What Is in the Wuwang Sea

Once the three of them had laughed their fill and settled in, they began to discuss their next steps.

Although Nan Zhi had plenty of spare wealth, she did not intend to sit idle and waste it away. She planned to follow the crowd and earn spirit stones on the ship while gathering information about the Rakshasa Sea Market.

Wanniang and Hongluo also did not want to be a burden to Nan Zhi, and both suggested finding ways to earn spirit stones.

“One can help with an emergency but not with chronic poverty. Since I made up my mind to go with you to see the Rakshasa Sea Market, I prepared early on. I cannot rely on you for everything. If I truly lived off you all the time, Zhizhi, even if you are kind-hearted, do not mind, and are willing to support me, I would look down on myself.”

Wanniang covered her mouth with a smile. “I was paying attention along the way just now, and I heard people say there is a ‘Wine Battling Assembly’ on this Splendid Platform. I am not good at other things, but when it comes to battling over wine with others, I have some experience. Once I have earned enough silver and spirit stones, I will buy some ingredients to brew wine. When the time comes, you must properly critique the wine I brew with my own hands.”

—Wine battling had also been popular in the Great Song for a time, somewhat similar to Guanpu. The dealer would bring out a jar of wine and invite various brewers to taste it.

The brewers would then write down the ingredients of the wine on paper and submit them through a secret compartment to see who could guess the most correctly.

A brewer could also challenge the dealer with their own brewed wine. If the dealer guessed the ingredients incorrectly or failed to guess them, the brewer would win the wine battle.

Having brewed wine with Father Qu since childhood, Wanniang had collected many wine recipes from all over the world. Now that she had obtained the wine worm, the Wine Immortal, it was like giving wings to a tiger.

Nan Zhi had no interest in brewing wine, but when boarding the ship, she had heard Xue Huan mention that there was a Demon Slaying Board on board. If she was truly short on money, she could go take a look there.

Both of them had found something to do, but Hongluo thought for a long time and still did not know what she should do, her face crumpling into a sad ball.

“I saw earlier that you liked studying herbs, and you were very deft at applying medicine to save people, so you must really like it.”

With a turn of her hand, Nan Zhi brought out a set of medicine-pounding tools and the Encyclopedia of Herbs. “It just so happens that I plan to study alchemy. Why don't you stay in the room, read more books, and practice by pounding some herbs when you are free? This way, if we come across any herbs or spiritual materials we do not recognize, we can rely on you to identify them. In the future, when I refine pills, you can also be my alchemical apprentice to watch the fire. How does that sound?”

“Okay! I will definitely memorize everything carefully and won't disappoint you, Mistress.”

Hongluo seeing the Encyclopedia of Herbs was indeed delighted. Joyfully taking the medicine pestle, she sat cross-legged on the floor and began to study.

...

Although Wanniang looked as fragile as a willow in the wind, she was an existence close to a blue faced ghost wraith. With Wuwei Sect disciples patrolling the ship at all times, Nan Zhi was not worried about her.

After they parted ways, Nan Zhi went straight to the deck. Sure enough, only a few scattered flying boats were still traveling back and forth from Jueming Cliff.

The Splendid Platform only stopped for two shichen at each location.

Once no one else was boarding, the massive gangplank on the right side of the deck was retracted. At the bow, the Kunpeng whale hybrids pulling the ship let out a low cry: “Weng—ying—”

The deck beneath Nan Zhi's feet trembled slightly. In the next instant, the entire luxurious giant vessel plunged into the clouds and mist.

The salty, fishy smell unique to the sea, mingled with the somewhat coarse sea breeze, rushed straight at her face along with the damp air.

“Hu...”

Nan Zhi stood atop the Vermilion Bird carving at the ship's edge. Beneath her feet were swirling clouds and a bottomless abyss. Swirling, heavy masses of treacherous black mist floated deceptively over the sea.

The Splendid Platform was incredibly fast, leaving the shore a hundred li behind in the blink of an eye. The black mist floating on the sea almost completely covered the water's surface, and looking down, there was only pitch-black darkness.

Was this the true appearance of the Wuwang Sea?

Sensing someone approaching from behind with ill intent, Nan Zhi leaped, landing on the deck as light and agile as a petrel.

It turned out to be a Sea Dragon woman she had never seen before.

“Pei!”

