Chapter 426: Nightsea
Before Peng Zhuang could finish, Qiurong Wanxue turned around so he quickly shut his mouth in fear.
Li Qiye smiled and met her gaze; this deadlock went on for a while, but Qiurong Wanxue didn’t say anything.
The boat slowly entered Nightsea. Qiurong Wanxue had come here before so she was fine, but the youths were quite creeped out.
Although there was nothing particularly scary about Nightsea besides its dark water, those on the boats going out to sea had the feeling as if they were descending into an unknown abyss. The jet-black water seemed to be able to swallow all things, causing people’s hair to stand on end.
It was true that Nightsea was a very dangerous place. Even Heavenly Kings and Virtuous Paragons would die a miserable death without a ferry in this sea. This sea was like a ferocious beast that could swallow all people; even their bones would not be spared. A Virtuous Paragon capable of obtaining the god title would still not be able to escape this fate if they forcefully tried to enter Nightsea.
There was a rumor stating that only Immortal Emperors could force their way into Nightsea, but there was no way to verify it.
Peng Zhuang was quite alarmed as he sat on the boat above Nightsea. If Qiurong Wanxue didn’t say anything, the young ones wouldn’t dare to step outside the boat at all. After all, if they fell, death would be the only outcome.
Li Qiye looked at this sea that was seemingly like a world of darkness and murmured: “Nightsea…”
Li Qiye knew that this sea hid many secrets just like Necropolis. In fact, there was one in particular that was unknown to all other, a very important one.
After they went further into Nightsea, the handler gave each person a net. This fishing net was very special; it was made from an unknown material and seemed like it was woven from light. There was no weight to it when held in one’s hand.
This was a fishing net designed to catch Yang Nightfish and was given to people by the handlers. However, the strange part was that the handlers themselves never caught these fish, and no one knew the reason why.
The group casted their nets for two days, but no one managed to catch any Yang Nightfish. Qiurong Wanxue continuously changed the boat’s direction and location to no avail.
After three days without any results, Peng Zhuang became a bit dejected: “Not a single Yang Nightfish… Don’t tell me all the fish in this sea have been caught already?” The impatient fella had this urge to jump down into the sea himself.
Compared to the six youths, Qiurong Wanxue was much calmer. She shook her head and said: “Catching Yang Nightfish isn’t easy. It is the common currency in Necropolis, so if you can catch them anytime you want, then you will be able to get many things in the city. A lot of people fish for several months before getting any harvest. If you lose your patience now, then you won’t get anything at Necropolis.”
She wished to train them so she was not in a rush at all despite not catching any fish.
After three days passed, not a single fish was caught, but Li Qiye’s group was not the only group suffering this lamentable fate. They met many groups recently; they were all young men from all over the world, riding these ferries in order to catch Yang Nightfish.
Qiurong Wanxue coincidentally encountered several familiar ghost sects and ghost members and said hello. From their conversations, they found out that several people who came here for a month only managed to catch three to five fish at best.
After hearing about the lackluster results from others, Peng Zhuang’s group of six felt a lot better. Since others took a month to catch around five fish, it was not surprising for them to not catch any in just a few days.
On the eighth day, Li Qiye’s group met a particularly powerful sect. They rented an extremely big ferry that carried many young men who had surging blood energies. The divine flames on their bodies made them even more unapproachable. These youths seemed to be the children of a divine race and they each had an oppressive aura.
The person who sat at the bow was the most amazing. The flames that danced on his body turned into divine rings right behind him; the rings made him seem as if he was protected by gods.
Qiurong Wanxue emotionally spoke after seeing this huge boat: “Even the Divine Spark Country is here. The Divine Spark Prince came in person as well.” She then told the handler to row the boat around them.
Walking the long way was not Li Qiye’s style, so he asked with a smile: “Why are we avoiding them?”
Peng Zhuang looked at him curiously and asked: “Brother Li came from the Thousand Carp River, but you don’t know about the Divine Spark Country?”
“What about the Divine Spark Country?” Li Qiye smiled and asked without a care.
Peng Zhuang tapped his forehead and replied: “Brother Li, your information is too outdated. The Divine Spark Country is one of the most powerful lineages in your southern Distant Cloud. Although they are not an emperor’s lineage, they are still a first-rate great power and only a bit weaker than an emperor’s lineage.”
Another disciple added: “Yep, I heard that they are a divine race. They call themselves descendants of a True God.”
Li Qiye was not surprised at all as he smirked: “Is that so.” He paid no mind to even emperor’s lineages, so a great power like the Divine Spark Country naturally couldn’t enter his sight.
