Soaring the Heavens

The Sea of Constellations was the most chaotic region in the Yao Nation. Legend has it that the Yao Sage Ji Huan had risen abruptly from this place, where demons traversed about, and was well-known in the cultivation world.

And the reason why it was known as the Sea of Constellations was that in these territorial waters, there were tens of thousands of islands of all sizes adorning the blue sea, very much akin to the vast sky full of stars, thus earning it the name, the Sea of Constellations.

The day was high, the sea vast, with the splendid sun shining brightly above, yet the people who trespassed into the land felt their blood running cold. At times, there would be grotesquely shaped towering peaks of shoal rocks and cliffs brushing past the ship as they moved forward, and the sea waters below them were black.

The people onboard the ship, every one of them clutched their weapons as they peered about their surroundings, the nervous expressions on their faces difficult to mask.

It was everyone’s first time to come to this terrible place, which was ominously known. It would have been strange if they weren’t nervous.

Even the Great Cave Master Miao, who had claimed that it wasn’t his first time coming here, was just feigning calmness. He held onto the jade archive as he examined the islands spread out on the sea map.

At that exact moment, from the sea surface filled with the bits and pieces of towering peaks of the shoal rocks and cliffs, a rising mist unexpectedly emerged in spirals, causing the sunlight to turn slightly dark. Meanwhile, the ship was also enveloped by the mist, leading the people to be unable to discern the situation far ahead. A strange sensation pervaded everyone’s mind.

“Cave Master, how much longer till we reach shore?” Zheng Jinlong asked apprehensively.

He’d just finished talking, yet a touching and unending humming resounded faintly from the surface of the sea. It passed gracefully and suavely through the mist as it traveled to them.

“Loss, loss like the wavering human heart...Mmmm...A predestined love like the resting waters...Mmm...The vast sea, the sky high...Amidst the happiness in the cries of joy and cheerful talk, there’s you and me...and so I foolishly longed for you, unwilling to return... ”

The distinct singing voice traveling in their direction was extremely pleasant to listen to, penetrating deeply into their hearts. It was as though there was some kind of mystical power that caused them to recall their gentle hometowns, of which they were deeply attached to. To their surprise, it made them forget about their nervousness and dread.

Miao Yi’s body and mind was also beginning to get caught up in the singing voice, but the art source that could burn down the Seven Emotions and Six Desires in his body rapidly cleansed his emotional state, causing him to quickly wake up.

Despite the fact that they’d only heard the voice and hadn’t seen anyone singing, it made them believe that this singing voice was definitely produced from the mouth of an attractively beautiful girl.

“Such a beautiful voice, I wonder who could be singing in such a place,” Zheng Jinlong said, as he looked at his surroundings with a puzzled expression on his face.

“It’s only a demon who specializes in using their voice to lure men in through singing. The voice is pleasant to hear, but the appearance is incredibly ugly. If you do not fear death, you’re welcome to try and find it.”

Miao Yi’s one line of words was all it took to spoil everyone’s mood, frightening them to the point that their state of mind trembled with fear. It could even be said that this caused everyone to rouse themselves awake with a start, and in a flash, they clearly understood how impossible it was for a beautiful girl to be singing leisurely in a place like this. They quickly held tight to their weapons, invoking their arts to be more vigilantly aware of their surroundings.

In actuality, Miao Yi didn’t know what was going on, so he was only feigning authority to scare them all. He couldn’t be bothered with who was singing, and could care less about which beautiful girl he was insulting. Right now, he only needed everyone to be united together, not to go find beautiful girls.

The effect that he produced was not bad. At least everyone believed it. They realized that the Cave Master had indeed been here before, and he really did have the expertise. Just by listening, he was able to tell that it was a demon singing to captivate the human heart.

After examining the map of the sea in the jade archive and verifying that there was an island up ahead that they could disembark from, Miao Yi flipped his hand and put the map away inside his storage ring. Turning his head, he said, “Send my orders. Steady the rudder and continue moving forth with full speed ahead. It won’t be long until we reach the shore.”

The order was quickly relayed and the ship increased its speed, breaking through the waves as it went.

The waves were spotlessly white, but when looking at the sea’s surface from the ship’s railing, they discovered that the the sea waters were more pitch-black in color, like ink. They were uncertain as to what had happened beneath the sea to actually cause its waters to be reflected with such a pitch-black color.

