Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Mystic Flower Blossoms—Hunting the Seas!

With a thunder of spray, a figure flashed onto the deck, his voice cutting through the storm.

"Give me the towlines. We will drag this giant whale behind us and still keep the ship steady in the tempest."

"Yes, Captain!"

Bai Rongxuan dropped to one knee without thinking and answered with reverence.

At that moment, awe filled his heart. The shock and admiration stirred by what he had seen all melted into boundless respect for that solitary figure.

Alone, he had slain the whale and returned through the storm.

Heavy ropes were cast over the side and quickly secured around the corpse of the giant whale. Then the ship rose and fell on the waves, laboring onward through the gale, dragging behind it the hulking body, which drifted in the sea and was now and then lit by lightning.

"I will take the helm."

Standing in the rainstorm, Bai Xuan's voice rang across the whole ship. He had just returned after slaying the whale, yet he remained utterly calm. His gaze swept the deck, and with every breath it seemed as though he was exhaling and inhaling the storm itself, while within his breast lay valleys and ravines without end.

He had returned from hunting the whale, and in doing so had proven all he had learned. Every ounce of his hardened martial cultivation had been brought fully into play.

"When I first came to this world, I heard that a grandmaster could fight and kill a giant whale alone, and I felt wonder and reverence."

"Now I have walked that same path."

Bai Xuan felt calm joy in his heart. Standing at the prow, he took the helm and drove the ship onward. The vessel, which had been tossed and spun in the waves, soon began to gather speed. Half its sails were raised, and it cut through the stormy sea like a blade through water.

"Look! Demon fish in the sea!"

A sailor suddenly cried out in alarm.

Through the bleak rain, pale shapes of demon fish could be made out on the surface, circling the dead whale as they ravenously tore at it and devoured it, like a pack of wolves that would not be shaken off.

"Shoot them down," Bai Xuan said.

The ship's ballistae thudded at once, loosing bolt after bolt downward. Even the demon fish could not withstand them; they were pierced and killed in succession, only to be frantically devoured by the others.

Thus the whaling ship dragged the whale's corpse onward through the storm, while a great swarm of demon fish pursued it from behind, growing farther and farther away.

The journey lasted for more than an hour. Gradually, the sky brightened. The wind and rain had come swiftly and departed just as fast. Looking back, one could still see dark clouds masking the horizon over the distant sea, but by then the Sea Swallower had already broken through the storm and returned with its prize.

Sunlight poured down, and on the sea ahead, a small island could be seen faintly in the distance.

The sailors of the Bai family were overjoyed, and among the many slaves there were not a few who burst into tears of relief. Tears streamed down their faces, yet the emotion in their hearts was indescribable. At this moment, all of them could feel it: they had returned from the storm as if born anew.

Before Bai Xuan, the Everlasting Tree of the Dao appeared, blazing like fire, and a line of words emerged upon it.

"Having served as captain, directed the voyage, trained the crew, broken through the storm, and returned after slaying the whale, your path has advanced. The flowering of the Mystic Blossom has been brought forward by twenty years, and the required Dao thoughts have been reduced by two-thirds."

At the end of the branch on the bronze Dao tree, the one representing the fisherman's path, the bud of the Mystic Blossom had already begun to open, and a profound, almost indescribable fragrance drifted faintly from it.

As captain, Bai Xuan had led this crew through the storm and brought them back with a whale hunt. He had already reached the peak of the fisherman's path; the time for the Mystic Blossom had come, and it was about to bloom.

"Everlasting Tree, give me an upgrade!"

Bai Xuan's gaze sharpened.

A single Dao thought flowed at once into the flower bud. In the next instant, the bud brightened slightly, and an ineffable resonance of the Dao began to circulate from the branch of the fisherman's path, as though it were gathering nourishment before it could open.

Upon that branch, the resonances of dragging nets and watching the sea were already complete and whole, like a song rising softly, subtle and profound. Yet the other branches remained broken and incomplete; their Dao resonance was unfinished and could not connect.

