Chapter 273: Chapter 266: A Fallen Holy Hall-level Sea Beast?

Da Yu, Jiuzhou Platform.

"What did he exchange for?"

Elder Zhou asked his assistant while reviewing letters from the Lighthouse and Heijin requesting to purchase Purifying Marrow.

He knew Shi Ming had gone to Da Yu’s Treasure Vault today.

"Elder Zhou, Shi Ming used 1,000 Contribution Points to exchange for a Combat Vest and 500 Contribution Points for a 12-kilogram flesh and blood sample of the Eighteen-winged Python. Aside from that, he didn’t exchange for anything else. He now has 9,500 of his original 11,000 Contribution Points remaining."

"As expected."

Elder Zhou had anticipated this result.

That seed was an item he had placed there intentionally.

He was well aware that Shi Ming didn’t currently have enough Contribution Points to exchange for it.

The seed’s extraordinary aura was exceptionally powerful. Anyone with a discerning eye could clearly sense its uniqueness. But even so, few would be willing to spend 20,000 Contribution Points to buy it, as it was simply too expensive.

But Shi Ming had been very restrained during this offline exchange. Of his 11,000 Contribution Points, he had spent only 1,500, saving the majority. It was obvious he had designs on it.

This was a good thing.

After several encounters, he felt more and more certain that Shi Ming was the "blurry figure" he had sensed.

The most important point was—

The seed he had placed there was the only thing recovered during Jiuding’s exploration of the periphery of the "Collapsed Heavenly Pillar."

The "Collapsed Heavenly Pillar," like the "blurry figure," was a golden fortune. Its precise coordinates were deep inside Mount Everest, impossible to probe with current methods, allowing only for excavation and scientific study on its periphery. Combining the intelligence Da Yu had gathered over the past few months with the Destiny Golden Toad’s senses, Elder Zhou had a bold theory: the so-called "Collapsed Heavenly Pillar" seemed to be a fallen Holy Hall-level Sea Beast...

This conjecture was incredibly bold.

When the idea first occurred to him, Elder Zhou himself had been startled.

But it wasn’t a wild fantasy. There were four main reasons for this:

1. According to the Destiny Golden Toad’s detection records from the past thirty years, even the 6th-ranked S-level sea beast and the 11th-ranked Wondrous Item had not surpassed the category of purple fortune. For a fortune to qualitatively transform into gold, it had to be either a Holy Hall-level Sea Beast or an extremely high-ranking Wondrous Item.

2. Several special locations had been faintly detected on Mount Everest, which appeared to be vents from within the mountain. A massive amount of life aura surged from them, even giving rise to a Wondrous Item rich in Life Power called "Jade in the Snowy Peak." Its energy fluctuations were, in a sense, extremely similar to those of the Great Black Heaven Dragon beneath Fujing Mountain.

3. Despite the presence of Life Power, no aura of any large, living creature could be detected within Mount Everest.

4. A collapsed pillar holds the symbolic meaning of a fall from grace. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

One could be bold with theories, but one had to be careful with verification.

As a helmsman of Da Yu, he had to be extremely cautious.

Unfortunately for Da Yu, these two golden fortunes, the "Collapsed Heavenly Pillar" and the "blurry figure"—both comparable to the "Great Stele"—had currently hit a dead end. They had only theories, with no clear breakthrough point.

Elder Zhou hoped Shi Ming could bring about a new chemical reaction.

He was also working to push this forward.

To that end, he wasn’t afraid to use some slightly more aggressive methods.

He had even overruled objections to show him that seed.

"Have Rong Bing recommend some missions to him recently, ones where he can earn Contribution Points."

Elder Zhou put down the letter.

"Tell Trellin of the [Lighthouse] that Da Yu has already promised to donate the surplus Purifying Marrow to [Heijin] to help them seal the Nameless Cocoon. We have none left. If the Lighthouse is in urgent need, tell them to purchase it from Shi Ming, or wait for the Bodhi Tree of Suffering to produce new Purifying Marrow, which will likely take about three years."

"Yes, Elder Zhou."

...

...

...

’So cool!’

’This Combat Vest is a perfect fit for me! Besides adding 30 points of external Defense Power, it can also adjust its shape to my body, mimic various skin tones, insulate against filth and energy contamination, and self-clean. It saves so much trouble!’

Shi Ming looked at his reflection in the mirror. The vest fit snugly, outlining the perfect physique he had honed through combat.

He was very satisfied with his new equipment.

He had spent 1,500 Contribution Points at the Treasure Vault this time.

’Whatever Da Yu’s reason for placing that seed in front of me, I have my own reasons for needing to acquire it. As a sharp former member of an organization, I can guess nine times out of ten that the seed was probably only visible and available for exchange to me.’

’This isn’t a bad thing.’

’Ever since the banquet, when Elder Zhou from Da Yu’s Jiuzhou Platform went out of his way to secretly use the "Veiled Radiance" technique on me, I’ve known that Da Yu has been keeping an eye on me in some way.’

’The biggest difference between humans and sea beasts is that humans know how to leverage power.’

’Da Yu is leveraging power.’

’And so am I.’

’Leveraging power can make things much more convenient, as long as I can ensure I won’t be backstabbed.’

