Courtyard Check-in: Starting with a Small World of Cultivation

May 29th, 6:00 AM.

Chen Yu was awakened by the faint light filtering through the cabin window. The ship rocked rhythmically with the waves, and it took him a moment to realize where he was. Dr. Zhou Mingyuan, who was in the same cabin, was still fast asleep, emitting soft snores.

Chen Yu quietly got up and went to the deck.

The sunrise at sea was breathtakingly magnificent—the eastern horizon first turned a pale white, then tinged with orange-red and golden hues, before the final red sun leaped above the sea, gilding the vast expanse of blue waves with shimmering golden light. A salty sea breeze swept over us, carrying the warm, humid air characteristic of the southern seas.

"Good morning, Comrade Chen," came Li Dahai's voice from the bridge. The old captain had clearly not slept all night, but was in high spirits. "First time watching the sunrise at sea?"

"Hmm, very impressive." Chen Yu stepped into the driver's seat.

Li Dahai handed him a cup of strong tea: "That's life at sea, monotonous and unpredictable. It's calm now, but in a few days it might be stormy."

Chen Yu took the teacup and glanced at the various instruments on the bridge: compass, nautical chart, radar screen, radio... These devices were considered advanced for that era.

"System, check-in for today."

[Ding! Japanese visa successfully obtained]

[Rewards: 5 compressed biscuits, 50-liter freshwater resource pack, small basic marine meteorology experience pack, 1964 South China Sea monsoon map, 10 spirit baits]

Knowledge of marine meteorology flooded his mind, and Chen Yu instantly grasped concepts such as pressure gradients, tropical cyclones, and monsoon circulation. The monsoon map marked the wind direction and force changes in the South China Sea from May to June, an extremely useful navigational resource. The spiritual bait looked like ordinary dried fish, but the system description stated that it "has a special attraction to spiritual beings."

"Captain Li, how's the weather today?" Chen Yu asked casually.

"Judging from the cloud cover, it's still sunny today with a level 3 southeast wind," Li Dahai said, pointing to the radar screen. "However, there's a low-pressure trough developing in the southwest, which might affect this area the day after tomorrow."

Chen Yu checked his memory of meteorological knowledge and concluded that Li Dahai was right. This old captain was indeed very experienced.

Breakfast started at seven o'clock. The ship's cook was from Guangdong, and he prepared congee, pickled vegetables, steamed buns, and a fried egg for each person. Although simple, it was considered a feast at sea.

"Comrade Chen, did you sleep well last night?" Zhao Jianguo sat down opposite Chen Yu with a bowl of porridge. "Many people get seasick on their first time at sea."

"It's okay, maybe I have a good sense of balance."

"That's good." Zhao Jianguo lowered his voice. "We're going to do our first sampling operation this morning. Do you want to come and help? You can also familiarize yourself with the process."

"certainly."

At 8:30 a.m., the "Xiangyanghong 03" arrived at the first designated sampling point. After the ship came to a stop, the researchers began their work. Zhao Jianguo directed the lowering of the sediment sampler—a metal grab bucket—which was lowered to the seabed via a steel cable to collect seabed sediment samples.

Chen Yu assisted him. He noticed that Zhao Jianguo's choice of sampling points was not random, but carefully selected based on nautical charts and seabed topography.

"The water here is 62 meters deep, and the seabed is composed of sandy sediments," Zhao Jianguo explained while operating the equipment. "We need to collect samples from different depths to analyze the composition and age of the sediments."

When the mud sampler was retrieved, the grab bucket contained dark brown mud and sand. Zhao Jianguo carefully separated the samples into glass bottles and labeled them: "Number 01, Latitude 18°22', Longitude 112°35', Water depth 62 meters..."

Chen Yu helped record the data. He quietly activated his spiritual eye technique, observing the seabed sediment. Under normal vision, it was just ordinary sediment, but with his spiritual eye, he could see a faint mineral luster and organic residue in the sample.

"Interesting..." he muttered to himself.

"What did you find?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

"Nothing much, I just find the underwater world very mysterious." Chen Yu replied casually, but secretly he made a note of it in his mind—in a certain sample, he sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of spiritual energy, so faint that it was almost negligible.

