The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 257: Pirates

The Shenlong continued to remain anchored in place for an entire month.

The Nine-Floor Treasure Ship was enormous and extremely difficult to dismantle. It took the tireless efforts of the crew an entire month to fully disassemble the massive ship, breaking it into countless parts and transporting them into the Ocean's Heart

Meanwhile, Miao Peipei was on one of the artificial islands within the Ocean's Heart, where she planted a large amount of fruits and vegetables. The harvest was so bountiful that it would provide food for the hundred crew members for several years, with no worries.

After solving the basic issue of food, she finally planted spiritual fruit trees and spiritual vegetables, which have long growth cycles, in the remaining spaces. This transformed the previously lifeless area into a vibrant and lively scene, resembling a paradise.

Seeing the island brimming with life, many crew members began to consider the idea of staying on the ship permanently.

This place was practically a hidden paradise, filled with abundant spiritual energy far exceeding that of the outside world, making it an ideal place for cultivation.

With such a small world embedded in the ship, the crew could be entirely self-sufficient while drifting at sea year-round. This was an experience no other ship could offer.

Though the Shenlong was small, it was undoubtedly the most comfortable ship in the world.

By sheer coincidence, they hadn’t encountered any danger throughout the month. No sea beasts had attacked them, and everything had gone so smoothly that it seemed unbelievable to everyone.

Even after the crew had taken every valuable treasure from the wreckage, no unexpected incidents occurred.

Thus, the Shenlong safely departed from that location, and even then, the crew still felt as though they were dreaming.

“Something’s not right! Even if we had the best luck, it shouldn’t last an entire month, right? The fact that we didn’t encounter any danger for a whole month is miraculous. When something’s out of the ordinary, there’s always something wrong,” said Nie Qingcheng, frowning slightly. She still couldn’t believe it and felt something wasn’t right, refusing to let her guard down.

“It’s indeed unusual. Too much safety often hints at even greater danger,” said Leng Yan, walking over with a serious expression. “Firstly, there’s no way this place is safe. Otherwise, that Nine-Floor Treasure Ship wouldn’t have sunk here, and the crew wouldn’t have been devoured. There must be great dangers here, but for some reason, we didn’t encounter any of them. We absolutely cannot relax.”

“Could there be a sea monster here that scared away all the sea beasts?” Young Master Mo suddenly speculated out loud, offering a possible explanation.

But as he voiced this possibility, his face didn’t show fear but rather a hint of excitement.

Leng Yan shook her head and said, “That’s unlikely. If there truly were a more terrifying creature here, we would be even less safe. How could we have sailed through a month without incident?”

Yang Zhan glanced at the two of them and smiled, “You don’t need to worry so much. Whatever strange things might have happened, so what?”

“We’ve already left that place. Even if there’s more danger there, what does it have to do with us?”

“We don’t need to overthink it. After all, we’re still alive.”

Long Xuan nodded and no longer dwelled on the matter. He said, “Exactly. No matter how strange things were, it’s irrelevant to us now. There’s no point in obsessing over it.”

“We’ve already gained quite a bit from the Death Sea. There’s no reason to waste more time here. How much longer until we leave this region?” Long Xuan asked, turning to Nie Qingcheng to shift the conversation.

Nie Qingcheng immediately replied, “Less than half a month.”

“In about half a month, we’ll be completely out of the Death Sea, and we won’t have to worry about the dangers of the sea anymore.”

Hearing this, Long Xuan picked up on her meaning and asked, “So you’re saying we won’t need to worry about sea dangers, but should we be concerned about non-sea dangers instead? What dangers are those?” ?À?ó?Ë?

“Many—like dangerous natural disasters, or pirates. In fact, the likelihood of encountering pirates is higher. It’s said that on this side of the Death Sea, there are many islands, and pirates are rampant.”

“Sometimes human threats are more dangerous than the perils of the sea.”

Nie Qingcheng glanced toward the east, the direction in which they would soon leave the Death Sea, still wearing a relaxed expression.

Long Xuan kept her words in mind and asked no further questions. He turned and headed to his cabin to continue studying Gu methods, intending to research a pill recipe using the unique spiritual herbs found in the Death Sea.

Time flew by, and another half month passed. During this time, the Shenlong continued to encounter very few dangers, starkly contrasting the beginning of their journey through the Death Sea.

It was as if the west and east sides of the Death Sea had entirely different levels of difficulty. The crew was bewildered, their expressions filled with surprise.

Until, one day, the Shenlong was on the verge of leaving the Death Sea. From afar, they could already see the normal blue waters ahead. Only then did the entire crew finally breathe a collective sigh of relief, their expressions relaxing.

Once they entered those blue waters, they would finally be free from danger. After so long with their nerves stretched taut, they could finally relax a bit.

No matter how strange or abnormal the journey had been, or how much greater danger might have been brewing, it was no longer their concern. Even if a sea monster appeared behind them now, it wouldn’t affect them.

Just as everyone was holding onto the railing, smiling at the sight of the blue waters ahead, Di Xin suddenly said, “Qingluan! Your dolphin hasn’t made a sound for quite a while.”

The moment she spoke, everyone froze.

No one aboard was a fool. They quickly grasped the hidden meaning behind her words, and their expressions changed simultaneously.

