"Hmph, someone who only knows how to enjoy themselves won't go far!" Kawakami Senai's message immediately drew support from people of the Wano Nation.
"Exactly! We should be putting our hopes in Kawakami Senai. He's the one who'll make it to the end!"
"No doubt about it. Kawakami Senai is powerful and embodies the true spirit of bushido!"
"What the hell is this nonsense?"
"Sigh… yeah, he's strong—ranked sixth. Doesn't even bother to fight for the top five."
"Haha, no one does passive-aggressive like you guys!"
People from the Zhou Nation immediately began firing back—no surprise, given the long-standing grudge between the two nations.
"Survival points don't mean everything, you get that? Gu Ning, pray you don't run into me, or you're dead!" Kawakami Senai threw out a blatant threat.
"Can't you just enjoy your peaceful little life? Why are you always barking at me? Are you trying to get my attention?" Gu Ning had had enough of Kawakami Senai. From the beginning, this guy had been jumping up and down like an annoying fly.
"You damn mutt—if I ever meet you, I'll skin you alive!" Gu Ning fired back. He really wanted to settle this once and for all. Kawakami Senai was just too irritating.
"Haha, Kawakami Senai finally got the boss's attention!"
"Moment of silence for Kawakami Senai!"
"Here's hoping the two of them run into each other real soon!"
"Plot twist: love at first fight—Gu Ning slays Senai."
Gu Ning had originally just wanted to post a photo for fun, but bumping into Kawakami Senai had totally soured his mood.
To cheer himself up, he grabbed Windsor and kissed her a few times. Only then did his mood improve a little.
After lunch, Gu Ning went diving again to start today's hunt.
Just like yesterday, Windsor held the line while Gu Ning personally fought off enemies. Nothing unexpected happened, but the haul wasn't that great—mostly basic materials.
That was until he ran into a level 12 sea monster.
Sea Star (Green)Level: 12Strength: 44Agility: 39Defense: 47Skills: Blink, Armor, Splash
Its strength wasn't impressive. Windsor dispatched it swiftly and cleanly.
The sea star dropped a piece of equipment.
Sea Star Armor (Green): Increases the wearer's Defense by 10%.
Not bad at all. Gu Ning decided to equip it himself. His current strength wasn't great, and the more defense he had, the safer he'd be.
After the kill, Windsor leveled up to level 6. Gu Ning checked her stats:
Windsor (Legendary)Level: 6Strength: 50 (+15+5)Agility: 52 (+5)Defense: 52Intelligence: 50Mana: 500 (+150)Class: Hero, Bringer of LightSkills: Heal, Light Arrow, Light Shield, Entangle (Blue), Confuse (Blue)Equipment: Light's Authority (Purple), Hairpin (Green)Loyalty: 100Affinity: 87 (Friendly)
With bonuses, Windsor's strength had already reached 70. Plus, she had two blue-quality skills—more than enough to wreck low-grade sea beasts with ease.
As for Gu Ning, putting on the armor raised his defense slightly, but his base stats were still too low for a noticeable impact.
Gu Ning (ID: 00)Level: 4 (302/400)Strength: 19 (+10)Agility: 19 (+1.9)Defense: 17 (+5+1.7)Intelligence: 20Mana: 180 (18)Class: Hero, Ice ElementalistSkills: Spirit Sight, Water Arrow (Green), Freeze (Purple)Equipment: Staff (Green), Ring (Green)Talent: Shapeshifter (Epic)Title: None
Still at level 4, but probably leveling up tomorrow. Then his base stats would finally break past 20.
He closed the status screen and continued his journey.
This time, Gu Ning came upon a floating hill. It was bare except for a single tree—no other plants or animals in sight.
That felt strange. Why only one tree?
He approached the small hill and activated Spirit Sight. To his surprise, two information panels popped up.
Divine Turtle Tree (Gold)Level: 19Strength: 249Agility: 225Defense: 354Skills: Too low-level to view
Negative God Mountain Turtle (Gold)Level: 22Strength: 349Agility: 291Defense: 442Skills: Too low-level to view
Gu Ning stared at the info screens, speechless. Yesterday it was a legendary Blue Sea Dragon King, and now two gold-ranked beings? Were golden-ranked creatures not rare in the sea?
Why did he only have Windsor as his one legendary hero?
Fear crept in. If either of these two noticed him, he'd be dead in an instant—his ship wrecked and his team wiped out.
He quickly steered the ship away.
Just then, the "hill" trembled. Two massive green eyes appeared on its surface—clear and calm.
Gu Ning was startled. This thing was actually awake! His mind raced, frantically looking for a way to escape. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way out.
Windsor and Huohuo also sensed the danger and stood protectively in front of Gu Ning, tense and alert.
"Young one, there's no need to be afraid. I mean you no harm," the turtle's voice echoed—not from its mouth, but telepathically. "I merely sensed your presence and wished to invite you for a chat."
Gu Ning jumped. This was the first time he'd heard a sea beast speak—at least yesterday's dragon king was half-humanoid!
"Elder, I have urgent matters to attend to. Let's talk another time!" Gu Ning really didn't want to go anywhere near it. It felt far too unsafe.
Just this afternoon, people were calling him the big boss, and now he was the one calling someone else a big boss. Talk about relativity!
"Young one, I drift with the sea currents. It was pure fate that I encountered a human—and a new lord at that. I was simply delighted and wanted a chat. I won't harm you."
Gu Ning saw that the turtle wasn't making any hostile moves and was communicating politely. That reassured him a bit.
After all, with strength like that, if it really wanted him dead, it wouldn't need words—it would've attacked already.
Besides, the turtle recognized that he was a new lord, meaning it probably knew some insider info. Gu Ning definitely wanted to learn something useful.
As if sensing Gu Ning's thoughts, the Negative God Mountain Turtle gently moved the sea currents. Gu Ning's ship drifted toward the mountain and gently settled beneath the divine tree.
Gu Ning was still tense at first, but when he saw the turtle make no further moves, he finally relaxed.
Then, under the divine tree, light rippled and shimmered. An old man appeared, about 1.6 meters tall.