Cultivating immortality in the seas, I created an immortal island of eternal life.

Gao Yao didn't know when he fell asleep.

My dreams were a jumbled mess; one moment I was at the fishpond on Turtle Reef Island, the next I was at the sacrificial offerings snatched away by birds during the autumn examinations, and then I was at the door of Ji Ping's shack, the moonlight shining on his young face, and he was smiling as he asked:

"Tell me, am I even human?"

When Gao Yao woke up, it was still dark outside the window.

He sat up, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and gasped for breath.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks in the distance, one after another, like something enormous breathing.

Then Gao Yao heard it.

It wasn't the sound of waves, but a loud explosion.

Gao Yao suddenly jumped out of bed, grabbed his outer robe, and put it on.

Hurried footsteps and hushed shouts came from outside the door. Some people were running, some were shouting, and the stairs were pounding with each footstep.

Gao Yao pushed open the door.

The corridor was in complete chaos.

Zheng Tong rushed out of the next room barefoot, his face still showing the bewilderment of sleepiness.

Ye Ran also came out, her hair was loose, but her eyes were clear.

Li Su stood at the top of the stairs, a long knife clutched in his hand. His amiable expression was gone, replaced by a coldness Gao Yao had never seen before.

"People of Yun Kingdom." He only said these four words, then waved his hand, "Follow me."

The four of them followed him down the stairs.

In the lobby on the first floor, the disciples on duty had already unleashed their magical artifacts, their spiritual light flickering in the dim room.

Outside the stone building, bursts of light exploded in the night sky, like fireworks set off during the New Year in a past life.

But Gao knew that those were not fireworks; they were the aftershocks of talismans and spells, with explosions coming one after another, making the stone building vibrate.

A fight has broken out on the shallows.

The cultivators from the Yun Kingdom pressed in from the sea, a dark mass.

They sailed swift, shuttle-shaped boats, their prows adorned with luminous spirit stones, leaving trails of white in the night.

The first few ships had already docked, and the monks who jumped off were wearing dark robes with a soaring sea eagle embroidered on their chests.

On the Yunxiang Sect's side, the disciples who had been stationed there in advance had already taken over.

Talismans, spells, and magical artifacts intertwine in the night sky to form a net of light.

The shouts of battle, explosions, and screams mingled together, scattered by the sea breeze.

Gao Yao saw a Yunxiang Sect disciple be struck by several wind blades at the same time. He was sent flying backward, crashed onto the reef, slid down softly, and lay motionless.

His companion's eyes turned red, and he activated a talisman to smash it at the Yun Kingdom cultivator opposite him. The Yun Kingdom cultivator was unable to dodge in time and was hit in the chest, spitting out a mouthful of blood and falling backward into the sea.

Gao Yao took a deep breath and quickly scanned the surrounding terrain. The stone building behind him was the only high point, but it was too conspicuous and could easily become a target.

The shallows are too open and there's no cover; standing there is like being a sitting duck. But behind the stone building, there are a few large rocks that can hide a person.

He had a plan in mind and was about to retreat in that direction when he caught a glimpse of Li Su taking flight.

The battlefield for Foundation Establishment cultivators is not on shallow waters.

Li Su stood in mid-air, his usual amiable expression gone, replaced by a murderous aura. He flipped his right hand, and the long sword in his hand gleamed blood-red in the night.

From the direction of Yun Kingdom, a beam of light shot into the sky, revealing a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Yun Kingdom.

The man was tall and thin, dressed in a black robe. The insignia on his chest was much more luxurious than those of the lower-level cultivators. He had a sinister face, high cheekbones, and deep-set eyes, making him look like a vulture in the night.

The two faced off for a moment from a distance.

The man in the black robe, who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, scoffed and, without saying a word, raised his hand, unleashing a streak of azure light.

A flash of blue light pierced the air. Gao Yao only felt a blur before his eyes and then he had collided with the broadsword in Li Su's hand. A dull thud, like the ringing of a large bell, made Gao Yao's ears ring and his chest feel tight.

But then Li Su casually waved his hand, and the blue light dissipated.

Li Su's counterattack came quickly. As he stroked his blade, he slashed with his longsword, and a streak of bloody light shot towards the Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes.

The man in the black robe, who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, snorted coldly, his figure swaying and leaving several afterimages in his wake.

The blade's edge pierced through the afterimage, missed its target, but did not dissipate. Instead, it veered in mid-air and continued its pursuit of his true form.

The man in the black robe, who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, frowned slightly. He raised his hand and drew a circle in front of him, which transformed into a water shield.

The blade's edge struck the object as if it had hit a wad of cotton, its speed decreasing drastically.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes retreated several feet, flicking his hands repeatedly, sending out several beams of azure light from his fingertips, attacking Li Su's vital points.

Li Su neither dodged nor evaded, his long sword swirling wildly, creating a series of muffled thuds, and bursts of spiritual light exploded in the night sky.

The two then began to fight in mid-air.

Gao Yao looked up, somewhat stunned.

This was the first time he had witnessed a battle between Foundation Establishment cultivators up close, and the scale of it was far beyond what Qi Refining cultivators could match.

Sure enough, no matter how hard a Qi Refining cultivator tries, they are only jumping around on the ground, while a Foundation Establishment cultivator has already reached another level.

