Chapter 8: The Islands (Part 1)

The three of them enjoyed the seafood feast to their heart’s content, with Guo Shieru having no chance to keep up. Influenced by his past life, he ate crabs slowly, savoring each bite carefully, while the other three devoured everything greedily, ignoring small shells and swallowing them outright—strong as they were, they weren’t afraid of choking.
In no time, almost nothing was left. Seafood with shells usually had little meat, so these big eaters were only half full. Guo Shieru had no choice but to bring out the large pot of fresh fish soup for them to eat while it was hot.
The soup made from sea fish was incredibly delicious. Guo Shieru had added some meat from mutated talisman beasts to satisfy the big eaters like the Eagle Demons; otherwise, a few fish wouldn’t be enough for them. There was also a basket of steaming flatbreads, which made the Eagle Demons and Qi Nan Shan extremely happy.
Monier filled a large bowl with fish soup and elegantly tore up the flatbreads to eat.
Guo Shieru sighed. The seafood was almost wasted—none of these three, including Monier, could appreciate such delicacies. It was like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruits; no matter how good it was, it was wasted. But seeing them so happy, he didn’t feel regretful.
…
Ao Kuang, a super expert from the Star Sect, hadn’t given up. He continued to wander through the mountains, accompanied by several Holy Masters. Holding a circular talisman disk, he scanned everywhere for any clues.
One Holy Master said, “Elder Master, I think they’ve left the Star Continent. We can’t find any trace here.”
Ao Kuang shook his head slightly and said, “No, they haven’t left. They’re hiding in some secret realm. Hehe, I guess… that realm is sealed. Once it’s opened… my talisman disk will detect it. By then… I’ll make their lives worse than death!”
A message talisman streaked across the sky like a meteor and landed. Ao Kuang reached out and caught it. After taking a quick look, he said, “Hong Zhen, return to the Star Sect and tell them I’ll stay outside for a while. Also, go to the inner sect and fetch a large detection talisman disk. I don’t believe… we won’t be able to find those four kids!”
Hong Zhen bowed and soared into the air, flying swiftly toward the Star Sect.
Another message talisman arrived. Ao Kuang frowned and his expression darkened after reading it. One disciple asked, “Elder Master, which direction should we go?”
Ao Kuang glanced at the fork in the road ahead—a mountain dividing two canyons—and flew silently toward the left.

Holding the detection disc, Ao Kuang’s expression grew even darker. His subordinates all held their breath, not daring to even take a deep breath, knowing that Ao Kuang was furious. Suddenly, Ao Kuang started cursing violently: “Damn it… a bunch of bastards! What the hell are you? Daring to threaten me… fools! Ugh…” He gesticulated wildly, cursing loudly in the canyon for ten minutes before finally taking a deep breath and suddenly bursting into laughter again. The poor disciples all kept their heads bowed in submission. Everyone knew Master Ao Kuang was unpredictable, so no one dared to provoke him or try to reason with him; they could only hope inwardly that he would calm down soon. Ao Kuang said coldly, “They actually let that evil creature go… Haha, after I finish dealing with this, I’ll go back and deal with you weaklings!” Finally, when Ao Kuang’s anger subsided, the disciples didn’t dare to ask questions and followed him as he continued to explore the mountains. Two days later, Hong Zhen brought a large detection disc. Despite Ao Kuang’s unpredictable mood, he was actually very patient, otherwise he wouldn’t have risen to such a high rank. With the large detection disc and the data collected earlier, Ao Kuang quickly narrowed down the search area. The final suspects were concentrated in a small region, which included the entrance to the secret realm where Guo Shier and the others were. Although the secret realm was closed, its entrance remained unchanged. There were seven secret realm entrances in this small area, and any that were open could be ruled out. After further detection, it turned out that two more secret realms were closed. This was the power of the large detection disc—it could locate unopened secret realm entrances. Ao Kuang smiled triumphantly and said, “I wonder how you’ll escape now? Two entrances… Hehe, Hong Zhen, send a message to bring more people. We’ll force our way into the secret realms. Haha, I’ll see how you run away!” He said the last sentence through gritted teeth, making his subordinates shiver with fear. One of those secret realms was exactly where Guo Shier and the others were. … Guo Shier and the others still didn’t know that their secret realm had been locked down by the enemy. The four of them flew along the coastline happily. As they flew further, they grew increasingly amazed. This secret realm seemed to be a large-scale one, on par with an ordinary continent. After flying for over ten days, they still hadn’t left the endless coastline. Qi Nan Shan landed on a cliff with the sea below. He said, “Let’s stop for a while.” Guo Shier was also tired from flying for over ten days. Aside from the beautiful scenery, they hadn’t seen any people or powerful mutated talisman beasts. As for various materials, nothing could be found until a thorough search was conducted.

