Chapter 17 Compass
Li Ang’s eyes snapped open. "demon?"
"An Alien resembling life forms."
Cheng Juxiu explained, "Take the giant vine barnacles, for example—composed of individuals half a fathom long, connected end-to-end to form a massive colony. They drift submerged twenty fathoms below the sea all year round, resembling underwater islands. Once a ship or massive creatures like whales swim above them, they rapidly ascend and devour everything. Be it wood, ceramics, rice, steel, cloth, or even... humans.
"Seventy years ago, our Academic Palace first officially captured a sample of the giant vine barnacle. Based on its possible drifting direction from the Endless Sea, we drew a new sea chart. This was distributed to all the merchant ships sailing the East Sea, significantly reducing the frequency of unexplained disappearances.
"And the giant vine barnacle is just an insignificant demon in the vast Endless Sea.
"The aim of the Academic Palace is ’to achieve knowledge through investigating phenomena; only through investigating phenomena can one truly achieve knowledge.’ We too explore the Endless Sea, like the Former Sui Emperor, but not for personal gain—rather, to explore the unknown. You will understand this once you join the Academic Palace. Every year, the Academic Palace organizes senior students to explore various regions in Yu Country and abroad for practical experience."
"In fact, this is why the Academic Palace insists on only admitting Disciples with Spiritual Vein Talent," Pu Liuxuan, standing beside him, added. "In this world, demons truly exist.
"It is the Academic Palace, the garrison, the Ministry of War, and the Haotian Taoist Sect that isolate the existence of demons from ordinary people.
"Besides demons, there are also three other types of Alien: Demons, Alien (the specific category), and Bizzare Species.
"demons, as the tales in storybooks say, are a type of Alien that resemble living beings. For example, the large-tusked wild boar, as tall as a man, that the Yizhou Garrison Commander captured in the mountains ten years ago—it’s a demon.