Because her sailing route coincidentally matched Shi Ming’s, the Golden Bodhi still came up empty-handed late into the night.

"Son of a bitch!"

Mel had lost all her ingrained composure and elegance. Flustered and furious, she completely lost it.

"Are those scientists from Black Gold descended from nine generations of Fish People?!"

"I spent 300 Pure Dome Crystals on a three-day induction sonar, and it became useless after just half a day?! Now it can’t even attract a single D-rank sea beast. Those morons, don’t tell me they gave me a repulsion sonar instead!"

"Since when has the Sea of Boiling been this quiet and peaceful?!"

It was no wonder Mel was at her breaking point.

What kind of place was the Sea of Boiling? A paradise for sea beasts!

Normally, a general-class drifting ship sailing in the outer regions would encounter a C-rank or higher sea beast at least once in half a day, even without using any lures.

They could encounter a B-rank sea beast once every three days.

As for A-rank sea beasts, it all came down to luck.

This encounter rate, far exceeding that of ordinary sea regions and coupled with temperatures that even Awakened found unbearable, was how the Sea of Boiling had earned its name as a forbidden zone for humans.

After using Black Gold’s sonar, the probability of encountering sea beasts should have theoretically increased by 300%.

The Golden Bodhi had sailed a straight, predetermined route along the outskirts of this sea region for half a day, from afternoon until night, without seeing so much as the shadow of a sea beast.

How ridiculous was that?

Mel held her pipe, standing beneath the Golden Bodhi Flower as she contemplated her next move.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

She decided to risk sailing a little deeper.

"Engineering, activate the ’Big Fridge’!"

With the "Big Fridge" borrowed from the Ice Bear, the drifting ship’s internal systems could withstand temperatures of around 200 degrees Celsius, allowing it to perform at the full capacity of a general-class ship without overheating or overloading.

This would be enough to let her sail deeper for some time.

The deeper she went,

the higher the probability of encountering powerful sea beasts.

Mel had bathed in Sea Beast Blood too many times, and her body was beginning to break down from the sheer number of abilities she had absorbed. She urgently needed a 2,000-point Life Fruit to fortify her constitution. She had already exhausted her connections and bought all the points she could find, but she was still 300 points short—the value of a single A-rank Sea Beast Heart.

She was running out of time. She had to get what she needed on this trip.

...

...

...

In the blink of an eye, it was midnight. Shi Ming had been resting on the Sun-Piercer for three hours.

The uses for his Eye of Intelligence had been restored.

He planned to save this opportunity for when he reached the core of the Sea of Boiling. He would use it on the Phaseless Pure Ice, hoping to obtain intelligence on how to combine the two. He wanted to see if he could use this to counteract the side effects of swallowing the Phaseless Pure Ice.

Strangely, the past three hours had been completely quiet. Not even a single D-rank sea beast had come to harass him.

’Could it be that I’ve killed so many that I’ve developed some kind of murderous aura? Are the sea beasts scared of me on sight?’

It was very possible.

It was a good thing, too. At least it allowed him to analyze the intelligence from the Nameless Cocoon for the past few hours without distraction, studying and dissecting it repeatedly to understand all the information and combat details about the Three-Eyed Golden Crow.

The Three-Eyed Golden Crow had two abilities: one active and one passive.

Active ability: Great Sun Wheel.

Passive ability: Great Prophecy.

’According to the video clips, once Great Sun Wheel is activated, the Three-Eyed Golden Crow will completely unleash the solar power in its bloodline and transform into a small sun. It’s terrifying. It emits radiation at temperatures approaching two thousand degrees, dealing the first wave of damage.’

’This terrifying heat can instantly vaporize the seawater, which is rich in Sea Crystal Stone energy, creating a massive amount of Crystal Stone steam to deal a second wave of damage.’

’But none of that poses much of a threat to me.’

Shi Ming took out the Phaseless Pure Ice.

The moment the Phaseless Pure Ice appeared, a peculiar scene unfolded on the sea. The incredibly hot water within a ten-meter radius of the Sun-Piercer plummeted in temperature at an astonishing rate, instantly forming fine ice crystals.

A massive amount of steam met the extreme cold and condensed into pure water, free of any other elements.

Then, this pure water quickly froze solid and fell into the sea with a series of PLINKS, like a downpour of ice.

The sight was spectacular.

This was the passive ability of the Phaseless Pure Ice: Eternal Ice Domain.

Within a ten-meter radius of its wielder, the temperature remained constant at negative forty-five degrees Celsius.

’I can’t handle four hundred fifty degrees, but with my current abilities, I can endure negative forty-five degrees. Add my own Defense Power to that, and I can easily withstand the Great Sun Wheel and the damage from the superheated steam.’

’It’s a perfect counter to the Great Sun Wheel.’

’As for its other ability, Great Prophecy...’

’The Three-Eyed Golden Crow’s third eye can occasionally glimpse the future. That "occasionally" is the tricky part. Its activation rate is erratic—sometimes high, sometimes low. It might see events in the distant future, or it might see what’s going to happen in the very next second.’

Shi Ming blinked.

’If I really do face it, can it foresee the outcome of our battle?’

’If it can, will it face me, or will it hide?’

’If it hides, wouldn’t that make the prophecy invalid?’

’But if it chooses to fight, doesn’t that mean... it’s confident it will win?’

What a grandfather paradox!

