Chapter 925 - Checkpoint Turtle
It was daytime when Krune grunted, tossing and turning as he seemed to feel a bit of discomfort. His face was covered with sweat while his body ached, making him feel pain while he moved in his sleep.
While doing so, there was a constant sound of something hitting something hard. It was rocking his boat and made him uncomfortable. His brows furrowed as he tried to sleep some more. Though soon after, he woke up with a start, looking at the source of the sound, only to notice that his boat had hit a piece of rock.
The waves caused it to hit the rock, while the reaction from the impact made the boat move back a little. It was then rowed by the waves for another collision. With that, it was continuously crashing into the rock. As it didn't have much momentum, it wasn't damaged from the impacts.
"Oh, it was hitting the rock. That's why I was hearing those sounds," Krune muttered, slowly extending his hands with the intent to push the rock away when he paused. His eyes focused on the rock as he seemed immersed in thought, only now waking up as he jolted, turning around to look at where he was now.
Spanning before him was a large piece of land, forming an island. It was a flat piece of land, almost aligned with the ocean surface. At times, the water covered a large part of the land. Only the centermost part of the island was devoid of being covered by the water as it was 20 centimeters above the water surface.
"Land!" Krune shouted in surprise, about to jump on it when he paused, controlling his urges as he looked around, noticing how there was only the ocean water around him. He then gazed at the ocean above, noticing that it was also the same.
"I should be careful." Recalling the fact that he was in a place where massive sea beasts roamed forth, Krune was just about to use his newly obtained passive ability when he saw the ocean currents in his surroundings change.
A massive shadow appeared from under him before emerging above water, looking like part of the island had moved. It made an arch in the water, causing water to stream from it like a waterfall, coiling its head before looking at Krune.
The head seemed to be similar to a rounded-out snake's head, but in this case, it was massive. Just the size of its head alone spanned 20-30 meters. Its massive eyes stared at Krune, causing him to shudder as he lost the ability to speak.
The presence it exhibited was just too much for Krune to endure, almost losing consciousness when the head of the opposing party began to retreat into the ocean water, leaving behind a sentence, "Welcome to the Checkpoint Turtle. Head inside."
It took a while after it retreated into the water before Krune could gasp for air and stabilize himself. He plopped on the boat, losing strength in his legs as he panted. When he was a cultivator, the size of his opponent usually didn't matter. What mattered were their cultivation bases.
After all, with Godly Energy, Krune was able to beat larger opponents easily. The bigger they were, the slower they became. Also, they painted themselves as a bigger target. So, taking down bigger foes was easy for Krune.
But now, as a mortal, size mattered a lot. All the other party had to do was exhale. It would create a gale powerful enough to send him flying, causing him to receive damage as he collided into the water and drowned.
Krune didn't act for the time being, looking around to see if he could escape by jumping into the ocean above. In the meantime, he double-tapped his glabella, summoning the tablet, looking at the two words inscribed on it as he heaved a sigh in relief.
[Checkpoint Turtle]
There was just this written on the tablet. But, the fact that it was written as if he had arrived at a new area, Krune heaved a sigh in relief, thinking that he wouldn't have to fight against such a fearsome foe.
Only then did Krune notice a flight of stairs in the center of the island. By the looks of it, it seemed that the massive turtle beast was inviting him to enter through it. After mulling over it for a bit, Krune carefully landed on the island, feeling secure when there was solid land underneath him.
He then pulled the boat atop it, banking it. This was to prevent it from moving away while he visited whatever was at the end of the flight of stairs. He then heaved a breath in exhaustion, finding that he was able to perceive the distance between him and the land below him.
'I don't need to unleash a sound using my voice?' he wondered as he looked above and breathed out, feeling that he had emitted a wave that landed on the ocean above and was reflected. He captured the detail, understanding the distance between the two.
Though, it seemed the activation of his passive using the sounds of his exhalation wasn't as effective as normal. The details he perceived from it weren't as clear. Well, since the sounds were weak, the range of its function was limited.
