Chapter 41 – “You found me.”

His body fell rapidly, and the scenery in his field of vision flashed by equally fast.

Behind layers of waves was the bottom of the sea, where sunlight did not reach.

Feng Ye had readied himself for it upon falling into the abyss, but to his surprise, not a drop of water touched him. He fell straight through the bottom of the abyss and stepped onto soft soil.

Looking down, Feng Ye saw green grass wet with dew beneath his feet. He raised his head. The sun shone brightly through the overlapping branches of the trees overhead, falling between tree trunks to the ground, where the light refracted through dewdrops in colorful hues.

The rustling of leaves in the wind met his ears. When he listened carefully, he could also hear the singing of birds hidden deep in the jungle.

This Floating Island Secret Realm feels like an ethereal paradise, Feng Ye thought as he looked around.

Since he was the first one to jump into the abyss, there was nobody else around. Although Hao Chen had been following close behind him, the space at the entrance to the Floating Island Secret Realm was extremely unstable. Therefore, even if two people entered one after another, the locations where they appeared in the secret realm may be entirely different.

It’s best to stay as far away as possible so that sticky candy won’t bother me! Just as Feng Ye had this thought, he heard the sound of footsteps treading over grass behind him.

Feng Ye’s face went instantly blank. He just knew it would turn out like this.

“Aiya, what a coincidence. We meet again, Fellow Daoist Feng Ye.” Hao Chen pushed aside the bushes blocking his way, then unfolded his fan with an expression of surprise, as if he’d actually run into him by chance.

Feng Ye slowly turned his head and asked sincerely: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen, do you belong to the year of the dog?”

The smile on Hao Chen’s lips remained unchanged. With hardly a thought, he immediately answered: “I belong to you.”

Feng Ye: “…….”

This was almost like sweet talk between lovers. If it was someone else saying this, Feng Ye would tell them very seriously that he had no intention of finding a partner so that they would give up right away.

But it was Hao Chen who said these words, and with such a frivolous, unserious expression.

Feng Ye never took Hao Chen’s words seriously, and this time was no exception. Adhering to his previous approach, he ignored the situation and let Hao Chen perform alone.

Without regard for Hao Chen beside him, he just did his own thing. He closed his eyes and sensed a familiar aura.

It seemed Fang Yang had also jumped down after him. He could sense that the bamboo slip he had created had appeared in the Floating Island Secret Realm not far away.

However, Feng Ye had no intention of joining up with Fang Yang. Fang Yang had his own purpose, which was purely to obtain elixirs in the Floating Island Secret Realm. And Feng Ye’s reason for coming here was to obtain the second Jianmu seed, which was very likely hidden at the bottom of the sea.

The paths before them were entirely different. Fang Yang only needed to move around on the island, where the monsters he encountered would all be low-level ones below Foundation Establishment. Feng Ye, however, had to go to the sea bed where the seed was hidden, and where there were powerful monsters equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator. 

In Fang Yang’s eyes, his Useless Shixiong was clearly at the third level of Qi Refining. Not to mention fighting Nascent Soul stage monsters alone, even approaching the coastline would be seeking death.

So in order to protect his disguise as a junior disciple, as well as for his own convenience, Feng Ye chose to head in the opposite direction of Fang Yang’s location.

This was also the direction closest to the coastline.

Although Feng Ye was inside a jungle with foliage so dense that the sun could barely peek through it, and there were lush green trees with unknown names as far as the eye could see, he knew where the coastline was.

“Where is Fellow Daoist Feng Ye heading?” Hao Chen asked knowingly as he followed behind him.

He knew that this was the direction leading to the coast, and also knew why Feng Ye was heading there. The story Administrator Zhang had told them was very clear: Ling Yun had found the Jianmu seed at the bottom of the sea in the Floating Island Secret Realm.

Feng Ye had a strong interest in Jianmu. When Hao Chen merely mentioned the word Jianmu, Feng Ye had turned hostile and warned him not to interfere.

But who was Hao Chen? As the Lord of the North Sea, how could he stop just because of such a warning?

He’d made the same mistake as Feng Ye. Thinking that Feng Ye’s purpose was to find the fragments of Jianmu from a hundred years ago, he hadn’t paid attention to the Floating Island Secret Realm, the true origin of Jianmu, and was nearly left behind.

