From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

After understanding what had happened, Jiang Liu put the Heavenly Golden Rhinoceros Horn from his waist into his storage ring, thinking to himself, "I suppose most of my attention was focused on the fish-and-bird-like aura talisman I sensed after entering the water, and I was also distracted by the Golden Rhinoceros Horn, the Drunken Fish Pill, and the Jade-Winged Golden-Scaled Mermaid. Combined with the water-separating and water-blocking power of the Golden Rhinoceros Horn, which separated the seawater and formed a stable bubble, I didn't even notice..."

As for mental energy scanning—

Because there is a powerful mermaid in the Guixu territory, the river must be navigated with extreme care to avoid alerting her. Therefore, the river is only kept within the cabin area and is not always open.

At this moment, the sharks below surged, stirring up the seawater and making it murky.

With a single swing of his arm, Lu Jin sent the nine nine-foot nails tucked behind his waist flying out like arrows, disappearing silently into the water.

Although the seawater resistance is great, the Nine-Foot Nail is a cone shape, which allows it to move through the water, creating white waves and accurately piercing the heads of sharks.

Within ten minutes, all the sharks that were close to the Mary Senno and about ten meters above the surface were killed.

It was also because these sharks were close to the surface that Lu Jin could detect their biomagnetism if they were in waters fifty or sixty meters deep. Due to the resistance of the seawater and the increasing pressure as they went deeper, he was unable to accurately control the direction of the nine-foot nail's thrust.

"This is!!!"

now.

The old captain, the old security chief, and Jonathan crawled out of the hole that pierced through one of the decks and saw the churning sea of ​​blood below, with blood bubbles rising from below from time to time, and the white-bellied shark carcasses being torn apart and dragged by the other sharks hidden underwater. Their eyes trembled incessantly.

Upon learning of the death of a sailor, the old captain sighed, then rallied his spirits and said, "Let's set off now and explore that distant island shrouded in clouds."

have to say.

The old captain was quite shrewd. He knew that the sharks beneath the surface had not been wiped out. Right now, the shark swarm would be attracted by the blood of their own kind's corpses. The best option was to leave while they were eating the carcasses. Otherwise, once the shark carcasses were all gone, those mindless sharks wouldn't care whether they had the ability to kill them and would attack the lifeboat again.

"A wise choice." Jiang Liu admired the old captain's lack of emotional decision-making. He used his magnetic field to envelop everyone present, then jumped down and landed steadily on the lifeboat.

A short while later.

The two lifeboats then sailed away from the Mary Cenno and away from the churning sea of ​​blood.

Just three or five miles away, Jiang Liu's ears twitched. He looked back and saw the Mary Senu slowly sinking, causing a wave.

But it has minimal impact on lifeboats.

"Luckily we left early!"

Jonathan felt a chill run down his spine. If he had stayed on the roof of the Mary Cinnamon waiting for the sharks to retreat, he probably would have fallen into the water and become food for the sharks!

"It looked like it was hit by a group of sharks, and having been submerged in seawater for many years, it couldn't withstand the weight and finally couldn't hold on any longer."

Based on his experience, the old captain suggested the likely cause of the Mary Cinnamon's sinking: "Now, the Mary Cinnamon is really sunk!"

"That's not necessarily true." Jonathan, having caught his breath, patted his bulging pockets, relieved, and laughed. "Who knows, maybe one of those Mary Cinnamon ships will sink in this 'Alice's Wonderland' someday!"

The old captain simply shook his head without saying a word. Then he took out a black leather bag from behind him, took out three perfectly round pearls, and handed them to the remaining sailor, reassuring him, "Don't be afraid. With these two pearls, once we get out of here, you can sell them and live a life free from want."

"Moon Pill?"

Gu Qian recognized it at a glance as a top-grade pearl, the Moon Pearl, which is a pearl formed inside a clam by attracting moonlight.

Judging from the situation, the clams in the Mary Senu didn't live in that cabin their whole lives; they probably only recently hid there in order to reproduce.

All living things need a safe place to reproduce, and clams and the like are no exception. Shipwrecks are probably the best place for them to reproduce and thrive!

but.

