CHAPTER 306: FIRST BIG STEP

Darian followed the two demons across the ship from a safe distance. They seemed programmed to carry the crystal to some far-off, protected place—probably the ship’s core—where it would serve as energy to keep everything running.

After several hours, Darian finally arrived at the spot. Normally, a core would be in the center or the bow, but this ship’s core was actually at the stern, on the same level where the woman was sealed.

There was a massive helm there, sealed shut. That was the ship’s core. If he could take control of it, he’d be able to steer the ship anywhere he wanted and control everything inside.

Moving the ship, though, didn’t seem all that useful. Darian had already seen the full extent of this world when he fell in earlier. There was only the island and the sea.

On the island, the entire edge was the desert of the first phase, and he couldn’t get close to the inner regions. The most he could do with the ship was cross over to Yang’s side... or just randomly search for other secrets hidden in the sea.

Besides, moving the ship risked the chance that whoever had sealed the woman would notice and start hunting him down. The best option was to free her as quietly as possible, then get out without looking back.

Darian stepped closer to the helm and activated his rings, searching for a way to seize control.

He felt the energies sealing everything... and then his eyes went wide.

"Primordial Yang is the foundation!"

Darian grinned and focused inward. He had the Yin-Yang Star, formed with the seeds and inheritances of the two phoenixes. If he could handle Yin, Yang wouldn’t be a problem.

He quickly managed to draw some of the Yang in. The helm’s energies grew unstable from the interference, and then Darian used his ring’s control to infiltrate and wrestle with the core runes.

After a long while, he was drenched in sweat, exhausted. He didn’t have true control over primordial Yin and Yang—he only absorbed them through the stars and used them in a crude way.

But... little by little, he forced his will through...

He knew a full day had passed since leaving the island because the system notified him that his Wind Law cooldown had reset. In that moment, his tired eyes caught a change, and excitement flared.

He took a deep breath. It was done. Then he used the core to scout out everything within the ship.

He found out the ship had three levels. The woman was sealed on the middle level, and the crystals were kept in a chest on the bottom.

After almost a whole day, those demons were already sluggishly moving toward the lowest level. Their routine was clear: grab the crystals, head up to the middle level to drain the woman’s energy, then carry the filled crystal to the helm.

There was a barrier blocking entry to the lowest level. But with his newfound control of the ship, Darian could easily tweak it. He didn’t have perfect mastery, but he could sense where primordial Yang had built up, and all he needed to do was disperse it.

Without wasting time, he cleared the way down. Rushing there, he found the chest stuffed with strange crystals, each about the size of a thumb.

They were empty, but clearly had incredible energy-absorbing capacity. Darian took them all and stored them in his inventory.

He waited for a bit to check.

Soon enough, the demons arrived and started wandering aimlessly around the empty chest. Without the crystals, their purpose was gone, leaving them like mindless puppets staggering about.

After that, Darian returned to where the woman was.

A few hours later, he noticed her face had softened, looking calmer, as if she were in a deep sleep.

Since her energy hadn’t been drained at the scheduled time, she had started to recover. Darian could feel a powerful life force inside her resurfacing, multiplying, and restoring itself.

Of course, he wouldn’t move her out just yet. He needed to stockpile enough wind runes to return to the island as fast as possible. Besides, it would be better to give her a little more time to recover first.

***

Seven days crawled by.

Darian spent that time carefully analyzing the ship. Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything beyond what he’d already seen. The whole place existed for one single purpose: to stay anchored out at sea, keeping that woman imprisoned.

It was night, and the sky was filled with tiny specks that looked like stars. At their center was a massive silver sphere that lit up everything. It gave off a strange kind of energy.

Darian noticed it was a power that seeped into the body, merging with it, helping heal wounds or easing away physical exhaustion.

Since arriving, he hadn’t needed to eat or sleep. As a High Human, he could easily go days without those things. But thanks to that strange moon in the sky, he felt like he’d never need either of them again, as long as he calmly absorbed its energy at night.

In that world, there was day and night, even though it was flat. An internal clock ticked on a twelve-hour cycle: the red sun would vanish on one side, and that glowing sphere would rise on the other, like a spectacular full moon.

During the day, the primordial Yin and Yang of the island grew restless, as if urging people to chase their goals. At night, that "moon" felt like an invitation to rest and recover.

That night, his Wind Law cooldown ended. Now Darian had enough wind runes to get back to the island in just seconds.

He took a deep breath and went to check on the woman.

Her fingers twitched every now and then, and her breathing was steady and calm. She was stable—like she could wake up any moment.

"It’s only been seven days, and she’s already recovered this much... Niara would need weeks just to get a little better. And she’s got the bloodline of a Primordial Dragon," he muttered, amazed.

Wasting no time, he headed for the helm.

With full focus, he gestured, dispelling the barrier of light.

In a leap, he activated one of the wind runes and dashed through the ship at top speed.

In just ten seconds, he reached her.

The chains binding her could be undone easily. Darian freed her and immediately strapped her to his back, holding her tight. Without hesitation, he sprinted again toward the ship’s top deck.

Twenty seconds later, he was staring at the scarlet sea again. His inventory popped open, and he pulled out every single wind rune at once, activating them.

*Wooosh!*

This time, he didn’t need to swim—and couldn’t anyway, since she might get hurt. So he used all the runes to shoot forward like a lightning bolt, straight through the air.

The speed was insane. He covered more than five kilometers in under thirty seconds.

When he saw the shore up ahead, he realized no one was around and let out a relieved sigh.

The force of the winds was nearly spent. He shifted her to his front, clutching her tightly with his back turned toward the ground.

*Bang!*

He slammed violently into the earth, carving a trench over twenty meters long.

Sand flew everywhere. Slowly, he stood up, his back torn to shreds. In his arms was the woman, who he had managed to bring out safely.

[Congratulations! Special Mission Complete!]

Darian’s heart pounded like a drum when he saw the green screen. That was it—he’d really done it. He’d taken his first big step in this world.

Then...

He felt a tremor and heard a groan. He turned toward the woman.

Her face twisted, her eyes slowly opening.

"..."

It was like two stars lit up. Her eyes—bright, dazzling blue—shone with an intensity impossible to ignore.

Their faces were close, close enough to feel each other’s breath.

"!"

Darian jolted back, leaping to his feet.

The woman sat up on the sand, and her gaze locked firmly onto him.

"Hmm..." A confused groan escaped her, like she was forcing her mind to remember something.

Darian spoke slowly: "You were sealed, and I..."

Suddenly, her pupils widened. It was like she had sensed something. She turned sharply toward him, cutting him off.

"Why do I feel something from my father inside you?" she asked, her sharp eyes drilling into his.