A few more days passed.
Jiuyou's figure appeared outside Soul Wraith Island. This time, he did not conceal his aura, and the full pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator blanketed the entire island.
Everyone on the island, from Menial Disciples to Late Golden Core elders, froze in their tracks.
Someone meditating in a cave dwelling suddenly felt a weight drop onto their heart; their magic circulation slowed for a moment. They snapped open their eyes, face pale with terror as they looked toward the island's outskirts.
Someone working in the medicinal fields went weak at the knees and collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Someone resting indoors was jolted awake by that oppressive pressure, cold sweat instantly soaking their back.
Fear, reverence, submission.
These emotions churned through every soul. They all instinctively turned toward the source of the aura; some could not even say what they expected to see, they merely needed to confirm the direction.
This was the island's sole master, Grand Ancestor Jiuyou.
And the most enthusiastic among them was, of course, his obedient grand-disciple Canfeng.
A cyan escape light shot from deep within the island at incredible speed, arriving before Jiuyou in a blink and stopping a few steps short, a head shorter in height, steady.
When the light dispersed, Canfeng’s figure appeared. His face was slightly pale, his aura more withered than before. Clearly, the Avatar Jade Pendant had consumed a great deal of his vital blood and he had not yet fully recovered.
Yet his face was filled with delight.
"Grand Ancestor, you have returned!"
Canfeng bowed, his voice saturated with respect and joy.
"My grandson offers congratulations to the Grand Ancestor on achieving mastery in divine arts, for his cultivation's advancement; the path to longevity is within reach!"
Jiuyou nodded slightly, glanced at Canfeng, gave a soft "hm," and slowly spoke.
"What of Canhuo's matter, how was it handled?"
Canfeng hunched, hurried forward a few steps, his smile broadening.
"Grand Ancestor, have no worries. Everything was handled according to your orders."
When Jiuyou’s possession was about to end, he had deliberately left a lingering spiritual imprint in Canfeng's mind. He wanted Canhuo brought back alive so he could personally deal with that traitorous disciple who had fled long ago.
A moment later, Canfeng led Jiuyou to an extremely secluded chamber.
Calling it a chamber was generous; it was more like a prison cell.
The moment they entered, a cold, forbidding chill slammed into them, with a faint metallic tang of blood that made one nauseous. The surrounding stone walls were carved with sealing runes; a dim bluish-green light pulsed intermittently, shrouding the entire cell in an oppressive atmosphere.
Jiuyou motioned for Canfeng to wait outside, and stepped alone toward the cell's depths.
He immediately fixed his gaze on the bound and suspended Canhuo.
Canhuo was tightly bound by spirit-sealing ropes that bit into flesh, multiple wounds still seeping blood. His clothes were tattered, his body riddled with injuries, his aura utterly depleted—completely different from the arrogant Late Golden Core cultivator he had once been.
Jiuyou strolled up to Canhuo, eyes narrowed slightly as he examined him from head to toe.
Canhuo, hearing footsteps, cracked one eyelid open with effort. When he recognized the visitor, the despair on his face deepened.
"Wayward disciple, long time no see."
Jiuyou's voice—one that had haunted him for a lifetime—drifted in, hoarse, icy, measured, as if echoing from an abyssal chasm.
"You left so long ago, I searched for you for ages. I missed you dearly, hehe."
Jiuyou paused, a faint curl at the corner of his mouth.
"Unexpectedly, you returned on your own."
"You old—what do you want?"
Canhuo gritted his teeth, his voice weak but edged with rage, eyes locked on Jiuyou. Even now, he could not hide his unwillingness and venom.
Jiuyou’s face flashed a trace of displeasure. Tiring of words, he snorted coldly, his tone icily curt.
"I spoke gently to you, yet you repay me with harsh words. That truly wounds this master’s heart."
"Canfeng, come in."
The cell door was pushed open, and Canfeng scampered in eagerly, rubbing his hands, his face ingratiating.
"Grand Ancestor, you summoned me?"
"Have you not always wanted a Golden Core puppet?"
Jiuyou's voice was calm, as though speaking of a trivial matter.
"Today I shall grant your wish. How about this Late Golden Core Soul Wraith Puppet?"
At Jiuyou's words, Canfeng's face lit with ecstatic delight. He stared at Canhuo with burning eyes, as if admiring a priceless treasure, his lips curling involuntarily.
"My grandson thanks the Grand Ancestor! Thank you!"
