After two days of fruitless wandering around, I suddenly realized that I had never thought about the most important question. We had encountered quite a few sea monsters and aquatic magical beasts over the past two days, but none of them was the elusive Void Whale. As the second day dragged onto an end, I finally gave voice to my impatience.

"We keep looking until we find it," Qiang Zhe replied lazily. I stared at him skeptically.

"Really?"

"What, you have a better plan?" Du Yan challenged. I shook my head.

"That"s why I"m asking in the first place. Is there really no method of tracking down a Void Whale? Like…specific zones where they show up…"

"That"s why we"re in the Void Ring," Du Yan reminded me.

"Uh…feeding patterns? Are they nocturnal creatures? How often do they come to the surface? Is it more effective to dive and locate them underwater? How deep are they usually located?"

By now everyone was staring at me.

"They"re nocturnal, normally." Fortunately, Lao Ren had an answer. I frowned.

"Then what"s the point of searching during the day?"

"It"s not like there"s an absolutely zero chance that they wouldn"t show up during the day. We"ll just keep sailing through the area until we eventually run into one. The encounter rate should be three percent, so if we run into enough sea monsters, we"ll encounter a Void Whale eventually."

I gaped at Lao Ren, not sure if I believed what he had just uttered. However, everyone was nodding as if that was the most logical course of action in the world.

"What the h.e.l.l?! Is this Pokemon or something?"

That was so random. It reminded me of a game where you would run your avatar around the screen and encounter monster after monster until you finally found the one you were seeking to capture. And Lao Ren actually used the term, "encounter rate."

They were completely treating this as a game, weren"t they?

However, that conversation imparted a vital piece of information to me. Void Whales were usually nocturnal. So there would be a higher chance of running into them at night than during the day. As I needed whatever strength I had in order to combat the powerful Void Whale, I decided to swap my sleep cycle and go to be during the day so that I could stay awake during the night. Unlike s.p.a.ce Marines of the 41st millennium, I didn"t have the tenacity to stay awake for days on end without sleeping. I heard that martial artists and cultivators could supposedly do it, but I couldn"t.

Besides, I would much rather maintain a healthy lifestyle.

With nothing more to do, I went below deck and headed to my bunk. Having decided to sleep it off and wait for night, I trained a bit before dropping onto my bed.

*

The next day, other than a spate of encounters against Sea Kings, Krakens, gigantic sharks, Sea Serpents and a whole armada of sea monsters, there was nothing of interest because the Void Whale had yet to turn up. Personally, I believed we had encountered over a hundred sea monsters, and still not one Void Whale had shown up, which renderered the 3% encounter rate statistic meaningless.

"Megalodon!"

I had just come up from the deck when the sailor"s frightened cry alerted us to a new monster. By now, the original crew of twenty-five or so had taken another two casualties, bringing the death toll up to three. No wonder Chuan Zhang ended up bringing along a bunch of fresh newbies. The attrition rate was pretty high.

"It"s just another big fish," Qiang Zhe remarked casually as he jumped off the railing where he was leisurely sitting on, and proceeded to slash at the incoming Megalodon. The Megalodon screeched and fell back as a thin red line of blood appeared on its belly, and he kicked the gigantic beast away from the ship. The Megalodon had been cruising us with its jaws wide open, as if wanting to swallow us whole, but now it was sent tumbling back into the depths.

However, this was a Megalodon we were talking about here. There was no way two attacks would kill it.

Splash!

The Megalodon emerged from the depths once more and surged toward the Mo Bi Di Ke once more. Qiang Zhe looked annoyed, and began to raise the spear that he had been relaxedly leaning against his shoulder.

"Leave it to me."

I like Megalodons, having read about them when I was a kid, and there were quite a few b-horror movies featuring them. That said, if there was a Megalodon trying to kill us, I would not hesitate to ensure its death.

Drawing one of my swords, I swung it, unleashing a wave of purified ice qi. Just as Master told me, even if I didn"t have as much quant.i.ty of qi as my comrades, a tiny amount of purified qi still packed an immense amount of power.

