We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 273 Breakthrough to Fifth Tier! Hidden Class—[Secret Sea Traveler!]

"Farewell, may we meet again in the martial world..."

Yan Yan silently pondered these words, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the state he was in when he first met Xia En.

Then, Yan Yan opened his palm, and a butterfly formed from flames fluttered down and landed on the Black Swan.

The butterfly left a strange mark the moment it touched the deck.

The butterfly pattern inside was still subtly shifting, as if it were breathing.

In the blink of an eye, the butterfly imprint merged into the hull of the Black Swan and quickly disappeared.

"I originally thought that this parting would be the last."

Yan Yan said, "But thinking about it now, that would be too lonely."

"This mark contains a part of my power, but it will also reconnect our destinies."

"It may cause you considerable trouble in the future."

Yan Yan's original plan was to sever all contact with the Black Swan and cease all communication.

With the return of the "King of Cinder," various forces will inevitably want to know about him, and even enemies will come knocking on his door.

The isolated and helpless Black Swan is undoubtedly an excellent entry point.

To put it bluntly, compared to the Lord of Cinder's former enemies, the Black Swan is currently too weak.

Even the aftershocks of this major event are enough to leave the Black Swan ship battered and bruised.

Maintaining distance and never seeing each other again is the wise decision.

Yan Yan even planned to use some special secret technique to sever the threads of fate between the two sides, so that other forces would not be aware of the existence of the [Black Swan].

But after hearing Xia En's message, Yan Yan changed his mind.

He didn't want to sever this bond and these memories.

Even so, he didn't know whether this decision was right or wrong.

Yan Yan looked at the people on the ship and said, "Please pass on a few words to Captain Xia En."

“Even now, I still consider myself a crew member of the Black Swan, and Mr. Shane is still my captain.”

"My destination is the far north."

"Perhaps we will meet again there!"

After saying that, Yan Yan waved his hand, stopped lingering, and turned to step onto the deck of the Black Flame.

Soon, the towering bow of the Black Flame cut through the waves, its fluttering flags dancing in the air, and it sailed off into the distance.

The people aboard the Black Swan were filled with a sense of loss.

Regardless, Yan Yan eventually left.

Moreover, it's unknown when we'll meet again.

The future is always uncertain.

It was as if no one expected Yan Yan to leave today.

This inevitably made people feel somewhat depressed, as if a dark cloud was hanging over the Black Swan.

"If only the captain were here..."

Joey's low murmur echoed the sentiments of the crew.

"Captain, how much longer until we return?"

……

……

In the pitch-black, empty space.

Xia En's "body" was curled up in a ball, his consciousness was hazy, and he was in a state between dreaming and waking.

He was much weaker than he was at the beginning of the promotion ceremony.

Both the total amount and quality of the secret power were worn down to an extremely weak state in this space.

The worst part is that...

Xia En's consciousness was no longer as clear as it had been at the beginning.

In the process of trying to assimilate the barrier of nothingness with the Great Dark Heaven, his mind was also being assimilated by nothingness.

The meaning of "nothingness" is that there is nothing, nothing exists.

Senses, memory, emotion, thought...

These personal characteristics seemed to be constantly being stripped away from Xia En.

For a moment, Shane even felt as if he had become nothingness itself.

Is it really so bad to just sink completely into this darkness?
But deep down, there was always a voice reminding him.

"He has to wake up!"

"Your ship, your crew, are waiting for you!"

"Your name is Xia En, a man destined to conquer the sea!"

This self-hypnosis allowed Shane to barely maintain his last shred of rationality.

Time passed by silently.

until a certain moment.

Shaen's secret power seemed to have finally touched the "frequency" of this "nothingness" and triggered an unprecedented resonance.

hum-

Amidst the violent tremors, the barrier formed by [nothingness] began to crumble silently, and the resistance gradually dissipated.

In reality, this barrier still exists.

However, for Shane, it had already become part of his "body" and was no longer an obstacle.

It was as if a whole new world had opened its doors to Shane.

