As they stepped out of the Mission Hall, Maya Mu turned to Joe Di and asked, "Where are we heading?"
The jade slip Joe Di and his companions received clearly described seven locations within the Lightless Sea where Stacked Reed Grass was abundant.
Among the three, Joe Di had the weakest cultivation, while Maya Mu was at Dao Forging, making her the strongest. Now, both Maya Mu and Zane Wu were obviously deferring to Joe Di's decisions.
"We're going to Hive Shoals," Joe Di said without hesitation.
Zane Wu immediately responded, "Brother Di, I'm afraid we won't be able to get much Stacked Reed Grass at Hive Shoals. Although Hive Shoals has the most Stacked Reed Grass among these seven places, and it's closest to Lightless Sea Divine City, it's so close that others will likely have already harvested most of it by the time we arrive."
Maya Mu was also puzzled as she looked at Joe Di. She agreed with Zane Wu—Hive Shoals was described in the jade slip as having the most Stacked Reed Grass, and it was the closest to Lightless Sea Divine City. But given its location, it was likely already picked clean.
To put it another way, even if there was still Stacked Reed Grass left, with so many people taking on this mission now, others would have already gotten there first.
But Joe Di explained, "The Stacked Reed Grass mission was suddenly raised in price, so more people started taking it. Without a top-grade flying treasure, no matter which place we choose, we'll probably end up behind the others. Since we don't have spirit crystals to buy the introduction jade slip for the Lightless Sea, we don't even know what Hive Shoals is really like.
However, since Hive Shoals is so close to Lightless Sea Divine City and still has the most Stacked Reed Grass, it must be a dangerous place. If it's a danger zone, there might not be that many people willing to choose it. Even if there are others like us, in a perilous area, we still have a chance."
"Alright, we'll go to Hive Shoals then." Maya Mu immediately agreed with Joe Di, at least from the Wormhole Guard District to here, Joe Di had hardly made any major mistakes.
Besides, what Joe Di said was true—they only had low-grade flying treasures. Even if they chose a place farther away, they'd still be behind the others. So, whether it was near or far didn't really make a difference.
...
The three of them entered Lightless Sea Divine City through the East Gate, and exited through the West Gate.
There were many more people at the West Gate than at the East, showing that most cultivators came to Lightless Sea Divine City for the Lightless Sea itself.
Unfortunately, the three of them didn't have spirit crystals, so they couldn't purchase the introduction jade slip for the Lightless Sea, nor did they know what the region was most famous for.
Once outside Lightless Sea Divine City, the space before them seemed to be dyed in ink—pitch black. Without spiritual sense, one might think that a single step forward would plunge them into an endless abyss. In the depths of the Lightless Sea, occasional starlight would flicker in the distance, then vanish.
The sound of waves crashing against the shore, mixed with the salty scent of the sea breeze, made it clear that ahead was not a bottomless abyss, but a vast and boundless ocean.
Joe Di extended his spiritual sense deep into the Lightless Sea. The seawater here was no different from anywhere else—only there was no light. Countless cultivators moved in and out of the Lightless Sea, their flying treasures darting back and forth. All this told the three that the Lightless Sea was rich in cultivation resources and treasures.
Joe Di brought out a flying ship and said, "Let's go, we'll enter the Lightless Sea too."
Maya Mu and Zane Wu didn't hesitate and landed on Joe Di's ship. Although Joe Di's vessel was just a supreme-grade immortal artifact, its guardian array was anything but simple—far surpassing ordinary immortal arrays.
The ship stirred up a gentle breeze as it sped into the Lightless Sea, mingling among countless other flying treasures.
"The jade slip directions work, but they're a little faint," Zane Wu said joyfully from the deck, holding up the jade slip given by the Mission Hall.
For most, this wasn't a big problem. Many cultivators who had lived in the Lightless Sea for years already had all kinds of information and Direction Spheres. But for Joe Di and his companions, this was their first time here—they had nothing, and no spirit crystals to buy anything. So, the directional jade slip from the Mission Hall was a welcome relief.
