Chapter 8: The Islands (Part 2)

In their past life, building a raft would take a day just for cutting down trees, and it required a great deal of effort to complete. With the help of spells, building a raft now only takes an hour.
Two rafts were made in total—Guo Shier took one, and Monier took the other—both stored in large spell storage bags. Then, the group set off, flying toward the sea.
Ao Kuang, along with four great sage masters, over a hundred sage masters, and more than three hundred masters, quickly assembled a medium-sized spell array. With the spiritual power of over four hundred people, they forced open an entrance to a secret realm. Once the entrance stabilized, Ao Kuang flew in with a sinister smile.
The first thing he did upon entering was to order someone to bring out a large detection spell disk for searching. After a moment, Ao Kuang cursed in frustration, “Damn it! It’s not this one… Go back! If it’s not this one, it must be another!”
Forcing entry into the secret realm wasn’t easy; it required a heavy price. The souls of hundreds of professionals were damaged, and without enough time to recover, their strength had declined significantly—even Ao Kuang was no exception.
Now truly enraged, Ao Kuang couldn’t bear the fact that he had missed half of the chances. As soon as they left the secret realm, he ordered them to set up the array again. The masters and sage masters, with grim expressions, arranged the array once more, cursing inwardly, but none dared speak up.
Two days later, the array was finally set up. Without pause, Ao Kuang ordered everyone to line up and try to tear open the entrance to the secret realm again. Fortunately, only two hidden entrances were detected; if there had been two more, Ao Kuang would have been furious.
Finally, the entrance was torn open, and Ao Kuang rushed in. He first used the spell disk to scan, and after a moment, his face showed surprise. He burst into wild laughter and growled, “Run? Where do you think you can go? Hehe, didn’t expect me to track you down, did you? This time, I’m going to have some fun with you little guys!”
The spell disk wasn’t omnipotent; it could only estimate the general route taken by Guo Shier and the others, and mistakes could easily occur. Thus, a large number of people were needed to constantly verify the results, while Ao Kuang had to keep calculating. The spell disk couldn’t directly locate Guo Shier and the others, meaning Ao Kuang had to follow the path they had taken to possibly catch up to them.
“Go!”
Full of confidence, Ao Kuang led a large group of Star Sect disciples and charged forward in a rush.
…

Guo Shier and the others sat on the raft. They had been flying for over twenty days, taking breaks dozens of times along the way. Not a single island was in sight throughout the journey—only a few scattered reefs. There were no fierce mutated sea beasts either, just countless giant, oddly shaped fish, which thrilled Guo Shier greatly.

Qi Nanshan smiled and said, “If we fly for another ten or so days and still see no islands or coasts, do we have to go out?”

Monier replied, “Go out now? That would be so boring… I heard the ocean is like this—without a few months, it’s impossible to cross.”

Guo Shier recalled the oceans of his past life and agreed, “Yes, the sea is vast… If it weren’t that big, it could only be called a lake.”

Eagle Demon pointed ahead and shouted, “Look! What’s that?”

Qi Nanshan soared into the air, took a close look, and exclaimed excitedly, “It’s an island! Haha, we’ve found an island!”

Guo Shier was overjoyed and said, “Wow, we can finally see land! Let’s go!”

Monier folded up the raft, and the four of them flew forward eagerly. As the distance shortened, the island grew larger and larger. Guo Shier shouted, “Look behind the island!”

The island itself wasn’t very big, but behind it lay a multitude of small islands stretching to the horizon—countless islands, a truly spectacular sight at a glance.

Since they were flying in the air, they could clearly see what was behind the island. Not only was Guo Shier amazed, but the others were too. They hadn’t seen any islands along the way. Well, either there were none, or if there were any, they came in large numbers—like strings of pearls scattered across a deep blue carpet.

The group flew straight past the first small island and headed deeper into the archipelago.

Soon, they spotted silhouettes of sails. Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “Are there ships? Are there people?”

Monier said, “There are natives in the secret realm. That’s not strange. But living in the secret realm is much more dangerous than living on the continent.”

Guo Shier asked casually, “Why?” Then he understood on his own. The secret realm was like a path—a secret realm was a route leading to other continents. It couldn’t be sealed off; anyone or any beast could enter. To survive in the secret realm, one needed extraordinary strength; otherwise, encountering even a minor threat could mean death.

Monier smiled and said, “Natives… unless they have the protection of powerful professionals, they can’t survive.”

Qi Nanshan nodded and said, “Yes. If we had malicious intentions, who among these natives could stand against us?”

