Chapter 404: My Family Gets First Pick (Thanks to Patron Yan Hui Yuan Zui)

The group of sea-tribe Foundation Establishment cultivators had just passed where Long Ying hid, when a violent explosion erupted beneath their feet, instantly blowing apart the front few into flying limbs.

Although being pursued by Foundation Establishment cultivators, Wei Yuan had not the slightest thought of turning back to fight. If he wiped out this entire squad, wouldn't he be telling the sea tribe to send a Law Form to chase him?

At this critical moment, as the sea tribe's Grand Master of Yu Jing rushes closer, such a high-quality resource as a Law Form should be left for Zhao Zhao Fusheng.

The secret realm suddenly grew damp; fine streams of water continuously welled up from the ground, rapidly strengthening the Water element and beginning to repel the other five elements. The air grew thick with moisture, and as Wei Yuan ran, it felt like wading through glue—his speed dropped by more than half.

Wei Yuan silently cursed—this sea tribe Grand Master had already struck from afar. At this rate, he had no chance of escaping the secret realm before the Grand Master arrived.

At that moment, green grass suddenly sprouted from the ground, growing rapidly and blooming into flowers covering the entire area. Wei Yuan felt half his restraints vanish—he realized another Bao family Grand Master had intervened.

Grass and puddles alternated across the ground; the two Grand Masters were locked in fierce combat, vying for control of the secret realm, each striving to expel the other's heart-phase world. But from the lingering stickiness in the air, the Bao family Grand Master was clearly at a disadvantage.

And within this stickiness, the sea tribe's speed did not slow—it increased. Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators were nearly catching up to Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan knew this couldn't continue—he needed to wait for other Bao family True Lords to be roused into action. He veered sharply into a nearby small cave, sprinting along its winding passages while quietly planting several medicinal pillars behind him.

Wei Yuan planned to detonate the cave as soon as the pursuers arrived, blocking their advance, then lead this squad of sea-tribe Foundation Establishment cultivators slowly toward human territory. By the time the sea tribe's elites reacted, he'd likely already escaped back into human lands.

But ahead, a horizontal cave suddenly appeared—a towering, blood-splattered figure burst out and collided head-on with Wei Yuan!

The collision was like Mount Heng striking Mount Tai; Wei Yuan instantly felt his internal organs shift, stars flashing before his eyes. The other man clearly fared no better—he staggered back several steps, nearly sitting down.

Wei Yuan shook his head hard, vision clearing, and saw a completely bare body, with a greasy strip of fried dough hanging from it.

Wei Yuan suddenly remembered—Zhao Zhao Fusheng wasn't being followed by just a few sea-tribe cultivators!

He realized it instantly and charged toward the cave ahead. But Zhao Zhao Fusheng had the same idea—the two collided again, each rebounding off the cave walls and collapsing a section of rock.

After two consecutive collisions ended in a stalemate, both abandoned their absolute confidence in their physical bodies. On the third attempt, they neither fought for exclusive escape, but Moqi ly ran side by side.

Wei Yuan sensed multiple terrifying auras drawing nearer from behind, silently cursing Zhao Zhao Fusheng inside. Zhao Zhao Fusheng, running while glancing at Wei Yuan, found his face utterly unfamiliar—he'd never seen him before. But why would a Foundation Establishment cultivator enter the secret realm? Wasn't this suicide?

……Foundation Establishment???

"It's you!" Zhao Zhao Fusheng's eyes instantly blazed with fury.

"It's not me!" Wei Yuan pushed off with his feet, trying to shove Zhao Zhao Fusheng toward the pursuing sea tribe.

At this moment, the dragon and phoenix offered their strategy: just run faster than Zhao Zhao Fusheng.

But Zhao Zhao Fusheng accelerated at the same time—the two remained neck and neck.

At this moment, the sea tribe Grand Master's heart-phase world gained the upper hand, slowly manifesting; both their cultivation methods were suppressed, leaving only physical strength to determine speed. But their physical bodies were evenly matched, so their speeds were nearly identical.

Both sprinted at full speed, wary of each other, temporarily holding back from fighting. But Zhao Zhao Fusheng studied Wei Yuan, gradually connecting the dots—his eyes darkened with killing intent.

Wei Yuan sensed danger, but fortunately, in crowds there's always another dragon or phoenix offering advice—someone now spoke up, making Wei Yuan's eyes light up.

Wei Yuan suddenly turned his head, glancing at Zhao Zhao Fusheng's vital spot, expressionless: "Small."

Zhao Zhao Fusheng's blood instantly boiled—he instinctively shielded his vital area. But that one unnecessary motion gave Wei Yuan the opening—he shot forward several zhang in a flash. Their physical strength was equal, their speeds nearly identical—this gap was hard to close.

Wei Yuan was deeply satisfied. That strategy, though simple, considered countless factors: environment, situation, Zhao Zhao Fusheng's past behavior, male psychology, and more—it was the crystallized wisdom of an entire team.

The secret realm's dangers far exceeded Wei Yuan's expectations; he'd escaped multiple crises thanks to the dragon and phoenix. The mortals across the ten thousand mountains and rivers all sensed the apocalypse and mobilized.

Some of them prayed to Wei Yuan—he ignored them.

Others prayed to the Maiden Yin-Yang—and received a response.

They were instantly assigned different tasks, given the data needed to complete them, and after finishing, reported back. Their reports were merged into a final plan and fed back to Wei Yuan. The line "Small" was directly provided—he didn't need to think it up.

