Chapter 521

The closer they got, the clearer the large island became.

At first glance, the large island was square and stable, slightly arched on top, one end a bit thick, the other a bit thin; upon closer inspection, it resembled a pitch-black coffin. Moreover, the more carefully they examined it, the more they felt the whole island was gloomy, exuding a strange aura that made one's blood run cold.

Over eighty turtle-shell boats gradually spread out; these outlaws were experts in wrongdoing, adept at banditry and raiding homes, knowing how to gain the greatest profit in the shortest time while avoiding others' competition as much as possible.

Not a single outlaw was a good person; for a single spiritual herb, they would sometimes stab their comrades in the back. Therefore, for everyone's safety, it was better to spread out.

Old Master Hu sat in command on the rear warship; whoever first discovered something strange and first sent out a signal would receive a great reward.

The turtle-shell boats drew ever closer to the large island, while the distance between them grew to over two hundred li.

Wu Tie and the others grew increasingly tense; Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, focusing his attention on the many other turtle-shell boats. He had been ordered to deal with Linghu Gu, but to deal with Linghu Gu he needed to know more about his subordinates.

Mr. Li could provide only limited information; after years of inquiry, confirming that Old Master Hu was Linghu Gu was already no easy feat. To obtain more detailed intelligence, they could only rely on Wu Tie's own abilities.

The large island, its entire body covered in vegetation and dyed dark green, shrouded in thick mist, lay before them; the fastest to rush forward was a turtle-shell boat from the outlaws' Red Willow Manor, which surged ahead by several tens of li compared to Wu Tie's boat.

Just as the Red Willow Manor turtle-shell boat flew to a point only seven or eight li from the large island, a low, deep roar came from the sea; a white-bone giant whale, a thousand zhang long, its body exuding a strong deathly aura, shot up from beneath the water, its forehead horn trailing a gray-white bolt of lightning that slammed heavily into the boat's hull.

This whale was huge, its surface covered with thick white-bone plates; the horn on its forehead was about a hundred zhang long, and its entire body spewed gray-white light that contained extremely yin and evil deathly aura—netherworld thunderlight.

With just one blow, the Red Willow Manor turtle-shell boat was sent soaring tens of li into the air, its whole body bursting with countless tiny sparks, while a muffled boom came from within the cabin. The Red Willow Manor chief, a middle-aged man with a sinister visage, cursed hoarsely, flickered, and instantly teleported out from the bow.

Flickering and drifting like a ghost, before the white-bone giant whale could dart back into the sea, the Red Willow Manor chief had already teleported beside it; his body exploded into strands of black mist that instantly seeped into the whale's body.

The white-bone giant whale let out a mournful, long howl; its body suddenly stiffened, then strands of pus and blood continually oozed from within.

After a few breaths, the white-bone giant whale turned into a puddle of shattered bone fragments falling from the air; its vast flesh-and-blood essence was completely swallowed by the Red Willow Manor chief, while threads of black mist swirled rapidly around him, gradually condensing into his form.

"Great tonic, great tonic, hahaha, comparable to a Grand Dao precious pill. This beast, could it not have tens of thousands of years of cultivation?" the Red Willow Manor chief laughed to the heavens, then from the island's edge, on a cliff absolutely vertical to the sea and hundreds of li high, a mass of yin wind howled out of a cave.

A tall, burly figure several zhang high burst forth from the yin wind and slammed a fist into the Red Willow Manor chief's back.

The force of that punch… was terrifyingly rigid and fierce; with a booming blast, the sea surface below suddenly caved in, forming a huge pit a thousand li in diameter, from which white-colored gas explosions jetted out. The Red Willow Manor chief let out a mournful wail, great gouts of blood spraying from his seven orifices, his back shattered by that blast, his flesh and bones torn apart, leaving a basin-sized blood cavity punched clean through.

Moreover, the outlaws practiced body cultivation; the Red Willow Manor chief's esoteric method gave him an extraordinarily strong body and tenacious vitality, and having just devoured the entire life essence of that white-bone giant whale, this was a life-saving elixir, now continuously exerting its tremendous medicinal effect within him.

The shattered flesh and blood behind him rapidly regenerated; the Red Willow Manor chief drew his waist sword and, with a backhand, slashed it forth.

One sword brought forth a ten-thousand-zhang blade light, heavily chopping the burly figure in the yin wind. A crisp ring sounded, sparks flew, and the Red Willow Manor chief's Heavenly Dao divine weapon–level sword exhaled threads of innate geng-metal killing qi; its palm-wide blade sank only a little over an inch into that shadow's body.

Vast swaths of golden long hair were sheared off, fluttering down in the wind.

The yin wind was dispersed by the sword light, revealing the burly figure within it.

Wu Tie stared wide-eyed; Black Tiger beside him let out a hoarse cry: "What the hell is that thing?"