After lunch, Chen Yu returned to his cabin. Zhou Mingyuan was organizing the medical kit. Seeing him come in, he looked up and smiled, "You went to get samples taken this morning? How are you feeling?"

"It's quite interesting, but the sun is a bit strong."

"The UV rays are strong at sea, remember to wear a hat." Zhou Mingyuan took out a tube of ointment from the medicine box. "Here, take this, it's sunscreen, I made it myself, it works well."

Chen Yu accepted the medicine and thanked him. He noticed that in addition to regular medicines, Zhou Mingyuan's medicine box contained some strange bottles and jars with unusual handwriting on the labels, which looked neither like Chinese characters nor English.

"Does Dr. Zhou also know how to prescribe medication?"

"It's just a little family skill," Zhou Mingyuan said casually, but Chen Yu saw a flicker in his eyes.

In the afternoon, the ship continued its southward journey. Chen Yu found a secluded corner and began practicing his wind manipulation techniques. The winds at sea were much stronger than on land, and he quickly mastered the skills of controlling the air currents within the sea breeze.

By circulating his spiritual energy, he could condense a small vortex at his fingertips. Although not very powerful, it was enough to stir up waves several meters away. Chen Yu experimented a few times and found that if he combined it with the Lightness Technique, he could move faster and more nimbly on the deck.

"If I could apply these spells to naval battles..." he thought to himself.

In the evening, the ship's radio received a weather report: a tropical depression had formed in the central South China Sea and was likely to develop into a tropical storm within the next 48 hours.

Li Dahai called a meeting: "Everyone, you've all heard the weather forecast. We now have two options: one is to continue sailing as planned, but we may encounter a storm; the other is to change course and head west to avoid the storm's path, but this will delay our journey."

After discussing among the researchers, Zhao Jianguo spoke on behalf of the team: "Captain Li, our sampling mission has a time limit. If we can complete the last sampling point today before the storm, and then try to avoid it tomorrow, is that alright?"

Li Dahai looked at the nautical chart and pondered for a moment: "The last sampling point is fifteen nautical miles from here. If we go there now, we can complete the sampling before eight o'clock tonight. Then we can sail west and avoid the eye of the storm."

"That's what we'll do!"

The ship accelerated towards its designated location. Chen Yu stood on the deck, watching the clouds gradually gather where the sea met the sky. To ordinary people, those clouds were just ordinary cumulonimbus clouds, but in his spiritual eyes, there were faint, unusual spiritual disturbances deep within the clouds.

"It's not entirely a natural phenomenon..." Alarm bells rang in his mind.

At 7:40 p.m., the ship arrived at the last sampling point. It was getting dark, the sea breeze was noticeably stronger, and the waves were getting bigger and bigger.

Zhao Jianguo directed the lowering of the mud extractor, but this time it didn't go smoothly—the steel cable got stuck when it was about fifty meters down.

"What's going on?" Li Dahai got out of the driver's seat.

"It seems to be tangled in something," the crew member operating the winch reported.

Chen Yu activated his Spiritual Eye Technique and looked into the sea. The seawater became translucent in his vision, and he could vaguely see the seabed. The mud dredger was indeed entangled in a dark, indistinct mass...

"It's shipwreck wreckage," Chen Yu blurted out.

Everyone looked at him. Li Dahai frowned: "How did Comrade Chen know?"

"I...I saw a metallic sheen," Chen Yu offered an excuse. "It should be the mast or hull of an old ship."

Li Dahai was skeptical, but ordered: "Try to slowly pull in the cable. If you really can't pull it in, cut it."

The winch restarted, and the steel cable tightened. Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the seabed, and the mud sampler broke free of its restraints, being pulled up with a clump of material.

Besides mud and sand, the grab bucket also contained several rusted metal pieces and a... piece of wood?

No, it wasn't an ordinary plank. Chen Yu's eyes narrowed. It was a piece of wood that had undergone special treatment, and although it had been soaked in seawater for many years, it still maintained its shape perfectly. The plank was engraved with indistinct patterns, and in his spiritual eyes, those patterns emitted a faint spiritual light.

