Chapter 247: The Illness Period

Above the sea surface floated an extremely peculiar island, shaped like a giant turtle shell—500 zhang in length and over 300 zhang in width. The island was completely bare, with almost no green vegetation, aside from dozens of wooden houses. This island was the floating island created by those treasure hunters using various magical techniques, named “Floating Abyss Island.”

Undoubtedly, on ordinary days, those treasure hunters lived in their respective wooden houses, practicing cultivation. Though their conditions were somewhat harsh, those engaged in cultivation paid little attention to such things.

At this moment, high in the sky slightly ahead of Floating Abyss Island, a massive magic array illusion appeared. Faint golden runes flashed from time to time, emitting beams of golden light that shone across the sea surface, covering an area of thousands of zhang. This magic array illusion acted like an enormous kite, dragging Floating Abyss Island along as it slowly searched the entire sea area inch by inch, ensuring nothing was missed.

“This must be the so-called Spirit-Sensing Array they mentioned. Truly an impressive feat.”

Su Che had seen much in his life, and he couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. These people were truly willing to invest heavily in exploring treasures. Setting up and maintaining such a large array must require a tremendous amount of energy.

With the Spirit-Sensing Array, they could probe deep into the seabed. Whenever anything suspicious was detected, they would stop to investigate thoroughly. Theoretically, by continuing this relentless search, they might get lucky enough to stumble upon a similarly moving underwater ruin.

“If invisibility isn’t an option, then disguise and sneak attack are the only choices…”

Su Che first used the top-tier disguise technique taught by Tian Yin, transforming himself into the appearance and physique of an old man with black hair. He then adjusted his spiritual energy fluctuations so that, on the surface, he appeared exactly like the old man.

However, cultivators possess extremely keen instincts. Perhaps through some inexplicable sense, they might detect inconsistencies. Thus, such disguise methods could only deceive for a short time; if used for prolonged infiltration, flaws would inevitably surface.

The old man with black hair went by the name “Mi Long.” Su Che, disguised as him, quietly climbed onto Floating Abyss Island, selected one of the wooden houses, and stood outside its door.

Jindan cultivators are highly sensitive to others’ spiritual awareness. Using spiritual perception to peek into someone else’s room recklessly is extremely rude and even considered a provocation. Therefore, Su Che did not use spiritual perception but instead relied on Old Black’s detection abilities to see what was inside.

Inside the room, a middle-aged man in the middle stage of the Golden Core phase was meditating and cultivating. His alias was “Hua Yu.” Based on what the black-haired elder Mi Long knew about him, Hua Yu did not possess any special abilities related to his spiritual essence, making him susceptible to the Soul-Seizing Technique.

To carry out the gradual conquest, it was necessary to start with the easiest targets—conquering one at a time.

Su Che knocked on the door. Hua Yu’s consciousness detected it through the door and saw that it was “Mi Long,” so he said, “Brother Mi Long, please come in.”

Su Che pushed the door open and stepped in. The room was not large; almost as soon as he entered, he was only about thirty feet away from Hua Yu. At such a distance, the Soul-Seizing Technique could exert its full power.

“Brother Mi Long, someone just sent out a distress signal. You were patrolling outside today—did you encounter anything unusual?” Hua Yu asked.

Su Che nodded seriously. His lips moved as if he wanted to speak, but what came out was a blue light.

Buzz…

Unprepared, Hua Yu collapsed. Su Che rushed forward, punched him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious, and then dragged him into the Immortal Prison.

After that, Su Che hurriedly transformed back into Hua Yu’s appearance and sat down calmly, pretending to be in a meditative state. In reality, he was secretly observing what was happening outside.

The ambush had seemed very successful, but since action had been taken, it was inevitable that there would be some disturbance in spiritual energy. The island was full of cultivators at the Golden Core stage. If anyone noticed something strange and scanned the area with their consciousness, then the so-called conquest plan would come to an end.

It seemed easy, but extreme caution was required—there was no room for haste.

“The strength of those in the early stage of the Golden Core phase poses little threat. The key is to deal with all those in the middle stage first. As for those three in the late stage, it’s likely impossible to take them out silently.”

Su Che calmed himself down and carefully analyzed the characteristics of these people based on the memories in their minds, trying to determine the safest and most logical order for the ambush.

Just as he was thinking, he heard someone outside shouting using telepathy, “Fellow cultivators, there’s an emergency!”

Su Che’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively thought that his ambush had been discovered. But then he realized it probably had nothing to do with him—maybe the Spirit-Sensing Array had detected some anomaly underwater.

Such things were quite common. The Spirit-Sensing Array would send an alarm whenever it detected any anomaly underwater, though the final result might just be a rather unusual beast cave.

