After more than nine thousand years of flight, the ship finally reached a natural Wormhole. This was as far as it would take its passengers; from here, each party had to make its own way.
Once they passed through the Wormhole, the Floating Sand Sea was not far away.
Luo Feng and his two companions flew on for another three months.
"We're almost at the Floating Sand Sea." Inside his ship, Luo Feng watched the fully simulated view with growing anticipation. Before he knew it, an endless expanse of black lightning had appeared ahead. Beneath it lay the dark waters of the Floating Sand Sea.
The sea was so vast that even when the ship flew several light-years above it, its far shore remained out of sight.
"The cycle when the Floating Sand Fruit ripens draws the most experts, and the fighting is at its fiercest. Every time, Eternal True Gods and even Saint Realm experts die in droves." As Luo Feng gazed at the boundless sea, he could almost see the bloody struggle to come.
During an Era of Reincarnation when the Floating Sand Fruit ripened, the entire Floating Sand Sea was undoubtedly the liveliest place around. Countless Eternal True Gods and Saint Realm experts came from the Origin Continent's many kingdoms, tribes, and other powers. Even some Void True Gods formed teams and came to join the excitement.
When the time came, the strongest would gather, each seeking one of the 10,081 Floating Sand Fruits.
"But the more experts fighting over them, the better."
The greater the crowd, the happier Luo Feng was. In the chaos, his chances of gaining something would only increase.
Morosa had evolved to the point where he had the combat power of a Four-Origin Saint Realm expert without revealing his true form. Tie Nanhe had the combat power of a Mid-tier Third Source expert. More importantly, Luo Feng had the Lie Yuan Technique. Even experts among the top rank of the Saint Realm would fall victim to it if they let their guard down. Luo Feng's party looked weak, but in terms of how dangerous they were, they were among the strongest.
And because they looked weak, the three of them could catch stronger opponents off guard.
The more chaotic the fight, the greater the opportunity... Luo Feng thought.
The ship sped onward at 9,400 times the speed of light, the scenery beyond its windows changing rapidly. The closer it came to the Floating Sand Sea, the stranger everything became. Vast tracts of primeval forest surrounded the waters, all shrouded in mist. According to the records, ferocious beasts had claimed these forests as their territory. Weaker adventurers did not dare enter them lightly.
"Beyond this forest lies the Outer Region of the Floating Sand Sea." Luo Feng watched the simulated scene. The Outer Region was where the Origin Continent's peoples were active, and it was far safer than the forest. Most Eternal True Gods who came to the Floating Sand Sea chose to settle there.
Of course, a few Eternal True Gods traveled in groups or accompanied Saint Realm experts, hoping to find a Floating Sand Island where they could stay.
Luo Feng's destination this time was also one of the 10,081 Floating Sand Islands.
Flight high above the endless sea was all but forbidden. Owing to the Floating Sand Sea's peculiar nature, its upper reaches were filled with thunder and lightning. In places where the lightning was dense, even Ninth-Origin and Tenth-Origin Saint Realm experts would be blasted to pieces. The thinner patches could still kill most Eternal True Gods.
Anyone who wanted to reach a Floating Sand Island without being electrocuted had to fly low.
As the ship entered the sea's airspace, Luo Feng naturally lowered its altitude to just a few thousand kilometers above the surface.
"Morosa, Tie Nanhe, stay alert." Luo Feng's expression grew grave as the ship descended. Waves rolled across the dark, heavy sea, and now and then he could sense powerful disturbances from below—the sea beasts that lived in the Floating Sand Sea.
The greatest danger of flying low was an attack by the sea's ferocious beasts!
The beasts in these waters hated the peoples of the Origin Continent, treating them all as invaders. The moment they spotted one, they attacked fiercely.
"Yes, Master," Morosa and Tie Nanhe answered at once.
Morosa spread his divine sense across the surrounding area for several light-years. But once it reached the water, it met intense resistance and could penetrate no deeper than ten thousand kilometers.
At that very moment, eight enormous sea beasts lay in wait along Luo Feng's course, more than fifteen thousand kilometers beneath the surface. Each measured tens of millions of kilometers across. They resembled octopuses, though not quite: each had far more than eight arms, with over a hundred fearsome tentacles. Their pitch-black, spindle-shaped heads looked like mountains and massive swords, with two round black eyes set into each one.
The eight Sea Martens were gathered around the largest of their number.
"Comrades, for ages, the Alien Race has hunted our kind. Countless of our people have died at their hands. The hatred between us runs too deep to ever be resolved!"
"The King has said that over the next tens of billions of epochs, more outsiders from the Origin Continent will pour into our territory. They'll hunt our people and seize our Floating Sand Fruits! This is our home, and we won't let them have their way! If one comes, we kill one. If two come, we kill both. However many come, we kill them all!"
