The elder from the Heavenly Fiend Sect was rendered speechless by these words.
His face turned red. If Chu Tian hadn't been present, he would have eagerly joined the elders of the Earth Fiend Sect for a battle.
This group of people surrounded Chu Tian, offering him all sorts of flattery.
Chu Tian had initially worn a smile.
But his expression suddenly changed dramatically.
Seeing Chu Tian's expression change, the elders immediately fell silent.
They thought they had said something wrong.
However, there were still some who couldn't read the room.
One even approached Chu Tian.
"Senior Chu, our Joyful Union Sect has countless beauties. Come to us, and you can pick anyone you please!"
An old woman, leaning on a cane, reached out to grab Chu Tian's sleeve.
"Scram!"
Chu Tian, however, flicked his hand, sending her flying with a powerful slap.
Everyone was shocked!
Chu Tian had already leaped towards the rear, heading in a specific direction.
"You surnamed Li, hurry up and accelerate!"
Everyone was bewildered, but Chu Tian clearly saw within his divine sense.
The previously still Sea Eye had suddenly trembled moments ago.
It was like a living creature, pursuing them.
Its speed was not slow.
Not only was it not slow, but it was increasing.
At his cry, everyone's hearts also trembled.
Countless people erupted in agitation.
Upon seeing the Sea Eye move, they felt as if the apocalypse were upon them.
The ship, which had just begun to accelerate, was instantly bound again by the countercurrent of the sea.
The ferry's speed could only remain parallel to the seawater.
However, this state lasted only for an instant.
The next moment, even though the seawater at the stern of the ferry was constantly spraying backward, and the light of the formation at the stern had reached its maximum, the ship was still slowly retreating.
The speed of this retreat was also continuously increasing.
The hope of survival did not last long.
Everyone on the ship fell into despair once more.
This emotional rollercoaster caused the younger disciples to cry.
It was too taxing.
Chu Tian stood at the stern of the ship, with Helmsman Li by his side.
"It really wasn't that simple, I knew it wasn't that simple, I knew it..."
Helmsman Li, with decades of sailing experience and a lifetime of decisive action, displayed a sense of despair for the first time.
"Do you know any way to accelerate?"
Chu Tian could only hope that the ship could accelerate further and that the Sea Eye would not be able to move too far.
"A way? A way? There's no way to accelerate anymore. This is just the speed, and it won't last long, at most an hour!" Helmsman Li trembled.
*Whoosh...*
Suddenly, another person appeared beside them.
It was Gu Feng, who had just left.
"It seems to be just like the legend!" Gu Feng looked ahead.
"What legend?" Chu Tian tilted his head and asked.
Gu Feng did not reply. After gazing for a few seconds, he looked at Helmsman Li.
"Sacrifice!"
Upon Gu Feng's words, Helmsman Li clearly froze and muttered.
"Sacrifice?"
"What, have you forgotten what to do when encountering a Sea Eye in the sailing manual?"
Gu Feng narrowed his eyes, staring at Helmsman Li.
"But... Master..."
Helmsman Li clearly remembered, but he hesitated.
"Hmph, do you want the entire ship to be buried with you?"
Gu Feng asked sternly.
"What are you two talking about? What sacrifice?"
Neither of them answered Chu Tian.
"Enough. If we can make it back from this voyage, you will resign from your post at headquarters. For now, I will take command!"
Helmsman Li looked at Gu Feng upon hearing this.
"Master, why must you do this! Alas..."
His gaze towards Gu Feng carried gratitude, and even an unexplainable sentiment.
"You few, go activate the sacrificial formation and seal off the lower decks!"
Gu Feng said to the people behind him.
"Wait! What do you mean? Are you going to sacrifice everyone in the lower decks to the monster beneath the Sea Eye?"
Chu Tian finally understood what they meant by sacrifice when Gu Feng uttered his last sentence.
This was to abandon a portion of the people, using their flesh, blood, essence, energy, and spirit to satisfy the great demon beneath the Sea Eye.
"Oh? Young man, how do you know there's a monster beneath this Sea Eye?"
Gu Feng was taken aback by Chu Tian's words.
Chu Tian also knew that his divine sense could not possibly reach the bottom of the sea.
Since arriving in this world, he had discovered many limitations on divine sense.
Even at a certain realm, the range covered by divine sense would not be very large.
He had also undergone a transformation.
Only then did his divine sense break through its realm, and its range expanded significantly.
Therefore, although Gu Feng was at the peak of the Saint level, he could not discover that at the center of the Sea Eye, deep beneath the seabed, there was a great demon at work.
However, even though he himself could not discover it, the sailing manual he mentioned contained the experience of countless navigators over millennia.
Generations of people had used their lives to chart this sea route.
It mentioned the great demon beneath the Sea Eye causing trouble, and that if a Sea Eye were encountered, a sacrifice might offer a sliver of hope for survival.
This so-called sacrifice was essentially using people to feed the great demon.
The entire lower deck housed millions of people.
If the so-called sacrifice were initiated, all these people would meet an unjust death.
Among them were Luo'er and her grandfather, whom Chu Tian knew, as well as those he had drunk with.
Even Ye Limiao and Zhu Jiuyin were in the lower decks.
"No!"
Upon learning of their plan, Chu Tian directly objected.
"Heh heh, too late!"
Suddenly, Gu Feng, standing beside him, showed a strange smile, tinged with a hint of sinister intent.
"Not good!"
Chu Tian was shocked. He suddenly felt a surge of magical fluctuations from the token he carried, which represented access to the ship's cabins.
The next second, he was uncontrollably pulled by the magical fluctuations, as if being sucked into the token.
However, this was not the case. When Chu Tian's vision shifted, he found himself teleported out, his feet landing precisely at the center of the vortex.
"Cloud Water Merchant Guild, you deserve to die!"
At this moment, Chu Tian realized that above the entire vortex, countless people were in terror.
They had no idea what had happened. One moment they were on the ferry, and the next they found themselves in the air.
Some of them, with profound cultivation, ascended in panic but could not escape the suction force emanating from the Sea Eye vortex below.
Gazing at the ferry a hundred miles away, Chu Tian gritted his teeth. He had been ambushed.
It wasn't just the people in the cabins who were being teleported, but everyone who carried a token for the lower decks was being brought here.
Just as he was about to teleport back, as the ferry was within his divine sense range, he could directly blink back.
However, at this moment!
"Big brother, save me!" a cry for help echoed.
"Luo'er!" Chu Tian's body twisted in the air, and he caught the falling little girl.
"Chu Tian!" Simultaneously, two voices called out.
One was from Ye Limiao, and the other was from Zhu Jiuyin.