Crack!

The entire s.p.a.ce of sea in front of the Mo Bi Di Ke turned into ice, almost as if we had somehow ended up in the Arctic Ocean. The Megalodon was caught, entombed within ice and completely immobilized. Its huge, black eyes stared soullessly at the ship, its thoughts unreadable. Held aloft by my ice, it was completely frozen in place. Like, literally.

"Great job, kid!"

Qiang Zhe lunged forward, and infusing his spear with all of his qi, blasted a single hole through the Megalodon. The sea beast vanished in a crimson shower of qi, reduced to nothing more than a b.l.o.o.d.y carca.s.s.

"Not bad, not bad."

Qiang Zhe was nodding his head as he grabbed a few of the Megalodon sc.r.a.ps and bundled them up. With my ice having frozen the surface of the sea, he could safely walk on what used to be liquid water. He turned and waved at the cewmen whose shift was ongoing at the moment, and gestured for them to get ready.

Looked like we were going to have shark"s fin soup tonight, considering what Chef Chu cooked up whenever we hauled back a bunch of shark meat. Yay…I think?

"So it looks like it"s you and me on shift tonight, eh, kid?"

Qiang Zhe jumped back onto the deck after directing the collection process. Resting his spear on his shoulder, he grinned at me.

"Don"t…forget about me…too…"

Mo Fa sidled up to our position after having lounged around on the white sun-chair earlier. Qiang Zhe"s brow twitched.

"You"re really shameless, aren"t you? You didn"t even lift a single finger during that engagement."

"The both of you…seem to have…the Megalodon under…control."

"At least stand up and do something other than laze around and merely watch!"

Mo Fa nodded her head, her long, dark hair falling from under her hat. "I"ll keep that in mind for future engagements."

Despite her seemingly lazy character, from personal experience I knew how powerful Mo Fa was. Her techniques seemed more like magic than actual martial arts techniques, and I wondered how they turned out like that. Then again, my freezing of the sea and Megalodon with a single blast of pure qi seemed more akin to a magic spell than a martial art too…

"I wonder how long we"ll have to spend out here before we finally run into a Void Whale," I muttered.

"Not too long, I hope." Qiang Zhe planted his spear on the deck. "We"ve run into quite a lot of different monsters now. We"ll encounter a Void Whale eventually if we keep up our sailing around the Void Ring."

Why did it feel like he was talking about a game instead of a proper real hunting mission? Even if this was a somewhat fantasy world, there should still be limits on what kind of rules this world operated on. This was based too much on luck and…if I wasn"t mistaken, the term was called random number generation or something.

On the other hand, I was relieved that we didn"t run into the more dangerous creatures like Dragons. Sea Dragons were divine beings, almost on the same level as G.o.ds. Worse, something even worse than Sea Dragons dwelled within the unfathomable depths of the ocean. Known as the Leviathan, it was a magical beast the size of an entire country, so huge that it was literally kilometers in length, and almost a thousand meters across in breadth.

A true Leviathan, it had somewhat turned into a myth, though many sailors claimed to have seen the enormous beast from a vast distance, mistaking it for an island at first before it suddenly moved across the waters.

I ended up having to break the ice after the crew were done with packaging the Megalodon meat. Fortunately, this was a cargo ship, so there was plenty of storage in the bowels of the Mo Bi Di Ke, where an increasing amount of monster meat and monster cores were being stored. I personally suspected there was some void spatial storage characteristic that allowed the ship to store more stuff than it appeared capable of, but didn"t comment too much on it.

After that, hours pa.s.sed and I waited on the deck. Staring hollowly at the sea, I decided to use the time to train.

"Oh? Training, are you?"

Qiang Zhe watched as I practiced my sword techniques on the deck, half-bored and half-curious. He planted his spear on the deck.

"How about I join you? We can spar, and I"ll show you some movements."

I stopped and bowed my head slightly, cupping my hands respectfully.

