Chapter 339: One Whale Falls, All Things Come to Life

The scene on the live stream once again set off a storm across the entire internet.

Ning Fei was far too popular right now. Reposts of his videos were everywhere.

When the viewers saw Ning Fei swimming underwater with over a dozen sperm whales swimming right above his head, everyone felt a shiver run through their bodies.

Some people's immediate first thought was to wonder if it was all special effects.

In many video game promotional trailers, giant Kun could be seen flying across the sky.

But compared to the scene Ning Fei was experiencing right now, those trailers paled in comparison.

Ning Fei swam forward, following the pod of sperm whales.

He had already found the injured sperm whale with the malfunctioning Positioning System.

However, he didn't rush in to disturb it.

This was because the sperm whale pod was currently holding a ritual.

A ritual where they accompanied the eldest member of their pod on a final swim through the depths before its death.

Everyone watched the scene in silence.

The whales' sorrow seemed to spread, reaching through the screen to infect the viewers watching the broadcast.

Right at that moment, the elderly sperm whale in the center seemed to lose the strength to keep its eyes open. Slowly, little by little, its eyelids slid shut.

In its final moments, its gaze was calm and at peace.

It stopped beating its tail.

Instantly, the other members of its pod continued their mournful cries as they scattered, slowly swimming in circles around its body.

And the elderly sperm whale began to sink, dropping straight down with a gentle grace.

"One whale falls, all things come to life."

"Scientists have discovered that in the Pacific Ocean, there are at least forty-three species of organisms that rely on whale falls to survive."

At that moment, Ning Fei's calm, steady voice drifted from the live stream.

The visual of the whale fall, paired with Ning Fei's voice, made his stream just as endlessly captivating as an episode of Animal World narrated by Teacher Zhao Zhongxiang.

"It is truly a coincidence today."

"Scientists have observed fewer than fifty whale falls in progress, and most of those were just the remains of a whale long after the fall had occurred."

"This whale fall might be one of the rarest spectacles to witness in the ocean."

As the viewers watched the scene, they felt nothing but sheer awe.

A pod of whales wailed in mourning as they circled an elderly whale that had just passed away.

Meanwhile, that dead whale's fifty-ton body sank downward at an unusually slow pace.

"No wonder a whale fall is called 'the most romantic death in the world.'"

"This is incredible! I can't believe I'm seeing something like this in Temple Master Ning's stream!"

"I love Temple Master Ning's stream so much. It's just constant surprises!"

"Look at that pod of whales, they're so sad!"

The viewers flooded the screen with comments to express their emotions.

Deeply moved by the moment, Ning Fei continued to speak.

"Death is the final ending every living thing must eventually face."

"But for some, the death of one life is the beginning for many more."

"The ocean is the cradle of life, yet once you dive deeper than two hundred meters below the surface, darkness becomes the norm. The sunlight that reaches down there cannot provide enough energy for life."

"Deep-sea life survives by relying on the 'snow' that falls from the shallow waters above."

"It snows in the ocean. Food scraps and organic debris from shallow-water creatures drift downward like snowflakes, and the life down below feeds on that."

"A single dead whale provides a body of food greater than all the organic snow that falls in a patch of ocean over a thousand years combined."

"Tens of thousands of organisms depend on the whale's remains to maintain the marine ecosystem."

"And after its death, the whale gives everything it has back to the ocean."

"That is a whale fall."

Ning Fei was profoundly touched.

Daoism holds compassion for all living things. Although a Daoist might not be overjoyed by external gains or saddened by personal losses, their empathy remains. Whenever they encounter a life worthy of reverence, they will quietly pray for it.

At this moment, that was exactly what Ning Fei was doing.

This whale fall was simply too breathtaking.

Eventually, the sperm whale's carcass sank into the silt on the ocean floor, kicking up a cloud of mud.

The other sperm whales let out a few more sorrowful calls before they slowly swam away into the distance.

The dead whale remained in the freezing seawater, quietly waiting for its fate.

"Why do I suddenly want to cry?"

One viewer remarked sadly after seeing the whale's death.

"It's probably because such a poignant, magnificent death easily stirs people's hearts."

"The ocean really is too magical. To think animals possess such emotion."

"We could probably only see this kind of sight by following Temple Master Ning."

"Sigh, animal emotions really are much purer sometimes."

Right then, Ning Fei picked up his swimming pace, heading straight for the sperm whale pod.

The viewers grew confused again.

What was Temple Master Ning doing?

Did he want to swim alongside the sperm whale pod?

At that moment, they heard Ning Fei speak.

"After a whale fall, sharks are the first to discover the corpse and start eating."

"Many sharks will come, scrambling to devour the whale's body."

"After that, the scavengers arrive. Octopuses and squids will use the whale's skeleton as a nest, along with all kinds of crustaceans."

"Even years from now, many types of bone-eating worms will attach themselves to the skeleton."

"I need to get out of here quickly. This place is going to belong to the sharks in a minute."

Hearing Ning Fei's words, the viewers couldn't help but grow tense.

If there was one animal in the ocean that scared people the most, it was probably the shark.

Their serrated teeth and vicious, menacing appearance always struck sheer panic into people's hearts.

"Temple Master Ning, get out of there!"

"Yeah! Normal people deep-sea dive in cages. You don't have any protection at all. Running into sharks is too dangerous."

"Only a master would be so bold!"

"All I can say is, what a beast!"

Hearing that sharks were about to show up, everyone urged Ning Fei to leave the area immediately.

However, Ning Fei still had a task to complete.

Because he had encountered the whale fall earlier, he hadn't recklessly entered the whale pod. But now that the whale fall was over, it was time for him to complete his task.

Ning Fei swam at a rapid pace.

Sperm whales normally swam very slowly.

So before long, Ning Fei caught up to the sperm whale pod.

They weren't far from the coastline here, so the ocean floor wasn't particularly deep. Previously, Ning Fei had been at the bottom, looking upward.

But this time, he began swimming straight up.

Seeing this scene, the viewers were stunned.

"What is Temple Master Ning doing?"

"It looks like he's heading for the sperm whale pod!"

"Does he have a death wish?"

Everyone cried out in shock.

After all, sperm whales were massive creatures.

With a single opening of their massive mouths, they could swallow thousands, even tens of thousands, of fish.

A human wouldn't even be enough to pick their teeth with.

Yet despite that, Ning Fei swam straight up toward the sperm whales!

"Gulp!"

The viewers subconsciously swallowed hard.

Because the live stream at this moment was becoming more and more shocking.

Ning Fei had already arrived next to the lowest sperm whale in the pod.

He stopped right by the sperm whale's eye and waved at it.

The sperm whale stared at him with a gentle gaze, seemingly very interested in Ning Fei.

It seemed the sperm whale had never encountered such an interesting creature at the bottom of the sea before.

But when the viewers saw that massive eye, they were left utterly speechless.

Even the hands they used to type comments were trembling slightly.

That was a sperm whale! A fifty-ton sperm whale! A body dozens, even hundreds of times larger than a human's!

And Temple Master Ning was just casually greeting it, completely unafraid?

Just watching it was enough to make the viewers' hearts pound with fear.