Shi Ming wasn’t afraid of being backstabbed. He believed that Elder Zhou and the decision-makers at Jiuzhou Platform were not shortsighted people.

On his way back from Da Yu’s Treasure Vault, he had also stopped by the Xirang Branch. He’d unreservedly shown his Divine Revelation Stele to Chongwen and the others for them to study. Upon seeing the real thing, Chongwen confirmed that the stele shared the same origin as the Mount Everest Stele and said he would take the lead in pushing for a plan for Da Yu and Xirang Headquarters to acquire it.

Seizing the opportunity, Shi Ming expressed his desire to view Da Yu’s "holographic projection of the Great Stele."

A mutual viewing: you look at mine, I’ll look at yours.

It was only natural.

Chongwen agreed to this small request, but it also needed to "go through the proper channels." Maintaining the holographic stele consumed a massive amount of energy, and the environment at the Mount Everest Summit remained harsh. Therefore, only a portion of the stele was projected at the Da Yu branch—the part Chongwen and his team were currently working to decipher: *A Look at the Wondrous Items of the Endless Sea Region (Part 1)*.

In the time to come, Shi Ming would devote himself completely to exploring the [Moon Shadow] while waiting for good news from Xirang.

...

On the Moon Shadow, aside from the private coffers and the warehouse, there were three areas worthy of attention.

The Hall of Fame, the Frost Pavilion, and the main control console.

The Hall of Fame displayed the portraits of eight women, all leaders of the Snow Country organization. Hung highest of all were the "Snow Country Empress," Catherine, and the "2D Girl," Pandoria. They were both from Big Ivan, yet they were constantly wanted by [Katyusha]. Shi Ming had checked Katyusha’s bounty system over the past two days; the Empress’s bounty was 5,000 Pure Dome Crystals, and Pandoria’s was 3,000.

The bounties for the other minor leaders varied, ranging from 300 to 1,000 Pure Dome Crystals.

’Too bad I can’t collect these bounties.’

’I’ll just have to be a silent good Samaritan!’

The Empress had escaped, not died, and Pandoria had left no body behind after being killed by the Abyss Lord’s corruption. To claim the bounties, one had to provide proof of the kill, which Shi Ming couldn’t produce. As for the minor leaders left on the Moon Shadow, their defense was too low to resist absolute zero. They had been frozen into ice sculptures, their bodies vitrified, then collapsed and distorted during the slow-thawing process, leaving them completely unrecognizable. Naturally, their bounties couldn’t be collected either.

The Frost Pavilion was the Snow Country’s administrative hub, storing a vast amount of intelligence and records of various underwater dealings.

Assassinations, trafficking, assassin training, the slave trade...

The Moon Shadow truly lived up to its shady name.

What surprised Shi Ming was that the Empress, Catherine, had been a victim of the slave trade herself. She was captured at age seven and sold to the Moon Shadow’s auxiliary wandering ship, the [Ice Lake]. She suffered endless hardships but survived a brutal, survival-of-the-fittest upbringing, gradually gaining favor. At thirteen, using stealth and cunning, she stole the awakening power of the S-level Baikal Sea Serpent right from under the nose of the unprepared previous captain of the Moon Shadow. She then ruthlessly slaughtered her predecessor, staged a successful coup, and spent the next three years conquering the captain’s authority over the Moon Shadow.

The Dragon Slayer became the new dragon.

After the Empress came to power, the Moon Shadow became even more unscrupulous.

Over more than a decade, it had accumulated vast wealth. The liquid assets stored on the ship alone amounted to 7,500 Pure Dome Crystals.

Now, it had all fallen into Shi Ming’s hands.

Of course, the most precious items were the Sailing Crystal Stone "Sailing Star" from the main control console, and another one, the "Sailing Heart," which he found in the warehouse. Unfortunately, despite searching the entire ship, Shi Ming didn’t find any Wondrous Items like an "Ivan Matryoshka." It seemed the Empress carried all her valuable treasures with her and didn’t leave them on the ship.

With the help of the Eye of the World, Shi Ming conducted a top-to-bottom search of the general-class wandering ship. His loot was roughly as follows.

1. 7,500 Pure Dome Crystals, and countless other Sea Crystal Stones.

2. One Sailing Star and one Sailing Heart.

3. A large amount of secret intelligence. This could actually be exchanged for bounties at Katyusha.

4. Various high-end equipment, collectibles, and works of art. The most famous was a large oil painting titled *Trotsky in Poland*. In the Wandering Era, the value of art was greatly diminished, but every little bit added up.

5. A map of the Endless Ice Sea in the Extreme North. It had a peculiar location marked on it, only about 40 nautical miles from the North Pole. The map’s coordinates yielded no information, but the Eye of the World indicated that the map was made from the fur of the S-level sea beast, the Duo Xin Silver Fox.

Additionally, if he sold the remaining wreckage of the Moon Shadow and the other equipment damaged by the extreme cold, he could probably net another 5,000 Pure Dome Crystals.

The Snow Country was a secret organization passed down from the Land Era. Now, the majority of its foundation—tens of thousands of Pure Dome Crystals—all belonged to Shi Ming.

’Thanks for the gift, Empress.’