Her eyes burned with hostility as she spat in Nan Zhi's direction, revealing a bright red snake tongue when she opened her mouth. “I know you. You spoke to that yaksha. You are nothing good. Looking at your cowardly appearance, do you actually want to go down and kill Wuwang Sea demon beasts? Be careful you don't end up going down alive and never coming back up. It would be best if you died in the mouth of a Sky Demon.”

This was the first time Nan Zhi had faced such direct and malicious curses from a stranger.

All because the deceased yaksha had given Hongluo a bright pearl as an apology.

This thought crossed her mind for only an instant before she replied expressionlessly, “That pearl was an apology from the yaksha for his rudeness. I am not familiar with him, nor do I have any desire to interfere in the conflict between the Yaksha Nation and the Sea Dragon Kingdom. You should be glad you didn't try to push me just now, otherwise your head would probably be lying on the ground by now, reduced to a pile of mush.”

“Really?”

The Sea Dragon woman glared at her half-believingly, as if weighing her words, before spitting out with hatred, “No one who talks to a yaksha is good. But I am not so despicable as to launch a sneak attack from behind. You were blocking my Vermilion Bird Lock. Move aside.”

With that, she glared at Nan Zhi, stepped forward to the Vermilion Bird carving's mouth, grabbed the black iron chain hanging along the hull, pulled it up to tie around her waist, and then leaped, plunging straight into the bottomless abyss!

“!”

Nan Zhi was startled at first, then went forward to check. Unfortunately, the hull was wrapped in mist, and with the black energy swirling below, her divine sense could not penetrate it, leaving her completely blind to the situation underneath.

She turned to observe the people nearby and saw that there was indeed a bronze sparrow mouth every ten meters, with a similar black iron chain attached to the pearl in each bronze sparrow's mouth.

Someone glanced at Nan Zhi, seemingly mocking her for making a fuss out of nothing. They followed the Sea Dragon woman's example, tying a chain around their waist and leaping down—

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Nan Zhi stood before a massive, smooth white jade board on the deck, listening to a Wuwei Sect disciple explain how to use the Vermilion Bird Lock.

“One look at you, fellow Daoist, and I can tell you are new here. You probably don't know that there are ways to earn spirit stones everywhere on this ship. If you are skilled in drawing talismans, refining pills, crafting artifacts, sketching formations, raising Gu, rearing ghosts, and so on, you can simply find any shop in the Mysterious-grade area. I guarantee you will be welcomed as an honored guest in every shop, and you can easily earn plenty of spirit stones. If you aren't skilled in any of those, there are also gambling dens, taverns, restaurants, lodgings, and spirit beast shops where you can do odd jobs. Why bother joining them in going down to the bottom of the ship to kill demon beasts and Sky Demons?”

Seeing that Nan Zhi did not look like someone destitute, the Wuwei Sect disciple advised her a bit more. But seeing how persistent she was, he finally explained the details.

As it turned out, not even a goose feather could float on the Wuwang Sea, yet packs of mindless hungry ghosts and even high-level Sky Demons frequently harassed passing merchant ships.

On this journey, their Splendid Platform was not sailing alone; they were accompanied by merchant ships from various clans and influential families.

Although the Splendid Platform was protected by a ship-guarding formation that could ward off the high-level Sky Demons of the Wuwang Sea, it was inevitable that some low-level hungry ghosts would crawl up the bottom of the ship along with the black mist and gnaw at the hull.

Over time, the role of Demon Slayers was established on the ship. Tied to the long Vermilion Bird Locks, they would descend to the bottom of the ship to clear away the hungry ghosts.

This way, the cultivators earned some spirit stones, and the Wuwei Sect naturally saved a vast amount of spirit stones that would have otherwise gone toward maintaining the Splendid Platform.

It was a win-win situation.

“What is underneath the Wuwang Sea? I see that the black mist is incredibly aggressive, to the point where even my divine sense cannot penetrate it.”

Nan Zhi did not ask why they did not hire high-level cultivators to do the clearing—since ancient times, capital had always proven one truth: low-end labor was often the cheapest consumable.

“What else could there be? It's nothing more than a vast ocean with rampant sea beasts and islands scattered like stars,” the yellow-robed cultivator waved his hand and said, “Unless you are truly out of spirit stones, you had better not ask. This job of tying yourself to a Vermilion Bird Lock and going down to kill hungry ghosts isn't for everyone. If you are lucky, you might kill a large demon beast and get its demon core to exchange for spirit stones, which can cover a day or two of room rent. But if you are unlucky, you will end up in a ghost's mouth with not even your bones left. And if you run into a Sky Demon, even your soul will be chewed up and swallowed. Tsk, tsk.”