Chapter 377: Entering a Treasure Trove But Returning Empty-Handed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yun Yang instantly recognized that this was a treasure, a great gem of the finest quality.
Unfortunately, his efforts for the entire day was fruitless, not reaping any benefits.
It was midnight when Yun Yang stood by the riverbank and looked at the Lunar River helplessly; he could not help but heave a long sigh.
"I’m standing right in the middle of uncovered treasure!"
Yun Yang felt all the more frustrated. The feeling of entering a treasure trove but returning empty-handed upset Yun Yang, and it was a hard feeling to push away.
No matter what he did or how he did it, he had nothing to show for it.
Yun Yang had exerted all his strength today – water attribute, failed; thunder attribute, failed; blood attribute, failed; flame attribute, failed; wind and cloud attribute failed… All the special attributes and cultivation methods proved useless.
Yun Yang had even tried merging the grape’s mystical Qi with his own purest mystical Qi but it was still fruitless; they could not combine directly. He then tried using brute force, biting, using his sword, saber, containing it directly with his storage ring – everything was ineffective!
After confirming that he could not do anything, Yun Yang made the Eclipse Panthers and Jiji try. If he could benefit his pets, it was still a choice, albeit not the best one. Unfortunately, it didn't work either.
Finally, Yun Yang made use of Emmie. To the man, Emmie was the phantom to all the other forces in this world; everything in the past had proven this point of him. Although it would be a waste for Emmie to absorb it, at least someone still stood to gain – much better than missing it totally.
Yun Yang, who confidently awaited Emmie’s good news and leftover benefits, however, got an extremely disheartening answer once again.
"This is not a power that belongs to this world. This fish is not a species of this world either. It can’t be reaped nor taken."
Emmie’s reply perplexed Yun Yang.
Does not belong to this world? Did this explain the reason Emmie could not ingest the energy? What a reply! If it didn't belong to this world, why did he still see it here? Was this place then not part of this world?
However, Yun Yang wanted to ask more, Emmie remained silent.
Emmie was utterly distraught. This is amazing, but why did you let me see it if I can't consume it? Are things from the other world all like this? Perhaps it was a counterfeit.
After an entire day of various attempts, Yun Yang finally decided to give up.
What else could he do but give up? He had an emergency and it was already inappropriate for him to stay here the entire day. Besides, he had expended all his tricks. It was truly in vain!
Even the truth was laid out, Yun Yang was still broken inside; the failure bitter in his heart.
After all, since he had survived the death threat upon Nine Supremes, Yun Yang had everything flowing smoothly for him, all this while. Today, though, he was thwarted in a river by a school of fish. How could he not break down in frustration?
He cultivated the Holy Water Charm while rushing on his way. Due to his inability to concentrate, the cultivation outcome was the worst in his personal history. He was clearly assisted by the setting of the Lunar River as the sacred cultivating spot for water attribute, but he had only barely arrived at the intermediate level of the second stage after two whole days.
If it were someone else, this improvement would not be considered slow. Not only was it not slow, it was considered amazingly fast. Despite that, it was very slow for Yun Yang, who had a lot of enigmatic assistance!
Yun Yang’s nature and cultivation base should not have brought him to this pathetic state of being dispirited just after one failure, but it was truly because he had met those gigantic fish in his two-day journey in the waterways.
One of them was several times larger than the previous one! If the one earlier was a super-giant, this one was at least double that. The core of this super giant fish was a bunch of huge grapes and the biggest of them was as huge as three watermelons!
Yun Yang felt that his Holy Water Charm cultivation base had improved, or maybe it was his indignation, so he went in to try and acquire it once more only to return without anything all. The anxiety that filled Yun Yang felt as if he had broken a world record!
All in all, Yun Yang had encountered several hundred of those titanic fish with the special energy cores in their stomachs. He also believed that he had only seen the tip of the iceberg. He had only traversed a thousand miles but the entire Lunar River was a hundred and seventy-eight thousand miles long!
As long as he ate any bunch or any one piece of those grape cores in their body, his ability would improve by leaps and bounds, as would his power. If he had eaten the core of that biggest fish, even a single one of it would catapult him to an unsurpassable level!
He had encountered tens of thousands of these gems throughout his journey. He could see them, he could touch them and even grab them in his hands, but he could not ingest them to be used as his own!
