walk over. When he swept his gaze across the surrounding, he suddenly noticed that among the laborer disciples, there was a familiar small and thin figure.

That figure belonged to a girl. She was Li Zimei, who had entered Seven Blood Pupils in the same batch as him. She noticed Xu Qing at the same time that he noticed her, and although she still seemed nervous, a smile appeared on her face.

This smile under the moonlight was very sincere.

Xu Qing smiled encouragingly and watched her leave before walking over to Zhang San’s side.

“You know her?” Zhang San asked curiously.

“Yes, her name is Li Zimei. She entered the sect in the same batch as me and has a very strong personality.” Xu Qing glanced at Li Zimei’s back and spoke softly.

Zhang San nodded.

“Not bad. Since you know that girl, I’ll take care of her in the future.”

“Thank you.” Xu Qing looked at Zhang San and said solemnly.

“Just a small matter. Let’s go, I’ll bring you to see your magic boat.” When Zhang San talked about the magic boat, his eyes lit up. He jumped down from the pile of merchandise and brought Xu Qing to the back. This time, they went to a different large warehouse.

As they walked in, an enormous boat with an astonishing aura entered Xu Qing’s vision, causing him to involuntarily pause his steps.

Although he had already prepared himself mentally and knew that the appearance of the boat would change drastically, Xu Qing was still shocked by the magic boat in front of him.

The giant crocodile head at the bow had been changed. It was no longer tall and slender and had become much flatter. However, there was a single black horn hidden in its forehead that seemed as if it could pierce through everything once it was released.

This change had restrained the original flamboyance, replacing it with a sense of gravitas that hid savagery underneath.

The changes to the body of the boat were even greater. It was no longer shaped like a willow leaf, nor was it over sixty meters long like before. Instead, its length had decreased and its width increased, making it resemble a giant diamond-shaped turtle shell.

Every plank of the boat was covered in scales and engraved with densely-packed array patterns.

There were also four huge wheels on both sides, attached to seemingly retractable legs. They would allow the boat to move around on land. Furthermore, sharp spikes were hidden on the wheels.

At the same time, the cabin had also changed a lot, having been remodeled into a small two-story building. This sort of stacking allowed more space on the deck for array formations.

But the most eye-catching thing was the enormous curved sails shaped like a heavenly blade.

There were a total of eight sails, four in the front and four in the back, all angled in the same direction. From a distance, they looked like wings, but also like sharp blades.

In addition, there was a huge space at the bottom of the boat that seemed to be able to accommodate sea beasts.

In the warehouse, the entire magic boat looked like a giant beast, with a peerlessly imposing and intimidating aura.

“This…” Xu Qing was a little dazed. The changes to the magic boat were so great that they sent his mind reeling.

When he saw Xu Qing’s dazed expression, Zhang San’s exhausted face revealed pride and happiness. He immediately opened his mouth to speak.

“Your previous magic boat was too trash, so I ended up making some major modifications this time. Mainly, I just changed the bottom, the sides, the deck, the bulkheads, the bow and stern, the cabin, and so on.”

“I replaced the keel entirely, improving the stability. The adjustment to the structure should improve its strength and sturdiness greatly. I also left you some space for future upgrades.”

Zhang San leaped onto the magic boat.

“I added the bone marrow of the devouring beast to the black horn at the bow. If you pierce the body of a sea beast, you can devour that sea beast’s spiritual energy and store it inside the deck’s array formation.”

“There’s also these four legs. Each of them contains 3,600 sharp spikes. If you encounter encounter danger, they can be shot out at lightning speed.”

“I didn’t touch the Spirit Gathering Array, but I enlarged the core so that you can add in 50 spirit stones at once. In a critical situation, you can give up on the rest of the magic boat and flee in this skiff I added. It should be at least twice as fast."

“And these sails.” Zhang San raised his hand and pointed at the sails with a proud expression.

“I invented these myself. Take a good look.” As Zhang San spoke, he took out a spirit stone and placed it into the array formation under his feet. With a stomp of his foot, the array formation activated, and the eight blade-like sails instantly gathered together, forming a protective shell.

At this moment, the magic boat was like a huge snapping turtle. It possessed both powerful offense and defense.

“In addition to the boat’s natural defense, these sails can grant you even more protection. Moreover, when they unfurl, you can also use them as lethal sharp blades.”

“The space at the bottom of the boat can be fixed to the Forbidden Sea Dragonwhale. In special circumstances, you can control the dragonwhale to soar and lift the magic boat, going airborne for a short period of time.”

“Xu Qing, this is a real Level Seven boat. How is it? Satisfied?” Zhang San jumped off the magic boat and stood in front of Xu Qing with his hands behind his back. He lifted his chin and spoke lightly.

Waves surged in Xu Qing’s heart. After a long time, he took a deep breath and stepped backwards a little. He cupped his fists and bowed deeply towards Zhang San

“Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang. This boat… I’m very satisfied!”

“When your magic boat is upgraded to a magic ship later, I’ll help you design it according to your power supply. A magic ship is a real weapon, completely different from a piddling magic boat!”

Zhang San spoke lightly and had the demeanor of an expert. Xu Qing’s attitude made him feel very comfortable, but a rush of exhaustion welled up within him and he couldn’t help but yawn.

When Xu Qing saw this, he respectfully bade farewell and placed a bag of spirit stones at the side. He put the magic boat away and left the Transportation Department.

It wasn’t until he left that Zhang San suddenly sighed with a bleak expression.

“I lost money. I couldn’t hold back and actually put so much effort into it… I made a huge loss this time.”

“I hope this kid makes it big in the future…” Zhang San endured the pain in his heart and picked up the spirit stones, shaking his head and exiting the warehouse. Before leaving, he recalled that disciple who was in the same batch as Xu Qing, so he took out his voice transmission jade slip and made some arrangements.

“Since I’m already investing, I might as well invest some more. No way around it.”

As Zhang San sighed with emotion, Xu Qing returned to his berth at Dock 79 and released his magic boat. Once it splashed down heavily, he looked at the huge object in front of him with emotions stirring in his heart. He leaped onto it and studied it carefully.

The night passed slowly.

That night, Xu Qing studied his magic boat thoroughly until he knew it inside out. This made him deeply admire Zhang San’s refinement skills. When the morning sun appeared on the horizon, Xu Qing took a deep breath and stood at the bow of the boat. Looking at the sun in the distance, he slowly narrowed his eyes.

After a while, he lifted his right hand and formed a hand seal.

“Set sail!”

Immediately, the magic boat rumbled into action. As the surrounding seawater churned, the Level Seven magic boat slowly exited the berth and turned its bow. As the surrounding disciples on their magic boats watched, it sailed towards the port gate.

It surged forth with an imposing manner, like a giant beast that had been released from its cage.

And standing on the deck was a beautiful youth whose long hair fluttered in the sea breeze. His figure was tall and straight like a pine tree, and the sleeves of his gray Daoist robe fluttered in the wind. The morning light scattered down by the rising sun reflected through his hair, causing it to shine with a dazzling glow.

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