Wei Yuan surged ahead, leaving Zhao Zhao Fusheng far behind. After sprinting over ten li, Wei Yuan finally burst out of the cave onto a ledge jutting over a cliff.

The platform was large, yet hung alone over a ten-thousand-zhang abyss; the nearest land on the opposite side was over a thousand zhang away. Below, the abyss was pitch-black, its contents unseen—but it sent a shiver of dread through Wei Yuan.

Something lurked below, unrestrainedly releasing its aura, deliberately keeping the little insects away.

Wei Yuan pulled up sharply at the cliff's edge, barely stopping. Zhao Zhao Fusheng burst out right behind him, sneering at Wei Yuan—but before he could speak, his expression changed. Multiple sea-tribe cultivators poured from the cave, surrounding the two on this dead end. Wei Yuan scanned the surroundings, feigning panic, though he was genuinely uneasy. But even as he looked, he updated the terrain data—all of it synced instantly into the Ten Thousand Mountains and Rivers.

Zhao Zhao Fusheng had looked fierce, but when a third sea woman emerged from the cave, his face finally paled. Compared to ordinary sea-Li warriors, sea women were far more troublesome—each possessed unique, bizarre, and hard-to-defend-against abilities. Two sea women had already nearly crushed Zhao Zhao Fusheng—now if a third joined…

Zhao Zhao Fusheng suddenly looked at Wei Yuan—he judged the boy's strength sufficient to handle one sea woman. Then he, alone, could fight two sea women and a squad of sea-tribe cultivators—he could hold out.

The third sea woman appeared and wasted no words on the two humans—she let out a piercing shriek, the sound visibly visible, slamming straight into Zhao Zhao Fusheng!

At that moment, Wei Yuan curled into a ball as if terrified, his aura plummeting—clearly just a Foundation Establishment insect, and a mid-stage one at that.

Zhao Zhao Fusheng instantly felt dread rising—he wanted to scream curses—but then a sea-tribe warrior fired a Water Dragon Cannon straight at Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan didn't dodge or evade—he looked as if he'd frozen in terror.

All remaining sea-tribe warriors and the two sea women turned their attacks toward Zhao Zhao Fusheng.

"F-f-f-f!!!" Countless curses surged in Zhao Zhao Fusheng's mind, all collapsing into a single string of profanity—only this could vent his despair.

This was the emergency strategy mortals had devised at the brink of apocalypse: feign weakness.

The Water Dragon Cannon struck Wei Yuan squarely, blasting him off the platform. Sea-Li male warriors were far weaker than sea women, and even weaker than human Law Forms—this blast only left Wei Yuan sore, but it propelled him to safety.

!.

Two spray nozzles appeared under each of Wei Yuan's armpits—he shot forward like a giant had kicked him, crossing the thousand-zhang abyss in an instant and landing on the opposite cliff wall.

A foul wind surged from the ten-thousand-zhang abyss—a hundred-zhang-long, pointed maw snapped shut, barely missing Wei Yuan. Had he been even slightly slower, he'd have been swallowed whole.

Zhao Zhao Fusheng finally felt despair—he smiled bitterly, knowing his flight speed couldn't outpace the beast's bite.

At that moment, a sea woman suddenly shot twin beams of aquamarine light, illuminating a monk who had concealed his form and was slowly flying toward the opposite side.

Instantly, the abyss below rippled—the monstrous maw shot forward like lightning, snapping at the monk. In that instant, a colossal peacock appeared where the monk stood, spewing a torrent of five-colored aura at the maw.

The maw slowed only imperceptibly—then snapped shut, crushing the peacock's Law Form in one bite.

The monk reappeared on the platform, spitting blood, his aura plummeting. Ignoring his wounds, he immediately moved to intercept one sea woman and several warriors—only by standing shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Zhao Fusheng could either survive.

At this moment, several spray nozzles suddenly appeared above their heads, dropping at their feet.

Bao Manshan's ancestral grounds.

Bao Manshan was playing chess with an old man, the game evenly matched. Then Bao Yun entered the elegant pavilion, ignoring whether she disturbed their game, and said directly: "Two Great-Grandfathers, I want to know what conditions the Qiongshan Immortal Island offered to make you sell off our clan's most talented youths? Has our Bao family sunk so low we must sell our own children?"

Bao Manshan's face was expressionless; the old man grew angry and growled: "No manners!"

Bao Yun was undaunted: "A family that sells its children has no manners."

The old man glanced at Bao Manshan, who remained expressionless—then placed a single stone, beginning to slaughter the old man's great dragon.

The old man grew irritable, frowning: "Do you still think you're the most talented among the younger generation? You insulted the Immortal Lord and squandered your fortune; you lost an arm, lowering your physical body's rank. Later, you gave away your two newly formed Foundation Establishment fruits to others, weakening two of your Foundation Establishment's most useful divine abilities.

All these things combined—forget the next fifty years; even within the past twenty, you're no longer first. You're barely clinging to the top three. Do you think you can avoid contributing to the clan, just because of your current position?"

Bao Yun replied calmly: "No need for your reminder—I know my place. I only want to know: what price did the young island master offer to allow such arrogance in our ancestral grounds?"

The old man looked at Bao Yun's stubborn expression and sighed: "The dragon has nine sons. Those who comprehend the Floating World Dragon Diagram and cultivate it together will give birth to nine children, each with different talents, but all with the potential to ascend to immortality. When they're born, I get five, he gets four—my Bao family picks first."

At that moment, Bao Manshan seized the old man's distraction and dropped another stone, completely annihilating the old man's great dragon.

(End of Chapter)