Chapter 167

Chapter 167

By the time Wen Qiao had fully mastered the use of the Thousand Threads Vine, Ning Yuzhou also emerged from the vine house.

Seeing Wen Qiao leaping about on the Stone Golden Python Vine and the three beasts bound by crimson vines, Ning Yuzhou couldn’t help but ask with a smile, "What are you doing?"

Under Wen Qiao’s continuous nurturing, the Stone Golden Python Vine grew once more. Half of its vines formed the vine house, while the other half spread out in the surrounding space, providing an area for Wen Qiao and the three beasts to play. The human and beasts ran around everywhere, but as long as they were careful, there would be no impact on the spirit fields within the space.

As for the Stone Golden Python Vine, its vines were as hard as iron. As long as they didn’t go all out, there wouldn’t be any issues, making it a suitable place for training.

Wen Qiao used it as such, and the three beasts also enjoyed playing among the Stone Golden Python Vine. After all, it occupied the most space and was perfect for their antics.

Due to the limited space, they had to make the best use of what they had.

"Husband, you’re done with your work," Wen Qiao said happily. "I’m testing the toughness of the Thousand Threads Vine."

With that, she waved her hand, and the Thousand Threads Vine released the three beasts. The crimson vines coiled around her wrist like a tassel, accentuating her slender fingers which were as white as jade. As the vines hung down her sleeve, she looked particularly graceful and beautiful.

Wen Qiao leaped off the Stone Golden Python Vine and came before Ning Yuzhou.

The three beasts followed suit, with Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun climbing onto the head of Wen Jiji, the large fur ball, and squatting there. The large fur ball remained calm and didn’t mind the two beasts, after all, it used to be the leader and queen of a group of fur balls, so it was used to having them crawl all over it.

In Ning Yuzhou’s eyes, it seemed like a large fur ball leading two smaller ones, one of which was a black-and-white fur ball.

After some time, Wen Tutu finally accepted the large fur ball.

There was no helping it—the large fur ball was simply too likable. No matter how Wen Tutu provoked it, it never took offense and remained calm. Moreover, its immortal nectar was something even beasts couldn’t resist. Wen Tutu, who had been resistant to it, shamelessly accepted it as a member of the space under the large fur ball’s honey assault.

As for Wen Guangun, it was just a cub and was content as long as it had food. It had no objections and was even the first to climb onto the large fur ball’s head to nest. Wen Tutu learned from it later.

Wen Qiao glanced at Ning Yuzhou and asked, "Husband, how is the refinement of the Heart of the Earth Crimson Flame going?"

"It’s less than one-tenth refined," Ning Yuzhou replied truthfully.

Spending half a month without even refining one-tenth showed how difficult it was to refine the Heart of the Earth Crimson Flame.

Wen Qiao comforted him, "It’s alright. We have time, so we can take our time." They weren’t in a rush to use the Heart of the Earth Crimson Flame, so it didn’t matter if they couldn’t refine it in the short term.

Ning Yuzhou didn’t actually need comforting, but seeing her serious expression, he accepted it gladly. He held her hand and looked at the Thousand Threads Vine wrapped around it, saying, "This Thousand Threads Vine lives up to its name. Its myriad threads are tough. If used well, it can often turn the tide of battle."

Hearing his words, Wen Qiao said happily, "It’s indeed very useful. During these days, I’ve tested it. The more primordial spirit energy it absorbs, the tougher the vines become. Even Wen Jiji’s thorns need several attempts to pierce through them."

Wen Jiji, the large fur ball, had thorns that could pierce through even heavenly-grade Flowing Cloud Silk. However, when facing the Thousand Threads Vine, it needed to exert considerable force several times to break through. This showed that when the Thousand Threads Vine absorbed sufficient primordial spirit energy, its vines underwent a qualitative change.

