Chapter 366

: Big Secret, Huge Whirlpool
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
Demonic beasts were inferior to humans in terms of agility and reaction time, and similarly, they were far superior to humans in terms of defense and vitality. Very possibly, an attack that could hurt an Extreme Astral Reaching expert might not hurt a Bewilderment Fog Beast to that extent.

Grand Elder Chen, do we need to help?

Ye Chen looked at the former.
Grand Elder Chen smiled and said,
Admittedly I’m old, but dealing with a Bewilderment Fog Beast is still within my capabilities. You two don’t need to act. Let me have some fun with it.

Grand Elder Chen seemed to be in high spirits. However, it wasn’t surprising. As a Grand Elder on the island, he couldn’t just duel anytime he wished, and the duel itself would be quite shallow. How could it be as exciting as this?
Bang!
Cleaving the lake water, Grand Elder rushed out straightaway and began to battle with Bewilderment Fog Beast.
In just a few moments, Grand Elder Chen returned with his clothes soaked in blood.

Not bad, it was quite refreshing! Grand Elder Ye, you may not know, but being put in charge of overseeing the ship is a task we really look forward to.

Ye Chen said,
You don’t fear you’ll end up mysteriously disappearing as well?


To tell you the truth, I’m actually quite curious as to what made them disappear.
Grand Elder Chen seemed quite carefree.
Liu Mei nodded,
I’m curious as well.

…
When they had sailed for about two thousand five-six hundred li, the ship began to circle around the edge of the island. Of the thirty thousand li of Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone, their exploration was limited to around five to six thousand li.

There really are a lot of these Bewilderment Fog Beasts. We’ve met seven of these in just five days.
Watching the dismembered corpse of Bewilderment Fog Beast not too far away. Ye Chen retrieved his longsword.
Grand Elder Chen praised,
Powerful! No wonder Grand Elder Sun suffered a loss at your hands.


I’m still quite lacking. Before an Island Master, I can only flee.
Ye Chen’s mind stirred and he changed the topic to the three island masters.
Hearing his words, Grand Elder Chen said,
Actually the three island masters aren’t all that impressive. Do you know why they exceed us in terms of battle power?


Could it be related to martial will?

Liu Mei joined in.

No!
Grand Elder Chen shook his head,
In terms of martial will, there isn’t much difference. Even if they had their martial soul condensed, they couldn’t be this powerful. The reason three island masters are stronger than us is because they have high-grade artifacts. A high-grade weapon could increase their offensive power by more than seventy to eighty percent, while a mid-grade weapon can increase one’s battle power by thirty to forty percent at most.

Increase the offensive by seventy to eighty percent? Can Astral Reaching experts even bring out the might of a high-grade artifact?

Grand Elder Chen explained,
Aside from low-grade artifacts, middle-grade artifacts are aroused by Zhen Yuan. At Clasping Yuan realm, one’s body contains Zhen Qi, so even if one gets a mid-grade artifact, it could increase their offensive power by at most thirty to forty percent. Clasping Yuan martial-artists’ thirty to forty percent offensive power is obviously nowhere near that of an Astral Reaching expert’s. But, when one enters the Astral Reaching realm, this problem is immediately solved. Be it Astral Reaching experts or almighty Seas of Soul realm martial artists, both use Zhen Yuan. Therefore, if an extreme Astral Reaching expert gets a high-grade artifact, they could arouse at least half its might, which directly increases their offensive power by seventy to eighty percent. Amongst similar battle power levels, it is simply invincible and unstoppable.

Ye Chen nodded. Indeed, one provided a thirty to forty percent amplification, while the other provided seventy to eighty percent amplification. The only question was about getting a hit off. As long as that happened, the Protective Zhen Yuan would be crushed without a doubt.

Which high-grade artifacts do the three island masters possess? Are there any defensive artifacts?
During these days, Ye Chen’s relations with Grand Elder Chen had become quite good, so he couldn’t help but ask.

Sub Island Master Wang has a pair of earth-attributed gloves, while Sub Island Master Cui has a blade. As for the Island Master, he has a pair of thunder-attributed iron hammers. It’s quite powerful, more so than the other two. But, I can’t say if they have any high-grade defensive artifacts.
After a short pause, Grand Elder Chen again said,
If I’m not guessing wrong, the three Island Masters don’t wish to go outside. At the very least, they aren’t in a hurry before ascending to Sea of Soul realms. High-grade artifacts are an absolute rarity on the continent. If they went out, they would have to face Sea of Soul realm experts. After all, a lot of Sea of Soul realm experts don’t have high-grade artifacts. If they came across a high-grade artifact in the hands of an Astral Reaching expert, they would certainly try to snatch it.

Hearing Grand Elder Chen’s words, Ye Chen understood why the three island masters were Astral Reaching realm paragons. A high-grade offensive artifact could increase the offensive power by seventy to eighty power. In the same manner, a high-grade defensive artifact should also be able to increase the defense by seventy to eighty percent. If these two were added together, who in the Astral Reaching realm expert could match it? If the opponent didn’t possess a high-grade artifact, he or she could only flee.

