Chapter One: The Ship Returning Home

The sea is boundless, more vast than land itself.

Countless bountiful resources lie hidden within the ocean, nearly inexhaustible, yet beneath this unknown deep sea lurk many dangers that could claim lives.

If one encounters an accident on land, there’s a chance for rescue, but if a ship capsizes in the deep sea, that truly becomes a near-impossible situation to survive.

Thus, even the most experienced and capable sailors must hold a healthy respect for the ocean, cautiously drawing sustenance from this vast expanse.

To put it simply, few would dare to sail beyond the rarely treaded outer sea, with most fishing boats and cargo vessels from the Holy Empire remaining within a five-hundred-li boundary from the coast. After all, venturing too far increases danger exponentially.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

“It still won’t do. This area is still under the shield of the Heavenly and Earthly Barrier…”

Putting away the thoughts of reaching out, the black-haired girl sat up from her bed inside the ship’s cabin, gazing through the window at the dim night outside, lost in contemplation.

After a moment, she took out a large map obtained from Lingyin Fairy Island, which covered the entire western sea area of the Ancient Spirit Realm, spread it on the table, and carefully studied it. She pointed to a spot marked by a red line that had been drawn earlier.

It had been more than a week since they set off from the Ling Kingdom’s coast, and the Noah’s Ark had now reached the depths of the sea, where almost no ships from the Ancient Spirit Realm dare to tread, at least over ten thousand miles from the shoreline.

But they still had not reached the “edge” of this world.

The connection between the Ancient Spirit Realm and the Primordial Land is quite strange; according to the experiences of some pioneers and the information collected by Miss Vilyric, they can be seen as two continents at either end of a sea, while conceptually divided into two distinct worlds.

The Heavenly and Earthly Barrier is a barrier constructed primarily by God Fox Void Trace, aided by 24 powerful spirit beasts, making it a formidable level of protection. Even divine thoughts and causal links struggle to transcend this obstruction.

Currently, it seems the Primordial Land is also sealed off by a world barrier of some sort. This barrier primarily restricts outward movement, making it relatively easy to exit, but entering from the outside becomes exponentially more difficult.

Had either of these conditions been singular, Little Kong could have attempted to utilize spatial powers to teleport Miss Vilyric back, but with the Ancient Spirit Realm’s barrier still active, entry to the Primordial Land can only be achieved by crossing the sea, seeking out and traversing the elusive line that separates the two realms.

Moreover, according to Little Kong, gods holding divine sparks, representing concepts and laws, usually find it exceedingly hard to cross such a world gap due to their immense size. Miss Vilyric herself could not ensure she would succeed, but regardless, she decided she must at least give it a try.

The rush to return to the Primordial Land stemmed from two sources: one was Void Trace’s urging, and the other was during a temporary period when Lingyin Fairy Island relaxed parts of the Heavenly and Earthly Barrier, allowing Vilyric to reconnect with some companions in the outside world.

The reason the fairy island temporarily lifted part of the barrier was part of a plan devised by Ming Xi before leaving. Without this action, Miss Vilyric would have been unable to summon the Divine Guard Army created by Ming Xi to stabilize affairs across the four nations of the Ancient Spirit Realm, thus buying time for her to unleash her divine magic.

Although that process also required assistance from Lingyin Fairy Island itself, Miss Vilyric did not possess the ability to summon the entire Divine Guard Army on her own, yet her presence and connections were indispensable.

The Priestess initially planned to take that opportunity to check in on her most favored pet far across the realms, but she was rather surprised when, after sending the message, there was no response for a long time, as if her message had sunk without a trace, like a read-but-never-responded communication.

Soon, the Heavenly and Earthly Barrier was activated again, and naturally, Miss Vilyric lost her chance to continue trying.

In truth, neglecting contact with the pet contract is not particularly unusual; it’s merely a kindred intuition and not a forced command.

It’s like sending a message on a phone; even if a notification pops up on the other end, the recipient might be too busy to notice right away, unless they are actively waiting for it. A delayed response is quite normal.

During her previous travels, Miss Vilyric often encountered similar situations, so this did not indicate that Xiao Guang was in trouble; if anything, the signals from the pet contract remained stable, proving that Little Dragon Daughter was likely safe.

But… how to put it? There’s a saying that “worry causes disorder.” Even the faintest possibility regarding one’s closest kin can lead to wild thoughts.

Thus, Miss Vilyric decided to return to the Primordial Land as quickly as possible, to contact her companions there, and understand the situation.

Counting the days, it had been over half a year since arriving in the Ancient Spirit Realm.

For humans, that’s quite a long time, especially since the Holy Empire had just undergone such a revolutionary upheaval. No one could predict what might happen next, after all, it’s a massive colossus among the five great powers, with every move affecting the entire world’s situation.

“Phew…”

Putting away her swirling thoughts, Miss Vilyric returned her gaze to the dim, tranquil surface of the night sea.

The Ancient Spirit Realm had no moon, as the Heavenly and Earthly Barrier was designed to block the growth of negative energy caused by destructive factors, isolating its influence outside the world during its construction.

So, during the turning of heaven and earth, on the last day of the Sacred Era 999, when the barrier’s power was at its weakest, Miss Vilyric witnessed the moon briefly appear that night as she was sent to the Ancient Spirit Realm by Void Trace.

The sun represents yang, while the moon represents yin; the moon’s power served as a nourishing source for certain forces.

Now, with the moon’s influence excluded, the star-speckled night sea seemed particularly somber, save for the small area illuminated by the Noah’s Ark. Beyond that, it was engulfed in darkness and solitude, and after a prolonged gaze, one couldn’t help but feel a slight dread of the deep sea.

By the way, the Noah’s Ark, though it merely looks like a giant wooden plank ship, is actually capable of withstanding the majority of outside attacks below the Pseudo-God level, possessing an automatic navigation and AI system; it can reach speeds of over a thousand kilometers in a day.

As long as Miss Vilyric issues her commands in advance, providing the pre-established chart data, the AI she referred to as 01 would autonomously adjust the course, negating the need for any sailors to operate it.

Of course, now, the ship did not only carry the Priestess and Miss Le Qiao Qiao, along with Hong Yan; in addition to them, there were also several relevant personnel from the Lingyin Merchant Association on their way to the Primordial Land, along with a few Lingyin Ethnic members supervising them and a plethora of goods.

So to be precise, this was a merchant ship, personally escorted by the boss.

As for the visible leader, it was none other than the capable and diligent General Ming Lan.

Ever since Hao Miao Yi Meng returned to the Ancient Spirit Realm, spreading the Lingyin Merchant Association to the Primordial Land, trade ties between the two worlds have remained active, exchanging various local resources for profit. Ancestors like the Soul came to the Primordial Land through such means.

However, the difficulty of crossing the sea to navigate between worlds is substantial. Originally, the Lingyin Merchant Association would need a lengthy preparation period, implementing sufficient security measures before setting sail. Even then, it couldn’t guarantee absolute safety; maritime disasters have occurred before.

By sheer coincidence, Miss Vilyric decided to take along this batch of people prepping for their voyage, adding some liveliness to the otherwise overly quiet and dull grand ship.

After all… helping the Lingyin Merchant Association make money is practically like helping herself make money ~

   

---