Whoa, a golden legend…

A gust of dust hit him in the face.

Cough cough! No glowing items, but definitely a noseful of dust… Chen Qi coughed twice and carefully examined the contents of the chest.

Inside were three items: a sheepskin scroll, a sapphire-blue card, and a golden amber gem.

There wasn’t any dazzling light, but without a doubt, this was real treasure!

At that moment, the moment Chen Qi reached the treasure chest, a huge cheer erupted behind him.

“He… he really did it! He held on and actually made it to that place!”

“Look! The Parasitic Sea Beast is still wriggling, devouring his body! Can he still hang on?”

“Hurry! Hurry up and throw the stuff down…”

But Chen Qi wasn’t interested in those voices behind him right now—he only wanted to know what the Deep Sea Hunter had hidden here.

He first opened the sheepskin scroll. At the top, it read:

“To the adventurer who has come here:

To reach this place, I assume you—or your group—have already fought a battle of blood and flesh against the deep sea monsters of the ocean.

After my death, the Great Whale will eventually cross the white mist of the setting sun and return to this world.

And on this ocean, there must be hunters to slay them.

Adventurer who dares fight the Wall of Blood-Eyes,

Please accept this gift from me, a lonely hunter, in celebration of your battle.”

A battle between life and death… Chen Qi looked down at his still relatively tidy clothes, and the Sea Beast on his shoulder giving him a massage.

The massage strength and rhythm of this Parasitic Sea Beast were actually pretty decent.

Massages improve circulation and clear the meridians.

He figured that counted as a battle of blood and flesh too.

He then skimmed through the rest of the scroll.

It was full of place descriptions:

“To the left of the Moonstone City clock tower…”

“Beneath the Triangular Whirlpool…”

All location markers—this was a treasure map.

The Deep Sea Hunter’s Treasure turned out to include a map recording the locations of all treasures.

Chen Qi tried his best to memorize them.

From the content, it seemed the treasure was usually buried next to some dangerous Sea Beast.

Most tales about the Deep Sea Hunter’s Treasure were just rumors.

But a real treasure map from the Deep Sea Hunter—this was one of the rarest legends in the entire ocean!

If the Black Whale Crew behind him found out, they’d probably jump out of their skins.

What a find!

Chen Qi memorized several locations, then folded the sheepskin scroll and turned his attention to the sapphire-blue card.

This card was likely a Skill Card…

In the Rift, besides the cards tied to Transcendent Classes, the most common were Skill Cards.

As long as one met the requirements, Skill Cards could directly teach a skill to a Transcendent.

It was a card with an abstract inky style. On the card, beneath a stormy gray sky, a lone fisherman sat calmly on a small boat among massive waves, fishing with utter tranquility.

The moment he held the Skill Card, a prompt popped up:

[Skill Card - Fishing in the Storm]:

Requirements to learn: None

Effect: This card contains knowledge of transcendent-level sea fishing. Even during a storm, you can still catch a plump, delicious fish.

Description: Still frustrated by poor fishing days with no catch?

In the Witch Sea region, sea fishing really was a practical skill—so this was actually a decent Skill Card.

But placed in the Deep Sea Hunter’s Treasure… even if it was Transcendent fishing, it felt underwhelming… Chen Qi bit his lip.

One item left!

Chen Qi reached out and gently picked up the final item—the golden amber gem.

Its color wasn’t particularly bright, even a little dim, but inside, one could faintly see flames burning within.

The softly flickering flame radiated warmth and peace, yet also seemed to hold boundless power.

A dazzling prompt lit up in his eyes!

[Hunter’s Ember]:

Description: The ember retrieved by a hunter from a fallen lighthouse, infused with Transcendent power.

Aspect: Lamp, Blade

Effects:

Light of the Ember: Slightly enhances the strength of your Tier 1 to Tier 4 Transcendent Classes.

Hunter’s Will: The ember contains a lifetime of the Deep Sea Hunter’s battle knowledge, significantly enhancing your combat skill learning speed.

Note: We are the hunters. They are the prey. May you inherit the will of the hunter and slay all the deep sea monsters of this world!

