Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The giant ship broke into the sea waves. It pulled open a white line in the dark water as it slowly turned towards the depths of the Cold Sea.

Wu –

Wu –

Wu –

The sounds of a low and distant horn came from Black City. This was a necessary step when every ship set sail. It was meant as a prayer to the Cold Sea, imploring it to show mercy and not cause too much death and slaughter.

But people dying…was impossible to avoid. This was the price and penalty that demons had to pay for stepping onto the Cold Sea!

Black City was cold, but the Cold Sea was even colder than that. As the big ship sailed across the sea, the chill was naturally displayed to its full potential.

From when she boarded the ship, Mian Ya snuck into the bedding. Even though only her small head was exposed to the outside, she still shivered from the cold.

Her teeth constantly chattered, sending out small 'ka ka' sounds in the cabin. It truly was shameful. Mian Ya's face reddened a bit, but this wasn't something she could control.

Qin Yu retracted his gaze from the sea and sky and turned to look at her. Although his cultivation wasn't weak, the chill of the Cold Sea was far too terrifying.

Not to mention, they hadn't truly entered the depths of the Cold Sea yet. If things continued like this and got worse, Mian Ya definitely wouldn't be able to endure it.

He looked at the cabin door and hesitated. Mian Ya could guess what he was thinking and desperately shook her head. "Young master…I'm not cold…please don't bother senior…"

She didn't know much about King Mystery's status. No one had explained it to her, and she smartly didn't ask.

But this didn't mean that Mian Ya was ignorant about his great strength and fearfulness.

The strong Demon Commanders Black Astral, Old Fox, and Shadowless Demon, had all been obedient as little baby cats in front of King Mystery, fully respectful in their actions.

She certainly didn't dare to approach him!

Qin Yu sighed inwardly. He walked over to the bed and sat on it. "Come closer to me." As he finished speaking, he looked outside. Beyond the window, it was overcast. The skies and seas were almost black.

He immersed within, losing track of time. After an unknown period of time, Qin Yu sensed something.

He looked down at Mian Ya who was hugging onto him tightly, nearly drilled into his arms. His lips twitched. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

Although he had almost fully recovered from the weakness in his body during this long journey, he always felt lacking in energy.

Qin Yu had experienced this before. Proper rest was more efficient than stubbornly continuing.

On the second day of the giant ship's journey into the Cold Sea, the chill in the air rose to a higher level. Then, the first wave of attacks from the sea finally erupted.

This was a kind of bone fish with jet-black scales covering it…the reason it was called a bone fish was because the outside of its body was covered in a layer of pale white bone armor. It was skinny, as if it really was just a pile of bones.

The bone fish tore through the sea surface, jumping into the air at an astonishing speed. They shot towards people like exploding arrows.

An unlucky fellow was directly torn in half. He cried out pitifully as he fell into the sea, his body instantly gobbled up with nothing left over.

Of course, more bone fish were killed. The eyes of the brigands glowed. Without caring for their wounded bodies, they crushed the bone fish and then put their corpses in their respective storage treasures.

Someone who was impatient directly put a bone fish into his mouth and started chewing. Traces of blood splashed out. His joyous laughter filled the air.

The attack of the bone fish lasted a full two hours. After crossing an invisible line, the ship seemed to have escaped their hunting range. They soon disappeared in a few breaths of time.

The brigands fell to the ground, gasping for breath. But their faces were flooded with excitement. Since they hadn't died, they would surely make a great deal of money. This was something worth celebrating.

People began to clean up the battlefield and patch up the small markings and damages left behind on the ship's hull. On the Cold Sea, this ship was everyone's hope to survive.

What appeared to be a tiny crack now might lead to an incomparably terrifying result. Not even the tiniest damage to the ship could be ignored.

A post-battle calculation was carried out. About a hundred of the brigands had died. This wasn't a high number.

Casting Sea relaxed. Although he had gone out to sea ahead of schedule, the behavior of the Cold Sea was still normal and there hadn't been much change.

He looked over at a peaceful cabin somewhere. As everyone came out to hunt for the bone fish, those people had maintained their peace and silence.