Although the Lightless Sea had no restrictions, the darkness still suppressed Joe Di's spiritual sense. Still, Joe Di didn't mind—Maya Mu was a Dao Forging powerhouse, but her spiritual sense might not be stronger than his.
All sorts of flying treasures flashed past Joe Di's spiritual sense, making him realize his earlier judgment was a bit off.
This was indeed the Dao Domain, but not everyone had flying Divine Artifacts. Most cultivators used supreme-grade flying immortal artifacts, and he even saw some high-grade ones.
Anyone with a low-grade flying Divine Artifact was already considered quite wealthy; as for medium-grade ones, those were extremely rare.
Suddenly, Joe Di thought that if he opened a shop selling flying treasures in Lightless Sea Divine City, cultivators would surely flock to buy them.
He cultivated Rule Cycle techniques. With his understanding of cosmic rules and his skill in arraycraft, it wouldn't take him long to become an artifact refiner capable of crafting low-grade flying Divine Artifacts.
But Joe Di quickly set that idea aside—even if he wanted to sell flying treasures in Lightless Sea Divine City, opening a shop wasn't the way to go.
Lightless Sea Divine City was clearly a place of chaos, more like a trading post. From their entry to their exit, not a single person stopped them. In other words, the city's management was weak and disorganized. With such poor administration, it was no place to open a shop.
The deeper their flying treasure ventured into the Lightless Sea, the more Joe Di felt his spiritual sense being suppressed. The endless darkness was like a wall, pressing down on his senses and spirit.
Maya Mu had just wanted to comment on the oppressive atmosphere when a dark shadow suddenly charged at Joe Di's ship.
Bang! The shadow slammed into Joe Di's vessel, making the guardian array restrictions creak loudly.
"It's a sea fiend..." Zane Wu said, his experience showing. As soon as the shadow struck, he recognized it as a sea fiend from the Lightless Sea.
"It's an Eight-Legged Sea Rat." Maya Mu's spiritual sense was far stronger than Zane Wu's, and she saw it clearly. The creature looked just like a rat, except its two fangs resembled sharp blades. It had eight legs, each covered in thick scales, and every foot bore three sharp claws—these claws were what shook the ship's defensive guardian array.
Joe Di activated the guardian array, and Zane Wu's Cosmic Tower smashed down.
Boom! Zane Wu's Cosmic Tower collided with the Eight-Legged Sea Rat, shaking the ship even more. Zane Wu's face flushed and he staggered back several steps.
Yet the rat wasn't hurt at all. On the contrary, it let out a series of sharp screeches and lunged again.
Maya Mu rushed forward, her twin Crescent Blades forming a circular arc of blade light.
'Splat!' A spray of blood burst forth, filling the air with a foul stench.
Maya Mu was about to comment on the stench of the rat's blood when she froze, staring into the distance. Under her spiritual sense, a swarm of Eight-Legged Rats surged forward, like layers upon layers of dark clouds.
Having guarded the Wormhole for years, Maya Mu was no stranger to danger—she had even seen real insect tides. But this endless wave of Eight-Legged Rats was something else, far beyond any insect tide she’d ever witnessed.
The endless rat tide was about to seal off the entire space around them. If their space was engulfed by the swarm, they would never escape today.
Feeling the space shrink rapidly in her spiritual sense, Maya Mu was gripped by despair. She knew that even if Joe Di’s ship was a low-grade Divine Artifact, it might not break through the encirclement.
Joe Di shouted, "I'll take you both and escape!"
Without waiting for Maya Mu and Zane Wu to respond, Joe Di swept them up and immediately used his spiritual sense escape technique.
As long as his spiritual sense could find a gap in the rat tide, he could escape. The gaps were closing fast, and Joe Di feared that if he hesitated even for a moment, they would be trapped forever.