Wu Tianjun and Mo Lian were currently standing at the bow of a large ship. Wu Tianjun was gazing at the ocean waves, while Mo Lian stared into the distance, lost in thought.
Normally, entering the Demon Sea meant traveling with a merchant fleet, which was highly formidable due to the cooperation of many clans. Each time they ventured out to sea, they had powerful experts stationed on board. At sea, pirates were a constant threat to guard against, and they also had to watch out for demon beasts, among many other dangers.
The ship Wu Tianjun was on belonged to the Xuanming Trading Guild, one of the four most powerful trading guilds in the starry sky! This guild spanned across the starry sky, possessing immense internal strength. There was an unwritten rule among the various clans: not to interfere with the business of the trading guilds. Although the guilds were powerful, they did not meddle in the feuds between clans, which meant a single guild could comprise many different clans.
The Xuanming ship also had powerful experts stationed on board: two God Lords, eight Sixth-tier God-level cultivators, and nearly twenty other God-level cultivators. Among the passengers, there was also one God Lord and over thirty other God-level cultivators—truly formidable! The ship carried less than two thousand cultivators in total. Of course, this did not include Wu Tianjun and Mo Lian.
As Wu Tianjun watched the waves, he recalled a time when he was forging artifacts, unsure of which type of weapon to choose. He still had not found a weapon that felt right in his hands. Through the memories of the old master of Demon Dragon City and information from his old demon, he came to a conclusion: the various auras and realms of comprehension currently circulating in the starry sky were merely derivations of ultimate powers. From Qi, Intent, Momentum, and Domain, once a Domain evolved to its extreme, it became an ultimate power, though few could achieve it. For example, for a sword cultivator, starting with ten-tenths sword qi, three-stage sword intent, sword momentum, and sword domain, its ultimate evolution was the Power of Destruction. Or, similarly, the Power of Reincarnation could derive Yin-Yang Power... Perhaps the various powers and abilities of this era were merely steps laid out by cultivators in the Ancient or Primeval eras to cultivate ultimate powers!
Wu Tianjun had initially chosen to cultivate the fist path, but he felt that while the fist path was domineering and suited his nature, it would be very difficult to evolve it to the extreme Power of Destruction! He was pondering whether to use a saber or a spear. Gazing at the water, he made his decision: he would cultivate the saber path! Watching the successive waves, he fell into a strange state of comprehension! Endless and overlapping, it felt strangely familiar! It was his father, Wu Shishen's, saber path comprehension, which had reached saber intent, though he did not know to what extent.
"Whoosh." Wu Tianjun suddenly used his hand as a saber, slashing toward the water's surface. It was very light, barely disturbing the waves at all! "Oh! Is this saber qi? Perhaps not even one-tenth of it!" Wu Tianjun muttered, looking at his hand, unaware that Mo Lian beside him was staring at him with wide eyes.
Mo Lian was staring blankly into the distance when he suddenly felt a blade aura beside him. He immediately went on guard, but seeing that it was Wu Tianjun who had unleashed the blade aura, he relaxed his defenses! Only then did he jump in fright. Wu Tianjun had never possessed any weapons; in other words, he had never practiced any martial arts that involved weapons, so how could he unleash a blade aura? And he did it bare-handed! So many blade cultivators spent their entire lives without cultivating a blade aura, and even a God Lord might not be able to do it. Yet, the Young Master merely had a slight epiphany and achieved what countless others only dreamed of! Mo Lian could only force a bitter smile. Being by the Young Master's side only served to humble him; the Young Master always did things that ordinary people couldn't even imagine!
"Huh! Young Master! There are demonic beasts heading this way!" Mo Lian suddenly exclaimed, as if sensing something. "Should we inform the merchant ship's captain?" he asked Wu Tianjun.
"Ha! How far away? How long until they get here? Are they strong?" Wu Tianjun asked, surprised.
