Chapter 1138: Sixth-Rank Treasure Ship

As Chen Mobai was inquiring with Shen Xi and the others about gossip regarding the Eastern Earth Imperial Court, a silver light suddenly flashed before the stone monument.

Grand Monarch Dakong, looking slightly surprised and doubtful, appeared before the three.

"Senior, how was it?" Chen Mobai asked upon seeing that Grand Monarch Dakong showed no signs of battle or injury.

"There's a big guy inside..." Grand Monarch Dakong did not hide anything, recounting what he had seen after entering the World Stone.

The so-called 'secret realm' was actually a weapon-forging workshop of the Eastern Earth Imperial Court, and everyone present was very familiar with the objects constructed within.

They were treasure ships!

"I saw many broken and unfinished treasure ships. The one at the very center was a sixth-tier vessel, incredibly massive. It should be one of the Six Dragon Treasure Ships from the rumored Human Emperor's Fleet." Upon hearing Grand Monarch Dakong's words, Chen Mobai and the other two were all astonished.

The Human Emperor's Fleet was one of the foundations that allowed the imperial family to suppress the world during the Eastern Earth Imperial Court era. It comprised six sixth-tier treasure ships, each named after one of the Six Dragons from the "Time-Riding Six Dragons Imperial Heaven Scripture."

No wonder the Overturning Sea Sect was able to resist the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court here; it turned out they possessed such power.

"Which of the sixth-tier treasure ships is it, and is it still intact?" Ni Yuanzhong couldn't help but ask. He harbored the deepest hatred for the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court, and if there was a vessel that could precisely counter them, he might even pilot it to wreak havoc in the Black Sea.

"It's entirely yellow with a faint golden glow, likely the Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship. It's also the most severely damaged of all the ships inside." Grand Monarch Dakong's reply filled Chen Mobai and the other two with disappointment.

Sixth-tier treasure ships, as war artifacts, held significance almost comparable to their sect-guarding artifacts. However, sect-guarding artifacts were not meant for easy movement, while treasure ships were specifically designed for mobility.

In the past, the Eastern Earth Imperial Court used the Six Dragon Treasure Ships to patrol the heavens and suppress the seas, dominating the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands with astonishing might.

Furthermore, while only Transcendent cultivators could activate sixth-tier artifacts, treasure ships could unleash their power even with Nascent Soul cultivators, provided there were enough of them.

Strategically, treasure ships were more formidable than individual artifacts.

This was also the shadow that loomed over the Holy Lands of the Eastern Earth when the Human Emperor ruled the world. Once a Six Dragon Treasure Ship appeared above a Holy Land, it signaled the Human Emperor's intention to hold them accountable.

"Senior, could you take us inside to see? Our sect's treasury contains some blueprints for Eastern Earth Imperial Court treasure ships; perhaps we can find a way to repair them," Shen Xi asked, with Ni Yuanzhong nodding repeatedly in agreement.

When the Eastern Earth Imperial Court fell, the first thing these two sects did was to claim all discoverable jade slips containing texts and transport them back to their own strongholds.

They also collected manufacturing blueprints for sixth-tier treasure ships and similar items.

They all held onto a sliver of hope, wanting to try and see if they could be repaired.

"Yes." As Grand Monarch Dakong spoke, he raised the golden and silver rings in both his hands, bringing everyone present inside the World Stone.

As the silver light flickered, Chen Mobai could already hear the sound of ocean waves.

They stood on a dock, surrounded by an endless lake. However, since everyone present was a Transcendent Grand Monarch, their spiritual senses quickly revealed that there were still boundaries to this space.

This small world was roughly half the size of Eastern Yi.

Inside the tall shipyard, rusty iron anvils and forging hammers lay scattered. A row of towering gantry cranes stood silent like colossal beasts, with a massive treasure ship, broken into three sections and stripped of its levitation capability, suspended above them.

Chen Mobai and the others extended their spiritual senses, quickly surveying the entire area. It seemed the evacuation had been very rushed, as many broken materials and tools were casually discarded. On the vast lake surrounding the shipyard, numerous treasure ships, some undergoing repairs and others unfinished, stood upright, with some even partially submerged.

"There's a diary here." Shen Xi found a booklet in the interlayer of an overturned treasure ship on the lake. The person who left it was a Nascent Soul cultivator, so after all these years, the protective spell was still active.

Chen Mobai gently...

...with a wave of his hand, his Primordial True Qi descended, dissolving the protective spell.

Shen Xi opened the diary in front of the three of them. The text was the same as that on the stone monument. After reading it, he briefly summarized its contents.

"Initially, after suffering heavy losses in a battle with the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court, the Eastern Earth Imperial Court abandoned this border pass. Grand Monarch Xuanguang took the operable treasure ships, carrying members of the Overturning Sea Sect and the Imperial Court's cultivators stationed here, and left Eastern Yi."

