Cultivating immortality in the seas, I created an immortal island of eternal life.

Three hundred or so boats lay on the sea, looking like a floating duckweed from afar, crowded together, none of them able to move quickly.

The sampan from Gaoyao was sandwiched in the middle, with a dilapidated boat not much bigger than it on the left and a newer awning boat on the right, their bows and sterns almost touching.

The boatmen were all dark-skinned; some I recognized, some were strangers, but at that moment they didn't bother to greet each other, they were all cursing.

"Damn it, your oar poked my side!"

"Then why don't you paddle forward!"

Curses rose and fell, mingling with the sea breeze and filling our ears with a buzzing sound.

Gao Yao neither cursed nor pushed forward.

He held the oar, only occasionally giving it a nudge, ensuring the boat followed the current without veering off course.

What's the rush?

Sixty nautical miles normally takes three hours to row, but with this kind of situation, it takes more than double that.

What's more, the sharks haven't even shown up yet.

Ye Zi's boat followed behind him, keeping a distance of about two zhang. Her head was down, so her expression was not visible, but her boat moved steadily and did not fall behind.

Gao Yao would glance back every now and then, then turn back again.

He knew in his heart that this first hurdle couldn't be rushed. Whoever stood out first would be the target, not only of the sharks but also of people.

Just then, I caught a glimpse of a boat not far to my left.

The boat was small, and a person stood at the bow, leaning on a cane, with one leg propped up in the cabin, and the other trouser leg tied in a knot.

Old Man Ma.

Gao Yao narrowed his eyes. He originally thought that Old Man Ma would find someone to form an alliance with, after all, the other party was well-liked, and it would be too risky for him to cross the Shark Sea alone due to his leg injury.

But the old man chose the most dangerous path.

Whether it was because he didn't trust others or because he didn't want to implicate others, Gao Yao couldn't know.

Old Man Ma seemed to sense the gaze and turned his head.

Their eyes met briefly, but neither nodded or greeted the other before looking away.

Gao Yao withdrew his gaze and looked to the right.

There were about ten boats arranged in an irregular wedge shape, with the distance between them perfectly maintained—neither too crowded nor too loose—as if they had rehearsed.

A young woman stood at the bow of the ship, her back ramrod straight, her hair wrapped tightly in a cloth, revealing a clean and neat face.

Ye Ran.

Gao Yao's eyelids twitched. The dozen or so boats behind the other party were filled with unfamiliar faces.

There were men and women, all young, but all with straight backs and sharp eyes. They didn't look like fishermen, but rather like the well-trained guards in the period dramas he had watched in his previous life.

Gao Yao couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt something was off.

He turned his gaze to the distance.

On the sea, the flow of ships was clearly divided into several streams.

The largest group was on the east side, with seventy or eighty boats crammed together, all displaying black flags at their bows; they were from the fishing area to the north. There was another group on the west side, with fifty or sixty boats, their flags blue; they were from the fishing area to the south.

Slightly to the left of the center were two other groups, each with forty or fifty boats. They had no flags, but their boats were all the same type. One group consisted of fast, pointed boats, and the boatmen wore identical gray cloth short jackets. The other group consisted of wide-bodied boats designed to withstand wind and waves, and the boatmen all wore red cloth tied to their right arms.

In total, the four major forces, along with scattered small and medium-sized gangs and lone boats, are crammed together, creating a formidable force.

But think about it carefully, if something really happens and you can't even run away, you'll end up pushing and shoving each other, falling into the sea to feed the sharks, and you won't even have a complete corpse left.

Gao Yao gripped the oar tightly, his eyes fixed on the horizon. The sea was incredibly calm, a vast expanse of blue, like a piece of silk spread to the edge of the sky.

But Gao should know that there are countless needles hidden under the silk, just waiting for someone to reach in.

He touched the talismans in his pocket; he had accumulated an astonishing sixty-odd them. To be honest, this preparation was barely enough for Gao Yao, but he still wasn't confident.

It's not fear, it's a lack of confidence.

Fear is facing something definite, while uncertainty is facing the unknown. When will the shark swarm arrive? From which direction will they come? How many will come? We don't know any of these things.

What is known is that wire-wire silver sharks are extremely sensitive to the smell of blood.

A single drop of blood falling into the sea can attract sharks from miles around.

Therefore, no one dares to fish now.

Gao Yao scanned the area and found that none of the three hundred or so boats were fishing.

No one was casting fishing nets or casting fishing rods; everyone was focused on rowing, wishing they could skim the surface of the sea with their boats close to the water.

Too far.

We are still more than 50 nautical miles from Wangjing Reef.

When you fish now, the fish struggle and bleed, and the smell of blood spreads, attracting a swarm of sharks that can't escape.

Even if you manage to catch one by chance, what's the point of carrying a bloody fish through a shark swarm for fifty nautical miles?

That's courting death.

We need to get closer, and wait until we can see Whale Reef before we make our move.

Back then, we were close to the finish line, so we could catch fish and run away, and the sharks couldn't catch up to us for long.

This is what most people think.

Gao Yao thought so too.

......

Time seems to pass slowly.

One hour later, they were about forty nautical miles from Wangjing Reef.

There was little wind on the sea, and the sun was high overhead, making people's skin turn red.

Sweat streamed down my face, stinging my eyes.

Gao Yao squinted, looking ahead.

The flow of boats has begun to disperse.

It's not that they broke up, it's that they've drifted apart.

The fast ones were in front, the slow ones were behind, the strong ones were in front and the weak ones were behind. About three hundred boats were stretched into a long line, slowly crawling on the sea.

Gao Yao should be positioned slightly behind the middle.

It's not that he can't row fast, it's that he doesn't want to stand out.

The ships in front were mostly for people at the seventh level of Qi Refining or above. Their high cultivation level gave them confidence, allowing them to charge forward. The ships behind were mostly for people at the sixth level of Qi Refining, whose cultivation level was not high enough, so they could only follow behind.

Logically, following Ye Zi, who is at the seventh level of Qi Refining, should have led us to a position further ahead.

But he remained unhurried; the sharks hadn't arrived yet.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.

It wasn't shouting, but the sound of oars slapping the water—rapid, chaotic, as if someone had panicked.

Gao Yao looked up, squinting as he looked ahead.

In the first half of the boat stream, about three or four hundred feet away from him, several boats suddenly sped up, their oars splashing water as they desperately rushed forward.

The sudden acceleration threw several boats nearby off balance; some sped up as well, while others swerved to the sides, bumping into each other and shouting curses.

"Why are you pushing and shoving! Are you in such a hurry to be reborn?"

"Don't push! Don't push!"

Something's up!

What's going on?

Gao Yao's heart skipped a beat, and his hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the oar.

He stood on tiptoe and looked ahead.

It's too far away, I can't see clearly.

A swarm of sharks?

No, the shark swarm wouldn't appear this early.

This place is quite a distance from the middle sea, and silver sharks rarely swim to such shallow waters.

What is that?

As Gao Yao was thinking, another commotion arose ahead.

This time it was even more chaotic. The sound of oars splashing in the water was mixed with shouts and curses, and someone was yelling something, but it was too far away to hear clearly.

The speed of the boats in the first half of the journey did not increase due to the riots; instead, it slowed down, as if it were being blocked by something.

The boats in the latter half were bewildered by this commotion. Some accelerated, some slowed down to observe, and others scattered to the sides, trying to go around it.

The three hundred or so boats were immediately thrown into chaos.

......