Chapter 248: Emotional Turbulences

Mu Yu came towards him, dressed in a colorful palace dress—clearly having put in extra effort to look attractive, making her even more alluring.
“What a hassle.”
Su Che was secretly worried. He had come to calm Hua Yu down, but this situation was hindering his plans. With prolonged close contact, she would surely notice his flaws. After all, he and Hua Yu had an extremely close relationship, knowing each other deeply in every aspect…
“Going out?” Mu Yu asked with a gentle smile as she saw Su Che stepping outside.
“I want to take a walk,” Su Che nodded.
“Shall I accompany you?” Mu Yu stepped closer.
“Okay.”
Su Che forced a smile and flew upward first, with Mu Yu following closely behind.
This leisurely flight didn’t require the use of a flying sword; a Golden Core cultivator could fly using only their physical strength, which was still much faster than most at the Foundation Establishment stage.
The reason he accepted Mu Yu’s company was to take her far away. Even if she discovered his flaws and they fought, it wouldn’t alert the people on the island.
“This woman’s cultivation level is probably around that of Feng Sha from the Seal Demon Hall. Even matching her would be extremely difficult; defeating her is almost impossible…”
Su Che was extremely troubled and regretted having chosen Hua Yu as his first target.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He interrogated Hua Yu and learned that their close relationship had only developed recently. Not many people on Floating Abyss Island were aware of this, which led to such a mistake. It couldn’t be blamed on Su Che or Lao He being careless—it was purely luck.
Nearly a hundred miles passed in the blink of an eye. Su Che wanted to fly even farther, but Mu Yu moved closer, almost leaning into his arms, her eyes filled with affection and extreme charm.
“We’ve done it in the sea before, but never in the sky,” Mu Yu said, her breath fragrant as her sensual lips lightly brushed against Su Che’s earlobe.
Su Che became extremely nervous, his heart pounding wildly. He had no experience handling such situations—his only intimate experience in life had been with the innocent and lovely Xing Er. If he handled this poorly, it would surely reveal many flaws.
“Later. I’m stuck on something right now; it’s giving me a headache!” Su Che said in a low voice, trying to stay calm.
Mu Yu stepped back slightly and flew beside him, asking, “What’s bothering you? Can you tell me?”
“Yes. But I need to think more…” Su Che tried to buy time, flying farther away with her.

After flying three hundred li, Su Che finally felt a bit relieved. At such a distance, if a fierce battle broke out, those on Floating Abyss Island should not be able to detect it. Su Che thought that given Mu Yu’s current “state,” he surely couldn’t hold out for long before she would spot his flaws—this battle was inevitable. Prepared to fight her, he saw a streak of light flying toward them. Judging from Mu Yu’s expression, she seemed to recognize the person approaching. That meant this person was also from Floating Abyss Island, likely someone like the black-haired old man Mi Long, who was responsible for patrolling the sea areas daily to drive away outsiders. This person also appeared middle-aged; as soon as he got closer, he shouted at Mu Yu, “Miss Mu, Brother Hua Yu—what a good fortune to meet you! That madman Long has come to cause trouble again.” Mu Yu nodded calmly and asked, “Where is he?” The man pointed behind him: “A hundred li to the northwest. He ambushed us just now and caused us some minor injuries.” “Alright, I’ll go check it out. You go back to the island and rest for a few days,” Mu Yu replied gently. At that moment, the old black man was interrogating Hua Yu and learned some things about “Madman Long.” Madman Long was a demon cultivator in the late Golden Core stage. Two years ago, he came to Tianyuan Sea seeking the treasures hidden in the ruins, but was rejected by Floating Abyss Island’s team because he was a demon cultivator with a cruel, reclusive, and eccentric personality—utterly unsuited to join their team. So, Madman Long kept coming to cause trouble, not only out of revenge but also to see if the people on Floating Abyss Island had discovered the ruins or found anything. Coming all the way to Tianyuan Sea, he wouldn’t be satisfied if he got nothing. There were a few other highly skilled individuals like Madman Long, but none of them could match the formidable strength of Floating Abyss Island. “Another late Golden Core stage Madman Long,” Su Che thought. “If we make too much noise when opening the ruins, troublesome guys like him will be attracted. This task is indeed difficult—no wonder generations of Water Moon Cave Heaven haven’t dared to open the ruins…” Su Che had also wondered why, since the mystery of Tianyuan Sea’s ruins seemed well-known to many, the masters of the Hunyuan Sword Sect couldn’t possibly be unaware—why then did they turn a blind eye? The answer came from interrogating Hua Yu: Three thousand years ago, the Hunyuan Sword Sect had conducted several large-scale searches in Tianyuan Sea but found nothing, so they had long given up on this baseless legend of ruins.

