Chapter 681 (1/2)

The speed of the Horned Ghost Demon Horse was indeed amazing. Along the way, Zhou Weiqing and Bing’er followed the shortest path and left Zhongtian Empire to head to Mi Ou Empire. They did not stop to rest as they rode all the way past Ocean Blue City, Coast Stout Town and East Frontier Ocean of Mi Ou Empire.

For nearly 20 days, even though they were constantly on the road, Zhou Weiqing was not idle at all.

Using this period of time, he gradually merged the strength that he gained in the luster Spatial Realm to his body and changed it to entirely his. Apart from that, he also discovered that even though he had not been cultivating since his stint in the luster Spatial Realm, the regeneration of his Saint Energy no longer needed to be cultivated. At the moment, it was absorbing the Atmospheric Energy in the sky through the regeneration process to supplement his own body. On top of that, the Saint Energy was further strengthening his body and through this process, the Saint Energy in his body was slowly solidifying. Zhou Weiqing could vaguely feel that all he needed to do was to accumulate the energy in his body in order to solidify a Saint Nucleus Core.

The two of them bought a massive amount of food and drinking water in Ocean Blue City and put them all in a Spatial Ring that had a silver gemstone on it. The ring was one of the treasures Zhou Weiqing obtained from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. When he saw the pained look on Tianyang’s face, he thought to himself, “Isn’t this just a plain ring? The Heaven’s Expanse Palace is so rich and powerful. Why does he look so unwilling to part with this one tiny ring?”

But the moment he infused his Saint Energy into it, he finally understood why the Palace Master of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace acted that way.

The Spatial Ring was called Sumeru. The space inside of the ring was so enormous that it was even large enough to hold a mountain. In short, if it was used as a granary, it could support an army of 100,000 troops for six continuous months without other external supply. The ring itself was a confined space, an absolute vacuum. For this reason, the food stored inside would not go rotten.

Any object could become an artifact after it had reached its capacity and functionality limit. Of course, the same went for the Sumeru Ring as well. It was impossible to find another Spatial Ring in the entire Boundless Mainland that was on par with this ring. Besides, it was obvious that once this object had fallen into Zhou Weiqing’s hand, it would pretty much impossible to pry it away from his hands. That was why Shangguan Tianyang had looked so unwilling when he was giving the ring to him. However, the reason Zhou Weiqing was going to the Mysterious Heavenly Mainland was for the sake of Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and the ring was nothing compared to the survival of the Heavenly Jewel Island. After all, nobody knew how long it would take for them to sail the sea. With the ring, Zhou Weiqing and Bing’er could wander the sea for years and they still would not have to worry about their food supply.

After they had purchased enough food, drinking water, vegetables and fruits, Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er headed to Ocean Blue City and straight to the seashore.

At the moment, it was late in the evening. The moon was bright and the stars were few. The bright round moon that had its shadow reflected on the sea shone down on the roaring waves, giving off a special kind of tranquility.

Looking at the endless sea, they could feel their hearts gradually relaxing.

It was their first time seeing the ocean. They were in awe of the sight.

Leaning on Zhou Weiqing’s shoulder, there was a dazed look in Shangguan Bing’er’s eyes, “The moon looks so bright! What a beautiful sight!”

Zhou Weiqing chuckled lightly as he said, “We’ll be sailing for a few months, I’m afraid by that time you won’t find it as beautiful anymore. I wonder how many obstacles are waiting for us up ahead in this huge, vast sea.”

Bing’er threw a dirty glance at him, “Urghh, you’re terrible! You don’t know anything about romance at all! Let’s just start our journey now. The sooner we start, the sooner we can go back.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded his head. Standing there enjoying the sea breeze that had a tang of saltiness, a gleam flashed on the Sumeru Ring on his finger before a peculiar object dropped with a ‘thud’ in front of them.

Under the brilliance of the moonlight, the object emitted a hazy white light from the reflection of the moonlight.

The object was about 7 meters wide, with the two ends tipped and the center round. The object was completely transparent, like a jujube pit that was carved out of a giant clear crystal. On the surface of that jujube pit, special patterns were carved on them. The carvings looked like some peculiar sea monsters that both Zhou Weiqing and Bing’er had never seen before.

Zhou Weiqing could not help but be fascinated with the object. Even if he did not know the function of that thing, the appearance was more than enough to enchant a person into a trance. It was just too damn beautiful! Even a Heavenly King’s full strength would not cause a dent or scratch on this thing. One could imagine how terrifyingly tough the object was.

The two ends of the structure were as sharp as a needle. Circles of screw mark could be vaguely seen hidden in the structure. In fact, some of the internal structure could be vaguely seen as well from the surface. Unfortunately, due to the refraction of light, the internal structures could not be seen clearly.

It was Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er’s first time sailing out to the sea. They had no guidance and no experience in traveling by sea. So, how did Shangguan Tianyang managed to sleep at ease letting those two inexperienced people cross tens of thousands of miles across the ocean? Well, it was all thanks to these gadgets.

