Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 92 The doubts of that year!

For example, things to pay attention to when picking up goods: How much of this batch of materials have been brought in total, and how much has been processed now? You can't just let the other party say that it's qualified. What are the acceptance criteria?
For example, the key points of preservation after obtaining that batch of materials: Just listening to this took Gong Tianwu more than an hour!

After a careful investigation, Gong Tianwu realized that this batch of materials was the whale bones taken from a giant whale in the East China Sea after it was killed. The total weight was over a thousand kilograms, and an ordinary storage bag could not hold them at all!
Not only can it not be exposed to the sun or wind, it also needs to be smeared with special "sun ginger oil" every once in a while to suppress the souls that have been refined into it.

After hearing such a complicated way of handling the matter, Gong Tianwu regretted it so much that he almost quit the job on the spot.

After all these matters were handed over, it took until the next morning before Gong Tianwu got the last thing from Jiqing Hall:
The reward that needs to be paid to the Lou Ming Sect is a total of twenty-seven blood-shadow needles, the unique hidden weapons refined by the Weapon Hall.

Only then was Gong Tianwu considered free, and he began to leave the Blood God Sect's main mountain and headed towards the Patrol Sky Tower ship's berth thirty miles away - of course, his storage bag was filled with enough cultivation resources and necessities.

Because the Blood God Sect is one of the core sects in the evil camp, with a large number of people and strong power, it has the privilege of setting up a berth for the Sky Patrol Tower ship outside the mountain gate.

Gong Tianwu saw from more than ten miles away that in the distant dock halfway up the mountain, there was a huge object floating. Its appearance was majestic and magnificent, like a huge floating ship, and thus the name Xuntian Tower Ship came from it.

After entering the docking port, Gong Tianwu discovered that the hull was mostly made of rare meteorite iron and thousand-year-old spiritual wood, and the surface was engraved with complex runes and formations.

Driven by spiritual power, these runes flicker with light, providing the ship with the power to fly and forming a powerful protective barrier in times of crisis.

After Gong Tianwu showed his bloody battle sign, a local steward named Luo immediately came out to receive him politely. After all, this was the territory of the Blood God Sect.

After explaining his purpose and showing the corresponding official documents and tokens, Manager Luo took the initiative to lead the way and led Gong Tianwu into the building ship. At the same time, he began to introduce the general situation of this huge ship:

"The astronomical survey ships are divided into five different levels according to their size. The smallest Flying Fish class and the largest Whale class are more than fourteen times larger. The Flying Fish class has only two floors, while the Whale class has seven floors."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu asked curiously:
"So what class is the ship we are on now?"

Manager Luo smiled and said:
"This Cangming ship has four floors and is an eel-class ship. It is mainly responsible for the route from our Blood God Sect to Zhushan Sect, which is about 9,300 miles."

"I just checked. Shangzhen is heading to Louming Sect, west of Silla. Therefore, he needs to disembark at the Louchuan Wharf, 50 miles away from Zhushan Sect, and transfer to a Louchuan ship bound for Xiankong Island. Then he will arrive more than 2,000 miles from Xiankong Island."

"Shang Zhen is on a business trip this time, so I have already exchanged the corresponding jade token for you, so that you can take the round-trip ship for free."

Gong Tianwu nodded in satisfaction. The price of riding on the Xuntian Tower ship is not cheap. It starts at five spirit stones. If he had to pay for it out of his own pocket, he would totally not be able to afford it.

Soon, Manager Luo brought Gong Tianwu to a cabin marked "Bing43".

It can be seen that the area here is not very large, and the furnishings are quite simple, with only a bed, a table and a desk. Moreover, these furniture are firmly fixed, probably to prevent sliding during navigation.

The only thing to be commended about this place is that it is fairly clean and tidy.

Manager Luo was also a little nervous at this time, because the "Shangzhen" he had received before would often fly into a rage after seeing the simple cabins, and he would inevitably have to be scolded.

