The merchant ship cut through the waves of the gray, mist-shrouded Demon Fog Sea. It moved slowly but with remarkable steadiness. The pale azure barrier enveloping its hull kept out the damp, cold stench of decay and blocked the prying eyes of low-tier monsters lurking in the fog. Alone in his cabin, Han Li sat cross-legged with his eyes half closed, his aura almost merging with the shadows around him.
He had not entered deep meditation. Most of his attention sank into his body, guiding the newly formed fiend qi seed through its slow circulation as he refined the Yin-Attribute Spirit Stones taken from his Storage Bag, strand by strand. Pure yin qi flowed from the stones into his meridians. After being purified and transformed by the fiend qi seed, it became even denser, purer profound yin fiend qi, nourishing his meridians, still riddled with fine cracks, and the dim, shattered phantom of his Golden Core that barely held together. His recovery was agonizingly slow, but the fiend qi seed made his control over yin-aspected power increasingly effortless. The quality of his spiritual power far surpassed that of ordinary Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivators.
The smaller portion of his attention quietly enveloped the entire merchant ship like the keenest radar. There were twenty-seven cultivators aboard. The strongest was the white-haired Shopkeeper Wu, who stood at the peak of the Foundation Establishment middle stage. Most of the others were mid- to late-stage Qi Refining disciples, alongside a few mortal sailors with some knowledge of martial arts. Everyone treated this mysteriously appearing "senior" with great reverence and fear. No one dared approach his cabin, and even their conversations were hushed.
From the scattered conversations he had overheard over the past few days and the detailed sea chart in his possession, Han Li had