Chapter 1790 (Raw 1802): First Arrival in the Ash Gray Sea
Yan Zhe’s cultivation was deep and unfathomable, at least late-stage Starry Sky Stage. However, Xiao Chen could not tell if it was small perfection late-stage, great perfection late-stage, or peak late-stage; he could not sense it at all.
This was a terrifying enemy, someone who could destroy the Black Cutlass in mere moments.
Beneath Yan Zhe’s magnanimous exterior hid a vicious and venomous heart.
If one was fooled by Yan Zhe’s appearance, feeling that one could avoid problems just by walking away, one would be making a huge mistake.
Xiao Chen did not fear the other party’s pretense, only the other party dropping the pretense and directly using force to accomplish what he wanted.
In that case, Xiao Chen would really be helpless, able only to wait to be slaughtered.
Being targeted by such a person was truly unfortunate. The situation looked much more dangerous than it did on the surface.
However, since Yan Zhe liked acting, it suited Xiao Chen’s intent.
For now, I’ll act dumb. I’ll act like I’m getting carried along and falling for his schemes.
The Black Cutlass and I need time.
Xiao Chen believed that as time crept by, the balance of strength would slowly tilt in his favor.
—
When Xiao Chen returned to the Black Cutlass, Elder Tang quickly asked, “How did it go?”
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “It’s fine. He refused.”
“He refused? In that case, did we misunderstand him?” Elder Tang felt somewhat surprised. The others were shocked as well.
Xiao Chen’s lips curled up into a mocking smile. “It is just the tactic of releasing to capture more later. This person’s schemes run extraordinarily deep. However, it does not matter. We can just play along with his act. We do indeed need some assistance with the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure.”
The chessboard was hard to predict. Since Yan Zhe wanted to use Xiao Chen as a pawn, Xiao Chen would repay scheme for scheme, thoroughly using him.
“Come, let’s go to the Ash Gray Sea!”
Using the Iron Blood Token, Xiao Chen successfully met the Pirate Hall’s Hall Master, an old man with deep and unfathomable strength.
The feeling that this person gave Xiao Chen was that he was much stronger than Yan Zhe.
The Pirate Alliance was also rather mysterious. It had operated in the open for so long, so there had to be something extraordinary about it.
If the Wolf King Jiang Hengchuan was the public overlord of the Grave Sea, then this old man was the emperor of the Grave Sea hidden in the shadows.
However, the Pirate Alliance had always been neutral and would not seek revenge for pirate groups. It would not start a conflict with the Divine Shield Army or the other sects and factions. Hence, it did not have much of a presence.
The Pirate Alliance was more like a large merchant association that recognized only money.
Anyone, even those who were not pirates, could trade treasures in the pirate hall, buy materials, or participate in auctions.
Even disciples of a righteous sect could come and register to be pirates. The Pirate Alliance would not question anything or care.
The Pirate Alliance’s attitude was very interesting.
However, while it was like that, no matter how weak the Pirate Halls in the Grave Sea were, the Divine Shield Army and the Blood Sword Army did not dare to target them. Doing so was taboo.
No one dared to disobey.
“Captain Xiao, are you sure that you want to use the Iron Blood Token to go to the Ash Gray Sea? It is not really good for you to go to the Ash Gray Sea with your strength. How about waiting a few more years?”
The old man gave Xiao Chen a lot of face, not saying that only death awaited him if he went to the Ash Gray Sea.
The old man only said that it was not really good now and suggested that Xiao Chen go later.
“I’ve already made up my mind. Senior, please help me out here.”
“It’s not considered help. The Iron Blood Token is issued by the Pirate Hall. I will follow the instructions of whoever holds the Iron Blood Token.”
Since Xiao Chen insisted on it, the old man did not bother wasting his words.
The old man squeezed his hand, crushing this Iron Blood Token.
Boundless blood spilled out of the old man’s hand like a river of blood continuously flowing.
Soon, the blood accumulated and drowned Xiao Chen, Xiao Suo, and the entire Black Cutlass.
In the next moment, the blood broke down and turned into a beam of scarlet light streaking into the sky.
As the beam of light shot out of the Pirate Hall, the stars above the Pirate Hall flickered. A formation appeared out of nowhere and completely absorbed this beam of scarlet light.
The light passed in a flash. The many people who saw this scene did not know what happened.
