Ange.
Thinking about the young woman with auburn hair and the faint medicinal fragrance that always seemed to linger around her, Grey unconsciously revealed a faint smile.
The smile only lasted for a moment before disappearing once more.
Soon afterward, the vast sea returned to silence.
Grey resumed his cultivation while steadily making his way toward the sect.
Days passed one after another.
During that time, he occasionally sensed powerful cultivators flying overhead in enormous magic ships.
Whenever that happened, he would quietly alter his route and avoid contact entirely.
Several times, he also encountered powerful sea creatures lurking beneath the dark waters.
Any creature whose battle strength exceeded three Spirit Fire manifestations was immediately avoided.
It wasn’t because Grey feared fighting them.
Rather, he wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.
With his current strength, creatures possessing three Spirit Fires could still be dealt with quickly.
Anything stronger, however, would require a prolonged battle.
And prolonged battles inevitably attracted attention.
At present, Grey had only opened slightly over seventy spirit perforations and theoretically possessed the cultivation of two Spirit Fires.
If he suddenly displayed strength capable of defeating powerful opponents far beyond that level, questions would naturally arise.
The closer he got to the sect, the more cultivators and merchant ships he encountered.
This region of the sea was far busier than the remote waters he had traveled through previously.
The last thing Grey wanted was to attract the gaze of powerful experts.
"In another six days, I should reach the sect."
He stood at the front of his magic ship, gazing toward the distant horizon.
"I wonder if anything significant has happened during my absence."
However, before he could continue his thoughts, his expression suddenly changed.
Far away in the sky, he noticed a tiny point of light.
At first glance, it looked no different from a distant star.
Yet Grey’s instincts immediately screamed danger.
The bright dot tore through the sky with terrifying speed.
Within moments, it grew larger.
And larger.
And larger.
Until it resembled a blazing meteor descending from the heavens.
At the exact same moment Grey noticed it, the approaching figure also noticed him.
A cruel laugh suddenly echoed across the sea.
Immediately afterward, an angry roar exploded through the air.
"Haha! I’ve finally found you!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The surrounding atmosphere violently trembled.
The blazing figure accelerated even further.
Its speed exceeded anything Grey had ever witnessed before.
The air itself seemed unable to withstand such velocity.
Before Grey could react further, the figure crashed directly into his magic ship.
BOOM!
An earth-shattering explosion erupted.
Wooden fragments scattered in every direction.
The entire vessel was instantly reduced to splinters.
Towering waves surged across the sea as shockwaves spread outward.
For a brief moment, Grey vanished within the destruction.
However, he was nowhere near the wreckage.
Several hundred meters away, Grey stood suspended in the air.