Chapter 274: Silent

However, after two double‑hours, the Demon Kings came in high spirits and left in disappointment; they did not sense any change in cultivation while Jiang Yu was training.

Jiang Yu watched the Demon Kings disappear, then immediately began to dismiss the formation, and asked the Dragon Soul, "Has Nan Su moved?"

"No, but you'd better slip into the Dragon Pearl for safety; there are several cultivators dueling nearby." As soon as the Dragon Soul finished speaking, Jiang Yu's released spirit sense already detected the after‑effects of spiritual energy collisions.

She instantly halted the dismissal, added another layer of array within the formation, and whooshed into the Dragon Pearl.

It was also their timely reaction; just as she settled inside the Dragon Pearl, she saw dozens of cultivators fighting on the sea surface not far above.

Amidst various flashes of spiritual light, Jiang Yu discovered there were also Nascent Soul cultivators inside, and asked, "Who are they?"

Of course they were the Nine Immortal Alliance and Alliance cultivators who had been dueling earlier; after casualties occurred, they called for reinforcements.

As a result, right after the auction ended, Nascent Soul cultivators from both sides rushed over without pause, and the battle instantly expanded.

And it wasn't only Jiang Yu who saw it; the true person Nan Su also saw it, and he dared not move any further, hiding beneath a coral reef while waiting for the duelists to leave.

Unfortunately, the group kept entangling in combat, occasionally even fighting in the sea.

Jiang Yu's array had been struck before, but those fighters were so entranced that they ignored the suddenly appearing formation.

Jiang Tu lamented, "It's over; they'll probably fight until dawn, and by then Nan Su's wound will have healed about seventy‑plus percent."

Yet shortly after, a dragon's roar came from afar, "Who dares disturb my serene cultivation?"

The massive oppressive pressure rolled in, causing the duelists to plunge into the sea; the Nascent Soul cultivators, upon realizing who it was, immediately bowed in fear and apologized, "Dragon King, forgive us; we will depart at once."

While saying so, they dragged their close companions to flee, caring little for anyone else.

The remaining binding pills, trapped in the water like cold cicadas, had their limbs uncontrollably sinking toward the seabed.

In Jiang Yu's array, two binding pills were struck in succession; even under the array's attack, they lay still, unable to move.

Thus, Jiang Yu, being kind‑hearted, leapt out of the Dragon Pearl to halt the array's continued assault.

After a while, the oppressive pressure vanished, and the two binding pills, unable to even notice whose array it was, hurriedly shot out of the sea surface to escape.

However, the cultivator who fell in front of Nan Su's cultivation hall was not so fortunate.

This person was already wounded and, after the pressure's impact, fell into the sea unconscious; when Nan Su saw the pressure disappear, he flashed out of the hall, drew his sword, and instantly ended the person's life.

He also seized the victim's assets and burned them away with a blaze, erasing all traces.

All of this was witnessed by the Dragon Soul, which remarked, "Indeed, it is the path of demonic cultivation."

Jiang Yu listened, shook her head, and said, "Those who loot during a fire will eventually be struck back.

We'll get closer, and when he emerges from the hall tomorrow at dawn, we'll strike immediately."

Being too far makes it hard to act, so Jiang Yu decided to use the Dragon Pearl to become invisible and approach.

"Alright, I think you should make a move and go for a finishing kill."

"Just like when you struck Jia Wen Lan in the cave realm," Jiang Tu said, eager to help.

Jiang Yu wholeheartedly agreed, so she positioned the Dragon Pearl just over a hundred zhang from Nan Su and waited patiently for the moment.

And after waiting, it turned out to be until the next noon; it must be said that Nan Su held his breath very firmly.

But he found that no cultivator dared to appear within a hundred‑li radius, and he quickly tidied up and left.

However, as soon as he flashed out of the hall, a fierce sword aura struck from behind.

Even though Nan Su was extremely cautious and immediately crushed the teleportation talisman, he could not avoid being wounded by the sword aura; his blood instantly clouded the surrounding sea water.

