Chapter 360: Chapter 353: Swallowing the "Destiny Light Cone
After returning to the *Grand Fortune* and resting for a night, Shi Ming read the latest newsletter edition of the *Fire Seed Times*, which a crew member had printed out.
It was a printout of the electronic edition.
It was difficult to gather intelligence on the ocean, so the newspapers published by the six great King-level Wandering Ships compiled the latest news and humanitarian warnings. Even for the digital version, the subscription fee was substantial.
Of course, Shi Ming didn’t have to pay.
"Warning! Four Wandering Ships from Samba Country Delved Deep into the Earth’s Lung for Crystals—All Hands Lost, Bodies Missing! Fire Seed Repeats Its Warning: The Dense Fog is Dangerous and Disorienting, Sea Beasts Run Rampant—Do Not Enter!"
"Infinite Terror: Recounting the Legends of S-Class Sea Beasts on the Ocean!"
"No Demand, No Danger: Experts Call to Ban the Circulation of Fog Island Crystals on the Market."
"Domineering Young Heartthrob Falls for a 45-Year-Old! Surviving Princess Mei Jia of Vortex Country Gives Birth to a Son at an Advanced Age, Potentially the Royal Family’s Only Male Heir—Father is a Handsome, 20-Year-Old S-Class Awakened!"
"..."
This issue of the paper had it all: breaking news, maritime legends, and celebrity gossip.
’That princess from Vortex Country is really something else.’
’I wonder what kind of charm she has to get that S-Class Awakened, Tatasta, so completely under her thumb. The *Spring Tide* has now become Vortex Country’s strongest wandering ship.’
Nailu Ye had already given him a full report on the aftermath concerning Vortex Country.
While attempting to escape, Renhuang had been frightened to death by the Great Black Heaven Dragon, and his namesake ship, the *Renhuang*, was destroyed by it as well. All Vortex Country had left were the Gold-level wandering ships, the *High Celestial Plain* and the *Spring Tide*, along with a few low-level vessels sheltering commoners. The sole princess, Mei Jia, had rallied the survivors, saving their people from extinction.
But even so, what was once a top power in the Yinping Sea Region had been reduced to a mere afterthought.
Grand Patrol Envoy Shi Ming offered no comment on this.
Reading the maritime news was a welcome distraction from his training. For someone as perceptive as Shi Ming, these long-standing papers could sometimes provide unexpected inspiration.
Take the front-page headline, for instance.
’The crews of four wandering ships, all lost.’
’And yet no bodies were found.’
’It doesn’t look like internal strife, nor did they die fighting sea beasts. They simply vanished... Some powerful S-Class skills can achieve that, like the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s Eclipse Moon Image, or the Deep Sea Leviathan’s Abyss of Devouring.’
’And also, the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s Dust of Forgotten Ruins.’
Having studied all of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s skills, Shi Ming easily made the connection between this maritime disaster and the beast. Moreover, the incident had occurred within its territory.
Based on Shi Ming’s understanding of abilities related to "Destiny," this was absolutely no coincidence.
Dust of Forgotten Ruins—
It creates a "ruin point" and then rapidly expands it. Any life forms caught within the "Forgotten Ruins" range are swiftly reduced to dust. Of course, the higher one’s Defense Power, the longer one can endure.
Against any Awakened below C-Class, it would probably only take a second.
The effect was somewhat similar to the "Dust Escape: Origin Realm Stripping Technique" from the anime *Naruto*, which Shi Ming had seen in his past life. It was an incredibly powerful skill. If it could be inherited by humans, Shi Ming estimated it would rank among the top 20 on the grand list.
He closed the newspaper.
Tragedies like this were not uncommon at sea.
Humanity’s powerful individuals were few, and their mobility was insufficient. The dangers that ordinary wandering ships faced on the Endless Ocean came mostly from sea beasts, Celestial Calamities, and their own kind. The Earth Lung Region was nothing like the Sea of Soaring Dragons; it had no so-called Sword-Holding Ships, to say nothing of it being a deadly zone that even King-level Wandering Ships wouldn’t dare enter.
