Cao Yun was a bit tired when the boat departed. Indeed, for one week straight, Lord Wanghuo had organized festivities. As soon as he had learned that Cao Yun was leaving for good, he tried everything to make him stay. And in Lord Wanghuo's mind, the best things to keep Cao Yun here were wine, foods, women and martial arts.

For one week straight, many women offered themselves to Cao Yun and used of all their charms on the poor young man. Knowing that they had been sent with the express intent of tempting him so he would miss his boat and stay, Cao Yun declined everything. But he had to admit that this was extremely tiresome. Besides, Lord Wanghuo kept inviting Cao Yun so he couldn't simply stay in seclusion. After all, he didn't want for Lord Wanghuo to find any excuse to prevent him from leaving. Even though he had given his word, Cao Yun wasn't absolutely convinced by this king. It became especially true when he saw how he organized festivities.

The banquet was never ending. No matter how much Lord Wanghuo would eat and drink, there would always be more food and wine on the table. Most of the food simply rotted away as there was just too much. That being said, Cao Yun did enjoy the food and the wine. For the entire week, he discovered many flavors. He even decided to take the recipes with him. Unlike Lord Wanghuo, quantity wasn't interesting to Cao Yun, but quality was. So much great food being wasted was hard to behold. But the art performances he saw during this week were so great that they were worth it.

Lord Wanghuo mainly asked martial artists to perform their art in front of his guest. But there were also musicians, dancers, poets, and all varieties of performers. On that note, Cao Yun had to admit that those festivities were great. That being said, he was convinced that Minister Renhai was behind them, or maybe other ministers. Looking at Lord Wanghuo's crude appreciation of those spectacles, it was pretty obvious.

Nalupu Kingdom's King even tried to convince Cao Yun to stay by promising to show him all the greatest manuals of his kingdom. To be honest, Cao Yun wasn't really interested. Now that he could mostly understand Antique Sixian, Cao Yun was able to slowly translate all of Cleansed Asura's documents. Of course it would take some time as they had been corrupted, mixing Cao Yun's Nuhua with his master's own language. But he was now convinced that he could translate them all over time. As such, the manuals within his own sea of consciousness were much more precious than anything Lord Wanghuo could show him.

For the entire week, Cao Yun was as polite as he could be. In fact, he was in the same state he had been while cleaning Fading Dang's deck. The young man's mind and soul were focused on his Soul Embryo while his body was mostly going through the motions. However, Cao Yun knew how to get rid of Lord Wanghuo's constant attempts. In a sense, Cao Yun felt as though he had to get rid of some suitor. This was rather strange, the women felt less like admirers than Lord Wanghuo himself. Sincerely, this was unsettling.

Cao Yun decided to play the same kind of game. If Lord Wanghuo really wanted to stay close to him, he could simply follow Cao Yun to God's Land. As soon as he began to talk in such a manner, Lord Wanghuo became much less insistent. Indeed, despite his desire to fight worthy opponents, Lord Wanghuo had lost his edge. His Dao Heart was clearly broken and it would slowly fade away. Already, Lord Wanghuo had regressed. With time, he might even fall further.

Comfort had become too important for Lord Wanghuo. He couldn't abandon it to go on a long cruise. But more than that, he had lost the taste of a real challenge. Lord Wanghuo lacked the strength of character that would allow him to fight Empyrean Asura. Indeed, he would never endanger his life. Against an opponent like Cao Yun who couldn't kill him but could still challenge him while suppressing his cultivation, Lord Wanghuo was ecstatic. But against someone who could really injure or even kill him, Lord Wanghuo lost all of his lofty ambitions. He would much rather spend time in his harem.

