Sea Survival: My Luck is Off the Charts

Faye Yardley took a wooden bucket of black seawater from her backpack. "Kingston, do you recognize this?"

"Ominous black water!" Eamon exclaimed, leaping back two steps.

Cole Kensington shook his head. "I don’t recognize it."

"Eamon, you recognize it? Tell me about it."

Eamon scratched his head, looking a bit awkward. "Well, it’s not that I recognize it myself... it’s just, there’s always been a legend where I’m from. It says that black water is the source of all misfortune, and it makes all plants lose their vitality. The water in that bucket just gives me a really bad feeling, like something terrible will happen if I touch it. That’s why I shouted that out instinctively."

"Does it affect plants, too? Eamon, go pull up a head of napa cabbage with the roots still on."

"Okay, be right back."

Faye Yardley stroked Bella’s head. "Kingston, will Bella really be okay? How long will it take for her to recover?"

"I don’t know. Didn’t you feed her a lot of good stuff, Sis? Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have lasted so long in that black water."

’Good stuff?’ Faye Yardley muttered, then took a green Light Energy Fragment from her inventory and pushed it into Bella’s mouth.

Bella, who had seemed listless, perked up after a short while and even struggled to her feet.

"Bella, that’s great! It looks like eating good things really does restore your strength. Awesome!"

Just as he’d promised, Eamon quickly returned with a napa cabbage, roots and all.

He didn’t even dare to get close to the bucket. Cole Kensington took the cabbage directly from his hand and walked toward the bucket. "Just drop it in?"

Faye Yardley nodded, and he tossed it in.

The napa cabbage quickly began to turn black, starting from its roots. However, it remained intact, just changing from a regular cabbage into a black one!

"This..."

The three people and the horse were all bewildered. What was going on? Could this cabbage still be eaten?

A short while later, Willow Yardley came over. After understanding the situation, she admitted she didn’t know either. Her scan had revealed nothing abnormal about the black napa cabbage.

In her view, no abnormalities meant it was edible.

"Blackwood! Blackwood!"

Faye Yardley walked to the entrance of the stables and shouted toward the house twice.

A small black shadow quickly flashed before them.

"MEOW!" Blackwood’s eyes lit up when it saw the black napa cabbage, and it stared at it intently.

"You want to eat it? Go ahead."

Faye Yardley wasn’t worried it would get a stomachache. After all, it could even devour Demon Energy; a little unknown black seawater shouldn’t have much of an effect.

With her permission, Blackwood meowed and swallowed the black napa cabbage in one gulp. It even let out a satisfied burp before leaping onto Faye Yardley’s shoulder, looking full and sleepy.

"Willow, go to the workbench and make some more empty wooden buckets."

"Okay."

Faye Yardley turned back and stroked Bella’s head. "Alright, you just rest and recover here. In a few days, you’ll be galloping around again. No rush."

Then she dismissed the others, tossing a fishing rod to Cole Kensington and telling him to fish up a few more treasure chests when he had free time.

She also needed to compile the information she had gathered for Zachary Pierce. She couldn’t just give him the black seawater without any of the other potentially relevant details.

She was counting on his side to produce research results quickly.

The raft, following her settings, was already heading toward the area of black seawater.

After compiling the information, Faye Yardley made a backup for herself, then sent it to Zachary Pierce along with the black seawater.

"Received. I’ll have the researchers start on it as soon as possible."

With nothing else to do, Faye Yardley called Master Veridian. He picked up instantly.

"Hahaha, how did you know, little lass, that this old Master just successfully created a Golden Light Talisman?"

Faye Yardley answered honestly, "Well, I know now. Congratulations, Master, your talisman-drawing Skills have greatly improved. By the way, I have a very new kind of drawing material. Would you like to try it?"

"Oh? Is it as special as that tree sap?"

"How about I invite you over to my place for a visit, Master? We could have lunch together."

Master Veridian laughed heartily. "That would be wonderful! Send the invitation quickly. This old Master has grown weary of being stuck on this raft."

Soon, Faye Yardley used a two-hour Invitation Card to invite the Master over.

The Master’s eyes lit up the moment he stepped onto her raft. Seeing Faye Yardley emerge from the doorway, he immediately praised her. "Amazing, little lass! You truly deserve to be number one on the leaderboards. Incredible! That kid Zephyr Sterling is nothing compared to you."

"Master, please come in. Shall we sit and talk inside?"

Silas waved his hand and pointed to the pavilion in the small garden. "Let’s go over there. You’ve done a nice job with the landscaping."

"Alright. This way, Master."

Placing a small bowl of the black seawater on the stone table, Faye Yardley recounted the entire process of how she discovered it.

"This can truly be considered a marvel." Silas stared intently at the black water, then dipped his finger into it, closing his eyes to feel it carefully.

After a long moment, he pulled his finger out, wiped his hand, and said, "This water contains a violent, tyrannical emotion. People who stay in it for too long will definitely be affected. At first, it might just be the restlessness you mentioned, but later they’ll gradually become savage and murderous. You, little lass, are quite remarkable to be able to swim freely in such water."

Faye Yardley blinked, confused. "Can’t other people? What about you, Master?"

As she spoke, the raft was already approaching the area of black seawater. She pointed. "Look, it’s right there. Do you want to give it a try later, Master?"

Master Veridian stood up excitedly. "Of course! Since I’m here, I definitely have to try it. Oh, you didn’t tell me there was such a large patch of it. I should collect some more to take back with me. I could try using it to draw explosive talismans or the like; it might have some extraordinary effects."

"I still have wooden buckets for the seawater, so you don’t have to worry about that, Master."

"Magnificent!" Master Veridian then asked, "Where is this little black cat you mentioned? May I see it? I’ve never seen such a magical Mystic Cat before."

Faye Yardley had nothing to hide about this; otherwise, she wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place.

She called out for Blackwood, and he came running.

Seeing the Master, Blackwood even sized him up curiously from the table for a few moments.

"Tsk tsk, this is truly a magical world, always broadening my horizons. This cat... is truly different."

"Meeow~"

Blackwood let out a proud meow and leaped onto Faye Yardley’s shoulder.

"Master, should we eat first?"

"No rush. I want to try drawing a talisman with this black water first." As he spoke, the Master took out the Talisman Paper and Talisman Pen he had prepared from his backpack and spread them on the stone table.

He held the Talisman Pen, calmed his mind and Energy for a moment, and his entire aura changed. He dipped the pen in the black water and began to draw.

This was the first time Faye Yardley had ever watched someone draw a talisman. Her eyes widened, and she naturally opened her system’s recording function, openly "stealing" the technique.

But clearly, Master Veridian didn’t mind. If he did, he wouldn’t have done it in front of her.

He finished the last stroke in one smooth motion, and the entire talisman seemed to come alive the moment it was completed.

’So the legends of myths, cultivation, and the like passed down in Veridia since ancient times are actually real?!’