Beneath the blue sky, the Raging Blue sped across the windless sea. It moved at astonishing speed, yet made no sound. By the time many mutant sea beasts and zombie sea beasts spotted the ship's silhouette, all that remained was a wake like ghostly mist.
On the deck, Luo Yu listened to Shui Wuyue's account, then asked, "What was the lower monarch species' Obsession...?"
It had taken six years to fulfill...
"Its greatest Obsession before it died was finding a wife," Shui Wuyue said.
Luo Yu: ???
That counted?
"Don't underestimate that Obsession. Before it died, it was a Raging Sea Berserk Shark, a lower monarch species. Mutant beasts of that kind only mate with their own kind, so even after death, the mate it needed had to be another Raging Sea Berserk Shark."
"And even across the entire ocean, there are pitifully few Raging Sea Berserk Sharks."
"Tell me, where was I supposed to find it a wife?"
"Even if I found another Raging Sea Berserk Shark, they're famous for their violent tempers. When they get angry, they'll even eat the flesh of their own kind. How could one possibly be willing to mate with a ghost? Mating is difficult for this species because of their berserk nature, which is also why they're so incredibly rare..."
"Imagine if a female ghost suddenly showed up at your door and wanted you to be her husband. What would your first reaction be? You definitely wouldn't agree, right?"
"In any case, I spent a long time roaming the seas for its Obsession. Luckily, I was sailing a ghost ship and could avoid a lot of dangers. Otherwise, I might have died in a shipwreck before the soul contract's backlash even got me." Shui Wuyue shook his head.
"Fortunately, after I finally fulfilled its Obsession, both of us became much stronger."
I see...
In that case, contracting a ghost pet beast really is pretty dangerous.
The main problem is that ghost sea beasts have all sorts of bizarre Obsessions, and some really are hard to deal with... but luckily!
From what Shui Wuyue had said, it was possible to examine their Obsessions in the Sea of Ghosts before making a choice.
Put simply, it comes down to luck again?
With good luck, he could encounter a ghost pet beast that was both powerful and had a simple Obsession.
With bad luck, he would only encounter pet beasts with little ability that loved to daydream. And come to think of it, there were more of those than any other kind.
"..."
Of course, the best news Luo Yu had heard was that ghost pet beasts didn't actually take up Contract Slots in the Beast-Taming Space.
"Then this time... is there a chance we'll encounter the Sea of Ghosts...?" Luo Yu looked out at the sea, a little expectant.
Shui Wuyue shook his head. "You'd better pray we don't. It's better to encounter ghost sea beasts when you're at a higher level."
"If the Beast Tamer has strength of his own, it'll be easier to help a ghost sea beast fulfill its Obsession. Even if a trainee Beast Taming master contracts one, what level can he possibly reach after five years? Intermediate Level Beast Tamer? Senior Level Beast Tamer?"
"At that level, fulfilling some of the more troublesome Obsessions is too difficult."
"All right, go absorb the soul liquid first," Shui Wuyue said. "I'll prepare some lesson plans..."
Luo Yu nodded and headed for his room. As for the little penguin, it was beside itself with impatience. It wanted to fish, but the ship was moving too fast.
"Don't worry. The ship should stop for a while when the lessons start. You can fish then." Luo Yu recalled it to the Beast-Taming Space and told it to rest first.
The little guy had been so excited to hear they were going out to sea today that he hadn't slept a wink all night.
Inside the room.
Luo Yu sat on the bed and drank the soul liquid in one gulp. It tasted a little like AD calcium milk.
"This feeling..."
After drinking it, he grew sleepy and lay straight down. But although his body was lying down, his mind was perfectly clear.
The state was very similar to sleep paralysis!
At that moment, Luo Yu could clearly feel his soul power undergoing the baptism of the soul liquid, growing and expanding!
In a daze, he lost track of how much time had passed. Then Luo Yu's soul left his body and floated above it. Looking at his physical shell, he took a deep breath.
A complete out-of-body experience!
This was a power he should only have been able to master after July reached level 11 and his own soul received its first major strengthening, yet he had mastered it now.
Sure enough, no matter what he did, resources were the most important thing...
"Maybe I can already control a small boat."
