Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1160: The Vortex at the Center of the Cold Sea

The ship that came from Nether Island was called the Nether Ship. This name wasn’t fresh or inventive, but it didn’t affect its incredible performance.

Qin Yu soon grasped detailed information on the ship from the four royal blood juniors. King Mystery had indeed put in a great deal of effort to take out the best ship that the Nether Royal Bloodline had constructed so far.

Without a doubt, even if he was an Abyssal True King, he still had to pay a considerable price – after all, even ghosts knew that his reason for entering the deep sea was just a diversion.

On the fifth day in the Cold Sea, the Nether Ship was still warm. The four royal blood juniors were filled with excitement.

According to the speed of the ship, their position was now close to the extreme edges of where the Nether Royal Bloodline had explored in the Cold Sea. And out of the entire royal bloodline, no more than 20 people had come here.

Just this fact alone was enough to boast about for many years!

On the tenth day of sailing, the ship was still warm. But the warmth had slightly reduced, giving the feeling of an oncoming spring breeze.

When the Nether Ship broke through the waters and drew a long white line in the sea, the part of the hull that came into contact with the sea water had pale white frost marks.

The four royal blood juniors were responsible for checking the condition of the hull. This was their main duty, so of course they had discovered this.

Seeing the pitch black skies and sea, they subconsciously furrowed their eyebrows. They could sense the worry in each other’s eyes.

On the 17th day of sailing, the bottom half of the Nether Ship was covered in frost. The temperature had fallen visibly.

Moreover, the most terrifying thing was that there was no way to resist the chill in the air. It seized every chance to sneak into their bodies. In order to ensure they weren’t affected, they had no choice but to constantly use up demonic energy.

On this day, besides King Mystery, everyone on the ship wore special winter clothes produced by the Nether Royal Bloodline.

The red clothes were festive, like a cloud of burning flames. After putting them on, the tense atmosphere on the ship relaxed a little.

21st day of sailing.

Although this was a difference of a mere four days, the chill atop the Cold Sea rose by a whole new level. This was because the entire Nether Ship was covered in a layer of white frost, and as time passed, this frost grew increasingly thick and hard.

The large red lantern on the bow of the ship still shined. But what was scary was that its light could only be maintained within the range of the ship. Once it radiated outwards, it was swallowed up by the darkness.

That’s right, the expression ‘swallowing’ was correct. It was like countless voracious mouths were hidden in the silent darkness. They took light as food, cleanly gobbling up every bit they could get.

It grew even colder.

26th day of sailing.

At this distance, they had far surpassed the currently recorded exploration range of the Nether Royal Bloodline.

The ship came to a stop, because they finally encountered their first attack from a Cold Sea life form.

The Cold Sea was located deep in the abyss, so of course this life form wasn’t a standard abyssal demon beast.

The darkness beyond the ship was not a place where light could shine. Thus, no one had any idea what this life form looked like.

But this didn’t affect their ability to clearly sense how terrifying it was…

Terrifying was of course terrifying. There was nothing else to say about it. If a Cold Sea life form could survive this deep in, even a fool would know that it wasn’t something good to provoke.

Qin Yu couldn’t see through the darkness, but he still ‘saw’ the giant pair of eyes hidden in the icy cold water. They were cruel, indifferent, and showed a hint of dread.

The object of this dread was of course King Mystery who stood on the bow of the ship, frowning and staring at the darkness beyond.

After staring at each other in silence for a long time, the pair of eyes deep within the sea hid themselves away and the Nether Ship continued forward.

Although danger had turned into safety, the atmosphere on the ship grew increasingly dignified. It was unknown whether the four royal blood juniors felt too cold or too much fear, but their faces paled and they fell into a deep silence.

Feeling Mian Ya’s shivering hand, Qin Yu looked at her and said. “Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems.”

At the bow of the ship, King Mystery’s ears wiggled. He immediately frowned and almost jumped up and started cursing.

As if there won’t be any problems you idiot!

Even if he had never encountered that life form in the sea just now, solely by feeling its aura he could sense that it would be troublesome to deal with.

He could only say it was luck that he managed to frighten it away. Otherwise, who knew what the current situation would be like?

Qin Yu could feel King Mystery’s annoyed look. He lowered his head and didn’t respond, because he knew that King Mystery had a good reason for being annoyed.

Moreover, there wasn’t anything Qin Yu could do about it…because the Nether Ship hadn’t reached its final destination.

30th day of sailing.

The Nether Ship had transformed into a giant lump of ice. The layer of frost and white ice gradually deepened into blackness, almost merging with the Cold Sea.

Perhaps the black ice meant the invasion of darkness. So the range at which the lantern at the bow shined was pushed back a great deal.

It managed to cover around half the ship. The other half was hidden in darkness.

Although it was the same ship, the half that was covered in darkness and the half that was illuminated by light felt like two entirely different worlds.

No one thought about walking into the darkness to test what would happen. Even Qin Yu suppressed his curiosity.

This was because when King Mystery looked at the darkness, even a blind man could see how serious he was.

The effect of the winter clothing was now minimal. With the consent of King Mystery, the four royal blood juniors took out a red crystal and injected demonic energy into it, burning it.

The red flames shined on the red winter clothes, causing a red light to reflect on their faces. But, it couldn’t cover up the rising fear in their eyes.

39th day of sailing.

On the frozen Nether Ship, the light from the lantern could now only cover the bow of the ship for around a hundred feet.

The four royal blood juniors and Mian Ya were no longer able to persist. Because all the methods they had to protect themselves from the cold had failed.

They received pills given to them by King Mystery. The four royal blood juniors knew that after taking them, they would fall into a condition similar to a false death.

Then, they could wait to wake up. Or perhaps they would sleep forever.

