Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 428 The Great Gathering of Sea Beasts

The initial interaction with the tribespeople did not bring much of the crucial information that Morning Light had hoped for.

Within the Ruins of Return, there is no distinction between day and night, only perpetual darkness. The Mirage Demon race has only recently developed sentience, and they themselves cannot say for sure when the anomaly that triggered everything began.

But this does not prevent Chenguang from planning for the future of the community.

The mirage demon, possessing sentience, is extraordinary, having an innate talent for powerful illusion magic.

With just a little guidance and by sharing his insights and techniques gained from his cultivation journey, these simple-minded clansmen were able to apply what he learned to other situations and master the profound illusion techniques that humans would need a hundred years to comprehend in a very short time.

They were masters of manipulating illusions, but in the past they acted on instinct without any method, and the illusions they created were crude and full of flaws.

Having received the true teachings of Chenguang, they were enlightened, transforming from a group of gifted but mischievous children into true masters of illusion.

When these mirages unite their common will, they can create illusions that are indistinguishable from reality.

Scales, horns, claws, whiskers... every detail of this dragon is meticulously crafted. When it swims in the water, the luster flowing on its scales is so lifelike that it is so realistic that not a single flaw can be found.

At this moment, the minds of all the mirage demons were almost in unison. They jointly controlled this embodiment of will, their movements fluid and graceful, without the slightest stiffness or clumsiness.

The enormous body of the Light and Shadow Dragon silently left the distorted space where the mirages dwelled, nimbly passing through cracks and swimming towards other parts of the Ruins.

Not long after, the dragon encountered a truly enormous creature in the Ruins of Return.

It was a colossal, black tortoise, as large as a mountain, its shell naturally adorned with mysterious and intricate patterns that shimmered faintly in the dim seawater, resembling a moving underwater mountain range. Incongruous with its massive body was its imposing and majestic dragon head.

This appearance bears a striking resemblance to Baxia, the dragon prince who carried mountains on his back in legend.

However, compared to the noble dragon princes of mythology, this giant beast possesses more of an ancient wildness and lacks the nobility that belongs to the dragon race.

At this moment, the enormous black tortoise was coiled in a broken garden, its massive mouth open, rhythmically swallowing and spitting out vast amounts of seawater. The seawater formed a huge vortex in front of its mouth, and wisps of pale blue spiritual energy emanated from its body, merging into the vortex.

After being swirled by the eddies and imbued with spiritual energy, the ordinary seawater, when expelled again, transformed into mysterious runes that automatically "swam" in all directions, forming a massive array. A phantom-like tortoise shell was beginning to take shape.

Upon witnessing this peculiar scene, the mirages immediately used illusion magic to project everything they saw directly onto the water mirror.

The people of Tianxin Island were all filled with surprise as they watched the Xuan Turtle's formation.

“These mirage demons are truly born spies,” Qinglin couldn’t help but exclaim. “They can reproduce any scene perfectly, more intuitively than any verbal description.”

"It's setting up an array; it seems to be trying to build a nest here. Could the Ruins of Return be filled with such intelligent behemoths?"

Elder Fu Lian, standing to the side, also looked somewhat grave. She said softly, "Perhaps it's all related to that strange event. If the mirage demon can awaken its intelligence, other sea beasts can too. It's just unknown how many such powerful beings are still hidden deep within this Ruins of Return."

As she spoke her last sentence, her gaze turned to the morning light.

Everyone on the deck now knew perfectly well that Chenguang was likely a member of the Mirage Demon clan from the Ruins of Return. No one knew this place better than him.

Chen Guang didn't hide anything. Looking at the Xuan Turtle in the water mirror, she calmly said, "According to my memory, there are at least two hundred sea beasts of this size in the Ruins of Return. In the past, they were just brute force with thick skin and flesh, but now they have all gained intelligence. Their true combat power is probably comparable to that of a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.

Two hundred giant beasts comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators?

This number is terrifying. You must know that even if you add up all the Nascent Soul cultivators in both the righteous and demonic paths of the entire cultivation world, you might not be able to reach this number.

Just as everyone was in shock, the scene in the water mirror changed again. The giant black tortoise seemed to sense the presence of the dragon phantom, abruptly turning its head and letting out a deep roar. The fluctuations of divine sense spread through the seawater like tangible shockwaves.

Chen Guang listened carefully to the information relayed by his clansmen and explained to everyone, "This Xuan Turtle is warning my clansmen not to approach, but there is no murderous intent in its emotions, so it seems that we can communicate."