"What is this?" Zhao Jianguo picked up the wooden board and examined it closely. "It doesn't look like something from modern times... Judging from the patterns, it looks like some kind of religious symbol?"

Chen Yu took the wooden board. It felt heavy in his hand, the wood as dense as iron. The patterns on it were indeed strange, resembling both characters and patterns, with faint outlines of flames and birds.

Flames...bird...Vermilion Bird?

He was startled, but remained outwardly calm: "It's probably a decorative panel from an ancient merchant ship. The South China Sea has been a vital route of the Maritime Silk Road since ancient times, and there are many shipwrecks there."

"That makes sense." Zhao Jianguo nodded, carefully putting the wooden board away. "We can ask an archaeological expert to examine it when we get back."

After sampling was completed, Li Dahai ordered the ship to sail west at full speed to avoid the approaching tropical depression.

At ten o'clock at night, the wind and waves noticeably intensified. The ship began to rock violently, and items on the table slid off the floor. Zhou Mingyuan, already seasick, lay pale on the bed. Chen Yu poured him a glass of water and gave him a calming powder—not for treating seasickness, but its sedative effect could alleviate the discomfort.

"Th...thank you..." Zhou Mingyuan took the pill, his complexion improving. "Comrade Chen, how come you're not seasick?"

"Perhaps it's due to a special constitution." Chen Yu helped him secure his belongings. "Dr. Zhou, please rest. I'll go out and take a look."

The wind and rain raged on the deck. Chen Yu braved the storm to reach the bridge, where Li Dahai was intently steering the ship. The first mate was watching the radar, while the second mate was examining the nautical charts.

"How's the situation?" Chen Yu asked loudly—the wind was too strong.

"The storm is developing faster than expected!" Li Dahai roared. "We might not be able to escape its influence!"

On the radar screen, a huge green echo was rapidly approaching; that was the rain zone, and also the most intense part of the storm.

Chen Yu looked out the window. In the darkness, the waves surged like small mountains, and the ship rocked violently between the crests and troughs. Lightning flashed intermittently across the night sky, illuminating the churning sea.

Suddenly, his sensing jade pendant heated up!

Chen Yu quietly took out the jade tablet and infused it with spiritual power. The jade tablet emitted a faint blue light, and the patterns on it spun wildly, finally pointing towards... the eye of the storm!

Is the Southern Vermilion Bird Key at the eye of the storm? Or is the storm itself related to the Vermilion Bird Key?

"Captain!" the first mate suddenly shouted, "There's a ship at three o'clock!"

Everyone looked at the radar screen. At the edge of the storm echo, there was indeed a small point of light moving in their direction.

"What ship? Still at sea at this hour?" Li Dahai frowned.

"It's very fast, unlike ordinary fishing boats."

Chen Yu activated his spiritual eye technique and looked in that direction. Although the wind and rain limited his vision, he saw something when a flash of lightning illuminated the sea—

It was a black fishing boat with an odd shape and a sharp, razor-sharp bow. Even more strangely, in the vision of the Spirit Eye Technique, the boat was shrouded in a faint layer of black mist, completely out of place with the natural spiritual energy of the storm.

The Heavenly Alliance's ship!

"Prepare to give way!" Li Dahai ordered. "Signal and ask for their identity and intentions."

The signal lights flashed, but there was no response. The black fishing boat continued to approach, its speed increasing rather than decreasing.

"Something's wrong." Li Dahai's expression was grave. "Everyone, prepare for a collision!"

Chen Yu's heart tightened. In such treacherous sea conditions, the consequences of a collision would be unimaginable. He quietly circulated his spiritual power, preparing his Wind Control Technique, while simultaneously reaching for the water-repelling bead in his robes.

The black fishing boat suddenly turned about 500 meters away from the "Xiangyanghong 03", drawing a strange arc and actually circling around to the side of the research vessel.

"What are they going to do?" the second mate exclaimed.

Chen Yu unleashed his full spiritual sense, sensing the situation on the other ship. He "saw" two figures standing at the bow—a lean man and a woman shrouded in mist.

