Chapter 132: Chaotic Sea of Stars, Tidal Islands

Linhai Blessed Land.

Situated on a rugged pile of dark rocks perched high on the southeastern corner of Cape Immortal City.

Any of the immortal caves here offered a panoramic view of the vast ocean.

[Calm and composed, epiphany point +1]
[Calm and composed, epiphany point +1]
……
[Calm and composed, epiphany point +1]

Inside the immortal cave, Shen Lian slowly awoke, spiritual light flashing within his opening and closing eyes.

[Epiphany Points: 29746]

Inside the Gathering Brilliance Tower.

The other cultivators of the Supporting Heaven Alliance who had emerged alongside him were likewise dumbfounded.

After coming out, the group agreed to keep it a secret and return to harvest the spiritual herbs once their strength had grown.

He took out the jade slip once more, looking at the three remaining targets he had selected.

After his divine sense swept across a region, Shen Lian located an area of hard rock beneath a thick layer of gravel, and directly carved out a small immortal cave at the bottom.

A month later, Shen Lian had circled back and forth across the boundless ocean several times.

"The Luo family actually has a female descendant who joined the Cloud-Ascending Sect. I heard she became an inner disciple the moment she entered, and was fought over by several elders wishing to take her as their disciple."

Shen Lian was in no rush to search; no one knew how many people had already combed through Hailan Tidal Island, and not even the seabed had escaped being scraped clean.

The spirit boat cleaved a wave across the sea surface, heading toward the distant horizon.

The middle-aged cultivator's eyes opened and closed, the depths of his pupils tinged with strange earthy-yellow and black-spotted radiances, making his whole demeanor somewhat bizarre.

"Understood, this elder will head out right now."

Sighing softly, the slight lack of smoothness in his internal spiritual power felt a bit heavier. It seemed he still needed to find a place to battle some sea monsters.

This archipelago consisted of several hundred islands of various sizes, with the main island alone spanning two thousand miles in radius.

Of course, this did not mean he had turned into a swimming fish; his escape art also incorporated certain illusionary divine abilities.

After pondering over it, Shen Lian decided to go take a look.

Seeing a Golden Core true person leading a crowd of figures soaring out from the cluster of palaces, the white-robed cultivator showed no hesitation or evasion. Although he was only at Foundation Establishment, he belonged to a Nascent Soul sect.

True Person Supporting Heaven, formerly the Supreme Elder of the Huanishan Island Alliance, had taken to calling himself True Person Supporting Heaven ever since changing the alliance's name.

Based on the reasons for the tidal island's appearance, Shen Lian prepared to approach it from the angles of seismic tremors, air currents, and spiritual fluctuations.

"Seventeen years ago, a few rogue cultivators happened to step onto a tidal island, discovering a small spiritual vein containing over a hundred Hailan spiritual grasses deep within a grotto on the island."

"What?"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only were the Foundation Establishment disciples of the Cloud-Ascending Sect who had come to demand accountability shocked.

In any case, there were plenty of marked locations; why hang oneself from a single tree on one island?

A cluster of suspended palaces floated among the peaks at the center of the island, stretching for a hundred miles.

Since Shen Lian dared to leave Cape Immortal City, he naturally made foolproof preparations.

"Sigh..."

His entire body dissolved into the water; unless a false-core cultivator whose divine sense exceeded his own was present, ordinary cultivators would only see an ordinary swimming fish in the seawater.

The Five Elements Spirit Puppet emerged from his body, quietly sensing the flow of this body of water.

A day later, Shen Lian merged back into the water from the island.

Who could tell us what happened?

Yet shortly after, an even more bewildering event occurred.

A small water-avoidance bead was embedded in the immortal cave, perfectly enclosing the cave, which was about a zhang in size.

……

"Speaking of stubborn fools, the Supporting Heaven Alliance definitely counts as one. The upper sect has clearly issued a decree ordering all sects to halt internal conflicts and concentrate on hunting down Bian Qingyun with all their strength."

Indeed, one could never trust cultivators to show mercy.

……

Beneath a formation array, a middle-aged cultivator with a majestic expression and a jade crown sat cross-legged, surrounded by various grades of spiritual herbs.

