Void Cultivation-Chapter 233- Fishing for Foundation Establishment (7)

Chapter 233: Chapter 233- Fishing for Foundation Establishment (7)

The Mosasaur, under the refining power of Grey’s purple flames, began to release low roars filled with unwillingness and indignation.

Its body shook and trembled intensely, as if it did not want to give up on life. Yet the roars slowly grew weaker and weaker, fading like dying echoes.

The poison in its body had fully taken effect and was devouring its insides. Its blood had turned black, and its flesh had begun to rot and decay.

Added to this was Grey’s purple flame—an art that refined life itself. The Mosasaur could not withstand both forces at once. It did not last long before succumbing to its heavy wounds.

Before its eyes finally closed, the Mosasaur gazed at Grey.

To any ordinary observer, this would have seemed meaningless—just the last look of a dying beast. The Mosasaur was too weak to transmit any hidden meaning. It was simply too exhausted to do anything but stare.

But when Grey met its gaze, he saw something deeper.

Emotions. Small, fragmented, but unmistakable.

Reluctance. Relief.

It was as if the creature had been holding onto life with all its strength... and now, in its final moments, it had finally let go.

A second later, the purple flames of Grey’s Life Demon Art directly refined the Mosasaur’s life essence. The energy condensed into a pool of power that filled Grey’s spirit perforations—ready to be used to break open hidden nodes.

But Grey did not open his spirit perforations yet.

Even though he was desperate to release all the energy and shatter his hidden nodes, he forced himself to stop. He remembered the captain.

After the Mosasaur died, the powerful fluctuations above the sea slowly faded until they vanished completely.

Grey exhaled a long breath of relief.

He looked down at the Mosasaur’s soul within his spirit perforations. It was small, faintly transparent, and listless. Its eyes were blank, as if it had already drifted far away.

When it sensed Grey’s gaze, the soul looked back at him through his divine sense.

Grey hesitated for a moment, then withdrew his divine sense.

The battle with the Mosasaur had brought him many gains.

For one, he could feel the power of the Soul Devouring Everlasting Bird increasing. Even though the bird had only swallowed a few times, its aura was clearly growing stronger. The Mosasaur’s power was dense, thick, and incredibly potent. It had boosted the bird’s strength significantly.

Grey watched as the Soul Devouring Everlasting Bird swallowed the flesh and blood it had absorbed.

He had already refined the Mosasaur’s body and stored its power within his magic perforations, waiting for the right moment to open them.

The bird felt Grey’s transmission and wanted to fly into the air, letting out a triumphant cry. But the Mosasaur’s flesh still filled its mouth, preventing it from making any sound.

In the end, it focused on absorbing the Mosasaur’s remains. Grey didn’t hesitate. He sent the Soul Devouring Everlasting Bird back into his body.

It transformed into a dark totem and fused into his wrist like a living tattoo.

Grey also recalled the purple phantom back into his body and kept the purple scythe as well. The scythe radiated unwillingness—like it wanted to keep killing.

But Grey ignored it and smoothly placed it into his storage bag.

He scanned the surroundings carefully before flying up to the surface.

When he resurfaced, he saw dark clouds gathering in the distance. Their appearance felt ominous, like the sky itself was warning of a storm.

Grey knew instantly where the captain and the Divine Fish were fighting.

He didn’t waste time thinking.

He flew toward the clouds, staying alert.

During the battle with the Mosasaur, Grey had also been injured. Although his skin remained unbroken and no blood flowed externally, the damage was mostly internal.

His body was aching, and his lungs burned.

As he flew, he spat out mouthfuls of blood.

His speed made his insides twist with pain, and the more he pushed, the worse it became. He spat blood more often, each cough feeling like a blow to his chest.

When Grey was within seven thousand feet of the stormy battlefield, a loud whistling sound cut through the air.

A moment later, the captain’s figure appeared before him.

Grey stopped the moment he saw the captain.

Her hair was disheveled, several strands clinging messily to her face. Many parts of her clothes had been torn apart, and there was even blood staining her body. Yet despite her battered appearance, Grey could still see excitement in her eyes, along with a faint trace of disdain, as though the battle she had just fought hadn’t been particularly challenging.

When she noticed Grey, she unhurriedly took out an apple and took a bite, her expression relaxed and casual.

Grey ignored her actions and shifted his gaze to her other hand. There, he saw an organ that looked half-real and half-illusory, as though it existed between reality and illusion. Blood continuously dripped from it, the drops falling into the sea below.

