Eternal Life Begins with Learning

The Flying Boat streaked across hundreds of miles before finally slowing its pace.

Aboard the Flying Boat, Chu Mu clutched a stack of Storage Talismans, unable to completely conceal his excitement.

Once a Demon Beast reached Tier Two and condensed a Demon Pill, its very essence underwent a near-total transformation. At that point, its entire body was a treasure trove.

This was even more true for a Tier Two Late Stage Demon Beast.

Its Demon Pill could be used for Alchemy. Its blood, flesh, bones, and hide could all be used in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and even for creating Talismans or nurturing Spiritual Plants.

If its Demon Beast Bloodline was condensed and extracted, that mass of Low Tier Lower Grade bloodline would be absolutely priceless!

Of course, no matter how high its market value was, to him, it was worth several times more.

He possessed both Alchemy Skill and Artifact Refining Skill, and his proficiency in both was quite profound.

He could put every part of a Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile to use, from its Demon Pill to its flesh, hide, and bones.

As he took stock of his haul, countless ideas flooded Chu Mu's mind.

The Demon Pill, of course, would be refined into a batch of Tier Two Elixirs, which would in turn fuel his Cultivation.

As for the Demon Beast Bloodline, while the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile's was precious, it didn't meet his requirements.

He was looking for a bloodline that was at least peaceful in nature, like that of the Longevity Turtle—one without significant negative side effects, yet not overly weak.

The Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile's bloodline, however, was savage, cold, and merciless. If a person were to transplant such a bloodline, even if the initial impact was minimal, the subtle, cumulative effects would likely be substantial.

While his thoughts raced, Chu Mu methodically dissected the body of the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile from the Storage Talisman. He sorted the more precious Demon Blood, Demon Hide, and bones, placing them into his Storage Ring.

The leftover flesh became food for Wangcai. After the beast had gorged itself, another garish pool of blood stained the deck.

By the time he had finished processing the massive Demon Body of the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile, several days had passed.

As dusk fell, Chu Mu took out his Sea Chart and marked his current position. He then chose a random, unknown direction and resumed his seemingly aimless search.

The sea was boundless and the Demon Beasts innumerable. It was obvious, however, that this also meant their living conditions were incredibly harsh.

In such an environment, every Tier Two Demon Beast was the product of countless life-or-death struggles.

They weren't exactly rare, but they were by no means common either.

Especially since he had yet to venture too deep into the Outer Sea. He estimated that the region stretching for tens of thousands of miles out from Crescent Island was the primary hunting ground for Vast Sea Cultivators.

Although this area teemed with Demon Beasts, there were likely few that were truly powerful and terrifying.

Lost in silent contemplation, he urged the Flying Boat to accelerate, continuing its journey deeper into the unknown sea.

A few days later, perhaps by a stroke of luck, he detected a solitary Tier Two Middle Stage Tiger Shark Beast in the waters just over two thousand miles southwest of the Coral Island Reef.

The Tiger Shark Beast was Tier Two Middle Stage, but there was nothing particularly special about it. After luring it out of the water, he dispatched it with ease in a matter of moments.

With another Demon Pill in hand, he let Wangcai feast on the massive Demon Body for a good long while.

After killing the Tiger Shark Beast, Chu Mu once again set out on his aimless search.

His goal was simple: hunt Demon Beasts for their Demon Pills, use those pills in Alchemy, and use the resulting elixirs to advance his Cultivation.

He had come to the Outer Sea fully prepared to achieve this goal.

As long as he could gather enough Demon Pills, he could refine them into Elixirs to support his Cultivation at any time.

'As long as I have enough resources,' he thought, 'with my foundation, reaching the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, or even Foundation Establishment Perfection, might not be far off.'

'The only problem is... resources are not easy to come by.'

Time flies on the Immortal Path. In the blink of an eye, nearly six years had passed.

Six years. This was far longer than Chu Mu had anticipated when he first set out.

He had expected this voyage to last two or three years at most.

But after entering the Outer Sea, that prediction had become as unknowable as the vast waters themselves.

Emerald Island.

The fires had not yet died down on the collapsed island, and steam still billowed from the boiling sea. Two giant snakes, each hundreds of feet long, lay sprawled across the land. One had been sliced in two; the other's entire head was obliterated, its inky-black Demon Blood gushing out like a fountain to stain a vast patch of the ocean red.

Chu Mu stood to one side of the island. His clothes were tattered and splattered with blood, and his face was pale. Yet, the sharp glint in his eyes was far more intense than it had been six years prior.

The Battle Armor Wangcai had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. Its Demon Body, shimmering with a metallic luster, was likewise covered in bloody gashes. The instinctive savagery in its eyes had yet to fully fade as it stared intently at the dead giant snakes.

Chu Mu wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. With a wave of his hand, two Demon Pills hovered above his palm.

He examined the Demon Pills for a moment. After confirming they were normal, he flipped his hand over. Two Jade Boxes appeared, shimmering with seals. He placed the Demon Pills inside, sealed the boxes, and stored them in his Storage Ring.