Within the amber, it was as if one could see a hunter grappling with a Great Whale amid a storm—his eyes burning with fiery madness, possessed by a monstrous spirit, terrifying yet somehow comforting.

Just looking at it, Chen Qi felt an overwhelming sense of mystery.

The Ember… Chen Qi was startled. As someone who had dealt in many rare items, he knew exactly how valuable this was!

This level of item usually only appeared in storyline text!

On player forums, several major plotlines had revolved around fighting over one of these.

The first ability was only a slight enhancement—but considering it wasn’t equipment or a Class Card, and instead directly boosted the core of any Transcendent Class, the value was immense!

Even a fully geared-up endgame monster would benefit from this.

And for someone still in the early stages of progression, even a small buff to their Class Card mattered greatly!

Let alone the Hunter’s Will—many Tier 2 Class boosts only improved learning speed a bit.

This ember greatly enhanced combat learning and included the knowledge of a legendary hunter.

One could say this was practically a “Tier 0 Class Card”—a starter Class Card named “Hunter.”

A true treasure!

Now this was something worthy of being placed inside the Deep Sea Hunter’s Chest!

Just touching it, Chen Qi could faintly feel the Deep Sea Hunter’s yearning to slay monsters.

Taking this item was, in a way, inheriting the hunter’s will!

But… he had Deep Sea Affinity. Fighting deep sea monsters wasn’t likely for him.

His aura seemed even stronger than that of the Wall of Blood-Eyes!

If the Deep Sea Hunter’s spirit still lingered, he’d probably cut down a heretic like Chen Qi on sight.

“Rest in peace. I will inherit the power within.”

Killing humans should still count as hunting, right… Chen Qi put away his grin and looked for a position to stash everything on his body.

All three items weren’t too large. His coat and pants had roomy pockets—even the scroll fit inside.

Within just a short moment, the noise behind him grew louder and louder.

“Can he still stand?!”

“Hey hey hey! Has he already been completely taken over by the Parasitic Sea Beast?!”

“Captain, the cracks in the Stone Door behind us are getting bigger! The monsters are about to break through!”

At this point, everyone began to suspect Chen Qi had been completely parasitized—reduced to a Sea Beast’s slave.

After all, the Sea Beast on his shoulder looked more and more excited!

You’re pirates, act like it. Haven’t you seen worse?… Chen Qi stood up and looked back down at the anxious members of the Sawshark.

Captain Blackeye craned his neck and shouted at the top of his lungs:

“Can you still hang on?! If you can’t, at least throw down what’s in the chest first!”

Couldn’t you at least pretend to care about me a little… Chen Qi didn’t respond—he simply stared quietly down at them.

Captain Blackeye didn’t care about his life—only the loot in the chest.

In those pitch-black eyes was the madness of a pirate—the kind who’d kill everyone for treasure.

Should I go down there and hand over these precious treasures to the Black Whale Crew?

Chen Qi had long prepared to escape, but even now, he asked himself once more.

He remembered Captain Blackeye’s promise—two chests of gold—

If he went down and handed these things over, would the captain actually honor that?

No doubt, whatever reward he gave wouldn’t even be worth a fraction of this treasure’s value.

Unlike other free pirate crews, the Black Whale Crew—one of the sea’s Four Emperors—was far stricter in managing its members.

If he stood out too much, he’d definitely draw heavy scrutiny.

The only decent thing about the Black Whale Crew was having a reliable senior—Little Crow.

She had treated him well. But with her undercover status, she might not survive this storm either.

Besides, he had no parasitic wound on his shoulder. That meant his Deep Sea Affinity would be exposed.

And then his body… might be dissected.

No helping it—his body was just too “valuable.”

Escape was the right choice—and the only choice.

To live on, inherit the hunter’s will, and step onto a path of true strength—that was what he had to do.

He stood now within his own personal safety zone—under the Wall of Blood-Eyes.

Outside, the deep sea monsters were ramming the stone wall. The Sawshark was about to descend into chaos.

Now was the best time.

Hoo—

Chen Qi finished sorting through his thoughts and let out a long breath.

Then, his eyes fell on the Black Blade at Captain Blackeye’s waist—a flash of cold light flickered in his gaze.