Shi Ming put away the Phaseless Pure Ice. The solid ice around the Sun-Piercer began to melt, and the temperature started to rise again. On the Map of the Endless Sea, the location of the Three-Eyed Golden Crow remained unchanged, directly beneath the center of the Sea of Boiling.

His adventurous spirit burned brightly.

No matter what, Shi Ming was determined to explore the center of the Sea of Boiling.

Besides, his passive skill, "Brink of Death," had come off cooldown two days ago.

He had all the confidence he needed.

"Sun-Piercer, let’s go!"

WHOOSH! The canoe set off once more.

Meanwhile, about twelve nautical miles behind him...

...the crew of the Golden Bodhi spotted Shi Ming’s receding figure through their spyglass and sensors.

"Isn’t that the canoe we warned earlier?"

"He made it this far with just a canoe and no cooling equipment?"

"And he’s still speeding deeper?"

Mel found it unbelievable.

Suddenly, she seemed to understand why she’d come up empty-handed. She’d been following in someone else’s wake the entire time. How could she possibly get the good stuff?

...

...

The Endless Ocean held many unfathomable places where humans could not tread.

The great maelstrom of the Peacock Country,

the Earth’s Lung of the Amazon Region,

the Extreme Cold Domain of the Ice Sea,

and the place right here—the 120-nautical-mile central region of the Sea of Boiling.

The temperatures here weren’t just extremely high and unbearable for humans; there was also a powerful, magnetic-field-like force that interfered with all technological probes. Back in the early days, when the Wandering Era had just begun, Black Gold had sent unmanned, heat-resistant drones to investigate this area. However, they found nothing, only capturing images of a boundless ocean identical to any other part of the sea.

In the years since, the focus had shifted to combating the Nameless Cocoon, and no further discoveries were made here.

Even S-rank Awakened struggled to withstand the heat here.

Shi Ming’s current venture was likely the first time a human had ever set foot in this part of the sea.

As he ventured deeper, the temperature of the Sea of Boiling climbed rapidly.

The Phaseless Pure Ice appeared once more.

WHOOSH~

The feeling of ice and fire, two worlds in one.

It was a strange and wonderful sensation.

At times like this, Shi Ming couldn’t help but admire the precision of the Brain of Creation. When it said "constant," it meant it. No matter how high the temperature rose in the surrounding ten meters, the very instant he brought out the Phaseless Pure Ice, the area dropped to negative 45 degrees. The response was instantaneous and absolute, a truly amazing feat.

The Sun-Piercer pushed through the shattering icicles, continuing its advance.

What was an unbearable temperature for others felt like surfing and ice skating at the same time for Shi Ming.

Shi Ming wasn’t holding the Phaseless Pure Ice. Instead, he used his Ice Annihilation Power to levitate it above the Sun-Piercer.

This perfect crystal, capable of reaching absolute zero when pushed to its limit, had a surface temperature far colder than just negative forty-five degrees. Shi Ming didn’t dare to hold it for any extended period. If he were to place it directly into the water, it would do far more than simply create icicles; a true glacier would form, waging an endless war of attrition against the Sea of Boiling.

On the Map of the Endless Sea, the Sun-Piercer drew ever closer to the black dot.

Eighty nautical miles, then fifty, then thirty.

Still, he hadn’t encountered a single living creature.

’Where is the Three-Eyed Golden Crow?’

’It sure is patient!’

The surrounding sea was completely empty.

Shi Ming was prepared for a fight at any moment, but the waters remained placid. It seemed this place was nothing more than a natural, high-temperature furnace. There were no other abnormalities.

Outside the domain of the Phaseless Pure Ice, the temperature continued to skyrocket.

Seven hundred degrees Celsius!

Ordinary seawater could never reach such a temperature, but Shi Ming noticed the water here was in a strange state. The concentration of Sea Crystal Stones was so high it was mind-boggling. It could barely be called seawater anymore; it was more like a highly concentrated liquid Crystal Stone.

Shi Ming was convinced that if he just took a bucket of this "water" with him, he could extract a genuine Pure Dome Crystal from it.

Steam billowed from the Boiling Sea, and under the shroud of night, the scene felt surreal.

Danger could strike at any moment.

The Sun-Piercer was moving at incredible speed. In the distance, Shi Ming could see the center of the Sea of Boiling—the spot on the surface directly above the black dot on his map.

The very heart of the core!

Still no sign of the Three-Eyed Golden Crow, no Golden Sun.

Instead, there was a patch of "land"?

The center of the Boiling Sea was no longer water. The sea had completely crystallized, forming a small island piled high with shimmering Pure Dome Crystals. It stood like a landmass in the very heart of the region.

Atop the island, he could faintly make out a strange, large tree.

The Sun-Piercer arrived in a flash.

The tree’s leaves and branches were made of brilliant crystal, and a dozen or so sparkling, Crystal Apple-like fruits hung from its boughs.

In the intense heat, the fruits slowly oozed a liquid that dripped down, drop by drop, like juice from melting fruit.

The sight actually made Shi Ming’s mouth water.

One look at these fruits was enough to know they were priceless treasures.

————

The Three-Eyed Golden Crow rested on the lightless seabed.

It sensed that some treacherous creature had actually withstood the intense heat. ’Is it here to steal my fruit?’

Frankly, its instincts recoiled. It did not want to face this creature. But the third eye on its forehead foresaw that it would achieve victory through a peculiar method.

It beat its wings and soared.

In the darkness, its wings erupted with a blazing light as brilliant as the midday sun.

Great Sun Wheel!