After receiving the Dream of Salmon’s most lavish hospitality, Shi Ming piloted the *Da Yun*, fully loaded with parting gifts, and departed the area.

He had already planned his next route.

His destination was Fujing Mountain, but he wouldn’t be sailing in a straight line to save time. Instead, he would detour through the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Silence and revisit the waters under the jurisdiction of the King-level Wandering Ship, *Heijin*.

He wanted to see that "investment bug," the Nameless Cocoon, again.

This wouldn’t take too much time.

’Hopefully, the Abyss Lord won’t welcome me with malicious tentacles this time.’

As the saying goes, sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the woodcutting. Shi Ming planned to ask the Nameless Cocoon and see if he could squeeze out some intelligence on the Great Black Heaven Dragon. The Nameless Cocoon had lived for countless eons; perhaps it held information about this Holy Hall-level Sea Beast deep within its memories. He could then combine that with the intelligence from the Eye of the World to aid his next move.

For an act like fleecing a Holy Hall Sea Beast, the more intelligence one had, the higher the chance of success.

After that, he would sail along the Equator, bypassing the great maelstrom in Ah San’s Old Domain, to reach the waters of Fujing Mountain.

After completing the commission, he could also swing by the waters guarded by Da Yu.

’Might as well, since I’ll already be in the area.’

’And maybe I’ll get a chance to read that thirty-three-thousand-character Mysterious Stele?’

...

But before that, he needed to finish crafting the "Third Law" skill he obtained from the Phaseless Pure Ice, forging a zero-entropy weapon. Otherwise, this S-rank skill would be an empty shell, its effects greatly reduced.

The Third Law,

Ranked 29th!

In physics, the key statement of the "Third Law of Thermodynamics" is—when the temperature approaches absolute zero, the "entropy" of any pure substance in a perfect crystalline form will approach zero.

The skill [The Third Law] would, through the already existing zero-entropy crystal "Phaseless Pure Ice," manifest the power of "absolute zero"!

The Phaseless Pure Ice had already merged into Shi Ming’s body, becoming the skill’s "primordial embryo."

To use this skill more effectively, he still needed to forge the primordial embryo into a sharp weapon—

He had to use his Spiritual Power to give the Phaseless Pure Ice a "phase," forging a weapon of absolute zero. This weapon could remain fused within his body and be drawn out in combat as a terrifying trump card.

This was the essence of the 29th-ranked S-rank skill.

"Bestowing the phase" was especially simple.

It was more like modeling.

With Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power, in less than an hour, the Phaseless Pure Ice that had merged into his body had transformed into a blade of similar length to the King Slayer, but with an appearance more in line with Shi Ming’s aesthetic.

It was crystalline and translucent, like the clearest object in the world.

To look at it, one would think it was a work of art.

But Shi Ming knew its temperature was unimaginably low.

A truly devastating weapon.

No carbon-based lifeform could possibly face it directly.

Only Shi Ming, who had endured 120 seconds of life-and-death torment, could be immune to its temperature.

Next came the hardest part: naming it.

’Hmm... I need to give this blade a name.’

Shi Ming thought for a long time.

This crystalline weapon, the very essence of the Third Law brought to near absolute zero, felt like a frigid chill frozen for ten thousand years.

’Why not call it—’

Great Cold!

Now that Great Cold had a physical form, its extremely low temperature meant it couldn’t exist in the outside world for long. It needed to be housed in a part of his body so it could be drawn at a moment’s notice in battle. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Shi Ming considered storing it in his right arm. That would make it faster and more natural to deploy in a fight. But as he tried, he discovered to his frustration that the blade wouldn’t merge. The Right Arm Red Pattern already dominated that area, making it impossible for any other energy to take root.

’From a practical standpoint, maybe I could keep it at my waist?’

’Or maybe my chest? My abdomen?’

’But drawing a blade from my chest... hmm, that doesn’t feel right.’

’Drawing it from my stomach... that would look like I was committing seppuku.’

’The left arm it is!’

