Both sides were gnashing their teeth in frustration. They watched as Yang Zicang actually began to go through the motions on the deck, posing and striking.

The two parties had no choice but to hurriedly grab pens and paper, busily pretending to take notes for appearances’ sake, while racking their brains for excuses to invite him to rest at their respective quarters.

-｛Distributor February. Di’an indicated from rich experience that I had not given birth to a new node.｝

“What? ” Yang Zicang was slightly startled.

He suddenly felt himself swept by an intense wave of love and desire; he shook his head. Immediately following that came a fierce, urgent craving for fame and renown. “This is… ” He shook his head again.

“Time flies so fast, husband. “

Suddenly, a delicate, charming, and alluring face, rosy and inviting, pressed close to Yang Zicang. “Rest now, stop practicing. Look, the sky is already dark. Let’s sleep. “

It’s already evening? Yang Zicang, who had just sensed something was off, looked up in surprise.

Glancing around in a daze, the sailors had already amassed a mountain of paper beside them! It was all covered with records of the techniques he had practiced, along with all sorts of analyses.

The flicker of excitement in his heart that had subsided now reignited once more.

So a long time had really passed!

“Great hero, keep it up! ” said the sailors holding their pens.

Time flew by imperceptibly, faster than anyone noticed.

The compilations of “Wu Zang ” and “The Bound Supplement of Martial Path Secrets ” were progressing with extraordinary speed and perfection. They were destined to be two volumes of wealth that would never be forgotten. And Yang Zicang, having already finished practicing several sets of techniques, saw countless peerless secret arts in the “Bound Supplement “!

“The Myriad Willow-Drawing Pulse Art, ” “The Ten Thousand Wind-Shackling Dragon Hands, ” “The White Colt Swift-Gleam Step “—one stunningly extraordinary martial art after another was laid out before him! Hardly had he finished reading one than another appeared, and Yang Zicang felt he could read on tirelessly, learning them all, and become the supreme master of the continent. From then on, the Warhide Pavilion would be the ultimate sovereign of the martial world.

In the dead of night, he had just finished annotating the final chapter of the “Ten Thousand Forms Returning to Unity Hands ” in front of Gangshou. Dragging his utterly exhausted body, he was led by an attendant back to the wooden tower to rest in the luxurious cabin room with Xiao Qiao.

On the mirror-clean corridor, Yang Zicang gazed down at his own haggard yet thrillingly excited and satisfied face.

“Great hero, you’ve worked hard. Remember to come back first thing tomorrow morning! ” Behind him, the two sailors waved reluctantly.

Xiao Qiao came to take the young man’s arm, “Ignore them, I told you not to run back and forth like that, but you just wouldn’t listen. Look how exhausted you’ve made my husband~ “

“Running back and forth? ” Yang Zicang frowned. When did he start running back and forth?

Supported by Xiao Qiao, he was about to reach his unfamiliar bedroom when, as he passed a corner, his foot suddenly seemed to step on something, nearly causing him to fall.

Yang Zicang immediately became solemn, his weary spirit snapping back to alertness as he looked down. At first glance, it looked like a filthy rag.

This thing… so familiar…

“Am I the Martial Arts Supreme… or the Great Hero Yang, ” he stomped on it, “Right, didn’t I still have to finish mopping the floor? “

What exactly is wrong here?

｛Ruan Wenxiong wants to invest in me…｝

In that instant, some extremely faint yet incomparably real scents and sea breezes drilled into his nostrils—the briny odor of the sea… the chilly, hollow emptiness that didn’t belong to this corridor, and also the… putrid stench unique to tattered cloth strips and centuries-old waterlogged timber!

These scents flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning!

“Husband? “

Yang Zicang frowned, holding his head as he staggered and braced himself against the wall. “Husband? Let’s go, we’ll rest soon. ” The sight of the magnificent wooden corridor before him shook and twisted violently.

{Husband… }

The feeling and smell of the decaying wood were so real, utterly inconsistent with the magnificent scene before him. Yang Zicang abruptly clenched his fist.

Rag… mopping the floor… Gangshou… First Mate…

The Combat Vessel Chronicle? The Omnibus? Wuzang Flash?

Who am I?

Where am I?!

Chronological sequences… dispatch… a handful of techniques titled with “Myriad ” that didn’t surface even a shred of content in my mind…

Countless fragments shattered within his mind.

Name card… Sub-Ether Space passage… Ghost Ship! Karl! Kim Tae-cheol!

Yang Zicang’s eyes snapped open as he stared at the distorted face beside him.

The long-suppressed true memories crashed down like a bursting dam, violently assaulting the splendid cage before him!

{Hu…sband… }

In an instant, apparition flames of Chronological Amplification flickered into existence in Yang Zicang’s hand as he clutched the woman’s throat.

Boom! With a ruthless slam, he pressed her enchanting face against the wall! A dull thud followed, and the entire woman’s head exploded, dissolving into a phantom, grotesque, writhing murk of gray-black mist.

{Ugh… you… }

The White Shadow Mind Dragon erupted instantly from behind him, latching on in one fierce bite and wrenching sharply, pulling fragmented, humanoid phantom figures from within the swirling gray-black shadow.

This psychokinetic entity was extremely frail and vanished in an instant.

Yet, even under the double assault of “Chronology ” and “Mind Power, ” the murky mist did not dissipate.

Several distorted figures charged through the corridor.

{Ahh, let it go! }

{Damned Yang! Scum, stop right there! }

The weariness that had once clouded Yang Zicang’s eyes suddenly sharpened into knife-like keenness, as trees’ rustling sounds surged like waves within his ears and heart.

The former calmness along with the Tripartite Ring’s psychic energy began awakening with a mad fury!