Unfortunately, Cao Yun could tell that this wasn't strictly speaking an inner demon that was afflicting Lord Wanghuo. Of course, with time, it might turn into one. But most likely, Lord Wanghuo would simply remain longer and longer within his residence, enjoying comfort and luxury. The affairs of the world would go on without him completely. And all of his ambition would erode until he couldn't even fight an early Accomplished Demon without using his cultivation to crush them. Such a fate was sad. But since Cao Yun had never met Lord Wanghuo before he had fallen so much, he had no regret in his heart. If such a thing had happened to a great hero of mankind, Cao Yun would have felt terrible. In a sense, even Emperor Weide had not fallen that far. Although he was despicable, he wasn't pathetic...

As the Fading Fang was leaving, Cao Yun remembered everything that had happened in the Desolate Sepulcher. He remembered all the people he had met and all those who had died. Most of his bonds with this place were either cut and resolved. Now his mind was solely focused on the Hongchen Kingdom.

According to Captain Jing Baiyu, the trip would most likely take eight to ten months according to the weather. But he immediately added that the weather on the Divine Blood Ocean was unpredictable, as were the demonic beasts. He couldn't promise anything. Sometimes, they could reach God's Land in less than six months. But their longest trip had taken them more than fifteen months. This was the time Jing Baiyu faced a terrifying 9-core demonic beast. At the time, he had a large fleet. Against such a demonic beast, the entire fleet could have been destroyed but Jing Baiyu saved almost everyone as well as most of the cargo. Of course, they didn't kill the demonic beast, they were simply able to lose it.

Technically, Jing Baiyu had earned the rank of Admiral, but his crew kept on calling him Captain. Thus, Cao Yun had also called him Captain. Besides, he was currently only commanding this one ship, Fading Fang. Since the time Cao Yun had first seen it, it had been repaired. Strangely, the repairs made it look it shabbier. But it had a powerful aura indeed. And with Jing Baiyu commanding it, the ship felt like the safest place on Earth. Cao Yun wondered whether this was a form of Martial Aura or battle formation in a sense. Some commanders on a battlefield could indeed create a powerful aura all around their forces. This wasn't just charisma, but something a bit more tangible. However, Cao Yun couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It was similar to the Spear Heart he was yearning for. Maybe being close to it might give him some insight.

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Anyway, the crew wasn't too pleased with Cao Yun's presence. First of all, they were literally making this trip for him alone. Of course, some cargo had been added to their ship but it had been an afterthought. The only reason why they were leaving so soon was Cao Yun. Obviously, they were mad at him. Besides that, he had brought a demonic beast aboard. In their mind, he was simply toying with their lives as though they were no better than slaves. Since the crew kept on transporting slaves to the Empyrean Asura Theocracy, they had a strange relationship with slavery.

Cao Yun didn't really care about the tension. After all, he could sense that the crew was absolutely loyal to Jing Baiyu. They wouldn't be a problem at all, simply because their captain had ordered them not to be.

For days, they couldn't even talk. Indeed, manning Fading Fang was a tough job. Everyone was always working. There was no time to talk or to bond. At first, Cao Yun's presence was a bit of a problem in itself as it was throwing off the crew. Slowly though, he got to perfectly match their rhythm. With everything Jing Baiyu had taught him, Cao Yun turned out to be a great crewman.

With time, the crew naturally accepted him among them. Even though they had no time to talk much, the bond between them became obvious. Cao Yun and the crew were like soldiers bonding during war. In a sense, sailing Fading Fang was indeed a war.

Despite having heard of the dangers of the Divine Blood Ocean, Cao Yun was still surprised when he faced them himself.

Although the ocean might appear calm, it could suddenly turn into a raging storm. Out of nowhere, hail and thunder could appear and span for dozens of li*, if not hundreds. If one were to go straight toward God's Land, it would be around fifty thousand li. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible as one had to avoid the strongest storms and the demonic beasts. Besides, it was necessary to slow down a lot to assess the situation. The trip was truly exhausting, both physically and mentally. For Cao Yun, the physical fatigue was almost non-existent but the crew felt it for sure. As such, they had to alternate between various positions to stay as alert as possible. Some times, they were forced to rest of course.