This fellow was also quite stubborn; in a mere two months, he was truly tracked down until his location was revealed, though naturally, he fled quickly too.

His other purpose was to seek a earth-attribute monster core to prepare for Dahei's advancement to the Foundation Establishment realm.

It was precisely Shen Lian, who had emerged from Cape Immortal City; the affairs of the Myriad Star Outer Sea had nothing to do with him, and he would simply go about his own business.

"Trash from a Nascent Soul sect, how dare you come to proclaim the decree?"

Moreover, the appearance of some tidal islands relied on phenomena such as full moons and submarine earthquakes.

Among the Hailan spiritual grasses harvested by the group of discoverers back then, over a dozen were of the second rank—the main ingredients for refining Water Vein Pills consumed by water-attribute spiritual root cultivators.

During these two months, Shen Lian mostly spent his time upgrading his talisman system. After all, now that he possessed the Heavenly Mystery Earth Domain, he couldn't waste that ability.

Ever since his Five Elements Spirit Puppet absorbed the spirituality within the white seashell, its own spirituality had also increased significantly, and its sensitivity to external spiritual energy was extremely intense.

"Don't look down on the Luo family just because they only have one Golden Core cultivator; the Profound Sea Sect still has to give them face."

Chapter (1/3) Pages

Chapter (2/3) Pages

"I heard that the Golden Core of the Luoshan Island Luo family personally intervened, has already locked onto Bian Qingyun's trail, and is pursuing him relentlessly."

Beneath the sea surface, thick layers of gravel accumulated where small fish and shrimp swam and frolicked, and crabs scuttled sideways.

During the process of harvesting spiritual herbs, the group was attacked by a school of Youluo sea-insects, suffering heavy casualties and being forced to retreat from the spiritual vein.

A third-rank demonic lizard had once been born there, and by now, the false-core cultivator who refined its monster core probably didn't even have a grave left.

First target location, abandoned.

He intended to stay here for one to two months; if not a single fluctuation could be found, he would leave for the next place.

Beneath a thick layer of gravel, fine bubbles were rising; these bubbles were as fine as sand, and a faint blue light flashed and vanished.

He pulled out the map and glanced at it.

Behind the palace cluster.

Yet decades had passed, and no one ever found the island appearing in that same patch of sea again, leaving even those who dove to the seabed empty-handed."

The medicinal potency radiated various spiritual lights, being absorbed bit by bit into the middle-aged cultivator's body.

Days later, Shen Lian appeared outside the Sandstone Archipelago.

Fire and earth dual-element talisman arrays were falling into place.

It was not that the sea race only had an affinity for the power of water; like the human race, they possessed all five elements, and one need not be surprised upon encountering sea cultivators wielding thunder or wind techniques.

True Person Zhenhai, leader of the Profound Sea Sect, led the cultivators under his command to recapture all the islands occupied by the Supporting Heaven Alliance within a month.

Inside the palace cluster, covert guards lurked everywhere. Beneath the mountains surrounded by the palaces, the faint blue light of formation arrays flickered in and out of view, isolating external divine sense from prying eyes.

Resources in the inner sea were insufficient, so cultivators naturally cast their gazes toward the outer sea. However, cultivators who dared to venture into the outer sea to make a living were either powerful or utterly fearless.

"If the Luo family can capture Bian Qingyun and obtain the third-rank Star-Falling Secret Pill bestowed by the upper sect, with a bit of luck, they might just give birth to another Golden Core true person. One clan with dual Golden Cores—that would be the beginning of the family's greatest prosperity."

Cultivators trying to make a living in the Myriad Star Outer Sea reached at most the Foundation Establishment realm, so he was not afraid in the slightest.

Having failed to find his target twice in a row, Shen Lian was not annoyed. The vast ocean was not solid land, and pinpointing locations was not easy.

"Supreme Elder, Cloud-Ascending Sect disciples have arrived on the island."

Legend had it that some cultivators on the verge of death loved to seek out such tidal islands as their final resting places, leaving behind their cultivation inheritances.

The spirit boat cleaved the waves and set sail, heading northward.

Because various large and small sects committed most of their forces to hunting down Bian Qingyun in order to vie for the third-rank Star-Falling Secret Pill.

