The little fellow shouted:

"Quiet down!"

As he spoke, he struck the hull of the ship with the broken sword in his hand.

The black, stained blood on the broken sword was vividly red, as if it had come back to life, suppressing the ghost ship and preventing any further movement.

Cao Ya glanced sideways:

"Shi Hao, this sword of yours is quite nice."

The little guy on the boat was none other than Shi Hao.

"That's right! It took me a lot of effort to get my hands on it, Sanren, this sword is pretty powerful, isn't it?" Shi Hao chuckled.

Cao Ya examined the ghost ship, his eyes flickering slightly. The ghost ship came from the future, but it first appeared in ancient times, which is why there are rumors of ghost ships lost in ancient times.

He laughed:

"I heard you're doing quite well. I happened to stop by Stone Village on my way here. Tsk tsk, all those spiritual herbs and fruits... you robbed that major sect, didn't you?"

Shi Hao's eyes widened:

"Sanren, how dare you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?"

He laughed as he spoke, saying with a touch of nostalgia:

"I miss the people of Shicun so much. Are they all doing well?"

Before Cao Ya could answer, he muttered to himself again:

"With Goddess Liu here, there shouldn't be any problems."

Shi Hao had great confidence in Liu Shen and held her in high esteem. In his heart, Liu Shen, like the old clan chief Shi Yunfeng, was one of the most respected and beloved elders.

He respected Cao Ya, the "Wandering Hermit of the Great Wilderness," but he was definitely inferior to Liu Shen.

Cao Ya chatted with Shi Hao for a while and roughly learned how he got to this ghost ship.

After all, it's impossible to remember all of these minor plot points.

Shi Hao, along with a successor and servant of an ancient divine mountain, arrived in the North Sea through a spatial passage. Just like Cao Ya's journey, they crossed the boundless sea, broke through the blockade of the sea venerables, and entered the forbidden sea. As a result, they encountered a ghost ship and terrifying sea creatures, which led to Shi Hao being separated from his companions. The successor of the ancient divine mountain even deliberately provoked the ghost ship, hoping that it would unleash its power and kill the attacking sea creatures, while they kept their distance.

Shi Hao, however, was ignored by them.

Helpless, Shi Hao could only escape to the ghost ship to avoid the terrifying sea creatures. However, the ghost ship emitted a dark light that almost killed him. Fortunately, he had the mysterious and strange broken sword in his hand, which suppressed the ghost ship, allowing him to survive and steer it.

However, Shi Hao said this was the second ghost ship; he hadn't paid attention to the first one, which was almost destroyed by the broken sword.

As he spoke, he recounted some unusual discoveries made on the ghost ship.

"The ghost ship, it's actually a paper boat folded by someone. There's a line of words on the hull: 'I'm all alone now.' I don't know what that means. Is it a cry for help? A sigh?" Shi Hao shook his head, not understanding.

Cao Ya raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't say much, because it was useless; he was only at the Venerable Realm, and even the Supreme Realm couldn't do much.

Shi Hao patted the ghost ship, his eyes wide with amazement, and said:

"This ship is actually just a paper boat, with no special runes. It became a ghost ship because of that one sentence and a delicate bloody finger mark. In the eyes of the world, it is extremely terrifying and people avoid it like the plague."

"It's truly unimaginable just how powerful the woman who left those words and the bloody fingerprint must be?"

Cao Ya asked with a smile:

How can you be sure that it was left by the woman?

Shi Hao scratched his head, avoiding the spot where the fur ball was sleeping, and said:

"The handwriting was delicate, and the fingerprints were not large. Judging from the appearance, it should have been left by a woman."

Shi Hao steered the ghost ship into the depths of the forbidden sea.

Cao Ya then hitched a ride.

Shi Hao said with emotion:

"The Kunpeng Divine Nest is about to emerge. The sealing power is extremely strange and fluctuates constantly. Originally, it would suppress people above the Spirit Transformation Realm, but now that's not necessarily the case."

Cao Ya nodded slightly and said:

"The pressure isn't too strong, and it even loosens occasionally."

After glancing at Cao Ya, Shi Hao felt reassured.

While still in Stone Village, Shi Hao might not have deeply felt the power of the Great Wilderness Hermit. But after leaving Stone Village and entering the Wilderness, he even joined the Great Sect, the Heaven-Mending Pavilion, and competed with the successors of ancient sects and the Primordial Divine Mountain. Only then did Shi Hao truly understand the strength of the Great Wilderness Hermit.

Perhaps it is a venerable one...

Shi Hao thought to himself that this guess was probably true, after all, Cao Ya had personally admitted that he had fought against ancient alien species, which were terrifying beings above the Venerable Realm.

With a venerable figure accompanying him, Shi Hao's initial anxiety instantly subsided.

After all, he knew Cao Ya, the hermit of the Great Wilderness, and the Thunder Spirit Treasure Technique he possessed was taught by Cao Ya.

Shi Hao didn't think much of Cao Ya's decision to leave the Great Wilderness and head to the North Sea.

With the appearance of the ancient divine nest, who can remain calm?

Cao Ya, aboard the ghost ship controlled by Shi Hao with his broken sword, drifted through the sea.

In the following days, Cao Ya occasionally gave Shi Hao some pointers, and he did indeed break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, and even advanced to the Tenth Heaven Cave, which was extremely absurd.

When Cao Ya was promoted, he was at the Ninth Heaven level, and even then, he almost didn't make it through.

But that's already pretty impressive.

It should be noted that a normal cultivator can attempt to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm once they have opened up four cave heavens in the Cave Heaven Realm.

The Ninth and Tenth Grotto-Heavens are basically things that only exist in legends.

Of course, Cao Ya is no longer limited to the ancient and modern methods of the [Perfect World] universe; the power within him originates from multiple systems.

In the vast universe of [Perfect World], different realms sometimes have different paths of cultivation. For example, the cultivation methods in different realms and immortal realms, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and even different eras in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths are different.

The laws of today are called the laws of the present and the laws of the ancient times, while the laws of the ancient times are called the laws of the ancient times.

But frankly speaking, the difference isn't actually that great—it's not so drastic as to be completely disparate.

Even in different worlds and universes, cultivation methods may occasionally have some similarities.

After all, the great paths lead to the same destination.

The two also encountered some cultivators on land, and they moved quickly in one direction.

In addition, many more sea creatures, like pilgrims, flocked there in droves.

There are truly many powerful figures and experts, and an earth-shattering battle is likely to break out. If they all go for the "Kunpeng Treasure Technique", this sea area is destined to be stained red with blood.

"Some guys probably just want to get some opportunities in the Kunpeng Divine Nest, they don't care about the Kunpeng Treasure Technique. One Venerable after another has their eyes on that thing, if you don't have enough strength, getting it will only be a death warrant," Cao Ya said calmly.

Shi Hao's eyes flickered slightly. Judging from this, the rogue was indeed a Venerable Realm expert!

All living beings feared the ghost ship and were unwilling to approach it. Upon seeing it from afar, they would quickly avoid it. Therefore, the two were quite relaxed and safe, and did not encounter any further unexpected situations.

A day later, they approached their destination. In the depths of this forbidden sea, countless creatures roamed, with those of the same race and sect occupying one side. There were also many corpses on the sea surface, with blood flowing freely.

Deeper into the Forbidden Sea, the sounds of battle cries shook the heavens, as powerful beings clashed.