For this reason, Wen Qiao repeatedly nurtured many seeds of the Thousand Threads Vine and discovered that although its grade couldn’t be improved, the toughness of the vines from the repeatedly nurtured seeds increased slightly. Although the increase was small, it was still a pleasant result.

The Thousand Threads Vine was a demonic vine that could absorb the primordial spirit energy of wood-type cultivators to grow instantly and transform into a weapon. In ancient times, it was said to be an auxiliary weapon used by wood-type cultivators during battles, and many wood-type cultivators would carry a seed of the Thousand Threads Vine with them.

Unfortunately, over time, the Thousand Threads Vine gradually became extinct in the cultivation world, and now few cultivators used demonic plants like the Thousand Threads Vine as auxiliary weapons in battles.

Qin Hongdao finding a seed of the Thousand Threads Vine showed how good her luck was.

Moreover, Wen Qiao’s primordial spirit energy was different from ordinary cultivators—it could nurture spirit herbs. After being nurtured by her, the Thousand Threads Vine not only grew faster, but its vines were also tougher than before.

After hearing her test results, Ning Yuzhou was also happy for her. "It seems we can collect some seeds of demonic vines in the future."

Wen Qiao nodded vigorously, looking happy as she smiled up at him. "When we return, I want to thank Senior Sister." If Qin Hongdao wasn’t extremely concerned about her junior brothers and sisters, why would she specially collect these things?

Wen Qiao appreciated Qin Hongdao’s care.

After chatting for a while, Ning Yuzhou suddenly asked, "Chui, do you want to eat roasted suckling pig?"

Although cultivators didn’t need to eat after undergoing fasting, occasionally consuming delicious food could not only increase the primordial spirit energy in their bodies but also improve their moods.

Now that they had drifted to the Endless Sea with an uncertain future, Ning Yuzhou naturally wanted to find ways to cheer Wen Qiao up.

Besides, they still hadn’t eaten the piglets they caught in the Thousand Islands Secret Realm.

"Yes!" Wen Qiao said without hesitation.

When Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao sat on the balcony in front of the house, Wen Tutu, Wen Guangun, and the two Yellow Crystal Ants followed and sat beside Wen Qiao, staring unblinkingly at Ning Yuzhou as he brought out the stove, eagerly waiting for their meal.

Only Wen Jiji, the large fur ball, seemed confused. While munching on nectar, it watched them with curious blue eyes, chirping occasionally.

Wen Qiao glanced at the large fur ball and asked, "Wen Jiji, besides immortal nectar, can you eat meat?"

"Jiji?"

Seeing its puzzled expression, Wen Qiao didn’t rush to explain and reached out to stroke its thick, soft fur.

Wen Jiji’s fur was silver-white, long, and smooth, feeling incredibly nice to touch. It had a different texture from the fine, soft fur of Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun.

Of course, Wen Qiao liked all the furry creatures.

When the roasted suckling pig was ready, Wen Qiao brought over a plate of fragrant roasted pork and handed it to the large fur ball. "See if you like it."

Ning Yuzhou excelled in medicinal cuisine and roasted meat, especially roasted meat. It had a rich taste and a tantalizing aroma, making Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun drool. Especially Wen Guangun, who had never tasted roasted meat before. Apart from the Purple Spirit Bamboo, Ning Yuzhou’s roasted meat was its favorite.

Wen Jiji sniffed the roasted meat in front of it and ate all the roasted meat in the plate in one bite.

After eating the roasted meat, it calmly held a piece of nectar and chewed on it, unlike Wen Tutu, who wanted more after finishing.

Seeing this, Wen Qiao understood that although the large fur ball was also an omnivore, its main food was still immortal nectar. No matter how delicious other foods were, they would only eat them casually and wouldn’t be as greedy as Wen Tutu.

"Easy to raise," Ning Yuzhou praised rarely.

"Hisss!"

Wen Tuto protested towards him. It was easy to raise too. Why didn’t Big Brother Ning praise it? Praising that large fur ball was nothing. After all, the large fur ball’s "food" occupied an entire spirit field.

