Chapter 294: A Crisis Hidden Beneath the Surface

Gloomy clouds had shrouded the whole sky, and a fierce wind was constantly howling like an infuriated wild beast.

Mighty waves were emerging and surging forth in the boundless sea. A row of several feet high monstrous waves were constantly issuing deafening sounds. These monstrous waves looked like a mighty troop that was rushing ahead on the sea's surface in an endless manner.

There was a fleet of twenty-two large ships on the sea's surface. They looked like a massive black sea-snake which stretched several miles in the sea. In fact, this sea-snake seemed to be rushing ahead while cleaving through the mighty waves. The fleet had come from the east, and was advancing toward the west.

The ships in this fleet looked like small black hills. A miraculous radiance was flickering on the surface of these ships. The ships often got engulfed or raised by the mighty dark waves of the sea.

However, they would stubbornly forge ahead with their journey whenever the roaring sea-waves would recede.

In a room of a certain ship in the fleet...

Shi Mu sat on his bed with his legs crossed. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be meditating.

This room was very small. It was only two by three meters in size.

In fact, everyone's room was very small and narrow owing to the limited space on the ship.

Howling wind and mighty waves were in full swing outside. Therefore, there wasn't a single person outside at this point of time. Everyone had hidden in their respective rooms.

Shi Mu raised his hands before his body, and a blue jade shuttle suspended over his hand. It exuded bursts of dazzling blue light.

This thing was the treasure of the young Taoist priest of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult. Shi Mu had killed that Earth-ranked powerhouse, and had obtained this thing from his body. He had figured out that this jade shuttle was a very precious flying spirit tool. So, he had embedded it in his body to nurture it in a warm temperature.

Shi Mu had noticed that many Earth-ranked martial warriors and Moon-ranked magicians were proficient in some sort of flying techniques. A handful of Star-ranked magicians also knew such techniques. Shi Mu also had a flying technique. It was called the Qi Cloud technique.

But, this kind of flying magic technique was normally suitable only for short-distance flights. In fact, it was mostly used in battles.

However, a person could manage a spatial flight through other means once he had attained the Heaven-rank.

And, flying magic tools and spirit tools were among those means.

It was said that refining a spirit tool that was primarily used for attacks was a highly difficult task. And, the number of flying spirit tools was less than these kinds of attacking spirit tools by far.

Shi Mu had spent a considerable amount of time in the central region of the Eastern Continent. But, this bluish-green jade shuttle was the first flying spirit tool that he had seen here. Fortunately, he had managed to catch hold of it.

However, Shi Mu had later realized that nurturing this shuttle in the warmth of his body was far more difficult than refining his golden sword. He had been working hard, but he hadn't even restored 20% of its implicit might till now. So, it was still incapable of flight.

Shi Mu had obtained two more spirit tools from the young Taoist priest. One of them was the silver whip, while the other was a silver spear. However, he hadn't gotten the time to nurture them until now.

The blue light on the surface of the shuttle flashed after some time, and a blue vein-like pattern gleamed. Then, the jade shuttle emitted even brighter blue radiance.

Shi Mu opened his eyes, and a gleam of delight flashed through his face. He then looked at the jade shuttle and nodded.

After that, the blue light flashed again, and the jade shuttle got absorbed into his body.

He then turned his hand, and took out a sapphire ring. This was the storage ring that Shi Mu had seized from that young Taoist priest.

The plentiful amount of wealth that was contained inside this storage ring was definitely the biggest treasure Shi Mu had ever encountered.

The three spirit tools were obviously the most precious things among that wealth. However, there were a substantial number of spirit stones, magic charms, and pills in this storage ring apart from the spirit tools. In fact, there were around thirty-or-forty thousand spirit stones in there.

Consequently, Shi Mu's wallet had gotten filled to an unprecedented extent.

"That man... he couldn't be Old Man Wu Chen's bastard, right?" Shi Mu couldn't help but make a wild guess.

He then shook his head, and put away the sapphire ring. After that, he got out of his bed and pulled-open a small window.

He could see the sea surface through the window. Monstrous sea waves were surging up violently in a constant manner. But, the Gigantic Vast Sea Boats was considerably huge in size. So, the stormy sea and the turbulent waves couldn't affect the navigation of these ships.