"Alright," Krune then muttered, feeling the sounds he produced travel far and wide, only to be reflected soon after. The farther it was reflected from, the weaker and vaguer the data he could perceive.
Though at the moment, this allowed him to perceive the size of the island he was on. 'It has a radius of around 100 meters. And, this isn't everything. It proceeds further into the waters.'
As all the sound waves he unleashed were reflected from the island surface, he was unable to sense anything below the waters. It was due to his position and the direction the sound waves he emitted could traverse.
Krune then faced the flight of stairs, mouthing a word as he walked towards it, allowing him to perceive everything that was within it as he received a response soon after. It was an astounding feeling. It was as if the senses on his skin were expanded, allowing him to sense the spatial location of himself and his surroundings.
It wasn't related to the laws of space or anything like that. It was just him being able to perceive his three-dimensional surroundings with greater clarity, physically.
Krune smiled, now treading with a little confidence as he thought, 'Depending on its use, it would help me a lot in many situations in this layer.'
He began to proceed through the flight of stairs, watching his surroundings turn darker as he proceeded deeper. Only now did he notice everything around him resembled the shell of a turtle. It seemed that the flight of stairs was carved into the turtle beast's shell.
Soon, Krune reached the end of the flight of stairs, arriving at a dome as his body radiated the Neon Radiance, allowing him to perceive his surroundings better. There was a small platform spanning a meter in radius at the end of the flight of stairs. It was where he stood. Beyond that was just water.
This was the extent he had sensed before through his Sonic Radar. Suddenly, followed by a gurgle, the head of a beast peeked out of the water, staring straight at him.
It resembled an octopus in appearance but was massive in size. Just the portion of its head that peeked out spanned 4-5 meters in size. Krune became alert, holding his Whale Tooth Sword.
Though surprisingly, the octopus didn't attack him. Rather, a voice resounded through the dome, telling Krune, "Welcome, the visitor named Krune, to the Checkpoint Turtle."
Upon hearing it speak, Krune relaxed for an instant, feeling that it wasn't a foe he had to fight against. But he remained silent, staring at the octopus, waiting for it to speak further.
As if it realized his intention, the octopus exited the water until half of its head peeked out, speaking, "The Checkpoint Turtle is a place that's similar to a shop in this layer. This is where you can spend the points you have accumulated to buy items of your desire."
"This place is…?" Krune's eyes widened in surprise, having not expected for the Sub-Realm to have a place this direct in approach.
After all, in the fourth layer, nothing was announced. It was the same here as well. But suddenly, this shop popped out from out of nowhere. So, Krune didn't know what to think of it.
The octopus laughed, but in actuality, its laughter was a series of screeches that were grating to the ears. "I understand what you're thinking. The fourth layer is the place where one can farm the maximum amount of Godly Points. It might be tough at the start, but once you understand the method, you can farm for Godly Points easily. As for this layer, it would be tough to come across creatures that will reward you Godly Points. Killing such creatures is not easy."
It then wriggled one of its tentacles in the water, making some currents in it as he continued, "As for this Checkpoint Turtle, it is a feature in this vast ocean layer. It will appear for the first time after a month of your arrival. And after this, it will appear on the same day every year. There are a lot of items you can purchase from here using your Godly Points. As for the list of items, they're available on your tablet."
Krune immediately double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet as he held it in his hands, looking at the numerous words displayed in it. There were around 10 items in total that he could purchase. But upon seeing the price of each item, Krune frowned, feeling they were beyond expensive.
[Passive (Underwater Breathing): 20 Godly Points]
[Water Essence: 1 Godly Point]
[Motor Fish: 7 Godly Points]
[Bone Arsenal: 2 Godly Points]
[Ticket to Primary Landmass: 5 Godly Points]
[Ticket to Secondary Landmass: 15 Godly Points]
[Ticket to Tertiary Landmass: 50 Godly Points]
[Return to Layer 4 (6 Months): 100 Godly Points]
[Entry to Layer 2: 200 Godly Points]
[Helper Whistle (10 Uses): 10 Godly Points]