Free Web NovelChapter 371: Chapter 364: Formless Fate
Although the Ten Thousand Forms Kun was dead, the dense fog and undercurrents of the Earth’s Lung remained unchanged.
The fog still lingered.
The undercurrents continued to surge.
They were formed by the accumulated remains of trees from the Amazon Primeval Forest on the seabed, combining with the Sea Crystal Stone energy of the Unceasing Water in this unique environment. They had little to do with the Ten Thousand Forms Kun.
Rather, it was because the Ten Thousand Forms Kun had spent so long here that it had comprehended a new skill:
"Mist Ascending Thousand Realms."
After its death, none of its four minor skills dropped an S-rank skill origin. Shi Ming himself did not inherit their powers; he could only replicate their corresponding abilities on a 1:1 basis through the transformations of ’Phase’.
WHOOSH~
The Sunpiercer shot forward like an arrow.
It quickly reached the Shallow Mist Area.
With no enemies in sight, he didn’t keep the Sunpiercer’s Traceless ability active. Even when he occasionally sensed a Wandering Ship or two that had come to brave the mists, he ignored them and passed right by.
"OMG!"
"What was that just now? Was it a sea beast?"
A Crystal-Mining Ship, anchored at its coordinates in the Shallow Mist Area, suddenly sensed a blazing aura flash past, only for it to vanish in an instant.
This sent a jolt of fear through their hearts.
They considered whether they should move to a different location.
But they had carefully selected this spot.
They were reluctant to give it up.
’Forget it,’ they thought. ’That aura didn’t seem hostile, just passing by. This place is calm, with no wind or waves, and the Crystal Stone energy is dense. It’s a perfect spot.’
"Captain, the little boy we found drowning is awake."
"Oh?"
...
The boy felt as if he’d had a very long dream.
In the dream, he had transformed into a small fish, slowly evolving and growing, devouring countless of his own kind until he finally became a great Kun several hundred meters long.
When he woke, he was in a daze.
’I’m... human? A weak human?’
’No, that’s not right. I’m clearly a Kun.’
His palm felt hot. Looking down, he saw a square-shaped mark branded onto it, piercing through his entire right hand. A similar mark was on the back of his hand.
’What is this?’
He held out his right hand, and the square on his palm transformed into a gray cube. It became an illusory world of ruins, emitting a powerful, oppressive force as it spun in his palm.
He remembered.
’This is my S-rank skill, "Forgotten Ruins Return to Dust."’
’My innate ability.’
’Just as I thought. I am a Kun.’
’I seem to have forgotten a lot. Many of my past memories have turned to dust, but then again, there probably wasn’t anything worth remembering.’
CREAK.
Someone pushed the door open. It was a human in his forties or fifties, followed by several vassals... ’or followers, subordinates, as they’re called now,’ he thought.
"What’s your name?"
The boy paused as if in thought.
"Beiming Kun."
The captain frowned.
’This boy has the features of someone from the South American Andean Alliance, so why does his name sound like he’s from the Dragon Country in the northern hemisphere? And his eyes... so detached and distant, utterly placid, showing neither sorrow nor joy. He doesn’t look like a child at all.’
’Was he scared out of his wits?’
"Where are your parents?"
The boy shook his head.
’I was born of heaven and earth,’ he thought. ’I have no father or mother.’
The captain found this absurd.
But a mere boy was nothing to be wary of. He must have been traumatized by the fear and the drowning. Guided by his humanitarian spirit, the captain decided to let him stay.
Fate is fickle, so it’s best to do a good deed a day.
’Perhaps the Goddess of Destiny will see how helpful I am and generously grant me a bounty of Fog Island Crystals on this trip.’
’I don’t need that many.’
’One would be enough.’
’Of course, a few more would be fine too.’
’Who would say no to that?’
...
...
...
「On the Da Yun.」
"Anything unusual these past two days?"
"No, Captain. Everything on the ship is in order."
