However, there were still about ten days left before his one-month agreement with Huo Qishan, so time was still plentiful.

During this time, because he was in an environment with sparse Spiritual Qi, Zou Feng had already clearly felt that something was amiss with his cultivation.

While sailing on the Fallen Immortal Sea, he could still rely on deep-sea poisons to enhance his strength. But ever since stepping onto the lands of Hongxing, he had made virtually no progress.

The same was true even for his cultivation of the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill.

Using the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill to heal injuries and restore his condition was effective, but his cultivation progress hadn’t increased in the slightest.

Bian Yixia and Tian Yun were now both First Grade, so cultivating the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill with them should have yielded much better results.

All this meant was that he truly could not afford to stay in a place like Hongxing any longer.

If he stayed any longer, his cultivation would definitely regress.

Arriving at the coast where the Xiangrui was docked, Zou Feng spotted the massive spiritual ship at a glance, just as expected.

Much like Zou Feng himself, Huo Qishan and the Golden Crane Commerce’s spiritual ship were on a completely different level from this region. It would have been stranger if something had gone wrong.

Huo Qishan knew Zou Feng had come to pick people up, so he wasn’t the least bit surprised to see two women with him.

After getting Zou Feng’s consensus, the Xiangrui departed at once. Having come in haste, it now left Hongxing in haste.

Aboard the Xiangrui, Bian Yixia and Tian Yun were overcome with curiosity, asking questions about everything they saw.

Bian Yixia was interested in the various fish and the sea race of the Fallen Immortal Sea, while Tian Yun’s attention was focused primarily on the Xiangrui itself.

Having built a spiritual ship herself, she could naturally recognize the Xiangrui’s advanced design.

As it happened, Huo Qishan was also quite accomplished in shipbuilding, so Tian Yun naturally seized the opportunity to pick his brain.

Seeing this, Zou Feng was certain that Tian Yun definitely had a talent for Artifact Refining.

Zou Feng knew he could never have built the spiritual ship she had created, not even with the backing of an entire nation.

Tian Yun had built that spiritual ship through pure trial and error, and it had even blocked Lu Guanghua’s Man-Sword Unity at a critical moment. Her skill and talent were beyond question.

Once they reached the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, the trials at Kouxian Gate would surely confirm her talent for Artifact Refining.

’If her talent for Artifact Refining is truly great, I will definitely support her with everything I have.’

’After all, having an artifact refiner around would make many future plans more convenient. Most importantly, it would save a lot of money.’

’As for Bian Yixia, I can’t see any other talents in her for now.’

And so, the Xiangrui sailed peacefully on the Fallen Immortal Sea for over twenty days.

Thanks to favorable winds, the return journey was much shorter than the trip out.

By Huo Qishan’s estimate, they would reach the Eastern Earth Immortal Realm in another four or five days.

However, just as everyone believed the rest of the voyage would be as smooth as ever, the unexpected finally occurred.

That evening, Huo Qishan rushed to find Zou Feng, his expression grim. "The sea race is on our tail," he said. "And they clearly mean us harm..."

"I actually spotted them earlier and immediately changed course to avoid them. I even flew a few extra Golden Crane Commerce flags."

"But I don’t know where this group of sea race came from. They just kept on our tail."

Huo Qishan said this because the Golden Crane Commerce’s name carried some weight on the Fallen Immortal Sea.

As frequent seafarers, the Golden Crane Commerce had dealings with numerous sea race tribes.

They even paid protection fees on a regular basis.

Though the sea race loathed the Human Race, they understood the basic difference between a single meal and a steady source of income.

Therefore, they generally didn’t make things too difficult for merchant ships from factions like the Golden Crane Commerce.

But it was inevitable that some unruly, upstart sea race tribe would do something foolish.

Seeing how anxious Huo Qishan was, Zou Feng didn’t bother asking if there was a chance for a peaceful resolution.

Instead, he asked directly, "How many are there, and what is the leader’s Realm?"

