Zhenhai City [Third Update]

The old man looked at Xu Fan and said gently, ""

Here we go again. Why did every Big Shot love taking disciples? Was I really that irresistible?

Hearing that his master wanted to take Xu Fan as a disciple, Sha Diao immediately began waggling his brows at Xu Fan and sent him a voice transmission. "Junior Brother Xu, hurry up and agree. My master is an Artifact Refining Grandmaster. Even the Sect Leader has to treat him with respect in the Sect."

"From now on, we'll be Martial Siblings."

Xu Fan bowed to the Old Man.

"This junior would not dare conceal it from Senior. The path I wish to take is dual cultivation of pills and artifacts. If I were to enter your tutelage, I fear it would not be suitable," Xu Fan said.

In the cultivation world, Pill Refiners and Artifact Refiners looked down on each other. But once they encountered a Cultivator involved in both Pill Refining and Artifact Refining, they would form a united front—unless that person became a dual grandmaster of pills and artifacts.

"Young man, you are quite frank. Then let me ask you: between Pill Refining and Artifact Refining, which do you prefer?" The Old Man was not angry. Instead, he asked with a chuckle. He could understand the arrogance of youth.

"I prefer Artifact Refining," Xu Fan answered candidly.

"Are you willing to become my Registered Disciple? I can grant you access to Heavenly Refining Peak in the Inner Sect."

"If you ever decide to specialize in the Dao of Artifact Refining, you may enter my tutelage," the Old Man added.

Xu Fan said nothing. Instead, he silently inscribed an exceedingly intricate Rune Array in the air. With his peerless talent, he had his own pride.

A strange gleam flashed through the Old Man's eyes as he watched the Rune Array Xu Fan inscribed.

"I understand what you mean. You may go."

"When you have nothing to do, come chat with this old man." The Old Man took out a Token and handed it to Xu Fan. It was a Token for entering the Inner Sect.

"Thank you, Senior."

Xu Fan returned to the deck, letting the sea breeze wash over him as he watched the corpses of enormous deep-sea Demon Beasts being dragged aboard from time to time.

"Seriously, once the cannons fire, it's a business that brings ten thousandfold profit."

"No wonder the Sect had gathered all its strength back then. Even if they had to live on bran and swallow wild vegetables, they still had to buy a Floating Sky Vessel."

"The value of hunting these giant Demon Beasts alone makes it worthwhile."

At that moment, the entire Floating Sky Vessel Fleet slowed down. All the Warships pulled back to either side of the Floating Sky Vessel, forming a wedge formation, while every ship's protective barrier was fully activated.

"Sea Beast Tide detected ahead. No Mahayana Stage Demonic Beasts. Battle Level: B."

As the fleet-wide voice transmission rang out, the Floating Sky Vessel had already accelerated to maximum speed, leading the nine Warships close behind it as it slammed viciously into the Sea Beast horde amid the surging dark currents ahead.

"Damn, was this how a Floating Sky Vessel was supposed to be used?" Xu Fan exclaimed in astonishment.

Before Xu Fan could marvel again, the fleet collided violently with the Sea Beast Tide.

As the Floating Sky Vessel shook violently, the surrounding waters were dyed red, and shattered Sea Beast corpses scattered across the entire sea surface.

Like cavalry clashing in battle, the entire Floating Sky Vessel Fleet turned around once more. This time, the secondary Giant Cannons of every Warship lit up.

After a barrage of frenzied bombardment, the sea returned to calm.

Nascent Soul Cultivators then began operating Giant Net Magic Treasures to scoop up the corpses floating on the water. The entire fleet came to a stop, while several squads of Golden Flame Bird Patrol flew out from the Floating Sky Vessel in all directions.

"Did they defeat the monsters and go looking for treasure now?" Xu Fan asked doubtfully.

At that moment, Ye Xiaoyao arrived beside Xu Fan with a Sword Box on his back.

"Where Demon Beasts gather, there must be valuable land. There is usually High-Energy Spirit Ore there."

"If we're lucky, we might even discover Ruins." Ye Xiaoyao smiled as he explained to Xu Fan.

