Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 9

Volume 7 Chapter 9: Cooperation (Part 1)

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two months had gone by.

Wang Zegang controlled the "Disaster Cloud," quickly flying towards Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands with Liu Ziqing, Wang Yuxian, and others. The speed of the "Disaster Cloud" was incredible; in just two months, it had come to three hundred miles away from Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands.

"We must be thirty thousand miles into the East Sea, right? Xu Qingfan will find a place. If you weren’t with us, it would probably take me three or four years, and I might not be able to find it still."

Inside the "Disaster Cloud," the gray pearl hanging in the air cast down a circle of light, showing the scenery around the "Disaster Cloud." Looking at the sparkling water in the light, Liu Ziqing suddenly smiled and asked Wang Zegang.

Wang Zegang was slightly surprised. To be safe, after entering the East Sea, he took nearly half a month to take a few winding paths before heading towards Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands. He did not expect Liu Ziqing to clearly recognize the distance from the East Sea coast at that moment. Clearly, Wang Zegang’s efforts over the half month had been in vain.

However, since Liu Ziqing had already guessed, Wang Zegang no longer pretended and responded calmly, "Three hundred miles to the west is Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands."

"Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands…" Liu Ziqing murmured the name of the place where Xu Qingfan had lived for thirty years, then smiled and said, "Famous places suggest beautiful sights; it seems that Xu Qingfan has been doing well there for thirty years."

Wang Zegang looked up at Liu Ziqing and didn’t want to say much to him. He simply replied, "You will know when you get there, sir. Senior, please wait until we reach our destination to take apart the ‘Disaster Cloud,’ okay? If we dismantle the ‘Disaster Cloud,’ how will we get past? Remember, there are many demon beasts in the sea."

The last sentence was addressed to Old Beggar. Old Beggar had always been very curious about the "Disaster Cloud." Although he knew he shouldn’t dismantle it at this time, he couldn’t help it, feeling like a little cat was scratching at his heart, making him itchy. Wang Zegang had lost count of how many times he had stopped Old Beggar.

Hearing Wang Zegang’s words, Old Beggar, who was secretly using a small crowbar to damage the "Disaster Cloud," glared at him and then returned to the other six Alchemy Masters, mumbling something to each other, sometimes gesturing excitedly as if debating the structure of the "Disaster Cloud."

Not far from the seven Alchemy Masters, the five Medicine Pill Masters led by Scholar Beihai were each holding a book. Sometimes they talked to each other, their faces calm. For some reason, both alchemy and artifact crafting were side branches of cultivating immortality, and they shared common ground, but the Alchemy Masters and Medicine Pill Masters were clearly two different types of people. The Alchemy Masters were messy and careless, often arguing passionately over certain viewpoints, while the Medicine Pill Masters were quiet, serious, and impeccably neat in appearance.

When these two groups were together, they created an interesting contrast.

"Perhaps the reason the Medicine Pill Masters and Alchemy Masters are somewhat alike, yet have very different working attitudes, is that the Medicine Pill Masters need precision and care, while the Alchemy Masters value creativity and hands-on skills more. Their different work attitudes lead to their different personalities."

Wang Zegang thought to himself.

After observing the Alchemy Masters and Medicine Pill Masters, Wang Zegang’s gaze shifted to the twelve young Jiuhua cultivators. At this moment, these twelve young people were the quietest. In fact, since entering the "Disaster Cloud," after the initial shock, they each sat down in silence, quietly cultivating, seizing every moment to strengthen their abilities. Even Wang Zegang couldn’t help but admire their attitude and willpower, reflecting that these twelve people had only just entered the cultivation world for about thirty years, filling him with even more emotion.

"However, putting aside the attitudes and abilities of the twelve young people, their current perseverance and mindset owe much to Li Yuhan. Leaving aside everything Li Yuhan has done for Jiuhua over the years, even if he hadn’t done anything else, just having trained these twelve individuals would be enough for him to feel proud. It seems Island Master was right; Li Yuhan is indeed more suitable than anyone to lead a sect."

Then Wang Zegang looked toward the mortals. After two months, these mortals had adapted to their surroundings, but their eyes still held a sense of awe when looking at Wang Zegang and the others. They huddled together, not daring to move, afraid of angering the "immortals" before them.

Seeing this scene, Wang Zegang couldn’t help but sigh. After a hundred years of calamity, the attitude of mortals toward cultivators had changed from respect and worship to fear and panic. The saying that when gods battle, mortals suffer reflected the views of mortals towards cultivators in these recent years.

