Chapter 426: Nightsea
Before Peng Zhuang could finish, Qiurong Wanxue turned around so he quickly shut his mouth in fear.
Li Qiye smiled and met her gaze; this deadlock went on for a while, but Qiurong Wanxue didn't say anything.
The boat slowly entered Nightsea. Qiurong Wanxue had come here before so she was fine, but the youths were quite creeped out.
Although there was nothing particularly scary about Nightsea besides its dark water, those on the boats going out to sea had the feeling as if they were descending into an unknown abyss. The jet-black water seemed to be able to swallow all things, causing people's hair to stand on end.
It was true that Nightsea was a very dangerous place. Even Heavenly Kings and Virtuous Paragons would die a miserable death without a ferry in this sea. This sea was like a ferocious beast that could swallow all people; even their bones would not be spared. A Virtuous Paragon capable of obtaining the god title would still not be able to escape this fate if they forcefully tried to enter Nightsea.
There was a rumor stating that only Immortal Emperors could force their way into Nightsea, but there was no way to verify it.
Peng Zhuang was quite alarmed as he sat on the boat above Nightsea. If Qiurong Wanxue didn't say anything, the young ones wouldn't dare to step outside the boat at all. After all, if they fell, death would be the only outcome.
Li Qiye looked at this sea that was seemingly like a world of darkness and murmured: "Nightsea…"
Li Qiye knew that this sea hid many secrets just like Necropolis. In fact, there was one in particular that was unknown to all others, a very important one.
After they went further into Nightsea, the handler gave each person a net. This fishing net was very special; it was made from an unknown material and seemed like it was woven from light. There was no weight to it when held in one's hand.
This was a fishing net designed to catch Yang Nightfish and was given to people by the handlers. However, the strange part was that the handlers themselves never caught these fish, and no one knew the reason why.
The group casted their nets for two days, but no one managed to catch any Yang Nightfish. Qiurong Wanxue continuously changed the boat's direction and location to no avail.
After three days without any results, Peng Zhuang became a bit dejected: "Not a single Yang Nightfish… Don't tell me all the fish in this sea have been caught already?" The impatient fella had this urge to jump down into the sea himself.
Compared to the six youths, Qiurong Wanxue was much calmer. She shook her head and said: "Catching Yang Nightfish isn't easy. It is the common currency in Necropolis, so if you can catch them anytime you want, then you will be able to get many things in the city. A lot of people fish for several months before getting any harvest. If you lose your patience now, then you won't get anything at Necropolis."
She wished to train them so she was not in a rush at all despite not catching any fish.
After three days passed, not a single fish was caught, but Li Qiye's group was not the only group suffering this lamentable fate. They met many groups recently; they were all young men from all over the world, riding these ferries in order to catch Yang Nightfish.
Qiurong Wanxue coincidentally encountered several familiar ghost sects and ghost members and said hello. From their conversations, they found out that several people who came here for a month only managed to catch three to five fish at best.
After hearing about the lackluster results from others, Peng Zhuang's group of six felt a lot better. Since others took a month to catch around five fish, it was not surprising for them to not catch any in just a few days.
On the eighth day, Li Qiye's group met a particularly powerful sect. They rented an extremely big ferry that carried many young men who had surging blood energies. The divine flames on their bodies made them even more unapproachable. These youths seemed to be the children of a divine race and they each had an oppressive aura.
The person who sat at the bow was the most amazing. The flames that danced on his body turned into divine rings right behind him; the rings made him seem as if he was protected by gods.
Qiurong Wanxue emotionally spoke after seeing this huge boat: "Even the Divine Spark Country is here. The Divine Spark Prince came in person as well." She then told the handler to row the boat around them.
Walking the long way was not Li Qiye's style, so he asked with a smile: "Why are we avoiding them?"
Peng Zhuang looked at him curiously and asked: "Brother Li came from the Thousand Carp River, but you don't know about the Divine Spark Country?"
"What about the Divine Spark Country?" Li Qiye smiled and asked without a care.
