Sea-Pacifying Divine Warship

Sea Dragon Vein —can there really be Dragon Vein at sea?

This was the first time Hu Mang had heard of such a claim.

He did know about the Ghost Dragon Vein and the Ghost Subway, the one with ridiculously expensive tickets, which connects the Underworld coordinates of every ghost city.

But what the hell is this Sea Dragon Vein ? Are there ghost towns and Ghost Haunt realms underwater?

Seeing that Hu Mang was stumped, Old Zhu chuckled to himself and explained, "The Sea Dragon Vein is not something that ordinary ship-farming cultivators can sense. Only those who have been sailing on the high seas for over a decade, cultivating daily with the Spiritual Qi of the ocean, can barely sense a trace of the Dragon Vein's power."

"Can you sense Old Zhu?" Hu Mang asked with interest.

"Of course, you see."

Old Zhu stretched out his palm, and a wisp of water vapor condensed. To outsiders, it was just a wisp of water vapor, but to Hu Mang, one could sense a subtle difference within it.

At the heart of the water vapor, a faint golden thread could be seen slowly moving, like a miniature dragon shadow traveling through the transparent liquid; the aura had a similar texture to the power of the earth's veins, yet it also carried a unique tidal rhythm belonging to the ocean, as if it were a trace of spirituality that the sea itself had condensed over the long years, which Old Zhu had captured with special methods.

"Boss Zhu is bragging again. You're at the Mid Golden Core, so the water vapor you condense should be more abundant than others. How can you call that Dragon Vein? Are Dragon Vein something people like us can even come into contact with?"

A sailor nearby complained.

"You don't know anything! You think I've been sailing ships for decades for nothing? I'm teaching you and you still won't learn. Wait until I break through to the Golden Core Late Stage, then you'll regret it!"

Old Zhu from Shuitou laughed and cursed at the other party a couple more times before speaking to Hu Mang.

"Little Hu, did you see it clearly?"

Hu Mang nodded seriously:

"Yes, there have indeed been some subtle changes."

Old Zhu was instantly smug. He had been ridiculed by acquaintances for bragging more than once or twice, but heaven took pity on him. This time he really wasn't bragging. He had genuinely captured a trace of change in the "Sea Dragon Vein" during a cultivation session. However, he couldn't explain it clearly, which earned him a lot of criticism. Now, finally, someone who knew his stuff had recognized his worth.

After he dispersed the moisture, he continued the topic of the "Sea Dragon Vein":

Do you know why even Nascent Soul Cultivator don't recommend flying alone at sea?

Hu Mang thought for a moment, "Is it because of the storm at sea?"

The ocean storm that Hu Mang mentioned was no ordinary storm, but a Spiritual Qi storm, the kind that even Nascent Soul Cultivator would find difficult to escape once inside.

Old Zhu shook his head. "Although Spiritual Qi storms are also dangerous, their coverage area is too large. As long as Nascent Soul Cultivator isn't Divine Sense impaired, they can detect them from afar and then avoid them."

"The real danger doesn't come from above, but from below; if I had to say, it's because of the Seaquake."

Seaquake, can there be earthquakes at sea?

"It's not a Seaquake, nor is it a wave," Old Zhu lowered his voice, as if afraid the sea breeze would hear, "It's an underwater current colliding with something."

He gestured with his hand. "Look at the sea surface, it's calm and peaceful, and it seems like things are just as peaceful underneath. But actually, right beneath our feet, there are dozens of ocean currents of all sizes, running day and night. Some are warm, some are cold, some carry the turbid Turbid Qi washed down from the land, and some carry the Clear Qi churned up from the deep sea. Some have their own Spiritual Qi, and Spiritual Qi don't. These ocean currents each have their own temperament, and they usually go their own way without interfering with each other, but occasionally, they collide somewhere."

"When two opposing ocean currents collide, it's not a fight, it's a mutual cancellation," Old Zhu said, his fingers snapping together in mid-air before suddenly opening wide. "The Spiritual Qi was completely drained in that instant, not just diluted, but utterly vanished. It was as if someone had dug a huge hole beneath your feet, sucking in all the Spiritual Qi within a radius of tens or even hundreds of miles, leaving not a single drop."

"Cultivators rely on Spiritual Qi energy to fly across the sea. Once they enter that vacuum zone, their Spiritual Qi will leak out like a plug has been pulled. Those below the Golden Core stage will run out of spiritual energy in just a few breaths; even those at the Golden Core stage won't last more than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Without Spiritual Qi energy, no matter how powerful your Cultivation Method or how strong your Law Treasure, you won't be able to use it. You'll just fall straight into the sea like a weight."

Old Zhu paused, then added, "Falling into the sea isn't the end of the story. Those vacuum zones often attract sea monsters that feed on 'spiritual flesh.' They don't live on Spiritual Qi energy; they rely on the brute strength of their bodies, honed on the seabed. If a cultivator falls in, it's like throwing a piece of meat into a shark tank."

After listening, Hu Mang remained silent for a while before speaking, "Then, can these Seaquake be detected in advance?"

Old Zhu sighed, "Yes, it's possible, but even if we detect it, it's useless because it's not fixed in one place; today it's in this sea area, tomorrow it might be hundreds of miles away. Even the Dragon King can't predict the temperament of those ocean currents."

"The most troublesome thing is that the stronger the Spiritual Qi on the sea surface, the greater the chance of attracting a 'Seaquake.' Even if you are Nascent Soul, if you are hit by a large-scale Seaquake, you will be badly injured even if you don't die."