“Come on, let me see exactly what you bastards are.“

Yang Zicang shot out like a vessel unchained, his body wreathed in an orange-pale phantom flame, while the White Shadow Mind Dragon also surged forth even faster, carrying a golden-underlaid flash of crimson.

｛Ruan Wenxiong wishes to invest 10000N Marque of Full Warrant Order in me.｝

｛I received 10000N Marque of Full Warrant Order.｝

{Ah? Chairman, did my investment succeed? }

From the other side came an instinctive, heartstricken and appalled scream.

Shlup! Shlup!Two humanoid silhouettes were abruptly blasted by Yang Zicang into dim gray mists, floating into the distance.

Yang Zicang turned his head—the gray shadow named “Xiao Qiao” transformed into a crimson-enhanced skull drifting aloft on a trailing tail of flame. Although the White Shadow Mind Dragon thrashed violently across its form in a fury of lunges, it failed to extract the cognitive silhouette any longer.

{How awful! And I thought I’d just swallow my disgust and get into bed with you tonight. }

Itched mad with anger, Yang Zicang snarled, “Die!“

{I died long ago, heh-heh! Just you wait, someday Lord Luca’ll avenge us all. }

Yang Zicang punched straight through, knocking clear across his pyro-crephine tails.

The skull deliberately lowered and dragged itself away toward the opposite side of the magnificent pavilion swayed by the strange wave below.

“Don’t waste your strength. You can’t even begin to comprehend what I truly am. Just wait until we come for you… heh heh… “

As it departed, the wooden corridor rippled like the reflection of a lake after a stone is cast. The twisted illusions suddenly stretched boundlessly, becoming a vast, lightless nexus of energy…

The entire surrounding illusion began to collapse!

-｛Distributor Tata Mingqi expresses “Concern “｝

It was in that instant that Yang Zicang suddenly recalled something.

He looked up, scrutinizing the skull head that had slowed in its departure. Within it flickered something indistinct, grayish-white.

“Hmph! “

Yang Zicang violently yanked the silk scarf from his arm and hurled it out!

Boom! The colossal carpet shot forth and rolled out in an instant.

Before the skull head could even comprehend what was happening, it was instantly shrouded in darkness.

“Ahhh… What is this?! How can it trap me! “

“You haven’t been watching the news lately, have you? So, you’ve been drifting alone in the misty sea, too afraid to show yourselves, eh? ” Let out a cold sneer.

With a muffledphut, the skull was enveloped into a ball by the mighty rug left by the Sage, constricted tight. A droning hum emanated from within.

“Help…! “

-｛Distributor February Drian has marked a new nexus for my impending glory on the horizon.｝

-｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi has marked a new nexus for my burgeoning glory on the horizon.｝

“Brothers… Lord Luca… save me~ “

Several dark figures turned and shifted closer, only to flee in terror down a deep, dark passage of light once they saw what had happened.

……

“What! Jonathan’s stuck back there for good?! “

On the mist-laden sea at dawn.

Inside a lavishly decorated cabin on a half-sunken ghost ship drifting within a thick shroud of fog, a pear-faced man in black robes slammed his palm onto the armrest and shot to his feet.

“Impossible. Are you all just jealous he has a Name Card, and did this on purpose? “

“No, boss Luca! “

Several others hurriedly explained: “It was some new guy from the other half—the same one who balanced on that steel cable last night without falling. He wrapped Jonathan up in some kind of blanket and wouldn’t let him leave… “

Luca’s face darkened. He rarely interacted with others at sea, but he picked up bits of news about the land or lighthouses now and then, through scattered financial broadcasts.

Except he hadn’t heard of anyone like this in the past few months.

“Hmph. If that half found the statue, their captain will be born soon. You’d best stay away from there for now. We need to come up with a way to wipe them all out for good. “

“Boss, word is that lot on land have already given up on this era’s outcome and are getting ready to pull out. Should we…? “

“What’s there to panic about? We finally found the other half of the ship. Once we get their statue and complete our ‘Refined Ether Psychokinetic Field,’ then who cares about reaching the next era’s continent! “

……

Yang Zicang strode through the ravaged, fragmented energy cabin.

{President, is everything alright on your end? Why can I see you sometimes, and then not at all? }

“I’ll be sure to tell you once I figure out the reason.“

Ruan Wenxiong was deeply anxious.

{What if they decide to attack us while this opportunity arises? }

Now he was the only soul left on the ship; the sole person he could still contact kept vanishing below the deck.

Pausing at the warehouse entrance, Yang Zicang deliberated for a brief moment. Lifting his gaze toward the direction where Ruan Wenxiong was hiding, he said, “I’m sending something over to you. Don’t be afraid, and don’t resist.“

“Don’t be afraid? What will that entail?” Crouching inside the small boat, Ruan Wenxiong’s face twisted as a terrifying thought seized him. Just as he was frantically calling out for confirmation, a colossal white centipede, like a phantom from a nightmare, shot straight through the deck.

{Apart from a faint strangeness gnawing at your spirit, it will cause no other harm. It will guard you. Its name is White Shadow. }

“Ahhhh!“

Sensing the oppressive weight crashing down like deep-sea pressures, sheer terror erupted in Ruan Wenxiong’s heart!

The creature had a mane-framed head as massive as a tiger-wolf spirit; a segmented monster, once coiled, with pincer-mouths snapping sideways like crab claws—catapulting down from the skyline in a drawn-out curve with a whoosh, zeroing in on the man!

“Heavens…“

Ruan Wenxiong felt his spirit and motion flicker simultaneously. Blinking, he could already see the enormous centipede’s projection tightly wrapping him — a faint, waist-thick shadow coiling and twisting over his body.

As he raised his head, the White Shadow Mind-Dragon’s skull snaked down, arching like a serpent, its gaze covering him from above.

“A monster—!!“