The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 254: Sea Monster

At this moment, all the crew members had fallen into a frenzied state, diving underwater to madly collect spirit herbs, eagerly picking up third-grade and fourth-grade herbs. Everyone was overjoyed.

Having a boat capable of diving made collecting underwater spirit herbs incredibly convenient. Everyone could quickly resurface for air, and before long, they had gathered a substantial harvest. Each crew member was so happy that they couldn’t stop grinning.

This trip was more than enough to make them all filthy rich. Even if they returned home now, they wouldn't regret the journey.

But this was the Death Sea. How could they possibly collect herbs here in peace?

If gathering herbs were this easy, every ship would be here, and there’s no way they'd be allowed to grab all the benefits for free.

Not even half an hour had passed when a loud cry echoed from the dolphins that were on guard in the distance.

Upon hearing the cry, Ye Qingluan's face changed instantly.

“Something’s wrong! Something’s coming! Dabu says that thing is at least fourth-grade, far beyond what we can handle. We need to run immediately!”

Ye Qingluan had just entered the ship to catch her breath, and upon hearing Dabu’s alarm, she quickly shouted to the crew members outside the ship.

Hearing this, the rest of the crew’s expressions changed dramatically. They glanced at the fourth-grade spirit herbs scattered around, clearly reluctant to leave them, but they forced themselves to look away and swam towards the Shenlong ship as fast as they could.

“Get on the ship!” Nie Qingcheng used sound transmission to remind all the crew members again before quickly swimming towards the Shenlong.

At this moment, no one dared to be greedy. No one aboard the ship was a fool; to stay behind out of greed was certain death, and no one could expect their teammates to wait for them.

Soon, everyone was aboard the ship. The Shenlong quickly raised its anchor and sped away at top speed.

A colossal creature, at least ten times the size of the Shenlong, followed closely behind. But in the end, the Shenlong was just a bit faster, narrowly avoiding an attack from the unknown beast as it fled into the distance.

The gigantic creature chased after them relentlessly, but it was ultimately slower than the Shenlong. It gradually fell further behind until it finally gave up the pursuit.

When they saw the massive beast, everyone turned pale. Only after escaping far enough did they collectively wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads, all feeling a deep sense of fear.

They had just brushed shoulders with death. Had their reactions been even a bit slower, they would likely have met their end right there.

Miao Peipei patted her chest, still shaken, and said, “That was too close! What on earth was that thing? It moved so fast.”

“If it had been any other ship here today, even a five-story treasure ship, it would have been destroyed with all hands on deck.”

“It’s only because the Shenlong is fast enough that we survived!”

Nie Qingcheng glanced at her and said, “Do you think I suggested bringing the Shenlong into the Death Sea for no reason? The Shenlong is faster than most sea creatures, allowing us to outrun most of the dangers in the ocean.”

“So my judgment was that the Shenlong’s capabilities would be enough to cross the Death Sea. It seems I wasn’t wrong!”

Ye Qingluan nodded and said, “With Dabu on lookout and the Shenlong’s speed, we can avoid most of the dangers in the Death Sea. It’s just a shame that there’s something like this here. We probably won’t be able to come back to this spot again.”

“That escape just now was way too close. Next time, we might not be so lucky!”

Nie Qingcheng smiled and said, “No worries. The Death Sea is vast, and there are definitely many more places where spirit herbs grow in abundance. Our journey is far from over, so everyone can look forward to getting rich.”

As soon as she mentioned getting rich, everyone smiled, forgetting the peril they had just been in.

“Alright! Whether you all get rich or not, I know for sure that I’m going to. Go take a bath and change clothes. Drinks are on me!”

As Long Xuan finished speaking, cheers erupted across the deck.

...

This was the first day in the Death Sea, and from this day forward, Long Xuan could no longer just laze around in his cabin.

Ever since entering the Death Sea, the Shenlong had encountered dangers every day. The frequency of these dangers was far higher than in any other sea they had sailed. How could he possibly sit back and work on modifying his Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu?

Fortunately, the Shenlong was incredibly fast and had terrifyingly strong defenses, capable of handling nearly every danger they encountered at sea.

Whenever they encountered a threat, the Shenlong could use its high speed to escape, narrowly avoiding one deadly situation after another.

However, danger and opportunity coexist. Although the Death Sea is perilous, it is also filled with treasures.

During the time the Shenlong sailed through the Death Sea, it encountered countless treasures.

The abundant aquatic spiritual herbs growing on the seabed are just the beginning. The crew also found pearls inside clam shells, valuable coral, and mysterious minerals whose purposes are unknown.

Every crew member made a fortune, their wealth multiplying many times over.

But without a doubt, the one who earned the most was the captain, Long Xuan.

It's a rule of the sea that during an expedition, the crew must hand over half of their findings to the captain. After all, without the captain's ship, they wouldn’t even qualify to set sail, let alone find anything.