Zhou Weiqing flipped his wrist. A small crystal suddenly appeared in his palm. This crystal was octagonal with thousands and thousands of transversal surface on it. Under the moonlight, it appeared to be twinkling lustrously and brilliantly with splendor.

Looking at Bing’er, Zhou Weiqing chuckled, “Let us see how good this Neptune Shuttle is. Your uncle has high praises for this thing. He even told me to return it to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace after we’re done using it. How stingy!”

Bing’er was speechless, “Come on! Don’t be so greedy! Since Uncle has this much high praise for it, it means that the Neptune Shuttle must be quite extraordinary!”

A streak of Heavenly Energy flew out from his hand into the crystal. At once, a golden light illuminated Zhou Weiqing’s hands. In just an instant, the golden light enveloped the entire Neptune Shuttle. With a loud crisp ‘Ding”, in the center of the golden-lit Neptune, a fully transparent crystal lid slowly lifted upwards.

The lid was about 2.5 meters long. The entire time when the lid was opened, there was no sound at all and no Heavenly Energy ripple could be felt. Curious, Zhou Weiqing and Bing’er extended their heads to have a better look and they could see that there were only 4 seats inside the Neptune. Every seat was wide and comfortable and they were also made of the same transparent crystal. Other than that, nothing else stood out.

Slightly disappointed, Zhou Weiqing sighed, “T-That’s all? He wants us to travel across the ocean in this little thing?”

Shangguan Bing’er chimed in, “Well, we don’t really have to use it. Both of us can fly. We just need a place to rest every once in a while. I think we can use this as a resting place when we’re tired.”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head, “How can it be so easy crossing the vast ocean? How are we supposed to differentiate the directions when we are flying? How are we supposed to know where the hell that Mysterious Heavenly Mainland is? As the saying goes, a miss is as good as a mile. Your uncle told me that the map has been uploaded into the boat. Let us just go in and have a look first.”

As he was saying that, he leaped and quickly entered the Neptune Shuttle.

The crystal seat gave off a cooling sensation when he sat on it. The seat was a little too big for him, even his big-sized body was unable to fill up the seat completely. When Bing’er sat on the large seat she appeared even more petite.

Zhou Weiqing inserted the crystal in his hand into the groove in front of him according to Shangguan Tianyang’s instruction. However, nothing happened even when the crystal was inserted. Even the lid was still wide open.

“Could this thing be broken because it’s not been used for such a long time?” Zhou Weiqing mumbled miserably.

A gleam flashed in Bing’er’s eyes, “Since this is used in the ocean, should we push this into the water and see?”

Zhou Weiqing took back the crystal, “Alright, then you sit here. I’ll push it into the water.” Then, he descended from the Neptune and started to push from behind.

In Zhou Weiqing’s opinion, with his strength, the Neptune would be directly thrust into the sea with just a push. To his surprise, the Neptune only moved a foot after his strong push. It was far heavier than he expected. In truth, his energy had at least a force of 500 kg. However, the average looking shuttle only moved a little on the soft sandy beach.

S-So heavy? Zhou Weiqing was surprised. Transmitting his power to both of his arms, he shouted out loud, “HAH!”

Finally, the Neptune Shuttle was pushed into the sea under his might. With his push, Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense that the weight of the Neptune was at least 1500 kg. After all, with his cultivation base being upgraded to the Ninth Jewel Level, he was not quite sure how strong he had become.

The moment the Neptune entered the sea, it did not sink even though it was heavy. Instead, only half of its body sunk in and the other half remained above water with its lid wide open. However, Zhou Weiqing could see the difference. When the Neptune came in contact with the water, the body started to emit a layer of blue light, giving it a sense of dreaminess in the darkness.

Once again, Zhou Weiqing leaped into the shuttle. This time, when he placed the octagonal crystal into the groove, a peculiar scene started to unfold in front of his eyes…

The lid started to close and the second the lid was completely shut, the interior of the Neptune turned bright.

Multiple dazzling blue lights outlined the interior of the Neptune. The crystal screen in front of them suddenly became clear, magnifying everything outside so that the view would be clearer.

“It’s so beautiful,” Shangguan Bing’er could not help but exclaimed when she saw the blue glow. No girl would not like such a beautiful scene.

Zhou Weiqing’s interest differed from Shangguan Bing’er’s interest. When the lid closed, he realized that the Neptune Shuttle immediately started to stabilize. It was as if the huge waves had no effect on it at all, the Neptune remained steadfast and unfaltering.

Suddenly, a round crystal ball rose up slowly between the armrest of their seats. It was at exactly where Zhou Weiqing’s right hand was positioned, allowing him to place his palm comfortably on the ball.

Smart as he was, Zhou Weiqing immediately knew what he had to do. After attempting to diffuse part of his Saint Energy into the crystal ball beneath his palm, the surrounding suddenly showed a series of changes again.

