Whale Island Return

Qin Ran stood naked at the cliff's edge, and after a while, he began to feel somewhat embarrassed.

After all, he wasn't a native of this land, and despite his untamed nature, he didn't need to express it through such exhibitionism.

Having just acquired the Divine Essence Condensation, he wasn't entirely comfortable controlling it yet, so he used the seawater below the cliff to fashion himself some clothing.

Then, after determining his direction, he headed deep into Divine Essence Mountain. Moving at incredible speed, he soon arrived at Dragon Whale Island's formation site on the mountain.

"Hmm?"

Upon reaching the formation site, he noticed significant changes. Using his eye technique, he discovered that the original formation had been upgraded, becoming more complex and challenging.

"They've laid new formations... understandable, given what happened here, they needed to upgrade their defenses."

However, with his Divine Soul strength and formation knowledge now greatly improved, even though the formation was more complex, breaking through it was much easier than before.

Moving swiftly, he entered the formation without breaking or alerting its master.

Inside the cave, he used the Flowing Water Technique to conceal himself in the damp air, returning to the cavern established by Dragon Whale Island and the Yuan Organization.

The place was now deserted.

When he had entered the seal, he had killed everyone in the cave except for Elder Zuo, who was stationed there by the Yuan Organization, and Mr. Zhai, who had arrived later hoping to profit from the situation.

As Qin Ran walked through the cave, he wondered what had happened afterward - whether they had fought, made peace, or left to report the situation to the higher-ups of both the Yuan Organization and Dragon Whale Island.

Or perhaps...

Mr. Zhai had simply betrayed him.

Lost in thought, he walked forward to the cave wall and looked up, discovering that the seal he had broken using the Demon Soul Evil Blood was now covered by a new formation.

"Elder Zuo wasn't known for formations, could it be that Mr. Zhai, besides being exceptional at alchemy, was also skilled in formations?" he analyzed. "Though it's more likely they reported to their superiors, who sent formation masters to lay new arrays."

"This raises two questions: first, how long was I inside the seal; and second, did Mr. Zhai betray me?"

"Which leads to another question - should I return to Dragon Whale Island?" he pondered. "Or rather, is dragon blood worth this risk?"

If Mr. Zhai had betrayed him, returning would mean facing pursuit from the entire Dragon Whale Island; if not, he'd still have to deal with Mr. Zhai's schemes.

The truth was, he didn't actually need dragon blood, and neither did his original self.

His original self wanted dragon blood to create longevity pills that could grant mortals the lifespan of Golden Core Stage cultivators - specifically, to give Li Shiyin's family such longevity.

More importantly, even if he obtained the dragon blood, he couldn't send it back to the Lingnan Region. He could only study it and create a prototype for his original self.

Furthermore, even with dragon blood, he still lacked phoenix blood. He still couldn't create the longevity pills his original self had theorized.

And even if he somehow obtained both dragon and phoenix blood and created the longevity pills, he had to question whether his original self's pill formula was even correct!

His current self somewhat looked down on his original self's alchemy skills.

As Qin Ran hesitated at the cave wall, a sudden violent impulse arose within him: "Damn it, being afraid of this and that, aren't I just becoming like my original self? I'm not that coward. Whether it's useful or not, not diving into something this exciting and fun would drive me crazy."

"Besides, I just obtained the Divine Essence Condensation. Not putting it to use would be like wearing fine clothes in the dark!"

His hesitation ended there, and Qin Ran resolved to return to Dragon Whale Island. He left the cave and headed toward the sea.

To return to Dragon Whale Island, taking a ship would be best, with flying or swimming being last resorts.

Speaking of transportation in the Tianlan Sea Region, cultivators used teleportation formations for long distances and ships for short ones. Besides teleportation arrays, ships were the main mode of transport. It was rare to see cultivators flying or swimming between islands.

There were several reasons for this:

First, the vast ocean was boundless, making it easy to lose direction while traveling;

Second, the sea was unpredictable - no one knew what might emerge from the waters at any moment;

Third, due to the cultivation system, except for qi practitioners whose flying techniques were relatively simple, both body cultivators and divine soul practitioners faced strict conditions for flight.

Ships were an extremely common mode of transportation in the Tianlan Sea Region, suitable for both cultivators and ordinary people.

Qin Ran searched along the coast and found several ships, all seeking fortune at Divine Essence Mountain, but none from Dragon Whale Island. Finally, he spotted a ship that had just arrived from Dragon Whale Island.

After the ship docked, he struck up conversations with the passengers and soon joined them under the guise of being an alchemist from Dragon Whale Island. He learned that this group belonged to a family from Dragon Whale Island who had come to Divine Essence Mountain for training.

Divine Essence Mountain had quite a reputation in the Tianlan Sea Region. Even without the legendary Divine Essence Mountain incident, cultivators regularly visited, either for training or leisure, and families came for adventures and sightseeing.

Not all cultivators came seeking the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy; most came to relax, make friends, and essentially vacation.

This family was clearly here for a holiday.