Inside his Storage Ring, besides a mountain of various precious Demon Beast Spiritual Materials, he had already amassed over thirty such Jade Boxes.

"The thirty-eighth."

Chu Mu muttered to himself. He took a single step and, in the blink of an eye, appeared before the two Demon Corpses.

He flicked his fingertips, and flashes of Saber Qi glinted. Within a few breaths, the two massive Demon Bodies were expertly carved apart, like the fabled Butcher Ding dissecting an ox. The neatly sorted parts of the beasts were left arranged on the island.

Bones, flesh, hide, Demon Blood...

He waved his hand again, activating several more Storage Talismans from his robes. With a mere thought, all the neatly arranged Demon Beast Spiritual Materials were swept into them, filling several to capacity.

"Keep watch."

Chu Mu glanced at Wangcai and gave the order, then leaped into the sea. A moment later, he shot back out of the water into the sky.

This time, he held a palm-sized Spirit Flower. It was moon-white, its roots still caked with soil, evidence that it had just been unearthed.

Chu Mu carefully sealed the Spirit Flower he had found in the Demon Beast's lair inside a Jade Box. Only then did he turn to look at Wangcai, who was busy devouring the giant snakes' flesh.

"Let's go."

He uttered the two words lightly and leaped into the air as the Flying Boat materialized beneath him.

The Flying Boat looked drastically different from how it had at the start of his voyage.

However, it seemed to have changed from something exquisite to something crudely patched together.

The once quaint and exquisite little Flying Boat was now covered in dents and cracks. It looked as if it had survived several major battles but had only been hastily and crudely patched up afterward.

Chu Mu stood at the bow, his face impassive as he watched the hundred-mile reconnaissance projection maintained by his Hunting Falcon Puppet. The dilapidated state of his Flying Boat was clearly not his main concern.

Or rather, there was little point in worrying about it.

Seeing is believing.

He had a Demon Beast Atlas and had spent years preparing before setting out to sea.

He had thought his plans were foolproof.

But reality had proven otherwise.

The Demon Beast Atlas, with its thousands of entries, was largely accurate. But no one could predict the strange mutations that might arise in a Demon Beast Bloodline.

In six years, he had encountered an endless variety of bizarre Divine Techniques and transformations in the Vast Sea.

In a life-and-death struggle, any unexpected mutation could create a fatal opening.

Six years. Six years of Demon Hunting. His gains had been substantial.

His Storage Space was packed, and he had already used more than half of the thousand Upper Grade Storage Talismans he'd prepared.

He had collected thirty-eight Tier Two Demon Pills and countless other Spiritual Materials from the beasts he'd slain.

But in the Outer Sea, greater rewards obviously meant greater risks.

With his level of Cultivation and skills, taking down a lone Tier Two Demon Beast was a simple matter.

But in the Endless Vast Sea, a place of innumerable Demon Beasts, things rarely went according to plan.

Sometimes, a calculated risk could devolve into a lethal threat.

A cornered Demon Beast might self-destruct, and the explosion of a Tier Two Demon Beast was powerful enough to threaten his life.

The bloody commotion of a hunt could attract other Demon Beasts, leading to him being swarmed and pursued.

Then there were cases like the two giant snakes he just fought. They appeared to be ordinary Tier Two Deep Sea Profound Snakes, but they were actually creatures with mutated bloodlines, making them extremely difficult to handle.

And worse still was the treachery of men. He had fallen victim to the old proverb, "when the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman profits"...

His most dangerous encounter had been over half a year ago. He had hunted a Tier Two Lower Grade Red Eagle Beast—an easy kill—but in doing so, he had apparently stirred up a hornet's nest.

He ended up being hunted by a Tier Three Red Eagle Beast, a creature on par with a Golden Core cultivator.

If not for his years of battle, which had greatly improved his mastery of Sword Intent, and the Human Sword Unity Technique, which gave him the speed to escape, he would have surely perished in the vast sea that day.

Most of the trump cards he had prepared were destroyed during that chase by the Tier Three Demon Beast.

Now, his hundred Puppets were nearly all gone. His Magic Robe, the Moonlight Battle Armor he had repaired before setting out, and even the Minghong Saber that had accompanied him for so long—all had been destroyed during these six years.

Even his Flying Boat had been damaged multiple times in sneak attacks by Demon Beasts with bizarre Divine Techniques.

His Concealment skill, once a source of pride, was practically useless against certain Demon Beasts with special bloodlines.

"Phew..."

Chu Mu let out a long breath, his expression slowly returning to calm. He glanced around, and with a wave of his hand, the Map Jade Scroll he had personally created and updated appeared in his grasp.

In six years, using Crescent Island as a starting point, he had almost completely mapped the sea region stretching nearly five hundred thousand *li* to the southwest.

And his current position...

'Around two hundred thousand *li* out...'

After a moment of thought, Chu Mu's will stirred. The Flying Boat abruptly changed direction, accelerated sharply, and streaked across the sky, speeding back toward Crescent Island.

...

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