“Captain, they have left!”
However, the Iron Horn Pirate Group’s people were no stranger to this sight and immediately exclaimed in excitement.
With a serious expression, Yan Zhe ordered, “Follow them.”
Right after Yan Zhe spoke, an Iron Blood Token appeared in his hand as well. Then, he ferociously crushed it.
After a while, another beam of scarlet light shot into the sky and entered that mysterious astral formation above the Pirate Hall.
The Iron Horn Pirate Group followed the Black Cutlass.
It was as Xiao Chen expected. This Yan Zhe was not indifferent to the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure at all.
All the more, Yan Zhe would not let Xiao Chen’s group slip between his fingers.
Back then, when Xiao Chen accepted the jade strip, he already knew that aside from allowing him to contact Yan Zhe, it would also allow Yan Zhe to keep tabs on Xiao Chen’s whereabouts.
Discarding it would reveal that Xiao Chen was on to Yan Zhe, and Yan Zhe would immediately use force to make Xiao Chen do what he wanted.
Unfortunately, Xiao Chen was not strong enough. Even though he knew about the other party’s scheme, he could not throw away the jade strip.
Hence, Xiao Chen could only try to beat Yan Zhe at his own game.
—
The moment Xiao Chen’s group was drowned by the blood, they lost all perception of their surroundings until they appeared again.
The Black Cutlass pirate ship was already in a completely different sea.
It was one of the seven forbidden seas, the Ash Gray Sea!
“Captain, the first layer of defensive formations is getting corroded by the seawater. It won’t last more than one hour.”
“The level of space here is too terrifying. A few components in the ship’s interior are already damaged from the pressure. If we do not resolve it soon, the ship will fall apart after half a day.”
“Captain, a ferocious beast is coming over in front!”
…
Xiao Chen’s group just arrived, and all sorts of bad news appeared, keeping everyone too busy to appreciate the vastness and magnificence of the Ash Gray Sea.
Xiao Suo rushed about frantically. The entire Black Cutlass’s crew worked hard to maintain the pirate ship for regular travel in the Ash Gray Sea.
“Don’t panic. Follow the plan. The Black Cutlass should not have problems just traveling in the Ash Gray Sea.”
Xiao Chen’s strange calm allowed Xiao Suo’s anxious heart to settle.
Xiao Suo nodded and said, “Right. It is just that we suddenly arrived in the Ash Gray Sea and still need some time to adjust. We can cope with most of the problems. However, that ferocious beast is somewhat tricky.”
Inside the captain’s quarters, Xiao Suo pointed at a strange bird displayed on a water screen.
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “This is good timing. The Immemorial Demon Soul Formation happens to need some nourishment.”
Right after he spoke, he left the pirate ship with a few flashes.
“Whoosh!”
“What a strong spatial pressure! The forbidden sea truly lives up to its name.”
Xiao Chen, who could already move about freely in the Grave Sea, felt pressured in this Ash Gray Sea.
It was like invisible hands above the sea surface were grabbing his feet and pulling him toward the water.
That churning seawater appeared to contain a demonic nature, deterring one from staring at it for too long.
The seawater here would definitely be even more terrifying than the seawater of the Grave Sea.
“Open!” Xiao Chen shouted, and his Vital Qi flowed in his veins. The dragon bones in his body crackled, sounding like dragons roaring.
Once he brought out his Divine Dragon War Body, which was roughly at small perfection, he managed to resist all the pressure.
He looked into the distance and saw a one-kilometer-long red bird covered with scarlet feathers.
“A Demon Blood Vulture!”
Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up. Now, he had second thoughts about using this ferocious beast to nourish the Immemorial Demon Soul Formation.
Even in the Ash Gray Sea, such mutated beasts were extremely hard to find. Their bodies possessed a demonic nature with very strong potential for growth, able to evolve continuously.
It was not rare for the Demon Blood Vulture to evolve beyond the limits of a Dragon Shadow Condor or an Underworld Ghost Bird.
The condition was that the Demon Blood Vulture had to absorb all sorts of demonic nature.
If Elder Tang tamed this Demon Blood Vulture, it would provide the Black Cutlass with tremendous support.
Upon feeling Xiao Chen’s gaze, that Demon Blood Vulture automatically unleashed its body’s demonic nature.
That is just an insignificant human, yet he is actually thinking of taming me? He overestimates himself.