The people aboard the Shenlong were undoubtedly trustworthy. These were all good people, and when it came time to hand over their spoils, they did so readily and honestly, without hiding anything. Long Xuan was very at ease with them.

With everyone handing over half of their wealth, the combined fortune was truly staggering. From that point on, Long Xuan no longer hesitated to sail through dangerous seas.

It’s worth noting that wealth can drive people to recklessness. The allure of vast riches can make a person take great risks, even giving them the courage to face death.

Originally, Mo Zuo and Mo You had a deep fear of the sea—they were terrified of the ocean.

But after seeing every crew member amass such great wealth, they gradually couldn't sit still either, and they began to lose their fear of death. Without Long Xuan needing to force them, they pushed through their deep-seated fear of the ocean and forced themselves to dive in and search for treasures.

At first, they were scared half to death and made many embarrassing mistakes.

However, as they dived more and more, they became used to it, overcoming their fear of the deep sea, until eventually, they jumped into the water with no more hesitation than anyone else.

At that point, they had truly become combat-ready. Once they were no longer afraid of the water, their combat abilities ranked above most of the other crew members. Long Xuan was very pleased.

As for Young Master Mo, he grew even more.

After a series of real combat experiences, he was no longer just a wealthy young man with strength but no battle experience. He had quickly risen to become one of the top fighters on the ship.

However, his nature remained the same as before; he wasn’t particularly interested in the wealth of the sea. Instead, he was fascinated by the various dangers and thrilling events he encountered. He even planned to write a book about his adventures, a 'Travelogue of Young Master Mo', and he had already written dozens of chapters. His mindset was completely different from normal people.

Regarding this crew member, Long Xuan felt somewhat helpless.

This rich young master had boarded the ship without invitation, and he held a prestigious status—rumored to be the heir of the Mo Clan. How could there be any room for error? Long Xuan was terrified that something might happen to him on the ship, which would lead to trouble with the Mo Clan.

Initially, Long Xuan had intended to kick this uninvited Young Master Mo off the ship.

But then, a sudden turn of events occurred. Di Xin suddenly boarded the ship and sped it up to full speed. At that point, it was too late to send Young Master Mo off the ship.

Long Xuan could only allow him to remain aboard.

The voyage continued amid daily dangers, until two months later, when the Shenlong reached the very center of the Death Sea. It was there that they encountered the greatest danger of their journey.

At this moment, massive tentacles, as black as ink, stretched out from the ocean. Each tentacle was dozens of times wider than the Shenlong and so long they could blot out the sky, casting a shadow over everything.

Each time a tentacle emerged, the sky darkened, as if they could pierce a hole in the heavens. As more of these colossal tentacles rose, the sea erupted into towering waves, like tsunamis.

The Shenlong Ship was shaken violently, on the verge of being overturned by the gigantic waves.

Amid the crashing waves, there was also a strange, thunderous roar from some unknown creature. The sound pierced the sky, almost shattering everyone's eardrums.

All the crew members clutched their ears in agony, their faces pale, staring at the terrifying sight with eyes full of fear.

"What the hell is that!"

"Damn it! What is this thing? It's huge!"

"Run! It's a sea monster! It's fighting something!"

...

Looking up at the monstrous creature, all the crew members were dumbfounded, their mouths agape.

Long Xuan's scalp tingled as he stared at the massive creature in disbelief. What was this thing? How could it be so enormous?

Judging by the shape of the tentacles, it looked like the tentacles of a squid.

Was this sea so dark because of the ink it had released? Long Xuan thought, his heart pounding.

Just then, a loud crash came from beneath the ship. A massive tentacle surged up from under the Shenlong, sending the ship flying high into the air, flinging it a great distance away.

Screams erupted from all over the ship...

When the ship finally slammed back into the ocean, the Shenlong had been thrown far from the area where the tentacles had risen.

It was a miracle that the ship hadn’t broken apart in the process.

However, the crew did not fare as well. More than half of them were knocked unconscious by the impact, and those who were still conscious were seriously injured, grimacing in pain.

It was only thanks to the barrier that had risen around the ship, protecting everyone inside, that most of them hadn’t been flung into the sea.

"Get us out of here!"

Despite the discomfort in his body, Long Xuan forced himself to steer the Shenlong out of the area as fast as possible.

It wasn’t until they had sailed a great distance, with no sight of the tentacles blocking out the sky, that Long Xuan finally slowed the ship and brought it to a stop.

He had to stop because the ship’s hull had been damaged by that strike—there was now a large crack in the thousand-year ironwood.

The cabin had already taken on a significant amount of water, and many of the crew’s lower-level sleeping quarters were flooded.

Even other parts of the ship had sustained varying degrees of damage.

Long Xuan’s heart sank to the depths. Was this the true danger of the Death Sea? In the face of such a terrifying creature, no ship could possibly survive unscathed.