"I'm your captain, and you seven have been assigned to my squad. You will follow my orders and never act alone. Strong as each of you is, together we can do far more. We'll have a better chance of surviving and kill more of the Alien Race!"
"Comrades, whether we defend our territory depends on how well we fight together!"
The speaker was the leader of the eight Sea Martens. He was the largest, standing fifty million kilometers tall even at his normal size. Including his tentacles, he stretched more than a hundred million kilometers.
By the standards used to judge a Sea Marten's strength, one that reached fifty million kilometers in height possessed Saint Realm power. The captain of these eight Sea Martens was undoubtedly at least that strong.
"Captain, we'll follow your orders!"
"We'll follow the captain and kill more of them!" The other Sea Martens declared their agreement.
"Good!" the captain rumbled. Suddenly, he raised his head slightly, as though looking through the layers of seawater to the sky above. A vicious glint entered his eyes. "Hahaha! Speak of them and they appear. Outsiders are coming—Saint Realm experts, I'd wager. Get ready. We strike at once and give them a grand welcome!"
"Yes!" The others grew excited.
Luo Feng's ship sped over the sea, unaware of the danger below.
Even Morosa's divine sense could reach only ten thousand kilometers beneath the surface. Deeper down, the dense seawater pressed in too heavily for it to penetrate. There was no way he could discover the eight Sea Martens.
"Master, this sea's been pretty quiet. We haven't even spotted a sea beast. Maybe we're moving so fast we've scared them off." After the ship had flown for some time without the expected attack, Morosa sounded bored.
"Don't let your guard down. When these beasts do appear, every one of them is formidable. In the sea, it would probably take seven or eight opponents at their level to handle one. If they launch a strong attack, we should avoid it if we can. Whatever happens, don't let them drag us into the water," Luo Feng warned.
The sea was the most dangerous place to be. Once caught in it, an expert's strength would plunge. A First-Origin Saint Realm expert would be doing well to wield the power of a Ninth-Order Eternal True God. Sea beasts, meanwhile, were stronger in the water. The gap between them would widen dramatically. Anyone unable to break free quickly might be surrounded and killed.
The ship sped onward.
Suddenly—
"Hm?" Morosa's expression shifted.
Luo Feng also sensed a violent disturbance in the sea ahead.
Thick black tentacles erupted from the water, surging upward until they filled the sky. There were nearly a thousand of them, each radiating tremendous power. More than a hundred were noticeably stronger than the rest, every one of those tentacles carrying unmistakable Saint Realm power.
"Sea Marten tentacles! Eight of them!" Luo Feng could clearly sense eight distinct auras. The strongest beast possessed Saint Realm power, though he could not tell exactly which Source level it had reached. The other seven had auras comparable to experts at the Eternal True God Pinnacle. In the sea, none of them would be weaker than a First-Origin Saint Realm expert.
"Morosa, can you deal with them?" Luo Feng felt the surrounding spacetime lock down as resistance mounted sharply.
"Master, the strongest beast should be at the Two-Origin Saint Realm level. With the sea's aid, he can barely reach the Third Source, but he's no great threat to me. The only problem is that their true bodies are hidden underwater. To finish them off, we'll have to enter the sea or drag them out." A hint of eagerness for battle showed in Morosa's eyes.
"Then let's do it. Drag them out and end this quickly!" To obtain Sea Marten Stones, they had to kill Sea Martens. Luo Feng was itching for a fight too.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ship struck the tentacles, slicing through them one after another, but its speed fell rapidly.
"Out!" The ship vanished, leaving Luo Feng, Morosa, and Tie Nanhe amid the tentacles.
"Attack!" Luo Feng ordered.
All three expanded violently, reaching nearly ten million kilometers in height in an instant.
Luo Feng targeted one Sea Marten, while Morosa and Tie Nanhe took the remaining seven. They seized the beasts' tentacles and hauled with all their might.
"What?" With his divine power burning at full force, Luo Feng's strength exceeded that of a Ninth-Order Eternal True God and reached the early or even middle tier of the First-Origin Saint Realm. Yet, to his astonishment, he could not budge the Sea Marten. Instead, it was steadily dragging him down.
Such strength! Luo Feng's expression changed.
Tentacles coiled around him, trying to pull him into the sea.
"Hmph!" Luo Feng grunted inwardly and poured his burning divine power into the source of the Chaos Golden Wings. A far greater force surged through him. He hauled on the tentacles and flew upward, turning the contest from one he was losing into one where he held a slight advantage.
On the other side, Morosa and Tie Nanhe possessed terrifying strength and held the clear advantage. The Sea Martens lurking beneath the surface were being dragged steadily upward.
The sea had already been turbulent. As the behemoths below were hauled toward the surface, towering waves rose, and great mountain-like forms emerged from the water.