The Merman King and Bai Jing slipped out again to have some fun; they searched the area where cultivators had dueled last night for any lost storage rings, and one said, "I'll go; turns out Jiang Yu was lying in ambush to kill."

But they witnessed an unexpected scene: Bai Jing locked onto Nan Su with her spirit sense and asked, "Shall we tell Jiang Yu where the person is?"

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu seized Nan Su's cultivation hall and simultaneously flew out of the sea surface.

"What a pity, I was slow just now; the sword talisman didn't activate together with you," Jiang Tu said, glancing at the talisman in his hand.

Jiang Yu had no time to console him, pushed it toward the Dragon Pearl, and asked the Dragon Soul, "Where is Nan Su? He seems to have used a teleportation talisman."

Before the Dragon Soul could answer, she first heard Bai Jing's voice transmission, "The person you intend to kill has just been sent near the sinking island."

Indeed, Nan Su panicked and teleported, but the destination was beyond his control; coincidentally, he landed on the sinking island where Jiang Tu had set his array.

Seeing a partially hidden island beneath the water, he didn't linger; after staunching his bleeding, he flew toward the half‑submerged island occupied by the old shopkeeper.

After spotting the island, Nan Su hesitated whether to land, but his escape light triggered a seal set by the old shopkeeper, and in an instant he plummeted from mid‑air.

Several Demon Kings on the island immediately gathered at a distance and remarked, "Huh, a human cultivator."

"Thunder Dragon King, I'll drive him away."

"Killing him is the easiest."

"He looks somewhat familiar."

"Wait, he's carrying the special token of the Pursuit Origin Island."

Because of this, Nan Su escaped with his life, but he could no longer leave this ever‑shifting island.

Indeed, as soon as he fell, he realized the island was moving on its own, slowly, but unmistakably like a ship sailing.

He tried several times to fly out, even diving into the sea, but to no avail; he could only find a place to rest and recover.

Meanwhile, he cursed Jiang Yu a thousand times in his mind, "Looting during a fire—more demonic than a demon cultivator."

The crucial point is that the girl's strike caused him to lose his walnut hut he'd carried for years; thinking of the many spirit stones and pills hidden inside, his heart ached.

He didn't know that the walnut hut had just been taken by Bai Jing.

"Jiang Yu, I, the king, will send you to chase that person, but the item you just obtained must be given to me." As soon as she spoke, she demanded it.

Jiang Yu understood this immediately and offered the walnut hut, saying, "Demon Kings love to take it."

"But pursuing the target need not trouble you; I'll go alone…"

Without waiting for her refusal, Bai Jing, having taken the walnut hut, immediately grabbed her, "Enough talk, Shark Shark, find your own storage ring."

"Jiang Yu, I think your spiritual fruit is quite tasty; sell me some."

Mid‑speech, the escape light whooshed upward; exhausted, Jiang Yu quickly summoned the flying bamboo fan behind her, avoided discussing the spiritual fruit, and probed, "Demon King, have you moved houses?"

"The whole Dragon Emperor is our family; there's no talk of moving." The Merman King did not stay, but swiftly leapt onto Bai Jing's escape light, simply to save effort.

The sky suddenly went dead silent; Jiang Yu decisively stayed silent, also carefully communicating with Jiang Tu, so the two demon kings wouldn't notice anything odd.

But the white whale obviously wanted to keep talking, "Jiang Yu, why did you kill that person?"

"Revenge." Jiang Yu also knew that getting close to the demon kings would do her no harm, so she recounted what had happened to her hometown.

The merfolk king nodded and said, "Indeed, he should be killed."

The thunder dragon king has always warned us, we may duel with cultivators, but must not casually harm mortal lives, for it easily damages yin virtue and is unfavorable for advancement.

The white whale also agreed: "Exactly. A thousand years ago, a demon once devoured the lives of people from several islands; before cultivators could kill it, it died under the heavenly tribulation of attempting to reach the tenth stage."

The merfolk king suddenly leaned close to Jiang Yu: "How strange, it ate many people and attracted heavenly tribulation, yet I have painstakingly cultivated—why have I still not attained godhood?"

"You, do you know the reason?"