Peng Zhuang tapped his forehead and replied: "Brother Li, your information is too outdated. The Divine Spark Country is one of the most powerful lineages in your southern Distant Cloud. Although they are not an emperor's lineage, they are still a first-rate great power and only a bit weaker than an emperor's lineage."
Another disciple added: "Yep, I heard that they are a divine race. They call themselves descendants of a True God."
Li Qiye was not surprised at all as he smirked: "Is that so." He paid no mind to even emperor's lineages, so a great power like the Divine Spark Country naturally couldn't enter his sight.
"Not only that." The only female disciple spoke: "I heard that the Divine Spark Princess is a famous and beautiful goddess of your southern Distant Cloud. She is getting married to Sir Di Zuo." 1
"Who is Di Zuo?" Li Qiye looked at her and asked one more time; a smirk was still on his face. He was not doing this on purpose since he really didn't know who Di Zuo was.
The six disciples acted as if they were about to faint and looked at Li Qiye as if he was a monster. Peng Zhuang patted his forehead one more time and painfully said: "Brother Li… No way. Brother Li doesn't even know who Sir Di Zuo is? He is one of the three heroes in our Sacred Nether World."
"Three heroes? Who are they?" Li Qiye remained oblivious.
Peng Zhuang quickly explained: "Chan Yang, Di Zuo, and Tian Lunhui are the three strongest geniuses in our Sacred Nether World. People say that these three have the greatest chance of shouldering the Heaven's Will in this generation. Sir Di Zuo has the most terrifying background; he is the only descendant of the Myriad Bones Throne." 2
Li Qiye suddenly smiled as if he was happy to recognize a name: "Ah, the Myriad Bones Throne — I have heard of this name. It is a lineage with three emperors, correct?"
" 'A lineage with three emperors, right?' !" The six felt their minds sway; they felt that Li Qiye was too slow. Peng Zhuang shouted: "Brother, this is one sect, three emperors! Do you know how powerful Sir Di Zuo is? People say that even Heavenly Sovereigns from the previous generations have to treat him with reverence."
"I see." Li Qiye dully replied. It was not him looking down on others; one sect, three emperors was a very normal thing in his opinion.
The female disciple spoke: "The Divine Spark Princess — the Divine Spark Phoenix Maiden is Sir Di Zuo's fiancee. I heard that after the news of the engagement, the fame of the Divine Spark Country rose like a ship meeting the waves."
"The person who sat at the bow earlier was the Divine Spark Prince, the little brother of the Phoenix Maiden." Qiurong Wanxue asserted from the front: "The Divine Spark Country is a major power, so it is better for people like us to avoid them."
It was reasonable for Qiurong Wanxue to show caution due to the nature of her small tribe that was completely incomparable to a great power like the Divine Spark Country. The country could lift a finger and easily destroy their tribe, so she naturally would avoid such a monstrous existence.
"I get it now." Li Qiye revealed an enlightened appearance and nodded his head with a smile.
Qiurong Wanxue warned them: "If the southern Distant Cloud's people are here as well, then Necropolis will become very lively in the upcoming times. We have to be extra careful and not cause trouble."
As the chief of a small tribe living between great powers, she and her Snow-shadow Tribe had to be very careful.
Li Qiye's group had been out on Nightsea for ten days and finally got some results. Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue's nets were empty so the last disciple who was reining in his net initially didn't have too much hope, but a bright light emanated inside his retrieved net. Everyone came to take a look and found that inside this net was a little fish the size of a thumb, emitting some sunlight. It seemed to be carved from fire jade as a flame burned strongly on its body.
"Yang Nightfish!" Qiurong Wanxue smiled after seeing this little fish; it was a beautiful smile that resembled a blooming peony flower.
"Yang Nightfish!" The disciple who caught it was extremely excited, especially since he was the first to catch one.
"We finally got something." The six young ones jumped up and down happily.
Catching a fish motivated the young ones so they assumed that a great harvest was sure to follow. However, they didn't catch any other fish for the next two days.
Qiurong Wanxue remained calm while the six became more impatient.
