Tossed by the violent swaying, Shen Ying fell to her knees on the deck, her fingernails digging into the seams of the wooden planks. She looked up at the mountain-like dark shadow.
“Father, it's pushing our ship!”
The young emperor saw it too.
The colossal head slowly turned, looking in their direction. Its half-submerged eye was faintly visible beneath the sea surface.
The eye was like a deep well, reflecting the moonlight and the flickering lanterns on the ship, devoid of any emotion.
There was no malice, nor was there any goodwill. It was simply massive—so massive that mortals before it were like mere ants.
“Where is it taking us?” The young emperor heard his own voice, which was slightly steadier than he had expected.
The Marquis of Ningyuan stared intently at the giant fish in the sea.
“I know not what this mythical beast intends,” he said in a low voice, as if afraid of disturbing it. “But the bottom of our ship is shattered, and our sails are torn. We have no choice but to let it do as it pleases.”
The ship rocked more and more violently.
The expressions of the crowd grew increasingly terrified.
Finally, someone broke down.
A soldier's legs gave out, and he slumped onto the deck, his fingernails scratching against the wood with a piercing, scraping sound.
“Is... is it trying to push us back to its lair? To fatten us up before eating us?”
“Silence!” the Marquis of Ningyuan barked.
“Do not sow panic among the ranks!”
But once the seed of doubt was planted, it grew wildly.
Everyone stared fixedly at the terrifyingly large fish ahead, their eyes filled with nothing but profound dread.
Shen Ying could feel her palms chafing to the point of bleeding. She glanced back at her father and saw that his hands gripping the rudder were white-knuckled, the veins bulging on them.
The young emperor took half a step back until his back pressed against the mast. His lips were pursed into a pale, thin line, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably.
Another massive wave swelled from beneath the ship, causing the hull to slide and tilt sharply to the left. The entire row of ropes snapped taut, creaking and popping.
“Hold on tight, everyone!” the Marquis of Ningyuan bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Do not fall into the sea!”
Hearing this, everyone instinctively grabbed onto whatever they could, refusing to let go for dear life.
No one dared to relax.
After all, if they accidentally fell into the water and slipped into the abyssal maw of this giant fish, any struggle would be utterly futile.
Just as their terror reached its peak, a melodious sound of music suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.
The music came without warning, rising from all directions simultaneously, yet it was not chaotic in the slightest.
The beautiful string melodies were unlike anything they had ever heard.
It was as if the tide itself were singing, or the echoes of stars colliding—clear, ethereal, and completely drowning out the sound of waves crashing against the hull.
Everyone froze.
The giant fish also halted its movements.
Its seemingly endless back stopped pushing and hovered quietly beneath the water. With a gentle flick of its tail fin, it backed away half a zhang, as if making way for someone.
In the next moment.
The sea directly ahead suddenly lit up.
A pale blue light bloomed from beneath the water, expanding outward in ripple after shimmering ripple.
An incredibly dreamlike scene unfolded before their eyes.
Countless particles of light lifted a figure slowly out of the water. As water droplets rolled off her, they did not wet her clothes; instead, each droplet transformed into a tiny spark of firefly-like light, gradually dispersing into the night wind.
She stood barefoot on the water, her ankles wrapped in two wisps of silvery-blue flowing light. Her water-blue skirt fell in cascading layers like the ripples of waves. Her silver-white hair was unbound, spilling over her shoulders as the sea breeze blew, the light trailing from the tips of her hair softer than moonlight and more lustrous than pearls.
A snow-white nine-tailed fox nestled in her arms, its amber slit-pupils filled with a spiritual intelligence that ordinary beasts lacked.
As the music swelled, she turned her head slightly. Her pearl forehead ornament shimmered with a clear light in the wind, like fragments of the moon resting on her brow.
Her gaze swept across the water, landing lightly on the astonished faces on the deck, her eyes entirely devoid of emotion.
【Shen Xiao Shock Value +100】
【Shen Ying Shock Value +100】
【Xi Yue Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 23,566,000】
On the deck, a rope slipped from someone's hand with a thud. His mouth hung wide open as he muttered to himself.
“The Sea Goddess... it must be the Sea Goddess...”
The young emperor snapped out of his daze. He stared at the figure standing on the water not far away, unable to look away for a long time.
“The... Sea Goddess?” His lips trembled.
Once upon a time, he too had secretly knelt and prayed to the gods and Buddhas, hoping they would save his mother.
Yet, in the end, his mother had died anyway.
The Marquis of Ningyuan slowly let go of the rudder, quietly stepping forward to shield his daughter behind him.
He looked at the cold, otherworldly Sea Goddess standing on the water, and then at the giant fish that had quieted down beside her.
To command such a colossal creature so effortlessly, this Sea Goddess must possess immense divine power. However, he did not know her purpose in having the giant fish bring their ship here.
Could it be that their sailing had disturbed the deity's quiet cultivation?
At this thought, his heart sank. Nevertheless, maintaining his composure, he smoothed his wind-disheveled robes, managed to steady his footing on the swaying deck, and bowed deeply to the Sea Goddess with hands clasped.
“We knew not of Your Divinity's presence. Please forgive our mortal insolence.”
The Sea Goddess did not pay any attention to the Marquis of Ningyuan. Instead, it was the divinely intelligent nine-tailed fox in her arms that spoke.
“This is but a minor warning. If you continue to persist in your folly, you will only bring about your own destruction.”
Its host had said so.
She told it not to speak too clearly, to be mysterious, and to let these people overthink things on their own.
Just as the young emperor was about to speak, a gust of wind swept up the ship and everyone on board, blowing them onto a deserted island several hundred meters away.
Before a deity, mortals were utterly powerless to resist.
Having sent the young emperor and his party away, Yun Shu looked down at her new outfit piece, the Thousand Tides Flowing Light.
“This outfit piece is even more spectacular than the Peerless National Beauty Set. Achieving such an effect with just three pieces... if I wore the entire set, wouldn't it completely blind everyone?”
Just as she was considering whether to draw from the prize pool, the little fox turned off the music player and tried to take credit.
“Host, wasn't my performance just now amazing?”
Yun Shu patted its head. “You've improved.”
“Shushu, Xiao Funi, what about me? What about me? Didn't I coordinate really well with you guys just now?”
A childish voice rang out.
It was the blue whale.
In ancient times, it would also be mistaken for a Kun.
The little fox's face darkened. “Silly fish, I've told you eight hundred times! My host's name is Shushu, not Zhuzhu! And I am a little fox, not Xiao Funi!”
“Okay, Xiao Funi.” The blue whale flicked its tail, looking eagerly at Yun Shu and the little fox.
“You said earlier that you'd give me lots and lots of those sweet candy pills. You weren't tricking a fish, were you?”
The little fox was left speechless.
Yun Shu naturally wouldn't withhold a fish's wages. She dumped two gunny sacks of Body-Tempering Pills into the blue whale's cavernous mouth.
Since the Cultivation System provided an infinite supply, she could have as many Body-Tempering Pills as she wanted.
“Yummy, yummy.”
“Shushu, you're my favorite.”
The blue whale happily spouted water several times. Fortunately, both Yun Shu and the little fox were waterproof, otherwise they would have been drenched like drowned rats.
Thinking that she still had to head to Xindu City to popularize the Body Tempering Technique, Yun Shu did not plan to linger. She bid farewell to the blue whale. “Xiao Lan, I have things to do. I'll come play with you next time.”
“Okay.” The blue whale sounded a bit disappointed.
It watched as Yun Shu and the little fox vanished over the sea.
Rate on N.U.