Standing about five zhang tall, its entire body was skin over bone, its skin covered with silky-smooth golden long hair like silk; in its eyes, two bowls-sized emerald ghost fires flickered rapidly; this strange creature's arms were nearly as long as its height, its knuckles protruding, its fists enormous—at least twice the size they should be for its normal proportions.

The sword of the Red Willow Manor's chief merely split a patch of the monster's golden fur, split a layer of his skin, sank in over an inch deep, touched his bones, and could not cut any further.

Anlong Zun raised his brow and shouted loudly: "It is an extremely high-ranked aberrant zombie, having jumped out of the Three Realms, not entering the Five Elements, abandoned by heaven and man, neither born nor perishing, extremely difficult to deal with... Let Old Vulture block it, we accelerate... full speed charge!"

Not only did Anlong Zun give such an order, but on the other eighty-odd turtle-shell boats, all the chiefs were shouting wildly.

The chief of Red Willow Manor had a sinister visage, a naturally large hooked nose; his true form was a carrion-eating vulture, a great demon who had taken human shape, not a pure human, so Anlong Zun called him Old Vulture.

These outlaws... not a single good person among them.

Old Vulture faced this zombie that looked extremely difficult to deal with at a glance; nobody had the slightest intention to help, and they all urged their flying boats to accelerate and charge.

Not only Anlong Zun and his group, but even the turtle-shell boat belonging to Red Willow Manor suddenly accelerated in the high sky, trailing a dark light a thousand zhang long, like a falling meteorite, and charged toward the great island at full speed.

In a moment, dozens of turtle-shell boats sped ahead, leaving only Old Vulture behind.

Old Vulture roared in fury, drew his sword, and in an instant unleashed countless sword lights that crisscrossed and wove into a net of blade light, tightly enveloping the golden‑haired high‑rank zombie before him.

The zombie let out a low growl, its lips turned back to reveal long fangs.

A dark wind rose, and the zombie moved with extreme speed, almost like teleportation, whirling wildly around Old Vulture. No matter how many sword lights fell upon it, sending sparks flying from its body, the zombie spun rapidly, charged madly, and its fists, like meteors, relentlessly struck Old Vulture.

Old Vulture's black robe emitted a dim, gloomy light.

The earlier punch from the golden‑haired zombie had already blasted this extremely strong‑defense black robe almost to pieces; after a few more blows, this robe, struggling desperately, exploded into fragments.

A set of black armor emerged from within Old Vulture, wrapping around him and emitting streams of divine light to block the golden‑haired zombie's heavy punches.

The golden‑haired zombie's heavy punches came like thunder, thousands of them roaring down; the black armor instantly cracked with countless spider‑web‑like fissures. Old Vulture flickered, straining to dodge, but the zombie's speed exceeded his by more than fifty percent; no matter how he dodged, the heavy punches kept striking him, while his sword lights grew ever harder to land on the zombie.

Behind, on three great warships, Old Master Hu sat lazily in a large chair, gnawing on a piece of braised pork trotter.

Several beautiful female cultivators, whose cultivation had reached the Embryonic Storage realm but who were obviously very young, surrounded Old Master Hu, massaging his shoulders, pounding his legs, bringing him tea and water, pouring wine and serving dishes, busy beyond measure.

A dozen or so Hu clan members of various ages stood to the side, together with Old Master Hu gazing at the battle between Old Vulture and the golden‑haired zombie.

"Old Vulture has also grasped a trace of the divine realm's mystery; his divine fetus has perfectly merged with the Dao he has comprehended, achieving perfect completeness; together with the Dao treasure pills granted him over the years, the lacking part of the Dao mystery in his cultivation has also been made up."

One of Old Master Hu's descendants sighed softly beside him: "With such strength, they can't even take down a zombie living on the island's edge; it looks like they'll be killed by the zombie... This great island is truly perilous!"

Old Master Hu tossed aside the clean‑picked pork bones and took a huge roasted sheep's head from the maid's hand.

"Perilous, of course it is." Old Master Hu chuckled, looking at his many descendants: "How to put it—this is also a spot pointed out by the heavens, a blessed land harboring an innate supreme treasure… tsk tsk, an innate supreme treasure capable of rivaling the state artifact of the Great Jin—its peril is obvious without question."

He plucked the eye from the roasted sheep's head, stuffed it into his mouth with a 'chomp' and bit it; Old Master Hu ate while speaking indistinctly: "Now you can see the benefit of these outlaws… truly they are our family's direct‑line troops; tossing them about like this, how painful!"

Pointing toward Old Vulture, Old Master Hu broke into a smile as bright as spring blossoms: "But this Old Vulture—if he dies, he dies; I feel no sorrow… once he's dead and reveals his true form, I can still refine him into medicine. The Dao treasure pills he has taken over the years can still be re‑refined, none lost—what a wonderful thing!"

