Years later. Linhai City. "Elder Ye, the final batch of components you ordered is ready! Steward Chen requests you come to collect them." On this day, a clerk from the Scarlet Commerce Guild hurried to the Ye Family Residence to respectfully deliver the news. "This is truly the last batch of parts?" Ye Qin started, suddenly realizing that more than two decades had passed since he placed the order with the Scarlet Commerce Guild. In those twenty years, the components for the warship had finally been fully refined—it was not surprising, though the pace had been slow. He had been wholly immersed in his cultivation and had not pressed the Guild on the order's progress.

He accompanied the clerk to the Scarlet Commerce Guild in the city, finding Steward Chen, who had managed the entire transaction, waiting in the main hall. "Elder Ye, please wait a moment; I will retrieve the goods from the warehouse right away. I'll be back shortly," Steward Chen said with a hurried smile upon seeing such a distinguished patron arrive. "Mmm." Ye Qin nodded calmly and browsed idly around the Guild's large hall. The Scarlet Commerce Guild was as powerful and bustling as ever, crowded with cultivators coming to purchase artifacts and goods. However, the atmosphere that day felt subtly different; many patrons were distracted, discussing something among themselves rather than attending to business.

As Ye Qin moved through the crowd, he sensed this unusual air and felt a slight curiosity. "Have you heard the major news that broke recently?" "What news?" "The Northern Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Sect Master Yu, passed away at the White Float Palace over ten days ago. This has caused immense upheaval across the Northern Isles. The news has taken this long to reach our Linhai City." "Sect Master Yu is dead? I heard he was at the late Nascent Soul stage, renowned throughout the Four Seas for his mastery of Thunder Arts and the Great Discipline of Troops. For such a top figure in the Eastern Sea Cultivation World, failing to break through to the Deity Transformation stage only means his lifespan finally ran out. In a few hundred or a thousand years, perhaps no one will even remember him." "After his death, who will claim the seat of the Northern Sect Master? As far as I know, the great Immortal Palaces in the Northern Sea region—the Purple Sword Palace, the Upper Soup Palace, and others—have accumulated power for millennia. Their secret maneuvering and internal strife are nothing new. If a genuine struggle erupts, it will likely cause chaos." "It hasn't been decided yet. The Palace Lords of the Northern Immortal Palaces qualified to vie for the position are fighting fiercely. However, there is a rumor that this time the succession will be based on merit. Therefore, the Northern Sect Master position must remain temporarily vacant." "What kind of merit?" "That's obvious, the merit gained by expanding the territory of the Blood Sea forces! The Eastern Sea Cultivation World's power has long since recovered, and they are eager to push their influence into the Blood Sea. The scale of merit depends entirely on achievements within the Blood Sea—be it slaying Demon Cultivators or constructing Immortal Cities, these are monumental merits." "No wonder the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Demonic Dao Alliance have been so active around the Crimson Sea lately, even dispatching Nascent Soul cultivators from several Immortal Palaces to the Blood Sea." "But if the Northern Sect Master position is empty, who governs the numerous Immortal Palaces under the Northern Sect lineage?" "The Elder Council of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's main headquarters, of course! Even with the Sect Master absent, a powerful Elder Council ensures nothing goes terribly wrong." "Calculating by current ages, several other Sect Masters and giants in the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Demonic Dao Alliance have only one or two hundred years left on their lifespans. It seems new Immortal Palaces will rise to claim their seats. The current Sect Masters and giants must be aiming to leverage their peak strength now to seize control of the Blood Sea and claim more spirit islands." "Alas, these power shifts in the Northern Seas have little bearing on cultivators like us. My biggest worry is how many cultivators will die if this great war breaks out." "Indeed! From the look of things, the War of Immortals and Demons is brewing, ready to erupt soon. At that time, most of us in the mid-to-late Golden Core stage will be conscripted by the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Demonic Dao Alliance. Survival in this war is uncertain!"

Ye Qin stood casually by the counter, examining the artifacts on display, as he overheard the low-voiced discussions of the surrounding Golden Core cultivators discussing the situation in the Eastern Sea. He paused at the words, listening silently for a moment, then let out a faint sigh before continuing his path. The last time the Skeleton Demon took human form, he had already sensed that Sect Master Yu's lifespan was nearly exhausted. He must have relied on spiritual items like Longevity Pills to cling on for a few more years, which was already an impressive feat. If one cannot cultivate to a higher realm, even a powerful cultivator like a late Nascent Soul Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance will eventually face death when their lifespan ends, just like Sect Master Yu.

A sense of urgency arose within him. With his diligent cultivation, it would take him approximately one hundred and thirty to forty years of lifespan to reach the peak of the Ninth Layer of the Golden Core stage. Since he could refine Nascent Soul Pills, his chances of breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm should be quite high. However, after entering the Nascent Soul realm, there remained a long stretch of years required to assault the Deity Transformation stage. Whether he could break through to that realm remained highly uncertain. If he could not transcend Deity Transformation, he would also be limited to a thousand years of life before passing away like Sect Master Yu.

