Chapter 884: Can’t Afford It

The long journey seemed endless. After flying for about three hundred years, they first arrived at the universe named “Youlong” on the map, as designated by the merchant god Mordel.
Youlong Universe wasn’t the oldest universe Su Che wanted to reach—it was merely the closest coordinate along the way to their own Immortal Spirit Universe. Su Che had to rely on it to determine how much time it would take to reach their final destination.
“If we only consider the flying time, it took hundreds of years just to get to the nearest Youlong Universe. So, does that mean it will take over a hundred thousand years to reach the destination?”
Only then did Su Che realize he had made a serious mistake in his judgment before setting out. The Chaos was far vaster than he had imagined. The distances between various universes on the map were also thousands of times farther than he thought…
Manzi, however, said, “It’s not really that long. Converted to Chaos time, it’s just three Chaos Eras. Without this invaluable map, an ordinary traveler like me would spend thousands of Chaos Eras just on traveling.”
Before meeting Su Che, Manzi didn’t have such a map. He had wandered around in the Chaos for countless years, spending most of his time flying aimlessly.
“I can’t be compared to you,” Su Che sighed. “I must complete this journey within two Chaos Eras and return to my own universe in time. Otherwise…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, adding in his mind: Otherwise, not to mention my parents and Xing Er, even my son, whom I’ve never met, would be nearly dead by then.
“Only two Chaos Eras?”
Manzi shook his head. “At the current flying speed, that’s absolutely not enough. Unless we can obtain a flying artifact called the ‘Mist Sea Divine Ship,’ which can at least increase the flying speed by twenty times.”
“The Mist Sea Divine Ship?”
As the name suggested, it was clearly a special artifact designed for fast travel through the Chaos mist seas. Su Che became excited and quickly asked, “Brother Manzi, where can we get this Mist Sea Divine Ship?”
“The Endless Island!” Manzi replied. “On a floating giant rock similar to Magic Island, a group of highly experienced Chaos travelers established a trading place to facilitate bartering and exchanging what’s needed. This trading place is called the Endless Island, and that’s where you can buy the Mist Sea Divine Ship.”

Su Che asked again, “Is the Island of Infinity far away?”
“It’s not that far. Calculated using your usual time units, it should take about a dozen years to fly there,” Manzi explained. “A few Chaos Eras ago, I also stumbled upon the Island of Infinity by chance and stayed there for some time before learning about things like the Purple Crystal Fruit of Chaos, after which I went to the Island of Magic Separation.”
“I see,” Su Che nodded eagerly. “Then let’s head to the Island of Infinity right away!”
If they could obtain the Misty Sea Divine Ship, its flight speed would increase by more than twenty times. With the map in hand, it would take at most about six thousand years to reach that ancient universe. If everything went smoothly, returning to their own Immortal Spirit Universe within fifty thousand years should not be a problem…
But Manzi said, “The problem is that the Misty Sea Divine Ship is extremely expensive—ordinary Chaos travelers simply can’t afford it. Even if you’ve just acquired Ao Zu’s wealth, it’s still far from enough. Generally, travelers like us don’t care as much about time as you do, so almost no one is willing to spend everything just to buy a flying artifact that can only be used in Chaos.”
“The Misty Sea Divine Ship can only be used in Chaos?” Su Che asked curiously.
“Yes,” Manzi nodded. “As far as I know, when it flies at top speed, it consumes a huge amount of Chaos energy at every moment, and of course, this condition can only be met in Chaos.”
It’s called the Misty Sea Divine Ship because it uses the ubiquitous thick Chaos fog as energy to achieve incredible flight speeds.
“Even if it’s expensive, let’s go and take a look first,” Su Che said. Of course, he wasn’t deterred by such a small obstacle and immediately made up his mind. “Let’s go! Brother Manzi, show me the way—let’s head to the Island of Infinity right away!”
As Manzi had predicted, it indeed took over a dozen years before they found this giant island.
The so-called Island of Infinity was just a floating boulder in Chaos, slightly larger than the Island of Magic Separation. However, there was no beautiful environment with birds singing and flowers blooming in Chaos—every floating boulder was bare and utterly desolate.
There was no energy barrier on the Island of Infinity that could block divine senses, so from millions of miles away, Su Che could clearly see through his divine senses that several tall buildings stood in the center of the island. Their design was simple, focusing only on practicality.
However, there were quite a number of people on the island. With a sweep of his divine senses, he detected at least several hundred Chaos travelers.