"Led by three God Lord-level demonic beasts! Very strong! I'm afraid this merchant fleet won't fare well! They'll be here in roughly six hours! There are quite a lot of them!" Mo Lian, being both talented and bold, said without a hint of fear.
"Hah! Then inform the merchant ship! After all, they have a protective formation, so they probably aren't afraid of demonic beasts!" Wu Tianjun said. "Let me test my skills against these demonic beasts!" He was feeling a bit restless; truth be told, his only true battle before this was ten years ago on Qingyun Star, and since then, he had only cultivated.
"..." Mo Lian also wanted to see Wu Tianjun's combat power; it probably wouldn't be below the Fifth Layer of the God Realm! He thought to himself, then transmitted a message to the two God Lords in the control cabin.
Inside the control cabin, three people were seated: an old man, an old woman, and a young girl. The young girl wore a veil, suggesting her identity was not simple.
"Young Miss, this time you're out, you haven't run away again, have you?" the old man asked the young girl with a bitter smile.
"How could that be..." The young girl stuck out her tongue and said shyly. She had indeed run away from home to play.
"Sigh... Fortunately, this old woman followed your imprint to get here! Young Miss! The Demonic Sea is very dangerous!" the old woman said with a mix of doting affection and helplessness.
"Granny, Father makes me cultivate all day long! If I cultivate any more, I'll turn into a block of wood!" She shook the old woman's arm and said. "Second Sister went out last time and met the man of her dreams, but that guy didn't pay her any mind! This time I'm out because I want to see what kind of divine being that guy is to be so arrogant!" the young girl said with a hint of anger, suggesting a very close sisterly bond.
"Haha! If that guy knew who the Second Young Miss was, he would probably regret it immensely!" The old man chuckled softly upon hearing this. The Guild Master had three children: one son and two daughters. The eldest son possessed extraordinary talent; though not yet a hundred years old, he had already broken through to the True God Realm, a genuine star-realm prodigy, with countless forces eager to form marriage alliances with him. The other two young ladies were not far behind. The Second Young Miss, not yet thirty this year, had already reached the early stage of the Heavenly Core Realm, possessing extremely high talent. As for the Third Young Miss, seventeen this year, she had also reached the Earth Core Realm, her talent approaching that of the Eldest Young Master! She was likely also a star-realm prodigy!
"Heh heh! You all gravely underestimate Second Sister's judgment. She said that person has a spirit beast, a Flying Tiger, that killed a Divine Lord with a single claw! As for that person himself, he never even made a move. That Divine Lord was trying to capture Second Sister to threaten her father, but that person happened to pass by, found it displeasing, and only then made a move! She said that person is probably also a top-tier Starry Sky Prodigy, but she doesn't know who he is, only that he's human!" the Third Young Miss recounted, as if recalling her Second Sister's words.
"..." Another Starry Sky Prodigy? The old man's face flushed red; he had just mocked a Starry Sky Prodigy!
"Did that person not leave a name?" the old woman asked. After this incident, even the Guild Master would likely want to find out who that person was. A newly appeared Starry Sky Prodigy was no laughing matter; they seemed to be born to challenge those of higher cultivation levels, and their cultivation speed was also terrifying. Not to mention that person also had a spirit beast, a Flying Tiger, that could easily slaughter Divine Lords! A bloodline that was even more terrifying, with limitless potential for growth! That person was probably an heir from some hidden cultivation clan, out for training.
"No! Second Sister only saw his face once and was already smitten." The Third Young Miss felt a little disappointed when she heard this.
"..." The old man and old woman were somewhat disappointed. That person would likely be very difficult to find!
"You should pay attention! Three Divine Lord-rank demonic beasts, leading over thirty thousand demonic beasts, are heading this way! Prepare yourselves!" A faint voice echoed in the control room, making the three people who were chatting jump in surprise. They didn't know where the sound transmission came from.
"May I ask which friend..." The old man cupped his hands towards the empty air and said.
