Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Devouring a Demon to Nurture Spirit, Edge of the World

"Captain, I’m very sorry..."

"We only saw you, Captain. Suddenly, your expression changed, and you summoned your Spiritual Artifact and unleashed techniques, blasting at an empty space..."

"Then, you used a Body Cultivation Skill and smashed through the deck..."

"As for the monster... we truly didn’t see one..."

Zhao Li hesitated for a moment before stating the facts.

His expression and heartbeat were both normal. Su Ye could tell he wasn’t lying.

"Is that how it was?"

Su Ye’s brow furrowed.

Next, Su Ye called over a few more people and questioned them in detail.

The answers he received were all similar.

The crew members had not seen any monster.

In other words, was Su Ye the only one who could see the pale monster?

’No, perhaps... only the target it has fixated on can see it.’

Su Ye’s expression grew heavy.

In his estimation, the monster’s strength wasn’t particularly great.

A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, as long as they didn’t panic and lose their composure, wouldn’t have much trouble taking it down.

However, its formless and shapeless nature, visible only to its target as if existing in another world, was a different story.

This characteristic made it more than twice as difficult to deal with!

’Most of the time, it’s formless and shapeless, only manifesting in the physical world the moment it attacks.’

"I’ll temporarily call this demonic creature the ’Formless Demon,’" Su Ye muttered to himself.

He was somewhat worried.

If the Foundation Establishment cultivator on the Ghostly Flood Dragon today...

...had not been him, but Luo Xiyin or Luo Qing’e.

Faced with the Formless Demon, it was likely that not a single person on the entire spirit ship would have survived!

’And another thing...’ An image of the Formless Demon appeared in Su Ye’s mind.

’That pale, slender, shriveled, and lanky body... it seems to share some traits with the pale monsters that Songhezi and Navasen transformed into, doesn’t it?’

’Could this be the work of the natives?’

’But... how could they create such a terrifying monster?’

’Formless and shapeless... that’s a Great Technique...’

Su Ye fell into deep thought, his eyes flickering.

...

And just as Su Ye was pondering this...

BZZZT.

The Ghostly Flood Dragon suddenly shuddered.

—It had finished digesting the Formless Demon.

Through the [Harmony] link.

A stream of pure, gentle spiritual energy flowed from the Ghostly Flood Dragon into Su Ye’s body.

Wherever the spiritual energy passed,

...a pleasant and comfortable feeling, like soaking in a hot spring, welled up within him.

"Phew..." Su Ye’s expression relaxed slightly.

Immediately after, within his Dantian Qi Sea...

...the spiritual energy surged, and a single drop of azure Liquid Magical Power condensed.

DRIP.

It fell into his Mana Lake.

"This is...?"

Su Ye was startled.

He could sense that his total Magical Power had increased by a single drop!

After it devoured the Formless Demon, the pure spiritual energy fed back by the Ghostly Flood Dragon...

...had actually acted like the most supreme Spirit Pill, increasing the amount of Su Ye’s Liquid Magical Power and advancing his cultivation!

However, Su Ye could feel that...

...this was not the most significant change!

’The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s spirituality has increased a little?’

Su Ye mused, sensing the now more active Ghostly Flood Dragon.

Spirituality.

It was an indispensable quality for high-tier magical treasures and spirit ships in the Cultivation Realm.

Legend had it that a tier-four spirit vessel would give birth to a ship spirit with its own consciousness!

Of course, the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s current change...

...was not enough to create a ship spirit, but its spirituality had clearly increased.

’And this increase... it seems to be essential for evolving into a tier-three spirit vessel?’

Lost in thought, Su Ye opened the ship’s status panel.

Two years ago, the Ghostly Flood Dragon had gathered 500,000 living souls and advanced to a tier-two, peak-grade spirit ship.

Having reached this stage, Su Ye naturally wanted to upgrade it to a tier-three spirit vessel!

By doing so, he could open the gate to the Crystal Realm for himself!

However, on the ship’s status panel...

...the upgrade button had always remained grayed out.

When he immersed his consciousness to investigate, the only information he received was a jumble of thoughts like ’insufficient’ and ’lacking’.

Su Ye had originally thought this was because he hadn’t found enough tier-three spirit wood and spirit iron, or that the number of living souls in the [Soul Abyss Blood Prison] was insufficient.

’But now, it seems... the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s spirituality was what was lacking?’

Su Ye’s eyes gleamed.

Nurturing spirituality often had no shortcuts.

Generally, it could only increase slowly over time.

’But... can devouring a Formless Demon increase spirituality?’

Su Ye’s gaze shifted to the wrecked spirit ship with its broken sail, and an idea stirred in his mind.

’Perhaps it’s necessary to investigate the origin of these Formless Demons.’

...

「A month later.」

「Donglong Island.」

「A large residence at the port.」

Su Ye took a light sip of Cloud Mist Tea, listening to a Luo Family cultivator summarize the information gathered during this period.

"Supreme Elder, we’ve finished our investigation. The spirit ship is named the ’Hongli’."

"This spirit ship docked at Donglong Island’s port four months ago and registered some information."

The Luo Family cultivator nodded and activated a jade slip.

The portrait of a bearded cultivator with a leopard-like head and round eyes materialized in mid-air.

"This is the Hongli’s captain, Yang Ling, at the sixth level of Qi Refining. He led a small Demon Hunting team of over ten people."

"After resupplying on Donglong Island, he weighed anchor and set sail for the Dongning Sea Region to hunt demons..."

"Two months ago, a merchant ship in the Dongning Sea Region spotted the Hongli. Yang Ling sold them some demon beast meat..."

"Did anything strange happen to that merchant ship? For example... any unexplained disappearances or deaths?"

Su Ye interrupted him to ask.

"No." The Luo Family cultivator thought for a moment, then nodded with certainty.

"The merchant ship registered forty-seven people when it set sail, and it returned with forty-seven people."

Su Ye was lost in thought.

’No disappearances or deaths, and the Hongli was also acting normally.’

’This means...’

’...that two months ago, when the merchant ship encountered it, the Hongli was still a normal Demon Hunting Ship!’

’So what did they encounter afterward?’

’What led to the entire crew being wiped out and the ship becoming host to a terrifying Formless Demon?’

Su Ye’s eyes narrowed. He took the jade slip and swept it with his Divine Sense.

"Huh?"

A few breaths later, a hint of surprise showed in his eyes.

Based on the testimonies and coordinates from several merchant ships that had sighted it, the Luo Family cultivator had roughly mapped out the Hongli’s sailing route!

And by extrapolating from this route, the Hongli’s final heading before the disaster was...

"South?"

A sea chart appeared in Su Ye’s mind.

The Dongning Sea Region was near the edge of the known world, and its southernmost part was the Mist Sea!

On the sea chart Su Ye visualized, a small red dot representing the Hongli moved southward, as if...

...sailing into an abyss?

"South?" Su Ye murmured.

For some reason, he was reminded of Luo Qing’e’s compulsion to go ’south’.

’Could there be a connection?’

...

「Meanwhile.」

「Weiyuan Immortal City.」

「Inside a shipyard.」

"Mr. Zhong, could you take a look? Can this wrecked spirit ship still be repaired?"

...

...

More this afternoon.