Chapter 51
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Chapter 51: Treasure Hunting Under the Sea
Xu Fan continued to act as the shopkeeper, and after some time without any customers, he felt bored. He decided to set up a simple doorbell formation at the entrance. Whenever someone approached, the formation would ring with a pleasant chime.
As soon as he entered the artifact crafting room, he saw Sha Diao controlling a vibrant, blood-red spirit fire, refining materials.
“It’s so convenient to carry spirit fire,” Xu Fan said enviously. It seemed he needed to craft some artifacts or precious artifacts that could conveniently store various spirit fires in the future.
Sha Diao, busy refining materials, heard Xu Fan’s words and smiled, “Junior Brother Xu, you are now at the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refinement; advancing to Foundation Establishment will only take a few years, so there’s no need to rush.”
“Once you reach Foundation Establishment, I’ll gift you a spirit fire,” Sha Diao generously declared. It’s rare to find a true friend in life; a spirit fire was nothing much.
“Haha, I appreciate your kindness, Brother Sha, but I already have a spirit fire at home, so you don’t need to spend any more,” Xu Fan replied, amused that this Brother Sha seemed unaware of how society works, offering gifts worth over 100,000 spirit stones to someone he had only recently met.
“Haha, a qualified artifact master should gather the five basic types of spirit fire; that way, you can handle various situations.”
At that moment, another spirit fire ignited, this one a black flame.
He actually has two spirit fires!
“This spirit fire is called Black Crystal Fire; it primarily belongs to the water attribute. It usually only exists at the bottom of the Endless Sea and is excellent for crafting water, metal, and ice attribute artifacts,” Sha Diao said, a hint of pride in his voice.
Looking at the black flame, Xu Fan thought to himself that he now had another project to invest in.
Three hours later, all the raw materials had been refined. Xu Fan, eager to get started, began crafting the artifact according to his contingency plan.
Once the artifact took shape, Xu Fan quickly inscribed the rune formations.
An hour later, a net capable of withstanding the bites of a Nascent Soul stage beast was completed, and Xu Fan even crafted a storage bag for it.
“Junior Brother Xu, your level of inscribing rune formations is impressive. I now understand what my master meant by ‘master-like demeanor,’” Sha Diao said, looking at the newly crafted precious artifact.
“You flatter me, Brother Sha,” Xu Fan replied modestly.
Three days later, Sha Diao’s artifact crafting shop received many strange orders.
Artifact-carrying vessels, fishing rod artifacts, marine palaces, and most commonly, fishing net artifacts.
As this batch of precious artifacts reached the clients, Sha Diao’s crafting shop gained increasing fame in the Town of Zhenhai.
It wasn’t until half a month later, under Xu Fan’s insistence, that his partner, Sha Diao, stopped accepting new orders.
“Brother Sha, we can’t just stay in the Town of Zhenhai crafting artifacts for an entire month. It’s rare for me to venture far; I want to see what’s out there,” Xu Fan said. He loved crafting but didn’t want to do it endlessly for others.
“Actually, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Junior Brother Xu, go out and see; I’ll continue here,” Sha Diao replied.
“Oh, right, it is your first time at the Endless Sea; you should definitely explore,” Sha Diao nodded in agreement.
“Take care, Brother Sha.”
Xu Fan took the over 100,000 spirit stones he earned from crafting and headed outside the Town of Zhenhai.
Just outside the gate was a harbor where many returning cultivators were setting up stalls, selling spirit ores, spirit herbs, and local specialties found in the Endless Sea.
Xu Fan stopped at a stall, having stared at a spirit pearl the size of a basketball for quite some time.
“Hey, young man, I see you’ve been looking for a while. I won’t charge you much; for this spirit pearl, just give me 100,000 spirit stones.”
The stall owner was a Transformation Stage patrol captain, probably taking a break now.
“I apologize for the interruption,” Xu Fan said, turning to leave. However, he hadn’t gone far when he heard the stall owner call out, “Hey, come back!”
“Feel free to negotiate; go ahead and make an offer.”
“Let’s see if we can agree on a price.”
Xu Fan thought for a moment and tentatively said, “20,000 spirit stones?”
“Deal.”
Xu Fan felt a sudden sense of being tricked as he looked at the spirit pearl in his hand.
After the transaction was complete, when he saw the stall owner pull out another item, his suspicion grew stronger.
After buying the pearl, Xu Fan immediately piloted the Spiritual Wind Boat towards the distant sea.
All Nascent Soul Stage beasts within a 10,000-kilometer radius of the Town of Zhenhai had been driven out of this area.
Now at the peak of Qi Refinement, Xu Fan couldn’t contend with Nascent Soul Stage beasts, but escaping wasn’t a problem for him.
After leaving the Town of Zhenhai and traveling a thousand miles, he noticed more beasts on the sea surface, mostly Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Stage beasts.
Xu Fan found a relatively calm spot on the sea, scanned the area, and released an underwater vehicle-type artifact.
This was an underwater vehicle specially crafted by Xu Fan, fulfilling his childhood dream of treasure hunting beneath the sea.
Once inside the submarine, he closed the door. As the runes on the submarine activated, the entire artifact blended into the ocean and vanished from sight.
It was just noon, and even after diving several dozen meters, Xu Fan could still see everything clearly beneath the sea due to the sunlight.
“In my previous life, riding in a sightseeing submarine like this would’ve cost tens of thousands,” Xu Fan remarked as he admired the stunning underwater scenery.
As the submarine descended, the number of fish and beasts around slowly decreased, leaving only some Golden Core Stage beasts swimming at the bottom.
Xu Fan had concentrated over half of the runes on the stealth function in his submarine; even ordinary Nascent Soul Stage beasts couldn’t detect it, which was why he dared to venture out alone.
Half an hour later, Xu Fan finally reached the seabed. According to his estimates, he was at least 50,000 meters below the surface. The immense water pressure forced him to use more spiritual energy to keep the artifact functioning.
“Ha ha, it’s treasure hunting time now,” Xu Fan said with an excited smile. In his previous life, he had always been fascinated by videos of treasure hunting at the bottom of the sea. Unfortunately, he had been an ordinary recluse back then, and his savings weren’t enough for decent diving equipment.
Looking at the dark and murky seabed, Xu Fan wished he could get a few thousand-watt lights to illuminate the entire area, but conditions didn’t allow it.
“Fortunately, I came prepared; the artifact’s features aren’t enough, so I’ll make do with additional accessories.”
Xu Fan took out the accessories he had prepared in advance.
“This is the spiritual energy detection module, and this one is the life detection module.”
He then placed a pearl into a pre-reserved area.
“This is the light and shadow imaging night vision module.”
As Xu Fan inserted it, the dark surroundings were instantly illuminated, revealing a Golden Core Stage electric eel nearby, nearly startling him.
“Ha ha, the feeling of turning on the lights is great.”
Xu Fan carefully maneuvered the submarine around the Golden Core Stage electric eel, beginning his treasure hunting journey beneath the sea.
At that moment, not far from Xu Fan, Ye Xiaoyao was fleeing from a peak Nascent Soul Stage beast that was in hot pursuit.
