Chapter 44: The Central Island

The eight outer islands were arranged according to the directions of the Eight Trigrams.
On Zhen Island, after the battles among the groups of cultivators at the Divine General stage, five groups survived, and they progressed faster than the other seven islands. Thus, these five groups immediately broke free from the spatial restrictions of Zhen Island and were able to fly toward the Central Island.
These five groups were all quite small— the largest group had only a hundred cultivators, while the other four groups had fewer than ten each.
At that moment, the group of a hundred cultivators flew in the air, far ahead of the other four groups. Instead of chasing after them, the members of those four groups showed fear on their faces, remaining highly alert as if worried that the group of a hundred might turn around and attack them.
Among the group of a hundred cultivators, the top ten leaders exuded an overwhelming aura that was awe-inspiring.
These ten were the top ten figures on the Earth Ranking List, in order: Ling Xu, Liu Xiu, Wei Dongchen, Lu Feixiong, Kang Ji, Xing Bing, Bo Cang, Ba Yigong, Yu Wenhan, and Lan Ruoyun.
These ten experts from the Earth Ranking List usually operated alone. For this battle among groups of Divine General stage cultivators, they had agreed in advance to form a group of ten each, go to Zhen Island, and after fighting, eliminate all the other powerful groups.
Now, the ten experts flying in the air happily exchanged words.
“Leader Ling Xu, it was so satisfying to form a group of ten this time and fight together. In the Eight Realms of the Divine Realm, although we are strong, we can’t openly kill cultivators at the Divine General stage, as it’s difficult to obtain their essence blood. This time, all of us got a large amount of essence blood. With enough time, our strength can increase significantly again,” said Liu Xiu, a female cultivator with a graceful figure and a fiery demeanor, in a clear voice.
Among the ten, Liu Xiu, Xing Bing, and Lan Ruoyun were all female cultivators.
Ling Nu, the strongest figure on the Earth Ranking List, possessed an astonishing number of 50 million golden, wooden, and fire spirit bodies. Even compared to ordinary experts at the Divine Marshal stage, Ling Nu could easily defeat them.
Ling Xu, who wore simple clothes, had an ordinary appearance, with only his agile physique offering some appeal, merely smiled faintly upon hearing Liu Xiu’s words.

“Our group of ten, with our strength at the Divine General level, can directly take the lives of the leaders of any opposing group in team battles, ensuring victory in every fight. However, on the Central Island ahead, we will face the best among the Divine General-level cultivators, and it will be a protracted battle. I hope everyone is aware of this and doesn’t become complacent because of our easy victories on Zhen Island,” Ling Xu said calmly.

Indeed, when this group of ten fought on Zhen Island, they would directly enter the enemy groups, confront the leaders head-on, and kill them with their overwhelming strength before gradually eliminating the other cultivators in each group. But on the Central Island, every group that survived the battles was strong.

The other nine nodded slightly. They understood the situation and wouldn’t look down on other Divine General-level cultivators just because they ranked high on the local rankings. Instead, they would take this opportunity to compete against all the elite Divine General-level cultivators even more seriously.

“Boss, who do you think poses the greatest threat to us ten among those who survived this time?” Wei Dongchen asked calmly.

In the Divine Realm, extraordinary individuals often appeared, and even the local rankings, which were said to reflect the overall strength of all Divine General-level cultivators, couldn’t fully assess everyone’s true abilities.

These words caught Ling Xu’s attention, and he fell silent for a while.

“Qu Yi. Among the Divine General-level cultivators, he’s the one most likely to be hiding his true strength. It’s only Qu Yi,” Ling Xu said decisively.

In the Divine Realm, Qu Yi had already gained fame. At least those below the Divine General level had heard of him, while Divine General-level cultivators paid him great attention. Naturally, Ling Xu, who ranked first on the local rankings, wouldn’t overlook the chance to learn more about him.

“Boss, what do you mean?” The other nine pressed for an explanation.

Ling Xu explained calmly, “As you know, Qu Yi recently returned from a fierce battle among Divine Weapon-level cultivators. In just a few million years, he was able to overpower Xin Wuhen and Tian Buao. Don’t you find that strange? I think he might have preserved some of his strength from that one-on-two fight, showing how terrifying his potential is. After all these years, in these team battles among Divine General-level cultivators, Qu Yi might have greatly improved his strength through the essence he acquired. It might even be difficult for me to defeat him.”

The other nine heard this and were filled with astonishment. They knew that before coming to Zhen Island, Ling Xu only had 50 million spiritual entities in his body. But over the years, Ling Xu had refined a great deal of essence blood, and the number of spiritual entities in his body might have exceeded 60 million. Under such circumstances, Ling Xu still claimed that Qu Yi’s strength could rival his own—Qu Yi’s potential for cultivation was truly terrifying.