"Ruins? There are still Ruins here?" Xu Fan asked in confusion.

"There are. When some powerful cultivators ascend, they come to the Endless Sea to undergo their final Immeasurable Tribulation."

"I see. Big Brother Ye, don't you have a mission?"

"Oh, our squad is stationed aboard the Floating Sky Vessel, so we don't need to go out. Once Spirit Ore is discovered, we'll sail directly toward it."

The Floating Sky Vessel slowly began moving, sailing in one direction.

Half an hour later, the Floating Sky Vessel stopped on the sea. An Integration Stage cultivator emerged from its top and directly tossed out a Giant Magic Treasure, which landed upon the water.

As the Magic Treasure continued expanding, a massive city appeared on the sea in the blink of an eye, as though fixed in the void. No sea wave could shake this enormous city.

"Is this a City Magic Treasure?" Xu Fan asked as he looked at the city wall, which was at least twenty kilometers long.

"This is a Cave Abode-type Dao Artifact. It looks like we'll be staying here for at least a month."

As he spoke, Ye Xiaoyao grabbed Xu Fan and flew toward the city.

"Little Fan, your shipboard Token can open the door to an Ordinary Courtyard in Zhenhai City. You'll be living here for the next month or so."

"If you get bored in the city, you can go out treasure hunting, or form a team to hunt Demon Beasts. If neither appeals to you, you can take on some Pill Refining jobs."

"Just don't go beyond a thousand li from Zhenhai City."

After placing Xu Fan in the city, Ye Xiaoyao left. He still had other missions.

Standing on the streets of Zhenhai City, Xu Fan realized that there were far more people aboard the Floating Sky Vessel than he had imagined. Large numbers of Cultivators were flying toward Zhenhai City.

"Forget it. No point worrying about all that. I should find a place to stay first."

Following Ye Xiaoyao's instructions, Xu Fan casually found an Ordinary Courtyard and settled in.

A day later, Xu Fan received news that the waters beneath the Floating Sky Vessel contained a giant Spirit Stone Ore Vein. High-quality Spirit Stones were countless, and it was said that the overall estimate placed the value of this ore vein at several tens of billions of Spirit Stones for the Heavenly Gate Sect.

Every Cultivator in the city was overjoyed, because even in the Endless Sea, Spirit Stone Ore Veins like this were rare.

"As expected of a Middle Thousand World. The resources here are absurdly abundant. They calculated Spirit Stones in units of hundreds of millions."

Xu Fan walked along the street, wondering whether he might run into something interesting, when he came face-to-face with Sha Yan and her brother.

"Junior Brother Xu, are you interested in opening an Artifact Workshop with me? Just repairing the Magic Treasures of those Cultivators going out to fight could earn us tens of thousands of Spirit Stones in a month," Sha Diao said excitedly, grabbing Xu Fan.

Both he and Xu Fan were First-Rank Artifact Refiners. If they worked together, perhaps they could even refine high-quality Magic Treasures.

"If Junior Brother Xu doesn't want to refine artifacts, you can come refine pills with me instead. You'll get to see many Spiritual Herbs from the seabed," Sha Yan invited Xu Fan as well.

Just as Xu Fan was about to agree, a cough interrupted him.

"Little Yan, come here already. Don't stay with Artifact Refiners."

Xu Fan looked over and saw that it was Sha Diao's Father, Sha Jingtian—the Pill Refiner who had once intended to take Xu Fan as a disciple.

Sha Yan gave Xu Fan an apologetic look, then obediently returned to her Father's side. Sha Diao, meanwhile, turned his head away and refused to look at Sha Jingtian, like a child throwing a tantrum.

"All right, Senior Brother Sha. They've gone far enough," Xu Fan said.

Only then did Sha Diao turn his head back.

"Junior Brother Xu, are we doing this or not? We're idle anyway."

Sha Diao's words persuaded Xu Fan. Thus, a shop called Sha Diao Artifact Refining Workshop appeared in Zhenhai City.

Third update complete. Seeing how diligent Pork has been, could you esteemed readers reward me with a few more votes?~~~

(End of this chapter)