The fact that Fire Seed had learned of such an incident and published a warning so quickly was the very model of efficiency and humanitarianism.
Countless past incidents had shown that such warnings were useless.
’As for banning the circulation of Fog Island Crystals on the market?’
’You could listen to the experts, but that’s as far as it went.’
Given the current state of the Endless Ocean, it was impossible to ban something as long as there was demand. A forced ban would only fuel the black market, causing the price of Fog Island Crystals to skyrocket and encouraging even more wandering ships to take desperate risks.
’If you want to reduce these incidents, the most effective way is to pull the problem out by the roots.’
’Solve the problem at its source.’
’And the problem will naturally cease to exist.’
...
After breakfast, Shi Ming got himself into optimal condition and took the Destiny Light Cone from his storage. He popped it into his mouth and swallowed it whole. The Mobius Serpent had no blood, so its skill origin had been extracted in the form of a Light Cone; ingesting it was the most effective method of absorption.
With every Destiny-attribute skill he mastered, his affinity for Destiny itself grew stronger.
And the more he would earn Destiny’s favor.
He closed his eyes, feeling the Light Cone disintegrate and be absorbed within him. All sorts of abstract symbols—rings, rivers, and prisms—merged into his body.
It was a truly wondrous awakening experience.
「30 minutes later.」
He felt a new ability forming within him.
[Congratulations! You have digested the Crystal Core of the Mobius Serpent, the skill origin of the Destiny Light Cone.]
[Skill Acquired: Destiny Light Cone]
[This is the highest-ranking Destiny-attribute skill on the S-Class Skill Leaderboard. The Eye of Destiny has absorbed its Destiny Power, further enhancing your ability to foresee the future and set the course of fate. The timelines and futures you can now perceive are much clearer.]
[Furthermore, this awakening has brought you a significant increase in your stats.]
[Attack Power: 491] (+20)
[Physical Strength: 506] (+24)
[Endurance: 524] (+23)
[Defense Power: 459] (+30)
[Spiritual Power: Unknown]
[...]
[By foreseeing the future, the Eye of Destiny has deduced that when an individual’s Attack Power exceeds 600, they can use the Arm of Judgment to forcibly tear a Holy Hall Origin apart at its source, thereby slaying a Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast.]
[This is what is known as "Shattering Arts with Brute Force."]
[A torn Holy Hall Origin will not dissipate. It can still automatically repair itself and, once certain conditions are met, can be transferred and acquired by bathing in blood.]
’Shattering Arts with Brute Force.’
’So it’s true. Once my power breaks a certain threshold, I can kill a Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast at its very foundation without any other fancy tricks. But 600 Attack Power... I’m still over 100 points short. Since stat gains from an awakening are completely random, it’s unrealistic to make up that difference in a short time.’
’However, by using the *Soul-Burning Poem*, I can convert my maximum Physical Strength, Endurance, and Defense Power into Attack Power.’
But another idea had already formed in Shi Ming’s mind.
’A Destiny backlash.’
’The Ten Thousand Forms Kun likes to use its Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary to enter a target’s Sea of Spirit, perceive their destiny, and then usurp it. But it can’t just invade any Sea of Spirit it pleases, nor can it bear the weight of just anyone’s destiny.’
’With my still-unfathomable Spiritual Power stat, and having already mastered a good portion of the spiritual defense manual, the *Hundred-Floor Celestial Tower*, any spiritual attacks of Holy Hall Tier or below wouldn’t even be able to make a ripple against me.’
’As for usurping my destiny?’
’I’m no rookie who just reached the Holy Hall Tier.’
’With three Holy Hall Origins as my trump cards, the Eye of Destiny setting the course, the Eye of the Divine hidden within me, and my vast, ocean-like Spiritual Power as my bulwark, I have no fear of a direct clash with the Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary.’
’The key to this strategy isn’t defense, but causing a backlash.’
’Step one is to use myself as bait. Show weakness, provoke the enemy, and lure it in deep.’
’Step two is to bare my fangs!’