Immediately afterwards, countless phantoms suddenly surged out of the boundless darkness, and chaotic fragments of light and shadow swept in like a storm, filling his reason.

Amidst this deluge of information, scenes flashed through Xia En's mind—

In the endless darkness of the deep sea, some enormous and terrifying body is slowly growing and expanding.

An ancient and chilling gaze fell from the deep sea upon the city-state; it was the gaze of an indescribable ancient god, coldly sweeping over all living beings in the mortal world.

In the distant sky, an unimaginably enormous sphere of light constantly radiates dazzling light, illuminating the world.

One after another, deities whose faces were obscured were born in ignorance and existed in indescribable forms.

The ancient dragon roared among the mountains.

The fairies danced in the forest.

Countless races rose and fell, grew strong and perished; this process, sped up tens of thousands of times, appeared spectacular and bizarre.

However, as the viewing angle continues to zoom in and out.

Xia En saw that all of this was taking place in a giant bubble of light, shrouded in a halo of light.

Beyond this bubble of light lies the deep and boundless ocean.

Countless similar light bubbles, like twinkling stars, are scattered throughout the deep sea.

Seeing this scene, Xia En was greatly shocked, and his mind was filled with a huge storm.

He understood many things in an instant.

Without a doubt, this deep sea filled with countless stars is the "Secret Sea" he once explored!
In people's conventional understanding, the [Secret Sea] is a part of this world, which is not only the source of power for many secret practitioners, but also hides many mysterious [Secret Realms] and deities.

Based on what Xia En saw, it wasn't difficult for him to draw a conclusion—

In fact, the world where Nanami lives is just a larger bubble of light within the [Secret Sea].

It's not fundamentally different from those "secret realms"!
Their supposedly magnificent history, the changes in races and the evolution of civilizations, is nothing more than a story that happened in a bubble of light.

One can imagine the terrible shock that would be caused if this truth were to spread throughout the Seven Seas.

As a time traveler, Xia En inevitably thought of more things.

Since this world is a bubble of light within the [Secret Sea].

So, are there civilizations in other light bubbles that are no less advanced than those in the Seven Seas World?

Was the Earth world where Shane once lived also a member of the light bubble?
Even though these were just guesses, they still deeply moved Xia En, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.

at this time.

Shane suddenly felt a kind of "gaze".

It wasn't like a gaze, nor any will with a clear origin. He felt as if he were being stared at by time itself.

Something older than history, larger than city-states, and seemingly from the deepest part of this [Secret Sea]... is watching me.

There was no emotion, no malice, and no goodwill in that "gaze".

He simply watched.

Like a cold, empty shell, it watched an uninvited guest who had stumbled into this place in a daze, and said indifferently—

【You came.】

boom! ! !
A deafening roar echoed through Xia En's consciousness, as his remaining rationality collapsed and then reformed.

The darkness from all sides seemed to be receding.

Some invisible things that were slowly wriggling and deforming in the darkness seemed to be gradually condensing and transforming into physical forms.

They look like withered tree branches, bridging and converging in the void, connecting those star-like points and traces of light, vaguely possessing some special pattern.

"Is this... a connection between different [Secret Realms]?"

As Xia En's consciousness gradually cleared, he pondered, "Could that will just now be the [Will of the Secret Sea] that Augustine spoke of?"

Emotionless, mechanical, and like an empty shell.

That "gaze" indeed fulfilled the description of the [Secret Sea Will].

However, Xia En couldn't immediately discern what these indescribable, branch-like things represented.

wow-

Suddenly, the sound of waves reached Xia En's ears.

This is not a sound imagined in one's mind, but a real sound.

This also means that Xia En's five senses have returned.

This also indicates that he successfully completed the promotion ceremony!
Xia En suddenly felt a sense of grounding, and a surge of joy rose in his heart.

After enduring so much suffering, the good times are finally over!

Immediately afterwards, a wave from the [Secret Sea] descended upon him.

