Chapter 253: Chapter 247: Formation of the Prototype of Destruction! Nine-Headed Dragon Pattern

Da Yu was eager to slay the Moonlight Ripple Beast for three reasons.

First, he wanted to remove a stubborn thorn lodged in the Sea of Soaring Dragons.

Second, he hoped to obtain its blood to acquire the [Eclipse Moon Image] ability.

Third, recent investigations revealed the Moonlight Ripple Beast had consumed a peculiar marrow, making it even more formidable. This peculiar marrow was the Purifying Marrow, an exceptionally rare treasure.

The Purifying Marrow was ranked 96th on the Endless Ocean’s list of wonders.

Although its rank was lower than the Sea-Rising Cherry Root, the effects of the Purifying Marrow were obvious, unlike the Sea-Rising Cherry Root, whose uses were ethereal and difficult to harness.

[Purifying Marrow: The heartwood marrow of the Bodhi Tree of Suffering. It can purify all discordant elements. Consumption provides a chance to obtain the S-rank skill, Purity Domain, ranked 69th.]

It could purify discordance and offered a chance to get an S-rank skill!

’Definitely good stuff.’

After giving Rong Bing some instructions, Elder Zhou continued:

"Regarding your second mission, do not be hasty. Just approach it with a normal mindset. Solo S-rank Awakened are often highly vigilant. Being too eager for quick success could easily backfire. If necessary, you can lower your stance and join his squad as a helper."

The meaning was clear: you don’t have to take the lead in the partnership. You could also be recruited. Be flexible. It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.

"Yes, Elder Zhou."

Having finished entrusting all the tasks, Elder Zhou turned sideways to look at the thirteen marks on the stone slab behind him.

It was an ordinary stone slab, and he had carved all the marks on it himself.

"This slab is engraved with the thirteen opportunities that are either threats or boons to Da Yu. The Bodhi Tree of Suffering, Jianmu, the Star Kun... In all these years, only six have been crossed out. I wonder when the Sea of Soaring Dragons will truly become the Sea of Peace."

"Elder Zhou, what you hope for will surely be realized."

"Hahaha, those are words that Li Jiuyuan should be saying."

With the briefing concluded, Rong Bing left the Jiuzhou Platform with Elder Zhou’s advice. The privacy measures in the vast office were lifted, returning it to its normal state. Staff and secretaries went about their work while Elder Zhou silently gazed at the stone slab. He suddenly recalled the past thirty arduous years of pioneering and taming the oceans.

’Sigh... I’m getting old, after all.’

’The future belongs to the young.’

’If I could just see all of them crossed out before I close my eyes for good, then this life would have been worthwhile.’

...

...

...

BEEP BEEP.

A message came through on Shi Ming’s communicator from Dr. Chongwen of the Xirang Research Institute.

The researcher Lu Ping, who had been in a coma for a long time, had finally woken up. Dr. Chongwen expressed Lu Ping’s gratitude to Shi Ming on his behalf. The red patterns on Lu Ping’s body were now so faint they were barely visible. He just needed a few more days of rest to make a full recovery and return to his research position.

Meanwhile, through the last two days of research, Dr. Chongwen had also made a new discovery regarding the Hai Sheng Ying slice.

He relayed all of this to Shi Ming through the communicator.

"Thanks to your help, little brother, our research on the Hai Sheng Ying slice has made new progress."

"I trust that you’ve learned from the ’Endless Ocean’s List of Wonders’ that the Sea-Rising Cherry Root is born from a sea beast beneath Fujing Mountain. The energy in the slice contains its Origin Power. Influenced by a high-level tunneling effect, it has been aggregated within your body."

"This kind of encounter has extremely high requirements for physical fortitude, requires good luck, and is difficult to replicate."

"But if you can assimilate and absorb it, young Minglong, you might obtain a fraction of this powerful sea beast’s strength and resonate with it. However, opportunity and danger coexist. The outcome is unknown. You must remember that the sea beast beneath Fujing Mountain is exceptionally powerful. You must never provoke it alone."

Although Shi Ming had already roughly learned of Dr. Chongwen’s intelligence through the Eye of the World, he could still sense the goodwill of Xirang in his words. It would have been impossible for Dr. Chongwen to share such research findings with him without authorization from his superiors.

And once it was shared with him...

...it represented a certain shift in the winds.

He looked at himself in the mirror. The Nine-Strand Pattern on his body had indeed faded somewhat compared to two days ago. The power compressed within was also being slowly assimilated and absorbed. He just didn’t know if this was enough to successfully develop an antibody and gain the chance to resonate with the origin of destruction.

So, he decided to use one of his Eye of the World charges and ask directly.

"Eye of the World, acquire intelligence."

[BEEP... BEEP...]

[Compiling intelligence...]

[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence report generated.]

[Nine-Headed Dragon Pattern]

[Due to the Law of Similarity, under a threefold coincidence, the energy from the Sea-Rising Cherry Root has undergone a subtle change, forming a microscopic prototype of the Origin of Destruction within your body. This prototype is extremely small, but it can help you resonate with destructive power, giving you the qualification to bathe in the blood of the Great Black Heaven Dragon and seize the Nine-Headed Sanctuary.]

[But fortune and misfortune are intertwined.]

[The Great Black Heaven Dragon is extremely sensitive to such external threats. It will not allow any other prototypes of destruction to emerge. If it senses the origin prototype in your body, the probability of it awakening will increase drastically—by an estimated 3 million times.]

’I’ve established a preliminary prototype, which gives me a basic guarantee at least. Later, I can look for opportunities to get more Hai Sheng Ying slices to make the connection even stronger.’

’But in the short term, I probably can’t go hunting near Fujing Mountain.’

A 3-million-fold increase only raised the probability of it awakening to 3%, but just as the Eye of the World said before, if it happened without proper preparation, the outcome would be catastrophic. Before his total Physical Strength and Endurance reached 500, giving him the ability to confront a Holy Hall Sea Beast head-on, it was best not to provoke it.

’Stay steady. Don’t get reckless.’

...

...

...

Shi Ming hunted and killed in the Sea of Soaring Dragons for three days.

The sea beasts of this region faced their doom. Any beast lured out by the bait could not escape its destiny of death, becoming points for Shi Ming.

In those three days, Shi Ming and his crew slew a total of 12 sea beasts.

Among them were two A-rank sea beasts:

Iron Blood Golden Claw and Profound Nether Yu Jing.

Three B-rank sea beasts,

and seven C-rank sea beasts.

The A-rank sea beasts in the Sea of Soaring Dragons had been "trained" by the three general-class drifter ships, especially the Kunwu, making them cunning, sharp, and much more difficult to lure.

Of the five coordinate locations, he had only managed to lure out two.

The other three were impossible to draw out, even with S-rank bait. Even with a grid search using the Sea Patrol Radar, the beasts were terrifyingly vigilant and would vanish in an instant.

This made him miss the Sea of Boiling.

The sea beasts there were ferocious, aggressive, and densely packed.

He really loved it there.

But the Abyss Lord was not to be trifled with. The moment it sensed him stepping into its territory, the Extremely Evil Sanctuary would surely descend from the heavens.

Just as he was wondering how to further increase his efficiency, Yellow Spear knocked on the captain’s cabin door.

"Captain, the general-class drifter ship [Asahi] has arrived nearby. They are requesting to proceed with the trade for the A-rank sea beast carcasses."

The Asahi’s order was for self-pickup.

Shi Ming didn’t have the spare time to make a delivery to their door.