Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 289 Blood-Rusted Mantis, Cooperation with Misty Rain Island

In treasure hunting, you usually encounter danger first, deal with the danger, and then finally get and share the treasure. It's good that you got the target loot so smoothly this time. Even if you leave now, it's still a big profit.

"Brother Lin, what do you think?"

Yan Shu did not underestimate Lin Qianfan, whose cultivation level was lower than her own. On the contrary, she valued Lin Qianfan's opinion quite a bit.

"Look at you, Brother Yan. If you want to leave, then we'll leave together. If you want to continue exploring, I'll accompany you to the very end!"

Because the ship's refining materials contained components that blocked divine sense, and because some unknown reason was also suppressing the range of divine sense detection, the four were unable to directly probe the specific situation of the lower space, not even the divine sense of a pseudo-core cultivator.

But Xinglan can!

Xinglan's soul strength is several times stronger than that of a fake Core Formation cultivator!
Upon entering the cabin from the deck entrance, Xinglan had a general understanding of the ship's basic situation and confirmed that there was no major danger on board. The peculiar sense of danger did not originate from the ship itself, but rather from someone else, though Lin Qianfan would not say so openly.

"Don't be afraid, let's go!"

Although it is said that a son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof, and there is no need for the golden core seeds of the golden core forces to take risks. They only need to cultivate step by step, but such a life is too boring. Under controllable risks, they can take appropriate risks.

The four then returned the way they came and began exploring the lower level of space.

"The upper level mainly consists of the crew's rest area and various standard partitions. Most of the ship's important facilities are located down below. Hopefully, they won't disappoint us!"

Boom~
A storage room was forcibly opened, containing a large amount of daily necessities. Unfortunately, it was too old, and even though seawater hadn't been brought in to corrode them, these things were already ruined.

Boom~
They forcibly opened the rest room of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, found his already decomposed corpse and his belongings, only a few dim second-tier spiritual artifacts, worth little money.

Logically speaking, mineral materials are composed of the elements of heaven and earth, and should still be usable no matter how long they are left. However, unrefined natural mineral materials and magical artifacts that have been forged into finished products are not the same thing.
Once forged into a weapon, its original stability is disrupted. If it does not reach a certain level, it will require constant maintenance, otherwise it will be eroded by time, its spiritual essence will gradually be lost, and it will eventually turn into ordinary iron.

"What exactly happened to them? There were no signs of a struggle on the ship; they all seemed to have died in a very relaxed state."

The four searched the area and found almost no trace of the Qi Refining shipwrights, but they found quite a few traces of the Foundation Establishment backbone. Apart from the body of the Golden Core captain on the top floor, which was in the captain's cabin, the traces of the other bodies were in their respective cultivation rooms. This was very strange. What kind of great power could make a warship sink silently and without any resistance?
"I don't know, but that force should be gone, otherwise we probably wouldn't have even found this ship!"

Connecting all these strange occurrences along the way, it's not hard to see that this warship, which had been dormant here for millennia, has only recently reappeared. Clearly, something must have changed; otherwise, it might not have been found even when it was right next to us.

While the exact nature of this change is unknown, it clearly indicates a decrease in the danger level.

Boom~
The four of them descended step by step. The space below was quite large, and there were many remnants of ancient formations. While violently breaking through the remnants to search for valuables, they were also on guard against possible unknown dangers.

If there were any living creatures on board, such a large and prolonged violent commotion should have attracted them.

"careful!"

Whatever you think will come true.
Just as the four were about to reach the bottom of the warship and find the location of the Spirit Source Well, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from outside their sight and headed straight for Lin Qianfan's back.

Although Lin Qianfan had the lowest cultivation level and was chosen as the target of the sneak attack, his reaction was quick, and he was able to dodge the attack despite the narrow cabin.

bang~
The dark figure appeared silently and moved with a very strange method, but Lin Qianfan easily dodged the sneak attack. The Third Elder immediately took action and stepped on the figure, rendering it unable to move.

"This is…"

Only then did everyone see clearly,

The creature that was subdued was a second-tier mantis shrimp-like demonic beast. It wasn't very large; even when standing upright, it was only about the size of a human. Second-tier demonic beasts of this size were extremely rare.
But it seems that only a monster of this size can move freely inside the cabin.

The size of a demonic beast is positively correlated with its strength in terms of qi and blood. A second-tier demonic beast of this size will not have very strong qi and blood and is rare.
Unlike the monsters outside, its entire body was covered in blood-red rust, even its eyes were filled with this blood-red rust.
Judging from its aura, it no longer possessed the aura of a normal living being; rather, it seemed to be in a state between life and death.
"These blood rusts are indeed no good; it must have been parasitized and controlled by them."

