Vast Sea City, Buying a House

After more than ten days of traveling day and night, Jiang Zhen finally caught sight of Vast Sea City's outline as dusk stained the horizon.

The words "Vast Sea" on the city wall shimmered with watery hues beneath the sea breeze. From afar, he could hear the clamor of the docks—the cries of merchants unloading cargo mingled with the salty, damp wind. In the marketplace, merfolk lamps hung like falling stars, bathing the entire city in rippling light.

Jiang Zhen held the flowerpot containing the Blue Silver Emperor. Beneath its cloth wrapping, the leaves trembled slightly, as though responding to the water element aura overflowing throughout the city.

He did not hurry into the city. Instead, he changed into clean clothes in the woods outside town—the mud and dust from his journey were shaken off with Soul Power. His new clothes were merely a rough linen shirt bought along the way, but they could not conceal the exhaustion and excitement in his eyes.

Only after confirming that his aura was steady did he head toward the city gate.

The cries of street vendors reached his ears. "Fresh Bluefin Fish! Five Copper Soul Coins a pound! Crystal Shells too—ones that awaken Spiritual Intelligence!"

He headed straight for the busiest restaurant by the street.

When the proprietor saw him carrying a flowerpot, he was about to stop him, only to be silenced by the Gold Soul Coins Jiang Zhen produced—ten Gold Soul Coins slapped onto the counter, enough to reserve an elegant window seat on the top floor.

"Bring me one of everything on the menu!"

Jiang Zhen removed the cloth wrapping and placed the Blue Silver Emperor on a chair beside him.

The leaves in the flowerpot unfurled, faintly resonating with the sound of the tides beyond the window.

Before long, dishes flowed onto the table: Bluefin Fish belly sliced thin, its flesh white and translucent as Ice Jade, arranged with seaweed; Crystal Shells boiled half-open, their meat topped with minced garlic...

Jiang Zhen immediately dug in, wolfing down every bit of food on the table.

After a long while, Jiang Zhen drained the last mouthful of fish-bone soup and still felt somewhat unsatisfied...

Leaving the restaurant, Jiang Zhen headed straight for Water Cloud Workshop in the marketplace.

According to the waiter at the restaurant, it was Vast Sea City's most famous tailor shop. Its fabrics were woven with Mermaid Silk, making them both waterproof and breathable.

When he lifted the bamboo curtain, the proprietor was measuring a customer for clothes. Seeing him enter, his gaze paused briefly on the flowerpot before quickly shifting away. "What kind of fabric would you like, sir?"

Who even kept Blue Silver Grass as a pet? What kind of hobby was that?

"The lightest kind. Embroider dark water-wave patterns on it, and make the collar narrower."

Jiang Zhen's fingertips brushed across a bolt of indigo fabric. The unique coolness of Mermaid Silk seeped into his skin, causing his Soul Power to relax slightly.

He also chose two plain white inner garments. Together, they cost only five Gold Soul Coins.

Two hours later.

After leaving the tailor shop, he browsed the sundries stalls and bought some daily necessities.

As the sun set, Jiang Zhen found an honest-looking agent at a street corner. "I want a courtyard outside the city. Quiet, near water, and as soon as possible."

The agent's surname was Wu, and his nickname was Water Rat. Three quarters of an hour later, he led Jiang Zhen into the bamboo forest on the outskirts of the city.

After turning three corners, a small courtyard with blue-tiled roofs came into view. Water hyacinth vines crawled over the courtyard walls, and a half-worn bronze bell hung over the doorway, chiming softly as the door was pushed open.

Better still, there was a living spring in the backyard, its source glowing with an inexplicable Blue Light.

Beside the spring stood a Big Tree of unknown age, its branches and leaves gently stirred by the evening breeze.

"The previous owner of this courtyard was an Old Soul Master. He went to the Star Dou Great Forest and never returned..." Agent Wu rubbed his hands together, eagerly waiting for Jiang Zhen to produce Gold Soul Coins.

"There are 3,000 Gold Soul Coins inside. Is that enough?"

Jiang Zhen did not waste words as he tossed out a Cloth Bag.

The agent immediately beamed, stuffing over the deed without even carefully checking it.

Once the courtyard gate closed, Jiang Zhen first carried the Blue Silver Emperor's flowerpot to the backyard.

He planted it beside the spring.

Suddenly, the blue-purple leaves trembled, and the Golden Patterns began to move as though they had come alive.

After arranging the Blue Silver Emperor, he inspected the area around the courtyard before finally returning to the house to clean it.

Two hours later, Jiang Zhen stood with a mop in hand, looking at the clean and tidy room with a satisfied smile.

Jiang Zhen contentedly surveyed the neat room. Damp traces still remained on the wooden floor, glimmering faintly beneath the soft lamplight.