And yet, even so, the flower bud continued to open little by little. When it finally blossomed, a brilliant radiance seemed to flash forth, and even the entire Everlasting Dao Tree brightened faintly.

Boom.

"The fisherman's path has reached a certain level. The Mystic Blossom has bloomed, and you have gained a divine power: Hunting All Seas."

At last, it was complete.

Joy filled Bai Xuan's heart.

Around the Everlasting Tree, mysterious currents of vital force flowed, perfectly harmonizing with Bai Xuan. In only a short time, a faint vitality emerged, causing the patina on the tree to fade slightly.

It was growing. Now that the Mystic Blossom had bloomed, it signified vitality reaching a certain degree, and the tree itself was awakening from dormancy.

The Dao essence contained within the Mystic Blossom fused with Bai Xuan in an instant, letting him naturally understand its power.

"Fishermen, as the name implies, seek fish and beasts in the boundless waters, catching, hunting, dividing, and consuming them. Thus the power of the Mystic Blossom is the same."

"The power of Hunting All Seas allows one to hunt the great beasts of the sea. After division, one may seize their essence, their strength, and even their innate gifts, then take them into the Mystic Blossom for the fisherman's use."

Bai Xuan was overjoyed.

After all this time, he had finally reached a milestone on the fisherman's path and obtained the power of the Mystic Blossom.

The bloom held endless Dao resonance, but only two petals were truly solid; within the others there was a hollowness as vast as an ocean abyss, as though waiting to be filled. The remaining petals were still incomplete, requiring further advancement.

At that moment, part of the whale had already been eaten.

More than a dozen sailors hauled the towline and saw that the giant whale being dragged behind them had nearly become a half-emptied skeleton, bobbing on the sea.

They were already in shallow waters, yet a few demon fish still lingered, vicious beyond measure.

Thud, thud, thud.

The sailors once again mounted the ship's ballistae and loosed a volley, piercing the demon fish one after another. Though the creatures were powerful in flesh, they still thrashed in pain, blood surging forth.

Soon, all the demon fish trailing behind the ship were killed and sank beneath the water.

"Go to the little island ahead to rest. Repair the ship, make a brief adjustment, and then set out again."

Bai Xuan gave the order.

Soon the Sea Swallower dropped anchor there. The sailors worked together to drag the immense whale bit by bit onto the beach, but the beast was so heavy that it could scarcely be moved at all.

With a sweep of force from both hands, Bai Xuan dragged the corpse of the great whale upward. On the monstrous body there were countless bite marks, but the exposed bones were rapidly being covered by flesh and were even growing and recovering.

The whale's heart had already begun to thump, and its eyes trembled. It seemed as though it might truly come back to life.

"How is that possible?"

A sailor gasped, his face changing color.

What terrifying vitality, what monstrous abundance of blood and life, could allow it to continue growing and recovering even after being slain and half devoured, even attempting resurrection?

"What a formidable whale."

Bai Xuan's eyes also narrowed. Releasing his grip, he reached behind him and took down the Seawave Spear.

At present, the blood he had condensed into form was almost entirely exhausted; only his mercury-like blood still flowed, though his dreadful divine strength remained.

"Good. It's time to test the power of the Mystic Blossom."

He thrust the spear through the whale's skull. The blade trembled, and a terrifying coldness surged inward, freezing the entire skull at once. With a sharp crack, it shattered.

"Cut it apart. Divide the carcass. Process the catch..."

Bai Xuan did the work himself, and naturally his speed was astonishing. In less than half an hour, the whale had been processed halfway, with hide, flesh, and bone spread out across the sand.

By the time more than a hundred sailors were busy at work, the butchering had reached its peak. Blood flowed like a river, winding across the beach.

Just as this scene entered Bai Xuan's eyes, the Mystic Blossom within him finally gave off a faint radiance. Like a deep abyss taking in a great river, a shadow rose at once from the whale's entirely divided remains and was drawn inward, swallowed by the Mystic Blossom.

The third watch. Tonight, we continue.

The results are better than I expected. Thank you, brothers! The author's miserable days of writing ten thousand words a day are about to begin!

End of chapter.