Of course, these nine still did not know Qu Yi’s true strength. If they had known that Qu Yi now possessed three types of aggregated spiritual entities, each numbering 70 million, they would have been so depressed they might have committed suicide on the spot.

“Boss, it seems we’re destined to fight Qu Yi. I can’t wait,” Lu Feixiong said with great enthusiasm, his eyes brimming with desire—clearly the personality of a battle fanatic.

The others nodded, seemingly eager to fight Qu Yi as well.

“Stop talking. Focus on flying. We’ll have our fight when we reach the central island,” Ling Xu said calmly.

The other nine indeed fell silent and followed Ling Xu as they flew swiftly.

※※※

The five groups from Zhen Island were the first to leave the outer islands. It wasn’t long before the groups from the other seven islands also left.

Qu Yi, along with nearly a million cultivators from Nan Yin Island, was also flying in the air. Looking at the ocean waves that resembled moving mountains below, he marveled at the ferocity of the open sea before glancing at all the cultivators from Nan Yin Island.

In this group battle on the islands, the number of deaths among the cultivators from Nan Yin Island was less than 10,000—already a remarkable achievement for a group battle. Qu Yi believed that in the group battles on the other seven islands, the winning groups would lose more than half of their members. After all, Nan Yin Island had masters like him who could craft divine weapons, and with so many such weapons at their disposal, they could avoid large-scale battles, thus minimizing casualties.

“Brothers of Nan Yin Island, since everyone survived this group battle, I can now report to the three island masters. Thank you all for your fierce performance in this battle,” Qu Yi exclaimed emotionally.

This time, the cultivators from Nan Yin Island obediently listened to him, which was also one of the reasons why they won so well in the battle. Qu Yi naturally felt deeply moved as well.

“Team leader, we should be even more grateful to you for this battle. Without your divine weapons, many of our brothers would have died.”

“Commander, your strength is so great that it makes us all willingly follow your orders, which is why our group can win every battle.”
“Commander, it’s thanks to you that we’re all still alive. Every one of us can swear to you that if you ever need our help in the future, just give the order.”
“Commander, from now on, we belong to you.”
Suddenly, a wave of gratitude, beyond Qu Yi’s expectations, surged through the air as everyone thanked him.
Qu Yi scratched his head and could only smile faintly, nodding firmly.
“Alright, we’ve fought together this time and experienced life and death together. From now on, you’re all my brothers through life and death,” Qu Yi shouted loudly, his expression extremely serious.
The nearly million cultivators on Nan Yin Island trembled at his words, already moved by his speech.
The group flew silently behind Qu Yi without saying another word.
Half a month later, the nearly million cultivators on Nan Yin Island finally saw land ahead—the Central Island.
“The Central Island is right in front of us, brothers! Charge!” Qu Yi’s eyes lit up as he shouted. Then, like lightning, he disappeared and arrived on the Central Island instantly.
The nearly million cultivators on Nan Yin Island also sped up excitedly and soon reached the Central Island, landing behind Qu Yi.
There was a flat green grassland on the island. When their spiritual senses were extended about ten thousand miles, they found an abyss filled with clouds and mist. Their spiritual senses couldn’t go any further, nor could their eyes see what was on the other side of the abyss.
Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan flew around the island for a while but found nothing else besides the vast grassland and that dangerous abyss.
The nearly million cultivators on Nan Yin Island were all puzzled, as they couldn’t discover anything special about the Central Island.
Qu Yi searched around but found nothing and flew back to the cultivators on Nan Yin Island.
“Brothers, I’ve searched everywhere. There’s nothing distinctive on the Central Island. Let’s wait here for a while and see if there’s anything else to find,” Qu Yi said as he landed and shouted.
The nearly million cultivators on Nan Yin Island immediately nodded in agreement with Qu Yi’s suggestion.

Three days later, the four groups that had flown away from Nan Yin Island also finally arrived together on the central island. As the cultivators from these four groups all set foot on the island, changes occurred in the central island area where the cultivators from Nan Yin Island were located.

In the depths of the abyss, after a loud roar like that of a dragon and a tiger, a huge piece of green jade suddenly rose into the air—ten thousand meters high and ten thousand meters wide, emitting a faint green glow. It floated above the abyss and stabilized there.

Immediately afterward, lines of text began to appear one after another on that green jade.

“By passing through this green jade, one enters the path to the clouds. Whether it’s fate or reincarnation depends on your strength.”

These lines were clearly visible to everyone, and it seemed as though their souls were purified. All of them felt a sense of relief.