"I can only slowly change their mindset after returning to the island. Being looked at with such eyes is truly unbearable. However, after observing these days, among the more than a hundred mortal youths and children, there are about a dozen with cultivation talent, but none are particularly promising. Those with potential can be taught the ways of cultivation in the future. With the rich spiritual herbs from Rainbow Spirit Island and now having five top-notch Medicine Pill Masters, it won’t be too difficult to help them barely reach the Fake Golden Core Stage. They can also be used to strengthen the island’s defenses, and as for the remaining mortals, they can also help take care of everyone’s daily lives… so they are not entirely useless."

Wang Zegang’s thoughts were just a way to comfort himself because Xu Qingfan had not asked him to bring along a large group of ordinary people, especially since more than half of them had no talent for magic. The only reason he brought these ordinary people here was because he felt sorry for them in the moment. Although he knew that Xu Qingfan, with his personality and their friendship, would never blame him, Xu Qingfan liked peace and bringing these ordinary people would create unnecessary noise in the beautiful Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands. Wang Zegang felt uneasy and silently planned a way for these ordinary people.

Finally, Wang Zegang turned his gaze to Dongfang Quan and the other four people beside him. These five were rogue cultivators, just like Wang Zegang, who had benefited from Xu Qingfan’s kindness many years ago. From Wang Zegang’s observation, even though Xu Qingfan had been gone for thirty years, they remained loyal to him. So, aside from leaving one or two particularly loyal companions in Yongzhou State to gather information, Wang Zegang brought these five with him. Wang Zegang and Bai Qingfu were the only ones who knew a little about Xu Qingfan’s next plans, and like Xu Qingfan, Wang Zegang also thought that he had too few options available.

At that moment, Dongfang Quan and the others were glaring at Liu Ziqing, who was calmly enjoying the view of the sea, and Zhang Yi, who had not said a word and had a cold expression the entire journey. Besides Xu Qingfan, these five only respected Wang Zegang. When they noticed that Wang Zegang seemed to have a disagreement with Liu Ziqing, they kept trying to bother him along the way, which, of course, only led to their own embarrassment. They were no match for Liu Ziqing, whether in wit or strength. In fact, once, under Zhang Yi’s impatient glare, the five felt a sharp pain in their minds and had headaches for over ten days. Although they no longer dared to provoke Liu Ziqing easily, their hostility towards him and Zhang Yi grew even stronger than their feelings towards Wang Zegang.

"We’ve arrived."

Just as Wang Zegang quietly observed everyone in the "Disaster Cloud," he turned to look at the light screen ahead and saw a mist appearing not far from it. Within the mist, colorful lights shimmered faintly. He felt a jolt of excitement and said to everyone.

Upon hearing Wang Zegang’s words, whether it was the timid ordinary people, the zealous Jiuhua cultivators, the Medicine Pill Master Alchemy Master rogue cultivators, or even the seemingly indifferent Liu Ziqing and Zhang Yi, everyone could not help but gaze at the scene within the glowing circle.

Looking at the mist and rainbow lights before them, each person’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, for this place would be their home for many years to come.

The "Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands" did not disappoint everyone’s expectations.

"Please wait for me a moment."

Wang Zegang spoke and flew away from the "Disaster Cloud," arriving before the mist. He used his hand gestures, and under his influence, the mist around the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands silently parted, revealing the beautiful scenery of the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands to everyone’s eyes.

Surrounded by rosy light, seven small islands appeared in the shape of the Big Dipper before everyone’s eyes. Among them were jade trees and green mountains, strange flowers and unusual grasses, and clear streams with rolling hills, all perfectly combined to create an overwhelming beauty. With the colorful light surrounding the seven islands, it looked like a fairyland.

Inside the "Disaster Cloud," everyone couldn’t help but show their excitement. Even Liu Ziqing had a moment of daze in his eyes, then murmured, "That lucky guy Xu Qingfan really found such a paradise in the endless East Sea."

As he spoke, his eyes sparkled with a strange light, as if planning something like taking lives or seizing lands.

Outside the "Disaster Cloud," Wang Zegang made another hand gesture, and then the rosy light around the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands parted, creating a path for everyone.

After that, when Wang Zegang returned to the "Disaster Cloud," he said to everyone, "The Island Master is here to welcome us, let’s go in."

Thinking about meeting Xu Qingfan, everyone’s expressions changed—some were excited, others serious. Of course, Dongfang Quan and Wang Yuxian were excited because of Xu Qingfan’s legend, while Old Beggar Scholar Beihai and others were excited because of the resources of Rainbow Spirit Island.

Through the path formed by the rosy light, the "Disaster Cloud" slowly carried everyone to the top of the Sky Spin Island.

When everyone stepped out of the "Disaster Cloud," they saw several people flying slowly toward them, and the leader among them was Xu Qingfan!