In battle, he would only need to touch his hands together to "draw" Great Cold and unleash a devastating strike!

And with that, the decision was happily made!

He decided to find a "lucky" B-rank or higher sea beast out on the open sea to test out the blade and get a feel for the new skill.

...

The Map of the Endless Sea was at its most effective in Shi Ming’s hands. In less than thirty minutes, he found a suitable target for practice—a B-rank sea beast with a sturdy carapace that looked like a giant crab.

Whoa!

At that moment, it was brandishing its claws, looking as if it had just found its prey.

’Good, very spirited!’ Shi Ming thought.

Shi Ming touched his hands together. With a mere thought, Great Cold slid from his left arm. In an instant, a flash of pure white seemed to stain the ocean, and the distant crew members felt a sudden, irrepressible chill wash over them.

CRACKLE CRACKLE.

Shards of ice began to form in the seawater.

The crab-like sea beast froze for a second. Then, with a start, it twisted around and dove into the half-frozen water to escape. But Shi Ming gave it no such chance. He gripped Great Cold in his right hand, teleported in a flash, and unleashed a boundless slash through the air!

WHOOSH!

In an instant, a glittering, silver-white ribbon of frost appeared over the ocean,

like the Milky Way stretching across the vast sky.

A river of ice materialized in the azure sea. Within it, the seven-meter-long crab was frozen in a mere instant. The areas directly touched by the cold vitrified, turning into amorphous ice. Its life signs vanished instantly before the razor-sharp energy of the slash shattered it in two.

Utterly terrifying!

Shi Ming felt his Spiritual Power being rapidly consumed.

*Hooo...*

This weapon could not exist in the outside world for more than 60 seconds in a single day. If he completely overdrew his Spiritual Power, he could barely reach 120 seconds.

He withdrew Great Cold. The zero-entropy weapon returned to his body, no longer consuming power.

The frozen parts of the B-rank sea beast’s corpse were now worthless. The blood had denatured in the extreme cold; even if thawed, it would hold no energy. Fortunately, its seven-meter-long body was large enough that plenty of its blood was still active in the unfrozen parts.

Shi Ming observed the giant crab’s wound, assessing the power of that last strike.

’A strike like that... if I find the right opportunity, it should be able to deal effective damage even to a Holy Hall-level Sea Beast like the Great Black Heaven Dragon, right?’

According to the intelligence he had previously obtained from the Eye of Intelligence, the Great Black Heaven Dragon had nine heads, one of which was a regenerative head. But just cutting off the regenerative head could not kill it. One needed to simultaneously sever all nine heads to completely annihilate this Holy Hall Sea Beast.

’That’s going to be very difficult.’

Shi Ming didn’t know how large the Great Black Heaven Dragon was.

If it was anything like the Abyss Lord, which could easily stretch for over a thousand meters, severing all nine of its heads in a single strike would be monumentally difficult.

’Thankfully, this mission is just to take a small piece of its body for a skill evolution while it’s sleeping to complete the commission.’

’No direct confrontation is necessary.’

...

...

...

「Fujing Mountain.」

The General-level Wandering Ship, the *Renhuang*.

"Your Majesty, news from the Lighthouse. They will set sail in seven days, heading for our waters."

"..."

The aged Renhuang sat on his throne, looking as if all his strength had deserted him.

For the past month, rumors about Fujing Mountain had been spreading like wildfire. Old rivals like the Damin, Luzon, and the Eastern Domain were stirring restlessly. To make matters worse, Da Yu’s Xirang Research Institute had released news about the "Sea-Rising Cherry Root." Every spear was now pointed at Fujing Mountain.

’Without an S-rank Awakened to hold the fort, how could they possibly defend these waters?’

Moreover, his son, the Prince who had piloted the Beheading Great Saber to hunt the White Dragon Whale, was also dead. When he inquired with Quert of Constantinople, the man simply said that Prince Wude had died at the hands of a suddenly-appearing S-rank sea beast, and there was nothing he could have done.

He was beset by threats from within and without.

Now, he had no other choice.