Nascent Soul Rebirth: Starting as a Wizard

"Here are 150 gold coins as a deposit and initial payment," Solo's voice remained calm. "For the entire five-month charter, I can pay a total of 300 gold coins."

The prerequisite is that you and your crew must absolutely obey my reasonable instructions, ensure the vessel is in good condition, and keep the route and my activities confidential.

Furthermore, if any discoveries are made on certain islands, you can share in a portion of the value.

"Three hundred gold coins!" Even Captain Patton, a man of great experience, couldn't help but breathe heavily for a moment.

This is almost equivalent to more than a year and a half of net profit for the "Wanderer", and that's without any major risks.

His single eye stared intently at the pile of gold coins for a few seconds before slowly shifting back to Solo's face, as if reassessing the young employer's identity, purpose, and potential trouble.

"I'll take part of the security aspect," Solo added at the opportune moment, his tone conveying a subtle confidence that put a certain pressure on Barton.

That was the oppressive aura released by the life seed of a seasoned knight.

"You can handle any ordinary maritime troubles, but I can also help if necessary."

All you need to do is make sure you get the ship to where I want it to go. Your crew should keep the ship in check and keep their mouths shut.

A few breaths of silence hung between them, broken only by the distant clamor of the dock and the sound of waves crashing against the shore. The gleam of the gold coins and Solo's composed gaze seemed to form a strange balance.

Finally, Captain Barton nodded sharply, a resolute glint in his single eye:

"Deal! Mr. Solo, the 'Vagabond' and its twelve old crew members will be at your service for the next five months!"

"However..." he paused, "we need to sign a detailed contract with clear terms, including payment methods, compensation for crew injuries and deaths, handling of accidents, and confidentiality clauses."

"I, Patton, make my living at sea by virtue of my reputation and by following the rules."

"That's how it should be," Solo nodded.

A thick parchment contract, notarized by the port authority, was quickly signed.

The total price is 300 gold coins, with an agreement to pay 150 coins upfront and the balance upon arrival at Emerald Island, plus additional profit-sharing terms.

The gold coins jingled as they fell into Captain Patton's locked iron box, and also into the pockets of each crew member who had received a "special voyage allowance" in advance.

The "Wanderer" quickly completed a resupply far exceeding the norm—ample food, fresh water, medicine, spare rigging, and even two barrels of gunpowder and extra lead bullets.

Solo booked the best cabin on the ship, the captain's cabin, while Captain Barton happily moved to the first mate's cabin.

This will become his private training space and command center for the next five months.

Before setting sail, Solo stood on the deck, facing twelve sailors who were energized by the extra allowance, yet couldn't hide their curiosity and trepidation.

Captain Patton stood solemnly to one side.

"Gentlemen," Solo's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, "This voyage may last up to five months, and the route will be different from the traditional routes. We will go to some remote islands."

Your task is to steer the "Wanderer" well, follow my and Captain Patton's instructions, reach the location I designate, and wait when needed.

If you do your job well during the voyage, you'll receive extra allowances.

But there's one thing—" He calmly swept his gaze across the crowd, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't look at what you shouldn't look at, and never say what you shouldn't say."

Watch your eyes and mouth, it'll do you good, understand?

The sailors looked at each other, and finally nodded in agreement under Captain Patton's glare.

"Raise the sails! Set sail!" Captain Patton commanded.

The Wanderer broke free of its mooring lines, its white sails billowing in the sea breeze, and glided lightly out of Moonlight Castle Harbor, heading towards the vast, unfamiliar blue sea.

This two-masted sailing ship was no longer just a merchant vessel; it became Solo's mobile fortress, outpost, and base for a silent yet greedy hunt on the vast ocean.

During the early stages of the voyage, Solo spent most of his time in the captain's cabin.

From the outside, the young employer appeared to be studying nautical charts, organizing specimens, or simply taking a break.

In reality, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his mind immersed in the profound world of the "Taihao Yangyuan Scripture," consolidating his cultivation at the late stage of the second level of Qi Refining.

And those jade boxes containing spiritual materials, engraved with simple spirit-sealing patterns.

Solo released his spiritual senses, allowing their coverage to steadily extend to a spherical area approximately three hundred meters around him.

This range is exactly the normal level of spiritual sense projection for a typical peak Qi Refining cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm, which is sufficient for him to handle most of his current exploration needs.

When sailing on the vast ocean, he often released this intangible sense of perception like the most loyal sentinel.

The mind does not scan everything with the highest sensitivity and in great detail—that would be too energy-consuming and easily interfered with by irrelevant information.

Instead, he tuned it to a relatively "extensive" and stable state, like a continuously operating, invisible energy radar.

The primary target of this spiritual "radar" is not microscopic life fluctuations or hidden energy nodes, but rather macroscopic physical threats related to navigation safety.

It can penetrate the ship's hull, gently sweep across the sea ahead, and sense the abrupt outline and hard texture of the underwater reefs.

It can "touch" abnormal, energy-disordered surges brewing in the distance in advance, and can roughly discern the direction and speed of ocean currents.

It can even capture deep-water disturbances caused by the activities of large marine creatures (such as whale pods or certain dangerous marine mammals).

This level of application is precise and efficient.

This is enough to allow the "Wanderer" to avoid most natural risks in the complex archipelago waters, and also allows him to avoid constantly being on edge and paying attention to the details of the voyage.

In addition, maintaining this moderate intensity of spiritual projection regularly has an unexpected benefit for him—relieving the feeling of "fullness" in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The fragments of his consciousness within his sea of ​​consciousness gradually began to melt and dissolve, and a massive amount of pure primordial spirit power continuously poured into his sea of ​​consciousness.

This certainly accelerated the recovery and growth of his spiritual consciousness, but it was like forcibly pouring too much water into a pond with a fixed capacity.

The sea of ​​consciousness itself is also under increasing pressure, and there is often a faint, bloating pain and a feeling of fullness, as if it is about to be stretched open.

Consciously guiding a portion of one's spiritual consciousness outward for continuous and stable external projection is like opening a gentle flood discharge channel for this overloaded "pond".

A portion of the overactive and difficult-to-absorb spiritual energy can be systematically "used" through this channel, transforming into perception of the outside world, rather than accumulating within the sea of ​​consciousness and creating pressure.

Although this brings a continuous but tolerable consumption of mental energy and wastes a lot of primordial spirit power, it effectively relieves the uncomfortable feeling of fullness.

This allows the sea of ​​consciousness to maintain a relatively stable and safe state while absorbing the energy of the fragments of divine consciousness, thus alleviating the pressure on the increasingly expanding sea of ​​consciousness.

Therefore, maintaining this 300-meter range of spiritual vigilance is both a necessity for Solo's navigation and a form of indirect self-cultivation and self-protection.