Returning from the Immortal World

Time fleeted by quickly and seven days passed by. The Nine Dragons Alignment Array had been finally completed and the radiant golden shield gradually disappeared. The world energy fluctuation seemed to have returned to its original state just like nothing had happened. However, the female Taoist, Daoist Zixuan, who had been stranded outside Nine Dragons Island, was perfectly aware that the might of the array had already reached a very terrifying level, given that it had crazily absorbed the world energy from all directions for the last seven days.

“Something is strange, Master.”

The girl in a white dress that was fluttering in the wind stood on the bow deck while staring at Nine Dragons Island and suddenly spoke.

Daoist Zixuan opened her eyes and slightly turned to her, asking, “What strangeness are you sensing?”

“I feel like the scenery in front is gradually turning kinda blurry, Master,” answered the girl. “Also, if you listen to the sounds in the surroundings, there were some sounds coming from the island previously, but now nothing can be heard but the sound of the tide hitting the shore.”

This made Daoist Zixuan’s expression slightly shift. Her expression suddenly changed and she released her perception toward the front quickly as her face went pale. She coughed up a mouthful of blood just as her spiritual sense touched an invisible layer of obstruction. It was like there was some kind of monster that was able to swallow and devour her spiritual sense there.

Cough, cough…

After coughing two mouthfuls of blood, Daoist Zixuan stared at the island in front in disbelief. She vaguely realized that the Nine Dragons Island at present was blurring and not even the slightest voice could be heard from there.

The longer she and her disciples observed the island, the more blurred the island became, up till it completely disappeared from their sight. Daoist Zixuan was still able to confirm that Nine Dragons Island was still there with her spiritual sense, but not with her eyes. There was nothing in her vision but the boundless sea.

“Master,” called out the girl, a look of hesitation on her face.

“Be at ease! I’m fine and there’s nothing to worry about,” said Daoist Zixuan with a forced smile. “A very powerful array expert has arranged a peerless array to surround and cover the entirety of Nine Dragons Island. Even with my ability, I still wouldn’t be able to figure out the mystery of this place had I not seen the island previously. You all must remember not to easily provoke anyone on this island once we land later.”

“But you’re a Golden Core Stage expert, Master,” said the girl. “Even if the person on that island is very powerful in arrays, it’s only one skill. That person’s cultivation is probably not on par to yours, right?”

“We are yet to know the owner of the island, so don’t draw such a conclusion easily.” Daoist Zixuan shook her head and said, “Also, even if the cultivation level of the person who has arranged this array is lower than mine just like you said, it’s easy to kill me once he activates this peerless array.”

Suddenly, Daoist Zixuan and her four disciples suddenly saw the air in front of them fluctuate and a portal appear out of nowhere. Inside it, they could clearly see the scenery of Nine Dragons Island.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh….

Several figures came flashing through the portal lightning fast. The first to appear before Daoist Zixuan was her six disciples, followed by Tang Xiu and the Mo Brothers.

“Master.”

Jin Chanzi, Jin Xinzi, and the other four knelt in the air and respectfully called out.

Daoist Zixuan raised her jade-like fingers slightly as six streams of qi raised them up. Then, she nodded to them with satisfaction and said, “You’ve done well, my disciples. You ran into evil people and got rid of them. Additionally, you also inadvertently came to Nine Dragons Island, providing us the chance to meet other powerful cultivators, a great merit in and of itself. I’ll give you a handsome reward once we come back to our sect.”

“Thank you, Master!” the six youths happily replied.

Seeing that Daoist Zixuan’s eyes shifted to him, Tang Xiut then smiled and cupped his fists, “I must apologize for the negligence I’ve shown you while you’ve visited my Nine Dragons Island, Senior. I’ve ordered some people to boil some good tea, and I invite Senior to come to my island to enjoy it.”

“Is your distinguished self the Island Master?” Daoist Zixuan slightly bowed and said, “May I know your distinguished self’s title?”

“My name is Tang Xiu; I’m indeed the owner of this Nine Dragons Island,” said Tang Xiu smilingly.

“May I know which sect, school and under which respectable elder’s tutelage Fellow Daoist Tang comes from?” asked Daoist Zixuan again. “We’re all fellow Daoist in the ascetic circle; maybe I know your Master as well.”

While pointing to Jin Chanzi’s group of six youths, Tang Xiu lightly smiled and said, “I’m afraid that my answer would be to your disappointment, Senior. I don’t come from any school or sect, but I did chance upon a fortuitous encounter that made me obtain the inheritance that a certain Senior Daoist left behind, thus making me embark on the cultivation path.”

The answer made Daoist Zixuan look surprised, yet she didn’t ask more about the inheritance or the Daoist senior who had left it. Asking about that was taboo among cultivators. More so than that, Tang Xiu gave her a vague threatening feeling even though this young man was very young. She even found herself unable to see through Tang Xiu’s cultivation level at all, although she could see that the two men behind this young man were at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

“Is it you who arranged the array protecting this island, Daoist Tang?” asked Daoist Zixuan again.