Su Che followed Mu Yu and flew nearly a hundred li in the northwest direction. Sure enough, they found that fierce-looking, hairly man who resembled a lion—Long Fongzi.
“Mu Yu, you really came quickly.” From a distance of a hundred zhang, Long Fongzi’s gaze was like that of a wild beast, filled with cruel and icy brutality.
“Coincidentally, I was just in the area,” Mu Yu said with a faint smile. She asked, “Long Fongzi, it’s only been a few days since last time, and you’re already here causing trouble. Aren’t you tired?”
Long Fongzi smirked darkly, tilted his head back, and flared his nostrils like a wild beast, seemingly sniffing the air. He said, “I can sense a restless energy in the air. Hmph, something big is about to happen in Tianyuan Sea. Who knows…”
Suddenly, he turned his head and glared coldly at Su Che, “Hua Yu, you seem restless too. Something’s wrong!”
Su Che sneered silently, but remained alert inwardly. “The cultivation world is full of geniuses who appear strange and mad on the surface, but in reality, they often possess special abilities in certain areas.”
However, the appearance of this Long Fongzi had created some opportunities for him, some possibilities…
An idea flashed through Su Che’s mind, and he immediately snapped at Long Fongzi with a cold face, “I’m in a bad mood. You idiot had better scram right now!”
At these words, not only did Long Fongzi glare fiercely with a grotesque expression, but Mu Yu was also shocked.
That was too harsh!
Although Long Fongzi often caused trouble, the two sides had never fully broken off relations, always maintaining a minimum of courtesy.
A warrior can be killed but not humiliated. As cultivators, taking minor injuries in a fight was nothing serious—just a few days of rest would suffice. But Su Che’s words were outright insults, extremely excessive.
“Are you sick?” Long Fongzi smirked darkly.
“That’s right,” Mu Yu nodded. “He’s been in poor condition these past few days.”
In other words, don’t bother with someone who’s sick.
“I might not deal with you today, but don’t let me encounter you alone in the future,” Long Fongzi said viciously.
How could Long Fongzi be someone easy to get along with? Even knowing that ‘Hua Yu’ was sick, those insulting words would cost him dearly later.
“Meeting such a person only makes me more annoyed. I’m going back now,” Su Che said to Mu Yu before turning and flying away without hesitation.
Mu Yu quickly sent him a message: “Wait for me on the island. Don’t wander around!”

Long Fendzi came to cause trouble, and Mu Yu had to drive him away first before she could return to Fu Yuan Island, which gave Su Che a perfect opportunity to escape.
In fact, Su Che thought that if he were ruthless enough, he could attack Long Fendzi directly. To protect herself, Mu Yu would surely fight him. During that time, he could take advantage of the situation to secretly attack Mu Yu and use Long Fendzi’s strength to seriously injure her, thus solving all problems.
However, Su Che simply couldn’t bring himself to exploit a woman’s affection and turn it against her. Even though he knew her care wasn’t for him, he still had psychological barriers, so he had to choose another method…
After flying over a hundred miles, Su Che dived into the sea and transformed back into the appearance of the old man with black hair, ‘Mi Long’. With that, Hua Yu completely disappeared from sight.
Then, Su Che slowly flew toward Fu Yuan Island.
As he neared the island, Mu Yu caught up from behind, and the two exchanged a friendly greeting.
When Su Che landed on the island, he saw Mu Yu looking anxious—clearly, she couldn’t find her beloved Hua Yu.
“Mi Long, did you see Hua Yu on your way back?” Mu Yu asked right away.
“I did,” Su Che replied. “I noticed he looked pale and seemed off, so I asked him. He said he wanted to go out for some time and wouldn’t be back for a few days.”
“Did he go that way?” Mu Yu asked urgently.
“Southwest,” Su Che blurted out a random direction.
“Oh no!”
Mu Yu’s expression changed drastically. She took off into the air and even used her flying magic artifact to head southwest at full speed.
The southwest direction Su Che had mentioned happened to be the same direction Long Fendzi had left in. Naturally, Mu Yu was worried—Hua Yu, who had just offended Long Fendzi, was likely in great danger.
“Finally…”
Watching her vanish in an instant, Su Che secretly rejoiced that he had managed to get rid of this troublesome woman.
After choosing his next target, he knocked on the door and entered.
Soul capture!
…
After going through those dramatic emotional twists, things became smooth and straightforward from then on. In just over five hours, Su Che used his disguise and ambush tactics to successfully capture each of the remaining seven mid-stage Golden Core cultivators and lock them up in the Immortal Prison.
There were certainly some tense moments along the way, but fortunately, the treasure hunters on the island were quite self-disciplined. Even if they sensed some slight movement, they wouldn’t rashly use their spiritual senses to probe others’ rooms.
After all, everyone has secrets and privacy. Using spiritual senses to spy on others is a major taboo in the cultivation world.

Having completed the last mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, an entire night had passed. Today was the ninth day of the month, and they had to start exploring the ruins by tomorrow.
With enough time, Su Che turned his attention to those at the early-stage Golden Core level. One less meant one more to catch—each captured brought a profit!
However, misfortune never lasts long, nor does good fortune. After capturing just two early-stage Golden Core cultivators, they heard that annoying phrase shouted from outside again: “Fellow cultivators, there’s a problem!”
“It’s over now,” Su Che sighed softly.
The Spirit Search Formation detected anomalies underwater once more, but this time, eleven people were missing from the group. Everyone knew about Hua Yu and Mu Yu’s departure—so where were the other nine members?