Half-a-month had passed since they had begun the voyage in the Yellow Sea. Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult and Heavenly Demon Sect hadn't caught up with them so far. This was itself a good enough reason to make everyone heave a sigh of relief.

They had come across several mighty waves and storms during this period. But, they had passed through those daunting experiences without a mishap.

Shi Mu looked around, and his brows slightly creased when he saw that Cai wasn't in the room. He must have gotten bored of being idle, and so had fled outside the room.

The sea was turbulent at this time with mighty waves and howling wind. Shi Mu had been very anxious in the beginning that Cai could get swept away by the strong wind. But, he had subsequently discovered that this worry was purely superfluous. Cai seemed fairly accustomed to flying in the strong wind without any adverse effect.

Cai's voice suddenly resounded in Shi Mu's mind.

"Shi Tou, the situation doesn't seem good. You should take a look."

Cai's voice had barely faded when a picture appeared in Shi Mu's mind.

There were dozens of sea beasts in the dark bottom of the sea. And, all of them were over three-hundred feet in size. These strange-looking sea beasts seemed to have formed an arc-shaped formation, and were swimming at a slow pace.

In addition, there were innumerable small-sized marine beasts around them.

Shi Mu's complexion changed. After all, they would be in a difficult situation if so many marine beasts launched their attacks on their ships.

"Cai, go and take a look in the vicinity at once. How many of these beasts are there in the surrounding?" Shi Mu was alarmed by this. So, he used his spirit sense to make Cai survey the surrounding sea area.

"Leave it to me. They have hidden deep into the sea, but they still can't escape my magic eyes!" Cai replied with an air of complacency in his tone.

Shi Mu's cloudy facial expression finally loosened a bit. After that, he shoved open the door, and arrived at the deck.

The howling wind and turbulent waves outside looked very dreadful. The whistling sound of the wind was constantly ringing in the air. The world seemed to be shrouded in a curtain of gloominess at this time.

He looked toward the west... but, only saw the monstrous sea waves were still soaring to the sky. The Gigantic Vast Sea Boat that was in the front of the fleet looked like a black spot from afar.

Cai's voice rang again after a short while.

"Shi Tou, the situation is far from good! Myriads of sea beasts have gathered around the ships. And, a large number of them are welling up continually. They are substantially large in number!" Cai yelled.

The image of a large number of sea beasts also popped into Shi Mu's mind as Cai stated this. There were incredibly large octopuses and ferocious sharks in the vicinity; they were almost three-hundred feet long. In addition, there were a number of deep-sea whales that were also enormous in size. In fact, most of them were large-sized marine beasts that Shi Mu was unable to recognize.

These rarely-seen behemoths could be seen everywhere in Cai's field of vision. And, the thing that looked very surprising was that these gigantic beasts seemed to be in perfect harmony with each other at the moment.

These marine beasts were right in front of the advancing fleet. And, it would take these ships less than two hours to head directly into the multitude of these fierce beasts if the speed of these ships were taken into account.

Shi Mu's complexion became unsightly as he realized this situation. He then rushed towards a room above the cabin like a flash of lightning.

He had hardly taken a couple of steps when a mighty wave rushed upon him.

A red light flashed in front of Shi Mu's body, and his Real Qi condensed into a thick layer of protective shield to protect him.

Then, a "Puff" sound was heard.

The mighty wave hit the deck of the ship, and drowned Shi Mu. The miraculous glow on the surface of the ship flashed once, but it remained intact.

Shi Mu waited for the wave to recede. After that, he ran along the passage in the direction of the five-story garret.

He arrived at the entrance to the fifth floor of the garret after some time.

Two grey-robed disciples of the Dark Moon Cult stood near the entrance to the stairway.

"Senior Shi!" the two of them greeted him in a respectful manner when they saw him there.

Shi Mu's identity had gotten exposed due to the invasion of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult. Liu An had made a declaration that Shi Mu was a well-wisher of the Dark Moon Cult. Moreover, Shi Mu had killed the young Taoist priest of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult. And, that Taoist priest was an Earth-ranked warrior. So, the matter pertaining to his astonishing strength and spirit power had long spread in the fleet. Consequently, ordinary disciples had started to hold Shi Mu in high esteem.

"Is Palace Lord Pang in there?" Shi Mu asked.

