Chapter 318: Six Red Spider Warships
The beast soul was the soul of the Silver Light Shark.
Whether human or barbaric beast, if the soul shattered, death was the only outcome.
Generally speaking, a barbaric beast's soul could only remain inside its body. However, when the soul grew to the level of a beast soul, it could leave the body and even be stored elsewhere.
The Silver Light Shark now planned to entrust its beast soul to Zhang Ruochen, thereby earning a chance to live.
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, weighing the pros and cons, and ultimately decided to accept the Silver Light Shark's beast soul.
The Silver Light Shark was powerful and a ruler of the waters. Controlling such a barbaric beast would bring Zhang Ruochen many benefits, even allowing him to use it to deal with the Black Market's experts.
"Very well, then. First, entrust your beast soul to this painting scroll."
A halo of light appeared on Zhang Ruochen's brow, and the Divine Martial Mark emerged. At the same time, a painting scroll flew out from the Divine Martial Mark and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
The scroll unfurled, revealing a painting of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, which exuded a majestic and imposing aura, making the Silver Light Shark even more terrified and convinced that this human before it was unfathomably deep.
This painting scroll was none other than the Cosmic Divine Wood Map that had once sealed Xiao Hei.
With the power of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, it could easily suppress the Silver Light Shark's beast soul, leaving Zhang Ruochen with no need to guard against it.
After storing the Silver Light Shark's beast soul into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, Zhang Ruochen rolled up the scroll and retrieved it back into the Qi Sea on his brow.
Now that he had control over the Silver Light Shark's beast soul, Zhang Ruochen had no need to remain inside the shark's belly.
Zhang Ruochen flew out from the Silver Light Shark's mouth and landed on its back.
The Silver Light Shark immediately surged up from the water, carrying Zhang Ruochen to the surface.
At this moment, dusk was approaching. A faint, pale moon hung in the sky, like a mark upon the heavens.
On the horizon, the sunset clouds blazed like fire.
The crimson sun was just about to sink below the waterline.
Zhang Ruochen took out a fourth-grade healing pill, the "White Bone Flesh Regeneration Pill," and tossed it to the Silver Light Shark, telling it to take it and heal itself.
"Thank you for the gift, Master," the Silver Light Shark said in a human voice, its tone filled with reverence.
Now that its beast soul was under Zhang Ruochen's control, it naturally held great fear and respect for him, not daring to harbor any rebellious thoughts.
A fourth-rank barbaric beast already possessed considerable intelligence and could quickly learn human language.
This was only a fourth-rank barbaric beast. Legend spoke of seventh-rank barbaric beasts that could even cultivate a human form.
Zhang Ruochen gazed at the setting sun on the horizon and asked, "You should be quite familiar with the Death Stretch. Do you know the location of the Four-Winged Earth Dragon's underwater dragon palace from back then?"
"Master wants to go to the underwater dragon palace?" the Silver Light Shark exclaimed in shock.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Don't tell me you don't know where the underwater dragon palace is."
"Of course not, it's just... just that the underwater dragon palace is located in the deepest part of the Death Stretch, and it's also the territory of the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent. Any human who ventures there is walking to their death," the Silver Light Shark said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Is the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent very powerful?"
The Silver Light Shark said, "Five hundred years ago, the human army rampaged through the Death Stretch, slaughtering almost all the powerful barbaric beasts. Even the Four-Winged Earth Dragon, the overlord of this land, was killed. However, one of the Four-Winged Earth Dragon's sons survived. That is the current Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent."
"I once went to pay homage to the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent. It is an incredibly terrifying ruler of these waters. Just the aura emanating from it made me tremble in fear, unable to move. Master, you absolutely must not go to the underwater dragon palace. If you alert the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent, we will both lose our lives."
Zhang Ruochen was determined to go to the underwater dragon palace.
The Buddha Relic was far too important to him.
Zhang Ruochen gently stroked his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Silver Light Shark, since you acknowledge me as your master, will you obey any command I give?"
"Naturally," the Silver Light Shark said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Good! Then go now and pay a visit to the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent. Tell it that a large number of humans have entered the Death Stretch, intending to break into the underwater dragon palace and seize the treasures left behind by the Four-Winged Earth Dragon."
"Master, who exactly are these people trying to break into the underwater dragon palace?" the Silver Light Shark asked.
"Questions you shouldn't ask, it's best you don't ask," Zhang Ruochen said.
The Silver Light Shark immediately fell silent and, following Zhang Ruochen's instructions, went to inform the Three-Clawed Dragon Serpent.
Before leaving, the Silver Light Shark told Zhang Ruochen the location of the underwater dragon palace.
"Since I'm going to the underwater dragon palace, I might as well take this opportunity to test my current maximum burst speed."
Zhang Ruochen stood on the water's surface as if on solid ground, took a deep breath, immediately activated his movement technique, and shot forward.
As time passed, Zhang Ruochen's speed increased rapidly, soon breaking the three hundred meters per second mark, then three hundred and ten, three hundred and twenty, three hundred and thirty, three hundred and thirty-one, three hundred and thirty-two...
As he approached the speed of sound, the air resistance grew exponentially.
"Ssshh!"
The clothes on Zhang Ruochen's body caught fire, instantly burning to ashes.