"Elder Ye, this is the final batch of components, all refined! Please check them to ensure nothing is missing?!" Steward Chen's voice suddenly called from behind him. Ye Qin snapped back to awareness, pulled from his deep contemplation. Turning, he saw Steward Chen approaching with a storage pouch held out, a smile fixed on his face. "Good!" Ye Qin scanned the contents of the pouch rapidly with his divine sense, checking every component. "Yes, correct. This is the last payment, totaling approximately ten million low-grade spirit stones." Ye Qin nodded, confirming the accuracy. "Thank you, Elder Ye. If the Purple Sword Palace has any more large orders in the future, please come directly to the Scarlet Commerce Guild. I guarantee your satisfaction! Our Guild will offer you the most favorable private discount, higher than any other establishment!" Steward Chen said, winking conspiratorially as he pressed another storage pouch containing several hundred thousand spirit stones into Ye Qin’s hand.

Ye Qin gave a faint smile and accepted it directly. He understood that Steward Chen had mistakenly assumed that the components for the warship—which cost a staggering total of nearly five hundred million spirit stones—were ordered by the Purple Sword Palace, treating him merely as the liaison. Ye Qin pocketed the storage pouch without offering clarification and stated simply, "That is easily arranged. However, regarding this entire transaction, I trust your Guild will keep absolute discretion and not reveal a single word. I do not wish to hear any idle gossip, or there will be no second business dealing between us!" "Absolutely, absolutely! This transaction was personally instructed by Elder Qing, and I dared not be negligent; I handled everything myself. I have always been discreet; no one knows the Purple Sword Palace ordered a warship from us, and no one else will know any detail of this deal," Steward Chen hastened to guarantee.

Satisfied, Ye Qin left the Scarlet Commerce Guild and returned to his residence in the city.

Inside the Ye Family Residence. Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er placed the several dozen storage pouches containing the warship components onto a table in the living room. The entire warship was composed of thousands of small artifact components and several dozen core artifact components, which allowed for individual refinement, making the process convenient; most artifact refiners could manage to forge one specific component. However, assembling these thousands of pieces into a complete Lesser Divine Ability Warship was an exceedingly complex task. Making thousands of components function simultaneously was far more difficult than simply controlling one artifact.

This entire assembly depended on the Warship Design Schematics. Warships were critical strategic artifacts, and the designs were vital, closely guarded secrets of the major Immortal Palace factions, never to be leaked. Ye Qin had not handed over the Lesser Divine Ability Warship blueprints—which were included within the Warship Artifact Forging Techniques he obtained from the treasure vault—to the Scarlet Commerce Guild. The forging techniques in his possession contained designs for dozens of different warships, their value immeasurable.

Ye Qin frowned slightly. Only the final step remained: assembling all the warship components. He would have to undertake the assembly personally. To complete the warship before the War of Immortals and Demons erupted, Ye Qin chose to construct a small-scale vessel named the "Great Wing Warship." This was a Lower Grade Lesser Divine Ability Warship, the easiest and cheapest class to build among all warships. Ye Qin sought no great merit; self-preservation was enough.

The Great Wing Warship relied on speed and maneuverability, armed with ten Light Sky-Crashing Cannons. Its offensive power was not high compared to other warships, but sufficient flight speed in the coming war would greatly enhance his chances of survival. Although it was a small warship, it could not compare to the vessel at the Blood Sea's ancient stronghold—the colossal ancient warship that had been damaged, stretching hundreds of feet high and a thousand feet long, bristling with hundreds of gun ports. That heavily fortified ship was clearly a main-line vessel, costing untold spirit stones; perhaps it belonged to the Heavenly Dao Alliance Sect Master or a Demonic Dao Alliance Giant, serving as a cornerstone in the war—a true behemoth.

Ye Qin lacked the means for such a vessel and wished to avoid drawing too much attention, so he built the smallest possible Lower Grade Lesser Divine Ability Warship. However, the complete warship, spanning over three hundred feet long, simply could not fit within the Ye Family Residence, which was barely an acre in size. To secretly complete the assembly within Linhai City and avoid drawing notice was simply impossible.

"Why don't we rent a reef island and excavate a cave dwelling there to assemble the Great Wing Warship?" Huangfu Bing'er suggested when she saw Ye Qin deep in thought. "A reef island?" Ye Qin's eyes brightened.

Within a few hundred li radius of Linhai City, there were hundreds of subsidiary reef islands. The larger ones spanned several li and could barely be called islands. The smallest were perhaps only a few dozen feet across—little more than large rocks. These ancillary reefs attracted almost no attention, entirely unlike the desolate sea island hundreds of li wide where the Skeleton Demon had taken human form. Most of these auxiliary rocks lacked spirit veins and were thus never permanently inhabited. One could temporarily lease them from the Linhai City administrators for a small sum of money.

Ye Qin spent a sum of spirit stones to lease a small island spanning several li from Linhai City for a period of one year. This island was less than fifty li from the city and was regularly patrolled by the guards watching the waters around the city, alleviating security concerns.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er left Linhai City and arrived at the small island. They immediately surveyed the surrounding sea area with their divine sense and confirmed it was utterly calm, not even detecting the trace of a threatening sea beast. Reassured, Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er promptly carved out a cave dwelling five to six hundred feet deep within the towering reefs on the island. They piled the thousands of small components and dozens of core components from the storage pouches into the spacious cavern.