Under the influence of the vast and abundant secret power, several prompts appeared before Xia En's eyes.

[Complete the trial mission: Break through the world barrier!]

[Promotion ceremony complete!]

[Hidden Path Job: Secret Sea Traveler (Tier 5)!]

Xia En couldn't help but twitch his lips.

The promotion ceremony was already over before they told him the details of the trial mission. That's outrageous!

Moreover, the [Void] barrier he broke through earlier was actually a "world barrier"?

But think about it carefully.

Given the name of the profession "Secret Sea Traveler," he must possess the ability to break through the barriers of the world in order to truly walk in the "Secret Sea."

—Of course, Shane actually used a trick, adjusting his secret power to a frequency close to that of the barrier, and passed through it.

No wonder that forcing a breakthrough didn't work.

That's the barrier of a world, something Xia En can't do now.

You have received a gift from the "Secret Sea"!

Your personal attributes have been increased!

[Overall Qualifications: 9.5 → 12!]

[Unlock the exclusive talent for "Seawalker": Hidden Trails!]

[Quality: Legend]

[Description: You have received the blessing of the "Will of the Mystic Sea".]

Divination, curses, and fate-related spells will not work against you, and outsiders will have difficulty pinpointing your location.

When you are being watched by certain beings from the "Secret Sea," your presence will be significantly reduced.

[Maintaining secrecy is the key to surviving longer in the "Sea of ​​Secrets".]

……

……

[Unlock the exclusive talent for "Sea Walker": Eyes of the Secrets!]

[Quality: Epic]

[Description: You have observed the thoughts of the "Will of the Secret Sea".]

You can see things that ordinary people cannot.

While traversing the "Secret Sea," you can glimpse partial information about certain "Secret Realms."

The closer your connection to the world you live in, the more complete the information about the "hidden realms" you will see.

Remember, do not look into anything you shouldn't be looking at.

……

Each exploration of a different "secret realm" will slightly increase your class compatibility.

Career fit: 0%

……

……

"These two talents..."

Xia En carefully read through the descriptions, his expression becoming somewhat subtle.

First of all, the strength of these two talents is absolutely top-notch.

The former directly gave Shane a powerful buff, making him immune to curses and other secret arts.

To be honest, Shane is usually not afraid of head-on combat.

If you really can't win, you can always run away.

However, curses are difficult to guard against, especially as one's rank increases, the curses wielded by the Mystic become increasingly bizarre and dangerous.

Organizations like the "Truth Society" clearly possess methods such as location tracking and divination.

Last time, Jia Xiu, the "Thousand Transformers," inexplicably approached the "Black Swan," nearly causing a major disaster.

It is clearly necessary to make some preparations in advance.

Moreover, what's truly important about this talent is probably its second effect.

It allows Xia En to avoid many dangers when traveling in the [Secret Sea].

Xia Enke hadn't forgotten that when she first explored the [Secret Sea], she encountered an incredibly large creature.

As for the [Eye of Secrets]...

The description of this talent left Shane somewhat confused.

"What do you mean by observing the thoughts of the [Secret Sea]?"

Xia En couldn't help but think of those strange branches, and suddenly it dawned on him—

That kind of thing may not actually exist.

What he saw was likely just a fleeting thought of the [Will of the Secret Sea] at a particular moment.

This idea, so strongly imprinted here, transformed into the massive structure he saw.

Upon further reflection...

Those tree branches connected many points of light together.

This might mean that there is a special connection between these "secret realms".

For example, a certain "secret realm" is derived from another "secret realm".

For example, in a certain "secret realm", the inhabitants are humans who migrated from other "secret realms".

With this talent, Shane can sift through the endless points of light to find those [Secret Realms] related to the [Seven Seas World].

This can greatly reduce the time wasted exploring ineffective [Secret Realms].

It's also a very useful talent.

The only thing that Xia En was dissatisfied with was...

Both of these talents are abilities that assist in exploring the [Secret Sea], and do not directly improve actual combat power.

(End of this chapter)