He subconsciously furrowed his eyebrows. This was because he knew that this silence indicated that they had an even greater goal.

Why had they come here? If a subordinate familiar with Casting Sea was here, they would discover that their boss' gaze wasn't so simple.

The skies turned darker, causing the sea to appear even blacker…of course, in this relationship, it was possible for the reverse to be true.

Mian Ya had already adapted to hugging onto Qin Yu to remain warm. She often blushed, finding it somewhat enjoyable.

Of course, with the cold having gotten this bad, she had to keep close to Qin Yu as much as she could. Otherwise the terrifying chill outside would soon turn her into a lump of ice.

This was because it was the seventh day since the ship had ventured into the sea. From here on out, this was where they truly entered the depths of the Cold Sea.

…

Entering the depths of the Cold Sea meant that the true dangers had just begun.

The first wave of attacks here came from a giant deep-sea octopus. Its body was dark blue like a dazzling ice crystal.

But while it was beautiful, this also represented absolute terror. Its tentacles were over 100,000 feet long and it wrapped itself around the ship. One could clearly hear the sound of the hull groaning and creaking.

The suckers underneath the tentacles revealed a horrifying swallowing strength. While the brigands on the ship were ferocious, in front of this octopus they were as fragile as an eggthat had its shell peeled off, leaving only a translucent film behind.

Qin Yu witnessed it with his own eyes. A Black City brigand was grabbed by a sucker and shriveled up in the blink of an eye. His flesh and bones were sucked out, and all that remained was a thin layer of skin that sorrowfully fell down.

This fight lasted a full day and night. After the deep-sea octopus ate its fill, it let go of the damaged ship and vanished into the pitch black sea.

The sky was black. The sea was black. Only the ship's lights released a dreary light.

The atmosphere on the ship began to change after this battle. Some people believed that the ship had ventured far enough out to sea and it was time to return.

But this proposition was directly overruled by Casting Sea. The reason was that the business he received hadn't been completed yet.

This reason was good. Of course, the most important reason was that Casting Sea was the captain of this ship, and he was also sufficiently strong.

So after some repairs and maintenance, the ship continued sailing deeper into the sea.

Now, fewer than 3000 of the brigands that boarded from Black City were left. Around a quarter of their numbers had died.

"Boss, the deep sea blue octopus shouldn't have appeared here. Since we went out to sea ahead of schedule, I fear this means that the sea has changed." Those that had the qualifications to speak in this cabin were all people of high status.

Including Casting Sea, there were only six people. One of them was the woman who looked at Qin Yu unhappily. When everyone heard these words they furrowed their eyebrows, alarm and fear in the depths of their cruel eyes.

No one knew the reasons for why the sea changed. But each time it happened, it would be the most terrifying period of time in the Cold Sea. This was because the rules of the sea that the people of Black City had slowly discovered by sacrificing countless lives would all become useless.

Moreover, some terrifying life forms hidden deep in the Cold Sea would appear on the surface and attack them.

This was the most deadly and dangerous factor!

For instance, that deep sea blue octopus…there were more than a few people who were knowledgeable about it. And the terrors of a changing sea weren't a secret in Black City.

This was why some people spoke up, proposing that the trip come to a stop and the ship return to Black City ahead of time.

The wild and rough woman had an even wilder name. Her name was Lynx. She had a cold expression, "We can still suppress the current situation. But if new accidents occur, it will become extremely troublesome."

They could suppress complaints in a small range. But once things surpassed their control, even if they were the masters of the ship they would still have to obey the majority.

Otherwise, did they really think that the brigands of Black City wouldn't commit mutiny, killing the crew and seizing the ship? Similar matters had occurred before.

Of course, no one dared to have such thoughts easily. To control a ship and have the qualifications to go out to sea, such a person had to be a peak character of Black City.

Even if such a character could be killed, it could only be done atop a mountain of corpses.

It was said before that even brigands feared death. And if Casting Sea and these people died, the ship would be half ruined.

Did they really think the crew wouldn't come up with any countermeasures or have a trump card?

But when it came to things like accidents, when one popped up, there would often be a second.