Elder Qinglin's spirits lifted, and she quickly said, "Fellow Daoist Chenguang, could you ask your clansmen to inquire with this Xuan Turtle to see if he has seen any human cultivators?" This was their primary objective for this trip: to find the whereabouts of Youluozi and Feilian Demon Lord. Chenguang nodded and immediately conveyed this message to her clansmen through her thoughts.

Deep within the Ruins of Return, the luminous dragon, facing the warning from the Black Tortoise, advanced instead of retreating, its vast divine power responding gently:
"We mean no harm, we just want to ask you a few questions. Have you ever seen a 'person'? Once we have the answer, we'll leave immediately."

Sensing the goodwill conveyed by the dragon, the Xuan Turtle's enormous dragon head revealed a very human-like expression of confusion.

"We? People?"

For this behemoth that had only recently acquired intelligence, both words were somewhat incomprehensible. It clearly only saw one dragon in its field of vision, so where did the "we" come from? And what was a "human"? It had lived in the Ruins since its birth and had never seen such a creature before.

The mirage demons reacted extremely quickly, immediately using illusion magic to conjure up the images of Youluozi and Feilian Demon Lord.

Youluozi is a petite little girl with a cold expression, while Feilian Demon Lord is a tall man wearing a deer antler hat and animal skin, their images are very lifelike.

The people of Tianxin Island were initially worried that the Demon Lord Feilian would change his appearance and become unrecognizable, but to their surprise, the Xuan Turtle reacted immediately upon seeing the illusion of the man in animal skin.

"I've seen that one with the pointed thing on its head!"

The crew of the White Whale were overjoyed upon hearing the news.

Unexpectedly, a clue was found so quickly; the Demon Lord Feilian was indeed hiding in the Ruins of Return.

Could it be that the sealing and restriction of Guixu was really his doing?
What exactly is he plotting here?
Urged on by the crowd, the mirage demons continued to press for answers. However, the moment the mention of that "pointed-point thing" was mentioned, the Xuan Turtle's tone immediately filled with deep apprehension.

"He's so small, yet he's terrifyingly powerful. I've seen him roam around and already defeat several creatures bigger than me. Now those big guys are his helpers, following him around and attacking wherever he points. I'm no match for him either. Enough said, I need to hurry up and build my nest, or that pointy-headed thing will come and get me!"

The black tortoise's voice was filled with obvious fear. After speaking, it ignored the dragon and continued its nest-building project.

The mirages relayed the message verbatim, instantly extinguishing the joy that had just begun to ignite on the White Whale ship, and worry appeared on everyone's face.

The Demon Lord Feilian is subduing these behemoths whose strength rivals that of Nascent Soul cultivators. Whatever his scheme may be, it's definitely not a good thing. But now that the Void of Return is sealed off, they are trapped outside, helpless.

Chenguang also realized the seriousness of the situation. After a moment's hesitation, she issued a new instruction to her people:
"Ask it if it's willing to form an alliance with us."

Although the mirage demons didn't understand why they had to ally with this seemingly clumsy and timid creature, they would unconditionally obey Chenguang's orders. Chenguang was both their guide and, in their perception, a figure akin to a "chieftain" and a "mother."

The thought was transmitted to the Black Tortoise once again.

The massive, busy body paused noticeably for a moment. It seemed to hesitate for a long time before tentatively asking, "What...do you usually eat?"

The mirages honestly answered that they fed on algae from the Ruins of Return.

Upon hearing this answer, the Xuan Turtle breathed a sigh of relief and said in a gruff voice, "Alright! I don't eat meat either! We can unite, at least you won't eat me!"

This dramatic outcome left the cultivators of Tianxin Island looking at each other in disbelief. They hadn't expected the alliance to be formed so simply and smoothly, almost unbelievably so.

Chen Guang, however, found this perfectly normal. Wild beasts don't think as complexly as humans. These newly awakened sea creatures have minds like children, and their criteria for judging friend and foe are exceptionally simple—if they don't eat me, then they can be friends.

As for what to do after forming an alliance, that's not the point.

What if we don't have enough food after forming an alliance? We can consider that later.

Chen Guang's idea was simple: since the Demon Lord Fei Lian was recruiting these giant beasts, he would just follow suit.

If they could win over all the powerful native sea beasts in the Ruins of Return to their side, they might be able to assemble a force strong enough to contend with Fei Lian. Even if that didn't work, they could at least delay his plans to the greatest extent possible, buying time for themselves.

"Hurry up," Chenguang gave a clear order to her people, "go find those of our kind who do not feed on flesh and blood. We need to unite!"

(End of this chapter)