"There should be academies on the Tianyuan Continent as well, right?" Murong Yunsheng asked.
"Of course there are," Lu Chengze replied. "However, Shuangmeng Academy is the finest academy across all seven continents. A young lady of the Xue Family with such extraordinary talent like Xue Yanrong wouldn't settle for an academy on the Tianyuan Continent. Naturally, she would choose only the best."
"With your strength, can you get into Shuangmeng Academy?"
"To enter the Spirit-Cultivation Peak of Shuangmeng Academy, one must pass three rounds of examinations. The first round tests one's Spirit Power attribute and strength. The minimum requirement is Cyan Spirit Level 6. With my strength, I certainly qualify. But even if I get in, I might not make it into the senior spirit-cultivation classes."
Murong Yunsheng raised an eyebrow slightly, asking in confusion, "Senior spirit-cultivation classes?"
Lu Chengze explained, "At the Spirit-Cultivation Peak of Shuangmeng Academy, each student receives four years of instruction, divided into two years per grade—senior grade and junior grade. Each enrollment intake admits only five hundred students.
"Just like the junior grade, the senior grade has eleven classes: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple, White, Silver Class, Gold Class, and Xuan Class.
"Except for White, Silver, Gold, and Xuan Class, which have only twenty students each, everyone else is evenly distributed among the remaining seven classes.
"These senior spirit-cultivation classes refer precisely to these four—White, Silver, Gold, and Xuan. Those who can enter them are the elite who performed extraordinarily well across all three rounds of exams.
"The classes are situated on Spirit-Cultivation Peak from lowest to highest elevation according to their rank. Xuan Class is located right at the very summit."
Murong Yunsheng chuckled softly to herself. Shuangmeng Academy was truly difficult to enter! And even after getting in, one still had to keep climbing upward continuously.
However, she didn't feel there was anything wrong with categorizing people into tiers based on their strength. After all, the path of cultivation had always been like this.
...
Another day passed.
The next morning, the Spirit Boat of the Lu Family Chamber of Commerce departed right on time. This time, however, another Spirit Boat accompanied them. The two Spirit Boats traveled one behind the other, maintaining a steady distance between them—neither too close nor too far.
Murong Yunsheng sat cross-legged at the bow, holding a fishing rod. Seeing Lu Chengze walk out of the cabin, sit down beside her, and even hand her a cup of tea, she pointed at the Spirit Boat behind them and asked, "Is that the Nangong Family's Spirit Boat?"
"Yes," Lu Chengze nodded slightly. "The spirit fish in this ocean aren't that easy to hook."
Yet the words had barely left his mouth when reality gave him a slap in the face. Murong Yunsheng jerked her fishing rod up, and hanging on the hook was a fish glowing with a faint blue light across its entire body...
Murong Yunsheng shook the rod gently. "Well?"
Lu Chengze: "..."
So... was it just that his own fishing skills were terrible? He had once sat at the bow fishing for three full days without catching a single fish.
Murong Yunsheng laughed softly and said, "Young Master Lu, have you ever heard a saying?"
"What saying?" Lu Chengze asked.
"Grand Duke Jiang fishes—only those willing take the hook."
Lu Chengze: "..."
Murong Yunsheng unhooked the fish and tossed it back into the sea.
Watching her actions, Chiyun drawled, "Yo, what's this? You're not planning to cook and eat it?"
"That fish is deadly poisonous. I'm not stupid," Murong Yunsheng replied. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she added, "Did you not read the books?"
"Of course I did!" Chiyun sneered proudly. "I know what that fish is! It's an Ice-Soul Ardent-Cicada Fish! You're the one who didn't read!"
Chiyun looked utterly smug. *Pfft, even if I didn't read, I'd still recognize common sea spirit fish like this.*
...
Over the next few days, they encountered attacks from a few ocean Magical Beasts, but they were all small, low-level beasts that posed no real threat.
However, on this day...
As Murong Yunsheng was eating in her room, the hull suddenly lurched violently. The food flew straight toward her. "Holy crap!"
With a flicker of her thought, she instantly stashed the food that was about to spill all over her into her spatial dimension. However, her body tumbled straight backward, crashing hard onto the floor and rolling half a turn.
Murong Yunsheng: "..."
What on earth???
Rubbing her head glumly, Murong Yunsheng scrambled up from the floor. The boat lurched violently once more. She held onto the wall and made her way outside, every step a struggle.
When she reached the deck, towering waves crashed around them, and what looked like a whale's tail slammed back into the sea. Not only their Spirit Boat, but even the Nangong Family's Spirit Boat not far away was being churned up by this giant creature, looking as though it could be swallowed by the waves at any second.
"Level 5 Magical Beast, Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale," Chiyun said. "Gigantic in size, capable of growing up to several hundred meters long. But you guys are lucky—this Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale is just a juvenile, only a few dozen meters long."
Murong Yunsheng: "..."
Her mouth twitched slightly. What? She actually ran into this thing, and out at sea no less? Can we switch to land, bro?
This luck was truly terrible.
Seeing Murong Yunsheng emerge from the cabin, Lu Chengze yelled, "Miss Murong! The deck is dangerous! Hurry, get back inside the cabin!"
Several people from their chamber of commerce had already been pitched into the sea by the violent shaking, likely having ended up inside the bellies of sea Magical Beasts by now.
"Yunsheng," Chiyun remarked, "the Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale is gentle by nature. It won't easily attack passing Spirit Boats."
Murong Yunsheng asked, "Young Master Lu, did your people do something to provoke this Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale?"
"No," Lu Chengze replied. "I'm confused as well. Why would this Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale attack our Spirit Boat?"
Even if he had expected to encounter other ocean Magical Beasts, he had never imagined a Deep Sea Snow-Howl Whale would attack them.
...
However, they soon got their answer.
The wind and waves on the sea gradually died down.
As the seas calmed, a massive ship approached at incredible speed. Its hull was immense, even larger than their Spirit Boat, with all sorts of fish bones hanging around its sides. A black flag fluttered atop the ship, depicting the unmistakable image of a whale.
Lu Chengze's expression darkened, growing solemn. "Pirates."
Murong Yunsheng looked across the water, her expression turning into one of slight surprise. "Is that whale supporting their ship and carrying it forward?"
"It's very likely that whale has been contracted by them," Lu Chengze said.
"Your merchant ships sail these seas all year round," Murong Yunsheng noted. "Have you never encountered these pirates before?"
"We've encountered pirates, but never *these* ones," Lu Chengze replied. "I've never seen their flag before. Most likely, we were just lucky in the past, or perhaps these pirates only recently moved into this sea area."
As the ship drew nearer, Murong Yunsheng could vaguely sense the cultivation levels of the pirates on board. The strongest among them was Blue Spirit Level 5.
Suddenly, a voice boomed out:
"This sea is mine, I rule this tide! Leave your gold if you want to ride!"