Lin Qianfan did not directly touch the blood rust. Instead, he used a second-tier puppet to dissect the blood-rusted mantis on the spot. He found that its body was already filled with blood rust, and its demon core had turned into a shriveled blood core, containing little demonic power.

As for why it was able to approach the four people silently and launch a surprise attack first, it can also be attributed to these blood rusts. It seems that these blood rusts have the function of shielding divine sense.

Let's continue!

The foundation it appears to have emerged from didn't originate from the upper levels, but rather has been lurking in the lower levels all along. Perhaps there are similar ones later, but the four of them have already come this far, and they cannot give up easily.
Moreover, after the autopsy, we gained a detailed understanding of its strength and confirmed that it only had the ability to launch sneak attacks and was not actually a threat.

So the little incident did not stop the four of them. They quickly arrived at the bottom door and violently broke through the seal, entering the core of the warship.

Normally, this layer of defense should be at level three, but it's just a remnant now, so it's not difficult to break through by force.

The countless runes in the central layer had long since dimmed and extinguished, the numerous complex arrays of various levels had long since been worn away and ceased to exist, and two of the original three spirit source wells had also been destroyed. Only the spirit source well in the far corner, which was dedicated to the regular power supply of the warship, was still operating at the lowest power level.

The four of them came specifically for it!
"It's damaged and not fully functional, but it's still quite valuable. I can take it back and sell it for a good amount of high-grade spirit stones!"

After searching the area and confirming that there were no other dangers or anything else suitable to take away immediately, the three of them stood guard for Lin Qianfan, who then began to dismantle the Spirit Source Well.

Creating this Spirit Source Well is difficult, requiring a true Tier 3 shipwright, but disassembling it is not difficult.

Half an hour later,
All the remaining components of the warship ceased operation because its Spirit Source Well had been taken over by Lin Qianfan.

"Let's go. We'll send people to do a full-scale salvage operation when we get back."

The four searched the area and only took what was easily portable. The remaining shells were actually more valuable; even though they could only be melted down and recycled into second or third-tier refining materials due to the loss of spiritual energy, they were still quite valuable.
However, that would require a significant investment of manpower and resources. It's not something the four of them would personally dismantle. The remaining parts are also the property of Misty Rain Island.

They didn't know what was causing it, but as soon as the four of them left that area of ​​the sea, they inexplicably felt relaxed again.

"What's going on?" As the four flew further and further away, the sense of crisis gradually faded until they were so far away that they could no longer feel any danger.

"We searched every corner of the entire ship, and apart from that mantis shrimp, everything else was normal. Was it blood rust? Or are there other dangers in that area?"

The four quickly thought of the strange blood rust, but the objects were too small and tiny. Although they were strange, they were not enough to make a pseudo-core cultivator feel threatened.

Back to Misty Rain Island,
Yan Shu asked Lin Qianfan if he wanted the incomplete Spirit Source Well. If he wanted to keep it, he would need to make them pay.

Lin Qianfan considered it for a moment and decided to keep it for his own research. This thing was the best teaching tool, and it was very convenient for daily research. It would be too difficult to buy one elsewhere.

Soon, the Misty Rain Island side began to organize manpower and fleets to go to that sea area to salvage the warship. It was quite worthwhile to exchange cheap manpower for rare second and third-tier refining materials.

Lin Qianfan then sought out Elder Lin Dayan.
"Elder, how's the procurement of the two ships going?"

This procurement is not only for the Baijing ship, but also for the Zhentao ship, which needs to haul a load of local goods back. They left in a hurry when they came, but they are not in a hurry to return, so they will not return empty.

"Still a bit short. Sharpening your axe won't delay your work. I heard you found a third-tier shipwreck on this trip. What's going on?"

"Due to some unknown reason..."

"The Cangyun Ship? I have no recollection of it! My Lin family only has a detailed history of the last three thousand years. Ten thousand years ago is too long ago. The situation you described is rather special. What kind of force caused it? Logically speaking, the Silent Sea shouldn't have this level of danger!"

Even the well-informed Lin Dayan had never heard of the situation Lin Qianfan described; the Silent Sea was generally considered safe.

"But there's no need to dwell on it. The situation ten thousand years ago was very different from now. Back then, even the City of a Thousand Stars had only been established for a short time, so it's normal that there were some things we couldn't understand."

