Chapter 224

Chapter 224: Playing with Fire

With the help of four heaven-level magical weapons masters and Mei Yuanmu, Lou Yun easily occupied Shuotai Island. As for the Qiu family members, he did not exterminate them completely, just as he had previously told the recruited magical weapons masters: those willing to stay were welcome, and those unwilling could leave at any time!

After careful consideration, most people chose to stay. For one, they had lived on Shuotai Island for quite a long time and had grown familiar with everything there. For another, they were deeply curious about this Divine Weapon Alliance created by Beichen Ming. After all, apart from Lou Yun as the leader, it had the support of four heaven-level magical weapons masters, so the organization’s strength absolutely couldn’t be weak. Joining it would surely benefit themselves!

This way, the total number of people on Shuotai Island reached over four hundred. Managing so many people wasn’t an easy task, and after genuinely pondering it, Lou Yun summoned the four leaders. He said, "Besides your elite forces of Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow, our Divine Weapon Alliance also has five divisions: East, West, South, North, and Center, right?"

"Yes!" the Heavenly Decree Leader nodded in agreement, though he didn’t grasp the meaning behind Lou Yun’s question.

"So, I think we should establish another division—a naval division—with this place as its headquarters. Let Mei Yuanmu be its leader. I also have a personal favor: I want to bring my family members here, as I have many powerful enemies, and the sea is relatively much safer. But I have a few concerns. First is Mei Yuanmu himself; I’m a bit distrustful of him. Second, although the sea area seems fairly secure, if anyone truly wants to harm the island’s inhabitants, such a large island would be hard to defend completely. So, do you have any good solutions for these two issues?"

After exchanging glances, the Heavenly Decree Leader smiled and replied, "Leader, both your concerns are quite easy to resolve. First, regarding Mei Yuanmu, we’ll naturally find a way to make him obedient. Second, even though this island is large, as long as appropriate barriers are set up at key points, ordinary people won’t be able to breach it. And for those barriers, we’ll assign specialists to install them!"

"Good, then proceed as you suggest. I’ll leave here tomorrow. This time, you really don’t need to follow me; stay here and handle those issues I mentioned. When I return, we’ll depart together!"

As Lou Yun finished speaking with a smile, the four leaders exchanged looks in bewilderment. For some reason, they all felt a sense of having been tricked!

Lou Yun stood up. "Alright, discuss among yourselves here on how to implement this. I’ll stroll around the island to see the sights!"

With that, Lou Yun truly turned and walked out, leaving behind the four leaders, who exchanged frustrated glances but couldn’t voice their complaints out loud!

The next morning, Lou Yun and his three companions arrived at the seaside, where the four leaders and Mei Yuanmu were already waiting respectfully.

Originally, Lou Yun had agreed to have Mei Yuanmu act as a guide to escort them to Biko Island. But since he now intended to groom Mei Yuanmu as the leader of the naval division, he had him stay behind to undergo "cultivation" under the four leaders’ guidance. Instead, Mei Yuanmu found a reliable person to escort the four of them to Biko Island.

Early that morning, Mei Yuanmu had prepared the ship and the personnel, arranging not only the essential sailors and guide but also extra bodyguards and maids!

However, once Lou Yun boarded the ship, he immediately dismissed the bodyguards and maids, as he didn’t need protection or service!

This time, the four leaders truly couldn’t sneakily follow Lou Yun anymore. Moreover, Lou Yun had tasked them with responsibilities, and they dared not defy the orders of someone who was increasingly resembling a genuine alliance leader.

"Leader, take care along the journey and stay cautious!" the Heavenly Decree Leader waved and called out.

"I understand. As for Shuotai Island…" at this point, Lou Yun paused and fell silent, then shook his head. "That name isn’t pleasant to hear. Let’s just rename it Divine Weapon Island from now on—haha, decided! I’ll trouble you all greatly with matters of Divine Weapon Island. When I return, I’ll reward you based on merit!"

Then, a profound, enigmatic smile appeared on Lou Yun’s face as he turned to Mei Yuanmu. "Mei Yuanmu," he said meaningfully, "I also hope you won’t disappoint me!"