426 TeaserBefore Peng Zhuang could finish, Qiurong Wanxue turned around so he quickly shut his mouth in fear.
Li Qiye smiled and met her gaze; this deadlock went on for a while, but Qiurong Wanxue didn't say anything.
The boat slowly entered Nightsea. Qiurong Wanxue had come here before so she was fine, but the youths were quite creeped out.
Although there was nothing particularly scary about Nightsea outside of its dark water, those on the boats going out to sea had the feeling as if they were descending into an unknown abyss. The jet-black water seemed to be able to swallow all things, causing people's hair to stand on end.
[collapse] Di Zuo = Emperor's Throne; such a powerful and arrogant name. ↩ Not quite sure if these are names or titles, but they will most likely stay in pinyin form. Chan Yang = Zen (Buddhist) Yang, Di Zuo = Emperor's Throne, Tian Lunhui = Heavenly Samsara (Cycle). ↩Chapter 427: Catching Nightfish in Nightsea
The group of Peng Zhuang started to lament after failing to catch anything for two days. Peng Zhuang said: "Aizz, it is so difficult to catch these fish. If this goes on, then I'm afraid we won't catch more than two fish in an entire month."
Even though as long as they kept on paying with their Longevity Blood, they could keep renting the ferry, the young ones became more restless as the days passed by.
Li Qiye went to find Qiurong Wanxue. He looked at this mature and alluring woman and asked with a smile: "Is it alright if I guide the way today?"
Although Qiurong Wanxue was patient, Li Qiye didn't have time to play around with them on Nightsea. There were many things he needed to do that required a large amount of Nightfish.
Qiurong Wanxue watched him for a while then nodded her head: "Very well, you can give it a try."
After she agreed, Li Qiye told the handler who was sitting at the back of the boat: "We'll go over there."
The handler quietly rowed the boat towards the direction Li Qiye pointed to. It was as if the handler was invisible; he never said anything and only dealt with controlling the ferry, never participating in anything else.
As the small boat rocked back and forth, Li Qiye was secretly measuring Nightsea. He needed to calculate the time and the trajectory of the boat. In the last millions of years, this was not his first time catching Nightfish, so he knew more than the group of Qiurong Wanxue.
After riding the waves for half a day, Li Qiye said in a serious manner: "Stop right here."
The handler stopped the boat as it paused on this pitch-black sea. Li Qiye held his breath while staring at the sea's surface.
His solemn attitude also affected Qiurong Wanxue as she did the same thing along with the group of youths. However, they didn't see anything. Nightsea was very mysterious, so even Heavenly Gazes couldn't see through the dark water to assess the situation below no matter how powerful the person was.
Time continued to flow. Suddenly, Li Qiye's pupils narrowed as he gravely shouted: "Now! Drop the nets!" Then, he immediately flung his net down into Nightsea.
Qiurong Wanxue and the group of six also did the same. One disciple intended to pull his net up right away, but he was stopped by Li Qiye's serious tone: "Don't move!"
The group didn't dare to move and just stared at the sea like Li Qiye, but they didn't see anything.
After a while, Li Qiye finally shouted: "Pull up your nets, now!" He then pulled his own net up.
"Whoosh!" The moment he pulled up his net, a blinding sunlight came forth, forcing everyone to close their eyes.
There was a Yang Nightfish inside the net, struggling to break free, but it was no use. Li Qiye quickly took the fish out of the net and threw it into a jar that was prepared beforehand so that it wouldn't escape.
"Whoosh!" The group of Qiurong Wanxue also pulled up their nets and the same blinding sunlight appeared once more.
The light caused the group to be shocked and speechless. The jaws of the younger crowd were wide open for a very long time. Just a single release of their nets resulted in more Yang Nightfish than what others gained in an entire month.
Qiurong Wanxue was the fastest to react as she told the young ones: "Quickly, catch the fish!" She then took out a jar to place her fish inside.
The young ones regained their sanity and quickly placed their fish into their jars as well. They were quite jubilant as the great harvest from a single round left them in disbelief.