“Not only that.” The only female disciple spoke: “I heard that the Divine Spark Princess is a famous and beautiful goddess of your southern Distant Cloud. She is getting married to Sir Di Zuo.” 1
“Who is Di Zuo?” Li Qiye looked at her and asked one more time; a smirk was still on his face. He was not doing this on purpose since he really didn’t know who Di Zuo was.
The six disciples acted as if they were about to faint and looked at Li Qiye as if he was a monster. Peng Zhuang patted his forehead one more time and painfully said: “Brother Li… No way. Brother Li doesn’t even know who Sir Di Zuo is? He is one of the three heroes in our Sacred Nether World.”
“Three heroes? Who are they?” Li Qiye remained oblivious.
Peng Zhuang quickly explained: “Chan Yang, Di Zuo, and Tian Lunhui are the three strongest geniuses in our Sacred Nether World. People say that these three have the greatest chance of shouldering the Heaven’s Will in this generation. Sir Di Zuo has the most terrifying background; he is the only descendant of the Myriad Bones Throne.” 2
Li Qiye suddenly smiled as if he was happy to recognize a name: “Ah, the Myriad Bones Throne — I have heard of this name. It is a lineage with three emperors, correct?”
“ ‘A lineage with three emperors, right?’ !” The six felt their minds sway; they felt that Li Qiye was too slow. Peng Zhuang shouted: “Brother, this is one sect, three emperors! Do you know how powerful Sir Di Zuo is? People say that even Heavenly Sovereigns from the previous generations have to treat him with reverence.”
“I see.” Li Qiye dully replied. It was not him looking down on others; one sect, three emperors was a very normal thing in his opinion.
The female disciple spoke: “The Divine Spark Princess — the Divine Spark Phoenix Maiden is Sir Di Zuo’s fiancee. I heard that after the news of the engagement, the fame of the Divine Spark Country rose like a ship meeting the waves.”
“The person who sat at the bow earlier was the Divine Spark Prince, the little brother of the Phoenix Maiden.” Qiurong Wanxue asserted from the front: “The Divine Spark Country is a major power, so it is better for people like us to avoid them.”
It was reasonable for Qiurong Wanxue to show caution due to the nature of her small tribe that was completely incomparable to a great power like the Divine Spark Country. The country could lift a finger and easily destroy their tribe, so she naturally would avoid such a monstrous existence.
“I get it now.” Li Qiye revealed an enlightened appearance and nodded his head with a smile.
Qiurong Wanxue warned them: “If the southern Distant Cloud’s people are here as well, then Necropolis will become very lively in the upcoming times. We have to be extra careful and not cause trouble.”
As the chief of a small tribe living between great powers, she and her Snow-shadow Tribe had to be very careful.
***
Li Qiye’s group had been out on Nightsea for ten days and finally got some results. Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue’s nets were empty so the last disciple who was reining in his net initially didn’t have too much hope, but a bright light emanated inside his retrieved net. Everyone came to take a look and found that inside this net was a little fish the size of a thumb, emitting some sunlight. It seemed to be carved from fire jade as a flame burned strongly on its body.
“Yang Nightfish!” Qiurong Wanxue smiled after seeing this little fish; it was a beautiful smile that resembled a blooming peony flower.
“Yang Nightfish!” The disciple who caught it was extremely excited, especially since he was the first to catch one.
“We finally got something.” The six young ones jumped up and down happily.
Catching a fish motivated the young ones so they assumed that a great harvest was sure to follow. However, they didn’t catch any other fish for the next two days.
Qiurong Wanxue remained calm while the six became more impatient.
Before Peng Zhuang could finish, Qiurong Wanxue turned around so he quickly shut his mouth in fear.
Li Qiye smiled and met her gaze; this deadlock went on for a while, but Qiurong Wanxue didn’t say anything.
The boat slowly entered Nightsea. Qiurong Wanxue had come here before so she was fine, but the youths were quite creeped out.
Although there was nothing particularly scary about Nightsea outside of its dark water, those on the boats going out to sea had the feeling as if they were descending into an unknown abyss. The jet-black water seemed to be able to swallow all things, causing people’s hair to stand on end.
1. Di Zuo = Emperor’s Throne; such a powerful and arrogant name.
2. Not quite sure if these are names or titles, but they will most likely stay in pinyin form. Chan Yang = Zen (Buddhist) Yang, Di Zuo = Emperor’s Throne, Tian Lunhui = Heavenly Samsara (Cycle).