"Senior Shi, Please wait a moment. Palace Lord is in there, but let me go in and inform her first," one of the grey-robed disciples said; he stood on the left side, and looked more mature than the other man.

"You don't have to report me. I've already heard it," A sound of footsteps was heard. Then, the grey-skirted woman walked out of the room.

"Palace Lord Pang!" the two disciples expressed their greetings to her.

"Noble Friend Shi, what's the matter?" The grey-skirted woman waved her hand at the two disciples. Then, she shifted her gaze toward Shi Mu, and asked.

Shi Mu went straight to the point, and told her about the latent sea beasts; the grey-skirted woman's facial expression changed accordingly.

The two disciples that were guarding the entrance exchanged looks with each other when they heard this news. And, a look of disbelief appeared in their eyes.

The grey-skirted woman looked toward the sea in front only to see the monstrous waves surging everywhere as far as the eye could see. She couldn't see anything. Not even the slightest trace of sea beast appeared in the exploration range of her spirit sense.

"Are you sure?"

Her brows slightly creased. Then, she looked at Shi Mu, and asked.

"This matter is absolutely true. I have a bird. It's my spirit pet. His gaze can penetrate through the water, and see the depths of the sea. These monstrous sea beasts have gathered in front of the fleet. And, their goal seems to be us. So, I suggest that the fleet should immediately change its sailing direction in order to avoid any contingency."

The grey-skirted woman's eyes flashed. Half-a-month had passed since they had started their journey, but the fleet hadn't encountered a single group of large-sized marine beasts. In other words, their voyage had been considerably smooth so far. However, they were currently in the depths of the Yellow Sea. On top of that, this was the territory of the Sea race. So, the possibility that they might be besieged by the sea beasts couldn't be ruled out.

She considered for a moment. Then, she turned her hand, and took out a small bronze bell. She then instilled her magic power into it.

The spirit patterns on the surface of the bronze bell glinted, and a crisp yet sonorous copper sound spread far and wide.

This was a warning-type magic tool which had been prepared specifically for this voyage. Its purpose was to immediately notify all the ships at the time of emergency.

The bell rang, and all twenty-two ships gradually stopped in a few minutes.

"What's the matter?"

Each ship was under the charge of a Palace Lord. And, all of them walked out their room one after another as they heard this sound. Then, they flew toward the ship where the grey-skirted woman was.

"Palace Lord Pang, what's the matter? Why did you suddenly ring the alarm bell?" A blue light landed, and a curly-haired man came into appearance. This person was Huo Qing — the Palace Lord of Dark Green Wolf Palace. However, his voice was smeared with extreme dissatisfaction.

A series of silhouettes landed on the ship one after another, and all the Palace Lords gathered on the spot in a matter of moments.

"Sister Pang, what happened?" Liu An glanced at Shi Mu, and asked. Shi Mu stood beside the grey-skirted woman at the moment.

"There is a very important matter that needs to be discussed with everyone right now," the grey-skirted woman nodded and explained.

Then, she repeated Shi Mu's words to everyone. And, she gave her own conjecture about the situation along with that.

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard her words.

"Brother Shi, are you sure?" Liu An looked at Shi Mu, and asked.

Shi Mu nodded in response.

"I think that the Sea-race has indeed been a bit too peaceful throughout this journey. The fleet should forthwith change its direction for the sake of safety. We must move away from the dangerous sea area in front. All Palace Lords return to your respective ships, and start the arrangements at once." Liu An nodded. He then turned around, and spoke out his decision.

Liu An had played a significant role when the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult had invaded the ancient Xixia country along with the Heavenly Demon Sect. The Eastern Dark Moon Cult would've been annihilated if it hadn't been for his ingenious plan and the arrangement of twenty-five Gigantic Vast Sea Boat. Furthermore, he had squeezed out his entire strength to resist Old Man Wu Chen on the seacoast to buy valuable time for the fleet to escape. His unparalleled contribution towards his cult had added glory to his prestige.

The risk associated with this voyage to the Western Continent was very difficult to measure. So, most of the Palace Lords had begun to consider Liu An as their leader in this regard.

It couldn't be denied that these people hadn't yet adapted to the tone that Liu An had been using to command them. However, they didn't have any objection to Liu An's arrangement right now.

After all, it's better to be safe than sorry.

"I don't think so!" a loud voice resounded at this moment.