Chapter 8: Cruiser

Qu Yi plundered the Huoli Merchant Alliance in Liyang City and never returned, causing a huge upheaval there.
The Huoli Merchant Alliance was nominally an alliance of various merchant groups in the Huoli Divine Realm, but in reality, it was controlled by the Yan Clan—essentially, it was an extension of the Yan Clan’s power. Moreover, most of the alliance’s income went to the Yan Clan to sustain their operations.
Naturally, the Huoli Merchant Alliance was not only crucial to the prosperity of the Yan Clan but also represented their prestige.
By openly plundering the Huoli Merchant Alliance in Liyang City, using such violent methods, and even brazenly revealing his identity during the robbery, Qu Yi was openly challenging the Yan Clan.
The Yan Clan had been humiliated.
After Qu Yi left, the cultivators in Liyang City began discussing the incident and reached this conclusion. Many cultivators spread the news, eagerly awaiting the Yan Clan’s reaction and looking forward to witnessing this spectacle.
Qu Yi had anticipated this reaction from the cultivators in Liyang City; it was exactly the effect he wanted.
By now, Qu Yi had arrived at the coast of the outer seas. Seeing Qing Wu Gui and Wu Yuan throwing stones into the water and creating splashes, he couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
“You two really do have time to spare. Well, I’ve already caused a stir in Liyang City. The Yan Clan knows I’ve arrived in the Huoli Divine Realm, and the other seven royal clans will surely hear about it soon. The forces of the eight clans will definitely know I’ve gone to the outer seas,” Qu Yi said cheerfully as he landed.
Liyang City was located on the coast of the outer seas. With Qu Yi appearing here, the members of the eight royal clans would understand his message: if they wanted to stop him, they should come and fight him in the outer seas.
“Hehe, we were just bored. Alright, let’s go play in the outer seas now!” Wu Yuan exclaimed excitedly, as if this trip was merely for fun, without considering the dangers posed by the eight royal clans.
“Let’s go,” Qing Wu Gui said calmly.
Qu Yi nodded, soared into the air, and then said with a smile, “I was prepared for this. Since I might stay in the outer seas for a long time, I’ve already crafted a giant sea vessel—a cruiser. Come out.”
With that, he took out the Xingluo Ding. With a thought, the opening of the ding expanded to a thousand meters, and soon a 500-meter-long silver ship appeared, plunging heavily into the sea and creating massive waves that spread out in all directions before fading away after a long time.

The cruiser, with its sharp triangular shape at the front, was used to cut through the waves. The ship had only three compartments, forming the shape of a pyramid’s tip, which naturally served as the training areas for Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan.

The ship incorporated gravity arrays, balance arrays, and displacement arrays, allowing it to move freely on the sea surface. As for the cruiser’s power source, Qu Yi had already thought it through—four sea beasts, namely the Thunder-Eye Ice Crocodile, the Four-Armed Water Ape, the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, and the Earth-Shaking Crab, would take turns providing the power.

Qing Wu Gui and Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up upon seeing the cruiser appear on the sea surface; they immediately smiled and flashed over to the deck, praising it loudly before heading to the bow.

“Qu Yi, how does this ship move?” Wu Yuan asked, puzzled as he watched the cruiser float with the waves.

Qing Wu Gui was also somewhat confused.

At that moment, Qu Yi used the Star Luo Ding, sent an intent, and the Thunder-Eye Ice Crocodile, the Four-Armed Water Ape, the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, and the Earth-Shaking Crab inside the ding all fell back into the sea.

“These are the pilots of the cruiser,” Qu Yi said, smiling as he stepped onto the bow and pointed at the four beasts.

The four beasts, floating on the sea surface, understood immediately after hearing Qu Yi’s words. Their main task when operating in the open sea was to steer the cruiser.

They quickly realized that by coming from the inland seas to the open sea and fighting against various sea beasts alongside Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan, they would gain many benefits—so the hard work was worth it.

“I’ll go first!” the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake shrieked.

The Thunder-Eye Ice Crocodile, the Four-Armed Water Ape, and the Earth-Shaking Crab became anxious immediately. They understood what the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake meant and started competing with each other to take credit in front of Qu Yi. But the three beasts dared not argue and could only secretly regret it, cursing the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake over and over again.

Qu Yi nodded and said, “Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, there’s an iron chain beneath the cruiser. Pull this chain and swim deeper into the open sea.”

After saying that, Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan entered the three compartments of the ship to practice their cultivation.

Under the deadly gazes of the other three beasts, the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake proudly pulled out a one-kilometer-long iron chain from the sea, wrapped it around itself, and immediately swam away, twisting its body to propel itself through the water. The cruiser seemed to fly, leaving a long trail in its wake on the sea surface.

※※※

In his own compartment, Qu Yi took out the Star Luo Ding, with a pile of material for refining weapons also piled up inside.

