Razor Kelp

Jiang Che asked no further questions. Though the fisherman was only an ordinary man, he had dealt with the sea all his life. Perhaps he really did have some secret weapon.

While cultivating the second level of the Qi Condensation Shield, Jiang Che's strength had improved considerably.

After all, this was his first time facing sea soul beasts, and there was nothing wrong with being cautious. If the fisherman really could produce a useful secret weapon, it would only help him, not hurt him.

While the fisherman was away, Jiang Che gave the fishing boat a general inspection.

Though the fisherman had said his boat could withstand attacks from soul beasts at least several hundred years old, that was merely someone else's claim.

That was Jiang Che's nature: he never readily trusted what others said.

The boat was made of wood, roughly fifty meters long and ten meters high. A fishing boat this large could indeed withstand attacks from hundred-year soul beasts, and even if it encountered a thousand-year soul beast, it would still have the capacity to escape.

To withstand soul beast attacks, fishermen built their boats larger and sturdier. If they sailed out to sea in a small fishing boat, any hundred-year soul beast could pose a threat.

Before long, the old fisherman arrived in front of Jiang Che with the supplies.

Three young men followed behind him.

"Lord Soul Master, these men will assist you. They have plenty of sailing experience, and every one of them is quick-witted."

Jiang Che noticed that each of the three young men held a crate. Judging by their postures, the crates were heavy.

"What's this?" Jiang Che asked.

"These are Salt Crystal Blocks! They work wonders against soul beasts," the fisherman said with a grin.

Jiang Che opened a crate and took out a pure white stone the size of a fist. "What does this do?"

The fisherman explained, "Its composition is much like salt, but its effects are dozens of times stronger. It works wonders against Razor Kelp."

With that explanation, Jiang Che understood what it was for.

Put it this way: as long as you were a carbon-based life-form, salt was something to fear. Anything in excess could be fatal. Even kelp growing in the sea would be in danger if it absorbed too much salt.

Two of the crates contained these Salt Crystal Blocks, while another crate gave off a pungent smell.

According to the fisherman, the smell of this stuff could drive away most sea soul beasts. Only a small portion of them were unaffected by its pungent odor.

Jiang Che nodded in satisfaction. As expected of an old fisherman who had dealt with the sea all his life, he had plenty of experience.

While it was still light, the fisherman wasted no time, working with the three young men to sail toward Wind Sea Plain.

"Sir, where did you last see Razor Kelp?" Jiang Che asked the fisherman.

"The last time I saw it was among a cluster of coral. Razor Kelp likes growing among coral. If you want to find older Razor Kelp, you'll need to head deeper into Sea Wind Plain."

Wind Sea Plain was exceptionally calm, and the scenery beneath the water was clearly visible. Looking into the distance, they could also vaguely make out other boats.

"Lord Soul Master, I must remind you: once we run out of Salt Crystal Blocks and Stinky Sulfur Blocks, we'll be in serious danger."

"If we encounter a hundred-year soul beast, I'll drag it aboard and deal with it. If we encounter one over fifteen hundred years old, we'll run immediately."

Jiang Che knew what the fisherman was thinking. As a novice, he naturally needed to listen more to such an experienced fisherman.

Jiang Che sat cross-legged in a corner of the deck, his gaze fixed on the seabed.

After smelling the Stinky Sulfur Blocks tied beneath the boat, the sea soul beasts all kept their distance, not daring to approach.

Time passed, and the fishing boat sailed into deeper waters. The scenery on the seabed grew indistinct.

Swish, swish, swish~

Night fell~

At night, the sea was utterly quiet apart from the sound of the rolling waves.

A black sky, a black sea.

Aboard the fishing boat in the middle of the sea, there was no illumination other than a sliver of moonlight from the sky.

True qi emerged around Jiang Che, allowing him to vaguely sense the general situation even ten meters away.

The fisherman and the three young men had all taken shelter in the captain's cabin on the second level, so Jiang Che did not need to worry about their safety.

Suddenly, Jiang Che saw a glimmer of light appear beneath the black sea.

The fisherman also ran down from the second level to warn him. "Lord Soul Master, it's a Serrated Lantern Shark!"

Having said that, the fisherman hurried back to the captain's cabin on the second level without a second's hesitation.

"Serrated Lantern Shark." Jiang Che quickly recalled the basic information about this soul beast.

Serrated Lantern Sharks were active at night, had no sense of smell, and possessed excellent vision, but were very timid.

By the moonlight, Jiang Che vaguely made out its general shape. The Serrated Lantern Shark, over five meters long, had already arrived beneath the boat and was eating the bait the fisherman had placed there.

The fisherman had prepared all this bait, mixing large quantities of Salt Crystal Blocks into it.

Jiang Che watched the Serrated Lantern Shark beneath the boat. There were small scratches on its body, and a short strip of kelp was tangled around it.

If his guess was right, that strip was Razor Kelp.

"Sir, steer in the direction that Serrated Lantern Shark just came from," Jiang Che said.

After receiving a reply, Jiang Che frightened the shark away, and they sailed in the direction it had come from.

Before long, the fishing boat reached a glowing stretch of sea.

Beneath these waters were beds of glowing coral and some luminous jellyfish.

Jiang Che recognized these jellyfish. Blue Lantern Jellyfish were a very famous kind of soul beast, renowned for their venom.

Anyone who came into contact with their venom would suffer ulcerated skin in mild cases and death in severe ones.

The boat continued forward, and a bed of kelp appeared before Jiang Che.

Jiang Che's eyes lit up at the sight of the kelp.

There was no mistake. This was Razor Kelp.

As its name suggested, Razor Kelp had edges as sharp as blades, which also meant there were no other soul beasts within the kelp bed.

However, the Razor Kelp around the edges were all at the ten-year or hundred-year level.

The fishing boat continued toward the center of the Razor Kelp bed.

Soon, a large expanse of empty seabed appeared before them.

At the center of that empty seabed grew a Razor Kelp as thick as a person and ten meters tall. It appeared to have a thousand years of cultivation.

"Looks like you're the boss around here!"

The fishing boat stopped twenty meters from the thousand-year Razor Kelp.

Thousand-year plant soul masters had already developed a faint intelligence. They could sense danger, hunt actively, distinguish friend from foe, and experience simple joy and anger, but they had no long-term thinking, and their actions were driven entirely by instinct.

"Looks like this Razor Kelp only recently passed the thousand-year mark." As he spoke, Jiang Che took a Salt Crystal Block from the wooden crate and hurled it hard.

The Salt Crystal Block struck the water and slowly sank.

The Razor Kelp seemed to sense danger.

Its entire body shook, slicing the Salt Crystal Block in two.

Yet that very slash allowed the Salt Crystal Block to dissolve more readily.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Just like that, Jiang Che used up an entire crate of Salt Crystal Blocks.

Though the Razor Kelp sensed that the Salt Crystal Blocks were harmful and deliberately avoided absorbing them, the prolonged exposure still left it suffering.

A night passed, and the Razor Kelp had been tormented beyond recognition.