If Master Tusheng had not informed her, Zhao Chun would likely have gone to the cave to seek the Sunsky Jade and Earthfire Ganoderma, and would have had to suffer the bitter consequences herself. She returned with the Seacrossing Shell Boat, and a moment later received a message from Liu Xuan.
She had already left the sect to go out for training once more. By the time she returned, she might even have reached the Core Formation stage. Even Jiang Yun was preparing to enter seclusion to glimpse an upper realm.
With the people around her tirelessly striving upward, Zhao Chun was naturally unwilling to be left behind. After bidding farewell to her friends, she set off for the Eastern Region. ... The Eastern Region, the Flame Sea.
This was the southern part of the Eastern Region. Before the great calamity, it had been a land of peace, where many sects rose and the Immortal Path was leisurely. Later, the land shattered and was submerged by the sea.
The seawater was scalding hot all day long, and even in the most extreme cold, it never cooled in the slightest. Thus, it was named the Flame Sea. It teemed with sea beasts, but due to the seawater, even those that became demons were mostly of low cultivation base, comparable only to the Early Qi Refining Stage.
Therefore, they could be hunted by mortals for food. Over time, by consuming these sea beasts that contained spiritual qi, mortals would naturally complete the process of guiding qi into their bodies, becoming low-rank cultivators. With such a benefit, all the surrounding mortals gathered by the sea, growing from settlements into a city.
This was the path of Haining City's evolution. Zhao Chun had been in Haining City for two days. The local docks were controlled by the City Lord's Manor, not for profit, but to prevent the city's fleets from over-hunting and shaking the very foundation of the sea beasts' survival.
Thus, it was decreed that for every season, there must be a two-month ban on fishing, with only one month allowed for going out to sea. It was less than three days until the next time the harbor would open.
Not to mention the several Foundation Establishment cultivators garrisoned in the City Lord's Manor, Zhao Chun herself was unwilling to willfully violate the old rules of this place. Since the day for setting sail was approaching, waiting a little while was acceptable. Three days later, at the Haining City docks, a thousand sails vied to pass, a truly magnificent sight.
Zhao Chun rented a small boat and set out to sea with the fleet. However, ordinary fleets mostly hunted sea beasts in the shallow sea regions, because the further one went, the more scalding the seawater became, which was unbearable for ordinary people.
But Zhao Chun, she was heading for the deep sea, for that crevice was located in the deepest part of the sea. There were other cultivators who took boats out to sea alone, so Zhao Chun did not stand out among them, except for being a bit too young.
The Immortal Path of the Eastern Region was not as prosperous as the Southern Region's. Most of the geniuses in the Drifting Clouds World came from the southern and northern regions.
The other cultivators sailing out saw Zhao Chun's youth and didn't think much of it, assuming she was here to witness the wonders of the Flame Sea's waters and broaden her horizons.
After all, there were many sea-watchers in Haining City, and the city even had large-scale establishments that managed food, clothing, housing, and transport, providing places for visiting cultivators to stay. However, her boat traveled further and further away, until Zhao Chun's figure had shrunk to a black dot the size of a grain of rice.
Someone behind her shouted anxiously, "Little girl! Don't go any further in! The deep sea water is incredibly scalding, be careful not to get hurt!"
Every year, quite a few mortal cultivators died from falling into the sea, and most were outsiders who didn't know how dangerous the water was. Seeing that Zhao Chun had no intention of stopping, this person hurriedly shouted loudly and waved his arms, trying to get her to turn back to the shallow sea.
Zhao Chun looked back and saw it was a third-level Qi Refinement cultivator. There were both mortals and cultivators on the boat, each holding large nets. He was a kind person.
She nodded slightly, but then took the Seacrossing Shell Boat from her storage pouch, tossed it into the water, and leaped down without a splash. The people on the boat were dumbfounded. When they came back to their senses, only a single small boat was left drifting with the wind on the sea.
Someone was heard muttering faintly, "How strange, could she have been a sea demon in disguise?" ... Inside the shell boat, Zhao Chun could not feel the seawater and could breathe as if she were on land. She marveled slightly at the wonders of this magic tool.
A cultivator's sight did not rely on the eyes, but on using all five senses to perceive the surroundings. After entering the sea, she felt all sounds become muffled. The deeper she went, the murkier and more scalding the water became.
After descending for a thousand li, the surrounding seawater seemed to have turned into blazing flames, burning fiercely. Even inside the shell boat, Zhao Chun felt it was extremely hot. Finally, amidst the murky darkness, she saw a glimmer of light.
The light stretched vertically. Looking closely, she saw it was a long, thin crevice, constantly spewing out bubbles.
"That's the place!"
With a turn of her thoughts, Zhao Chun directed the shell boat to race toward the crevice. Inside the crevice, it was far hotter than the seabed, almost hot enough to melt her. Zhao Chun's brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't find it particularly painful.
This kind of heat, compared to the suffering from the fire qi she had endured in the heavenly pit, was like a junior shaman meeting a senior shaman—completely incomparable. Suddenly, as if hitting some obstacle, a blunt force tried to push her and the shell boat out! Zhao Chun naturally would not let it have its way.
She poured the true qi from her entire body into the shell boat and pushed deeper in! With a short "pop", the blunt force instantly vanished. Inside, there was not a trace of seawater.
The shell boat lost its function and plummeted downward. Zhao Chun immediately exited it. She was about to summon her Smoke Boat but landed on something soft.
Lifting her eyes to look around, it was as if another world existed within the crevice. The grass was lush and green, and a gentle breeze brought a moist coolness. Had she not come here in person, absolutely no one could have imagined that such a vibrant scene existed beneath the extremely hot seabed.
The wind blew through the grass in waves, stretching out like a wilderness. Zhao Chun suddenly saw, atop a small hill, a small golden bird, flapping its wings as if about to fly.
"Golden Crow Grass?"
Although Zhao Chun asked this softly, her heart was already certain. This had to be the spiritual object Master Tusheng had spoken of, the one most suitable for her Foundation Establishment. At her speed, she didn't need the Smoke Boat.
With just a few flashes of her form, she arrived before the spiritual object. This object was exceptionally magical. The flower itself looked exactly like a bird, with crimson pupils and a brilliant golden body, its wing feathers leaping like flames.
Below, its two thin claws were bound and tangled by vine-like flower stems, making it unable to truly fly away. In the little Golden Crow's beak, it held a small cluster of flame. It looked no different from an ordinary flame, yet it was excessively bright.
The light from the crevice that Zhao Chun had seen from the outside was actually emitted from this, like a blazing sun, illuminating this magical world. From this stalk of Golden Crow Grass, which was barely half a person tall, she felt an unprecedented sense of affinity—gentle and yearning, like a mother calling to her long-lost child.
Without Zhao Chun having to do anything, the cluster of flame burned brighter and bigger, enveloping her entire body. The vines were burned away. Freed from its bonds, the Golden Crow soared up and shot into her Dantian!
(End of Chapter)