He straightened up and leaned the mop against the wall, an unusual sense of satisfaction rising within him.

He strolled to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters. The salty sea breeze immediately rushed in, stirring the loose strands of hair over his forehead.

In the backyard, the newly planted Blue Silver Emperor stood beneath interwoven moonlight and the spring's blue radiance. The golden patterns on its leaves flowed slowly like living things, as though harmoniously resonating with the spring's inexplicable Blue Light.

Just as he was about to close the window and rest, an extremely faint sound came from beneath his feet. It was not the natural creak of wood, but more like... the echo of some hollow space.

Jiang Zhen paused, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes. He crouched down and gently tapped several floorboards near where he had been standing with his knuckles.

Knock, knock, knock.

...Knock, knock.

The sounds were indeed subtly different.

The echo from one of the floorboards was slightly hollow.

He carefully felt along the edge of that floorboard, digging his fingernail into the gap.

Soon, he found a tiny indentation that was almost impossible to notice. Soul Power seeped from his fingertips as he pressed lightly.

"Click."

With a soft click of a mechanism, one corner of the floorboard sprang up slightly.

Jiang Zhen's heart stirred, and he carefully lifted the floorboard.

A narrow stone stairway stretching downward appeared before him, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. A stale scent of air mixed with a faint smell of ink wafted toward him.

"A basement?" he murmured. Agent Wu had never mentioned this.

He took out an ordinary oil lamp he had bought from a general goods stall and lit it. Its orange-yellow glow dispelled the darkness at the entrance.

The staircase was not long. At the bottom lay a small space, roughly ten square meters in size.

There was no dust piled up inside as he had expected. Though the air was old, it was not foul; there seemed to be some ingenious ventilation design.

The room contained only a stone table, a stone stool, and a bookshelf leaning against the wall. A few rolls of beast-hide parchment and several books sat scattered across its shelves, all coated in a thin layer of dust.

Jiang Zhen first walked toward the bookshelf.

Most of the books were miscellaneous works on Soul Beasts, ocean geography, and cultivation experiences from Low-level Spirit Masters. There was nothing particularly special about them.

His gaze eventually settled on the rolls of beast-hide parchment.

He picked up the topmost roll. It felt smooth and delicate to the touch, clearly having undergone special treatment to prevent decay.

When he unrolled it, he found dense, elegant handwriting across the surface, accompanied by a finely detailed route map.

The very first sentence made his pupils contract slightly:

"I, Lin Han, a Spirit Emperor-level Battle Soul Master, survived by sheer luck after escaping the overseas forbidden land known as 'Sea God Island' twenty years ago. I record this here..."

Sea God Island?!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he began reading carefully by the lamplight.

The notebook's owner, Lin Han, had recorded in detail how, in his youth, his ship had been destroyed by terrifying Sea Soul Beasts during a massive shipwreck, after which he had drifted by chance to Sea God Island.

The Spirit Masters on the island were incomparably powerful. They worshipped an existence called the "Sea God" and were both xenophobic and severe.

Because he was an outsider, he had endured countless dangers and nearly lost his life several times. Yet through a fortunate twist of fate, he had witnessed some of the island's wonders and had even glimpsed the legendary "Sea God Mountain" and "Sea God's Light" from afar.

The notebook was filled with lingering fear and relief: "...The native Spirit Masters of the island possess unfathomable strength. They are extremely hostile toward mainland Spirit Masters, whom they regard as heretics. Only after surviving nine deaths did I manage to escape. It was truly a matter of luck. Should I enter that forbidden land again, death would be certain. Yet the island's secrets and the wonders of the vast sea are enough to make one's heart race and soul tremble..."

He had also drawn an exceptionally detailed sea chart, marking a relatively safe route from the vicinity of Vast Sea City to the outskirts of Sea God Island by skirting dangerous waters, along with several hidden islets where supplies could be replenished temporarily.

Several extremely dangerous regions had even been marked in red.

At the end of the notebook, Lin Han's handwriting became somewhat hurried and conflicted: "...Several years have passed since my return, yet what I saw and heard on the island often enters my dreams. But I know my own strength is meager, and I no longer have the courage to set foot there again. I can only hope that one day I may encounter a great opportunity, or... However, the situation on the continent is ever-changing. Spirit Hall is growing ever more powerful, and a new star is rising in Clear Sky. I fear there will be no peaceful days ahead."

He carefully rolled up the sea chart and notebook, his gaze sharp as a blade.

Sea God Island—when the chance came, he would definitely go!

He stored the beast-hide parchment in his Storage Ring.

At that moment, another important matter rose to the forefront of his mind—strengthening himself was the foundation for carrying out every plan.

This place was exceptionally quiet and isolated from the world. It was the perfect location to absorb that precious Spirit Bone!