Huo Qishan had already observed them with a Spiritual Artifact. He immediately replied, "Over a hundred fish-like sea race members. Their leader is at the Dao Foundation Realm!"

The numbers weren’t the issue, but a leader at the Dao Foundation Realm was a huge problem for Huo Qishan.

"Will there be trouble if we kill them all?"

Huo Qishan was stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.

After all, in his eyes, even though Zou Feng was a prodigy from the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, he was still only at the Spiritual Energy Realm.

’Wipe out a group of sea race led by a Dao Foundation Realm expert on their home turf?’

But after his brief shock, Huo Qishan analyzed the situation. "If you can kill them all quickly, I can continue at full speed while constantly sending out distress signals..."

"We’re not too far from the Eastern Earth Immortal Realm, after all. There shouldn’t be any trouble then."

"I’ve never heard of any sea race daring to cause trouble on land before."

Hearing this, Zou Feng stated decisively, "Alright. The moment things turn sour, I’ll do the killing. You all just keep going."

For Zou Feng, who had the Flying Celestial Ship, even if he only needed to draw away the pursuers, it was a perfectly acceptable outcome.

Seeing Zou Feng’s confidence, Huo Qishan didn’t press the matter. He simply cupped his fists and hurried off to instruct his crew to act accordingly.

"Zou Lang!"

Not far off, Tian Yun and Bian Yixia had naturally overheard the entire exchange.

"Do you need our help to fight them?" Tian Yun asked, stepping forward.

Zou Feng immediately shook his head. "No need. Just stay on the ship with Huo Qishan."

"Once I’ve dealt with these fish, I’ll catch up to you with my Flying Celestial Ship."

Just as he finished speaking, the spiritual ship shuddered violently.

It felt as if some colossal beast from the depths had rammed the hull.

Thankfully, this was no ordinary vessel, or that single blow would have been enough to sink it.

’They caught up so quickly...’

"May I ask which undersea tribe you hail from? We have caused no offense, and the Golden Crane Commerce has always maintained friendly relations with the nearby tribes. Why do you pursue us so relentlessly...?"

At the ship’s bow, Huo Qishan was already shouting, attempting to negotiate with the sea race blocking their path.

Barring their way was a group of humanoid sea race, each mounted on a massive shark.

Aside from a few fish-like features, they looked little different from the Human Race at first glance.

"Golden Crane Commerce? Never heard of it!"

Sea race members who had cultivated naturally possessed high Spiritual Wisdom.

For cultivators such as these, learning a new language was a trivial matter, so every one of them could speak the human tongue.

"You say you’ve caused no offense?"

"Fuck that! Your ship ran over and killed my pet, and you have the nerve to say you caused no offense!"

As he spoke, the leader—the Dao Foundation Realm cultivator with the golden scales—suddenly produced a dead sea turtle with a shattered shell from out of nowhere.

The golden-scaled leader’s behavior was no different from someone casually picking up a crushed cockroach and claiming it was their beloved pet.

But of course, Huo Qishan wasn’t about to engage in a pointless argument. He simply said, "I am willing to compensate you for your loss. I hope you can see your way to letting us pass."

"The Golden Crane Commerce would also be willing to establish a trade relationship with you going forward."

In truth, if the problem could be solved with compensation, it wouldn’t be an issue. But it was unlikely the other party would be so easily dismissed.

Therefore, Huo Qishan’s negotiation was merely a stalling tactic to buy Zou Feng time to prepare.

Meanwhile, Zou Feng was certainly not idle.

In fact, he had already grabbed a rope at the ship’s side and quietly lowered himself until he was just above the surface of the sea.

He didn’t enter the water directly for fear that the sea race was sharp enough to immediately detect the splash.

By hanging just above the waves, Zou Feng could silently extend his hands into the water first.

With only his hands submerged, he could secretly poison the surrounding water, swiftly turning this stretch of ocean into his own Poison Domain.

Charging in recklessly wasn’t Zou Feng’s style. As long as the opportunity and conditions were right, a Poison Cultivator would naturally choose to play dirty first.