"However, Grand Monarch Xuanguang was somewhat unwilling to give up, so he left a portion of the Overturning Sea Sect disciples here. He tasked them with both monitoring the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court's movements and repairing these treasure ships, intending to seek revenge once the Eastern Earth Imperial Court recovered."

"The diary's author, Zhang Taian, was the Nascent Soul elder from the Overturning Sea Sect left in charge here. He wrote that his Dao heart was shattered during the great battle with the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court, and as a result, he didn't take his mission very seriously, allowing his subordinates to muddle through their work. However, there were also some diligent individuals who did their best to repair the sixth-tier treasure ship."

"The turning point came a century after Grand Monarch Xuanguang's withdrawal: news arrived from the Eastern Earth that he had passed away due to severe injuries. This caused the Overturning Sea Sect disciples at Mount Panghuang to lose all hope and cease their repairs on the sixth-tier treasure ship. Many grew anxious to leave and return to the Eastern Earth, but without an imperial court order, they could not abandon their posts."

"Three years after Grand Monarch Xuanguang's death, a large-scale rebellion erupted at this border pass. Two other Nascent Soul elders led their loyal disciples in escaping this cage. They piloted some repaired treasure ships; one vanished into the desolate ruins, while the other disappeared towards the Black Sea."

"Zhang Taian led the remaining few dozen disciples, waiting here as the years passed, until they all eventually passed away. Since he was a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was the last one left, and he decided to return to the Eastern Earth Imperial Court to seek an explanation..."

The diary ended there.

Chen Mobai and the others looked at the Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship suspended in mid-air. Once the pride of the Imperial Court, it was now severely broken. Its bow appeared to have been utterly destroyed, with clear signs of metal materials spliced together, some gaps not even fully sealed.

The three sections of wreckage resembled the broken spine of a yellow dragon. The mournful whistling of the wind across the lake caused this golden-yellow treasure ship to faintly flicker with a dim spiritual glow.

"Here are the complete blueprints for the treasure ships left by Zhang Taian."

Following the clues in the diary, Shen Xi found a sealed box in a wooden hut within the shipyard. After Chen Mobai opened it with his Primordial True Qi, it was filled with countless jade slips.

Among the thousands of jade slips, not only were there blueprints for the sixth-tier Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship, but also for first- to fifth-tier vessels of various designs.

This border pass at Mount Panghuang was originally one of the Eastern Earth Imperial Court's most crucial treasure ship forging facilities, hence it contained these core blueprints, even more complete than those collected by the Daoist Sect and the Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Sect.

However, to their regret, among the Six Dragon Treasure Ship blueprints, only the Yellow Dragon's was present here.

"What a pity. Repairing this Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship would require immense resources, and some critical parts would even necessitate sixth-tier spiritual materials..." Ni Yuanzhong said, his face full of regret after examining the blueprints.

The materials required to construct one treasure ship could allow an artifact master to attempt forging sixth-tier artifacts dozens of times. Such extravagance was only possible during the Eastern Earth Imperial Court era.

"The core power furnace of the treasure ship has indeed been removed!" At the same time, Shen Xi also checked the core of the Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship with his spiritual sense, comparing it against the blueprints, and sighed.

The most valuable component of a treasure ship was its power furnace. Even with the complete set of blueprints, they would be unable to construct one now.

This was because the power furnace was equivalent to a sixth-tier artifact, or even more complex, and only a sixth-tier artifact master could forge it.

The Six Dragon Treasure Ships of the Eastern Earth Imperial Court were originally forged by a collaboration of the most elite sixth-tier artifact masters from across the Five Continents and Four Seas, alongside dozens of fifth-tier artifact masters.

The reason the Eastern Earth Imperial Court at its peak only possessed six sixth-tier treasure ships was because only six sixth-tier power furnaces were successfully forged.

If it were still here, Shen Xi would have even been prepared to summon Grand Monarch Wuchen and fight to obtain it.

Without the power furnace, the most valuable item for these Transcendent Grand Monarchs was that box of jade slips.

"How should we handle this?" Chen Mobai, however, hadn't noticed what Shen Xi and the others were thinking. He pointed to the three sections of the Yellow Dragon Treasure Ship suspended on the gantry crane. After obtaining the blueprints and understanding the materials used to forge the ship, he had already decided, shamelessly, to claim one of them.

Although, given the current situation in Eastern Continent, this treasure ship was certainly beyond repair, these remnants were at least fifth-tier spiritual materials, and some even sixth-tier.

His Primordial Bell could melt down the essence of five metals, and he was currently lacking materials to upgrade it to a high-grade sixth-tier artifact; these remnants could supply a significant portion of what was needed.

