"Rise!" Elder Niji gesture with his hand, making the sea water rise up around the ship.
"What are you doing Elder?" Lin Mu asked.
"Expanding the ship." Elder Niji replied while controlling the water.
The sea water covered the ship and expanded its size. It now looked like the wooden ship was encased inside a larger water ship. The most surprising part was that the water ship was actually firm.
One wouldn't sink inside it even if they stood on it.
"Truly marvelous..." Lin Mu said as he touched the surface of the water ship.
It felt like a spongy bubble to him.
"How long can you maintain this?" Lin Mu asked, guessing that this ability must have some high consumption.
"Almost indefinitely." Elder Niji replied.
"Huh? What?!" Lin Mu had not expected that.
"I'm not really expending any energy on this. The only energy I needed was to make its initial form. Maintaining it is automatic, and it is under the control of my Dao Embryo.
"Your Dao skill already reached this level?" Lin Mu knew that Dao Skills could improve, but such a vast increase was unusual.
"Awakening my tribe's bloodline has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the Dao of water." Elder Niji stated. "When the other tribe members also gain a body like mine, they will have awakened." He said pointing to the dark blue and grey skin.
"I see..." Lin Mu nodded his head.
"All Haima Tribe members are to stay in the water part of the ship. Only the humans will stay in the wooden ship. You all are to take this chance to cultivate and sense the Dao Traces of water." Elder Niji ordered immediately.
"Yes, elder!" The Haima tribe members had already seen the gains of Elder Niji, thus they wanted the same.
"S-should... Should I start the ship?" Immortal Taegu asked, still feeling scared.
"Yeah, do it. We are all set up." Lin Mu replied before taking a seat.
"Alright." Taegu spoke before placing his hands on the steering wheel.
~SHUA~
A formation array appeared around the steering while to which Immortal Taegu connected.
"Forward!" Lin Mu commanded.
~WHOOSH~
The large wood water hybrid ship took to the sea and started sailing.
Elder Niji and Lin Mu sat in the observation row behind Immortal Taegu keeping a watch over the horizon.
Lin Mu had also connected with the ship's array, allowing him to monitor all its functions as well as its defensive integrity.
He looked back at the island with a complex expression on his face.
'I would have never thought I would spend nearly two years in a place like this...' Lin Mu thought to himself.
While watching the island, Lin Mu's gaze went to the dock which was already growing smaller with them getting far.
"Elder Niji, can you destroy that dock while making it look like a wave hit it?" Lin Mu questioned.
"I can, but why?" Elder Niji asked curiously.
"It will be best to remove our tracks. If we make it look like a large wave destroyed the dock, the people of the kingdoms will not suspect anyone leaving the Land of Exile. At least for now." Lin Mu explained.
"Hmm... that does make sense." Elder Niji replied before raising his hand.
~SHUA~
He flicked out his hand, and the wave rose from the sea as well. The wave reached a height of nearly two hundred meters before it came crashing on the dock.
~BOOM~
Just like a tsunami would do, the wave devastated the dock while also taking away a portion of the island's shore with it.
Now there was almost no way for anyone to tell what had happened there. This would serve as an additional factor of safety for Lin Mu and the Haima Tribe.
"Umm... What direction do you want us to go to Senior Lin Mu?" Immortal Taegu asked.
They had gotten about five kilometer away from the Island and were simply traveling in a straight line.
"Hang on, let me check." Lin Mu closed his eyes and accessed the ships arrays.
Since the ship was meant to sail the Sea of Muxuan, it had several important features in it. The most important ones were none other than the navigation features.
The best part was the fact that Lin Mu could now tell the cardinal directions!
He now knew where north, south, west and east was. Something as simple as this had evaded him for nearly two years, and now it felt pleasing to learn again.
'Hmm... the Purple Sparrow Kingdom is located to the west while the Great Wave Kingdom is located to the northwest. We certainly cannot go to them and need to avoid that area entirely.' Lin Mu calculated the path they were taking.
"Turn to the northeast for now." Lin Mu ordered.
"Okay," Immortal Taegu accepted.
"We need a place for the tribe, Noble Lin Mu. Someplace that is close to the sea but also having resources." Elder Niji spoke.
"I had the same thought." Lin Mu nodded his head. "Kunzi, you said there are various islands nearby?" he asked.
"Yes, there are several of them. We should have gone to the nearest one for more ships, but considering the 'upgrade' I don't think we need to risk that." Kunzi replied.
"That's true." Lin Mu agreed.
"So I think the best option is to directly head east. There are hundreds of uninhabited islands that are full of resources. Normally these would be very dangerous for humans, but for the tribe... I don't think it'll be a problem." Kunzi suggested.
"As long as we are in the sea, the danger we'll face will be minimal. I can even mask our presence from other beasts. It'll be as if the ship is just a part of the sea." Elder Niji added.
"That's great!" Lin Mu was now sure that fate was on their side. "We shall head east then." He decided.
"Though there is one thing we need to worry about." Kunzi warned. "The rifts in the sea are still dangerous."