It probably belonged to the Divine Fish, Grey thought inwardly.

However, he did not ask the captain about it.

Instead, he simply nodded at her and flew toward the magic ship. The captain smiled softly when she saw this and followed after him at an easy pace, leisurely chewing on her apple.

"Little Grey, do you want to know what this is?" she asked, raising the organ slightly in her hand.

Grey glanced at it once more. His expression showed a hint of hesitation, but in the end, he remained silent.

Seeing this, the captain’s smile deepened.

"Look, Grey," she said lightly. "Next time, don’t do that. You clearly look curious, but then you try to hide it. Right now, it just makes you look awkward."

Grey pondered her words for a moment before nodding his head. However, he didn’t turn back to look at her. He continued flying toward the magic ship, his expression calm even as pain flared within his body.

His internal injuries were worsening, and he had to forcibly suppress the urge to spit out a mouthful of blood in front of the captain.

When the captain realized that Grey truly had no intention of asking, she stopped bothering him. Still, she deliberately took louder bites of her apple, exaggerating each crunch while casually waving her other hand, the one holding the Divine Fish’s organ.

Seeing this, Grey didn’t know what to say.

The divine fluctuations emanating from the organ were extremely dense. If it continued to be exposed like this, it would surely attract unknown existences lurking beneath the sea.

The captain could easily have placed the organ into her storage bag to avoid such trouble.

As if reading his thoughts, the captain sighed and finally put the fish organ away. Only then did Grey let out a silent breath of relief, one he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

"Are you really sure you don’t want to know what it is, little Grey?" the captain asked when they landed on the magic ship. "If you bring me two thousand spirit stones, I can endure the pain in my heart and tell you."

Grey ignored her words completely and walked straight toward his cabin.

Right now, he wanted to make use of the accumulated power from the Mosasaur and break open more of his spirit perforations. His internal injuries were also flaring up, so this was the perfect opportunity to recuperate.

His gains so far were immense, but even so, they were still nothing compared to the captain’s harvest.

The captain clicked her tongue when Grey didn’t respond. However, there was no malice in her eyes. She merely smiled softly and took another bite of her apple.

In the next instant, she spat out both apple pulp and blood.

Her previously bright face turned pale, and the injuries she had been concealing finally surfaced, spreading visibly across her body. A trace of panic flashed through her eyes.

Afraid that Grey might see her in this state, she quickly turned and rushed into her own cabin.

---

Inside his cabin, Grey immediately began setting up several array formations. His movements were practiced and efficient. First, he created a noise-canceling array to suppress the loud sounds that would accompany the opening of his spirit perforations. Combined with the cabin’s original arrays and runes, the room soon became completely sealed and secure.

As soon as he finished, Grey did not hesitate. He placed several spirit stones onto the array and closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness inward.

Within his body, twenty-nine spirit perforations were already open, each one faintly glowing.

The soul of the Mosasaur resided within the twenty-ninth spirit perforation, constantly releasing dense and violent power.

After holding it back for so long, Grey finally gave the command.

The Mosasaur let out a thunderous roar and rushed toward the thirtieth spirit node. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The moment it collided with the node, a loud booming sound erupted within Grey’s body. The node shattered into countless fragments.

The node that had refused to break no matter how many creatures Grey had killed and refined finally collapsed at this moment. Spirit energy surged in rapidly, reconstructing it and transforming it into his thirtieth spirit perforation.

However, the accumulated power did not stop there.

Grey guided the Mosasaur once more, sending it charging toward the thirty-first node.

A muffled boom echoed through his body as the node crumbled under the impact. Spirit energy flooded in, and the thirty-first node was successfully converted into a spirit perforation.

Even after that, the Mosasaur’s spirituality remained incredibly dense.

A second later, it rushed toward the thirty-second node. The node shook violently, resisting with all its strength. With a deafening roar, the Mosasaur crashed into it once more, and the node finally shattered, turning into yet another spirit perforation.

Throughout the entire process, Grey remained silent.

Ever since he had opened his twenty-fifth spirit perforation several weeks ago, he had noticed that breaking future perforations became increasingly difficult. In fact, the more perforations one opened, the harder it became, and the more energy was required to break the next one.

Grey finally understood why so many cultivators were stuck in the Foundation Establishment realm.

It wasn’t because their talent was lacking, neither was it because they were unlucky.

It was simply because opening future spirit perforations became exponentially more difficult.

And the only way to open them faster...

Was to take risks.