Chapter 136: The Weight of the Sea Pillar

Sitting on the stone bed, Shun looked puzzled and asked, "How can the collapse of the Realm of the Sea bring a world-destroying peril to the human world?"

Mu cast a helpless glance at him, looking as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he turned his gaze to Yin Seventeen and sighed, "You explain it to him!"

Shun possessed fine potential and was a promising sprout, but limited by his age, he fell quite short in both knowledge and life experience.

After all, he was merely an ignorant youth of twelve or thirteen.

Yin Seventeen nodded, brought his palms together flat in front of his chest, and said earnestly to Shun, "The structure of the Realm of the Sea is very peculiar."

"The Pillars of the Sea prop up the ocean water, separating the water from the seabed, allowing the vast ocean to become the sky of the Realm of the Sea."

As he spoke, he slowly opened his joined palms, keeping them parallel with his left hand below and his right hand above.

He continued, "My right hand is equivalent to the ocean water, and my left hand is equivalent to the seabed. The space in between is the Realm of the Sea."

"In other words, the Realm of the Sea is actually a special structure centered around the Pillars of the Sea, solid both above and below, and hollow in the middle."

"If the Pillars of the Sea were to snap and break, the ocean water would naturally sink, triggering the collapse of the Realm of the Sea."

With these words, he suddenly clapped his upper and lower hands together.

Yin Seventeen continued, "This situation is much like a large water vat whose bottom is suddenly smashed open. A massive amount of water would rush into the space below, forming a vortex on the water's surface and sucking away everything floating upon it."

"The larger the opening at the bottom of the vat, the more torrential the water flow, and the stronger the vortex."

"According to the records of the Sanctuary, the total area of the Realm of the Sea is not entirely equal to the area of the ocean; the Realm of the Sea exists only in the deep-sea regions."

"Because of this, when the Realm of the Sea collapses, the ocean water cannot flood into it all at once, which will inevitably form a massive vortex on the ocean surface."

"Across the entire surface of the Earth, land accounts for only thirty percent, while the oceans occupy seventy percent."

"Once the great vortex forms, the land will be like duckweed on the water, its life and death beyond its own control. The terrifying suction force of that vortex will sweep along the coastline, tearing all the land to pieces and dragging it down into the seabed."

"By that time, I fear nothing much will be left of the entire human world!"

Hearing this, Shun turned pale.

He could almost envision terrifying giant whirlpools spawning across the major oceans, tearing the continents apart one by one. Countless living beings struggled upon the water, only to be helplessly dragged down into the depths of the sea.

On the ground, Mu let out a helpless sigh and continued, "Because of this, every time the Sanctuary wages war against the Realm of the Sea, we find it a tremendous headache, fearing we might drive the Realm of the Sea to drag us down with them in mutual destruction."

The Pillars of the Sea were not only tied to the survival of the Realm of the Sea, but they also affected the safety of the human world.

"Therefore, you must always remember: barring special circumstances, never touch the Pillars of the Sea in the Realm of the Sea!" Mu once again exhorted the two of them.

"Understood, Mr. Mu!" the two replied in unison.

Half a month later, Mu summoned the two individuals residing in the stone tower.

By this time, the Cloth of Crater, which had been taken away by young Kiki to play with for a week, had already returned to Yin Seventeen's hands after being repaired by Mu.

However, young Kiki's promise to have Mr. Mu help reinforce the Cloth had not been fulfilled.

It was not that the naughty little fellow had broken his word, but rather that Mu had very little material on hand. After barely managing to repair the damaged Cloth of Crater, there were simply no surplus materials left for extra reinforcement.

Mu distributed two bamboo back-baskets and iron pickaxes to the two of them, saying, "The task of gathering orichalcum will be completed by the two of you, while I shall be responsible for keeping watch and protecting you."

"Mr. Mu, isn't this back-basket a bit too small?" Shun asked with surprise as he inspected the basket in his hand.

The size of this back-basket was similar to those used by ordinary folk for gathering medicinal herbs, and it truly could not hold very much.

He deeply doubted how long the orichalcum packed into these two baskets would actually last.

I'm afraid it wouldn't even be quite enough for repairing the Cloths of Chamaeleon and Cepheus.

Mu glanced at the basket on his back and said, "You will understand once you reach your hand inside and feel it."

Hearing this, Yin Seventeen and Shun exchanged glances, and each reached their hand into their respective back-baskets.

"Eh?"

Yin Seventeen was taken aback. The small back-basket looked quite shallow, but in reality, after extending his entire arm into it, he still could not touch the bottom.

He felt as though the bottom of the basket was merely a hair's breadth away from his fingertips, yet no matter what, he could not reach it.

"Has this back-basket actually been crafted using spatial technology?" Yin Seventeen asked, looking at Mu.

Aside from the Cloth boxes, this was the first time he had ever seen spatial technology applied to anything else.

What was most extravagant was that this technology had been used on a mere back-basket.

He instantly felt as though his own Cloth box had plummeted countless tiers in grade, making it about on par with such a tattered back-basket.

Shun, standing beside him, did not dwell on it as much and simply gazed at the back-basket with an expression of unceasing curiosity.

Seeing Yin Seventeen's peculiar expression, Mu guessed his thoughts and slowly explained, "This is a mining basket passed down through my Jamir clan from long ago, specially manufactured for gathering various ores."

"After all, ores are heavy and take up a great deal of space. Using spatial technology to forge mining baskets can greatly enhance mining efficiency."

"Then... about how much ore can this single mining basket hold?" Shun asked curiously as he strapped the mining basket onto his back.

Mu thought for a moment and slowly replied, "Around a hundred tons, I suppose."

Ores needed to be refined to yield metal, and orichalcum was no exception.

If both mining baskets could be completely filled, the orichalcum refined from them in the end should be enough to last for a very long time.

Hearing this, Yin Seventeen felt a slight ache in his teeth; the former glory of the Jamir clan probably far exceeded his imagination.

That a tiny mining basket could hold a hundred tons of ore was truly a mind-boggling application of spatial technology.

"Then this pickaxe of ours isn't specially made as well, is it?" Yin Seventeen looked in disbelief at the pickaxe by his feet, which looked thoroughly ordinary.

Mu countered with a question, "Do you think an ordinary pickaxe could hack away at orichalcum ore?"

"Uh—"

Yin Seventeen was left speechless.

Orichalcum was famed as the hardest metal, so the ore containing orichalcum naturally could not be compared to ordinary minerals.

This pickaxe looked ordinary, but it probably wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Mu pointed to the pickaxe by his feet and said, "This pickaxe is also forged from orichalcum, and its hardness rivals that of a Gold Cloth. You may use your full strength to mine without worrying about the pickaxe head breaking."

Hearing this, Yin Seventeen was utterly speechless.

Even this battered old pickaxe was sturdier than his Silver Cloth; the Jamir clan was truly beyond comprehension.

Afterward, Mu turned his head and shouted toward the doorway, "Kiki, stay here and watch the house. Do not wander around randomly, you hear?"

"Oh, got it, Mr. Mu!" young Kiki replied without turning his head, his attention still focused entirely on the stone block at his feet.

This was his mandatory daily homework: psychokinetic training.

"Let's move out!"

Mu called out, grabbed Shun by the shoulder, and transformed into a stream of light that rushed out of the tower door, leaping away toward the east.

As for the other person, there was no need for him to look after him.

Immediately, Yin Seventeen ignited his Cosmo and transformed into a silver stream of light, following closely out of the tower door and flying toward the east.