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"Captain, can you defeat a mech?" Yu Tianheng asked eagerly, staring intently at Tang San. He hoped for a positive answer; otherwise, they might end up living their lives within this Golden Ancient Tree.
Although the cultivation environment here was excellent, without food supplies, they would eventually starve. Moreover, this Golden Ancient Tree seemed not to bear fruit. It was quite a predicament.
"I can't win," Tang San replied.
In reality, he could engage in battle, especially in his current state with the uncertain "Greed, Anger, Ignorance" state. However, maintaining emotional stability in combat was impossible, and using "Greed, Anger, Ignorance" to absorb negative emotions was not sustainable.
He needed time to cultivate his character and gradually investigate the roots of those three major evils.
"That complicates things," Dugu Yan frowned. "My poisons can't corrode them either. They're absorbed into spiritual power just like Tianheng's lightning."
Even the venom of the Azure Scale Snake Emperor could be converted into spiritual power for those mechs, or into other types of energy sources.
If Dugu Yan's poison skills developed as deeply as Dugu Bo's, the snake venom might materialize.
The Golden Civilization had undoubtedly researched the corporealization of Martial Souls, but those mechs were in "energy-saving mode" with low efficiency. Unfortunately, Dugu Yan's current strength couldn't achieve it.
"Then should we gather branches and leaves from the Golden Ancient Tree?" Yu Tianheng suggested. "The trunk here is incredibly tough; even my Dragon Claw can't pull off a small piece."
"This method also has a flaw. We are in the core area of the Infinite Desert. Beyond lies a storm barrier. Even if we break through and enter the depths of the Infinite Desert, we will encounter many ten-thousand-year soul beasts, or even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts," Tang San shook his head. "Although I know there are underground passages beneath the lakes on the edge of this island, they're probably flooded now."
Last time, Tang San managed to guide Xiaowu, Guangling, Huo Wu, and Huo Feng through those passages with the help of water flow. But now, the water there wouldn't flow.
If they took those passages, they would have to swim nearly ten thousand miles, unable to breathe along the way.
Tang San currently lacked the ability to breathe underwater...
"Na'er, can you breathe underwater?" Tang San suddenly remembered they had a 'master' who could control water elements.
"I can, but for such a long distance, I'll have to use all my strength," Gu Yuena emphasized, hinting to Tang San that she didn't want to reveal her identity.
She was not only concerned about Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan discovering her identity as a soul beast but also feared that the Divine Realm might detect the Divine-level aura of the Douluo Continent and trace it back.
She wasn't prepared to face the gods of the Divine Realm yet—even in her prime, she couldn't handle Asura, let alone now with her injuries still not fully healed.
"Is that so? Then forget it," Tang San realized Gu Yuena couldn't use her hidden powers and said to Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan, "She can't use her hidden powers right now, which could attract more trouble. But don't worry; maybe we can go back the way we came... Na'er and I collected some soul tools from the upper floors, which might include something useful for underwater travel."
Soon, everyone brought out all the soul tools they had collected and began testing them one by one.
Although there were descriptions of the original placement of the soul tools, they had hastily dumped them all into storage soul tools without reading them. Now, they could only test them slowly.
Luckily, Tang San could at least judge the main function of the soul tools based on their appearance, which accelerated the process.
Three hours later, Gu Yuena found a palm-sized soul tool resembling a small boat with three fins on each side like fish fins and a transparent blue crystal shield above the hull.
"I remember this one," Gu Yuena's memory was exceptional. "Its introduction says it's called the 'Ocean Bluefish Boat,' modeled after the appearance and some physiological structures of the Ocean Bluefish. It can travel three thousand miles underwater."
"Three thousand miles per day! With that, we can return along the underground river!" Dugu Yan exclaimed excitedly.
Gu Yuena snorted coldly before asking, "Weren't we talking about bionics? How did we end up discussing Ocean Bluefish?"
"Just elaborating on their reproductive habits. The Ocean Bluefish's migration into freshwater rivers during breeding season is one of their unique traits," Tang San explained, drawing parallels to the habits of the giant catfish. "Ocean Bluefish typically inhabit the oceans. During their breeding season, they swim in groups against the currents of rivers and into freshwater areas to mate and reproduce."
"The flow rate when rivers meet the sea is much faster than that of this underground river. Even soul beasts over ten thousand years old find it challenging to swim against such currents."
"Yet these Ocean Bluefish, which live no longer than a hundred years, can swim upstream in large groups. Even a ten-year-old Ocean Bluefish can achieve what soul beasts of ten thousand years cannot."
"This journey covers nearly ten thousand miles."
"In a book called 'Tales of Mountain and River Soul Beasts' from the Palace of the Pope, there's a record: at the beginning of the first month, along the East Sea coast, Ocean Bluefish swam upstream in a magnificent procession, resembling a silver dragon. After two months and ten thousand miles, they laid their eggs in the Lingyuan River. The fish eggs are delicious... ahem, that's a story for another time."
"The ability of Ocean Bluefish to swim upstream, which even soul beasts of ten thousand years cannot match, is due to their flat triangular cone-shaped bodies. The water flowing against their bodies during their charge becomes their thrust rather than resistance."
"Furthermore, with their three pairs of fins, they can manipulate water currents, further accelerating their upstream journey."
"The Ocean Bluefish Boat leverages these two characteristics of the Ocean Bluefish: its appearance mimics their bionics and is inscribed with soul guide runes primarily based on water attributes."
Gu Yuena was deeply moved. She had never imagined that the Ocean Bluefish, creatures she had overlooked as potential food, possessed such extraordinary abilities.
For survival and reproduction, they had forsaken the path of strength and instead evolved remarkable reproductive capabilities and fins designed to manipulate water currents for their upstream journey.
If an Ocean Bluefish could reach the level of a hundred thousand years, perhaps their ability to manipulate water currents alone would be even more exquisite than her own as the Silver Dragon King.
(End of Chapter)