Ye Zhen had originally been utterly confident in hunting down Yan Yijun. In less than a day—perhaps only half a day—he should have been able to find and kill Yan Yijun.
But this time, Ye Zhen had miscalculated.
After spending more than half a day searching roughly a hundred and fifty thousand li of sea, Ye Zhen had still failed to find even a trace of Yan Yijun.
By Ye Zhen's estimation, given Yan Yijun's cultivation and speed underwater, there was no way he could have escaped beyond a hundred and fifty thousand li from where he had entered the sea.
Yet he simply could not be found!
Frustrated, Ye Zhen changed his plans. Time was limited, and he had already wasted more than half a day on Yan Yijun. Obtaining the qualification to bid was the top priority.
Thus, Ye Zhen decisively abandoned his search for Yan Yijun and instead dived deeper, preparing to seek out Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to earn points from Shuilian Island.
Ye Zhen did not simply plunge headlong toward the deepest part of the Underwater Canyon. It was his first time seeing an Underwater Canyon of such depth, so he explored as he slowly descended.
He casually collected some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures worth relatively few points, while broadening his horizons.
Along the way, Ye Zhen encountered quite a few martial artists, but no one had yet attempted an ambush and interception.
After all, exploration of this Underwater Canyon had only just begun.
From Ye Zhen's experience, the true danger would likely come when everyone left the Underwater Canyon laden with rewards.
However, martial artist casualties had already begun to appear unavoidably.
Ye Zhen personally saw a third-level Palace Opening Realm King devoured down to nothing by tens of thousands of Strange