Unexpectedly, Gong Tianwu nodded and said:

"A single room is fine. I heard that we have to stay on the ship for several days, so I need to practice and cannot live with others."

Manager Luo was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said as if he had been pardoned:

"It's still early before the ship leaves, so I'll take Zhen to look around the ship, such as the dining area, the place to drink tea and sit and so on."

Gong Tianwu nodded, and then followed Manager Luo to tour the entire Xuntianlou ship.

After walking from the power cabin on the bottom floor to the observation deck on the top floor, Gong Tianwu returned to his cabin and began to practice the True Feather Heart Technique. After all, it has now become Gong Tianwu's weakest link.

Probably when the sun was setting, Gong Tianwu in the cabin suddenly felt the ship shake slightly, and then a continuous "buzzing" sound came from the air, and the entire ship slowly floated up.

According to Manager Luo's previous introduction, this is a sign that the "Spiritual Furnace" deep in the heart of the ship has been activated.

It is a very sophisticated conversion device that can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and convert it into huge energy to drive the ship to fly.

Driven by the Lingyuan furnace, the thirty-seven magic arrays carved on the ship began to be charged one by one, and then lit up one after another, generating enormous power that enabled this behemoth to slowly float into the air, and then began to accelerate and fly away.

Although one must be in the foundation-building stage to fly for a long time, Gong Tianwu roughly understands what it feels like to fly, especially when in a hurry. It's cold, tiring, and requires full concentration.

The speed of the Sky Patrol Ship is only slightly slower than that of flying a sword at full power, but the passengers are extremely comfortable. They can sleep soundly in the ship, or even have a feast and practice. No wonder all the real people are flocking to ride on the Sky Patrol Ship.

After flying for about five hours, Gong Tianwu felt a little hungry, so he left the cabin and went along the corridor to the dining hall.

Manager Luo made it clear that the Kanhe jade token he held could entitle him to free meals on the ship.

Near the dining hall, Gong Tianwu saw the "Wind Spirit Wings" and "Cloud Hiding Array" that had been activated. The former could provide additional thrust and stability during high-speed flight, while the latter allowed the ship to hide its body when necessary, shuttling through the clouds and mist without leaving any trace.

When he entered the huge dining hall, he found that there were already quite a lot of people eating inside.

Gong Tianwu found the waiter in front of him, showed him the jade card, and then found a place to sit down. Not long after, the waiter brought a large plate of steaming buns, with peanuts and fermented bean curd as side dishes.

This is the standard set meal that comes with buying a boat ticket. It will definitely be enough to fill your stomach, but if you want to eat well, you will have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

After Gong Tianwu took two bites, he heard a few friends talking loudly in the back:
"."

"I am not very talented, but I just did some calculations. The freight for this ship alone is more than 4,000 spirit stones. It is really making a fortune every day."

"I heard that all the patrol ships in the world are operated by a sect called Lingfeng. This sect is unknown, how can it occupy such a source of wealth?"

"Brother, you don't understand this, right? This matter is related to Emperor Tianyuan hundreds of years ago."

"I really don't understand this, I'd like to hear more details."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu immediately became interested, because he was also very curious about this matter, so he listened to the man in the white robe:

"In this world, there are three sects that are best at refining weapons: the Emei Sect, the Black Turtle Island in the South China Sea, and the Zhushan Sect on the evil side."

"Because major disputes between good and evil are resolved through the Emei sword fights that take place every thirty years, conflicts between the two camps of good and evil rarely escalate, even though they occur frequently."

"In this environment, when the brilliant Emperor Tianyuan took charge of Zhushan Sect, he took the initiative to invite people from Emei Sect and Xuangui Island and proposed that the three sects work together to build the Sky Surveying Tower Ship."

"The process during this period was not leaked, but it was definitely accomplished in the end."

