Wreck Bay, Moon Island

From a few broken ships to a sprawling city of shipwrecks.

From a scattered handful of people to thousands upon thousands of outlaws of the sea.

Wreck Bay had ultimately evolved into what it was today, becoming the lair and sanctuary recognized by all pirates across the entire ocean.

However, Xia Yang and the others' destination this time was not Wreck Bay Island itself, but the surrounding waters.

As mentioned before, although the Azure Life Turtle was a Deep Sea Soul Beast, it was quite weak in its own right.

And because Wreck Bay had long gathered large numbers of human Soul Masters, it had produced vast amounts of household waste.

At some point, some Azure Life Turtles had been drawn by the leftover food and relatively calm environment in these waters, quietly making their home here.

That was precisely why Xia Shi, who had spent years roaming the sea, knew of this Spirit Beast that should have been rare.

Because he had personally seen them near Wreck Bay.

Thus, the Mystic Tortoise set sail from Xiling Harbor and headed toward the legendary Wreck Bay.

After sailing across the vast ocean for a full seven days, a stretch of waters filled with hidden currents and jagged reefs finally appeared before them.

Sun Chuanjun stood at the bow as the sea breeze whipped the hem of his clothes.

He turned back and said to Xia Shi, "Captain, Wreck Bay is ahead."

"Stop the ship. We'll stop here."

Xia Shi gave the order decisively.

Xia Yang, standing beside him, could not help asking, "Dad, aren't we going ashore?"

Xia Shi shook his head. His gaze swept across the faint outline of the distant island as he said, "There's no need to go ashore."

"There are too many pirates on the island. Timid Azure Life Turtles would not choose to live there."

"They should be hiding somewhere in these nearby waters."

"So that's how it is."

Xia Yang nodded thoughtfully.

The Mystic Tortoise came to a steady stop on the sea surface, its anchor sinking into the deep blue seawater.

Xia Shi quickly made arrangements. "Once the ship stops, everyone will switch to small boats. Search the surrounding area in teams of two."

"Zhang Feng and Sun Chuanjun, each of you take a sailor."

"Xia Yang will be with me."

"Old Li, you're a food-type Soul Master, so wait aboard the ship."

"Yes."

Everyone answered in unison before quickly splitting up.

Several small boats were lowered from the Mystic Tortoise, floating like leaves across the vast sea surface.

Xia Yang and the others boarded their respective boats and began carefully searching this mysterious sea area.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

The search parties gradually returned.

Xia Yang followed his father back onto the deck of the Mystic Tortoise, bringing back the fruits of their search—a sea turtle the size of a washbasin, with an emerald green shell.

"Captain, is this an Azure Life Turtle?"

Li Zhishu hurried over and curiously examined the unusual sea turtle.

Soul Power flowed through his hand, and several fresh loaves of bread instantly appeared in his palm. He handed them to Xia Shi and his son.

"Have some bread to fill your stomachs first. I'll prepare a hearty feast later."

Xia Shi accepted the bread and said with some regret, "That's right, this is an Azure Life Turtle. Unfortunately, it only has a fifty-year limit."

"Uncle Li, you don't know how hard these things are to find."

Xia Yang took a bite of bread and said with a hint of dejection, "Dad and I searched together for so long, and we only found this one."

Li Zhishu comforted him gently. "Don't worry. Aren't Zhang Feng and Sun Chuanjun still out there?"

"Maybe they'll find something."

"Now we can only count on them."

Everyone's hopes rested on Zhang Feng and Sun Chuanjun, who had yet to return.

It was not until more than half a day later that the other two small boats returned, one after the other.

The moment the two men stepped onto the deck, Xia Shi rushed forward impatiently and asked, "Did you find anything?"

Sun Chuanjun looked apologetic as he said, "Captain, sorry, but I found nothing on my end."

Xia Shi immediately turned to Zhang Feng and asked, "What about you?"

"Boss, I got lucky. I found a clue."

Zhang Feng said with a smile.

"Where?"

Xia Shi pressed urgently.

"Near Half Moon Island to the west."

Zhang Feng pointed westward.

Xia Shi immediately gave the order in a loud voice. "Everyone, attention! Half Moon Island is our target. Depart immediately."

The crew quickly took their positions as the Mystic Tortoise slowly turned its bow and cut through the waves toward the west.

After traveling for less than half a day, the Mystic Tortoise finally arrived at Half Moon Island that evening.

Just as its name suggested, the small island was shaped like a crescent moon.

The North Side of the island rose high while the south side lay low, and the Mystic Tortoise could only enter the island's inner waters through Crescent Moon Gap.

The ship slowly passed through the narrow entrance. After finding a suitable mooring spot, they dropped anchor and stopped, then everyone disembarked in turn.

On a beach near the sea, they lit a campfire and prepared to spend the night there.

The moon set and the sun rose. When the first ray of morning sunlight fell across the horizon, a loud splashing noise woke the people still resting.

"Splash—"

The once calm sea surface suddenly became turbulent.

Then, wave after wave of Sea Waves crashed against the shore.

"What happened?"

Xia Yang asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Sun Chuanjun leaped onto a large boulder nearby, bent down to observe the sea surface, and said, "There's something in the water. It should be Spirit Beasts, and there are quite a few of them."

Zhang Feng suddenly pointed beyond the island and shouted, "Look! A ship is coming in."

Everyone looked up and saw a large ship entering the island's inner waters through Crescent Moon Gap.

"Are they hunting Spirit Beasts?"

Xia Yang guessed.

"Most likely."

Xia Shi nodded in agreement.

"Captain, what should we do?"

Zhang Feng looked to Xia Shi, while the others also cast him questioning looks.

After pondering for a moment, Xia Shi said, "Ignore them. We'll continue according to plan."

"Next, we'll follow this Water Vein and search for Azure Life Turtles."

With that, he led everyone along the Water Vein that entered the island and began searching.

This Water Vein was more like a broad river, around seven or eight meters wide and more than ten meters deep, stretching from the sea all the way into the island.

At first, the riverbanks were bare, and the riverbed was empty as well.

But as they continued deeper into the island, the river's ecosystem gradually became richer.

Small fish and shrimp began swimming through the river water, while emerald green seagrass grew from the riverbed near the banks.

"Look, it's an Azure Life Turtle."

Zhang Feng suddenly pointed into the river and shouted.

Following the direction of his finger, everyone indeed found a palm-sized emerald green baby sea turtle amid a clump of aquatic grass.

"Only ten years."

Xia Yang said after examining it carefully.

"Since a ten-year one has appeared, we should soon find one with a greater year limit."

Xia Shi spoke with anticipation in his voice.

The group continued along the river.

More than half an hour later, they reached the central region of Moon Island, where a bottomless deep pond appeared before them.

The pond was roughly fifty or sixty meters wide. Countless streams of seawater flowed into it along the river channel, yet the Pond Water showed no sign of rising.

At that moment, more than a dozen Azure Life Turtles the size of millstones were leisurely swimming within the pond.

"Splash—"

Just as everyone rejoiced at finding their target, an unusual sound suddenly came from the river behind them.