Guo Shier said, “That’s why I’m surprised to find natives here… Let’s go take a look.”
The four of them descended like meteors, aiming at a large sea ship. It was a ship with seven large sails, over eighty meters long, made of wood, with pointed ends, resembling a giant ingot. Upon landing, Guo Shier noticed runes reinforcing the ship’s planks and sails, realizing that the natives here also had professionals among them.
The people on the ship didn’t seem surprised at all. When they saw the four descend, the crew members knelt down one after another. A middle-aged man, accompanied by two crew members, hurried over. He crossed his hands over his chest and bowed slightly, saying, “May I ask, esteemed elders, is there anything I can do for you?” There was not a trace of fear on his face, only a devout expression.
Guo Shier was puzzled because the man seemed very confident, speaking and acting with composure and ease, which impressed him greatly.
Qi Nanshan asked, “We are outsiders who are professionals. Who are you?”
The middle-aged man seemed to realize something suddenly and said enthusiastically, “This is the Xinkji Archipelago. We’re not natives. Hehe, there’s a large, permanent entrance to a secret realm near the Xinkji Archipelago, connecting to the ocean of our continent. We are vassals of the Sea Gate of the Xinkji Continent.” He added, “The Xinkji Continent is a high-level continent of spells.”
Only then did the four understand where the confidence of these people came from. People from high-level continents indeed had such confidence, and with the protection of their sects, they weren’t afraid of any professionals.
After bowing, the crew members got back to work, showing no curiosity or interest in the arrival of the professionals.
Qi Nanshan nodded and asked, “Where are you going?”
The middle-aged man replied, “We’re transporting the goods we’ve collected back to the Xinkji Continent.”
Qi Nanshan turned around and asked, “Should we go to the Xinkji Continent?”
Monier was very interested in the Xinkji Continent, as it was a high-level continent of spells. It would be good to record its coordinates. She said, “Let’s go take a look. Maybe we can discover something. If we can communicate with the professionals there and exchange some items, this trip will be worth it. Then… we can return to the Star Continent…”
Everyone understood what she meant. As time passed, the Star Sect’s pursuit might weaken, and going back then would be much less dangerous.
Eagle Demon nodded in agreement.
Guo Shier also agreed, “I also want to record a coordinate. If we’re still being pursued when we return to the Star Continent, we can flee to the Xinkji Continent. Hehe, let’s see how they can chase us then!”

Although Qi Nanshan was concerned about Luo Jie, he knew this matter couldn’t be rushed. He nodded and said, “Alright, let’s go to the Core Continent.” He turned to the middle-aged man and asked, “Can you take us there?”
The middle-aged man replied happily, “Sure. I’m Captain Xiao Cheng. Welcome aboard.”
Guo Shier asked, “How much does it cost to travel?”
Xiao Cheng smiled and said, “There’s no fee at all. The only thing needed is… if we encounter mutated sea beasts, I hope you’ll lend a hand. Of course, if we face an unstoppable mutated sea beast, there’s nothing we can do… You can leave at any time.”
This condition was reasonable, and no professional would refuse it. Qi Nanshan said, “Then please arrange it, Captain Xiao. We’ll stay on the ship.”
Xiao Cheng smiled and said, “Great! Follow me, please.”
Having professionals on board was beneficial for both the ship and the crew. This sea area had been cleared, but mutated sea beasts still appeared from time to time. Without professionals on board, encountering such beasts would be troublesome—resulting in minor ship damage and injuries at best, or total destruction and death at worst. That’s why people on sea ships always hoped to have professionals aboard.
Xiao Cheng reserved the four best cabins, all on the upper deck, with four rooms adjacent to each other. The rooms weren’t large, only about the size of a bed, but there were no beds—just clean floors. Xiao Cheng asked the crew to bring thick animal skins as padding. The climate here was warm, and given the professionals’ physical strength, they didn’t need bedding or anything similar.
Monier and Qi Nanshan entered their rooms and didn’t come out again. Guo Shier, unable to stay still, stepped out of his room. Ying Mo, responsible for his safety, followed as well.
Unlike the crew members Guo Shier had seen in his past life, these crew members knew some spells and how to use sails, which essentially meant using runes. The ship moved very fast, and thanks to the runes reinforcing its hull, it was harder than steel and could withstand attacks from lower-level mutated sea beasts.
Guo Shier watched curiously, finding everything new and fascinating.
The crew members looked at him not with awe but mostly with envy. Guo Shier also smiled at them. He now looked like a teenager, no longer a child, which made him feel good. In another two years, he would be as tall as an adult.
“Who engraved the runes on your ship?”
One of the crew members raised his head, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He hadn’t expected a professional to speak to him.