It was good luck that the old captain and the others were able to obtain the Moon Pill.

Therefore, Gu Qian wasn't jealous. He was simply quite impressed that they had found so many Moon Pills. He knew that even in the deep sea, clams rarely produced Moon Pills. Only the unique environment of this Guixu, perhaps able to attract moonlight from the sea, allowed the clams and similar creatures here to produce them…

# Chapter 486 Fish or Bird?

"Moon Pill? It is indeed somewhat miraculous."

Upon closer inspection, Jiang Liu noticed that the pearls the old captain had taken out were indeed much rounder and smoother than ordinary pearls, and contained a rather peculiar essence.

A clam in the sea, a cinnabar in the moon.

It really lives up to its reputation!

The sailor thought Jiang Liu was interested in the pearl in his hand, so he quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

After this little incident, the group continued sailing forward.

As the water rippled, the island shrouded in clouds in the distance came into view. Though called an island, it was more like a mountain jutting out of the water.

Dragonfire reappeared around, but it lacked the grandeur of before. It spread out widely, flowing with the sea air and illuminating the area.

If we compare the Qi formation to a living organism, then the dragon fire flowing with the Qi formation is like reflecting the flow of blood in that organism.

Jiang Liu and the others are currently inside the creature!

At this moment, the Transparent Sea Array Patterns on Gu Qian and the others seemed to emit a faint red halo, as if they were resonating with the atmosphere of this place.

Several stone gates appeared ahead, towering high, leaving one unsure which way to go.

"Mr. Jiang?"

The old captain turned his attention to Jiang Liu, hoping he could point him in the right direction.

“The energy here is unique. The stone gate is set up according to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. However, the Hentian Clan lives in the eye of the Guixu Sea. Although they are also an ancient tribe of Shenzhou, their civilization is probably somewhat different from that of the land. The principles of the Eight Trigrams that we usually understand may not be suitable.” Jiang Liu said this mainly to Lu Jin and Duanmu Ying. Then, relying on the fish-like and bird-like talisman located in his heart, he further sensed the flow of the energy in the Guixu Sea and pointed in a direction.

Passing through one of the stone gates and entering the cave, the light suddenly dimmed, but dragon fire still flickered, allowing one to see the surroundings clearly.

The surrounding area is filled with tall bronze statues, some leaning and some headless, exuding a heavy sense of antiquity.

Rather than describing this as being inside the mountain, it's more accurate to describe it as a grand hall, a grand hall cast in bronze!

"It's simply a miracle! Is all of this bronze? There was once a bronze kingdom at the bottom of the sea!" The old captain exclaimed in astonishment.

“The seabed is rich in resources, and the metal deposits are definitely much more abundant than on land.” Jiang Liu observed the dragon fire. Although it did not have the high temperature in the conventional sense, the ancient Dragon Otter people, or rather, the Hentian clan, might have been able to connect with the Guixu Qi formation through the sea-penetrating array patterns and use the dragon fire to smelt bronze.

But for reasons unknown, the Hentian clan eventually abandoned Guixu and became the "boat people".

Could it be because of that so-called Mermaid?

Mind this.

Jiang Liu carefully examined the sea-penetrating array patterns on Gu Qian and the others on the other ship. He discovered that, from the overall image, the sea-penetrating array pattern resembled a whale, with a giant mountain protruding from the sea inside. The mountain was hollow, with a giant pillar standing upright inside.

Beneath the pillar lies a ferocious, zombie-like being, surrounded by bones;

Below the mountain was a crisscrossing coral reef dotted with caves, and decorated with some strangely shaped sharks;

Deeper still, there are coiled remains of dragons, or perhaps the "ancestors" of that sea dragon king.

Jonathan noticed Jiang Liu's gaze and looked at the tattoos on Gu Qian and his group, exclaiming in amazement, "I must say, their tattoos are truly a magnificent art form, almost like a kingdom nestled inside a whale's belly!"

In the leisure time after meals, Westerners, especially those who make a living by maritime exploration and fishing, often share legends, stories, and fairy tales about ships being swallowed by whales.

