Seal Master

"Yu Xian, let's go." "Just let the Star-Devouring Mushrooms slowly play with it." "There's no need for us to stubbornly waste time grinding against an immortal monster here." Watching the reconstituted tiger-man being gnawed on once again by the Star-Devouring Mushrooms, Niman gave her advice to Yu Xian. She had learned one thing from past experience: when encountering a monster that couldn't be killed, never be bullheaded. Fortunately, Yu Xian was never one to be stubborn. After confirming that the tiger-man could not be slain for the time being, he agreed, "Mm, let's go. On to the next area." Niman smiled faintly and turned to leave. Behind them, the tiger-man reconstituted once more, only for its head to be bitten off in a single chomp by a Star-Devouring Mushroom, after which its newly grown body was divvied up by the rest of the mushrooms. Along the way, Nora asked curiously, "Are there many monsters like this in the Abyss?" She had just gained a tiny bit of confidence—with World in hand, she could finally be of help to Yu Xian. Yet how long had it been before they ran into an unkillable monster against which her gun was completely useless? If monsters like this were everywhere in the Abyss, that would be terrifying. "Of course there aren't many. Most monsters are relatively normal—well, no, most monsters are simply aberrations; destroy two-thirds of their bodies and they'll die. Of course, it's best to use elemental energy attacks, like fire, lightning, and the like, to completely incinerate their bodies," Niman replied as she flew forward. Yu Xian gave a wry smile. "So that means our luck is really a bit rotten." "We really aren't very fortunate," Niman sighed. The Primordial Water being overrun by Abyss monsters was already bad enough in itself. To make matters worse, there were unkillable monsters inside the warship. For now, she could only pray that the tiger-man had no other abilities and would obediently let itself be devoured repeatedly by the Star-Devouring Mushrooms; the longer time was dragged out, the better it was for them. "Sister Niman, since it can't be killed, can't we seal them?" Little Nora asked at this moment. Niman shook her head. "No. Ordinary seals are completely useless against them; the power of the Abyss will quickly corrode the seal until it completely breaks down. And a seal strong enough would require many precious materials... On top of that, sealing arts themselves are exceedingly difficult to learn. The higher-grade the sealing art, the more troublesome it is. I estimate there are no more than a hundred seal masters in Crescent Bay capable of sealing this tiger-man." "What's the principle behind sealing arts?" Yu Xian asked curiously. Niman replied, "Sealing arts, plainly speaking, are about creating a space to imprison a target. For example, a tech-based dual-vector foil is a classic sealing method—it can directly collapse a target's dimensions and seal it onto a medium. There are also things like the Prison-Suppressing Pagoda, another classic sealing method. There are all kinds, each with its own technical core; I don't know all of them either." "Big Brother, if we get the chance, we could invite a seal master to join us! Then we won't have to fear immortal monsters like this anymore," Little Nora suggested to Yu Xian, immediately giving up on thinking after feeling a bit dizzy from the explanation. If she couldn't learn it herself, wouldn't it be fine to just find someone who knew how and make them a companion? Little Nora thought daydreamingly. "Little Nora, you've got quite the wishful thinking. Abyss doctors can still get certified through self-study, but seal masters... especially certified seal masters, are without exception groomed by major powers at astronomical cost. How could it be that easy to invite one?" Niman teased with a chuckle. For an Abyss doctor, as long as one had talent, a modest fortune was enough to qualify for study. But seal masters were massive consumers of materials; without sufficient resources, it was impossible to cultivate a powerful seal master. Thus, seal masters generally only served major factions or great clans. It was impossible for children of the poor to become seal masters. "This world really is brutal," Little Nora grumbled upon hearing that vast fortunes were required. Yu Xian chuckled. "Actually, it's not entirely out of reach. At worst, we can just cultivate one ourselves. We might not be a major faction, but we do have vast wealth." He controlled Aska, so there was certainly no need to hand over money to Dan Dinggui anymore, unless Dan Dinggui had a death wish. Aska himself didn't have much money, but the funds he was required to submit to Dan Dinggui each year amounted to a gargantuan fortune—more than enough for Yu Xian and the others to cultivate a seal master. "In that case, we can take our time scouting for talent. If we run into a genius in sealing arts, it really is worth a shot," Niman said with a smile. Just then, the black substance beneath her feet suddenly burst open, and a crocodile lunged with gaping jaws. She was hovering in midair; the crocodile monster's sneak attack was fast, but because there was still some distance, the ambush wasn't as crisp and decisive as a real crocodile ambushing an animal drinking water. A mushroom ball swelled rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the crocodile monster's gaping maw was plugged by the ball, which then continued to expand, expand, and expand. *Bang!* The crocodile monster's head was blown apart alive. However, no one let their guard down, continuing to watch the crocodile monster. Only after a full minute passed without it regenerating did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, not all the monsters aboard the Primordial Water could revive indefinitely. "This place is too dangerous. I didn't notice it at all," Little Nora said, lingering fear in her voice. If it had been her, she likely wouldn't have been able to dodge the crocodile monster's assault. The beast had hidden motionless within the black substance; earlier, none of them had detected its presence. Niman chuckled. "The Abyss is just that kind of place. If it weren't dangerous, could it still be called the Abyss?" The moment the words left her mouth, a snake dropped from the ceiling, jaws agape as it struck straight for her face. But she had long since scattered a dense cloud of mushroom spores around herself. Before the serpent could even graze her goggles, its body was swiftly parasitized by the spores, sprouting multicolored mushrooms from head to tail. In reality, the mushrooms blooming on these Abyss creatures were not resilient enough to withstand the Abyss's corruption; once they bloomed in full, they rapidly withered away. However, the insides of these Abyss creatures were thoroughly destroyed by the mushroom mycelium, causing them to perish alongside the fungi. The mushrooms were merely a facade visible on the surface; the true lethality lay concealed within the vast network of mycelium. Next, Niman continued forward. Behind the captain's quarters was the valuables storage room, typically used to store precious items that could not be placed inside storage rings. Many valuable items possessed an overwhelming pressure or destructive force against space itself. While cosmic outer space could bear it, the miniature dimensions within storage rings could not, meaning they could only be kept outside. In such cases, a warship required a valuables storage room. Since they were valuables, the captain naturally wouldn't feel at ease having others guard them—what if someone committed theft from within? Consequently, valuables storage rooms were usually placed directly adjacent to the captain's quarters, whether front, back, left, or right. On some warships, the captain's quarters were even surrounded on all four sides by valuables storage rooms. After slaying many grotesque Abyss creatures along the way, Niman finally arrived at the Primordial Water's valuables storage room.