A few hundred people might not seem like much, but in this vast chaos, it’s extremely difficult for hundreds of travelers from different universes to gather together. There’s nothing much to say—they simply landed. The travelers on the island showed no special reaction to the arrival of Su Che and his group. This place was originally a trading site, where people came and went, which was quite normal. Centered around these tall buildings, there was a special magic array within a radius of a hundred miles that kept the chaotic mist at bay, allowing everyone to see each other clearly with the naked eye. Manzi pointed to the dome-shaped building in the middle and said, “This is the trading hall. There are no extra rules or regulations. After entering, write down what you want on a plaque and then sit under it and wait. If others have what you want and wish to sell it, they will come to you to negotiate.” It was a very primitive form of trading, as there was no unified currency system in the chaos, and travelers could only barter like primitives. “Who should we approach to buy the Mist Sea Divine Ship?” Su Che asked via telepathy. “The Mist Sea Divine Ship was created by a group of experienced travelers and can be considered the top specialty of the Endless Island,” Manzi replied, also communicating with Su Che privately. “However, I don’t advise you to rush into asking about it right away. You should observe first.” “Understood.” Haste makes waste—Su Che certainly understood this. Inside the spacious trading hall, there were only dozens of people, each with a sign made from a special crystal, onto which they uploaded a mental message detailing what they wanted to sell or buy, then sat patiently under their sign. The design of each seat was completely different, proving that the trading hall didn’t even provide chairs—people had to bring their own set. This was understandable; it wasn’t that the owners were extremely stingy and unwilling to invest in basic infrastructure. Instead, travelers from different universes had varying living habits. What you might consider a very comfortable, soft chair could make someone else curse when they sat on it. These minor details didn’t matter much. After all, the chaotic travelers didn’t care about time. They might sit there for thousands or tens of thousands of years until they got what they wanted before leaving.

Moreover, when making transactions here, there is no need to pay any fees to the local master. If you wish, you can share your experiences from wandering in the Chaos or some useful information with others after the transaction is completed, which might also bring certain opportunities to the local master. Initially, Manzi learned about the existence of the Hunli Purple Crystal Fruits produced on Mo Li Island through shared information posted by a traveler. Every Chaos traveler is a supreme warrior from various universes; they no longer care about things like wealth, power, or glory. Their goal is the same—seizing various opportunities in the Chaos. As always, there are only two ultimate goals: either to become a supreme warrior in the Chaos or to create their own universe. As a representative, Manzi received a crystal plaque and entered a few things he invented that might not even exist in the Chaos, then sat down with Su Che and the others to wait. In reality, these transactions were impossible to complete; they were merely a pretext to stay there and gather information about recent changes on the Endless Island, especially anything related to the Mist Sea Divine Ship. Many travelers had been on the Endless Island for quite some time, and some of them communicated mentally openly, allowing Su Che and the others to overhear their conversations. Within just over ten days, it became clear that the price of the Mist Sea Divine Ship had not decreased but had instead increased. Su Che was stunned—even if he used Ao Zu’s legacy and the few special treasures he bought from Merchant Mord, it would still be far from enough. Everyone understood that the dozen or so veteran travelers who created the Mist Sea Divine Ship didn’t care about such treasures at all; all they really wanted was some useful information. For example, if Su Che provided them with the information that “the Hunli Divine Tree already possesses the basic ability to create universes,” he could definitely exchange it for a Mist Sea Divine Ship. That’s exactly what they wanted. However, Su Che would never do such a thing of betraying others. Even though the Hunli Divine Tree wasn’t his friend, it had never done him any harm. Would he risk pushing the Hunli Divine Tree into disaster just to get a flying artifact for travel? Putting himself in their shoes, if someone betrayed him like that, Su Che would never let them off.

There was no other choice; Su Che could only set a deadline for himself: “I can only stay on the island for a hundred years. If nothing else works, then I’ll leave.”
One year, two years…
In the blink of an eye, decades passed. On this day, something significant indeed happened on the Endless Island.
With a rush, over a hundred travelers flooded into the trading hall. The group leading them were the original travelers who founded the Endless Island trading market.
One of them, an older traveler with long purple hair and several rows of golden stripes on his face, stood in the center of the hall and sent a mental message to everyone: “Everyone, please pay attention. Next, we will discuss the major changes that have occurred on Magic Island recently. Those who are interested may follow us to the second floor to participate.”
Hearing this, Su Che immediately stood up, realizing in his heart: Perhaps, this is my chance!