Chen Mobai's only regret was that tens of thousands of years had passed, and the spiritual essence of these materials had completely dissipated. Otherwise, he would definitely dismantle them to forge artifacts, providing each Nascent Soul cultivator of the Five Elements Sect with a set of fifth-tier artifacts.

"Since Mount Panghuang is Sect Master Chen's territory, everything here naturally belongs to the Five Elements Sect," Shen Xi said with a smile.

Ni Yuanzhong paused slightly in surprise but did not object, immediately nodding in agreement.

All the treasure ships left here were scrap; any functional ones had long been taken back to the Eastern Earth by Grand Monarch Xuanguang.

Even if some third- or fourth-tier treasure ships could be repaired, they were beneath the notice of these Holy Lands of the Eastern Earth.

As for the fifth-tier scrap treasure ships, their good power furnaces had all been removed, and the remaining parts were dilapidated, requiring extensive repairs.

But even with the blueprints in hand, they lacked the corresponding repair personnel.

This would at least require a fifth-tier artifact master to oversee, and the fifth-tier artifact masters of both the Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Sect and the Daoist Sect were specialized in other areas, only having a rudimentary understanding of treasure ships.

If they had to wait for them to learn from the blueprints, it would take an unknown amount of time.

It was better to do Chen Mobai a favor.

Grand Monarch Dakong, however, was somewhat hesitant. After all, even the wreckage of a sixth-tier treasure ship held research value for the Grand Void Ethereal Palace. But since Shen Xi and the other had spoken, he naturally nodded in agreement as well.

"I want to copy a set of these more than three thousand jade slips to take back to headquarters," Grand Monarch Dakong requested.

"No problem. However, the text on these jade slips is written in ancient script. I can take them back to the sect, and once the translation is complete, I'll send a copy to all of you," Shen Xi said, wanting the original box of treasure ship blueprints. Given that the Daoist Sect had two Transcendent cultivators, no one present had any objections.

Of course, Chen Mobai and the other two were also allowed to make copies of the originals.

"As Eastern Continent's foremost artifact master, with these blueprints and jade slips, Sect Master Chen might be able to repair some fifth-tier treasure ships. We hope for an opportunity to seek your guidance in the future."

As they were leaving, Shen Xi added this remark.

The main reason for this favor was that Shen Xi believed Chen Mobai was the only fifth-tier artifact master in the entire Eastern Continent who could thoroughly understand these blueprints.

The Five Elements Sect was currently in a critical standoff with the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court, and if this could enhance their combat strength, it would be a great benefit.

Leaving him the Mount Panghuang border pass shipyard and the wreckage of the treasure ships would also give him an incentive to conduct research.

"This is the shared property of our Eastern Continent Holy Lands. If I genuinely succeed in repairing a fifth-tier power furnace and constructing a fifth-tier treasure ship in the future, I will never hoard the knowledge. I am willing to openly teach it to my fellow righteous cultivators in Eastern Continent."

Chen Mobai stated this solemnly. After reviewing the blueprints, he knew that forming a fleet of treasure ships, or even building a sixth-tier treasure ship, would be impossible with the strength of the Five Elements Sect alone; it would require pooling the resources of the entire Eastern Continent.

The drawback of isolated traditions in the Heavenly River Realm might begin to change here, opening a small breach that could then spread to various other fields.

"Young friend, your selflessness is truly admirable."

Grand Monarch Dakong listened to Chen Mobai's words and was genuinely impressed.

He thought, 'As expected of one who has cultivated the Grand Dao of Sage Virtue. Such thoughts and enlightenment are something I've never witnessed in over a thousand years.'

He simply felt it was too dazzling.

Before leaving, Shen Xi and the other two each dismantled a fifth-tier scrap treasure ship, placing the defunct and broken power furnaces into their storage bags, intending to take them back to their sects for their artifact masters to study against the blueprints.

Even if they couldn't figure anything out, having them in the treasury for future generations was still beneficial.

Chen Mobai was naturally reluctant to see them go. Although he hadn't yet figured out how to repair them, he knew that if he gave them to Cheng Xuan Yuanxu and the others, they would surely find a way.

However, since he had already gained the greatest benefit, he simply pretended not to notice Shen Xi and the other two's actions.

"Sect Master Chen, we're entrusting this border battlefield to you. After I return, I will persuade the sect elders as quickly as possible to send over the Azure Yuan Crystal." Before leaving, Shen Xi didn't forget to reassure Chen Mobai, knowing that this formidable enemy, the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court, now depended on him to hold them back.

"As long as I stand here, that old flood dragon can forget about coming ashore!" Chen Mobai declared decisively. Even for Mount Panghuang, with its sixth-tier spiritual vein, he would block the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court at sea.