"Please offer me a few pointers, Senior."

"Ha ha ha! Sure! We"ve nothing to do until a sea monster shows up anyway."

So we sspent the next couple of hours training. I was knocked off my feet, disarmed, toyed around with, and completely destroyed one-sidedly. But Qiang Zhe made sure to explain to me where I went wrong, how to counter specific attacks, how to improve my stance, etc.

This isn"t so bad…I"m learning quite a lot from sparring with an experienced veteran.

Even though he didn"t have artificial qi like my schoolmates, he was still quite strong. Especially when compared to me. I had a feeling that he would hold his own even against people with several times the amount of qi he had.

"It"s not about the amount of qi," he told me when I asked him. "It"s a matter of technique. That"s what martial arts are about. You don"t win a battle with brute strength. You win it with techniques. Otherwise, why would you bother learning martial arts? Anyone can just do strength training and become as physically strong as possible. If it was that easy to win battles, then we wouldn"t need martial arts to begin with."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Yeah, I hope you do!"

Qiang Zhe punctuated his statement with a thrust that almost tore open my throat had I not parried his strike in reflex.

"But man, you"re pretty good for someone your age. It feels like you"ve experienced life-and-death combat before."

"What makes you think I haven"t?"

"Ah…that explains it." Qiang Zhe laughed. "But even then…it"s still not enough to defeat me!"

I was knocked off my feet by a sudden swing of his spear, and then did a backflip to land on my feet. Instinctively, I raised both my swords, but the tip of Qiang Zhe"s spear was already at my throat. I froze.

"Don"t do big moves," Qiang Zhe advised as he lowered his spear. "They make you look good, but that"s pointless if you"re dead."

"…I understand."

I nodded and then a.s.sumed a new stance to get into sparring again. As I said, this was proving to be an invaluable session for me.

Splash!

Our next bout of sparring was interrupted as the Mo Bi Di Ke jolted, a huge wave slamming into its hull and rocking it. The both of us lowered our weapons and looked over the railings. Not far away, a Kraken emerged from the depths, its tentacles writhing as it glided toward us.

"This monster again."

Qiang Zhe sighed and shook his head, but he readied his spear all the same.

"That"s all right. There"s…plenty of people…willing to buy the Kraken meat…off the market. And the core…sells for a high price too…"

Mo Fa rose to her feet this time, probably not solely because she wanted to avoid being reprimanded by her partner. She knew how dangerous a Kraken was, and with only the three of us on shift right now, we were going to need every help we could get.

However, something enormous seized the Kraken before it could reach us. I caught sight of a dark blur, and then something collided with the Kraken, seizing the poor tentacle monster in its huge maw and dragging it underwater.

"What…was that?" Mo Fa whispered, dread filling her voice. I didn"t blame her. Anything large and powerful enough to subdue a Kraken in one attack couln"t be underestimated.

"The Void Whale. That"s the Void Whale."

"Huh?!" I turned to gape at Qiang Zhe, not sure if I was hearing him correctly. Beside him, Mo Fa also turned in surprise, and then she nodded.

"Ah, yes…indeed. I didn"t catch…a clear glimpse of it, but now that you"ve mentioned it…that size and power…certainly resemble that of a Void Whale"s."

"Have you both fought Void Whales before?" I asked, steeling myself for the fight ahead. The couple stared at me.

"Of course."

"A few times."

That explained why they were so calm. Even though Mo Fa did sound a little nervous, her composure was unaffected and she was getting ready to fight. Her staff was already in her hands, and she was gathering qi into it.

"I…don"t…particularly enjoy fighting it…" Mo Fa admitted. Qiang Zhe snorted.

"What idiot would enjoy fighting a Void Whale? We"re only doing it because we need the money."

"You shouldn"t…have gambled…your money…away."

"Ugh! I was just unlucky! And don"t remind me! Focus on the task at hand!" Qiang Zhe turned to me. "Kid, go wake the others. We need the whole party to face this thing!"