Luo Yu discovered that in his soul state, his vision seemed able to see through things. With his own eyes, he now saw that he appeared not to be aboard a ship, but on the back of a gigantic shark!!!
[Species]: Raging Sea Ghost Shark [Attributes]: ghost, water [Species Level]: lower monarch species [Life Level]: level 46 [Species Abilities]: Possession, Raging Waves, Gale... [Individual Talents]: 1. Obsession (special talent: possesses a powerful Obsession. After fulfilling it, soul power will increase greatly, with a small chance of soul evolution.) 2. Cautious (ordinary talent: more cautious than an ordinary individual.) 3. Calm (ordinary talent: calmer than an ordinary individual.) 4. Lustful (ordinary talent: more lustful than an ordinary individual.)
Good grief. Luo Yu could only say, good grief.
Because it was cautious and calm, it hadn't dared seek out its short-tempered kin to mate while it was alive.
But because it was so lustful, and had never managed to mate before it died, it had developed an Obsession?
That completes the loop!
"A special talent... so a ghost's Obsession is always a special talent?"
"Fulfilling an Obsession strengthens soul power. Shui Wuyue mentioned that, but it can actually trigger an 'evolution phenomenon' too. He didn't mention that. Maybe he doesn't know?"
"A reasonable guess: it probably takes an extremely powerful Obsession to ultimately cause a ghost to evolve. At the very least, something like finding a mate... definitely won't do it."
Next, Luo Yu wanted to test how far his soul could travel from his body. He had a feeling that his soul was trapped around his physical body, as though an invisible thread bound the two together...
He began passing through walls. As he went, Luo Yu arrived in the room next door, where hot steam was rising.
A person wrapped in a white bath towel, fresh from a bath, came face-to-face with Luo Yu's soul form.
"Ahhh-"
"What the hell are you screaming for?" Luo Yu looked at Chen Bo and said, "Sorry, I floated the wrong way. I'll leave right now. Take your time drying off."
How did I float into the bathroom...? That scared me. Luckily, it wasn't Yu Wan bathing, or her uncle would probably have thrown me to the sharks.
Before long, Luo Yu returned to his body.
Knock, knock, knock.
At the same time, someone knocked on the door. Luo Yu opened it to find Shui Wuyue.
"You can leave your body now, right? I sensed a soul fluctuation just now."
Luo Yu nodded. "Thank you for the soul liquid, Senior. I can do it now."
"You didn't feel seasick either, did you?"
"No."
"Very good. You've got talent. In that case, I'll have the Raging Blue slow down." Shui Wuyue was tremendously excited.
"I'll start teaching you how to pilot a ghost ship right now."
Shui Wuyue then brought Luo Yu to the Raging Blue's storage room, where there was a small wooden raft. Luo Yu would surely have to use it to practice next.
"Wuji!!!"
The Raging Blue slowed down. July had finally been waiting for this moment, and hurriedly climbed to the edge of the ship with his fishing rod in his arms.
Shui Wuyue, who had been about to start the lesson, couldn't help but pause and look at Luo Yu's pet beast.
"I saw it holding a fishing rod from the start. It really knows how to fish?"
"But will it be all right? The mutant beasts in these waters are level ten-something on average, and it's only..."
Luo Yu said, "He's level seven now, but his strength and reaction speed are both quite good. If he hooks something dangerous, he should be able to decide what to do on his own. We don't need to worry about him."
"All right." Shui Wuyue said no more. Besides, he didn't think the little penguin could really lure out any powerful mutant beasts with that beat-up fishing rod.
Even if it did hook a powerful mutant beast, the Raging Blue could attack too. Protecting the little penguin shouldn't be a problem...
"All right, next..."
Shui Wuyue had just been about to say something when July's fishing rod suddenly began shaking wildly. He had only just started fishing, yet something was already on the hook!
"Wuji!!!"
July shouted and pulled with all his might. The next instant, a figure burst out of the sea. He hauled it up and flung it onto the deck.
When Luo Yu and Shui Wuyue saw what July had caught, they fell into thought.
July himself looked bewildered.
It wasn't a big fish, nor was it a piece of junk.
It looked like... a human corpse?