Monier said, “I’m so annoyed. I keep flying forward, but I can’t see anything valuable. It’s pointless.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “It’s fun! No one knows what’s ahead. I feel really excited.” Along the way, he collected quite a few seafood items, which he processed slightly before putting them in his storage pouch. He had always loved collecting food, and with the storage pouch, this habit grew even stronger. As long as something was delicious or unique, he would collect it—whether it was plants or animals.
For example, Guo Shier discovered that the roe of a certain large fish was extremely tasty, so he caught quite a few using his magic talismans. Over these past ten days, he had been the happiest of the four, though a bit tired.
According to Qi Nanshan, Guo Shier was now a real food lover, not even sparing bamboo. When they encountered a bamboo forest on the road, Guo Shier actually went in to dig for bamboo shoots, leaving everyone in awe—they didn’t even know those could be eaten.
Qi Nanshan sat silently on top of the cliff, gazing at the endless sea, when suddenly he said, “It seems I’m going to advance again.” He was currently a junior Great Sage Master; advancing further would make him an intermediate Great Sage Master.
Monier rolled her eyes and whispered, “He’s completely insane… There’s no such thing as an advancement speed like this…”
Guo Shier, however, was genuinely happy. Smiling, he said, “Grandpa Nanshan, congratulations! Haha, I didn’t expect to advance again so soon. It’s really fast… and great!” If Qi Nanshan could advance, it meant the strength of their small team would increase, so of course he was happy.
Qi Nanshan sighed and said, “It’s too fast. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not.”
Eagle Demon said two words: “Good thing!”
Qi Nanshan didn’t know what to say. Such an advancement speed was something he had never even imagined back at the Northern Talisman Sect. If he had managed to burn that Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle back then, he might have been able to advance directly to an advanced Great Sage Master. This terrifying way of increasing strength made even him feel uneasy.
Guo Shier looked at the sea and said, “I wonder what’s on the other side of the sea? It’s a shame we don’t have a map of this secret realm.”
Monier and Qi Nanshan both laughed. Monier said, “Honey, secret realms can’t possibly have maps.”
Guo Shier replied, “I know. There are countless secret realms.”
Qi Nanshan calculated for a moment and said, “It’s almost time. We should be able to leave in a few days.”
After thinking for a while, Guo Shier asked, “Masteress, Uncle Eagle Demon, do you think it’s appropriate to leave now?”
Eagle Demon replied calmly, “Shier, I’ll follow you. If you go out… I’ll go out too.”

Monier said, “Going out now… might not be a good idea, baby. You decide; your wife will definitely support you.”
Guo Shieru frowned and said, “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to go to the Star Continent now, but…” He scratched his head and added, “But I guess the people of the Star Sect are still searching. After all, losing a great sage master is a huge blow to them, and they won’t give up easily. Grandpa Qinan, what do you think?”
Qinan Nanshan thought for a moment before nodding and saying, “If it were the North Talisman Gate, they wouldn’t give up either if one of their elite professionals were killed. Moreover, the Star Sect is a dominant sect—they definitely won’t stop searching… In that case, let’s not rush to go out. Keep flying along the coastline. I have a feeling this secret realm is special.”
Guo Shieru said, “I think… we should fly over there.” He pointed at the sea.
Monier said, “That’s too dangerous. Weren’t you also against flying over there at first?”
Guo Shieru replied, “We’ve been flying along the coastline for so long with nothing to show for it. I think if we want to find something, we must cross the sea… Hehe, I’ve figured something out…”
Qinan Nanshan laughed and asked, “What have you figured out?”
Guo Shieru said, “Think about the Sky Snake Calamity Turtle. Indeed… we can’t defeat it, but it’s never seen us as a threat either. In other words, as long as we don’t provoke it, there’s no danger—provided… we don’t release the Giant Nest Dragon.”
Qinan Nanshan slapped his thigh and laughed, “Haha, that’s right… If it’s just small mutated sea beasts, our strength is enough to deal with them. As for powerful mutated sea beasts, as long as we don’t provoke them, it shouldn’t be a problem. Good! Let’s cross the sea!”
Guo Shieru said, “I’ll make a raft. Uncle Eagle Demon, can you help me?”
All three were stunned. Eagle Demon asked, “Shieru, why make a raft? Are we really going to cross the sea on it?”
Guo Shieru replied, “Cross the sea on a raft? I’m not that stupid…”
Monier, being observant, suddenly understood and said, “Is it for resting?” With her words, Qinan Nanshan and Eagle Demon also realized that in the vast ocean, if they got tired from flying, they couldn’t just land in the sea—it wouldn’t be rest, but suffering. With a raft, they could rest along the way.
Qinan Nanshan exclaimed in amazement, “Great! I’ll help cut wood too. It doesn’t need to be very big—make a couple more. In case it gets destroyed, we’ll have backups.”

There were vast areas of primeval forests along the coast, with an endless supply of timber. Professionals like Guo Shier all had their own signature talismanic blades, making it easy to cut down trees; in no time, they had gathered a large pile of logs. They used void talismans to remove the moisture from the logs and then connected them with runes. The three-layer rafts turned out to be far more sturdy than Guo Shier had expected.