Dragon Extreme

August, the warmest month in the Arctic.

The sun, almost perpetually, lay at the edge of the horizon.

The Arctic research vessel Dragon Extreme slowly moved across the boundless ice floes, the piercing sound of its bow breaking ice incessant.

At noon, the temperature rose to -7 degrees Celsius. Unlike the usual biting winds, the first mate, Zhao Meng, notified all the research team members to come out on deck for some fresh air.

Zhao Meng was Li Weiyi's senior disciple brother. He had practiced boxing and palm techniques for six years in their sect when he was younger, then joined the navy and worked his way up to officer. He had extensive sailing experience. This time, he joined the research vessel, responsible for personnel management, ship maintenance, and other matters.

Having been cooped up in the ship's cabins for several days, everyone was excited to be on deck.

Some stretched their arms wide, breathing deeply; some shouted loudly; others picked up the uncleared ice and snow on deck and hurled it into the distance.

The accompanying reporter was recording broadcast material.

Meteorological researchers launched a weather balloon.

"A thousand miles of snow, dark skies veiled by clouds."

"The earth seems like a moonlit night, mountains like morning clouds."

Among the seven or eight students who came out of the cabin with Professor Xu, a short one was moved by the scene and loudly recited a poem, exhaling clouds of white mist. No one laughed or felt embarrassed; they all empathized, their spirits soaring.

Having been selected for polar research while still in university, their life experiences were certainly enriched with a vibrant chapter.

Li Weiyi sat alone on the ladder at the stern of the ship, disconnected from the laughter, playfulness, and grand sentiments happening elsewhere.

He had a clear and handsome face, a high nose bridge, and lips slightly chapped from the cold. He had just finished his first year of university, significantly younger than the master's students led by Professor Xu.

From the collar of his thick, bright orange thermal suit, he took out an ancient ornament hanging around his neck. As he caressed its intricate patterns, a wave of longing surged, and bitterness and sorrow washed over his face.

This ancient ornament was called the "Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish," a token of the Chan Sect's sect leader, said to have been passed down from the time of King Wen of Zhou.

It was formed by two bronze fish joined head to tail, creating a Taiji symbol.

The fish scale carvings were clear, but one of the fish eyes was missing.

The two fish eyes represented Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang in Taiji. The remaining eye, slightly bluish and the size of a bean, was made of a peculiar material, resembling jade, stone, and bone, imbued with a strong ancient aura.

The old sect leader said it was the Dao Ancestor's glabella bone.

Two months ago, the old sect leader, on his deathbed, passed the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish to Li Weiyi, making him the new leader of the Chan Sect.

Having lost his parents at a young age, Li Weiyi grew up with the old sect leader, like a grandfather and grandson.

The old sect leader's death had hit him hard.

At that time, Zhao Meng, who was returning to the mountain to visit his master, happened to be there. The old sect leader entrusted Li Weiyi to him on his deathbed. Seeing Li Weiyi trapped in grief and unable to move on for days, Zhao Meng suggested taking him out to relax.

Only when Li Weiyi boarded the research vessel did he realize that his senior disciple brother was taking him to the distant Arctic to relax.

"Weiyi, missing the old sect leader again?"

Zhao Meng walked over from the deck.

He was a burly man, 1.86 meters tall, with a square face, large ears, and a thick beard. Coupled with the already wide and thick thermal suit he wore, his arms were as thick as pillars, exuding a mountain-like, imposing masculine aura.

Li Weiyi quickly composed himself, looked up, and revealed a pair of clear, bright eyes. "Senior disciple brother, you don't need to worry. I'm fine. It's been two months now. Anything can fade and be accepted with time."

He was strong-willed and could face life's storms alone; he was not someone who liked to burden his friends and family with negative emotions.

"That's good."

Zhao Meng sat down beside Li Weiyi, took out a cigarette case, lit one, and said, "Talk more with everyone, don't keep to yourself. Want a puff?"

