Chapter 236

Chapter 236: The Barren Island

The poison dragon eel, Ao Chongguang, woke up. This fellow was much smarter than the electric eel, Ao Chonglin. Within just a few days, he grasped his master’s intentions and merrily darted back and forth.

“Whap!”

With a powerful swing of his large tail, he broke a stone pillar. Ao Chongguang was ten zhang long, charging back while supporting the Yin-Yang Nine Heads. He felt quite proud of himself, occasionally letting out sounds and attempting to approach simple words.

Chef Zhao sat atop the massive head, chatting with Li Hui, “Boss, what do you think will happen to those cultivators at Wan Nest Island who sank to the bottom of the sea? They won’t all be in trouble, will they? Just thinking about it makes me feel like the Hongmo Sect is wicked.”

“They won’t!” Li Hui shook his head. “Others may not know, but I carry the fortune of the Jade Symbol Sect. Senior Sister Lian is with me now, and the other four should have their own opportunities. Although I don’t know where they are, I can be sure that they are all still alive!”

Huo Qiniang sat beside them, consuming the fruit of the Clear Spirit Cloud Tree. She and Chef Zhao were like survivors from a great disaster, truly marked by blessings after a narrow escape. Not only did they consume miraculous alchemy to help remedy their bodies, but they also got the chance to enjoy such extraordinary fruits for body refinement, although they couldn’t eat too much and often needed to find a place to relieve themselves.

Just then, Ao Chongguang let out a joyful cry and charged towards the stone wall ahead.

“Boom! Boom! Boom…” With powerful strikes of his tail, he pounded against the stone wall. Soon, a loud “splash” sounded as a large amount of mud and water burst through the stone wall, bringing with it a salty seawater aroma.

“Hmm?” Li Hui tapped the Yin-Yang Nine Heads and sent out magical dragon eyes to detect what was beyond the stone wall. He discovered numerous caves outside, with strange fish and shrimp swimming by, very likely connecting to the depths of the sea.

“Well done, Chongguang.”

Hearing the praise, Ao Chongguang worked even harder. After several loud crashes, the stone wall shattered completely.

The Mysterious Water Pearl could withstand water pressure and has good water-avoiding effects. Li Hui sheathed the Yin-Yang Nine Heads, leaped onto the poison dragon eel along with Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang, and said, “Proceed carefully. If the path outside seems wrong, retreat immediately.”

They must not be careless; the sea is fraught with dangers that far exceed those on land. Even a single mistake could be fatal. Historical records indicate that even experts from the All-Manifestation Realm have fallen to mishaps. Those who overestimate their abilities and charge boldly into danger deserve to perish.

The poison dragon eel, having lived at the bottom of the sea, felt the immense water pressure upon entering the water. Instead of retreating, he gleefully swam forward, reveling in the feeling of returning home.

The Mysterious Water Pearl emitted a faint glow, pushing aside the surrounding seawater.

Ao Chongguang navigated along the waves, darting back and forth to the point where Li Hui and the others felt dizzy, and finally burst out of a deep spot.

“The seabed! It’s the seabed!” Despite the darkness around them, Li Hui was incredibly certain that he had finally drilled upwards, escaping to the surface.

This was indeed the seabed; to be precise, it was an abyssal trench. Ao Chongguang detected several auras, startling him into quickly diving upwards.

A gigantic shadow like a mountain swam by, causing Li Hui’s heart to race. The seabed clearly had territorial claims, and intruders would face ruthless punishment; merely judging by its size indicated it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

Fortunately, Ao Chongguang was incredibly fast, taking full advantage of his half-demon prowess, and soon pierced through the trench, continuing to rise towards the surface.

Li Hui and the others grasped the hair between the scales, and the area affected by the Mysterious Water Pearl’s water-avoiding abilities expanded, indicating that the water pressure was rapidly decreasing.

“Sunlight!”

Bidding farewell to the dark seabed, they finally saw the sunlight! After spending more than a month underground like a groundhog, how thrilled was he to see daylight again?

After a while, with the sound of “splashing” water, Ao Chongguang shot up to the sea’s surface.

The three greedily inhaled the fresh air, enjoying the long-lost sunlight; breathing felt intoxicating. They happened to arrive as the sun began to rise, with the sky like a dome overhead and the boundless sea stretching out before them. The joy of having survived after enduring so much toil was an unforgettable scene!

After the excitement faded, Li Hui began scratching his head. There was water everywhere, and he couldn’t see a single island. Where was this place? How did he get back to Dalong?

“Young Master, watch me!” Huo Qiniang took out a divination tool, smiling, “There must be some human presence on the island. As long as there is some human presence, using the divination tool will point us in the right direction. We need a sea chart now.”

“Qiniang is right!”

Li Hui praised, realizing that everyone had their own uses. Even though Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang were initially not capable, after experiencing the series of dangers at Wan Nest Island, they had grown and learned how to leverage their strengths.

Huo Qiniang adjusted the spiral stabilizer to locate their position. It was so exhausting that sweat dripped from her nose, but she finally saw some response and pointed towards the direction of the rising sun.

“Good, let’s go!” Li Hui sat atop Ao Chongguang’s head, patting its eyebrows, feeling delighted as the creature shot forward, almost tossing Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang into the sea.

Setting off in the morning with Ao Chongguang’s speed after becoming a half-demon, they swam a distance of tens of thousands of miles until they finally caught a faint glimpse of an island as the moon reached its zenith.

Several battered ships lay docked at the small harbor of the island, which wasn’t large in size. As they looked on, they saw scattered lights, with dirt houses extending in rows. The trees on the island had almost all been chopped down, with even the roots dug up and piled in open spaces. In such a barren place, it was incredibly scarce to find tree roots to burn for cooking.

Ao Chongguang slowly approached the reef, and Li Hui stowed him back into the Mysterious Water Pearl before stepping onto the reef to walk onto the island. He hadn’t expected the sound of a “bang” to echo out into the night.

Chef Zhao exclaimed, “What was that? A trap or a formation?”

Li Hui shook his head, “It’s a warning talisman; it’s not too useful, but the placement is quite crafty, right between the landing rocks.”

Before long, lanterns and torches illuminated the seawater as a group of people approached the shore.

“Who goes there?” the leader shouted, his tone strange but understandable enough.

“Lost cultivators who drifted here after encountering a storm,” Li Hui said, stepping forward with a fluid motion, speaking in the old familiar manner, forgetting that he now looked like an eleven- or twelve-year-old youth due to his rejuvenated appearance.

“A cultivator so young!” The crowd was astonished, and their fear eased somewhat. When Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang came forward, many of them stepped back in fright.

Li Hui waved for Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang to stay back, smiling harmlessly, “They are my servants; it took a lot for them to drift to this place. They mean no offense, so please don’t be afraid.”

Young, good-looking, speaking softly and politely, and behaving gentlemanly, he easily garnered a good impression.

Even though some burly men in the crowd displayed fierce expressions, they quickly cut off any unrealistic thoughts after recalling the scene of the young man’s arrival. No matter how young the cultivator was, he was not someone they could easily kill, especially since this little fellow had two capable servants protecting him.

Li Hui was adept at reading people’s hearts, observing them closely, and after a few glances, he analyzed their situations. Living at sea, it was unfathomable to not have experienced several lives lost. They must have had opportunities to encounter cultivators and had probably faced difficulties before, making them very timid and sensitive. Two of them might have even had ways to deal with low-level cultivators, as their gazes sparkled with a bit of courage.

Suddenly, someone parted the crowd and approached respectfully, bowing deeply, “Young Master, I am Pan Siyuan. Please come to Sparrow Tower to talk.”