The world is filled with countless strange forces. Only those that humans have thoroughly studied will be incorporated into their own systems, while those that have not been deeply understood will be classified as unknown.

Lin Qianfan then brought up the issue of a new, stable partner for the Beluga.

"With such a vast and distant place, having a stable partner here would be much more convenient. Every time we bring goods over, we can pack them up and wholesale them directly, and we can also make centralized purchases. The advantage of Misty Rain Island is..."

Lin Dayan analyzed the differences between the various port powers for Lin Qianfan, intending to let Lin Qianfan make the final choice himself.

"...They are not fundamentally different, just with a profit margin of one or two percentage points. You have to be strong yourself to succeed."

The services offered at the various ports here are roughly the same. The main difference lies in the fact that stronger powers charge higher markups. The Zhou family takes seven percent, while Misty Rain Island takes five percent. These two markup differences don't actually have a significant impact on the Lin family.

Previously, the reason for seeking cooperation with the Zhou family was that they were more powerful, and cooperating with them would reduce trouble. However, as the White Whale has become more familiar with this route over the years, and the Lin family has also grown stronger, bringing with them a certain deterrent force...

Nowadays, many problems can be avoided automatically, and the relative importance of the strength of partners has gradually decreased.

"In that case, cooperating with Kirisame Island is the most cost-effective for us. Therefore, we can indeed consider establishing a long-term cooperative relationship with them."

The income from the White Whale wasn't a pillar of the Lin family's income, and the two percent profit from the White Whale was just a drop in the ocean. However, it was the livelihood of dozens of ship crew members. If they could save two percent in costs, the crew's treatment could be improved significantly.

Although Lin Qianfan had not visited the other few, and could only analyze the differences between them through intelligence, he had visited enough Golden Core forces. He had a fairly good impression of Misty Rain Island. Although Misty Rain Island was not large in scale, it was full of vitality.

Moreover, the two Golden Core cultivators from Misty Rain Island are still quite young, and their successor, Yan Shu, is no less capable, so there are no issues with the succession.
Most importantly, the initiative in this matter is always in the hands of the Lin family. They can break up the cooperation at any time if things don't go well, so choosing them is also an option.

"Alright, then I'll do as you say. I'll give Island Lord Misty Rain a reply as soon as possible."

Lin Dayan fully respected Lin Qianfan's opinion, since Lin Qianfan would be the main person in charge of sailing in the future, and he could only trust him.

Shipwreck site

The salvage fleet, organized by the official authorities of Misty Rain Island, arrived at the designated location and began salvaging the Cangyun ship.

This salvage operation did not involve retrieving the entire structure, as it was beyond repair and reuse. Instead, it was completely dismantled underwater, with only valuable second- and third-tier components retrieved. These components were then transported back to Misty Rain Island to be refined into various materials.

"Do not touch the blood rust! Do not touch the blood rust! Do not touch the blood rust! I'm emphasizing this three times because it's important. You'll be responsible for the consequences!"

With repeated warnings and reminders, the salvage fleet began its work.

Coincidentally,

Not far from the waters where the Cangyun ship was salvaged from Misty Rain Island, another salvage fleet from the Zhou family soon approached, their intentions unclear.
At first, I thought they were there to steal my business, with the first-come-first-served advantage in negotiations. But after we talked, I learned that they were salvaging a frigate called "Water Moon".

This exchange shocked both sides!
Later, the leaders of both sides further exchanged views and discovered many similarities between the two warships: both were shipwrecks from ten thousand years ago; both sank mysteriously without any signs of combat; and both contained unknown blood rust, etc.

The only difference was that the corpse of the Golden Core cultivator on the Water Moon Ship did not give birth to the Yin-Yang True Qi Fruit, but instead produced a string of worthless poisonous dragon vines. The Zhou family exploration team exploring the Water Moon Ship also encountered an attack by more powerful Blood Rust creatures and suffered heavy losses.

Overall, it's a happy occasion; the catch is quite valuable, making it a very profitable business.

Why are there two unrecorded warships in this area?
Why did they sink to the bottom of the sea together?
Where do those unknown blood stains and unknown sense of danger come from?

With many unresolved issues, the two factions chose to continue salvaging the sunken ship while simultaneously reporting the matter to the authorities of Chaochun City to avoid being held accountable in the future.

Interestingly, several other Golden Core factions in the vicinity dispatched large numbers of people to search the nearby waters, hoping to find other Tier 3 shipwrecks.
However, due to unknown reasons, the range of divine sense detection was suppressed, resulting in low search efficiency and no results have been found so far.

(End of this chapter)