At this moment, facing Jin Mantang's salute, Zou Lun smiled faintly, "I'm idle and had nothing else to do, so I thought I'd go check the array operations to ensure the safety of our upcoming journey."

"Master Zou is thoughtful. How about I accompany you?" Jin Mantang suggested.

Zou Lun waved his hand. "I heard that Shopkeeper Jin's Cloud Whale uses a Bicolor Array, which is not cheap. I want to take this opportunity to comprehend it on my own."

Upon hearing this, Jin Mantang looked troubled. "To be honest, the Cloud Whale is like my child, accompanying me for nearly a thousand years. No one knows it better than I do. How about I explain it to you?"

"Shopkeeper Jin doesn't trust this old man?" Zou Lun's tone suddenly turned cold.

Jin Mantang's expression changed, and he quickly apologized, "I wouldn't dare."

Saying that, he took out a peculiar key, entirely jade-green and fish-shaped, from his bosom. "I'll open the core area for you right away."

He then led the still displeased-looking Zou Lun to a lower level and began to form a seal with his hands.

As the Dharma Seal transformed, the key slowly floated up, tracing a mysterious trajectory in the air.

In an instant, the array patterns on the cabin walls lit up in succession, like a suspended galaxy, weaving into a brilliant net of light in the void.

Jin Mantang chanted under his breath and suddenly let out a soft shout: "Open!"

The fish-shaped key transformed into a stream of light and directly entered a subtle groove on the cabin wall.

With a rumble of gears, the thick black iron cabin door slowly opened, revealing the dimly blue core of the array inside.

At the center of the core area, a three-foot-square Crystal Array Disc hovered mid-air, with gold and silver radiance flowing on it, intertwining like living creatures.

Around the Array Disc, twelve bronze pillars were arranged in accordance with the heavenly branches and earthly branches. Atop each pillar was embedded a Top-Grade Spirit Stone the size of a fist, exuding an unsettling energy fluctuation.

Seeing this scene, a fleeting gleam of surprise flashed in Zou Lun's eyes.

He then glanced sideways at Jin Mantang and said flatly, "Shopkeeper Jin, I shall comprehend it on my own. You may leave to attend to other matters."

Jin Mantang couldn't say much at this point, so he clasped his hands, saying, "Then Master Zou, please feel free. If you need anything, summon me at any time."

Zou Lun nodded slightly, said no more words, and stepped directly into the core area.

The cabin door slowly closed behind him, isolating the array's light inside. The corridor plunged into darkness once more.

Jin Mantang frowned at the tightly closed cabin door, feeling that something was amiss but unable to pinpoint it.

He shook his head, turned to leave, when suddenly—

"Boom!"

The entire Cloud Whale shook violently, as if it had struck an invisible giant wave. The ship tilted sharply, and Jin Mantang staggered, almost falling.

His face suddenly changed. He swiftly pulled out a Jade Scroll glowing with Spiritual Light from his sleeve, activated it, and with a glance, his pupils shrank—

"Unlight Sea?!"

On the map, the marker representing Cloud Whale had already entered a pitch-black area, the treacherous path to the Imperial City—Unlight Sea!

This airspace was perpetually shrouded in thick black clouds, like a boundless sea of ink suspended at a great height.

Ordinary Flying Ships, if they mistakenly entered it, would instantly lose their direction.

Some uninformed cultivators piloting their flying Magical Treasures, upon entering, would feel as if they were falling into an abyss, losing all five senses, and might end up lost forever.

Luckily, the unique "Star Track Compass" of the Cloud Whale emitted a faint light at the center of the deck, which had been their reliable asset in safely traversing this deathly airspace countless times.

"Time really flies. Once we pass through the Unlight Sea, we'll reach the Crimson Flame County..."

Before Jin Mantang could finish his sentence, the entire merchant ship trembled again, with the protective runes on the cabin wall flickering violently. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"What's happening?" Jin Mantang's face changed dramatically.

Although the Unlight Sea was dangerous, it was eerily calm and had never shown such strong fluctuations.

At least, he had never encountered it once over the years.

As he flashed toward the deck and pushed open the cabin door, thick ink-like clouds surged towards him.

The lighting runes usually floating around the Flying Ship were snuffed out by an invisible hand at that moment, leaving only the central compass emitting a weak glow.

Several dozen merchant ship guards were holding spirit-sensing mirrors to investigate everywhere.

"Shopkeeper!" The first mate came stumbling from the black mist, "The Flying Ship seems to have hit some invisible obstr..."

Boom!

A muffled sound came from the Flying Ship's bottom, and the whole ship tilted thirty degrees abruptly.

Jin Mantang staggered, grabbing the railing while swiftly forming a seal with his fingers to activate the shipmaster's command talisman.

"Reveal the Light!"

With his fierce shout, dazzling golden light suddenly burst from the Cloud Whale's surroundings.

Where the light reached, the black clouds receded like a tide, revealing a terrifying scene.

Countless semi-transparent magnetic chains entangled the Flying Ship like a spiderweb, each chain crawling with runes that flickered with a ghostly glow.

Even more terrifying, beyond the woven web of chains, dozens of enormous cloud-swallowing serpents with metallic-hued scales were coiling and gliding.

Each piece of their scale armor seamlessly blended into the black clouds, with only their scarlet snake tongues barely visible in the golden light.

"It's the Jieyun Thief!" Seeing these chains and cloud-swallowing serpents, Jin Mantang suddenly realized something, his face turning deathly pale.

Jieyun Thief—a notorious high-altitude plundering syndicate, ruthless in their methods, targeting the cloud sea trade routes, and hunted to death by nearly all major merchant associations.

And the most feared among them was the third-in-command, Blood Feather Demon Monarch—Yin Hongxiao.

This person was a master of beast control, and under their command were precisely these cloud-swallowing serpents!

"Damn it!"

He looked up sharply, witnessing the leading serpent coil its body suddenly, its bowl-thick tail whipping through the air with a resounding crack against the protective barrier!