The sky was clear for ten thousand miles, the blazing sun hanging high.
A steamship built entirely of steel plowed through the wind and waves amid blasts of its whistle. White spray splashed to either side as it sped far faster than an ordinary fishing boat, like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Behind the stern, a black iron anchor hooked an enormous creature hundreds of meters long. Although the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had been dead for some time, the ferocious aura lingering around him was enough to send the ferocious beasts within a hundred miles fleeing, none daring to approach the steamship lightly.
Most of the flesh had already been carved from the enormous demon whale's body, leaving stark white bones exposed to the air and giving off waves of sweet, cloying blood scent. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had truly deserved his reputation as the ferocious beast once closest to godhood. Even reduced to meat on a chopping block, his flesh retained abundant vitality. Instead of turning sour and foul like ordinary fish, it remained as fresh as it had been at the moment of his death.
A handsome young man sat at the stern, his legs dangling over the side. He held a sharp little knife and occasionally sliced another piece of fresh flesh from the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's corpse.
His knife work was clearly excellent. Every cut followed the grain without damaging the texture. The resulting slices were palm-sized and so thin and translucent in the sunlight that one could faintly see through them.
Yang Ming placed the slices into his prepared sauce and gave them a gentle stir, coating them with chopped scallions, vinegar, and soy sauce to draw out the deeper flavors. He casually slipped a piece into his