565: Chapter 402 565: Chapter 402 Upon confirming that the people being eaten by sharks in the sea were pirates and invaders, Elder Ye didn’t hesitate to gesture mightily.
The surging waves in the sea rose even higher, and the sharks that were eating people on the surface, along with the humans, were pulverized within a single strike, turning the water red in an instant.
However, in such a vast sea, the red was only a speck, which was then diluted by the surrounding waters as the redness faded away.
Elder Ye, with a smile, waved his hand again and sent a message to the Ye Family’s contact point near the sea.
That contact point, manned by the navy, had recently encountered saboteurs, whether spies or otherwise; each sortie at sea met with incidents.
Not only were they delayed, but they were also short-staffed for their tasks.
Their patrol boats had been bombed time after time, and the family was currently building ships, so they hadn’t fully resumed sea patrols.
Fishermen’s boats, lacking defense and offensive capabilities, couldn’t fend off pirates or the like.
They had realized there were enemies in these waters; otherwise, there wouldn’t be such unrest time and time again.
The message center received the information sent by Patriarch Ye, but could only inform him that all the ships that had gone out to sea had been destroyed; they had to wait for the new ships to be built and delivered.
Upon hearing this, he was alarmed— the guardians of the nation had all been destroyed.
No wonder the enemy had come with warships.
If it wasn’t for the fortunate sinking of the enemy’s ship this time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Jiang Tang was quite confident, having distributed many Supreme Elixirs.
He believed that those with ambition, now incentivized, would pledge their loyalty to him.
If there were traitors, he wasn’t afraid; the base’s shielding was such that only individuals with high-level skills could enter.
That’s why, even without completing the base, he felt secure letting others stand guard.
Still, he was a little worried about the places known by those Great Powers, so he didn’t meet with them.
If they tracked him, he would confront them directly.
He wanted to gauge his own abilities, to know whether he, with his Magical Treasures, could prevail over so many Mahayana alone.
The Flying Treasure darted deeper into the sea, seemingly bottomless, as his flying device had been in motion for so long but had yet to reach the seabed.
It was no wonder that ships and people who truly sank into the sea disappeared; in stormy waves, there might be a chance at survival if not for the sharks, but with sharks in the picture, the odds were dire.
Fishermen who went out to sea generally avoided the deep-sea areas.
Jiang Tang also inquired into the fishermen’s plight—they always ventured out in groups and had to choose the right season.
Winter snow and summer storms with typhoons made the sea off-limits; they could only go to sea in spring and autumn.
The fishermen, who relied on the two seasons for their livelihood, lived in poverty.
Jiang Tang, in his thoughts, didn’t resemble Avalokitesvara in liberating all beings.
He was not so idle but would lend a hand if he came across such situations.
Jiang Tang felt the Golden Crystal Elf and the White Moonlight Spirit attacking those Great Power Holders in the sky.
These assaults forced the distinguished individuals to divide their attention, unable to focus solely on fighting back in the sea.
The abilities of both types of Elves were quite formidable; the Great Powers could hardly fend off the Spells and toxins hurled at them straightaway.
They could only defend themselves from the toxins they issued, preventing their own harm.
Some Great Power Holders, who reared insects or beasts and wished to possess these Elves, knew that the formidable attacks implied ownership.
Otherwise, the Elves wouldn’t attack so fiercely.
It appeared that no one commanded them directly, and these Great Power Holders, experienced as they were, besides rearing insects, also kept pets.
Naturally, they could bond with pets and insects alike, even using mere thoughts to command obedience from these creatures.
The two types of Elves couldn’t best the Great Power Holders through their defenses; this was because the Great Powers were holding back, their eyes on the Elves, desiring to claim them and reluctant to harm them.
Jiang Tang, through the intel relayed by the creatures, was aware that they were neither winning nor losing in the short term, which meant they had time to feed and may even find a place of escape in the sea territory.
He wondered whether the sea bed connected to another location.
Jiang Tang began to notice a new circumstance: his Magic Artifact, having arrived here, saw no fish around.