Shi Ming casually stripped off the top half of his combat suit and changed into a captain’s uniform. He sat in the captain’s room, listening to reports from Stone Pillar, Lin Hai, and the others, and gave instructions for the ship’s upcoming duties.
As well as matters of external relations.
"Captain, the King-level Wandering Ship, *Fire Seed*, is requesting your guidance on the locations of S-rank sea beasts within the Earth Lung Sea Region and its periphery. They are willing to offer commensurate compensation."
"The Second Commander of Black Gold wishes to have a private meeting with you."
"The Lighthouse has elected a new Governor. Trellin has stepped down to a secondary role, but he is still the Wayfinder of the Lighthouse."
"Yesterday, north of the Sea of Soaring Dragons, in the Northern Domain Public Sea, an S-rank sea beast—a Star Kun—suddenly went on a rampage. Three of Da Yu’s S-rank Awakened joined forces and swiftly hunted it down under the moonlight."
A lot had certainly happened in the past two days.
’Star Kun?’
’Isn’t that the material needed to upgrade the Star Lamp indefinitely? I’ve been looking for one.’
’It suddenly went on a rampage yesterday?’
’Was it also one of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s offspring? Driven mad with grief after learning of its ancestor’s death?’
’Well, now it’s gone to join it.’
Shi Ming had only known of one of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s descendants, the Kun of Returning Ruins. It had been killed by Da Yu long ago, and its rank-10 skill, "Dimming the Light, Joining the Dust," was acquired by Da Yu’s Wayfinder, Elder Zhou.
’And now another Kun shows up?’
’It certainly had a lot of offspring.’
’I can contact Da Yu and trade for the entire corpse,’ he thought. ’For a King-level Wandering Ship, a sea beast’s blood is what’s most important. The rest of the body typically only holds scientific value.’
As for the Lighthouse, their power was at rock bottom, so they had been keeping a low profile.
Shi Ming couldn’t be bothered with their internal affairs.
He was still using the ’Let There Be Light’ channel, however. With the recent change in Governor, while the Wayfinder remained unchanged, communication on the channel had actually increased. Trellin was still leading the discussions, which were mainly about transitional government affairs.
’The Second Commander of Black Gold wants a private meeting with me?’
’Perfect. I have some questions for her as well.’
Finally, there was the request from the King-level Wandering Ship, *Fire Seed*. By now, all the major King-level Wandering Ships knew that Shi Ming possessed the Map of the Endless Sea. This support-type treasure, ranked 108th, could exhibit value far beyond its ranking in the hands of someone powerful.
It was, in effect, the command map for humanity’s counterattack against the sea beasts!
It held immense strategic value.
The request from *Fire Seed* was for the specific coordinates of any S-rank sea beasts within a 2,000-nautical-mile radius of their ship. They had also offered a very generous reward; they probably wanted to improve the environment of the Earth’s Lung, similar to what was done in the Sea of Boiling.
All the major powers had witnessed Black Gold’s transformation.
"The Earth’s Lung..."
Previously, no one had any real understanding of the Holy Hall Tier.
Most people speculated that the Earth’s Lung must be guarded by a powerful S-rank sea beast.
But Shi Ming knew that, at this very moment, the powerful sea beasts in and around the Earth Lung Region had already been cleared out.
In the regions where Holy Hall Sea Beasts were active, S-rank sea beasts either died or submitted. Besides those that *Fire Seed* had killed over the past thirty years, the only one left in the Earth Lung Region had been the Mobius Serpent. And not long ago, it too had met its end at Shi Ming’s hands, becoming the Destiny Light Cone and fusing into his body.
To find another S-rank sea beast, one would have to go further south, into the Southern Ice Sea Region.
"Tell *Fire Seed*,"
"The powerful sea beasts in the Earth Lung Region have already been cleared out. However, the Earth’s Lung remains dangerous; Wandering Ships below General-rank are not advised to enter. To completely solve this problem, we will need a collective effort."
