C537 Oneeyed Old Man
Babel Island.
Lee Yuchan had made some purchases from the artifact hall, acquiring a collection of trinkets that she passed on to Lee Yu. These items were meant to aid in Lee Yu's cultivation.
As they prepared to depart, Lee Yuchan caught sight of Chiu Jihai once more. Her demeanor chilled, and with a defiant edge to her voice, she declared, "We're leaving the island now." To leave the island was to step outside the protective umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce. From that moment on, they would be solely responsible for their own fates.
Chiu Jihai, who had been fixated on Lee Yuchan, felt a jolt as his Yin God recoiled from the backlash. He sensed something had changed...
The once incapacitated female general, whom Lee Yu had escorted to the Chamber's private residence, now returned with a renewed spirit. The soul injury that had long plagued her was now completely healed. In the face of this, Chiu Jihai's resolve to end her life wavered.
"So, after all this time pushing me, you're scared now?" Lee Yuchan asked, her face an impassive mask, her gaze scornful. She led Lee Yu towards an exit on the island, a passage meant for a peaceful departure.
Chiu Jihai's expression shifted uncertainly as he trailed behind them.
Shortly thereafter, at the exit, Lee Yuchan produced a black-caped boat from her Mustard Seed Bracelet and descended onto it with Lee Yu. The boat glided slowly across the sea's surface. Lee Yuchan stood at the helm, eyes narrowed, silently daring Chiu Jihai to strike.
Then, abruptly, Chiu Jihai's face twisted into a malicious grin, causing Lee Yuchan's expression to darken.
"It's not just him!"
In an instant, Lee Yu sensed several hostile presences, each one intent on their demise.
"You're so naive," Chiu Jihai taunted with a bizarre laugh. "You think I'd keep such a close watch on you if I didn't know you'd recovered? Did you really believe I was that foolish? Haven't you considered that there are others who want you dead? Those who've been pursuing you and your nephew have been conspicuously absent. Haven't you wondered why?"
No sooner had he spoken than the sea beneath the black-caped boat roiled violently. Arrows of water formed and shot forth, aiming directly at the vessel. Chiu Jihai's longsword, too, became a streak of light, thrusting towards the black-caped boat.
Lee Yuchan's soul consciousness unfurled, and she instantly detected three individuals beneath the sea. Like Chiu Jihai and herself, they were all at the Yin God Stage and, more importantly, they were all acquaintances.
These were the same three who had repeatedly attempted to assassinate her and Lee Yu, without success!
Now, with Chiu Jihai, there were four Yin Gods of equal or greater power than her, intent on her demise. How could she possibly fend them off?
Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, a diminutive fist imprint plummeted from the heavens, hurtling towards Chiu Jihai.
As soon as the fist imprint materialized, the surrounding space contracted, becoming impossibly tight.
It seemed the entire cosmos couldn't accommodate that tiny fist imprint!
Within it, a tyrannical and explosive force of Qi and blood obscured the sky and earth.
Boom!
Chiu Jihai, soaring on his sword, was struck squarely by the fist imprint. In a mere moment, he was reduced to a mist of blood!
His physical form, Yin God essence, Heavenly Soul, and primary soul were all engulfed in the burst of blood mist.
Then, three more fist imprints darted into the sea below, causing the water to erupt into three colossal reverse waterfalls!
The other three Yin Gods, who had joined Chiu Jihai in their attack on the aunt and nephew, were instantly annihilated!
Aboard the black-canopied boat, Lee Yuchan and Lee Yu were left utterly stunned.
On Babel Island and aboard the nearby ships, the trade association's deacons and spectators alike were visibly shaken, hastily giving way.
A small figure, exuding an aura of unparalleled terror, appeared abruptly.
Donning a ferocious mask, she hovered in the void, cast a glance at Lee Yuchan and Lee Yu, and commanded, "Come with me."
No sooner had she spoken than the black-canopied boat soared skyward, drawn by her formidable power.
On the island, Chiang Yurong of the trade association emerged with urgency. She gazed at the figure and the now-ascending black-canopied boat and cried out, "Shen Feiqing!"
"Commander of the Divine Might Empire's Tusk Troops!"
"My goodness! How could it be her? Wasn't she supposed to be sequestered in the Desolate Swamp?"
"She... she appears to have attained the Yang God stage!"
The crowd was abuzz with astonishment.
No one could have imagined that Shen Feiqing, once cast out by the Ancient Desolate Sect and living incognito within the Divine Might Empire, who founded the Tusk Troops and later betrayed the empire, would make a sudden appearance in the Crack Archipelago.
Moreover, she rescued Lee Yuchan and Lee Yu!
"She and the Silvermoon Queen conspired against the Absence Relic. After their failure, she fled to the Desolate Swamp, finding refuge with the Desolate God," Chiang Yurong mused, deeply astonished. "The queen wasn't as fortunate; it seems she's been detained by Zhou Cangmin and Yu Zhu. Has Shen Feiqing emerged now to seek vengeance on Yu Yuan?"
...
A dazzling red glow burst forth within the hall, revealing the three-legged pill furnace.
The glow signified the "Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle," corresponding to Old Cash, Zhu Peining, and Gao Qin.
Yu Yuan was using the lifeblood essence of the Giant Beast Amber to transform his acupoints. His body would sporadically swell, with a symphony of pops and crackles echoing from within his acupoints and organs.
He snapped out of his trance.
The pill furnace itself held no extraordinary magic; the light was merely a manifestation of a hidden formation within the hall, brought forth by the furnace.
"What's happening?"
Yu Yuan was jolted from his work with the Giant Beast Amber, his face etched with bewilderment.
His arrival in this hall should have gone unnoticed.
Why then were the Devil Envoy, Zhu Peining, Gao Qin, and Mo Yan present?
"Out at sea, beyond the island, three Yang Gods are stirring. Some arrive wielding artifacts, others disperse their presence, while some approach in their true form," the cauldron soul's thoughts suddenly echoed.
"Something seems amiss on another island nearby."
At the section of the pill furnace adorned with the carving of a Qilin alien beast, a flame sparked to life.
A vision that sent a shiver down Yu Yuan's spine flashed before him.
Not far from here, on another island with ties to the Filthy Spirit Sect, a throng of rogue cultivators had amassed.
Many of these cultivators were supposed to be on this island, but the arrival of the Devil Envoy, Zhu Peining, and others had compelled them to flee to that place.
But rogue cultivators were not a concern for him.
The source of his unease and fear was a one-eyed old man.
This old man, with one crimson pupil, seemed to have had his other eye gouged out. He mingled among a group of independent cultivators, introducing himself as Ming Kun, and was engaged in conversation, probing for the many hidden details of the Crack Archipelago and inquiring into the background of Yu Yuan.
This very old man was the one who sent shivers down Yu Yuan's spine whenever he came to mind.
Ming Kun was none other than the Chaos Roc!
In the island's subterranean chamber, as he was in the midst of assimilating the Giant Beast Amber, the sight of the Starry Behemoth casually chatting with a smile, just as it had in the depths of the Ember Waters, threw him into turmoil.
"Why? How is he still unharmed? Wasn't he supposed to have been devoured by Heixun and the Devil Palace cohorts?"
