Chapter 163 Lost at Sea

Because of the addition of Xiahou Fang, the atmosphere on the flying magic artifact was somewhat subtle. He was indeed a madman, changing his expression faster than turning the pages of a book; one moment he was grinning as if trying to curry favor, and the next he was sneering and talking about flaying people alive.

Ning Xianyu sighed inwardly: [I used to always say the Arch-Devil’s expression was unpredictable and his temper too fierce. Now I realize that compared to Xiahou Fang, the Arch-Devil is truly a good person.]

The system replied: [Would you like to try saying those words to the Arch-Devil in person?]

Ning Xianyu thought about it and answered: [I wouldn't dare.]

If she really said that, the Arch-Devil would definitely knock her on the head.

The system chuckled: [The Arch-Devil only knocks on your head, he doesn't actually hurt you. Xiahou Fang is different; when he says he kills, he kills, regardless of who you are.]

Thinking along these lines, Ning Xianyu's tiny shred of sympathy for Xiahou Fang vanished completely. Having suffered was no excuse for murder, and the others were not the masterminds behind his suffering.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yuan Tunhan glanced at her, thinking that this woman still had a relatively clear head and knew better than to scatter her sympathy indiscriminately.

With Yi Tianling and the others present, Xuan Yuan Tunhan compared notes with them regarding the intelligence they each possessed about Mount Qingxu.

Yi Tianling stated that Mount Qingxu was located far out at sea, at a great distance, and existed within a barrier, which was why no one had ever found it. Moreover, searching for it was useless, and no one would expend the effort to look.

Ning Xianyu wondered to herself, could it be that this world was not round? Otherwise, relying on their ability to fly, how could they fail to find it? Or was the world simply too vast, making it difficult even for cultivators to reach the edges of the world?

The system said no: [It's because this world is strange—it's not a pure sphere. It's a world that hasn't fully condensed into a spherical shape; the interior is hollow and insufficiently solid, which is why it's so unimaginably huge.]

It asked Ning Xianyu to imagine the Earth being expanded outward, with the oceans pulled apart and the distances between several continents stretched further away. As long as the center of the Earth's radius was even slightly larger, the entire spherical shape would become super-sized. Even if cultivators could fly, it would be difficult for them to traverse the entirety of the world.

Ning Xianyu thought for a moment and began to understand somewhat. Because this world was too immense and the oceans were stretched out, the surface area of the sea was even more boundless, making it very likely for even cultivators to get lost at sea. And since Mount Qingxu was situated far across the ocean, it was exceptionally difficult to locate.

Yi Tianling possessed a map that could locate the position of Mount Qingxu based on the sun, moon, stars, and the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, which roughly matched the location deduced by Xuan Yuan Tunhan.

"No one has ever been to Mount Qingxu, so no one knows what it's really like up there. We must be extremely cautious when we ascend."

Ning Xianyu muttered from the side: "Someone must have been to Mount Qingxu."

Yi Tianling turned his head and asked, "Why does Senior Ning say that?"

Ning Xianyu smiled and said, "If no one had ever been to Mount Qingxu, how would everyone know there is a mountain there, and how could there be a map of it?"

A place where no one had ever been was equivalent to not existing, and naturally, there would be no records or legends. The fact that legends existed now meant that someone must have gone there.

The others agreed that this made sense, but the legends of Mount Qingxu they had found were limited, so they still needed to exercise caution once they went up.

Ning Xianyu, however, figured that since someone had managed to return from the mountain, it meant it wasn't terrifying to the point of no return, and they certainly would be able to come back too.

Xiahou Fang sat off to the side, taking no part in their discussion, and only smiled upon hearing this.

They flew over the sea like this for more than ten days, yet still failed to find Mount Qingxu. Calculated by the distance, they should have been able to spot another landmass by now, but there was nothing—they had gained nothing at all.

Flying for too long produced the illusion of being trapped in a circular labyrinth, draining one's spirit and making it feel as though the journey would never end. However, Xuan Yuan Tunhan and Yi Tianling firmly believed their direction was correct because they navigated by the sun, moon, and stars, allowing them to be certain they were steadily moving in the right direction.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan quietly sent a message to Ning Xianyu, telling her to take out the Flowing Water Stone and see if she felt any response. But the Flowing Water Stone was listless; forget sensing anything, it was too lazy to even move and refused to utter a single word.

Ning Xianyu couldn't beat it, nor was torture an option, so she could only put it away and have the little red figure question it instead.

Yet the moment she produced the Flowing Water Stone, Xiahou Fang's eyes lit up instantly, staring madly at her hand as if he were about to pounce and snatch it away. But Ning Xianyu tucked the stone away in the blink of an eye, leaving him with no way to grab it even if he wanted to.

They flew for another day before coming to a halt. According to their coordinates, Mount Qingxu should have been right where they were, but they saw nothing at all. Looking forward, backward, left, and right, there was only the boundless ocean; apart from that, absolute nothingness.

Hovering in mid-air, they felt as though they had entered a bizarre and lonely world where nothing else existed besides themselves. Having verified their direction multiple times and confirmed it was correct, several of them felt puzzled.

Since drifting continuously wasted spiritual stones, Xuan Yuan Tunhan simply had the magic artifact land on the ocean surface, figuring they might notice something down on the water.

The moment they landed on the sea, Ning Xianyu, who had been bored, brightened up and leaned over the side of the boat, staring fixedly at the water's surface. Her eyesight was excellent now, allowing her to peer through the seawater down to a depth of several hundred meters.

The seawater in this world was remarkably clear, as transparent as glass. She could see fish swimming to and fro in the sea, along with schools of tiny shrimp darting about.

Craving grilled shrimp, Ning Xianyu used a spell to scoop a batch from the ocean, found a long bamboo skewer, threaded them on, and roasted them over spiritual fire. While the others were still discussing matters concerning Mount Qingxu over there, she was the only one eating.

Xiahou Fang walked over and asked with some curiosity, "Do you like eating that much?"

Ning Xianyu said yes and even offered a grilled shrimp, asking, "Would you like some?" There were plenty of shrimp in this sea, and they were large and delicious.

Xiahou Fang shook his head: "I haven't been able to eat anything for many years."

Ning Xianyu blinked and looked at him innocently: "You cultivators are truly obsessed with penance." Cultivators all practiced penance and abstained from regular food, so there was nothing strange about that.

However, Xiahou Fang shook his head again: "No, I used to love eating very much. Even when I reached the Nascent Soul stage, I never thought about abstaining from food. But later, I was injured by demonic fire, damaging both my form and my soul, and since then I could never eat anything again."

Ning Xianyu ate her grilled shrimp, tossing the shrimp shells into the water, which attracted small fish to scramble for the scraps.

The system warned: [He is fishing for sympathy, you should be careful of him.]

Maintaining a harmless and sentimental expression on the outside, Ning Xianyu chuckled inwardly to the system: [Of course I know he's fishing for sympathy, but it's too boring here. You have to let the man finish playing his act, don't you?]

Believing she had fallen for it, Xiahou Fang continued his performance. "To be able to eat is a blessing. Since Miss Ning can still eat, you should eat more and not end up like me."

Xuan Yuan Tunhan glanced over from afar, thinking that Xiahou Fang's performance was probably wasted. That woman was currently filled with thoughts of catching more shrimp to take back, and completely failed to register a word he had said.

At that exact moment, however, Ning Xianyu stared blankly at a piece of wood drifting in the water.

"That piece of wood—I want that piece of wood."