It seems that after comprehending the “Four-Dimensional Dao” formation, Qu Yi is now preparing to craft a divine artifact at the level of a Divine Marshal. The Outer Sea is extremely vast, covering half a sphere of the Divine Realm. Currently, Qu Yi is only on the coast of the Outer Sea; crossing it entirely would take tens of millions of years. Therefore, he must use this time to hone his artifact-forging skills. The Star Luo Ding has grown to two meters in size and stands firmly in the chamber, emitting an aura of an innate spiritual treasure. Qu Yi places one hand on the Star Luo Ding and channels his divine essence into it. Immediately, black flames erupt from the Ding, rippling outward in concentric circles like water waves. These are the Dark Ripple Divine Flames, unique to cultivators at the Divine Marshal level. Under Qu Yi’s control, these flames sometimes create large ripples and sometimes remain calm, like an ant falling into a still basin. After controlling them thousands of times, Qu Yi became thoroughly familiar with them. “Star Blue Stone, Mysterious Deep Spirit Wood, Pale Sky Gold Horns—into the Ding!” Qu Yi shouts sharply, and the artifact-forging materials piled in the chamber fly up and fall into the Star Luo Ding. As the materials enter the Ding, the Dark Ripple Divine Flames surge violently, creating one-meter-high waves at its mouth. Clearly, their intensity has increased, burning fiercely at the materials. Standing beside the Ding, Qu Yi remains unaffected by the flames, which vanish when they approach him. Inside the Ding, the materials are immediately melted, decomposed, dispersed, and blended. This process lasts hundreds of days before Qu Yi fully decomposes the materials and distributes them evenly in a parallel space within the Star Luo Ding. A faint smile appears on Qu Yi’s face. “Sun-Shooting Bow—its core is formed!” With a soft exclamation, Qu Yi controls the Dark Ripple Divine Flames to gradually reduce their intensity. Under his control, the evenly distributed material molecules slowly coalesce into the shape of a long bow. Ten days later, the Dark Ripple Divine Flames finally extinguish. Suddenly, a magnificent, two-meter-long curved bow flies out of the Star Luo Ding and lands on the nearby platform. Without delay, Qu Yi waves his hands, and chaotic energy appears in his palms. Each palm’s chaotic energy embodies two laws, totaling four laws, which he uses to simulate through chaotic energy. “Form the formation!”

Qu Yi shouted, his expression confident and calm. He immediately placed his hands on the long bow, and in an instant, a golden light flashed across it, changing its appearance significantly as it was covered in a shimmering golden hue. A perfectly shaped, brightly colored long bow was thus created by Qu Yi.

“The Sun-Shooting Bow—its shooting power is immense. Combined with the Rapid-Targeting Arrows I’ve crafted, it would make an excellent pair,” Qu Yi said with a smile as he picked up the bow.

Soon after, Qu Yi put down the Sun-Shooting Bow and activated the Star Network Cauldron once again, summoning the Mysterious Ripple Divine Fire.

A hundred days later, the Mysterious Ripple Divine Fire within the Star Network Cauldron went out, and ten arrows with conical tips flew out of the cauldron, landing on a surface. Qu Yi’s hands moved swiftly again, using chaotic energy to simulate another formation based on four sets of laws. He then infused these ten arrows with that energy, turning them into divine artifacts at the Divine General level.

“Haha, the Sun-Shooting Bow and the Sunset Arrows—what a perfect match!” Qu Yi said satisfactorily as he picked up the bow and arrows with a smile.

At that moment, Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui entered Qu Yi’s residence.

“Qu Yi, upgrade my Nine Heavens Staff for me.”

“Qu Yi, I want a long sword.”

The two were quite blunt, shouting their requests as soon as they entered. Clearly, they had seen Qu Yi crafting divine artifacts in his room and were now eager to obtain their own divine artifacts at the Divine General level.

Upon hearing their requests, Qu Yi thought for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“Wait a moment. I still have four divine artifacts at the Divine General level here, obtained from Yan Feng, Gongye Ping, and Gongye Jing. You can use them now,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

Immediately, Yan Feng’s Flame-Worshipping Sword, Gongye Ping’s Water-Condensing Sword, Gongye Jing’s Spirit-Soothing Sword, and a human-shaped True Divine Puppet were all brought out by Qu Yi.

Qing Wu Gui saw the three long swords and quickly took the Water-Condensing Sword, marking it with his blood and smiling happily. Wu Yuan, on the other hand, was immediately captivated by the True Divine Puppet—a divine artifact at the Divine General level that could be controlled with divine consciousness and could serve as a substitute to save his life in critical moments.

“Haha, Qing Wu Gui, since you’ve chosen a sword, I’ll take this puppet,” Wu Yuan said triumphantly, shooting a drop of his blood onto the puppet before absorbing it into his body.

Seeing that the two had made their choices, Qu Yi put away the Flame-Worshipping Sword and the Spirit-Soothing Sword, as well as the Sun-Shooting Bow and the Sunset Arrows, before turning to Wu Yuan.

“Alright, give me your Nine Heavens Staff, and I’ll upgrade it for you right away,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

Wuyuan Hehe was overjoyed and immediately removed the soul imprint from the Nine-Empty Rod, handing it over to Qu Yi. At that moment, outside the cruiser, the nine-headed imperial snake dragging the cruiser emitted a voice: “Master, there are sea beasts ahead.”