What Su Ye cared about more was whether his Whale-Hunting Spear would gain a new trait after the upgrade.
[Exclusive Skill: Whale-Hunting Spear+]
’Just as I thought!’
A pleased expression appeared on Su Ye’s face as he tapped the ’+’ sign.
HUM!
The panel flashed, and three trait options appeared.
[Flame Spear] [Chengying] [Soul Suppressing]
’The familiar choice of one out of three. Let’s see what we’ve got...’
Su Ye focused his mind, diving into the options to examine them carefully.
[Flame Spear] Blazing sun, scorching fire, height of summer. Imbues attacks with extremely powerful fire-elemental damage.
[Chengying] The flood dragon’s parting shadow, the wild goose that forgets to return. Greatly increases stealth.
[Soul Suppressing] Terrify gods and startle immortals, a spear strike that shatters souls. Adds a stun effect to the Whale-Hunting Spear. (This effect has priority.)
’Why couldn’t it be an Ice Spear...’
Su Ye shook his head.
Both his own Spiritual Root and his Frost Thorn Spear were inclined toward water and ice attributes.
Under these circumstances, choosing the polar opposite attribute, Flame Spear, would just be asking for trouble.
’Chengying isn’t bad. A huge boost to stealth... would definitely be great for ambushing people.’
’However...’ Su Ye’s gaze shifted to Soul Suppressing, his eyes burning with intensity.
’A control ability!’
’And it even has priority!’
For the mysterious panel to make a special note...
’The stun priority of Soul Suppressing must be extraordinary!’
Su Ye made up his mind and chose.
In an instant.
The [Soul Suppressing] trait solidified into place!
[Exclusive Skill: Whale-Hunting Spear]
[Traits: Pierce (max), Soul Suppressing (0/2)]
He had obtained his second trait.
On top of its already formidable power, the Whale-Hunting Spear now had a control ability!
In a battle between cultivators, the situation could change in an instant. Even a moment’s daze could lead to defeat and death.
Let alone a stun that had priority?
Without a doubt, after acquiring the Soul Suppressing trait, Su Ye’s combat prowess had reached a new level.
’Could I even take down a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator at their peak?’ Su Ye wondered.
Then, another thought occurred to him.
’Wait, Soul Suppressing is also (0/2). Does that mean...’
’...that a Tide Hunter can get another new trait after reaching Lv. 8?’
...
「Half a month later.」
The Golden Sword Orchid and the Flying Serpent.
The two Luo Family spirit ships arrived at an island, preparing to restock on fresh Spirit Rice and Spirit Fruit.
This was an Unranked Island that the Luo Family had recently taken over.
It was rather barren, with a population of only around ten thousand.
There was one Qi Refining family on the island.
They scraped by, surviving off a single low-grade spirit land.
’So it’s this place...’ Su Ye’s eyes grew thoughtful as he looked at the familiar harbor.
Coincidentally, this was the very island that Su Ye had been sent to secure aboard the Golden Sword Orchid.
He remembered.
Back then, the island’s Qi Refining family had been terrified by the Golden Sword Orchid’s might.
To curry favor with him, they had even specially offered him a pair of twin sisters...
At this thought, a smile spread across Su Ye’s face. As if savoring the memory, he murmured to himself.
"The Spirit Fruit on this island isn’t bad. Very fresh, very... succulent."
"Stopping here for a night... sounds good to me..."
...
However.
Just as Su Ye was in his cabin, thinking about how he would "enjoy" the Spirit Fruit tonight...
...the first group of crew members who had gone ashore fled back to the spirit ship in a panic!
And they brought shocking news!
"What happened?"
Su Ye stepped out of his cabin and stopped a panicked crewman, asking in surprise.
"The island... there’s not a single person, not a single animal! It’s terrifyingly quiet!"
The crewman’s face was pale as he spoke with utter terror.
His breathing was ragged, not from physical exertion, but from sheer panic.
"Hmm?!"
He forgot all about the taste of the Spirit Fruit.
Su Ye’s brow furrowed. He strode forward and asked in a low, serious voice.
"Calm down. Think carefully. Were there any signs of a fight? Did you find any bodies?"
"No, several of the brothers already searched."
The crewman calmed down a bit, thought for a moment, and shook his head.
"The town and the spirit fields are all intact. There were even Spirit Stones in the warehouse, and the food in the iron pots was still warm..."
"But... there are just no living people! No animals!"
His face was ashen. He swallowed hard, his body trembling.
Even though the crew of a Demon Hunting Ship were incredibly brave, daring to fight ferocious sea demons to the death...
...faced with such a bizarre situation, they couldn’t help but feel a deep-seated fear!
It wasn’t just the crewman.
Listening to his description, Su Ye’s expression grew grave as an icy chill crept up his spine.
’This is creepy as hell!’
’This stretch of sea is getting more and more twisted!’
’Several thousand living people, and my twins... no, my Spirit Fruit, just vanished?!’
’Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator had slaughtered everyone on the island, they would have left some trace, right?’
’What the hell is going on?!’
’The increase in rare sea demons, islanders vanishing into thin air...’
Su Ye’s eyes narrowed in thought.
Some kind of mysterious change that he didn’t understand was quietly taking place in these waters!
Seeing Su Ye lost in thought, the crewman grew anxious and urged him on.
"Captain, we have to go! We can’t stay here any longer!"
"Haaah..." Su Ye snapped back to his senses and let out a long breath.
He nodded in agreement with the crewman’s suggestion and gave the order with a wave of his hand.
"All hands to your stations! Raise the sails and weigh anchor!"
"Full speed! Get away from this island and the surrounding waters!"
...
In a state of terror, the Luo Family’s spirit ships quickly left the harbor and set out to sea.
Watching that bizarre, eerie island, now devoid of all life, as it gradually disappeared from view.
The terrified crew finally breathed a small sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted from their hearts.
Su Ye, however, did not relax.
That same day, after consulting with Luo Qingjun, he issued an order.
Both spirit ships were to maintain a state of high alert and be on guard at all times.