Chapter 1010: Endless Sea Secret

Upon entering the inner region of the Endless Sea, it was clear that the Black Pearl's forward speed had significantly decreased. This was Xu Yang's deliberate choice, as he had detected some unusual presences on the radar system.

"Damn it, Boss, what *is* this? A dense, vast area. Our radar system isn't malfunctioning, is it? I've sailed for hundreds of years and never seen a sight like this." Prancis, Guglas, and the others stood before the radar panel in the command cabin, their faces etched with confusion.

Xu Yang focused for a moment, sensing that the situation was more complex than he'd imagined. Relying solely on the radar system, it would be difficult to rule out danger.

"Forget it. Instead of speculating wildly here, it's better if I go down and observe it myself. You all wait for me on the Black Pearl; I'll go down for a closer look."

All members of the Glory Team expressed a desire to go into the sea with Xu Yang, but he waved them off. "I'm just going down to check things out, not to fight any enemies. Why are you so nervous? Besides, I now wield the Boundless Ocean divine artifact, and with my Sea God's Domain, even underwater, if I truly encounter any unexpected danger, they won't be able to restrain me in a short time."

Everyone was well aware of Xu Yang's strength. Under his persistent insistence, the Glory Team members no longer pressed their opinions, instead nodding with solemn expressions.

"Then go quickly and come back soon, Boss. If anything happens, call us at any time. The Black Pearl's overall strength has been significantly enhanced, so even if we face great danger, facing it together will always give us more confidence."

Xu Yang said nothing, only offering a slight smile, and quickly disappeared from his spot. In fact, seeing such a united and cooperative atmosphere within the Glory Team, he was genuinely happy for everyone. At least, since the Glory Team was formed, every member had made significant progress. Even their dispositions had greatly improved. They were no longer a disorganized band of stragglers, aimlessly wandering through life like headless flies. Now, everyone was united, truly woven into one strong rope. This was truly the mark of a powerful collective.

After entering the sea, Xu Yang immediately unleashed the unique energy of the Boundless Ocean divine artifact, combining it with his Sea God's Domain to further accelerate his progress. He rapidly headed towards the dense cluster of light spots detected near the radar's survey points.

However, Xu Yang soon made a discovery: this place was, after all, the inner region of the Endless Sea, far more complex than he had imagined. Thanks to the Boundless Ocean divine artifact, which could, to some extent, mask the aura fluctuations Xu Yang emitted underwater, he appeared to the terrifying creatures of this inner sea merely as a drifting piece of duckweed, without any discernible biological aura. It was precisely because of this that Xu Yang was able to observe the terrifying creatures living deep within the Endless Sea's inner region up close.

"My heavens! It truly lives up to its name as the Endless Sea, a forbidden zone for the entire Yingzhou Continent. Any random sea creature living here possesses combat abilities at or above the Azure-tier peak. Blue-tier creatures are almost the main body, with a very few reaching the Blue-tier peak or even the Purple-tier spiritual energy level. These overlord-tier creatures mostly lurk in the deep sea. No wonder so few have managed to reach the Endless Sea's inner region over the years. It's not just the obstruction from the sea forces established by the Ten Great Legions; even these terrifying creatures of the inner region are simply beyond the reach of ordinary cultivator teams."

Anyone exposing their aura in this place would likely face a collective siege from these sea creatures. It seemed this was likely the greatest obstacle to landing on Demon Dragon Island. Xu Yang pondered this as he continued his exploration without stopping.

As these creatures of supreme spiritual energy strength became apparent, Xu Yang began to consider an even more crucial objective problem: the powerful sea creatures in the Endless Sea's inner region numbered in the hundreds of thousands, nearly millions. Such a vast biological base, logically speaking, should not have enough spiritual energy origin to support their increase in strength. Even if the cultivation methods of these sea creatures were vastly different from human cultivators, they still needed to constantly strengthen themselves by devouring. The corpses of cultivators from various parts of the Yingzhou Continent alone would be insufficient to sustain millions of top-tier sea creatures. If their needs couldn't be met, then where did these creatures get the spiritual energy resources to grow?

Bearing this critical question in mind, Xu Yang began to dive deeper into the sea. Sure enough, he soon made another significant discovery. Because these sea creatures belonged to various biological races, roughly thousands or tens of thousands of a single species would gather in one place, claiming it as their territory. They ordinarily rarely encroached upon sea creatures of other races, unless the species were inherently hostile. Otherwise, these powerful sea creatures were mostly divided by clan. They almost all shared a common characteristic: they possessed enormous, grey, reef-like structures serving as their foundations. Xu Yang subtly made a crucial judgment: these underwater reefs, on which these top-tier sea creatures depended for survival, were likely the key to unlocking this most important secret.

Immediately after, Xu Yang attempted to approach the living area of the merfolk, using the Boundless Ocean divine artifact to mask his own aura, and then steadily moved closer to the main reef. From a distance, the reef didn't seem very large, but when Xu Yang actually arrived at the corresponding reef area, he finally discovered that its volume was almost comparable to the entire area of the Black Pearl's floating city.

Xu Yang cautiously extended a hand, placing it on the surface of the underwater reef before him, and released the powerful primeval energy within his body. As expected, when his power collided with the colossal underwater reef, a searing wave of spiritual energy surged back through his palm, spreading through the surrounding waters and instantly startling the nearby merfolk. Soon, more and more merfolk approached the source area of the spiritual energy fluctuation. Fortunately, Xu Yang was able to perfectly mask his aura; otherwise, the commotion caused by this single fluctuation, if he were exposed, would likely result in an instant collective assault by thousands of merfolk.