"Hmph! I'm only relaying a message! Believe it or not, it's up to you!" Without letting the old man finish, the voice transmitted again.
"This..." The old man and old woman looked at each other, unsure of what to do. If this information turned out to be false, what face would their Xuan Ming Merchant Guild have left?
"Let's observe for a bit first!" the old man said after a moment's thought. After all, he was the main person in charge of this merchant ship; the old woman and the Third Young Miss had merely joined them midway.
"Mhm! Let's see!" The old woman and the Third Young Miss didn't have as much experience navigating the Demonic Sea as the old man, so they didn't say anything further and deferred to the old man's words.
“Well, have you informed them yet?” Wu Tianjun, having just used his Heaven-Piercing Eye to look into the distance, saw a few interesting things. He smiled and turned to ask Ma Lian.
“Your subordinate has relayed the message as Young Master instructed, however, they don’t seem to believe it much!” Ma Lian said with a hint of annoyance; he wasn’t exactly idle either.
“Oh! Then let them suffer! Their life and death are their own responsibility!” Wu Tianjun didn’t say anything more. He had already kindly reminded them; whether they listened or not was none of his concern.
“…” Ma Lian also paid no further attention and continued to gaze into the distance, lost in thought. Those Demonic Beasts hadn’t even piqued his interest yet.
As for Wu Tianjun, he paid no attention to his surroundings, lay down, put his hands behind his head, and went to sleep! After all, the Demonic Beasts wouldn’t arrive for nearly six hours; a little sleep wouldn’t hurt. Those Demonic Beasts were merely for him to practice his moves a bit!
The Merchant Ship continued its planned journey. After more than four hours, there was still no sign of activity, making the old man and old woman relax a little. It seemed someone wanted to tarnish the reputation of the Xuan Ming Merchant Guild! If they found that person, they wouldn’t let him live comfortably!
“Report! A herd of Demonic Beasts has appeared in the west!” A slightly panicked voice came through. A Fourth-stage Divine Realm expert rushed in and said urgently.
“A herd of Demonic Beasts?!? How many?” the old man asked, trembling slightly. Could it be that person was telling the truth?
“No less than twenty thousand! They’ll be here in half an hour!” the man said in a hurried voice.
“Huh?” The old man and old woman jumped in surprise. That person’s sound transmission was well-intentioned! And they still doubted him. “Quick! Immediately activate the ship’s defensive grand formation! Inform the crew and passengers that Demonic Beasts are attacking, and anyone who can help us defend the ship until we return to port will be handsomely rewarded! Go!” The old man, being experienced after all, immediately issued orders! “Contact headquarters and ask them to send powerful cultivators! This Demonic Beast attack seems to have a reason!” he said to the old woman. After all, as the Young Miss’s personal guards, they had to carry a communication jade for direct contact with headquarters in case of emergencies.
“Understood! I’ll send it immediately!” The old woman quickly took out a communication jade, infused it with some information, then crushed it, and a beam of light shot into the sky and vanished! “Powerful cultivators will arrive very soon!” the old woman said with certainty. At this moment, the reputation of the Merchant Guild was secondary; the Young Miss’s safety was paramount!
“Why are the Demonic Beasts attacking us?” the Third Young Miss asked, trembling slightly.
“I don’t know either! Haha! Don’t worry! With us here, the Demonic Beasts won’t harm you!” the old woman said with a smile.
“Mm!” The Third Young Miss trusted the old woman quite a bit, so she didn’t ask further.
“Yawn…!!! They’ve finally arrived!” On the bow of the ship, Wu Tianjun woke up somewhat lazily, stretching as he spoke.
“This Demonic Beast herd is no ordinary one!” Ma Lian had noticed something amiss an hour ago; those three Divine Lord Demonic Beasts weren’t the leaders, yet he still hadn’t seen the true leader.
"Huh! Far to the left! That white sand creature is the leader!" Wu Tianjun said, lazily gazing at the vast, dark mass of Demonic Beasts in the distance.