Fortunately, he was able to remedy the situation in time and catch up to him.

Feng Ye walked in the direction of the coast. There was no doubt that he intended to go to the bottom of the sea to find out if there was a second Jianmu seed. But Hao Chen was still a bit puzzled. How did Feng Ye know that this direction led to the coast? 

The Floating Island Secret Realm was an island, but it wasn’t a small area. They were located roughly in the center, dozens of kilometers away from the coastline.

How had he determined the direction at such a long distance?

Hao Chen could locate the coast because he was a Kunpeng. As a god born from water, he had an innate affinity for it.

Even in this vast jungle, he could still sense the distant salty, humid sea breeze.

It wasn’t surprising for a fish to instinctually identify the direction of the vast ocean.

But it was very strange that Feng Ye was able to.

As expected, Feng Ye didn’t provide an answer to Hao Chen’s question, but just moved forward in his chosen direction.

Could it be that this fellow’s true form was an aquatic monster? Or was he a god born from water, just like Hao Chen?

Hao Chen stared at Feng Ye’s back, thinking to himself. He had many speculations about Feng Ye’s identity. He suspected that the other party came from heaven like himself, or was perhaps a human with a hidden agenda.

He was leaning toward the former, because he hoped that Feng Ye was powerful.

He didn’t expect Feng Ye to match his strength. After all, even in the heavens, there were very few gods who could rival him.

He only hoped that Feng Ye would be a little stronger, so that he could have more fun when he finally made a move.

This was the loneliness of a master. Hao Chen couldn’t help but tap his fan at the thought of this, his face full of regret.

Following behind Feng Ye, his expression changed over and over as his thoughts progressed. And Feng Ye walked with his head down, completely ignoring Hao Chen and thus unaware of the expressions on his face.

The two walked in silence for a while, disregarding the spiritual plants and herbs growing along their path and moving onward with intent. Suddenly, without any warning, Feng Ye came to a stop.

Hao Chen wasn’t even looking at the path, his mind full of messy thoughts. He had no time to observe what was ahead, and was unaware that Feng Ye had stopped.

Walking straight ahead at the same pace, he was about to run into Feng Ye’s back.

Hao Chen realized this when they were almost touching. Seeing that form coming closer and closer, he subconsciously tried to stop.

But before he could, Feng Ye abruptly turned his head. The look in his eyes was as cold as the unmelting ice of the North Sea, or a blade half-unsheathed, with killing intent just below the surface.

Hao Chen was stunned.

Feng Ye instantly realized something when he caught sight of Hao Chen’s expression. He narrowed his eyes, and when he raised his eyelids again, all of the killing intent that was about to be released was retracted.

Hao Chen’s gaze moved from Feng Ye’s face down to the hand he’d just raised and put down.

“Fellow Daoist Feng Ye…..” Hao Chen took in Feng Ye’s now collected demeanor and couldn’t help but say: “Were you going to kill me just now?”

There was no need to ask – Feng Ye had definitely intended to kill him.

And the reason was that Hao Chen was too close to him.

Although Feng Ye seemed to be walking unguardedly with his back to him, he had never truly trusted Hao Chen, and naturally wouldn’t be comfortable showing any vulnerabilities to him.

He had a perpetually tense wire strung through his heart, and once Hao Chen reached a distance he considered a threat, he would immediately take action to destroy the enemy before danger reached him.

Although Hao Chen’s proximity was completely unintentional, it had touched a sensitive nerve. If he hadn’t caught Hao Chen’s surprised expression, he likely would have taken action at once.

In response to Hao Chen’s question, Feng Ye lowered his eyes and didn’t answer for a while.

He was also aware that he was a little too sensitive, but it couldn’t be helped. He wouldn’t react when he was approached from the front, but if someone touched his back, chest, abdomen, or other vital areas, even if that person had no malicious intent, he couldn’t help his instinct to kill them before they could do anything to him.

This was the vigilance he had developed over the years, as well as an instinct ingrained in his blood and bones.

If someone else were to face him when he was like this, he would say a quiet, “Sorry.”

But this was Hao Chen, so he replied expressionlessly: “So you know.”

Hao Chen: “……”

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Chapter 40 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 42