Li Weiyi gently shook his head and asked, "Senior disciple brother, what happened on the ship last night?"

Li Weiyi had been assigned to the security team by Zhao Meng, responsible for basic safety and order in the fifth-level cabins. Last night, it seemed like something major had happened in the lower cabins, with sounds of running and shouting for quite a while, and even the ship's hull had shaken a few times.

He had wanted to go down and check at the time but was stopped, and he had been curious ever since.

Zhao Meng said, "Nothing major! Apparently, Laboratory 705 caught fire, but it was put out quickly."

Laboratory 705 was located in the bottom of the ship and conducted secret experiments. It had a high security level and was not under Zhao Meng's responsibility.

Li Weiyi had heard people mention that there were armed guards outside the laboratory.

"Those people are so secretive, and they don't even let us inspect if the lab has any dangerous or explosive materials. I really hope they don't cause any trouble," Zhao Meng muttered with concern.

They said it was a fire, but the ship had clearly vibrated, indicating they were deliberately concealing something.

The Dragon Extreme was over a hundred meters long and weighed nearly fifteen thousand tons.

How much force would it take to shake it?

Remembering the real reason he came to find Li Weiyi, Zhao Meng's expression turned serious. "Did Xie Jin and the others give you a hard time?"

"No."

Li Weiyi gently shook his head.

Zhao Meng's large, thick palm patted his shoulder. "With me here, just say whatever you need to say. The kinder and more tolerant you are, the more they'll take advantage of you."

Li Weiyi thought for a moment. "Everyone in the research vessel's security team is an elite selected through multiple rounds. And I'm a person with connections, just starting university, yet I'm a member of the security team and assigned to the best cabin level with a private room. If I were them, I'd definitely be unhappy too. So, I don't blame them."

Zhao Meng took a deep drag, stopping only when the burning tip of the cigarette neared his nostrils, exhaling a plume of thick, acrid smoke. "What connections? I know your strength. When we were kids... I remember you were only this tall? When I was practicing martial arts under the old locust tree, you were right beside me, grunting and waving your little fists along. Master said my talent only reached your knees at best."

Li Weiyi smiled, "You know how exaggerated Master's mouth can be, don't you?"

"Cut the crap! Two years ago when I returned to the mountain to spar with you, I was already no match for you. Seventeen and eighteen are the prime years for physical growth and surging blood. Do you think I'd dare to initiate a spar now?" Zhao Meng said.

While Li Weiyi had immense confidence in his martial arts, the thought of his master's words, "Martial way, martial way, only martial remains, no way. In this era, even martial is almost gone," inevitably dampened his confidence.

Only the pursuit of martial arts and extraordinary dreams that lingered in his mind had not diminished; instead, they grew even stronger.

He was determined to make a name for himself in this era where martial arts were abandoned.

After thinking for a long time, Li Weiyi said, "My joining the security team is always against the rules. Senior Brother, please don't make things difficult for them. I can handle it myself."

"You..."

Zhao Meng knew that his junior brother had grown up on the mountain and was a good student in school. He was too kind-hearted and didn't understand the wickedness of people, so he patiently explained, "You were specially recruited by me. Even if you weren't my junior brother, your strength would completely meet the requirements. That's the rule!"

"Next time Xie Jin and the others bother you, don't hold back. Just teach them a lesson."

Zhao Meng added, "Speaking of which, this matter is partly my fault. When competing for First Mate, I had a significant conflict with Xie Tianshu. He's likely behind this instigation."

Xie Tianshu was the Second Mate of this research vessel, responsible for the ship's security and medical services.

A research team member ran over quickly, "Brother Meng, the captain has an emergency and needs you to come over immediately."

"I've mentioned your situation to the captain. You don't even need to consider yourself part of the security team. Just think of it as a trip to relax."

Zhao Meng gave Li Weiyi a few more instructions before heading to the bridge with the team member.

