MTLNOVEL Chapter 1: Netherworld Ferry
On the coast of the East Sea, at the center surrounded by islands, the sea eye was deep and unfathomable like a Netherworld, pitch black and cold.
Chen Yi surveyed the surroundings and chuckled softly, "Finally found it."
Previously, he had only seen the grandeur of Taizhou Mountain, the Netherworld River, and the Heaven and Earth Bridge within the dreamscape evolved by Daoist Zhao Tianhe, as well as the five passageways leading from the Tianyuan Continent to the foot of Taizhou Mountain.
But even after truly arriving at the East Sea, it still took him two days to search before finally finding this sea eye.
Fortunately, he did find it.
Otherwise, the words he said to Li Qingzhou would have been a joke.
"No wonder our ancestors a thousand years ago only traveled to Taizhou Mountain via the Beizhili Ferry; the pressure from this sea eye would be hard to withstand if one wasn't in the Divine Power Realm."
Chen Yi glanced back and snorted at the sea demon that had been driven by him these past two days:
"From now on, stay quietly in the sea. If you dare trespass to the islands or invade the eastern shore of the Wei Dynasty, you..."
"Rest assured, my lord, I dare not cross the border. Rest assured, rest assured."
This sea demon, over a hundred meters long, had a massive body like a small hill, yet it watched Chen Yi warily, trying hard to appear obsequious.
"Scram."
Chen Yi waved his hand and walked straight ahead, plunging into the unfathomable, boundless black sea eye.
The sea demon dared not make a move, watching his back until it disappeared from sight, then let out a long sigh of relief.
Strings of large bubbles floated up from its mouth.
"Scared the hell out of the demon."
"How on earth did a human sword cultivator like that come to be?"
"Isn't there supposed to be a restriction on divine skills in the Tianyuan Continent? Strange."
The sea demon muttered a few times, shuddered at the thought of yesterday's encounter, then turned and left the sea eye far behind.
Dear grandpa, once gone, don't come back!
...
It was unknown how much time had passed.
Chen Yi had not sensed any changes around him; in the deep sea, it was still dark and silent.
Moreover, his Sword Intent perception, which could cover a radius of fifty thousand miles outside, seemed ineffective within this sea eye, encompassing only ten meters around him.
The feeling was like an invisible wall beyond ten meters blocked all his Heart God Perception, not only making him blind and deaf but also stripping away his Sword Intent perception.
If not for the continuous colossal pulling force ahead, he might have lost his way in this dark void.
"Brother Yi, where are you reaching? Why does the dragon feel its body getting tighter?"
Xiao Qing raised its small head from his wrist, eyes like golden beams scanning the surroundings.
"We should be close," Chen Yi said uncertainly.
In fact, not just Xiao Qing, but during this dive into the sea eye, the consumption of the protective Slaughter Sword Intent around Chen Yi was also increasing.
According to his calculations, the invisible pressure of the surrounding sea water alone was comparable to the power of Divine Power First Realm techniques.
This power was twice as strong as outside the sea eye.
Xiao Qing nodded its dragon head, just about to speak, when its gaze suddenly turned towards the depths of the sea eye. It slightly widened its eyes, speaking in a cute voice:
"Is it ahead, Brother Yi?"
"Oh?"
Chen Yi looked at it with some surprise and asked, "What did you see?"
"Not sure if it's it, but the dragon sees..." Xiao Qing widened its eyes further, waving its little claws as it said:
"Seems like there's a small boat far ahead."
"A small boat?" Chen Yi slightly furrowed his brow, "Is there anyone on it?"
At this moment, the memory of the first "Xunwang Heaven" assembly flashed in his mind, where the Eighth Prince, whom he met only once, and Daoist Zhao Muzi discussed something related to the "Netherworld River."
If he remembered correctly, the Eighth Prince asked how to deal with the ferryman on the Netherworld River.
And Daoist Zhao Muzi had replied, "The ferryman of the Netherworld River has existed since ancient times; it's not so easily dealt with."
Upon hearing his question, Xiao Qing carefully observed the sight before nodding its head:
"Yes, there is indeed someone... Seems like a person, the dragon isn't sure; he's sitting on the boat, covered with a black raincoat, and it seems he's holding a fishing rod and fishing..."
A lone boat, raincoat, fishing?
Chen Yi's brow involuntarily furrowed; at this point, he could almost be sure the small boat ahead was the "ferryman" mentioned by Zhao Muzi and the Eighth Prince.
"Can we catch up with him? Given the current distance."
"The dragon can't tell, but it seems..." Xiao Qing looked back at him uncertainly and said:
"It seems like the distance between us remains constant, neither far nor close."
"I see,"
Chen Yi pondered for a moment, then decided to accelerate, the Near and Far Divine Power instantly spreading from his physical body.
With a step forward.
He appeared ten meters away.
"..."
Chen Yi rolled his eyes inwardly, realizing that because his Divine Intent Perception only extended ten meters, the distance covered by the Near and Far Divine Power was limited to this as well.
Furthermore, the consumption of Divine Intent by such a short distance was no less than when he exerted it with full force.
"I hope this is just peculiar to this environment. If the same suppression exists on Taizhou Mountain, the subsequent plans may have to be overhauled."
While thinking, Chen Yi continued to push Near and Far Divine Power at full force, leaping forward with a distance of ten meters per step.
"Xiao Qing, keep an eye on the distance between us and that senior."
"Understood... huh? Brother Yi, he, he seems to be speeding up too."
Just as Xiao Qing responded, it suddenly noticed that the tattered little boat ahead, seemingly under a veil of misty black gauze, accelerated, as if blown by the wind, without closing the gap between them at all.