From the coast up the mountain, they moved at a leisurely pace, making frequent stops. At noon, they found a flat area and started a picnic.

Some gathered to drink and make merry, others played chess under trees, some discussed techniques with friends, and some explored local cuisine.

At the cliff's edge, three people were exploring and chatting.

A man in gray robes laughed, "The scenery of Divine Essence Mountain truly is unique. Such beauty makes this journey worthwhile."

A woman in green agreed, "As the legacy site of the Divine Essence Old Demon, it's naturally extraordinary."

"It's a pity the seal hasn't opened, preventing us from witnessing the legacy," said a man in blue robes.

"Nobody has obtained the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy for thousands of years. It's perfectly normal that we haven't seen it," the gray-robed man said.

The woman in green hesitated before asking, "Could it be that the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy is actually fake? Either the Divine Essence Old Demon isn't dead, or left no legacy, or the legacy isn't here."

At her words, the gray-robed man immediately glanced around furtively, only seeing a slender young man with a reserved demeanor - the alchemist who had recently joined their group. Deeming him harmless, he lowered his voice and explained to the green-robed woman:

"The Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy is definitely here. There have always been rumors in the Tianlan Sea Region, and every significant power secretly seeks the mountain's legacy. Have you heard of the Night Walkers?"

"Night Walkers?"

"They're assassins who hunt and kill Divine Essence Mountain cultivators at night."

"Kill cultivators?!" The green-robed woman was shocked. "Who would dare?"

The gray-robed man, though somewhat fearful himself - talking about Night Walkers here was like discussing ghosts in a graveyard - whispered, "All major powers in the Tianlan Sea Region!"

"All major powers?" The green-robed woman was horrified.

The gray-robed man nodded, leaving the woman questioning everything she knew.

"Does... Dragon Whale Island have Night Walkers too?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course..." the blue-robed man took over, "You must know Captain Tie Ruonan - she's actually the leader of Dragon Whale Island's Night Walkers."

"Tie Ruonan is a Night Walker?" The green-robed woman was shocked again.

"Shh!" The gray-robed man immediately urged her to lower her voice. "Quiet! Do you have a death wish?"

The blue-robed man sighed, "No wonder I haven't seen Tie Ruonan for so long. So she's been here at Divine Essence Mountain as a Night Walker."

"With the Divine Essence Mountain incident just passed, Tie Ruonan must be on the mountain kill-" The gray-robed man suddenly stopped, realizing that if Tie Ruonan was indeed on the mountain and overheard him, he would be in serious trouble.

He quickly changed the subject, "I thought of a method the other day that could make body refinement more effective. When using breathing techniques, one must coordinate with corresponding movements to ensure that every bit of spiritual energy taken into the abdomen is absorbed as much as possible..."

"What?" The green-robed person hadn't yet processed this.

"Would you like to know how? Watch my demonstration..." the gray-robed person continued.

"The Divine Essence Mountain incident just passed?" Qin Ran, who was eavesdropping nearby, furrowed his brows.

When he entered the sealed space, the Divine Essence Mountain incident was about to end. Then he spent time in the sealed space learning pill refinement, practicing visualization techniques, and deconstructing formations. Although he lost track of time due to the absence of day and night cycles inside, he conservatively estimated that he had spent at least a year in each pill refinement chamber. With seven chambers, that meant he had spent at least seven years in the sealed space.

How could the Divine Essence Mountain incident have just passed?

"Could a new Divine Essence Mountain incident have arisen?" he analyzed, "It shouldn't happen this quickly!"

But he suddenly recalled how Dragon Whale Island looked in the cave at Divine Essence Mountain, and it didn't appear as though it had gone through another incident. That cave didn't look like seven years had passed.

"Did my imprisonment make me confused, causing a time discrepancy?"

"Or... is there something wrong with this sealed space?" he continued analyzing, "Are there any formations I haven't decoded yet... formations involving time?!"

With these questions in mind, he began deliberately gathering information from this group.

They climbed up Divine Essence Mountain from this beach, descended from the other side, and circled back via that beach, traveling leisurely, indeed much like a camping trip.

During this time, Qin Ran finally calculated through various pieces of information that he had been in the sealed space for about three months. Meanwhile, he also deduced from various details that Mr. Zhai hadn't reported him... at least there was no bounty posted for him on Dragon Whale Island.

This reinforced his decision to return to Dragon Whale Island.

After two days of sailing on the sea, Qin Ran returned to Dragon Whale Island. He disguised himself and spent several days gathering information in Whale Fall City, becoming about seventy to eighty percent certain that Mr. Zhai hadn't reported him.

"What does he want to do?"

Putting himself in the other's shoes, Qin Ran felt that Mr. Zhai wanted to obtain the Divine Essence Old Demon's legacy from him.

"If that's the case..." he smiled, with the Divine Essence Old Demon's pill refinement techniques in his mind and the Divine Essence Condensation transformed into his physical body, "you're going to be disappointed."

That evening, Qin Ran transformed back into Li Feiyu's appearance and strode confidently back to the Island Lord's Mansion.