The moment Peng Zhuang's group finally finished storing the fish away, another ferry happily pointed out Li Qiye's successful catch: "There are fish over there!"
The people of Peng Zhuang's group were no strangers to this ferry; it was their old enemies — the Black Cloud Young Lord and the other disciples.
"Release the nets!" The young lord noticed Li Qiye's catch so he immediately ordered for the disciples on board to cast their nets into the sea as well.
All of the disciples did so and then pulled up their nets, but they didn't catch anything. Seeing the empty nets, the young lord angrily stomped his foot and exclaimed: "Too late!"
"Haha, Little Black Ghost, you guys are too late!" Peng Zhuang was quite happy to see the lack of results on the other side: "The fish already ran away last night!"
The young lord didn't believe in magic, so he shouted again: "Release the nets!" They wanted to catch a large amount of fish like how Li Qiye's party did earlier, but every time they cast their nets, it ended with zero results.
Earlier, the young lord saw — with his own eyes — how the group of Peng Zhuang managed to catch Yang Nightfish right at this place. However, his continuous attempts all ended in failure.
Li Qiye was too lazy to look at the Black Cloud Tribe, so he said: "Let us go." With his great understanding of Nightsea, he knew that the moment he stopped that school of fish, there wouldn't be more coming for a long time.
The handler once again rowed under Li Qiye's directions. Peng Zhuang happily waved goodbye to the Black Cloud Young Lord before leaving and shouted: "Little Black Ghost, you guys can take your time, your uncle is leaving now."
The young lord shivered with anger as his eyes failed to hide his rage; he could only watch Peng Zhuang's group leave.
Li Qiye told the handler to go to a certain area in the sea before stopping. He then told the group: "We'll spend the night here and cast our nets around midnight." He then sat down and closed his eyes to rest right afterward.
The young ones looked at each other with excitement as they gathered together. Peng Zhuang asked: "I caught ten Yang Nightfish, what about you guys?"
A disciple counted his fish and happily exclaimed: "Fifteen!"
Some people took a month to catch three to five while a single cast of their nets resulted in several dozen fish, so how could they not be incredibly excited?
The only female disciple in the group was the most joyous since she had the best catch: "I got eighteen!"
The six talked for a while in elation. Peng Zhuang then said: "Man, Brother Li is our lucky star. We got a really big harvest this time. Haha, Brother Li is truly amazing!"
Another one added: "Yep, yep, although we didn't catch anything in the last ten days, we got so much this time. This is a month's worth for other people."
They felt so lucky after the great harvest that resulted from Li Qiye's guidance.
Only Qiurong Wanxue was silent as she watched Li Qiye meditate. She definitely did not believe that this rich harvest came from luck alone. She had come to Nightsea several times before, but she had never heard of anyone catching several dozen fish in a single round. This harvest was too unreasonably great.
Moreover, the location was not chosen by chance since Li Qiye clearly chose it deliberately. Could it be that Li Qiye knew where the fish were within Nightsea?
Having thought to this point, she felt that it was an impossible matter. It was said that the Yang Nightfish were very unpredictable and no one could know where they would appear. Even Virtuous Paragons could not calculate the time or location of the fish.
However, if that was the case, then how did Li Qiye pick such a location? Qiurong Wanxue was quite perplexed.
She became even more cautious of Li Qiye. The group of Peng Zhuang was careless since they were young, but she clearly noticed that Li Qiye purposely followed them.
Along the way, Li Qiye was quite polite and obedient. She felt that he was a bit problematic, but he never did anything to them, so she slowly became at ease.
Although this release of their nets caused her doubts to resurface, she couldn't see through him at all. She only knew that his name was Li Qiye and that he came from the southern Distant Cloud — nothing else.
During midnight, Li Qiye, who had been meditating, suddenly stood up and ordered the group: "Get ready!"
The group of youths who were meditating woke up and picked up their nets with excitement. Li Qiye looked at the sky's shade then towards another direction before telling everyone: "We have to be fast this time; just a bit late and we'll lose our chance."