At the same time, various discomforts arose in his body. His upper body felt increasingly heavy, his lower body lighter. His eardrums were pushed up by the powerful opposing force, causing a ringing in his ears.
"Plop!"
Zhang Ruochen plunged headfirst into the water. The immense impact force created a huge splash on the surface.
After a long moment, Zhang Ruochen leaped out of the water, standing on the surface again. His wet hair clung to his face as he gasped for air.
"The closer I get to the speed of sound, the greater the air resistance. If my physical constitution weren't already at the level of a Heavenly Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist, my body would have been torn apart by that powerful opposing force."
When wearing the Flying Fish Armor and reaching the speed of sound, Zhang Ruochen hadn't felt such immense pressure.
But now, truly attempting to break the sound barrier with his Earth Extreme Realm cultivation, he realized how difficult it was.
He was only a hair's breadth away from the speed of sound, yet the closer he got, the pressure on his body multiplied. Even a Heavenly Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist's body could barely withstand it.
A Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist had a protective Heavenly Gang to resist that pressure.
But Zhang Ruochen had no protective Heavenly Gang and had to rely solely on his physical body to endure, naturally leading to various discomforts.
"No wonder reaching the Supreme Extreme Realm in the Earth Extreme Realm is so difficult. Even with all my advantages, I still can't cross that threshold. Do I really have to raise my physical constitution to the level of a Heavenly Extreme Realm Minor Extreme Position martial artist while still in the Earth Extreme Realm to have a chance at reaching the Supreme Extreme Realm?"
For an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist to achieve the physical strength of a Heavenly Extreme Realm initial-stage martial artist was already a remarkable feat.
Reaching the physical strength of a Heavenly Extreme Realm middle-stage martial artist was even rarer, like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Someone like Zhang Ruochen, who at the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection had already reached the physical strength of a Heavenly Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist, was exceedingly rare. Each one was a heaven-defying genius, requiring a massive accumulation of body-tempering precious medicines, coupled with their own diligent cultivation, pushing all conditions to the extreme to achieve.
As for reaching the physical strength of a Heavenly Extreme Realm Minor Extreme Position while in the Earth Extreme Realm, that was simply astonishing and existed only in legends.
According to Zhang Ruochen's knowledge, only the "Martial Emperor," the one with the strongest physical body among the Nine Emperors eight hundred years ago, had achieved the physical constitution of a Heavenly Extreme Realm Minor Extreme Position martial artist while at the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection.
Zhang Ruochen was now only a thread away from the Earth Extreme Realm's Supreme Extreme Realm. Perhaps raising his physical constitution to the level of a Heavenly Extreme Realm Minor Extreme Position martial artist would allow him to break through that thread.
"Only by obtaining the Dragon Relic or dragon blood can I elevate my physical constitution to another level and reach the Earth Extreme Realm's Supreme Extreme Realm."
Zhang Ruochen's robes had long since burned to ashes, leaving him completely naked. A faint smile touched his lips as he muttered to himself, "No wonder the elders who reach the Heavenly Extreme Realm at the Martial Market Academy all wear specially refined silver robes. Ordinary clothes would certainly self-ignite when a martial artist moves at high speed."
Although Zhang Ruochen was only an inner palace student, he enjoyed the treatment of a silver-robed elder, so he had already received three sets of silver robes.
Taking a set of silver robes from his Space Ring, he put them on. Zhang Ruochen continued his journey, stepping on the water's surface and heading quickly toward the underwater dragon palace.
Entering the waters where the underwater dragon palace was located, Zhang Ruochen detected traces left by human martial artists.
He slowed down, put on the Flying Fish Armor, entered the water, used his spatial power to conceal himself, and moved forward cautiously.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen released his Martial Soul and began to survey this stretch of water.
Before long, Zhang Ruochen discovered six Red Spider Warships a hundred miles away.
Even though he was using his Martial Soul, he still only probed from a distance, afraid that the experts on the warships might detect his aura.
"So many powerful auras. Just as A Le said, the Black Market has mobilized a large number of Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists. There must really be over a thousand martial arts masters."
The Black Market's power was not to be underestimated. The thought of over a thousand Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists was terrifying.
Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul was formless and invisible, like a wisp of breeze, flying through the air as he observed the six Red Spider Warships from afar.
Suddenly, on one of the Red Spider Warships, Zhang Ruochen spotted two familiar figures: Si Xingkong and Chang Qiqi.
Their hands were bound with iron chains, their legs wore shackles, and their necks, chests, backs, and abdomens were covered in wounds from whip lashes, bloody and miserable.
Besides the two of them, there were hundreds of other Earth Extreme Realm martial artists on that warship, all ragged and wearing iron chains, tied to the ship's masts.
"They've been captured by the Black Market's experts. I wonder if Senior Sister Huang and Senior Sister Duanmu managed to escape."
Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul searched through the six Red Spider Warships but found no trace of Huang Yanchen or Duanmu Xingling's auras, allowing him to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"It's understandable that the Black Market captured Si Xingkong and Chang Qiqi, since the Black Market and the Martial Market Academy have always been hostile. But why is the Black Market capturing so many other Earth Extreme Realm martial artists?"
(Extra chapter)