The guide continued leading everyone around the island. From the scenery alone, Spiral Float Island had a distinct maritime charm, with various exotic flowers and plants growing everywhere. The island featured more than ten freshwater lakes of different sizes scattered throughout. The guide explained that these formed when the depressions in the shell collected rainwater over many years. Additionally, dew flowing down from the spiral’s tip transformed into small streams.

After this massive demon died, its remains nourished countless living beings.

Then, the group wandered into the busiest market on Spiral Float Island. With the Fish Market opening soon, the island was crowded with people. Naturally, places with more people offered greater business opportunities, and these days the market is bustling with activity.

The Fish Market’s threshold was too high for most people to enter, so the market displayed all sorts of strange and rare items for sea travelers to choose from—from small pearls and seashells to magical equipment materials, from food to utility items, from entertainment to luxury goods—virtually everything one could imagine.

In the midsummer seventh month, the heat hadn’t yet subsided on the Forbidden Sea. Feng Miaojun and Madam Xu bought a bowl of stone flowers to eat. This was a type of algae that produced gelatin when simmered over a low flame. Once solidified, it could even be held in hand—golden yellow like fine jade and trembling like jelly. Crushing it and adding honey water with various fruits, just a small sip in the mouth provided a sweet and cool sensation, clearing heat and reducing fire, truly a perfect summer refreshment.

Feng Miaojun generously added all the toppings. As she ate, she thought this would probably be a favorite of a certain someone.

Further inside, it was even more impressive.

This was an island in the middle of the vast ocean, right above the meeting point of cold and warm currents—what kind of catch wouldn’t be found here? So from where she stood, both sides of the two-mile-long street were filled with fresh seafood. Lobsters as long as her leg were commonplace, and sea urchins as large as landmines were kept in water. For twenty copper coins, one could crack open the hard shell and eat it raw.

Eating raw was the mainstream here.

Sea races didn’t need fire for eating, and humans living in Spiral Float City, influenced by them, also preferred raw seafood. Walking here, just by paying thirty copper coins, one could get a large basin of sliced five-colored raw fish, filling the mouth with freshness and sweetness.

Feng Miaojun also spotted familiar pink and white fish meat—salmon, known as sanwen fish in her world. But here, it was thrown in a bucket, piled in an inconspicuous corner.

“How much is that one?”

“This? It was caught accidentally. Would you like five jin for ten copper coins?” asked the burly fish seller, rubbing his nose.

From behind came faint sneers: “Someone eats this stuff?”

The voice wasn’t soft; Madam Xu heard it and said irritably: “No, we don’t want it. It’s nothing special anyway!”

“Special things, I have those too.” The burly man patted the large fish behind him. “These are expensive—two taels of silver per jin.”

Behind him lay a large fish nearly seven meters long, with solid muscles gleaming with a sapphire blue luster in the sunlight. It wasn’t just fresh but also thrashing its tail vigorously—a water-gathering formation had been placed on the fish to ensure it remained alive even out of water.

The long snout like a water-splitting spike and the dorsal fin taller than Feng Miaojun—these two distinctive features together identified it as a very characteristic large fish from the sea—a sailfish.

However, in Feng Miaojun’s original world, such fish didn’t exceed three meters in length. Here, even at seven meters, it wasn’t considered the king of fish.

This fish was truly beautiful, its form embodying both line and power.

Feng Miaojun couldn’t stop praising it and pointed out: “I’ll take two jin!”

Sailfish sashimi was one of the most delicious raw fish dishes. The larger the fish, the more expensive it was. In her previous life, she hadn’t tasted it more than twice.

While she was savoring the raw fish, several people approached from the opposite direction, led by Fu Lingchuan and Princess Changle. It seemed Fu Lingchuan was accompanying his queen for a stroll. Both parties saw each other but didn’t speak, just smiled and passed by.

Feng Miaojun noticed one of the guards carrying a transparent water bag containing some strange small creatures.

Looking carefully, they were barnacles.

These two knew how to eat.

Curious, Feng Miaojun, holding Madam Xu’s hand, walked in the direction they had come from. Sure enough, she found a vendor selling barnacles, very fresh, each one alive.

Ten taels of silver per jin.

Madam Xu was shocked—such plain-looking and somewhat ugly things priced so high!

Feng Miaojun pulled her close and whispered: “These are turtle feet.”

Turtle feet weren’t real turtle feet but a type of crustacean, each only as big as a barnacle. They were named for their resemblance to turtle toes, even having wrinkles on the surface and covered with tiny scales.

They had many aliases—dog claw shells, stone barnacles, and so on. But unlike ordinary sea creatures, their distinguishing feature was their expense—extreme expense.

Lu Chuanying came over for a look and smiled: “If sold in restaurants in Yan’s capital, two of these would cost fifteen taels of silver.”

Madam Xu was convinced; it turned out they weren’t expensive here after all: “It would be good if we could transport them to the Southern Continent for sale.” The price difference would be seven or eight times.

The vendor was a demon of an unknown species who had also transformed into human form, but Feng Miaojun could see the green scales on his neck—his cultivation wasn’t deep enough, and his transformation was incomplete. He said disdainfully: “How can turtle feet from the Southern Continent compare with these? In the entire Forbidden Sea, only those produced in Spiral Float Island are top quality!”

Feng Miaojun chatted with him for a while, learning that these turtle feet were freshly harvested and sold. They grew in rock crevices along the shore, below the waterline. For humans to collect them meant risking being swept away by huge waves or smashed to death against sharp rocks.

But for water races, these problems didn’t exist.

Perhaps because Spiral Float Island had once been a giant demon, affecting the surrounding waters, the quality of sea creatures here was exceptionally good. Feng Miaojun tried one turtle foot—one only needed to pull out the stem meat to eat it raw—and indeed found it fresh, sweet, and crisp, all in one. With one bite, it was as if the entire ocean’s flavor was packed into her stomach.

Feng’s business generously bought five jin, wanting everyone to taste this delicacy. While expressing endless praise, Feng Miaojun also missed the Fangcun Bottle. With such a treasure, transporting turtle feet would not be a problem.

These items were expensive primarily because transportation was too difficult, keeping them alive was not easy, and sea travel carried significant risks. From Spiral Float Island to Yan’s capital was quite a long distance.

Having tasted delicacies and indulged in luxuries, the group moved into the inner streets.

Here, they sold not food but various ingenious playthings and magical materials.

Strolling here, Feng Miaojun felt like she was browsing an antique street from her previous life—half genuine, half fake, a mix of good and bad. Those hoping to find a great bargain here often ended up being greatly deceived.

For instance, she saw a young cultivator haggling with a vendor, wanting to buy two sea snake fangs.

The fangs of a sea snake demon with 500 years of cultivation were valuable items, capable of being crafted into excellent magical tools. The price here was also cheap, only eighty spirit stones.

But Feng Miaojun laughed as soon as she saw the merchandise.