Anyone else in his situation would have been fraught and forlorn, broken down.
Furthermore, he could still cultivate the second stage of the Holy Water Charm under such an emotional state; Yun Yang felt that he could be considered a genius!
He was feeling good about himself, very good…
I actually want to cry. I want to bawl and vent the grief of entering a treasure trove but returning empty-handed. Oh, how fleeting and sudden is life’s happiness and grief! Oh, how inexplicable this is!
"And this is the Lunar River, everyone knows about it. What about the more mysterious Solar River, Stellar Sea, and the Lake of Wind and Cloud? I wonder what sort of treasures they would yield?
"I shall find out one day. The other three greatest bodies of water too. I shall bring along my brothers’ wishes and go check each of the destinations out one by one."
The last time he said this, Yun Yang had simply wanted to see the scenery. This time, Yun Yang had decided differently.
I shall definitely find out the mystery within them!
What huge treasures lay within?
…
Each disappointment that came with the futility of attempting to get the fish’s energy was accompanied by good news – Yun Yang was now in the territory of the Empire of Ziyou.
Yun Yang had reached Ziyou in these two days.
It was not unreasonable for him to have reached so swiftly. Yun Yang’s speed, as water, depended on his Holy Water Charm cultivation base alone was much weaker than when he moved manifested as wind or clouds. However, when he was trying to obtain the giant fish’s unique energy, he would search for fish that were moving towards the Empire of Ziyou. Yun Yang, who was in the gigantic fish’s stomach, would also be approaching the empire then.
The speed of those fish was tremendously faster than Yun Yang’s own capabilities, and was comparable to his speed when he was in his wind form!
"I am now in the Empire of Ziyou’s territory. In other words, I am at a distance from Ziyou’s capital, Zilong City…" Yun Yang checked the geographical layout and estimated, "...which is less than seven thousand miles away."
Honestly, if he had a choice, Yun Yang would not leave the water and step back on the ground.
Those enormous fish, those bountiful cores!
It was a massive opportunity that lay right before his eyes. He had gotten to know this magical energy because he had cultivated the Holy Water Charm, so it was obviously a chance meant for him, but why had he not obtained anything after so much effort?
Yun Yang felt as if he was about to break down again.
"Forget it, forget it. For so many years, no one has ever found out about the Lunar River’s secret, nevermind the fish inside! There isn’t even any relevant legend or myth… it wouldn't be found out in these few days anyway. This chance still belongs solely to me. It’s better to tackle the emergency now, and when this Ziyou trip is done, I’ll ponder the consequences."
Yun Yang thought for a bit and stopped, hesitating. He turned to move in the air as a soft breeze. He honestly did not wish to be as distraught as he was now. Once was more than enough, how could he find fault with himself so many times?
"I’ll come again anyway!"
…
Yun Yang moved breezily through the air. After about seven to eight hundred miles, he suddenly realized that there was a three-story tall ship that was set sailing on the Lunar River not too far in front of him, moving swiftly on the water like it was flying.
Not only was the ship moving rapidly, it was hundred times larger than a common scow. It was a thousand feet wide and three thousand feet long; the bow of the inky black deck was already a hundred feet long, making the ship look like a monster floating on the water.
This large ship did not impress Yun Yang in the slightest. He had seen far too many giants in these two days that he did not even feel that the ship was sizeable. Was it huge? How could it be called huge when it was smaller than a fish?
More importantly, Yun Yang knew this ship; he knew it's history and story.
This three-story high ship was rare, even in this world. It might very well be the world’s first massive ship. As for why he knew, it was because this vessel belonged to the Empire of Yutang.
The founding emperor of Yutang had expended twenty years of his time and the entire country’s efforts to construct three large ships of the same type and model. As for the materials used to make these three giant vessels, the lowest grade of wood used was the Starite Fir that was said to be impervious to rot for tens of thousands of years!
It was understood that such a ship would remain brand new and shiny even if it was abandoned for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Yutang’s founding emperor had not forged these three ships for his amusement; he had an objective in mind. It was these three vessels, alongside countless of Yutang experts aboard that set sail on the voyage to the Borderless Ocean to catch Tianxuan’s mystical beast – the Three-headed Flood Dragon!