“I arranged it indeed. It took me half a month and quite a lot of material to complete it.” Tang Xiu nodded and said, “It also consumed a lot of my power. I wouldn’t have spent too much of power if my cultivation level was much higher, though.”

“The fact that you’re able to arrange such a peerless array among today’s cultivation circle is already an amazing ability in and of itself, Daoist Tang!” sighed Daoist Zixuan in surprise. “I dare say that there is no other cultivator on Earth who has higher attainment in array than you.”

“Ah, you’re joking with me, Senior. What I’ve achieved in array is nothing but the surface; it can hardly be called being an expert at it.” Tang Xiu chuckled and said, “Anyway, you’ve waited for a week outside, Senior. Now that Nine Dragons Island’s door is opened, would you like to continue our talk inside?”

“Hahaha.” Daoist Zixuan couldn’t help but laugh and said, “The shock you gave me when you arranged the protection array on this island is really great. I do feel intrigued and can’t wait to learn more about that, but I hope Daoist Tang doesn’t take it as an offense. Also, thank you for your hospitality.”

“Please…”

With a light smile on his face, Tang Xiu led Daoist Zixuan’s people to the array portal, and quickly landed on the square outside the palace.

The moment Daoist Zixuan entered Nine Dragons Island, she found that the number of guards here was much higher than she had seen previously. Just the places that entered her vision had hundreds of guards being stationed in various spots.

Yet what made her feel incredulous was that most of these guards were cultivators. Although the aura they emitted out was weak and the strongest among them was just at the Foundation Establishment Stage, the hundreds of cultivators alone still gave her a shock. One must know that training cultivators was a very difficult endeavor as the resources invested in each person was astronomical.

But this place had so many cultivators, and every one of them gave out intense killing aura, evidence that they were ruthless people who had gone through numerous killings.

“I don’t know whether it’s appropriate, but there’s something I’d like to ask you, Daoist Tang,” said Daoist Zixuan as she stopped several meters away from the palace gate behind Tang Xiu.

“Please speak.” Tang Xiu also stopped his pace.

“It’s about the number of cultivators on this island. It’s far beyond imagination,” said Daoist Zixuan. “You just said that you obtained some kind of inheritance and then embarked on the cultivation path. But what about them? Did you train them yourself?”

“That’s right. I’ve been fostering and training them.” Tang Xiu nodded.

“As far as I know, Earth nowadays is scarce on cultivation resources, while the world energy itself is now very thin.” Daoist Zixuan slightly frowned and said, “Wanting to train so many cultivators nowadays will be a very difficult task, but after I’ve observed around, most of them are at the Qi Refining Stage, though there are also some at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Isn’t the resources needed to invest in them quite astronomical?”

“This matter is actually a private issue and rather inconvenient to disclose to outsiders. But I think it’s okay to answer your question, Senior,” replied Tang Xiu slowly after he thought for a while. “Today’s Earth is indeed quite scarce on resources for cultivation. The world energy is also very thin, but I didn’t just obtain an inheritance, but also some cultivation resources as well. Aside from that, I’m a businessman in the secular world. With capital in hand and the good networking I have, I’ve naturally been able to procure a lot of precious herbs in a short time by spending money. Thus, training my men to this level is not a problem for me. It’s just…”

“Just what?” asked Daoist Zixuan with a curious expression.

“The more cultivators I have under my command, the more I’m in short supply of cultivation resources,” said Tang Xiu with a forced smile. “I don’t have any means to alleviate the predicament quickly should this situation continue any longer. Frankly speaking, the reason why I held your six disciples on my island and waited for your arrival is that I hope to grow a way to obtain cultivation resources.”

“You mean… you want to obtain cultivation resource from my Whole Unitary Sect?” Daoist Zixuan’s brows raised and she added, “Or, do you want to make a deal with me?”

“It’s just like you said, Senior. That’s the plan I have in mind.” Tang Xiu smiled and said, “If Senior can provide me some cultivation resources, I’m also willing to exchange goods with you or your sect.”

“Let’s head inside and talk some more, Daoist Tang,” said Daoist Zixuan with a light smile.

Tang Xiu also smiled and continued to enter the place with her and the rest. He personally led them to the spacious reception room on the second floor. After tea, snacks, and fruit had been served, Tang Xiu smiled and said, “I rarely meet any fellow cultivators from the cultivation world, so I don’t know the proper etiquette to entertain visiting cultivators in the community. I apologize if there’s anything unsatisfactory in my hospitality, Senior.”

“There’s no need for such a polite manner, Daoist Tang. I’m always a straightforward person in nature and never like to speak in a roundabout manner,” said Daoist Zixuan casually while waving her hand. “Also, I’m very interested in the proposition you just told me about.”