Ning Yuzhou glanced at it dismissively and said disdainfully, "How are you easy to raise? Calculate how many top-grade spirit pills you've eaten."

Wen Tutu fell silent immediately.

Wen Guangun lifted its face, smeared with gravy, and looked at Big Brother Ning in a dazed and cute manner.

Ning Yuzhou said, "Although you're not picky about food, you're still not easy to raise."

Wen Guangun made "mm-hmm" sounds. It was still a cub and seemed not to understand, continuing to dig into the roasted meat platter.

As for the two Yellow Crystal Ants, they didn't notice anything at all, burying their heads in the juicy roasted meat.

After eating and resting for a while, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou decided to leave the space. Although the space was safe, they couldn't stay there indefinitely, as it wasn't conducive to cultivation.

However, just after leaving the space, they saw dark clouds gathering in the nearby sky, lightning flashing, and thunder rumbling, with heavy rain imminent.

Sure enough, after a quarter of an hour, the entire world was invaded by thunderstorms. The originally calm sea became turbulent, with towering waves crashing, and their small boat spun on the crests, at any moment possibly being swallowed by the waves.

The people and beasts on the boat were drenched by the icy rain, like quails shivering in the wind.

In the end, they could only return to the space to hide from the downpour, taking the opportunity to put away the small boat so that it wouldn't disintegrate in the storm.

After circulating their spiritual energy once, their rain-soaked hair and clothes dried quickly.

However, Ning Yuzhou still disliked the smell of seawater on him and went into the wicker hut to bathe. His voice floated out of the wicker hut lightly, "Chui, come in and wash together."

Wen Qiao: "…"

Knowing that Ning Yuzhou was a clean freak, Wen Qiao could only touch her nose and follow him into the wicker hut to bathe.

All the beasts were ordered not to enter.

When they came out in clean clothes, Wen Qiao felt that she couldn't be the only one forced to bathe by Big Brother Ning. The three beasts that had gone out with them earlier also needed baths. However, their bathing method was very simple—casting a water spell over them and giving them a good rub.

The three beasts stood there getting doused with water, their fur sticking wetly to their bodies, as if shrinking in size.

After washing them, Wen Qiao cast another spell, and soon their fur dried, transforming them back into three adorable fluffs.

Outside, thunder and rain raged, but inside the space, everything was peaceful.

They stayed in the space for a day and night until the downpour ceased and the morning sun rose, then left the space.

***

On the vast sea, a small boat slowly moved forward.

The three beasts squatted at the bow, gazing ahead. But after half a day, the unchanging environment finally bored them, and they ran back to find Wen Qiao.

Wen Qiao, holding the oar, said, "Go play on the side; I need to steer the boat."

Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun climbed up to her shoulders and squatted there, one on each side. Wen Jiji was too big to climb onto her like the other two beasts, so it jumped into the water and used its round body to push the boat forward.

Wen Qiao discovered that Wen Jiji pushed the boat much faster than she could row, so she let it do the pushing and said, "If you get tired, come up to rest, and I'll take over."

Wen Jiji chirped happily at her.

Wen Qiao went into the cabin to find Ning Yuzhou and asked, "Husband, how is it?"

Ning Yuzhou was fiddling with a newly refined compass. Wen Qiao took a look and found that the compass needle kept spinning without pointing in any clear direction.

Seeing this scene, there was no need to ask for the result.

Wen Qiao couldn't help sighing.

Ning Yuzhou put away the useless compass and said, "It seems we are indeed in the Endless Sea. The Endless Sea has no discernible direction, so we can only rely on ourselves from now on."

Wen Qiao nodded, her brows slightly furrowed.

A hand landed between her brows, gently smoothing out her frown.

Wen Qiao looked up to see the handsome face of the man sitting beside her. Even trapped in the Endless Sea with no return, he remained warm and composed, instantly dispelling her irritability and making her relax involuntarily.