"Outlaws, outlaws—while alive they work for me, dead they must be put to use… what a profitable thing!"

The Hu clan's younger generation laughed until their eyes narrowed to slits.

Speaking of which, it's also amusing—just like Old Master Hu, his descendants are all tall and plump, pear‑shaped, with fair, lovely skin; a crowd standing here, all grinning, looks like a herd of well‑fed white‑spotted pigs out for a stroll, truly delightful.

The Green Willow Manor's turtle‑shell boat flew into the air above the island, and the surrounding space slightly twisted.

From afar, this coffin‑shaped great island stretches up to twelve thousand li in length and about four thousand li in width; but once inside, one discovers its actual area is at least a hundred times greater than its outward appearance.

On this island rise and fall mountain ranges, dense forests everywhere, towering ancient trees and giant trees; on some huge ancient trees coil grim‑breathing giant pythons; countless vines tug between the trees, sheets of blossoms bloom like waterfalls, combined with the myriad poisonous insects and snakes hidden in the flowers, making it both splendidly beautiful and fraught with danger.

Wu Tie and company's turtle‑shell boat hovered a thousand zhang above the ground, slowing its speed as it flew forward.

In the forest below, a gray‑ish, yin‑filled snake several zhang long suddenly shot up, its body swelling in an instant to a hundred li in length, and it opened its maw to swallow the Green Willow Manor's turtle‑shell boat whole.

A terrifying suction force came; Anlong Zun bellowed, stepped into the void, and hurled a punch at the snake's mouth.

The snake's tail twitched and flicked, with a loud 'crack'; the lash struck Anlong Zun, shattering his dragon scales all over, causing him to spit blood in great gulps, and he was flung hundreds of li away.

Wu Tie and the others watched, their eyes twitching.

Dark Dragon Sovereign, however, was said to have reached the Half-Step Divine Sovereign Realm, his cultivation profound and his power boundless—how could he possibly be so easily defeated by this giant serpent?

No one dared, but Wu Tie was unwilling to confront this strange giant serpent head-on; the several hundred or so people of Green Willow Manor all abandoned the Tortoise Shell Boat, and the serpent swallowed it in one gulp.

Dark Dragon Sovereign's voice came from afar: "Here, there is something strange; my cultivation has been forcibly knocked down several levels—I am now roughly at the initial stage of the Tao Embryo Realm... My flesh is being eroded by a yin energy, and my strength is continually diminishing."

"Circulate your qi, seal the seven apertures and all the pores of your body—under no circumstances must this yin energy be allowed to invade the Divine Fetus, otherwise... I can still escape, but you are doomed!"

Black Tiger and the others exclaimed in unison; hearing Dark Dragon Sovereign's words, their Divine Fetus trembled, their divine sense quickly swept over themselves—sure enough, their Dao cultivation realm was forcibly suppressed, their strength dropping from peak state by at least severalfold, and the stronger one's cultivation, the more severe the suppression.

As for the erosion of the flesh... Wu Tie's internal mana circulated; after the external yin qi entered, it was stirred by the Yin-Yang Two Qi into pure heavenly-earth primordial energy, which then quickly transformed into mana, thus posing him no harm at all.

As for the suppression of the realm?

The Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle and the Black Heaven Sovereign, two supreme treasures, guarded his Divine Fetus; Wu Tie also did not feel that his Dao cultivation realm was suppressed, his strength remaining at peak state.

That giant serpent swallowed the Tortoise Shell Boat in one gulp, then, in a surprisingly human-like manner, went "glug-glug" a few times with its mouth, as if it couldn't taste flesh and blood; it raised its head and let out a mighty roar, suddenly shrinking to a length of several dozen zhang, then shot like lightning toward Black Tiger and the others.

The serpent's speed was incredible—just a black flash, and several dozen outlaws vanished without a trace, obviously swallowed whole by it.

Dark Dragon Sovereign's body twitched slightly, and he shouted sternly: "Save yourselves... this place is strange, Second Brother, Third Brother, we three stick together, let's go!"

Dark Dragon Sovereign is the chief of Green Willow Manor; besides him, Green Willow Manor also has two other chiefs, Fire Tiger Lord and Hundred Ghosts Lord. These three are the strongest in cultivation, have the best rapport day-to-day, and in Green Willow Manor they form the strongest small clique.

The burly Fire Tiger Lord let out a loud roar, the gaunt, ghost-like Hundred Ghosts Lord gave a shrill "kieh-kieh" laugh; their figures flickered, and in an instant they were at Dark Dragon Sovereign's side, then the three fled at top speed, completely disregarding the fate of Black Tiger and the others.

The long serpent flicked its tongue, this time lunging at Wu Tie.