The young ones memorized his words as they gripped their nets tightly. Li Qiye stared at the sea without saying anything else.
The young ones held their breaths and copied his gaze. Qiurong Wanxue was also quite nervous as she looked out towards the sea.
Minutes began to pass by and, in just the blink of an eye, an hour had elapsed. Li Qiye remained immobile like a wooden statue, staring at Nightsea.
Chapter 428: Abundant Harvest
Before anyone noticed, two hours had gone by and Li Qiye still didn't move; he just stared at the sea. Throughout this time, they didn't do anything, so the group of Peng Zhuang became impatient.
Peng Zhuang wanted to ask Li Qiye, but Qiurong Wanxue shook her head at them, signaling for them to not disturb him. The six calmed down and held their breaths while looking at the sea's surface.
At this time, Li Qiye then shouted: "Release the nets!" Li Qiye released his net at the speed of lightning.
Qiurong Wanxue and the six didn't dare to hesitate; they released their nets with their fastest speed.
However, the nets had only went down for a moment before Li Qiye shouted again: "Pull them up, fast!" Then, Li Qiye dragged up his own net.
"Whoosh!" The seven also pulled their nets up and found themselves dumbfounded. A light as bright as the sun illuminated the surroundings, turning the sea's night into day; it was as if a sun was rising up from their nets.
Their hands were heavy since there were so many fish the size of a finger jumping around, wanting to escape from their confines.
They had never seen so many fish like this; this was enough to scare someone to death. Even Qiurong Wanxue was aghast until Li Qiye's voice rang in her ears: "Catch them, quick!"
Her body shook once, then she hurriedly caught the fish. The six young ones also calmed down and busily caught their own fish. Their hands were shivering with excitement while they attempted to store them. As the chief, Qiurong Wanxue could be said to be the most composed, but right now, her cheeks were red with excitement. In her eyes, this was simply incredible.
After putting their fish away, one disciple began to count and then shouted out: "Oh heavens, I… I have a total of eighty-six!"
The only female disciple jumped up and exclaimed: "I… I have one hundred and seven!" She then kissed Li Qiye on the cheek and happily declared: "Brother Li! You are too amazing!"
Li Qiye smilingly shook his head and said: "You are molesting me."
The embarrassed female disciple let go of Li Qiye, but she was still very excited.
"A kiss is nothing." Peng Zhuang smiled and declared: "If Brother Li wants me to kiss you, I'll be very happy to do so."
The other disciples laughed and began to line up as if they were all going to kiss Li Qiye.
Li Qiye shook his head and said: "No thanks to men, but girls can come for a kiss. How about Chief Qiurong? Will you give me a kiss? I don't mind."
The six young ones were not as bold as Li Qiye, so they didn't dare to say anything. They turned around to face a different direction, pretending that they didn't hear anything.
Qiurong Wanxue's cheeks were red when she quickly shook her head in response: "No thanks!" She was a bit mad on the inside. Li Qiye, who had been very well-behaved so far, suddenly dared to tease her at this moment. This little brat is now too bold.
"Nevermind, you chose to give up on this chance." Li Qiye smirked and said.
Li Qiye's teasing agitated Qiurong Wanxue quite a bit. Keep in mind that she was a respected chief in the Snow-shadow Tribe, so how could she not become angry after being teased by a little brat?
Meanwhile, the young group of six were lost in excitement. Peng Zhuang couldn't help but ask: "Brother Li, how did you know this place had Yang Nightfish to catch? It is too unbelievable."
"Intuition, it is only intuition." Li Qiye smiled and said: "I don't know why, but after staying in Nightsea for ten days, I suddenly have this feeling that I could sense the fish in the sea."
After hearing this response, the group of six half believed him: "Really?" Why did they not have such an intuition?
Li Qiye smiled and said: "Why would I lie to you guys? I have been very sensitive from a young age, so if I stayed at any place for a while, I would begin to sense a few things."
"Oh, so it is natural." The six felt that this explanation was trustworthy. Otherwise, how would one explain Li Qiye's perception of the Yang Nightfish?