“Not so lucky. Just managed to deal with one person when this happened. After going outside, I’m not sure if those three late-stage Golden Core cultivators will notice anything amiss…” Su Che sighed inwardly. As he stepped out of the room, he thought again, “It’s fortunate that something strange has occurred now. If this happened after I’d captured three or four people, it would definitely lead to a significant reduction in numbers, with several people disappearing mysteriously, which would alert them even more…”

Nineteen people had already gathered outside, and the rest were probably still patrolling the sea area, driving away any prospectors who came here later. Su Che immediately spotted the three late-stage Golden Core experts: a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar, tall and with a pale, jade-like complexion. His surname was Yan Ming, and he was the oldest prospector here, having explored this area for decades. Another was a female cultivator with beautiful features and a charming demeanor, though she was already over three hundred years old. Her surname was Mu Yu, and she was also an elder of a major sect. The third late-stage Golden Core cultivator stood out the most—he was small in stature, like a seven-year-old child, but with an aged face. He was a well-known independent cultivator from the Hunyuan Sword Sect, named Cang Jiuzi.

“There’s something strange underwater. Which ones will go down this time?” The speaker was a cultivator responsible for guarding the Spirit-Searching Array today.

“Us. Let’s go.”

Mu Yu waved her hand, and three early-stage Golden Core cultivators followed her into the air. Once they were in mid-air, Mu Yu suddenly turned to look at Su Che. Su Che immediately realized that the ‘Hua Yu’ he was playing the role of should be in her group. But since he hadn’t flown up with them, it would surely arouse her suspicion.

In such situations, Su Che always reacted quickly. To cover up his unusual behavior, he let out an even more unusual sigh, clearly looking reluctant.

Yan Ming, dressed like a scholar, said with a smile, “If Brother Hua Yu has any difficulties, someone else can go down in his place.”

“It’s fine. No problem.”

Su Che imitated Hua Yu’s voice and waved his hand, though his flight still gave the impression of reluctance.

As a result, the others didn’t suspect anything and simply assumed that Hua Yu must have had another episode.

Exploring an ancient treasure often requires several years, or even longer. Even if one can persevere, emotional fluctuations can occur during that time.

Many people vent their emotions through strange behaviors like going crazy, and after enduring those most turbulent days, they naturally return to normal. Such abnormal behavior during those days is jokingly referred to by these treasure hunters as an “illness period.”

This shows that having “great perseverance” is not something easy to achieve.

The five of them used waterdive techniques to dive into the sea. As they descended, Su Che heard Mu Yu’s message in his ear: “Are you okay? You’re not allowed to give up without my permission.”

Obviously, Mu Yu also thought Su Che was truly “ill,” but her words carried an ambiguous tone. Could it be…

“I’m fine. It will get better in a few days. I just feel a bit frustrated,” Su Che replied via message.

At the same time, in the Immortal Prison, Lao He hurriedly woke up the real Hua Yu and quickly interrogated him about his relationship with Mu Yu.

Mu Yu smiled seductively and said via message, “It’s okay. I’ll go see you in a bit to help ease your frustration, okay?”

“Tonight,” Su Che replied readily, though inwardly he smiled bitterly at Lao He: “What’s the point of interrogating? It’s obvious what kind of relationship they have…”

Still, Lao He needed to conduct thorough interrogations—the more he learned, the harder it would be for him to reveal any flaws.

In less than twenty minutes, the five of them returned to the island. The so-called anomalies underwater were just giant nests created by a colony of crab-like monsters, mistaken by the Spirit-Sensing Array for a complex of palaces.

There were well over eight hundred such false alarms, and everyone had long become numb to them.

So, everyone returned to their respective rooms, and the Spirit-Sensing Array was activated again, carrying Floating Abyss Island along its predetermined path to continue searching.

At this moment, everyone wasn’t fully settled, making it unsuitable to launch a surprise attack. Su Che sat in his room, lost in thought.

To be honest, Su Che really admired these treasure hunters with extraordinary perseverance. To obtain a share of fortune, they had sacrificed so much of their lives—so any rewards they received were well-deserved.

But now, he had become a competitor to them. The Level 10 Spirit Fire was something he must have, and he wouldn’t allow others to interfere. Therefore, showing sympathy for them would mean being merciless to himself.

Even if he didn’t capture them now, once the ruins were opened, they would undoubtedly attack him without hesitation. There was no doubt about that, as they had killed many competitors throughout their treasure-hunting careers.

This was the world of cultivation—everyone fought, everyone competed. If you didn’t fight or compete, you were just waiting to be taken from others.

In such an environment, one must consider how to conduct oneself and what kind of demon or immortal to become. Once these matters are understood, perhaps one will find one’s own “Way”… As he thought about this, Su Che understood some things better, but became confused about others. Unaware of time passing, it was not until Lao He reminded him it was almost time to act. Yet as soon as he stepped outside, he saw… a stunning figure coming toward him!