Long San, Rakshasa.

The two exuded a chilling and eerie aura, a stark contrast to their surroundings. What alarmed Chen Yu even more was that he sensed a familiar aura emanating from the woman—the same as that of Zhao Wuji, whom he had encountered in Tianjin, but purer and more insidious.

The black fishing boat did not approach further, but sailed parallel to the side of the research vessel for a period of time, as if observing and assessing.

Then it accelerated and disappeared into the wind, rain, and night.

It came suddenly, and it left suddenly.

The cab was completely silent, save for the sounds of the wind and the waves.

"What kind of boat is that?" After a long silence, Li Dahai finally spoke. "It doesn't look like a fishing boat, nor does it look like a smuggling vessel..."

"Could it be..." the first mate hesitated for a moment, "...pirates?"

"There are indeed pirates in the South China Sea, but they generally don't provoke research vessels," Li Dahai shook his head. "Besides, the speed and maneuverability of those ships are beyond what ordinary pirate ships can achieve."

Chen Yu remained silent. He knew what it was, but he couldn't say.

The storm reached its peak at 3 a.m. and then gradually subsided. At dawn, the wind and rain stopped, and the sea returned to calm, as if everything from the previous night had been nothing but a nightmare.

But Chen Yu knew it wasn't true.

At breakfast, everyone was discussing what happened last night. Zhao Jianguo, still shaken, said, "I've been at sea for over a decade, and this is the first time I've ever seen such a strange ship."

"Yes, it circled around us and then left. What does that mean?" Engineer Wang was also puzzled.

Zhou Mingyuan's face was still pale, but he was able to get out of bed: "I've heard... that some places in the South China Sea are very eerie, with legends of 'ghost ships'..."

"Dr. Zhou, don't scare people," Li Dahai interrupted him. "It must be some criminals' ship. They saw that we were a research vessel and thought there was no profit in it, so they left."

This explanation was barely plausible, so no one went any further.

But Chen Yu knew the truth. The Heavenly Alliance had already set their sights on them. Last night was just a test; the real danger was yet to come.

In the morning, Chen Yu stayed alone in the cabin under the pretext of studying the wooden plank he had retrieved from the seabed. He took out the plank and examined it carefully.

With his spiritual eye fully activated, the patterns on the wooden board became clear in his vision. It wasn't ordinary carving, but an ancient rune containing a faint fire-attribute spiritual power.

He lightly touched the runes with his fingers, attempting to infuse them with a trace of spiritual power.

"Buzz—"

The wooden board trembled slightly, and the runes actually lit up! Although the light was faint, it was definitely a reaction. What shocked Chen Yu even more was that the sensing jade tablet in his arms also began to heat up, resonating with the wooden board!

This wooden board is related to the Southern Vermilion Bird Key!

He carefully put the plank away. This couldn't be known by anyone, especially since there might be more on the ship…

Chen Yu's gaze fell on Zhou Mingyuan's bed. This ship's doctor seemed to be no ordinary person either.

At noon, Chen Yu seized an opportunity to send a brief safety signal using the ship's spare wireless equipment, following Shen Qingzhu's instructions. The signal indicated "Departure complete, situation normal."

He didn't know if the signal could be received, but it was the agreed-upon method of communication.

In the afternoon, the ship continued westward, completely escaping the storm's path. The weather was clear, and the sea was as smooth as a mirror.

Chen Yu stood at the stern, watching the white wake left by the ship. The journey to the South China Sea had only just begun, but undercurrents were already surging.

He took out a spiritual compass and infused it with spiritual power. The pointer trembled slightly, pointing southeast—the direction of the eye of last night's storm, and also the direction where the black fishing boat disappeared.

Vermilion Bird Key, Storm, Heavenly Alliance...

These clues gradually came together.

Chen Yu took a deep breath. The sea breeze was salty and fishy, ​​but he sensed danger in it.

Night has fallen again, and the starry sky is dazzling tonight.

But Chen Yu knew that deep in the South China Sea under this starry sky, a covert battle concerning an ancient key and a contest between good and evil had quietly begun.

And he was standing on the edge of the storm's eye.