The faint spiritual energy within his body had all transformed into liquid.
Mid-stage Divine level cultivation was thus quietly achieved.
No one could have imagined that this Nethermist would be such a potent treasure.
They only knew that Nethermist could enhance a person's aptitude, meridians, and the strength of their physique.
They were unaware that under such absorption, the speed of cultivation advancement would be so rapid.
It took only nineteen days to advance from the early to the mid-stage of Divine level cultivation.
However, even if they knew, no one could have done it.
Those with high cultivation levels had already tried this method.
And before their deaths, they had instructed their descendants never to absorb Nethermist for more than three hours at a time.
This was their bloody lesson, and some sects even had ancestral teachings.
If anyone could absorb Nethermist for three hours or more, they were to be strictly monitored, never allowed to act on their own, and all resources were to be poured into their cultivation.
Such individuals were considered the absolute prodigies among prodigies, and upon cultivation, would become the pillars of the sect.
Therefore, it was rumored in the Yin-Yang Realm that while Nethermist was beneficial, excessive absorption would lead to ominous consequences.
Chu Tian was naturally unaware of this.
Thus, the ferry sailed on the Sea of the Underworld for a full month.
Lin Qingyuan and the others finally spent a month expelling all the toxins from their bodies. Because of this, they were unaware that Chu Tian had boarded the ship and done anything at all.
On this day, Chu Tian was cultivating at the bow as usual when he suddenly felt the influx of Nethermist into his body disappear.
Anger immediately surged within him.
He thought someone had once again activated the ship's grand formation to block his cultivation.
He abruptly opened his eyes, only to discover a different scene. The ferry, which had been sailing through a dark purple mist, was now no longer surrounded by Nethermist.
A bright moon hung in the sky, illuminating the shimmering sea.
Simultaneously, a wave of terrified cries erupted from the countless people on the ferry. They saw countless lantern-like eyes in the darkness, charging towards the giant ship from all directions.
"What is that?" Lin Qingyuan, Ling'er, Chu Qiankun, and Lin Qiaoqiao had just emerged from their rooms for some air.
As soon as they reached the deck, they witnessed this scene.
Lin Qiaoqiao exclaimed, pointing into the distance.
"Not good, it's a Netherworld Sea Demon!" Ling'er, having traveled on ferries before, immediately recognized them. She had encountered them on her last journey to the Western Desolation.
That experience was still fresh in her memory; she had personally witnessed the terror of the Netherworld Sea Demons.
Chu Tian, standing at the very tip of the bow, faced the approaching horde directly.
The aura they emitted was very familiar.
Chu Tian had once passed by this very group.
When he was thrown into the Underworld in the Heavenly Dao World, there was a bridge he had crossed, and at the head of the bridge were a group of strange figures holding chains, constantly harvesting souls crossing the bridge.
The aura emanating from these beings was identical to those strange figures.
*Boom...*
Suddenly, the entire ferry lurched violently, nearly causing Lin Qiaoqiao and the others to fall.
The people on the ship cried out in alarm.
Chu Tian stood at the sharp corner of the ferry's bow, calmly observing the็ฐ็ (fierce/terrifying) sea demons.
He was curious why their aura was the same as those strange figures.
However, the strange figures he had encountered before seemed like NPCs in a computer program, perpetually repeating the same tasks.
The sea demons before him, however, possessed a degree of intelligence and a bloodthirsty nature.
Beneath the sea, dozens of colossal beings, resembling enormous squids, lurked.
They clung to the bottom of the ship, and the loud noise and shaking were caused by them.
The fast-moving ferry was thus brought to a halt by them.
Chu Tian was surprised that these sea demons could cooperate in battle.
Inside the cabins, everyone huddled together in fear, while Chu Tian stood alone on the deck, quietly observing these sea demons.
The sea demons directly in front of the bow drew closer, and countless of them began to howl.
The aura of the sea demons surged. Chu Tian frowned; he noticed that the howling sea demons were evenly distributed within their ranks.
Their howling seemed to provide them with an amplification effect.
Simultaneously, there were waves of impact that seemed to possess a deterrent effect on people's souls.
Their eyes were cold and emotionless. Upon approaching the ferry, they positioned themselves directly ahead.
Tens of thousands of sea demons could form ranks and wait. It seemed that these sea demons were either exceptionally intelligent or had a leader directing them.
However, Chu Tian could not locate the leader.
*Buzz...*
At this moment, countless runes lit up on the ferry.
On the sea surface of the endless night, the ferry illuminated the sky at this moment, like a shining sun.
However, at this moment, everyone fell into deeper despair.
Before the ferry's grand formation was activated, they could only see the sea demons directly in front. Now, they could see endless dark shadows moving in the sea beneath the entire ferry.
Each dark shadow was a sea demon, occasionally surfacing to emit hissing sounds towards the ferry.
Wherever the light reached, there were everywhere demon beasts. In the hundreds of miles of sea, densely packed demon beasts had surrounded the giant ship.
"Bold sea demons, how dare you obstruct the ship of my Yunshui Merchant Association? Kill them!"
Suddenly, a voice emerged. Chu Tian looked back and recognized the speaker.
It was the old man who had come out when he was being difficult with Steward Liu upon boarding the ship.
He later heard that the old man was called Helmsman Li, essentially the captain of this ship.
After that, he had not seen him appear again.
This time, it was he who emerged, not the skeletal old man. It seemed that the scale of the sea demon's formation had not yet reached the point where the latter would appear.
*Boom...*
Suddenly, the ferry shuddered violently. Chu Tian noticed that numerous arm-thick holes appeared on the hull of the ferry.
Innumerable cold, gleaming swords, over three feet long, were shot out from these holes in a torrent.
Each sword carried a fluctuation of spiritual energy, and its sharp aura made everyone's skin tighten.
The metallic aura emanating from these swords was too potent.
Upon their appearance, they shattered the tentacles of the giant squids clinging to the ferry, turning into bloody mist that sprayed into the seawater.
Seeing this, Chu Tian couldn't help but frown.
The blood and severed limbs of these creatures were too close to the ferry.
The sea demons underwater were, in essence, only undeveloped demon beasts.
Now that they saw blood entering the sea, their bestial nature would surely be further ignited, potentially leading to a frenzy.
Did the people of Yunshui Merchant Association have no brains?
"Roar..."
Indeed, in the next moment, as Chu Tian had predicted, the demon beasts in the water, like sharks smelling blood, instantly churned in the sea. The previously calm waters beneath the surface exploded, and they surged madly towards the ferry.