<b>Chapter 1202: Untethered Vessel</b>
Li Qiye ignored the others and remounted the Archdevil Armored Shark before shouting: “Go!”
With that, the shark issued a roar and rushed for the Bottomless Trench before disappearing into its dark abyss.
“What does he want to do?” A while later, many people calmed down and began to murmur among themselves.
Ye Tu's and Teng Jiwen's minds returned as well. It was already too late when they thought about following him. In fact, the two of them couldn't catch up to the shark's speed anyway.
Ye Tu looked at Teng Jiwen and asked: “What is this about?”
Teng Jiwen replied by shaking his head: “I don't know either. His actions aren't something you and me can speculate. Maybe it has something to do with the Seacrossing Shuttle. We will have to wait until he returns to find out.”
Teng Jiwen had learned about the shark from an ancient scroll from his citadel. However, he didn't truly understand the mysteries involved.
Li Qiye made the shark go to the deepest part of the trench. Its depth was truly of an unfathomable magnitude. Some even said that there was no bottom. Who knew where its base was located?
The shark cut through the trench's waves for a long time.
“Crash!” Eventually, it slammed into a cliff and swiftly rushed inside. At this moment, splashing sounds came about, as if the shark had just leaped out of the sea and into the sky.
It entered a different space, a lonely space without stars, a sun or a moon; only the coldness of the void existed here. Not even time was present, it was a land of eternal banishment.
In this chilling space was a huge naval shuttle seemingly capable of freely crossing through the ocean.
It had an ancient bronze hue, as if it was cast from plain bronze. It had been in this icy void for so long that it was covered with patina and was near the point of rusting.
This gigantic shuttle had two doors to its left and right with many runes and totems on them. They were too archaic to be understood. Outside of the four doors, nothing else could be found. Alas, the ship wouldn't be particularly eye-catching if placed anywhere else.
However, Li Qiye was attracted by this shuttle. His gaze tightly toured over it before murmuring: “Oh, my Untethered Vessel. How can the world know your worth? Only those who don't understand your value would call you the 'Seacrossing Shuttle'!”
People in the Heaven Spirit World had spotted this vessel before, and not on just one occasion. These people gave it the name Seacrossing Shuttle.
The name meant that it could be used to traverse through the bottomless trench, but no one knew if this was true or not. [1. Bottomless Trench's raw is actually Bottomless Marine Trench, but I felt that the sea part was implied already, so its left out.]
However, Li Qiye knew of its real name, the Untethered Vessel! It concealed a great secret involving an ancient race from an unknown era.
Li Qiye told the armored shark: “Go on, pull it out. I will need it to open the portal.”
The shark swam before the shuttle. Its armor began to clank as universal laws emerged on them.
These universal laws came together to form two huge chains that coiled around the Untethered Vessel.
“Rumble—” The shark dragged the vessel outside. The sounds blaring from the slow process made it seem quite heavy. However, Li Qiye was not in a rush as he patiently waited. This was not the first time this had happened.
In the past, he had seen through the secret of the armored shark before. Whenever the Seacrossing Shuttle appeared in the Heaven Spirit World, it was Li Qiye forcing the shark to drag it out.
This was not a simple shark but a type of sealed creature. Because of this, it hid among the needlefish. Of course, the emergence of the shuttle required the shark. In this sense, the shark existed to pull the vessel.
“Whoosh!” The shark finally dragged the vessel out of this icy void. With the splashing of waves, the vessel entered the Bottomless Trench once again.
At this time, it was floating in the ocean's currents. Ordinary people wouldn't feel anything while standing next to it, but Li Qiye could feel strands of power from the trench entering the vessel.
He gently patted the shark's head and took off the laws that were latched onto its cheeks and emotionally said: “Go, maybe you will be able to wait for that day and break through your seal to restore your true form. I will wait for you to pull the Untethered Vessel all the way to the nine heavens towards your desired destination!”
“Rawrr!” The shark roared towards Li Qiye as if it was very dissatisfied at being forced to carry out this task. Nevertheless, it still didn't attack Li Qiye. It flipped its great tail and swam into the deepest depths of the trench, disappearing from sight right away.
The Untethered Vessel slowly rose while continuing forward at a slow speed. Its course ran along the trench, as if it had been predetermined.
Li Qiye watched without interfering for he knew that acting was useless. Its deep ties with the Bottomless Trench made it impossible to influence, regardless of how powerful the intruders might be.
Unless the person was powerful enough to move the entire trench, there was no way of changing the vessel's trajectory. In fact, this was simply impossible. Even a star plucker or a sun-and-moon crusher wouldn't be able to move the trench.
The Bottomless Trench was not a simple marine chasm at all.
Li Qiye didn't wait for the slow vessel. He turned and rushed out of the trench in order to meet up with Ye Tu and Teng Jiwen.
The duo heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Li Qiye fine and well.
Ye Tu curiously asked after seeing Li Qiye returning by himself: “Young Noble, where is the Archdevil Armored Shark?”
Li Qiye smiled and said: “It has left to go back from whence it came.”
The two of them were slightly puzzled and curious. After spending so much effort to catch the shark, he actually released it. They had no clue as to what Li Qiye wanted to do.
“You will find out later.” Li Qiye told the two of them: “Okay, we'll go back to Shallow Beach for now. I promised that Sunflower geezer that I would teach something to you. Ye Tu, go back and ask your old men about when I will be able to see the ancestral whale.”
With that, he walked away with the duo right behind him.
“What is that?” In the next few days, many cultivators were busy catching the needlefish. There were truly too many of them; it seemed impossible to catch them all. Because of this, they became less and less precious.
On this day, a huge shadow slowly surfaced from the bottomless trench. It was a huge marine shuttle that slowly inched forward.
In a short amount of time, many people stopped as they watched on in a daze as it floated by.
“What is this thing?” The crowd was surprised to see the gigantic shuttle.
These cultivators couldn't be considered big shots at all. Most of them were ordinary disciples from large and small sects alike. Some were even vagabonds, so they didn't know what this huge shuttle was.
“Seacrossing Shuttle!” Eventually, an old cultivator who looked like an old mortal shouted: “It is the legendary Seacrossing Shuttle! It is here again!”
“What is this Seacrossing Shuttle?” Other cultivators were still lost after hearing this old man. They had never heard this name before, let alone knowing what it was about.
“According to legend, the Seacrossing Shuttle can reach the 'Charming Fragmented Realm'!”
“Charming Fragmented Realm…” Dao Attendant Lin and Yan Yanglong from the great lineages were astounded to hear this. They finally knew what this ship ahead was.
They turned and left in order to send messages to their sects about the appearance of the shuttle.