"Emperor Tianyuan took the initiative to propose the establishment of a new sect to specialize in the operation of the building ship, and then divide it into 40% for Emei, 30% for Zhushan and Xuangui Island respectively. The name of this new sect is Lingfeng Sect."

After hearing this, the group of people suddenly realized:

"So this is the background of Lingfeng Sect!"

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart, as if the important progress of this world was all participated in and promoted by this ambitious Emperor Tianyuan?
After finishing his meal, Gong Tianwu did not choose to return to his cabin, but went to the observation cabin to digest his food.

While enjoying the scenery, I saw a Taoist priest in an apricot-yellow robe walking towards me. He pulled out a hairpin from his hair and inserted it into a small hole on the wall in front of me.

Unexpectedly, there was a secret door in front of me, which slid quietly to both sides, revealing a space inside.

You can see that there are complicated and dense mechanical devices inside, connected together with mortise and tenon joints and other tools, which move slowly and even make people feel dizzy after looking at them for a long time.

The Taoist went in and took something, then turned around and walked out, and put the hairpin back on his head. Seeing this scene, Gong Tianwu felt that the hairpin looked familiar, and when he thought about it carefully, his eyes suddenly lit up:
In my third life, I was at the end of my rope and was forced to go to the ice sea to fish for corpses, where I got a hairpin. The two hairpins are exactly the same!

But if you look closely, you will see that the Taoist's hairpin has a red thread around it, but the hairpin you got has a black thread around it.

Gong Tianwu was a little curious for a moment, so he stepped forward and said:
"Fellow Taoist invites you."

This Taoist was quite gentle, bowed and said:

"I'm not Feng, what can I do for you?"

Gong Tianwu pointed at the hairpin in his hand and said:
"It's nothing serious, but I've seen a similar hairpin before, which is almost identical to the one you have, except that it has a black line around it. I wonder what this means?"

Taoist Bu Feng was surprised and said:
"Ah? This jade hairpin is called a navigation hairpin. It actually serves as the key to our Xuntian Tower ship. With the corresponding password and code, we can travel freely on the ship."

"The Xi pattern on it is a symbol of the status of the owner of the jade hairpin. New servants have gray patterns, regular servants have yellow patterns, and those with lower positions have green patterns."

"If the senior positions such as assistant officer (first mate), chief engineer, etc. have red stripes, and the captain has gold stripes, there is no black stripe at all."

Gong Tianwu was stunned when he heard this. It's impossible!

He remembered very clearly that the jade hairpin he took off the ice corpse's head had authentic black patterns. How could he have remembered such a detail wrong?

He wanted to find this Taoist Bufeng again to ask, but the other party had already gone far away.

At this time, Gong Tianwu was very curious, and at the same time he could vaguely feel that the dust of history was being brushed away by him, as if something that had been deliberately hidden was beginning to reveal the tip of the iceberg.

So he next found an older servant.

This time he didn't ask for anything for free. He directly gave the other person two silver pieces and said that he had made a bet with a friend and wanted to ask him for advice on something. Then he told him everything.

The servant was wondering what was going on, but after hearing this he said in astonishment:
"A hairpin with black patterns, this has never been seen before."

Gong Tianwu sighed and said:

"But I did see a black-patterned hairpin back then. If you can find solid evidence to prove its existence, I will give you a spiritual stone as a gift."

The servant's eyes suddenly lit up. For a mortal, something like a spirit stone could almost be a family heirloom. He would definitely do his best to accomplish this matter, and he immediately left in a hurry.

About half a day later, the servant brought another person. This person looked very old, with wrinkles all over his face and a limp in one leg.

The servant smiled and said:

"Master, this is Old Man Hu, a senior in our field. He has spent most of his life on the Xuntian Tower ship. He said he knows about the black-patterned hairpin, but..."

Gong Tianwu said calmly:
"If you have something to say, just say it."

Old Man Hu was not vague either, and said very straightforwardly:

"I want a spirit stone too. I'm old now."