Apparently, their trip was rather uneventful. Despite the powerful storm, nothing too dangerous happened. However, the crew didn't relax. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Everyone was waiting for the worst to come. And as it wasn't coming yet, they feared that it would be even worse than they imagined. Each day where something terrible didn't happen filled the crew with more and more dread.

In this anxious atmosphere, Cao Yun's talented help provided much comfort. At the very least, he wasn't dead weight. And in a dangerous situation, he would be able to help.

Before long, Jing Baiyu gave Cao Yun more and more responsibilities. The young man was eager to learn. After all, such knowledge might be helpful. To be honest, Cao Yun was thinking of what would happen if he was stranded in the ocean alone. He didn't want to think about the boat being attacked and destroyed. But the possibility was still there. Moreover, other things could happen in the future. If he had the expertise of a great navigator, he might not be stuck on another continent for years. By the time he would get back home, Cao Yun wasn't entirely sure how many years would have gone by as he couldn't be certain of the time he had spent within the space storm when he had first gotten to the Desolate Dune Desert. After that, he had spent a few years in the Desolate Sepulcher.

As Fading Fang was crossing the Divine Blood Ocean, the thing the crew dreaded finally happened. The blue sky suddenly turned red. The waters beneath the boat reflected this hellish color as the wind simply stopped altogether. The boat was completely stuck. Immediately, Cao Yun wondered whether he had entered his sea of consciousness as this red was the color of blood. But he was still within the physical realm as Jing Baiyu's voice reminded him.

"All hands on deck! Blood Storm!"

Once again, Cao Yun had heard of those Blood Storms but he had never been in one before. According to what he had read, those were the worst storms in the Divine Blood Ocean. Some thought that they were caused by the remaining blood of their gods when it fell into the ocean. Honestly, Cao Yun wasn't too convinced. Indeed, even now, he couldn't feel the intent of the Weaver of Souls. But he could feel a very powerful killing intent. Many mortals would have fainted or even simply died by just being here. Thankfully, the crew was used to those terrifying events.

Everyone was busy on the deck. And so was Cao Yun. He had learned what to do. Jing Baiyu barely yelled any order as all of his crew knew what to do. When he was in doubt, Cao Yun simply looked around and he immediately got what had to be done, so he did. As the boat couldn't move at all without any wind, the crew was busy protecting it. They had to ride the storm. Once the Blood Storm truly came, they had to be ready. Nothing could save them within the storm so they had to get everything ready beforehand. Whether they would survive or not was decided right now. In other words, now was the battle, but they would know if they had won it only later.

Finally, the Blood Storm fell.

All of the crew went in the lower decks, even Jing Baiyu. Cao Yun hesitated as he would have loved to witness the Blood Storm. But he did trust Jing Baiyu. He wasn't sure whether he could survive such a storm himself. What he had read was rather scary to be honest. Even Accomplished Demons could be killed in such a cataclysm.

As everyone was in the lower decks, along with Hongyu, the Blood Storm erupted. Suddenly, the boat moved all over the place. They could hear terrible claps of thunder outside accompanied with insane movements of the boat. The sea had been broken by the storm and Fading Fang was hurtled in random directions. Several times, the boat itself got hit by a giant wave and almost toppled over. Thankfully, the crew was used to it, albeit not to this scale. They moved alongside the boat to try and diminish its brutal movements. Cao Yun and Hongyu did the same. Their added weight didn't change things much, but it was still something.

According to the books Cao Yun had read, such a Blood Storm could vary in intensity and in duration. Apparently, this one was especially terrifying. Even Jing Baiyu was afraid of it. Cao Yun could see the terror in the eyes of the crew. Knowing that they had survived a 9-core demonic beast, Cao Yun realized how scary the Blood Storm was. Right now, this was only the beginning. For long minutes, the storm just kept on getting worse and worse.

Suddenly, the worst scenario came true. A part of the upper deck exploded, struck by lightning. The boat caught on fire just as sea water was slowly invading the lower decks.

* Approximately, 1 li = 500 m = 500 yd