Ye Qingluan furrowed her brows slightly and said softly, “Indeed, my Dabu hasn’t sensed any treasures for a long time.”

“In the Death Sea, where treasures are everywhere, it’s absolutely abnormal that my Dabu hasn’t found a treasure in half a month.”

“In the world of Gu, the only places without treasures are those where only humans can tread.”

With that, everyone’s hearts sank.

Long Xuan frowned. At this moment, the first thought that arose in his mind was that another force also had the ability to enter the Death Sea.

This force had cleared all the dangers in this area and plundered all the nearby treasures.

That explained why they had not encountered any dangers for the past half month, and why they had not found any treasures either.

With this, everything made sense.

If his guess was correct, it meant that they had not yet escaped danger.

Even though they were about to leave the Death Sea, they shouldn’t celebrate too soon; an even greater danger might be waiting for them outside of the Death Sea.

This force was likely clearing out all the sea beasts along the route in order to salvage a sunken ship.

However, they had gotten ahead of this force and salvaged the sunken ship while the other force was still fighting the sea beasts. This meant that the mysterious force had been working in vain, suffering heavy losses in manpower. Wouldn’t they be furious? How could they let them go?

Moreover, the Shenlong ship was traveling along the same route that this force had cleared of sea beasts. The chances of running into this mysterious force were high!

At this moment, Long Xuan suddenly had a bad feeling.

The others obviously had similar thoughts. At this moment, everyone was no longer calm, and the smiles that had just appeared on their faces froze.

"Go! Hurry! We must leave here as fast as possible!" Qiu Tiandao shouted anxiously, his voice full of urgency.

"It might be too late!" Shangguan Wuwu's finger trembled as he pointed ahead, where a fleet of ships had suddenly appeared, and his face turned completely grim.

The fleet was massive, with nearly a hundred ships of various sizes, including a rare seven-story treasure ship, all sailing towards them in a grand display.

Coincidentally, these ships were lined up in a row, blocking their path and trapping them in the Death Sea.

All of these ships were black, and each one flew a massive pirate flag painted with a skull, fluttering in the sea breeze, giving off a heavy sense of oppression.

Seeing those skull pirate flags, the faces of the crew members changed dramatically, and many turned pale.

Pirates! Long Xuan's heart sank. It was the very thing he feared—just as they mentioned pirates, pirates appeared. What a coincidence.

This was the first time he had encountered pirates in this world, but he sincerely wished he hadn't.

One of the crew members, who was clearly familiar with the origins of these pirates, turned pale at the sight of the pirate flags and shouted in panic, "This is bad! It's the Black Dragon Pirate Crew!"

"The Black Dragon Pirate Crew is ranked first in this area, with many powerful experts and numerous Gu Kings on board."

"This pirate crew burns, kills, loots, and commits all manner of evil. They've committed countless heinous crimes, and there's no sea force in this area that can rival them."

"The Black Dragon Pirate Crew rose to prominence in the last twenty years. Their rise was astonishingly fast. They recruited a large number of soldiers with vast wealth and quickly amassed a fleet of nearly a hundred warships in a very short period."

"They then wiped out the two strongest pirate groups in this area in one fell swoop, becoming the dominant force at sea, and no one dares provoke them."

"It's rumored that they conquered a Forbidden Sea and obtained countless riches there, which is why their power has grown so quickly!"

"It looks like the rumors are true. They really did conquer a Forbidden Sea, and that Forbidden Sea is the Death Sea."

"We're in big trouble. Any ship spotted by the Black Dragon Pirate Crew never escapes! They're wolves that devour everything!" The crew member broke into a cold sweat, his face filled with extreme anxiety.

Upon hearing the notorious name of the Black Dragon Pirate Crew, the others also began to panic. A pirate crew with so many Gu King experts—how could they possibly fight that? They were doomed.

However, unlike the other panicked crew members, Nie Qingcheng, the former captain of the Rose, remained calm. With sharp, intelligent eyes, she quickly turned to Long Xuan and said:

"Listen to me now. Turn the ship to the right immediately, and don't go at full speed! Maintain a medium speed!"

"Since the Black Dragon Pirate Crew dares to sail in the Death Sea, it means some of their ships must be incredibly fast, capable of outrunning all the sea beasts in the Death Sea. Their speed might even rival that of the Shenlong ship!"

"If a Gu King on one of those ships locks onto us, we might not be able to shake them off! That would be a huge problem!"

"So, we must hide our strength!"

"Our ship is far too small, and we don’t even have a single Gu cultivator at the Spiritual Sea stage. The main ship carrying the Gu Kings won’t bother dealing with us. They will likely send smaller ships to chase us."

"As long as we don’t show how fast we can go, we won’t attract the attention of the Gu Kings or provoke the main ship to chase us."

"Once we’ve put enough distance between us and the main ship, we can then go at full speed. That way, even if the main ship tries to chase us, it will exhaust itself trying to catch up."

"Got it!" Long Xuan nodded, accepting Nie Qingcheng’s advice. He quickly turned the ship's wheel, rotating the ship 90 degrees and steering it along the edge of the Black Sea, heading to the right. He also refrained from pushing the ship to full speed, as advised.