This ethereal, starry blue sky beneath the waves was their destination: the blue sea coral forest.
When they reached a depth of 4,800 meters, a vast expanse of blue sea coral appeared before Gu Ningyun's eyes.
The seabed was not just water and sand; it was filled with hills, jagged rocks, and aquatic plants.
The rocks ranged from small mounds barely half a meter high to massive formations stretching hundreds of meters.
The blue sea coral grew from the crevices of these rocks, branching out like tree limbs in dense clusters and thickets.
Each cluster stood at least ten meters tall and spanned over twenty meters in width.
A dreamy, shimmering blue light emanated from the coral, illuminating the entire forest in a breathtaking display of color.
In the clear, enchanting interplay of light and shadow, Gu Ningyun could clearly see dense, transparent filaments extending from the coral, drifting leisurely in the current.
She knew these were the nematocysts on the coral polyps' tentacles, used to capture prey.
Just then, an orange-red crown-of-thorns starfish about half a meter in diameter swam beneath Gu Ningyun and attached itself to one of the coral branches.
Immediately, the coral's nematocysts unfurled and quivered in unison, pinning the starfish firmly in place.
Following this, the filaments trapping the starfish began to turn blue, starting from their base.
The pale blue color spread to the tips of the nematocysts in the blink of an eye, invading the starfish's body.
The crown-of-thorns starfish, which had been moving its arms and injecting toxins into the coral through its surface spines, visibly slowed down.
Then, the starfish's spines released the coral. It everted its stomach from its mouth and began to feed on the seawater itself.
Its outstretched arms moved as if it were devouring some exquisite delicacy.
The coral's nematocysts did not stop; more of them extended, scraping orange-red particles from the starfish and pulling them into the coral.
From her position, Gu Ningyun could see clearly that those orange-red particles were chunks of flesh being torn from the crown-of-thorns starfish.
The meat was being fed directly into the mouths of the coral polyps.
Despite having its flesh stripped away layer by layer, the starfish showed no reaction. It simply continued to contract its stomach, feeding on nothing but seawater.
In less than half an hour, the starfish was completely consumed by the polyps on that single branch. Not a single scrap remained.
Once the starfish vanished, the branch of blue sea coral returned to its former tranquility, appearing slightly brighter than before and looking utterly harmless.
Having witnessed the entire feeding process, Gu Ningyun's wariness only intensified.
Each individual coral polyp was only at the early stage of rank one, yet the crown-of-thorns starfish had been at the rank one late stage.
According to the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》, crown-of-thorns starfish live mostly on the seabed, are covered in sharp venomous spines, and have a particular appetite for coral.
Blue sea coral, mostly found in the coastal waters of Cangzhou in the East Sea, possesses a hallucinogenic toxin. This toxin is injected through the nematocysts of the coral polyps and does not enter the bloodstream; instead, it acts directly on the sea of consciousness.
Those afflicted by the toxin fall into a beautiful, false dream. If not treated in time, their divine sense will eventually wither, and their primordial spirit will dissipate, leading to death.
When she had first memorized the sea beast section of the beast chapter in the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》, Gu Ningyun had only marveled at the variety, size, and danger of the creatures.
It wasn't until she dove deep into the ocean and saw the blue sea coral feeding with her own eyes that the descriptions in the book felt real.
She finally understood that those simple words, "contains a hallucinogenic toxin," meant the coral polyps could bypass several minor realms and even defy the rules of the food chain, preying on a predator far stronger than themselves.
Wen Xuan was excited by the sight. "I've been researching a new poison pill lately. The toxicity of this blue sea coral looks excellent. We must harvest plenty this time."
Not far from the five of them was a cultivator dressed in a long brown robe.
He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms through his water film, looking at the five of them with confusion as they moved so naturally through the water.
"The sun never reaches these depths, and the temperature is extremely low," the man said. "Even as an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, my limbs feel stiff despite using spirit energy to soothe my body."
"You five children are only at the Qi Refining stage. Why do you seem completely unaffected?"
While cultivators were generally resistant to heat and cold, it was because they could use spirit energy to form a protective shield on their skin. However, for low-level cultivators with limited reserves, maintaining such a shield for long periods was impractical.
Most would save their spirit energy and only use a small amount to keep their blood flowing. This brown-robed man, though at the early Foundation Establishment stage, had clearly never practiced body refining; his physical constitution was only slightly better than a mortal's.
Gu Ningyun and the others, however, had undergone body refining. The temperature of the seawater truly had no effect on them.
Swimming freely, Gu Ningyun felt the temperature was perfectly comfortable, no different from being on the spirit ship.
Unlike magic cultivation, which a high-level cultivator could see at a glance, body refining cultivation remained hidden unless one was actually fighting.
Gu Ningyun wasn't foolish enough to reveal her secrets. She simply looked at the brown-robed cultivator with a solemn expression and said, "Senior, you must never have been Northern Swimming before, have you?"
"Northern Swimming? What is that?" the man asked, bewildered.
Wen Xuan and the others didn't understand either, but they immediately put on an act of knowing exactly what she meant.
"As everyone knows," Gu Ningyun began, "it snows year-round in Dingyuanzhou to the north. Even the North Sea between Dingyuanzhou and Yunzhou is much colder than other waters."
"In the waters near Dingyuanzhou, the sea is covered in thick layers of ice. If you throw a piece of fresh, warm demon beast meat into the sea, it freezes solid in half an hour."
"Cultivators often swim in the North Sea to train their bodies, using no spirit energy for protection and relying solely on physical strength."
"Some even compete to see who can swim from Yunzhou toward Dingyuanzhou, testing who has the highest cold tolerance and who can swim the farthest."
Mu Chenze sent her a divine sense transmission: "I know about the conditions in the North Sea, but since when do cultivators go swimming there? The demon beasts there are unpredictable. If you aren't careful, you'll be swallowed whole. Who would dare let themselves get exhausted by swimming like that?"
A divine sense transmission from a Qi Refining cultivator could be intercepted by a Golden Core expert, but the brown-robed man was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage. While he might sense their divine sense, he couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation.
Gu Ningyun replied: "I don't know if anyone actually swims in the North Sea. I just made all of that up."
"You made it up? It's so ridiculous. He's not an idiot; why would he believe you?"
Just as Mu Chenze's transmission ended, the brown-robed man clapped his hands together. "I've lived in Cangzhou for years, and I never knew there was such a method for training cold resistance!"
"Yunzhou is the territory of the Xiaoyao Immortal Sect, and since the North Sea borders it, the demon beasts there must not be as rampant as they are here in the East Sea."
"But the sea is still far more treacherous than the land. I've heard that Xiaoyao is not only strict with recruitment but that its disciples are incredibly diligent in their cultivation."
"I didn't expect that it wasn't just Xiaoyao; even the other cultivators in Yunzhou are just as relentless. To risk such danger just to train the body... truly impressive."
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