Chapter 529 - 319: Witty Words Claim the Ships, the Mysterious Ancient Ship, People of the Old Era

Forcing Great Yan to contend with the combined might of every other faction was a bit much.

"You..."

The middle-aged Sword Cultivator tried to speak again, but an elder in a hemp robe beside him stopped him with a shake of his head.

At the moment, Great Yan had won over the crowd and gained everyone’s support.

This was not a time to make enemies.

Thus, no one objected.

Following Lu Mingyuan’s instructions, the crowd rationally divided the spots for boarding the Ancient Ships.

In total, there were ten Ancient Ships, each capable of carrying about a hundred people.

The Human Race Cultivators split into ten groups, selected the experts from their respective factions, and boarded the ships one after another.

The remaining Cultivators were left to stand guard over the land.

...

The Ancient Ships slowly departed.

Lu Mingyuan stood at the very front of the deck. A massive Divine Fallen Blood Stone hung high above the Ancient Ship, warding off the Immortal Evil Thoughts in the sky. He stared out at the boundless, pitch-black Silent Sea, lost in contemplation.

The so-called Ancient Ships were actually grayish-white old ships refined from bone.

The bones were of an ancient origin, their patterns archaic.

They were likely made from the bones of Divine Spirits.

AWOOOO!

The miserable howls of the evil thoughts overhead swirled ceaselessly around the Ancient Ship, yet they dared not approach when they encountered the Divine Stone.

Soon, the world before them was completely covered by a blizzard. It was a vast expanse of white, with no living creatures to be seen.

"The wind is rising."

At some point, Li Muwan had appeared at Lu Mingyuan’s side and spoken suddenly. "A very strange gale."

An Ancient Ship could carry a fair number of people, and the Cultivators of the Nanli Dynasty happened to be assigned to the same ship as those from Great Yan.

Lu Mingyuan glanced at her. He seemed to know her intentions and spoke calmly.

"Even if you weren’t trying to curry favor, I would save the Nanli Dynasty."

Li Muwan gave a wry smile. "Then I must thank Your Majesty. However, I am more concerned about what Great Yan will do with the Ascension Platform if you obtain it."

Lu Mingyuan replied with firm resolve, "First, I will resurrect Elder Mr. Qi. After that, I will seal the Ascension Platform and decide its fate later."

"But I fear the Taoist Sect will not allow Great Yan to monopolize the Ascension Platform," Li Muwan reminded him gently.

"It’s too early to discuss that. Let’s get the Ascension Platform first."

Lu Mingyuan shook his head. ’It’s far too early to be thinking about that.’

"Actually, what I wanted to say is this: if Great Yan can deliver Nanli from its current disaster, I am willing to hand over the Nanli Celestial Mandate."

Li Muwan said with great sincerity.

"Truly?"

Lu Mingyuan raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Yes."

Li Muwan sighed. "The Nanli Dynasty has always strived to become the most powerful Dynasty in the world. Unfortunately, our destiny was ultimately not strong enough. Just maintaining peace has become incredibly difficult."

"It is better to seek peace than to be mired in conflict."

Lu Mingyuan asked, "Is that your wish, or that of your imperial father?"

"It is my wish, and it can also be my imperial father’s," Li Muwan answered tactfully.

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingyuan had a good idea of her intentions.

His tone softened somewhat as he spoke gently.

"If everyone in the world knew their own limits as you do, perhaps there wouldn’t be so much strife."

As Lu Mingyuan was speaking, he suddenly noticed a dark shadow streak across the surface of the Returning Ruins Silent Sea, moving swiftly beneath the waves.

He was about to use a Divine Technique to capture it,

but he was quickly stopped by Li Muwan.

"Don’t touch the water! The waters of the Returning Ruins Silent Sea are bone-chillingly cold. Even a True Monarch could be frozen to death in an instant upon stepping in."

Lu Mingyuan drew back and frowned. "How can it be that cold? If even those at the Twelfth Realm would be frozen to death, what living being could possibly enter the Returning Ruins Silent Sea?"

"No living being was ever meant to enter this region. Why else would the natives here call it a forbidden land?" Li Muwan said.

"Without the Ancient Ships, we would have no way of reaching the center. Only existences of the Upper Three Grades, like the Chess Saint or Divine Distinct Bodhisattva, can manifest the Mysteries of the Great Dao to resist the power here."

Lu Mingyuan still found it hard to believe. After all, a Twelfth Realm Cultivator was an incredibly powerful existence, capable of overturning seas and splitting mountains—practically omnipotent.

They were the ones at the apex of power. How could they be unable to withstand the mere coldness of the water?

The idea that even a True Monarch, with their level of Cultivation and powerful Flesh Body, couldn’t endure the cold of the seawater seemed too much of an exaggeration.

Lu Mingyuan took a step and walked towards the water’s edge.

"Don’t go near it."

Li Muwan reminded him again.

"I know what I’m doing."

Lu Mingyuan reached the water’s edge, lifted his right foot, and dipped it into the sea.

CRACKLE.

Thick ice crystals formed around his ankle and spread rapidly upward, past his calf, knee, thigh, and waist...

In moments, Lu Mingyuan’s entire body was encased in ice, turning him into a frozen statue.

It then fell to the deck and shattered into pieces.

But in the next instant, another Lu Mingyuan emerged from the deck, his body wreathed in flowing lava and flames.

Lu Mingyuan retracted his dissipated Blood Glutton Shadow Warrior clone. He looked back at the water, a newfound dread in his eyes. "What terrifying cold. It can invade the meridians and Acupoints, slowing the flow of Primordial Qi to a crawl until it erodes one’s will, rendering the Flesh Body’s very substance transparent and brittle."

He had just used a clone to test the seawater’s power. The result was far beyond his expectations—it was exactly as Li Muwan had described.

Lu Mingyuan estimated that with the strength of his own Flesh Body, he would be frozen to death in ten breaths at most if he fell into the sea.

The water of the Returning Ruins Silent Sea was bizarre.

It wasn’t ordinary seawater. It was more like some other substance that had taken the form of water.