If she needed rarer materials, she could always trade with Dante. He wasn’t just another sect disciple—despite still being in the Core Formation stage, he had roamed wide, survived countless training trials, and become an expert forager. He knew the habits of spiritual plants, the traits of demonic beasts, and had gathered all kinds of rare materials along the way.

  And when it came to venturing out on the open sea, the more prepared, the better.

  Lauren’s main focus, though, was on Explosive Spirit Talismans.

  First, they always sold well. Second, she already knew them like the back of her hand, making it easier to refine and upgrade them.

  ......

  A few days passed in a blur, and at last a white-bearded elder from the Thunder Sect arrived.

  Lauren didn’t recognize him, but she listened as he quietly explained to Dante that he was here to take the child back to the mountain.

  Before leaving, he came straight to Lauren, bowing with solemn respect.

  “Obadiah greets Ms. Lauren”

  Lauren felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Please, get up quickly. It must have been exhausting to come all this way alone.”

  The old man waved her concern aside with a genial smile. “Not at all. My years are nearly spent, and there’s no chance of promotion left for me. Better to put my time to use and serve the sect however I can.”

  Cheerful even in the face of his own decline—Lauren found his attitude quietly admirable. After a few parting words, the old man departed with the child, heading back toward the mountains.

  With that matter settled, Lauren and the others turned their attention to the sea.

  As the eldest brother of their generation, Dante naturally had access to better resources than most. Gerald had always been generous with him as well. The flying boat Dante produced was no ordinary vessel—it was built for both sea and air travel, its hull covered in intricate runes, with four battle flags planted firmly at bow and stern.

  Once the four of them boarded, Dante took control of the vessel. It rose smoothly into the air, the sea falling away beneath them.

  He tossed a telescope-like device to Nash. “Keep watch on the waters below. Call me the moment you see the Bloody Sea Trench.”

  “Got it.” Nash pressed the object to his eye and leaned over the rail, scanning the ocean.

  Their first destination was the trench, where they planned to harvest blood coral. Dante and the others had already drawn up a detailed route into the open sea and mapped out their plan.

  Lauren, who had joined them at the last minute, hadn’t been part of those discussions. She busied herself now with their stack of maps and notes, poring over resources on spiritual herbs, minerals, and rare fluids.

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  The sheer amount of research stunned her.

  For years she’d devoured cultivation novels, expecting training trips to unfold like those stories: a cultivator stumbles a step to the left and finds a thousand-year herb; a step to the right, and a demon beast drops two top-grade beast cores into their lap.

  But reality wasn’t like that at all. If rare treasures were easier to find than cabbage, they wouldn’t be rare treasures.

  Out here, success came down to preparation. Dull, painstaking preparation.

  Underachievers always envied others’ harvests, never realizing the hours of research behind every discovery—the careful notes on what herbs grew where, what beasts might appear, and what dangers needed avoiding.

  Wander around like a headless chicken, and you could carry back an entire bag of tools, only to return empty-handed.

  Lauren was still buried in the notes when Dante came to stand beside her.

  “Ms. Lauren, what do you think?”

  Lauren gave him a blunt thumbs-up. “Honestly? It’s completely overturned my understanding.”

  He blinked at her, puzzled by the phrasing. Then, assuming her inexperience was to blame, he offered a kind smile. “It’s your first time out here. Feeling overwhelmed is natural. After a few more journeys, you’ll get used to it.”

  With that, he returned to his seat, picked up the map, and added notes about a deserted island made entirely of rock—an island that, according to his records, housed a striking mermaid. He carefully wrote down what had happened that night and described the differences between male and female mermaids.

  Lauren watched him work and couldn’t help but admire him more.

  So this was what Nash meant when he said they wanted to enrich the sect’s overseas resources.

  A righteous sect didn’t rely on some protagonist with heaven-defying luck to do whatever the hell they wanted, picking fights one day and chasing destiny the next.

  It survived on the backs of countless disciples who went out, endured, recorded, and passed on their knowledge.

  The Overseas Scriptures weren’t just a book—they were the collective effort of generations.

  Each predecessor was a guiding light, a beacon for those who came after.

  “Hey, Dante, come take a look. Isn’t that red?”

  Dante immediately set aside what he was doing and strode to the rail. From that angle, a winding crimson shadow was visible in the depths.

  Lauren glanced down just as a small head poked out from her sleeve. She pushed it back in with her finger.

  “It looks like a dragon.”

  Dante’s expression lit up. “Exactly. That red dragon is the Bloody Sea Trench.”

  “Westin, bring us lower.”

  The flying boat dropped quickly, stopping just ten feet above the water.

  From this height, the sea was startlingly clear. The trench itself stretched like a massive scar across the ocean floor, lined with glowing red coral that shimmered in the sunlight.

  Dante and Nash were already preparing to dive in. They paused and turned back. “Ms. Lauren, are you coming down?”

  Lauren shook her head. “No. You three go.”

  At the helm, Westin grinned. “Then, Ms. Lauren, why don’t you take the controls? I’ll join them.”

  Lauren smiled back. “Sure, I’ll drive the boat. You all go ahead.”

  As soon as the three disappeared into the water, Edmund slipped out of her sleeve.

  “This place… feels familiar.”

  “You know it? Have you been here before?”

  Edmund tilted his head, staring at the sky before muttering, “Did I… make that crater?”

  “What?” Lauren peered down, startled. “You mean this dragon-shaped coral trench? Your real body is that big?”

  “Haven’t you seen my head?”

  It was massive.

  “...” Lauren frowned. “So you smashed this open? And you don’t even remember?”

  “I was half-dead back then,” Edmund said flatly. “Could be I didn’t. Sky-covering Valley is still a long way from here.”

  He climbed onto the edge of the boat to get a better look.

  “Oh no you don’t.” Lauren yanked him back by the tail. “Stay away from the edge. What if you fall? Look at those fish schools—drop down there and you’ll be treated like a worm.”

  “Worms?” Edmund blinked at her, then sighed heavily. “I really have gotten weak.”

  Uh…

  Lauren tried to console him. “Not that weak. You’re still… thicker than a worm.”

  Edmund: “…” Thanks. That helped absolutely nothing.