"Chui, although the Endless Sea is called an endless sea, it actually does have an end," Ning Yuzhou said.

Surprise appeared on Wen Qiao's face. "Really?"

Ning Yuzhou hummed in affirmation. "I once saw many jade slips recording information about the Endless Sea in the Red Sky Sect's library. One jade slip that recorded miscellaneous news and anecdotes from the Sacred Martial Continent mentioned that the end of the Endless Sea might be another continent... Because the Endless Sea is so vast, cultivators below the Primordial Sage realm cannot cross it, hence the saying that it's endless and without return."

Cultivators at the Primordial Sage realm could already tear through space and travel between continents, so they naturally wouldn't waste time crossing the Endless Sea.

Wen Qiao's eyes lit up. "So, as long as we head in one direction, we should eventually reach another continent."

Even if they didn't arrive at the Sacred Martial Continent, it would still be better than aimlessly drifting at sea with no hope of return. And it didn't mean they would never be able to return to the Sacred Martial Continent; solutions were created by people.

Wen Qiao quickly became resolute and her confidence soared.

Immediately, she energetically ran to the stern, letting Wen Jiji back onto the boat, and resumed steering the boat herself.

Ning Yuzhou watched her and smiled softly.

Drifting at sea for several days, they hadn't encountered any danger. This area of the sea seemed to lack large dangerous sea beasts.

After observing, Ning Yuzhou had Wen Qiao take out the flying boat. The two of them and the three beasts boarded it, and they switched to having the flying boat navigate on the sea.

Both boats and flying boats could sail on the sea, but compared to a boat, a flying boat was more likely to attract the attention of flying birds and sea beasts from the sky, leading to attacks. Therefore, many cultivators chose boats when sailing on the sea for greater safety.

The speed, quality, and performance of the flying boat far surpassed those of the Profound rank small boat, shooting off into the distance. Even during thunderstorms, it wasn't affected and they no longer needed to hide in the space to avoid the rain.

Wen Qiao thought this was great, but she didn't let her guard down. There were simply too many legends about the Endless Sea, and cultivators had a deep impression of its dangers.

Endless sailing, countless sea beasts, all kept them on alert.

Initially, when they were sailing on the sea, they paid close attention to the situation underwater, guarding against attacks from sea beasts.

Perhaps due to good luck, they hadn't encountered any sea beasts along their journey, advancing steadily. Wen Qiao's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

However, the unchanging seawater around them slowly became boring for Wen Qiao and Wen Tutu.

Wen Jiji directly ran back into the space, deciding to stay there without coming out.

The two Yellow Crystal Ants also chose to return to the space; they didn’t particularly like places filled with water as it would wet their wings.

Ning Yuzhou glanced into the space and found that Wen Jiji had already started collecting Immortal Spirit Honey. A few holes crudely dug out of large stones were placed beside the flower fields planted with Immortal Spirit flowers, and these holes had already accumulated a shallow layer of Immortal Spirit Honey.

Seeing the big ball of fur lazily lying in the flower field after gathering enough Immortal Spirit Honey for its own consumption, Ning Yuzhou helplessly averted his gaze.

Fortunately, he had never relied on these beasts for anything. He treated them like furry pets for Wen Qiao to play with.

Unlike the Yellow Crystal Ants and the big ball of fur, Wen Guangun and Wen Tutu did not like entering the space. They would only stay there if Wen Qiao transformed into a small seedling.

Thus, no matter how boring the outside world was, as long as Wen Qiao was present, the two beasts could amuse themselves.

Wen Qiao did not neglect them either. Whether it was the top-grade spirit pills that Wen Tutu liked or the Jade Purple Spirit Bamboo for Wen Guangun, she ensured they never lacked.

It wasn't until three months later, while the flying boat was sailing on the sea, that a sudden rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.