I had barely taken a step when the enormous leviathan burst from the depths, rivulets of water spilling down its broad body. As black as night…or as black as the void, the Void Whale swam through the depths. The remnants of the poor Kraken seemed to dangle from its fangs, which gleamed with what seemed like blood.

It was coming straight for us.

"Hurry!"

I snapped out of my stupor when Qiang Zhe urged me. Turning around, I dashed into the bridge of the Mo Bi Di Ke.

"Void Whale!" I yelled. "Wake everyone up! All hands on deck! Prepare for imminent combat!"

The crewman who was on shift quickly raised the alarm, turning around and hitting a b.u.t.ton. All over the Mo Bi Di Ke, a shrill noise rang, waking up everyone on the ship. With my job fulfilled, I quickly returned to the deck.

Mo Fa was launching a volley of qi fireb.a.l.l.s at the Void Whale, but the huge beast merely shrugged her attacks off. I could see that her qi techniques, which could punch b.l.o.o.d.y craters into the hide of a Colossal Crab or rip through a Kraken, were having little effect on the vast body of the whale-like monster.

"You little…!"

Growling, Qiang Zhe leaped off the railing and into the fray. Wth a roar, he threw his spear right at the head of the Void Whale. Crimson maelstroms of qi whirled around his weapon as it turned into a blinding projectile that lanced into the Void Whale. There was a bright explosion that illuminated the dark seas for a moment as the spear slammed into the thick hide of the Void Whale and drilled though it with seemingly lethal impact.

Did he do it? I wondered as I came to a stop, admiring the scene of destruction. However, Qiang Zhe landed back on the deck, his expression grim.

"Called the rest yet?" he asked. I blinked, and then hurriedly nodded.

"Uh, yeah! They"ll be here soon!"

Already I could hear the thudding of footsteps and sense the presence of their qi as the entire team mustered for combat. However, surely even the Void Whale couldn"t withstand Qiang Zhe"s ultimate Army-Crushing Crimson Spear Strike, could it?

"The Void Whale has finally appeared?!"

Lao Ren was the first to show up, followed by Lao Tou. Then Du Yan hauled himself out of the cabin, his sword already drawn and his single eye glancing around for the enemy. He stopped when he saw the raging inferno atop the surface of the sea.

"I see you already started the fun without us," he remarked.

"Don"t worry," Qiang Zhe a.s.sured him dryly. "That won"t kill the Void Whale. You"ll have more than your fair share of fun later."

"I don"t doubt it," Du Yan replied with a feral smile. Apparently he had experience hunting Void Whales as well.

"Oh, it"s here! It"s finally here!"

The next to arrive was Zi Xiao Ji, accompanied by her bodyguards as always. They stopped to watch the colossal conflagration that lit up the night sky, mesmerized. Like me, neither Zhao Shi nor Da Ge had ever encountered a Void Whale before, so they were caught off guard by the awesome spectacle and couldn"t help but admire it.

The last to arrive was the Iron Mountain Sect trio, and they showed up as silently as ever, with Yi Shan at their head.

"So…it has finally shown up, huh?" he murmured. "Let"s do it!"

The Void Whale surged out of the inferno, a gaping wound visible on its head.

"As I suspected, it"s still alive, huh?" Qiang Zhe muttered darkly.

"Of course…a Void Whale…isn"t something that is…easily taken out…" Mo Fa was already preparing new techniques to bombard the incoming Void Whale.

"Everyone, get ready for battle!" Lao Tou ordered. We were already falling into positions and waiting for an optimal opportunity to attack. Right now, the Void Whale was still quite a distance away, literally out of range of most of our most powerful attacks, except Mo Fa"s.

Fortunately, we didn"t need to wait long. Enraged by Mo Fa"s relentless a.s.sault, and filled with a desire for vengeance against Qiang Zhe"s devastating spear strike, the aquatic leviathan only ever had one target in its mind.

With a monstrous bellow, the Void Whale charged right at the Mo Bi Di Ke.