"Do you know, the Arctic Ocean is the North Sea from myths and legends? In ancient times, the land was a vast wilderness, and gods, demons, and monsters waged endless wars. After the Chiyou tribe was defeated, the remnants of the Jiu Li fled into the North Sea."

"The North Sea is also called the Northern Darkness. It's said to be the entrance from the human world to the underworld. Some also say that only from the North Sea can one reach the true human world."

Professor Xu's group of master's students walked along the passage by the ship's railing towards the stern where Li Weiyi was.

The short man who had recited poetry earlier was a social butterfly, chattering endlessly to two beautiful female students about the myths of the North Sea.

They had been sailing at sea for over a month since their departure, and everyone was bored to the point of panic. Hearing such bizarre and absurd stories, coupled with the boundless icebergs stretching as far as the eye could see, naturally sparked endless imagination. Laughter and discussions filled the air.

A female student with very fair skin and round, bright eyes said, "Northern Darkness, I know it! In the Northern Darkness, there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so big, I don't know how many thousand li it is. Zhuangzi wrote it in 'Free and Easy Wandering'!"

Another female student deliberately teased, "If there really was a fish thousands of li wide, wouldn't it not have enough space to move even in the Arctic Ocean?"

Professor Xu and his students were responsible for the research projects of marine biology, extraction of Arctic bacterial strains, and marine gene specimens. Their tasks were diverse and heavy.

"The vastness of silver for thousands of li, the eternity of endless daylight. Such magnificent scenery can only be seen in the polar regions. Shall we take a group photo?"

"Sure, it would be very commemorative."

"Little brother, could you take a picture for us?"

Li Weiyi looked at the camera handed to him by the female student, then looked up at her eyes, as round as the moon. He nodded gently, put the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish into his thermal suit, got up, and descended the ladder to take their group photo.

"Please take a few more pictures."

A group of male and female students surrounded Professor Xu in the middle, striking various poses by the ship's railing.

"Click!"

The shutter was pressed continuously...

Suddenly, Li Weiyi sensed something was wrong. He had discovered something.

He flipped through the photos he had just taken, zoomed in, and observed carefully. His pupils contracted sharply.

"What's wrong, little brother?" the female student asked curiously.

Li Weiyi handed the camera over, letting them see for themselves.

He, however, looked towards the distant snow ridge.

The boundless ice and snow wilderness, a smooth land like cast silver, devoid of any vegetation, was awe-inspiring and desolate. On the snow ridge several kilometers away, a massive purple-black figure was moving rapidly.

"A bear? Such a strange bear-like creature..."

The female student was very surprised, her gaze fixed on the photo on the camera.

"Let me see. Why is it a purple-black bear? Aren't polar bears white? Could a new species have appeared in the Arctic?"

"Don't you guys think this bear is a bit strange? It looks so skinny, yet its body shape is exceptionally huge."

While they were gathered around studying the photos, the strange bear-like creature in the distance was rushing down the snow ridge towards the research vessel at an extraordinary speed.

Too fast!

It ran across the ice field like a car, each landing of its paws kicking up a lot of ice shards. Even from a great distance, the thunderous sound of its running could be faintly heard.

"Something's not right. How can it be so fast?" Li Weiyi narrowed his eyes, realizing the danger.

This strange purple-black bear-like creature was astonishingly large, four to five times the size of an adult polar bear.

It was definitely a new species not found on Earth.

In just one minute, it had covered nearly two kilometers.

The target is clear: the research vessel.

"It's coming for us."

Li Weiyi whispered, then looked towards the deck and shouted, "Everyone, quickly back to the cabins, there's danger!"

"What terrifying speed! A cheetah at full sprint might not even be this fast?"

Professor Xu and seven or eight young trainees were nearby, some worried, some panicked.

Through the research vessel's broadcast system, the captain's voice rang out: "All research team members please note, please return to your cabins immediately. Security team members, please lock your cabin doors."

"All research team members please note, please return to your cabins immediately..."

A piercing siren wailed, echoing throughout the entire research vessel.