Upon encountering an island that suddenly vanished, there was no need to panic; it wasn't a ghost wall, the island had simply sunk.

The spirit boat forged ahead, cleaving the waves across the endless ocean. After entering the Myriad Star Outer Sea, Shen Lian distinctly felt that the ocean waves had grown much larger, and the salty, damp scent had become even more intense.

These targets needed to be investigated one by one.

The Profound Sea Sect had already reined in its battle lines, but the Supporting Heaven Alliance was still making moves, having continuously captured dozens of islands."

No other cultivators appeared within a ten-mile radius of the sea. He emerged from the water and summoned his spirit boat.

The location where this tidal island was discovered was a mere ten thousand miles away from Cape Immortal City.

……

The first target was the Sandstone Archipelago two thousand miles away, which was inhabited by a group of cultivation-world versions of sand-rock lizards. He just didn't know if any second-rank ones existed among them.

A magnificent spirit boat hovered in the air, upon which stood a young Foundation Establishment cultivator clad in white robes.

This sea area was occasionally traversed by cultivators. When Shen Lian looked up from underwater, he even happened to spot a shameless male cultivator wearing a female cultivator's red undergarments.

The Myriad Star Sea was vast and dotted with islands. While the islands were naturally the domain of human cultivation, the sea itself was the world of the sea race.

Between the human lands and the deep sea of the sea race, there existed a type of tidal island that would appear on the ocean surface with the ebb and flow of the tides.

Huanishan Island, Supporting Heaven Alliance.

Cape Immortal City served as the dividing line between the Myriad Star Inner Sea and Outer Sea, and at this moment, Shen Lian had officially entered the Myriad Star Outer Sea.

The sea monster map in his hands recorded the summarized information of various large and small cultivators traveling through these waters; its accuracy was not high, but it was still better than crashing about blindly.

Robbing treasure fleets, robbing bandit cultivators, robbing Foundation Establishment families—he had done it all.

In Shen Lian's view, the appearance of tidal islands might subtly accord with the spirituality of heaven and earth. Since it was all a matter of spirituality, he, an acquired living being, should not meddle in it.

Next place, Crescent Island.

He simply felt as though he had been cheated to the point of vomiting blood.

His trip had two purposes: to find demonic beasts to battle so that the spiritual power accumulated over years of refining pills could become smoother.

The continuous headline-making news in the Myriad Star Sea left numerous cultivators breathless; it hadn't been this lively in hundreds of years.

He knew the spiritual material fed to the Five Elements Spirit Puppet hadn't been eaten in vain.

The Myriad Star Inner Sea shook as True Person Supporting Heaven suppressed the Cloud-Ascending Sect disciples and personally led a multitude of cultivators to assault the mountain gates of the Profound Sea Sect.

"Go."

Demonic lizards were not brainless creatures either; once the swords and sabers of the human race were swinging so fiercely that they practically sparked, they also knew how to dig holes and hide.

On the spirit boat, Shen Lian produced a jade slip. This was a demonic beast sea chart he had purchased from the ghost market, which recorded locations where sea monsters had been spotted in the waters near Cape Immortal City.

After filtering them, he had settled on five targets located far from Cape Immortal City, among which three had a high probability of harboring earth-attribute demonic beasts.

Tree-bark-like scraps enveloped all four directions, shrouding everyone within them.

Everything appeared so serene.

……

Chapter (2/3) Pages

Chapter (3/3) Pages

A month later.

He had seen the situation in the inner sea—even creatures like the sand lizards were being harassed to such a state, which showed just how thirsty cultivators were for demonic beast resources.

Crossing the uninhabited zones of the outer sea was a risk he dared not take, but lingering around the fringes of the outer sea to find a few demonic beast habitats was still feasible.

"Gurgle gurgle..."

A wonderful situation had collapsed in a single day.

"A mere Nascent Soul is unworthy of making me bow and scrape."

This job wasn't done thoroughly at all. Back in the desolate domain, the Bingshui Sect's survey of a single location involved many people cross-verifying everything.

When it was his turn to hunt demonic beasts that were displayed out in the open, he couldn't even catch the dregs of the soup and was forced to seek out those hiding in the water.

