Chapter 301: North Wasteland Island

North Wasteland Island is located at the far northernmost tip of the Arctic Sea, and it is also the northernmost point of the entire Qiyuan Planet. Su Che, who now had an understanding of planets, knew that due to planetary gravity and magnetic fields, the area within 2,000 miles around the island was extremely lacking in spiritual energy, making it entirely unsuitable for cultivators to practice here. For countless years, the island had remained deserted.

However, both Su Che and True Man Huaguang were wrong. The North Wasteland Island they saw today was not only inhabited but also had a considerable population.

“Elder, how long has it been since you last came here?” Su Che asked via telepathy.

“Nearly ten years,” replied True Man Huaguang. “Especially in the past three years, I’ve never been to this sea area again.”

Su Che nodded silently. He could guess that these changes must be related to the chaos in the cultivation world.

The actual size of North Wasteland Island was much larger than Su Che had imagined, appearing several times bigger than Aurora Island. At that moment, Su Che’s gaze fell on a towering peak at the eastern end of the island.

This peak seemed strangely peculiar, as if it didn’t belong to the island at all…

True Man Huaguang knew what he was looking at and promptly reminded him, “I’ve been to North Wasteland Island many times, but I’ve never seen this peak before.”

“What?”

Su Che was shocked. He immediately realized that this peak, thousands of feet high, didn’t originally belong to North Wasteland Island—it must have been moved from elsewhere. No wonder it stood out so much and seemed so out of place!

“To move such a huge mountain from thousands of miles away across the vast sea, only a super sect like Taiyi Gate could do it,” Su Che murmured. “Why would they go to such lengths, spending immeasurable manpower and resources to bring a peak here to such a desolate place?”

“It’s definitely not for good,” said True Man Huaguang. “Perhaps their aim of seizing Aurora Island is related to this.”

Su Che nodded and inferred, “This island is located at the far northernmost tip of Qiyuan Planet, with no other sects within thousands of miles. They’re causing such a fuss here—it’s surely not targeting a specific sect or force. It must be…”

“The entire cultivation world!”

They said in unison.

Could it be that they were setting up a grand array here, attempting to manipulate planetary gravity or magnetic fields to create some catastrophic disaster and bring ruin upon the cultivation world? That would truly be the arrival of chaos.

Following this speculation, Su Che realized, “The real reason Taiyi Gate has blocked the Arctic Sea is to conceal their plans for North Wasteland Island. The so-called capture of True Man Huaguang is just a deception…”

“To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. Only a select group of core members are aware of this plan, and they even deceived those lower-ranked Golden Core elders within their own sect. The four early-stage Golden Core elders I captured today know nothing about it either.”
By now, Su Che had analyzed the situation clearly.
There were many cultivators stationed on the island. Su Che and his companion didn’t dare get too close and had to use magic to transform into a cloud, hiding at high altitudes dozens of miles away to observe the entire island.
From such a distance, it was impossible to determine the cultivation levels of those cultivators, but it was clear there were no fewer than three hundred of them, including many advanced cultivators at the Golden Core stage or above.
“It’s hard to say if there are any at the late Golden Core stage or even one or two Nascent Soul ancestors on the island. Forcing our way in is definitely not an option.”
True Master Hua Guang wasn’t afraid of death, but he couldn’t ignore Su Che’s promising future. He said, “If all else fails, we can wait until they leave before searching for the treasure.”
“No,” Su Che rejected it firmly. “Their plan is ambitious; they might not leave North Wasteland Island for a decade or two. Besides, these guys are building extensively on the island. If the treasure is indeed hidden here, it’s very likely to be discovered by them first.”
True Master Hua Guang nodded silently. He couldn’t bear the thought of the treasure falling into the hands of their enemies.
Su Che asked again, “Elder, where do you think your ancestors would hide the treasure on the island?”
“It’s impossible to just leave it on the surface,” True Master Hua Guang replied. “It must be hidden deep underground.”
“Then we’ll dive down and search slowly, trying not to disturb those on the surface,” Su Che said firmly.
“Good,” True Master Hua Guang nodded. “If you’re not afraid, why should I be?”
The two floated away on the cloud before diving into the sea, using earthearthEarth magic magic to reach deep beneath North Wasteland Island and begin a meticulous search inch by inch.
Of course, they wouldn’t search blindly. True Master Hua Guang, from the perspective of their ancestors, deduced the most likely areas to focus on.
They would first explore these areas thoroughly. If nothing was found, they would have to conduct a thorough search everywhere.
The treasure was a top-tier Dao artifact that could grow as tall as ten thousand feet or shrink as small as a sand grain. Finding this “sand grain of treasure” deep underground was incredibly difficult.
Su Che was prepared for a long-term struggle. Claiming it could be found in just a couple of days was pure nonsense—unless they had extremely good luck…