He checked his fish-catching Magic Artifact—it shouldn’t have gathered all of the fish in the vast sea, especially not those from deeper waters.
Perhaps this could explain the absence of fish at the surface.
This seemed unlikely, however, as the sky was filled with flashes of lightning and the Thunder Roar; fish likely to be on the sea’s surface may suffer when lightning strikes the water.
Special abilities would walk towards the mana unleashed by the Great Power Holders, and they would die even faster.
With such flashes of lightning and thunder, the fish would definitely swim to deeper waters, but what is happening here?
“Look, look, why are there no fish swimming around anymore?” someone among the few hundred people voiced their confusion.
Some who were watching from outside also noticed and were puzzled about why this was happening; they turned their gazes to Jiang Tang, hoping he could provide an explanation.
Sun Zi’an was busy cooking pot after pot of seafood with his disciples—frying, sautéing, stewing—they had made so much in fear of running out.
He even took a crocodile and made roast crocodile.
He cut a bit of medicinal herbs to cook in soup, making a delicious crocodile meat broth with the added herbs.
Sun Zi’an, hearing the voices of the people, looked up and felt something strange outside.
Jiang Tang was somewhat puzzled, especially under the inquiring gazes of others, particularly the nine women beside him.
He didn’t know what was going on, but he couldn’t just be clueless.
He had watched TV shows before, like “Journey to the West,” with all sorts of demons and battles with the Dragon King.
So, could this be explained by the presence of dragons in the depths of the sea?
With such thoughts, Jiang Tang’s guess soon gained some confirmation.
As they went deeper, it seemed as though there was no water, and they saw a very bright light.
Initially, it was the illuminance of flying arrows; however, this place appeared completely different, as if there were illuminating stones at the bottom of the sea.
Seeing those stones, Jiang Tang felt they held energy but didn’t know if they were like the Water-Repelling Pearls.
Having discovered Energy Stones, how could he pass up the opportunity?
Maybe these stones could be used to craft Magic Artifacts.
Wasn’t Sun Wukong’s Golden Cudgel once the Sea-Calming Divine Needle?
Jiang Tang then took out a Storage Bag, which seemed only for storing items, but he was secretly placing even more Energy Stones into his body space and the Primordial Treasure Lingtian Space, using the Storage Bag as a cover.
Many of the people inside the Magical Treasure were masters at crafting magical items and could tell that the white stones were excellent materials for crafting such items.
Luo Yaxuan, a novice in crafting, already sensed that these were valuable materials.
He wondered if they could be turned into a piece of jewelry that not only glowed beautifully but also served as a useful storage artifact.
He started thinking of making such a Magical Treasure for his master’s wife, his master’s sister, and his family.
The Magical Treasures he had crafted before were pretty but lacked Formation, defensive and offensive capabilities—they were attractive but essentially pointless.
Ye Tian’s eyes lit up upon seeing the white stones, sensing that he could acquire good materials.
He had only crafted a piece of jewelry for his junior sister before and now wanted to create even more for the woman he loved.
And for his family as well—his mother and grandmother among other female relatives—he certainly had to bring them back some excellent gifts.
With this in mind, he secretly spoke a few words to Jiang Tang, asking for some materials, as he hoped to take the chance to craft a Magical Treasure, yet still evade the attacks of the Great Power Holders.
He didn’t want his crafting to delay their conflict with the enemy, and Ye Tian regarded even his own ancestor as the adversary.
Some of the women inside the Magical Treasure were particularly fond of shiny objects and thought it would be nice to have one to play with, hoping someone would help them craft a shining mirror.
The women around Jiang Tang, having this thought, approached and asked him for some of the material, wishing for someone to help them craft items out of it.
After distributing some to each person within the Magical Treasure, he secretly said to the few women beside him, “You don’t need to find others to practice crafting; I’ll have someone make Magical Treasures for you later.”
Jiang Tang himself contemplated crafting Magical Treasures.
Once he had mastered his Formation skills, he would learn another skill to create Magical Artifacts.