When it was discovered back then, the island wasn't large either, merely a reef of several dozen zhang in size exposed above the water surface.

In a flash, the cultivators were startled—it truly was that old demon, Black Cliff!

It was rumored that the ancestor of the Hai family was so enraged he vomited blood, swearing to the heavens to pursue Black Cliff to the death.

A month later, after multiple verifications, Shen Lian confirmed that he had arrived at the waters where Hailan Tidal Island used to appear.

In the end, True Person Fuhai was heavily injured, and True Person Supporting Heaven fled alone.

"I have emerged from seclusion, the whole alliance attacks!"

"An imperial decree?"

……

A month and a half later, Shen Lian, who was accumulating epiphany points in the underwater immortal cave, suddenly snapped his eyes open.

There were indeed rock-sand lizards on the island, but their strength was at most the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Refining, and each one hid in burrows deep within the island.

He had shattered the family's mountain-protecting grand array, seized the third-rank Earth Spirit that the family had nurtured for nearly a thousand years, and vanished into the boundless ocean.

Aside from cultivation, every few days he would head to the Gathering Brilliance Tower for a meal, mainly to keep abreast of the battle situation regarding the encirclement of Bian Qingyun.

Apart from some slight stagnation in his cultivation, his epiphany points had grown by over sixteen hundred during the two months he stayed in Linhai Blessed Land, and even divine epiphany points would pop out one or two per month.

This indicated that the spiritual vein deep within the tidal island ought to be of the second rank, and the demonic beasts inside were highly likely to be of the second rank as well.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered seeking out a tidal island.

Then he saw the pupils within True Person Supporting Heaven's eyes spinning, his face looking more and more like it was covered in skin ringworm as chunks like old tree bark flaked off noisily.

The seawater throughout the entire area was not deep, with the deepest parts not exceeding five hundred zhang.

Where was the island?

Among the five targets Shen Lian had selected, this Hailan Tidal Island was one of them, complete with records of its discovery.

At this moment, a bizarre voice sounded from True Person Supporting Heaven's mouth.

Of course, it would be even better if they didn't come to bother him.

By normal methods, it was destined to be unfound.

Traveling thousands of miles along the way, it was difficult to spot even a single island.

A burst of strange energy swept out, instantly stripping the surrounding medicinal herbs of their potency, after which the middle-aged cultivator regained his composure and suppressed the strange radiance in his eyes.

These two goals did not conflict when placed together.

"Hum!"

How could a person act this way?

[Divine Epiphany Points: 10]

Ten thousand miles northwest of Cape Immortal City, amidst churning waves on the water's surface, a head popped out and looked around.

Good heavens, what had we just heard?

If time could...

Following this battle, the cultivators of the large and small clans affiliated with the Supporting Heaven Alliance were dumbfounded.

In a single day, several Golden Core true persons of the Profound Sea Sect emerged simultaneously, and relying on the sect-protecting array, they shattered the cultivators of the Supporting Heaven Alliance, with True Person Supporting Heaven and True Person Fuhai engaging in a fierce battle in the ocean outside the island.

That's right, according to the sailing direction and the number of days, Crescent Island was right in this patch of sea.

In recent years, as the Supporting Heaven Alliance repeatedly withstood the Profound Sea Sect's encirclement and occupied an increasing number of islands, its booming prestige naturally attracted even more cultivators to pledge their allegiance.

The Hai Family of Jiuxuantan, the most powerful Golden Core clan in the Myriad Star Sea—a false-core elder took advantage of the clan ancestor's absence to severely injure another Golden Core true person of the clan.

……

"Our sect has issued an order forbidding internal strife among sects and demanding the full-force encirclement of Bian Qingyun. Does your Supporting Heaven Alliance wish to defy the imperial decree?!"

The Five Elements Spirit Puppet orbited the area where the bubbles had appeared, drawing a jade talisman from its storage bracelet.

With a flash of spiritual light, an illusory figure materialized in the water, first struggling clumsily with hands and feet before gradually adjusting its form.

Having finished its warm-up exercises, it dove straight into the spot where the bubbles were rising below.

(End of this chapter)