Compared to the younger six, Qiurong Wanxue didn't trust Li Qiye so easily. In the end, a chief was a chief, so she had much more knowledge.
She didn't believe his excuse of it being his intuition and felt that he had hidden secrets. She found it strange that Li Qiye would know the exact time and location of the Yang Nightfish.
She stared at him, hoping to find some clues, but there were none no matter how hard she tried.
Li Qiye looked at the moving sea and said: "We'll go now." The handler then followed Li Qiye's directions as they disappeared further in Nightsea.
The following days, Li Qiye kept on changing the location, and they obtained great harvests each time. It was as if nothing in this mysterious sea could escape his sight.
The group of six was immersed in excitement; they felt that Li Qiye's intuition was too magical. It was a shame that it was a natural characteristic; otherwise, they would really want to have it.
In contrast to the young ones, the rich harvests each day caused Qiurong Wanxue to become even more suspicious. She knew that it was something other than intuition, but she couldn't pinpoint it at all.
Outside of excitement and disbelief at the quantity of Yang Nightfish, she became even more vigilant. She wondered what type of person Li Qiye was. Why did he want to go with the Snow-shadow Tribe? Since Li Qiye could catch so many fish by himself, there was no reason for him to go with them.
With this ability of being able to guess where the fish will appear, he would be quite a welcomed guest at any emperor's lineage. However, he ultimately chose to go with them, so Qiurong Wanxue speculated for a long time about the reason why he decided to follow them.
In theory, there was nothing worthwhile at the Snow-shadow Tribe for Li Qiye. It was only a minor tribe; they didn't have supreme treasures nor apex merit laws. If he channeled his skills to work for a great power or an emperor's lineage, he would surely have better returns.
This was the other big question in her mind, next to Li Qiye's fish-predicting ability.
"If it is this easy to catch Yang Nightfish, why don't Necropolis' inhabitants catch them themselves?"
Qiurong Wanxue answered in a serious manner: "These fish are not this easy to catch. It is all due to Young Noble Li, understand?" Despite her many questions and doubts, Li Qiye had brought a lot of benefits to them, so she would remember this kindness in her heart.
"Ah, I was just casually wondering." Peng Zhuang quickly said: "Brother Li, how about you come to our Snow-shadow Tribe? Although we don't have any human members, I'm sure that the chief and the elders will welcome you with open arms."
Qiurong Wanxue said in a serious tone: "Peng Zhuang, don't babble nonsense!" Despite being only thirty, Qiurong Wanxue was the chief and she had great prestige in the tribe.
Peng Zhuang didn't dare to continue the topic after the interjection, so he quickly shut up after cheekily sticking out his tongue.
The only female disciple curiously asked: "If Nightsea is within Necropolis, how come the ghosts there don't catch them?"
Li Qiye only smiled and didn't answer the question. Instead, he then looked at Qiurong Wanxue.
Qiurong Wanxue shook her head to say: "I don't know the specifics. A legend says that the sentiments in Necropolis cannot come to this place. They are not actual ghosts or living beings, they are only things without a body. If they come to Nightsea, then they would disappear right away."
Peng Zhuang looked at the handler at the back and said: "No wonder why the handlers have a body." After their stay together, the Snow-shadow Tribe understood that these handlers were different from the ghosts back in Necropolis. The ghosts didn't have a body while the handlers did.
Under Li Qiye's lead, the group had quite a frightening harvest after catching fish for a whole month. Today, Li Qiye looked at the sky and declared: "Tomorrow will be our last round. Then, we'll leave Nightsea."
"Okay!" The group of six excitedly replied. They had a lot of fish, so they were ready to go back to shore to trade with Necropolis' inhabitants. Maybe they could even trade for some amazing treasures.
Unlike the happy youths, the calm chief, Qiurong Wanxue, looked at Li Qiye who was sitting peacefully at the bow. She then sat down next to him.
The six youths saw the chief sit next to Li Qiye, so they winked at each other and turned away, pretending to be deaf and mute.