They were certainly frightened. The two women’s eyes turned red and their pale lips shivered, but in the end they didn’t say anything.

They pleaded with their eyes. No one wished to die, and they weren’t an exception to this.

But they knew that in today’s situation…there was nothing they could do to change it.

As the four royal blood juniors fell unconscious, Qin Yu looked at Mian Ya. “I won’t let you die.”

Mian Ya squeezed out a smile. She believed Qin Yu’s words, but sometimes, the outcome could not be controlled.

When she fell asleep, King Mystery said, “Qin Yu, do you still want to continue?”

Qin Yu nodded. “Yes.”

44th day of sailing.

King Mystery made a move, this time blocking a deep sea life form that attacked the Nether Ship. It was clearly stronger than the last one. Even when facing an Abyssal True King, it still had thoughts of hunting him.

A great battle broke out!

A slaughter at the Abyssal True King realm was carried out in the pitch black skies above the sea. Qin Yu could only protect Mian Ya from being affected.

As for the four royal blood juniors, he could only say sorry and hope that their luck was good enough.

King Mystery returned wounded. The deep sea life form he fought with roared in pain and anger before its aura vanished into the darkness.

45th day of sailing.

King Mystery opened his eyes. As he moved, the layer of ice that covered his body shattered into powder.

He turned and looked at the bodies of the four royal blood juniors. Not all of them had been lucky enough.

Two of them, one man and one woman, had their chests sunken in. Their mouths and noses were filled with dark red blood that had already frozen over.

Their aura was gone.

Qin Yu’s face was pale. He said, “Sorry.”

He was interrupted before he finished speaking. King Mystery said, “Life and death are fated. If your ability is limited, I won’t blame you.”

He looked at Qin Yu, his gaze faint, “Will you continue?”

Qin Yu was silent for a moment. He nodded.

46th day of sailing.

The scope of the lantern’s light was reduced to a range of 30 feet.

The burning crystal on the deck had long since been covered in ice. It emitted no more heat.

King Mystery gazed at the surrounding darkness, his expression even fainter.

Qin Yu held Mian Ya in his arms. This woman’s aura was like a candle light in the deep winter cold. It could extinguish at any moment.

47th day of sailing.

The ship was attacked once again.

This time, the battle ended much faster than before. But it was clear that King Mystery’s condition was also much worse.

He should have used some sort of super powerful trump card to quickly repel the attacking Cold Sea life form.

He sat at the bow. Within the light that shined less than 20 feet, he looked at Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was silent.

King Mystery took a deep breath and closed his eyes. But just before he closed his eyes, his pupils showed even greater indifference.

48th day of sailing.

Everything was quiet.

This was true quiet. The surrounding darkness was like the void, and one couldn’t even hear the sound of the waves.

King Mystery was still controlling his breathing.

Qin Yu hugged Mian Ya. He looked at the darkness beyond. His pupils were relaxed and it was unknown what he was thinking.

49th day of sailing.

With a sigh, King Mystery opened his eyes. He looked at Qin Yu beside him. It wasn’t because they were friends that they were now sitting so close to each other, but because the light of the lantern was barely enough to cover them now.

“Qin Yu, I didn’t want things to come this far, but I have no other choice.”

His voice was calm and his eyes were even calmer. If indifference was also an emotion, then there was no emotion in his eyes right now.

Qin Yu turned his head. His neck cracked. His bones that were frozen stiff turned like rusted metal.

He paused and said, “Senior wants to kill me?”

King Mystery said, “I don’t want to, but I must. Otherwise you and I will both be buried in the Cold Sea.”

As he spoke, the light that covered them was constantly shrinking.

The feeling it gave was like a giant mouth closing in around them. When the mouth closed, that was of course when it would start chewing and enjoy its delicious meal.

King Mystery had no idea what was hiding in the darkness, but he wasn’t curious to find out at all.

If he thought before that there was a chance that the True King who vanished from this tribe was lost here somewhere…that thought had now thoroughly dissipated.

The extreme depths of the Cold Sea…possessed true terrors. Even an Abyssal True King would perish here.

Even though he said he would kill, he hadn’t started yet. This was because he was giving Qin Yu one last chance to change his mind.

Qin Yu was silent.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to turn back, but that he couldn’t.

Otherwise, unless he abandoned Old Turtle, there was no way he could return to the bright world.

This was the first time he entered the Cold Sea and he also estimated that it would be his last. Because he didn’t believe he had the courage to come here a second time.

Don’t look at the fact that he was living right now. Besides Qin Yu, no one could understand the pain that the living had to endure.

Cutting flesh with a knife was a kind of severe pain, and at every moment Qin Yu was enduring the extreme cold, he was feeling a pain that was at least a thousand times stronger…this was a hell-like experience!

King Mystery looked at the darkness that touched his robe. He raised a hand and grabbed Qin Yu’s neck. With just a bit of strength, he could wipe away Qin Yu’s life.

For doing this, King Mystery would have to withstand the backlash of breaking his vow. It would even cause irrecoverable damage to his True King boundary.

But at the line of life and death, no matter how difficult it would normally be to accept a consequence, it became simple and easy.

Tiny blue veins rose on his hand.

But at this moment, Qin Yu suddenly said, “Do you hear that?”

King Mystery stopped. Because right now, he really could hear something coming from the darkness.

Although it was weak, in this absolute silence, he could still clearly identify it.

This was…the sound of rushing sea water!

Qin Yu suddenly smiled. As he looked at the nearby darkness, his eyes bloomed with a dazzling brilliance. After experiencing the place where the Nether Royal Bloodline had escaped to, he believed he could find the channel to the bright world.

Now, it looked like he had been right…he had found it!