Soon, the ship departed from the spiraling mist above the sea. Without the grotesquely shaped towering peaks of the shoal rocks and cliffs, the sea surface once again became more azure. The misty singing voice, so graceful and suave, also disappeared following the ship’s departure from the mist.

Looking back, everybody couldn’t refrain themselves from rejoicing. Sure enough, something was amiss. Fortunately the Cave Master had the experience. Otherwise, everyone would have fallen to the demon’s trap.

Miao Yi appeared indifferent, and seemed as though he was rather unimpressed. Everyone felt at ease at the look on his face, the one that seemed like he had a card up his sleeves.

After seeing the light of day again, dry land bounced into their view up ahead.

The island ahead had towering cliffs with raging waves beating against the shore. In the distance, the verdant mountain ranges undulated and seemed to extend forever into the horizon. Birds circled around, but the visible coastline did not have any suitable place for the ship to anchor.

“Just stop at the base of the cliff in front.” Miao Yi randomly pointed to a location.

Zheng Jinlong immediately turned around to order his fellow Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters.

The ship gradually reduced its speed as it moved forwards to lean against the cliff by the seaside.

But right then, the dragon steeds on the ship seemed to appear slightly ill at ease. Charcoal snorted loudly and directly crammed against Miao Yi’s side, who also seemed to be extremely uneasy.

The group also realized that their own figure standing on the ship appeared to be gradually leaning. The issue did not affect on the people themselves, but rather on the ship itself. It was obvious that the entire ship’s level was gradually inclining to the right. The speed of the ship seemed to recede and it became exceptionally difficult to travel along the route.

Currently, the ship was still at a distance of seventy to eighty meters away from the cliff by the coast. Everyone’s expression abruptly became distorted as they faintly became aware that apparently something had quietly latched itself onto the bottom of the ship.

And they couldn’t comprehend what was happening to the seawater under the ship. Previously azure, it had now turned pitch-black again. The sea from afar still appeared to be azure, it was the seawater beneath the ship that was pitch-black, so one could not tell what could be happening down there.

Everyone nervously cast their gazes at Miao Yi, since the Cave Master had the experience.

Miao Yi’s experience was goddamn nonexistent, but right now, even though he had no expertise on the matter, he also knew they were in trouble. He swept a swift glance at his surroundings, inclining his body as he said in a low voice, “Leave the ship! Everyone climb ashore!”

A silver spear flashed into his hand as he said that, quickly mounting Charcoal. Charcoal dashed forwards a few steps on deck. Abruptly, with a kick of his strong hooves, he cried out as he soared through the air, fleeing a hundred meters away in an instant, eventually descending onto the cliff that was around over twenty meters high.

Once he was on shore, Miao Yi quickly took stock of his surroundings. Around him, the bare rocks did not display any signs of an anomaly, but on the other hand, the sea surface behind him gave a loud rumble, as well as loud cries of fear.

Quickly turning back to look, Miao Yi’s pupils shrunk in a flash.

He saw several enormous tentacles stretch out from beneath the ship, grabbing tightly onto the entire ship. Immediately, it wrung the ship until it exploded and was smashed into pieces. It was a ghastly sight.

“Neigh...” There were dragon steeds letting out blood-curdling screeches, and were wrung by the enormous tentacles until blood burst out from them.

“Cave Master, save me...” Wang Xiuqin let out a mournful scream as she was absorbed by the suckers on the tentacles. She had yet to react, and a pool of blood had already exploded from her chest, pierced by a stinger from one of the suckers. The blood-curdling scream came to an abrupt end, and the figure that had extended out her arm to seek help from Miao Yi on the cliff had instantly been drawn into the pitch-black sea waters akin to ink.

The other cultivators were losing their minds out of fear, and barely reacted in time to call for their mounts. The dragon steeds were practically overturned in the seawater, struggling to swim in order to save themselves, while the others could only leap into the sky one after another, plunging towards the cliff.

Rumble! Splashes of water radiated all around from the sea surface. Several enormous tentacles shot out from the sea with unbelievable speed, coiling around six people up in the sky! Zheng Jinlong was also among them.

The practically terror-stricken Zheng Jinlong swiftly revolved his spear and ruthlessly stabbed it into the enormous tentacle coiling around him. In pain, the tentacle instantly tightened its grip, suddenly turning Zheng Jinlong’s face a shade of scarlet. Abruptly, he lifted his head towards the sky with his mouth agape, appearing to be suffering incessantly.