"But it doesn't matter whether Nascent Soul lives or dies. He might not even cross the sea once a year. As for us sailors, if we were to crash into a ship, we'd only get a few million in compensation if we died. But what about the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cargo on board? Wouldn't the insurance companies go bankrupt every day? That's why there are sea routes, also known as the Sea Dragon Vein."

"Aren't there any Seaquake on the Sea Dragon Vein?" Hu Mang asked the crucial question.

"Of course not. The Sea Dragon Vein is the lifeblood of the ocean. No matter how turbulent the ocean currents are, they won't reach this vital point. It's like how even the most ruthless person wouldn't kick their own manhood a few times."

Old Zhu gave a rather vivid explanation.

"In ancient times, people prayed to gods and Buddhas, sent livestock to sea, and offered sacrifices to the Dragon King of the Sea. These were all attempts to activate the vitality of the Sea Dragon Vein and expand their coverage area, but of course, the effects were very poor."

"Later, in our time, we had more sophisticated Law Artifact to search for the routes of the Sea Dragon Vein, confirm their evolution at different times of the year, and their changes in direction. As a result, we sailors almost never had any accidents, unless you were running a smuggled route."

Old Zhu patted Hu Mang on the shoulder and sighed with emotion.

"Do you know why I stopped running smuggled services and switched to a government job? Smuggled services make way more money than government jobs, but they're also much riskier. If something goes wrong, the whole ship is wiped out. It's horrible, the scene is just horrible..."

Old Zhu originally came to brag, but ended up making himself sentimental. He shook his head and went down the deck, seemingly reminiscing about something.

"The Sea Dragon Vein, a safe sea route, the vital point of the ocean."

The Hu Mang muttered to itself.

On the coast of Penglai Island, three people were taking a walk: one was Lord Lin's special envoy, another was a representative of the Yu Household, and a woman in military uniform was following behind them at a distance.

"Once you used the bait of the Spirit Transformation stage, almost all the island lords in the East Sea took the bait. So, does that mean the Spirit Transformation stage is open to the outside world?" the Yu Household representative asked.

"We can't stay closed off. The Immortal Dynasty is pressing us step by step. If you take a step back, they'll take a step forward. If you develop industrialized cultivation, they'll launch mechanical ascension. If you develop the Five Virtues Spirit Transformation, they'll launch the Immortal Dynasty's Conferment of Godhood. I don't believe that these island lords haven't been recruited by the Immortal Dynasty in private. It's just that your Yu Household is holding them back, so some people don't dare to switch sides even if they want to."

The Yu Household representative said calmly.

"Then how do you know that they haven't secretly tried to win over our Yu Household? When the first Heavenly Emperor passed away, our family head traveled thousands of miles from overseas to pay his respects, only to be driven out by your second Heavenly Emperor with just a sword. He died in despair in his later years."

Lord Lin Jun laughed and said, "Was your man there to offer condolences? Was he there to seize the throne? That shows that the Heavenly Emperor had foresight and kicked your Yu Household out beforehand. He actually wants to restore the imperial system at the New Heavenly Gate. What are you thinking? The emperor of the Heavenly Gate is not something your Yu Household can do."

The woman in military uniform turned slightly pale, clearly frightened by the two men's inappropriate words.

"If that's the case, why do you think our Yu Household will definitely stand on your side this time?" the Yu Household representative asked, his face grim.

"The logic is simple. If your family can't be emperors in Heavenly Gate, do you think you can be emperors in the Immortal Dynasty? You can't hold any of the four positions of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness! In Heavenly Gate, people still remember the Yu Household's favor and contributions to the humanitarian revolution. Even if you can't be emperors, you can still be relatives of royalty overseas. But in the Immortal Dynasty, what favors can you have? The Yu Household has been a thousand-year- Aristocratic Clan for generations. Are you going to be cannon fodder? They're more ruthless than anyone else when it comes to killing their own people."

The Yu Household representative wasn't angry; instead, he nodded in deep agreement and sighed.

"Unfortunately, there's a group of people within the Lineage who can't think straight."

"If they can't think straight, then let them think straight. Let me be frank: the favor Heavenly Gate owes us is to the Yu Household princess and the branch that supported our rebellion overseas back then. It's not something just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can claim. If one day we arrest a few members of your Yu Household who are involved in Outer Dao, don't accuse us of being ungrateful."

"It 'Lord Lin's special envoy," he said coldly.

"To put it bluntly, the Ten Lords of Heavenly Gate have basically reached their third generation. If the bonds of affection are truly gone, then they're gone. You know, the first generation of Feather Lord had no direct descendants."

The Yu Household representative nodded silently.

"I understand what you mean. The Thirty-Six Islands of the Eastern Sea will cooperate with you in opening up Sea Dragon Vein. We will also relay your other requests to our clan."

"That's good," Lord Lin finally nodded in satisfaction.

The Yu Household representative suddenly laughed:

"On another note, regarding the Dragon Blood Tide, I only realized later that you acted first and informed them later. It was your side that was already developing the Sea Dragon Vein, which is why the Dragon Blood Tide was activated, rather than the Sea Dragon Vein being created after the Dragon Blood Tide was activated."

Envoy Lord Lin Jun chuckled.

"I've sent three Sea-Pacifying Divine Warship here. You don't really think we're here to discuss cooperation, do you? As for opening new sea routes, you have to agree whether you want to or not!"