But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that no matter what kind of whale it is, as long as it is a living organism, apart from "oddballs" like humans, no other species would do such a thankless and laborious task.

Even if the lifestyles of some species seem like a thankless and arduous task to humans, this is the current limit of their evolution.

If we peel back the layers, we will find that if the Western legends about whales swallowing ships and cities within whales are true, then they are definitely not whales in the real ocean, but rather strange formations similar to the void.

"Speaking of which, why is the Hentian Clan called 'Hentian'?" Looking at the bronze statues, Duanmu Ying became curious about the origins of the Hentian Clan.

China has always regarded the North as the greatest, the Center as the most righteous, and Heaven as the most revered. Even Westerners have always been similar. How could there be anyone who "hates Heaven"?

Gu Qian and the others couldn't give a clear explanation.

"Perhaps their ancestors realized this mistake, so they left the sea and became a 'sea people'," Jonathan joked.

No one present believed the joke, including the old captain and the old security captain.

"Perhaps it's a power struggle between different factions within the organization."

Jiang Liu pointed to the ancient bronze statues on both sides of the stone cave river path, "Look, although the bronze statues on the left and right sides have all gone through the years, some are tilted or broken, but it is obvious that the heads of the bronze statues on the left have been cut off, while the heads of the bronze statues on the right are mostly intact."

This situation is unlikely to be an invasion by a foreign enemy; it is highly probable that a conflict broke out between two different rulers within the country, leading to internal strife.

The result was that one side defeated the other and erased the totem of the defeated side.

Considering the fish- and bird-like aura seal replicated by the Dharma Image Seal, it is likely that the ancestors of Gu Qian and others, the Hentian Clan who lived in the Ruins of Return, may have worshipped a different totem.

The bronze statues that still have heads today wear fish-tail crowns on their heads, so the bronze statues that have had their heads cut off should be wearing crowns related to bird characteristics.

The Hentian clan lived in Guixu, and it is believed that they observed the flow of energy in this place, which led to them splitting into two factions: one faction thought it was a fish, and the other thought it was a bird.

Is it a fish or a bird?

The conflict began from there.

Ultimately, it was likely that the clans that worshipped the fish totem triumphed over those that worshipped the bird totem.

Is that really the case?

Duanmu Ying didn't believe it. "Then why would Gu Qian's ancestors leave Guixu and go to live at sea?"

"Perhaps something else happened after that." Jiang Liu looked at Gu Qian and the others again and confirmed one thing: the "zombie" suppressed by the giant pillar and the "bones" nearby in the pattern of the Transparent Sea Array were just patterns and had nothing to do with their ability to use this Transparent Sea Array.

If you look more closely, you'll find that the "zombie" also has patterns on its body, but its overall appearance doesn't resemble a whale; it's more like an eagle or a roc.

Perhaps the original patterns on the sea were not the same as those on Gu Qian and others. It was just that the ancient people who believed that the shape of the Ghostly Qi Formation was fish-shaped defeated the clans who believed that the shape of the Returning Void Qi Formation was bird-shaped. So they recorded this history to highlight their glory in defeating their enemies!

As for the numerous skeletons surrounding the giant pillar and the zombies suppressed by it, they are probably a glorious symbol of the final victory achieved by the ancestors of Gu Qian and others!

Nothing more!

To modern people in the 21st century, depicting skulls on their bodies might seem unconventional and off-putting, but in ancient times, the practice of building "jingguan" (a mound of skulls) was common.

This is a wonderful example of different approaches achieving the same goal!

# Chapter 487 Jianmu

"Was it a bird? Or a fish?"

Lu Jin also became interested.

Both.

As Jiang Liu finished speaking, the boat emerged from the stone cave. Ahead lay a spacious hall, ancient and grand, but clearly soaked in seawater for many years, covered with a greenish-blue patina resembling moss.

Inside this hall also stand tall bronze statues, each wearing a fish-tail crown.

Above the hall hung bronze chains, each attached to the head of a bronze deity, whose head was adorned with a crown resembling a fiery raven or a roc.