[Vol. 7] Chapter 4: Breaking Through the Sea
As Violet thought about this, she suddenly remembered something Sethlin had once mentioned back in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains Range. It was about a unique structure where different worlds overlap, forming a massive multi-layered dimensional construct.
The Origin Realm, known as the birthplace of ‘creation’, once had more gods and greater interaction with the outside world compared to the Ancient Spirit Realm. Even though the Goddess of Earth herself rarely traveled between realms, learning about such concepts was quite easy for her.
If what was said was true, then the spatial structure between two worlds was like two sides of a box overlapping. This made Ming Lan’s idea of "diving into the sea" much more reasonable.
“So, how exactly do we do this? Explain it clearly first. The [Noah’s Ark] has a lot of functions, but turning into a submarine isn’t one of them.”
Hearing the key question, Ming Lan set aside his usual playful attitude and nodded seriously.
“If we follow the usual methods of the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild, we would first seal and protect the entire ship using a large barrier. Then, we would dive into the sea at a specific point.”
“But as you all know, in the deep sea, water pressure increases rapidly with depth. The deeper we go, the more strain the barrier has to withstand. And the space between worlds is constantly shifting. Even experienced travelers can't say for sure how deep we need to go before we can successfully cross over.”
“If we stay in the deep sea for too long and the protective barrier breaks, the water pressure will crush everything. Any being below the [Seeker of Immortality] realm would have no chance of survival.”
“That’s why the protection needs to be extremely strong. Even with the wealth of Spirit Veil Immortal Island, gathering the materials to create a one-time-use barrier generator takes a long time. It’s the only way to ensure a safe crossing.”
Understanding the explanation, the priestess nodded slightly.
“Hmm… so instead of making the ship swim around like a fish, we just need to dive straight down in a fixed direction without stopping. That sounds about right, doesn’t it?”
“That’s the general idea,” Violet murmured after a moment of thought.
“If the problem is just resisting the pressure and intrusion of seawater, I can handle that. But how do we make the ship dive straight down like a deep-sea torpedo? [Noah’s Ark] wasn’t designed for that,” Violet said.
Ming Lan nodded. “Our usual method is to hang a high-density weight outside the protective barrier, letting it drag the ship downward. It’s a bit of a crude approach, but it gets the job done…”
“Wait, hold on…!”
Suddenly struck by an idea, the black-haired girl turned toward a certain swordswoman who had been silently listening but hadn’t contributed much to the discussion. Their eyes met, and she blinked playfully.
“Hongyan, have you been practicing what I taught you?”
“Huh? Oh… yeah. Your method was really effective. Ever since we came back from that underground world, my spiritual sense, which used to feel vague and unreliable, has become much clearer. I can now create traces of that power, though I haven’t had the chance to test it properly since we’ve been on the ship…”
The troublemaker in the group immediately grinned with satisfaction.
“Well, perfect timing! Now you have the ideal opportunity to practice. You can keep using it until you run out of strength~”
Having been completely left out of the conversation and unable to find a way to jump in, Le Qiaoqiao finally couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Boss… What on earth are you guys talking about?! Diving? Opportunities? I understand every single word you’re saying, but when you put them together, I have no idea what’s going on!”
“Don’t worry, you’ll understand soon enough.”
……………………………
After that, [Noah’s Ark] continued sailing across the increasingly silent ocean for more than a day. Eventually, the concentration of spiritual energy in the air dropped to nearly zero, and even beneath the waves, there were barely any visible creatures left.
Finally, the ship came to a gradual stop.
This was it, the destination marked on Spirit Veil Immortal Island’s sea chart.
The interdimensional rift leading to the Origin Realm lay ahead.
As mentioned before, every connected world has its own unique way of crossing over, and this place was no exception. It had some strange rules. One of them was that only objects that are considered "ships" can pass through the rift.
In other words, if someone simply tried to dive into the ocean alone, even if they endured the pressure and reached the very bottom of the sea, nothing would happen.
That’s why they had to come by ship.
After making all the necessary preparations, ensuring that everyone was back inside the cabin and securely fastened to sturdy structures like beams and pillars, Violet, along with Hongyan, Ming Lan, and a certain girl who insisted on tagging along to see what was going on, stepped onto the deck to begin the "descent into the sea."
The [Light Protection] was enough to handle the water pressure and block out the seawater for now. After all, if everything went smoothly, they wouldn’t have to fight against that force head-on.
Once she gave the signal, Violet raised her hand, casting a protective barrier that spread out and enveloped the entire [Noah’s Ark], forming a massive golden sphere that sealed it off completely.
This did mean that outside oxygen would have trouble getting in, but the priestess had expanded the barrier’s range significantly. As long as they completed the crossing within a reasonable time, there shouldn’t be any issues.
And now, it was time for the most critical step.
"Are you ready?"
"...Yeah!"
With a smile, Violet glanced at the silver-haired girl standing alone at the front of the deck. Once she saw Hongyan give a firm nod, she wasted no time. She raised her staff and swung it down!
[Shared Battle Covenant], activate!
"Nngh…!"
The surge of immense power that instantly flooded into her body made the swordswoman let out a groan that was both pained and tinged with an indescribable pleasure and exhilaration. Her delicate face flushed slightly as her strength skyrocketed.
However, since Violet had already gone through multiple practice sessions with her beforehand, Hongyan was prepared for the overwhelming energy. There was no risk of her panicking at the last moment.
Feeling the surge of power within her, Hongyan immediately followed the plan. She placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, her gaze sharpening as her sword intent surfaced, calm, focused, and unwavering.
An invisible yet razor-sharp aura slowly radiated from her slender frame, as if she were preparing to split the heavens and earth with a single strike.
Even though [Void Energy] was merely an imitation of true SP. It was still far beyond human capabilities.
Without reaching the [Seeker of Immortality](Legendary level) and beyond, no living being, except those of Transcendent level or higher, could truly wield even a fraction of its power. And Hongyan was no exception.
However, with Violet's exceptional support abilities, she could artificially amplify anyone’s strength several times over, pushing them beyond their original limits. By layering special enhancement magic, she could forcibly raise someone to the threshold of that realm.
It wasn’t enough to fully replicate [Void Energy], but even a glimpse of its power was already overwhelming.
A power beyond mortals.
“Absolute Sword… Swallow Reversal!”
In an instant, her fingers tightened around the hilt and the blade flashed out from its sheath, moving so fast that it left only an afterimage.
At that moment, her aura and intent reached their absolute peak, merging into a single, perfect strike.
It was the same sword technique that had once been used against Violet, but now, it was sharper and deadlier than ever before.
“BOOM!!!!!!!”
The once calm, endless ocean was suddenly split apart. A monstrous gaping rift tore through the sea, stretching for dozens of meters like a pathway leading into the abyss.
The terrifying sword energy cut clean through the barrier, allowing the water to part freely, exposing a massive opening straight into the depths below.
Seizing the moment, Violet pushed the barrier enclosing [Noah’s Ark] forward!
“BANG!!!”
Like a giant golden egg, the ship tilted and plunged downward, falling straight into the severed ocean trench!