One day.
Two days.
The first week.
The second week…
Su Che and the other person stayed underground like burrowing mice for a full twenty days, exploring every area Huaguang Zhenren thought might contain the treasure, but found nothing.
Could it be that the immense treasure wasn’t on Beihuang Island?
“That can’t be!”
Huaguang Zhenren was unwilling to accept it, convinced his insight was absolutely correct. In fact, calling it an insight was even an understatement—it should have been a divine guidance from heaven.
“Have we not searched thoroughly enough, missing the treasure as tiny as a grain of sand? Should we start over?” Huaguang Zhenren asked.
“No need. I trust my spiritual perception. If a Dao artifact appeared near me, I would surely not be unaware of it.”
Su Che’s tone was extremely confident. It wasn’t because he trusted his own perception, but rather his faith in Lao Hei’s detection ability.
Lao Hei was extremely sensitive to high-grade magical artifacts. For special treasures like ancient talismans, there might be some oversight, but the immense treasure was clearly a top-tier Dao artifact recognized by all, possessing a genuine aura of a magical artifact. Up close, Lao Hei would definitely sense it.
Deep underground, the two dug out a cave and sat down to rest. After twenty days of non-stop searching, they were utterly exhausted.
Su Che asked, “Elder, does the immense treasure have the ability to transform? For example, into an unremarkable small hill on the surface?”
“That’s impossible!”
Huaguang Zhenren shook his head and replied, “I’ve been to Beihuang Island many times. If the treasure palace were on the surface, it would have escaped my detection. I’m not that blind.”
Su Che nodded slowly and said, “Then don’t be discouraged. After all, we only used guesswork and searched a few areas. At least 70% of the area remains unsearched. Maybe the treasure is hidden in some corner you haven’t thought of…”
“Yes,” Huaguang Zhenren said, frowning deeply and murmuring obsessively, “Let me think more… The treasure must be on this island. My intuition is clear—it’s definitely here! But I need to think more…”
Su Che remained silent, not disturbing him, and waited patiently…
Three days passed in this silence. Huaguang Zhenren remained in deep thought, his body motionless and his expression unchanged from three days ago, like an immortal statue.

In the Immortal Prison, Lao He couldn’t help but say, “The old man has one flaw—he’s too stubborn, which makes it easy for him to fall under demonic influence!”
“That won’t happen,” Su Che thought to himself. “He hasn’t fallen under demonic influence after hundreds of years of searching. Having experienced that enlightenment he mentioned, it’s even less likely he will.”
“Master, do you plan to bring him into the Immortal Prison after this?” Lao He asked immediately.
“Yes.”
Su Che replied in his mind, “I want to give it a try. Let him exhaust his lifespan in the Immortal Prison, his soul enter the Netherworld to become a ghost, and then undergo another reincarnation, bringing his memories from his past life into a physical body we’ve prepared for him. I think this method should work.”
Su Che believed that since a ghost world had emerged within the Immortal Prison, there must be rules regarding reincarnation, rebirth, and incarnation. As the ruler of the Immortal Prison, he should be able to make someone reincarnate in that world while retaining their memories.
Of course, this didn’t mean he could grant someone eternal life through this method. Eternal life and reincarnation were entirely different concepts.
Although the internal laws of the Immortal Prison differed greatly from those of the outside world, it was impossible for it to allow someone to reincarnate endlessly. There must be some kind of restriction.
It’s just that he hadn’t yet figured out these restrictions and rules.
The secrets of the Immortal Prison seemed endless, all waiting for him to explore slowly.
Half a day passed again. While Su Che was chatting with Lao He in his mind, he was suddenly startled by a loud shout from True Man Huaguang.
“I know it!”
True Man Huaguang, who resembled a statue, shouted loudly, “I know it! I know it!”
Boom!
With his shout, a violent earthquake suddenly erupted deep underground. It seemed not only Su Che but the entire Beihuang Island was shaken as well.
Sssss…
The earthquake was severe. In the cave where the two of them were, sand and soil tumbled down, as if it might collapse at any moment.
A Golden Core cultivator with earth manipulation skills certainly wouldn’t fear an earthquake. Moreover, Su Che knew that this earthquake wasn’t caused by True Man Huaguang’s shout but by those cultivators on the surface.
After staying underground for over twenty days, Su Che had already figured out that those people on the surface would come once every five days, likely to set up some kind of large-scale magic array. It definitely wasn’t anything good—absolutely not!

The earthquake today was even more severe than before. Su Che had worried more than once that, with all these tremors, they might unearth the vast wealth he had been searching for, which would be a huge loss!
“I understand!”
Hua Guang Zhenren was filled with excitement, completely ignoring the earthquake just now. He grabbed Su Che’s arm and said one word: “Let’s go!”