Gong Tianwu had no intention of listening to his complaints, and directly took out two spirit stones from his storage bag and slapped them on the table:
"Show me the evidence that satisfies me, and it will be yours."

After seeing the spirit stone, Old Man Hu swallowed his saliva, then with trembling hands he took out a cloth bag from his arms and opened it in front of Gong Tianwu.

Gong Tianwu's pupils suddenly shrank, because inside this tattered cloth bag was a half-broken jade hairpin.

This thing looks ordinary, but what’s more important is that there is indeed a circle of black texture on it!
Gong Tianwu took the half-broken hairpin and looked at it carefully. He found that it was smaller than he remembered, and the black lines were very light in color. He said:

"This thing of yours is about 80% similar to the one I saw back then, but it's obviously smaller, and the jade is rough, and the color of the black lines is wrong."

Old Man Hu said:
"That's because the hairpin that you saw back then should be used by the management. Servants like me use this type of hairpin."

Gong Tianwu nodded and threw two spirit stones to each of them. The two men hurriedly caught them with expressions of great joy.

Gong Tianwu continued:
"Old man Hu, please stay. You can tell me what happened in detail now. It is best to tell me everything. If there is anything I need, I will give you an extra reward."

When Old Man Hu heard the word "reward", he became very excited. After the servant left, he said:
"Ahem, that was more than forty years ago."

"My family passed down a carpentry skill from Lu Ban's Classics, which happened to be quite useful on this Xuntianlou ship. As a result, I became the foreman of the inner wind cabin."

"Because I am diligent and careful, I am highly appreciated by the superiors."

"Suddenly one day, the immortal master asked me if I was willing to give my family a chance to cultivate immortality."

"As long as you agree to do one thing, then I can send one of your sons to the fairy mountain to learn skills for ten years!"

"Even if he doesn't have enough talent to become an immortal, he can reach the dark energy level and become a martial arts scholar when he returns to his hometown. He can also own a hundred acres of paddy fields, so that he can live a rich life in the village, and his descendants will no longer suffer from poverty."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu immediately perked up, knowing that the main part of the show was probably about to begin.

Old Man Hu said:

"The old man was young and full of energy at the time. Although he knew that wealth and honor come from risk, he still felt that the world was big enough for him to go, so he agreed."

"Then they asked me to get off the Xuntianlou ship I was serving on and wait for orders, and gave me a black hairpin."

"After waiting for about three months, I was assigned to a specially built astronomical survey ship. This ship is very special and should be of the Red Shark class according to its shape."

Hearing this, Gong Tianwu narrowed his eyes immediately and then wrote down the four words "Red Shark Level".

Old Man Hu said:
"The cabin and cargo hold of this thing have been reduced by more than half, the power has been strengthened, all places have been thickened, and all kinds of supplies and vulnerable parts are directly filled."

"It was only then that I realized that our group of people were going to explore a secret place on this Sky Surveying Tower ship."

"As a result, just before departure, something unexpected happened on the ship and an explosion occurred!"

"I was swept into a coma by the aftermath of the explosion. When I woke up, it was three days later. My legs were broken."

"After asking around, I found out that the explosion was caused by the Immortal Master, so no one gave me an explanation. In the end, after my injuries healed, I could only do odd jobs on the ship."

At this point, Old Man Hu sighed, tears already glistening in his eyes:

"At first, I hated the heavens and the earth and felt it was unfair, but six months later, when I heard the news that the ship was destroyed and no one survived, I began to secretly feel lucky to have saved my life."

Gong Tianwu was also a little sad after listening to this. It can be said that the saying "misfortunes often bring blessings" is very appropriate to describe the experience of Old Man Hu.

He then asked for some more details and gave him five more silver coins. Old Man Hu thanked him profusely and left.

After he left, Gong Tianwu frowned, and suddenly felt that there were many suspicious things about the dark place in the sea outside Shimen Village!
(End of this chapter)