Fortunately, I don’t have a high-grade artifact myself. Otherwise, it would be troublesome when I got out.
Liu Mei joked.
Ye Chen smiled. As an Astral Reaching expert, who wouldn’t wish to get their hands on a high-grade artifact? Even if one couldn’t use it at ordinary times, it would be a trump card at a critical juncture.
The night gradually deepened, the dense black fog stretching into the darkness. The only light flickered from the small Perceptive Tower.
At the deck, the Clasping Yuan martial artists paid attention to the Perceptive Tower. If the emitted light turned orange, they would need to move the ship inwards to avoid losing connection with Bewilderment Fog Island.
Ripple!
Circular ripples appeared on the turbulent lake water.
Perhaps it was Ye Chen’s misconception, but the ship seemed to have sped up.
It should be known that there was no wind in the Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone. The ship’s speed was also fixed; it could only slow down, but not go faster.

Could it be that something changed the speed?

Ye Chen’s brows creased.
As the time went by, his misconception turned into reality. The ship was indeed accelerating, more so every moment. From one hundred li per hour to one hundred ten li per hour…one hundred thirty li…one hundred sixty li…two hundred li.

What’s happening?

In merely two hours, ship’s speed had increased by such an amount, and this was when the ship’s size was so big. It couldn’t be accelerated so easily.
Pushing open the cabin’s door, Ye Chen arrived on the deck.
Spreading out his soul power, Ye Chen found that there were enormous long-arc shaped trajectories, extending to an unfathomable distance.

What’s this?
Ye Chen stroked his chin in contemplation,
Whirlpool, a ginormous whirlpool.

If a whirlpool were sufficiently big, its spiral arms would extend to faraway places. Based on the spiral arms’ thickness on the water, Ye Chen’s initial estimate deemed whirlpool’s diameter to be at least thirty li. A thirty li whirlpool was basically a black hole. Anything that approached it would be swallowed inside. The devouring power generated would even suck things in the air inside.

Turn the ship around, quick!
Ye Chen sternly shouted.
Steering the ship was a Clasping Yuan martial artist. He didn’t have Ye Chen’s frightening soul power. Moreover, they usually didn’t run into such a situation. Being unclear himself, seeing Ye Chen’s cold eyes was enough for him to turn the wheel.
The ship’ body was huge, and suddenly turning it was no easy matter. Moreover, the entire ship seemed somewhat out of control, being dragged ahead.

Grand Elder, I can’t change its direction.


You keep on steering,
Ye Chen decisively said, then swiftly flew to the air at ship’s right side.
Accumulating Zhen Yuan in his palms, he slowly pushed the ship.
Creak!
Ship’s head gradually turned, issuing unbearable loud sounds. At this moment, Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei walked out.

Grand Elder Chen, what’s the matter?
Grand Elder Chen asked.
Ye Chen said,
There is a big whirlpool ahead. The ship was going straight into it.


What?

The two were astonished.

Let’s join hands and turn the ship’s direction. I hope we can leave the whirlpool’s range.
If they were to lose the ship, they might not be able to return to Bewilderment Fog Island. A lot of Astral Reaching experts died in the fog every year. Back in the days, they had also arrived on the island by coincidence.
As the three joined hands, the effect was much better. One person was injecting Zhen Yuan, protecting the ship’s body, one was in charge of cutting the water flow to guide the direction, and one was exerting power on the ship itself.
Rumble!
Suddenly…
The ship’s body started to glide ahead uncontrollably.
Several li in the ship’s right, a huge whirlpool slowly started taking shape. From one li to two li…three li…five li…
It almost seemed as if it was changing with every breath!

Not good! Another whirlpool has appeared.

Ye Chen exerted his arms and turned around, lifting the entire ship. He then circulated his Zhen Yuan, trying to resist the attractive force of the whirlpool.
Three individuals and one ship were like three flies in front a black hole, trying to flap their wings with their utmost effort.
Unfortunately, the whirlpool was becoming increasingly big, directly expanding into a size of thirty to forty li. Its insides were pitch black and so deep that its base couldn’t be seen. The three individuals and one ship were right in the sky above it.

Grand Elder Ye, abandon the ship. Let’s just escape.

As the attractive force became more and more powerful, Grand Elder Chen gave up on bringing with ship with them.
Helpless, Ye Chen nodded his head. These whirlpools of Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone were terrifying. Its attractive power could even suck a peak Astral Reaching expert inside. Although the three of them were strong, but if they stayed for long, they wouldn’t be able to escape even if they wanted to.
As he was just about to let go off the ship, a white-mist tornado suddenly appeared from the whirlpool’s center, sweeping the three inside.
Whiz…
Powerful rotary force caused Ye Chen to lose control, involuntarily spinning towards the tornado’s eye.
‘This mist tornado is no ordinary tornado. It’s actually formed by pure Zhen Yuan. Pure Zhen Yuan in inherently powerful to the extreme. If it forms a dozens of li wide tornado, it can simply sweep away everything in its wake, unless somebody could destroy it.’
The current Ye Chen naturally didn’t have this strength.
It was perhaps a moment, or a long time; the three people lost all connection with the external world. The small Perceptive Tower on the ship had also completely extinguished, and was on the verge of collapse.

These two finally had their wish met. Now we know how the Bewilderment Fog Ship disappeared with three Grand Elders a decade ago.
Ye Chen laughed bitterly. This time, his soul power was directly suppressed by ninety percent, and as for spirit power, he couldn’t even spread it out. His Zhen Yuan was also being suppressed inside his body. His entire body was blindly plunging into darkness.