Canhuo strained to listen from the side, wrenched every last ounce of strength into frenzied struggling; the spirit-sealing ropes bit deeper, but he seemed no longer to feel pain, only letting out beastly roars.
"You old wretch! You—"
Canfeng's eyes chilled; he delivered a vicious kick to Canhuo's abdomen.
"What are you yelling for? What the Grand Ancestor orders has nothing to do with you!"
Jiuyou remained silent, but the declining temperature in the air said enough. He snapped his fingers; bluish-green fierce flames appeared on his fingertip and glided with boundless cold toward Canhuo.
"Argh—!!"
A shrill, woeful scream pierced the cell, echoing off the stone walls for a long time.
Two instants later, Jiuyou sat cross-legged in his main cavern dwelling.
He already had a general idea about the North Star Island incident.
Canhuo had merely found out that the North Star Island lord was close to Canfeng. North Star Island was an affiliated island under Soul Wraith Island; harboring resentment, Canhuo had organized forces to attack. There was no hidden hand manipulating events to commit wrongs against Soul Wraith Island.
With Canhuo dead, the matter could be closed.
Jiuyou took out the Storage Pouch he had obtained from a nameless Nascent Soul corpse, which he had not yet thoroughly investigated. He had no idea what treasures might be inside.
He projected his Divine Sense into it and instantly discerned its contents, his brow knitting.
There were Spirit Stones, pills, and rare materials enough, though many had lost some of their spiritual potency with age and were of reduced value.
Just as disappointment was about to settle in, his Divine Sense touched something else and his eyes flashed.
Jiuyou took it out and examined it carefully.
It was a small white-jade bottle, smooth and rounded, its aura unlike ordinary magic treasures—ancient, weighty, carrying the resonance of time.
"A high-grade defensive relic?" Jiuyou’s eyes revealed surprise.
Ancient relics, unlike magical artifacts, were crafted by ancient cultivators; their functions tended to be singular, but their divine techniques were potent and required no refinement—ready to use. He happened to be lacking defensive means.
He probed it thoroughly with Divine Sense and, satisfied, stamped his Spiritual Mark onto the relic.
With a thought, the white-jade bottle flashed before him, blue light shimmering as it expanded into a protective dome several zhang across, enveloping him. Blue condensed light danced across the bottle’s surface; the relic radiated steady, weighty might.
He flicked his finger with force, pointing at the white-jade bottle. Several cyan chains shot from his sleeve and struck the bottle viciously.
The chains collided with the blue light with a dull, heavy clang, but could not stir a ripple; the bottle held firm and stopped them all.
A pleased expression spread across Jiuyou’s face.
"This item truly lives up to being left by an ancient cultivator. It easily withstood my full-strength strike. With this, even when facing a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, no one will break through my defense in a short time."
He put the white-jade bottle away and turned his attention to a roll of bamboo slips in the Storage Pouch.
The bamboo slip looked plain and somewhat worn from the ravages of time, inconspicuous among the pile of Spirit Stones and treasures. Had he not scanned carefully with his Divine Sense, he might have missed it.
Jiuyou opened the bamboo slip and probed its contents with Divine Sense.
After a moment, his brow lifted.
"A high-level Qi-concealing and appearance-changing secret technique?"
The slip recorded a subtle concealment method, detailing incantations and formulas precisely. With his insight, he could immediately see its value.
Jiuyou memorized the formula, a strange expression fleeting across his face before morphing into delight.
"Once I master this method, it will be an extra lifeline. Concealing aura, altering appearance, ambushing others—these can all be done unexpectedly."
He stored the bamboo slip away, then rummaged deeper into the Storage Pouch and drew out a piece of beast hide rolled up. More accurately, it looked like a map.
At first Jiuyou paid it little mind and casually swept it with Divine Sense. But in the next instant his expression changed; he unrolled the hide and scanned it carefully with Divine Sense.
It was densely covered with countless terrain markings, and those terrains were all connected.
The Tianyuan Sea was a vast ocean scattered with islands; most areas were water. Yet this map’s terrains resembled innumerable islands fused together into one gargantuan island without edges.
Even more shocking, Jiuyou had roamed the cultivation world for over eight hundred years; many of the terrains recorded were ones he had never seen or even heard of, and the annotations used characters he did not recognize.
Jiuyou frowned tightly, horror flickering across his face as he muttered to himself.
"Could this be the rumored continent? Could the Nascent Soul corpse have come from that land!?"
He stared at the map for a long time, hesitated briefly, and finally folded it away.