In the following period, Lou Yun and the others continued their sea journey. The guide Mei Yuanmu had selected this time was named Feng Yang, a mere sixteen-year-old boy who had grown up on the sea. Though just a primary magical weapons master in cultivation, he truly knew the sea intimately: he could predict the weather just by looking at the sky and make proper adjustments immediately. His personality was also quite shy, which pleased Lou Yun greatly. During casual chats, Lou Yun even learned a lot about navigation.

The monotonous scenery of the sea gradually bored everyone. Apart from basking in the sun on the deck when it was sunny, most of the time, they stayed in their cabins practicing their cultivation.

Lou Yun did the same, but his current focus wasn’t on advancing his magical weapon realm anymore; instead, he redirected it to body refinement and flight-related techniques. This was because his battles with the magical weapons masters on Shuotai Island had made him realize the importance of his body in combat.

As for flight techniques, he specifically chose one from the many techniques his master had left him—a high-level rank technique called "Light Crossing." Legend said that after mastering it, one could be as fast as light itself.

Honestly, Lou Yun now had little interest in any weapon techniques that required a magical weapon to execute. He thought about how to directly release techniques through his body—which essentially echoed what Chang Xiang had once told him: he could treat his body as a magical weapon!

Lou Yun’s body had been trained through Chang Xiang’s guidance in the Ten Refinements of the Body, completing three refinements so far. After that, while Lou Yun focused on magical weapon cultivation, he temporarily paused physical refinement. However, thanks to his earlier foundation, whenever he absorbed spiritual energy, his body still took a small share. Over time, this resulted in passive, slow cultivation without his active guidance.

Now that Lou Yun was dedicated to focusing on cultivation again, the progress naturally accelerated. Moreover, for this refinement, he had already decided to target the muscles.

Muscles exist beneath the skin and outside the bones, covering the entire body. They control all bodily movements and are key for delivering or enduring force. So, refining them would greatly boost overall power!

Lou Yun initially thought muscles were only external, but upon internal inspection, he discovered muscles existed within organs too—on the heart, stomach, and so on. Refining the external muscles was straightforward, but refining specific internal ones proved extremely difficult!

Each organ served unique functions and was delicate, unable to withstand harsh stimulation. During muscle refinement, even slight contact could cause severe consequences!

Therefore, throughout his cultivation, Lou Yun gradually directed absorbed spiritual energy to gather around these organ areas, occasionally stimulating them lightly. Each time brought him piercing pain, yet to help the organs adapt early and lay groundwork for future refinement, he gritted his teeth and bore it.

As more spiritual energy accumulated around his organs and more stimulation occurred, Lou Yun gradually grew accustomed to the pain. To his delight, this early adaptation proved very effective. For instance, his heart now beat noticeably slower than before yet much more powerfully, and he could feel it was far tougher than ever!

Still, Lou Yun felt unsatisfied. While this method seemed effective, progress was terribly slow. Nearly a month had passed with him cultivating almost nonstop, yet the day of true breakthrough felt distant!

He began contemplating if there was a more suitable, faster way to speed up his cultivation.

According to his original plan, he aimed to complete his fourth body refinement before reaching Biko Island. With half the time already gone and the goal far off, he felt a sense of urgency.

After deep thought, he did think of a method, but it was quite risky and carried great danger!

For Lou Yun, who had faced countless dangers in his life, this method offered even a shred of possibility. He never hesitated to try.

And when Chang Xiang, who had almost stopped paying attention to Lou Yun’s cultivation, saw this approach, he couldn’t help shouting, "Boy, are you insane? What are you doing?"

"Hehe, naturally for cultivation—to accelerate my refinement!"

"But you can’t use this method! If you slip even a bit, do you realize the consequences?"

"Yes, so I’ll be extra careful!"

Chang Xiang knew Lou Yun’s stubborn nature. Once decided, arguments were useless, so he suppressed his frustration. "Fine, boy, you’re truly playing with fire!"