The blue light in the cabin dimmed down but everything outside seemed to light up at once. Looking through the crystal cabin, the outside seemed as bright as daytime. Everything was so clear and visible. It did not seem like it was because of the lights. Instead, it seemed to be some sort of special unique ray transformation

After that, something even more bizarre happened. A helmet-like thing gradually descended from above them, enveloping Zhou Weiqing’s head. Immediately afterward, changes could be felt on the crystal seats. As if it was alive, it slowly converged and covered their bodies. It felt like they were completely embedded in the seats.

“Seriously?” Zhou Weiqing was completely amazed by the Neptune. No wonder Shangguan Tianyang insisted that he return this object to him. Zhou Weiqing had no idea how the shuttle was built but if it was also equipped with speed, then, it would definitely be classified as an artifact.

At that moment, a strange ripple in the cold helmet suddenly jolted Zhou Weiqing out of his amazement. After that, he was surprised to find that his own consciousness had grown. There seemed to be a peculiar kind of spiritual ripple in the helmet that could connect and merge itself with his own Spiritual Energy.

When Zhou Weiqing closed his eyes, he could see everything around him more clearly. However, instead of being limited to the view in front of him, he could see the entire outside world. He had a 360-degree panoramic view of the Neptune Shuttle with not a single blind spot.

“Whoosh” A strange peculiar sense suddenly merged with his Spiritual Energy. He instantly felt like his consciousness became one with the shuttle. When the strange spiritual fluctuation was merging with his body, the profound secret of the Neptune Shuttle was laid bare in his consciousness. It gave him a clear grasp on the use and origins of this shuttle.

As it turned out, the Neptune Shuttle utilized the hegemon of the ocean to function, the Nucleus Core of the Dreadfiend Sea Naga. This Dreadfiend Sea Naga was a Heavenly God tier Heavenly beast, sitting at the top of the ocean’s food chain. The dragon had a gigantic body that’s nearly 1000 meter long. It was even bigger than Hui Yao the dragon and his wife, Duo Si. The Dreadfiend Sea Naga was absolutely invincible in the sea. One could easily imagine the amount of energy stored in its Nucleus Core. When they were trying to build the shuttle, the people on the Mysterious Heavenly Mainland had spent an enormous amount of manpower, materials, and resources. First, they had to strip the Heavenly Energy from the Dreadfiend Sea Naga’s Nucleus Core before they could begin the forging process. With the collective efforts of numerous smithies, they finally succeeded in building this artifact of the sea. The shuttle originally belonged to the Mysterious Heavenly Palace. It was also considered one of the greatest treasures owned by the palace along with the Spatial Teleportation Stone.

At that time, when the Mysterious Heavenly Palace Palace Master brought his people to the Boundless Mainland, he harbored the intention to conquer the land. But much to his surprise, the Boundless Mainland was far stronger than they had imagined. In the end, they were totally crushed and defeated. It was all thanks to the Spatial Teleportation Stone that they could escape with their lives. As long as there was a set destination, the stone would be able to send the user there no matter the distance. So, the armies fled but unfortunately, the Neptune shuttle fell into the hands of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace and became their war trophy. It was because of this, that Zhou Weiqing was able to use it now.

Since the Neptune shuttle was built with the Dreadfiend Sea Naga, the aura that was emitted from the shuttle was enough to repel most sea creatures. Its body was sturdy and under the Heavenly Energy of a Heavenly Jewel Master, it could sail at a very high speed and it would not have any problems crossing tens of thousand miles of sea.

Apart from that, the Neptune Shuttle was also equipped with a navigation system. Due to the fact that the Mysterious Heavenly Palace people had recorded a complete sea map into the database when they journeyed to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, the Neptune Shuttle would bring them directly to the Mysterious Heavenly Mainland with the help of the shuttle’s GPS system.

“Wow! This is indeed a great artifact!” Zhou Weiqing retracted his Saint Energy and the helmet on his head retracted as well. Without explaining anything, he changed places with Bing’er and asked her to infuse her Heavenly Energy so she could experience what he had just experienced.

Everyone would be extremely curious about new things, the same went for young people like them. Once again, they exchanged positions and activated the sea map. While Zhou Weiqing was enjoying the sensation of being enveloped by the world outside with his 360-degree view, he infused part of his Saint Energy and activated the shuttle according to the instructions that he received.

He realized that the moment he infused his Saint Energy into the crystal, the energy was instantly magnified by the Neptune shuttle. THAT was the powerful effect of the Heavenly God tier Heavenly Beast’s Nucleus Core. A streak of light blue flame suddenly burst out from behind the Neptune like a tail and propelled the shuttle forward like a missile, disappearing into the deep ocean.

As the Neptune Shuttle drilled into the sea, the surrounding scenery was still very clear. Because of the shuttle’s special feature, even if the sea was dark and gloomy, Zhou Weiqing could see as far as 1km and he could even sense things that were further away.

The seawater did not seem to have any resistance towards the Neptune at all. Under Zhou Weiqing’s domineering Saint Energy, the Neptune’s speed was at its peak, far exceeding the speed of the Horned Ghost Demon Horse.