Chapter 127: Collecting Materials for Artifact Refining (Part IV)

"Right!" Wang Li nodded firmly.

Isn't it just mining? Why would one need advanced technology like spatial turbulence cutting? Wouldn't the principles of an explosion be much better?

With that, he pulled out a Water-Repelling Bead and cleared a water-free space to get to work.

Seeing his actions, Master Sheng’s eyelids twitched violently. "What the hell are you doing?"

Wang Li looked up, full of yearning. "I’m going to build a bomb to blast through this stone beam! I’m going to challenge the current obstacle using the methods of a mortal! I’m going to let everyone see the power of a mortal!"

*Slap!*

Another wave of dizziness hit him.

Wang Li was bewildered. "Did I do something wrong?"

Master Sheng roared, "You’ve learned it all wrong! You idiot, you’ve learned it all wrong!"

*Slap!*

"Ouch, that hurts!"

*Slap!*

"Ah, I’m dizzy... stop hitting me!"

"I’ll beat you to death, you fool!" Master Sheng was furious. "Attempting to use explosives in the deep sea? How could you even think of that?"

"Do you even know where we are? We are twenty thousand meters deep in the ocean! One wrong move could trigger a submarine volcanic eruption. Do you want to see this entire region suffer a catastrophe, or do you want to wipe out all life for a thousand miles?"

"And what is beneath your feet? It’s the corpse of a Heaven-tier giant sea demon. There are at least a hundred powerful sea demons watching this underwater graveyard. By making such a commotion, are you provoking them, or do you think you can escape the pursuit of the sea demon clan?"

"This... I didn't think that far ahead..."

Wang Li was already drenched in a cold sweat. He truly hadn't considered those factors; he had only been thinking about putting his knowledge into practice, using what Master Sheng had taught him to blast out that demon core.

Anyone with half a brain could tell that a crafting material coveted by Master Sheng must be incredibly precious. How could such a treasure not attract others? Moreover, this was the territory of the sea demon clan, the masters of the ocean. It was already wrong to break into their home to steal, but if he were caught, would the sea demons ever let him off the hook?

The more Wang Li thought, the more terrified he became.

Master Sheng said, "You are a cultivator, yet you want to use the methods of a mortal. Is your head stuffed with hay?"

"But... didn't you teach me that knowledge so I could use it?" Wang Li retorted in a low voice.

Master Sheng slapped him again and shouted, "I taught you that to help you see the world from a different perspective, not so you could apply it rigidly! Why the hell is a cultivator trying to dabble in science?"

Master Sheng was so infuriated he stopped talking and just started beating him.

Wang Li, feeling his consciousness on the verge of collapse, still couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong. It certainly wasn't the suicidal act of trying to blow up the stone beam. Whenever he realized his mistakes, Master Sheng would stop hitting him. Could it be that he had applied that knowledge in the wrong place?

Suddenly, a light seemed to dawn on him... he understood!

"Master Sheng, Master Sheng, stop hitting me, I understand! I understand!"

"What do you understand?"

"Your teaching me to find crafting materials was just the surface; the real goal was to make me accumulate life experience that I couldn't get from cultivation alone!"

Master Sheng curled his lip. "Anything else?"

Wang Li hurried to add, "And that I should think thrice before acting, consider all factors before choosing the most appropriate method, avoid useless effort, and never choose the wrong path."

"Anything else?"

"Ah... I’m slow-witted, that’s all I can think of for now."

"Then... I still have to hit you!"

"Ouch... I’m dying, I’m dying, have mercy, you are the master, you are... why are you still hitting me?"

After an unknown amount of time, just as Wang Li felt his consciousness going numb, Master Sheng stopped.

"A big guy is coming, grab the stuff and get out of here!" Master Sheng commanded. "You have one cup of tea's time!"

"Right, I'll do it now!"

Ignoring the numbness in his mind, Wang Li tore open the spatial grid beneath his feet. As soon as the exposed spatial turbulence touched the stone beam, it easily devoured and disintegrated a large chunk of the hard rock.

Wang Li was delighted. As he opened more spatial nodes to draw out more turbulence, he cursed himself for being a fool. If he had done this earlier, he wouldn't have had to suffer Master Sheng's savage beating.

But he didn't have time to dwell on it. The "big guy" Master Sheng mentioned was definitely no simple matter; certainly not something he could handle right now. If he didn't get the demon core this time, he likely wouldn't have another chance.

The sea demon clan was notoriously ill-tempered. He didn't believe for a second that they would let someone go after raiding their ancestor's tomb.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously accelerated his pace. In just ten breaths, he was nearly at the bottom.

Master Sheng spoke again: "Be careful. The demon core is half a foot beneath your feet. Spatial turbulence can easily tear it to pieces, and a shattered core is useless for crafting!"

Wang Li carefully manipulated the spatial turbulence to dig another four and a half inches down. Then, restoring the spatial grid, he pulled out his Blazing Flame Sword and, with all his might, dug out a head-sized, jade-like demon core in just a few strokes.

There was no time to look at it; Wang Li shoved the core into his storage ring, tore open a rift in space, and vanished.

Less than two heartbeats after his figure disappeared, a massive shadow loomed over the entire stone beam.

"Woooo... Hooo-hooo-hooo!"

A thunderous roar erupted from the shadow. The roar echoed through the seawater and quickly spread across the entire East Sea.

"It’s a human! A human has entered our forbidden land!"

"Ah! What an insult to our kind! That is the burial ground of our ancestors! This is too much!"

"It must be that old man Qiu Wanli. He killed countless of our kin last time, but I didn't expect him to be so brazen as to dig up our ancestral graves this time!"

"Brothers and sisters, let's go! To the shores of the East Sea and demand an explanation from that old man Qiu Wanli!"

"If he doesn't give us a reasonable explanation, we will flatten his East Sea Sect! Do they think our sea demon clan is easy to bully?"

"You brothers go ahead; I’m going to the Pure Yang Secret Realm to ask Immortal Xujing to bear witness for us. Let’s see if he dares to shield the East Sea Sect this time!"

...

The East Sea was in an uproar. Thousands of powerful sea demons gathered, surging menacingly toward the mountain gates of the East Sea Sect.

Wang Li had no idea what a storm he had unwittingly stirred up. At that moment, he was panting inside a spatial tunnel.

"Master Sheng, what was that thing? Why was it so terrifying?"

Although Wang Li had escaped the trench in time, when he emerged on the surface of the sea, he could still feel the immense power of the entity that had arrived—it exerted even more pressure on him than Xujing had.

He didn't dare linger in the East Sea region, instead pouring all his energy into fleeing through space, running for his life. Only when he felt he had escaped far enough did he have the heart to ask Master Sheng.

"I felt that it was far more powerful than my Grandmaster. My Grandmaster is already the ceiling of cultivators in the Heaven Mysterious World. Why would there exist something even more powerful than him?" Wang Li asked, still shaken.

Master Sheng replied, "..."