The mid-air struggle continued.

Li Su's sword light grew denser, and the blue light emanating from his black robe, which was used for foundation building, also increased.

The sea around them was churning and surging due to the aftershocks of spiritual energy, with waves crashing against the rocks one after another, breaking into white foam.

The low-level cultivators on the shallows were already locked in a fierce battle, with no one paying attention to the battle in the sky or who was dead or alive.

Unexpectedly, a strange change occurred.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes suddenly changed his tactics, no longer engaging Li Su. Instead, he formed hand seals, and several beams of azure light shot towards the Yunxiang Sect disciples on the shallow beach.

His target was no longer Li Su, but those low-level cultivators.

Li Su's expression changed drastically: "You dare!"

He dashed downwards like lightning, but was a beat too late.

Several streaks of azure light blasted into the crowd. Two Yunxiang Sect disciples were unable to dodge in time and were hit head-on. They were blasted away before they could even scream and crashed onto the rocks, their fate unknown.

The remaining blue light, undiminished, continued to spread outwards.

Gao Yao had no time to react. He felt a tremendous force hit him from the side, and he was thrown into the air, his back slamming heavily onto a rock.

A tightness in my chest, a sweet taste in my throat, and I almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

My ears were ringing and I was seeing stars.

He struggled to get up, his palms on the ground, wet with sweat.

It was seawater mixed with blood.

Gao Yao wiped the blood from his face and looked up at the sky.

Li Su was completely enraged. His eyes were bloodshot, and the blood-red light on his longsword was several times more intense than before. He looked like a burning flame of blood.

He held back, unleashing a barrage of sword strikes at the Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes, each strike sharper than the last.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes was forced to retreat repeatedly, the water curtain was shattered layer by layer, and sweat seeped from his forehead.

However, battles between Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot be won by anger alone. Although the Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes was suppressed, his defense remained unbroken.

He was waiting, waiting for Li Su to exhaust himself, waiting for him to reveal a weakness.

Gao Yao figured it out.

Although Li Su's sword was fierce, each strike consumed a large amount of true energy, which couldn't continue.

He touched a fragment of tortoise shell in his arms. Wu Ling was still asleep, but he could sense the fluctuations in the outside world.

As long as he has a thought, Wu Ling can be awakened. With its Foundation Establishment stage foundation, although it has not fully recovered, it should not have a problem blocking the aftershocks.

But......

Wu Ling was his last trump card, and revealing it in this chaotic battle was tantamount to handing over his life.

Gao Yao hesitated, and then another unexpected event occurred on the battlefield.

A sword light descended from the clouds.

The sword light arrived without warning, as if it had been hidden there from the very beginning, but no one could see it. It fell slowly, even very slowly, so slowly that everyone on the battlefield could clearly see the trajectory of the sword light.

But it is precisely this slowness that makes it impossible for anyone to even think of dodging.

It's like a mountain falling from the sky; you can clearly see it, but you just can't avoid it.

The man in the black robe, who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, suddenly looked up and saw the sword light.

His pupils contracted sharply, and he simultaneously formed hand seals, creating layers upon layers of water curtains in front of him, which formed seven curtains in the blink of an eye.

The seven water curtains were each twice as thick as the previous ones. This was the strongest defense he could muster, and he was confident he could withstand even a full-force attack from a cultivator of the same level.

However, as soon as the sword light fell, the seven water curtains vanished in the blink of an eye.

The black-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator's pupils reflected the approaching sword light. His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but before he could utter a sound, the sword light arrived.

The sword light fell from above his head.

The body of the Foundation Establishment cultivator in black robes stiffened for a moment.

Then, a thin line of blood appeared from her forehead to her chin.

The blood lines became clearer and longer, extending from his forehead all the way to his chest and abdomen.

The sword cleaved him in two from head to toe.

"It's the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

This was the last sound of the Xuanpao Foundation Establishment cultivator, sounding both unwilling and as if he had finally confirmed something.

The body fell from mid-air and crashed into the sea, splashing water everywhere.

Foundation of the Dao.

These three words are like a pebble thrown into water, creating ripples in everyone's heart.

The low-level cultivators from Yun Kingdom scattered like hornets whose nest had been disturbed, desperately fleeing into the sea.

No one even looked back, no one wanted to confirm where the Foundation Establishment corpse had sunk.

Gao Yao looked up, gazing at the direction from which the sword light had fallen.

A figure slowly descended from the clouds.

Zhou Cheng.

He wore a gray-blue robe and a long sword at his waist, still with that cold and stern look, his face expressionless, as if he had just done something insignificant.

He glanced down at the sinking body on the sea, then turned and nodded to Li Su.

Li Su sheathed his long sword and bowed respectfully.

The two exchanged a few words in mid-air, too far apart to hear clearly, but Gao Yao could roughly guess that it was nothing more than cleaning up the mess.

Zhou Cheng didn't linger; with a leap, he transformed into a streak of sword light and disappeared into the clouds.

They came suddenly and left just as quickly.

Li Su fell from mid-air and landed on the shallows. There were a few bloodstains on his robe, it was unclear whether they were his own or from the Foundation Establishment robe of the other monk.

The coldness on his round face had faded, and he had returned to his usual amiable demeanor.

But Gao Yao noticed that he was no longer the same person he had been before.

"Clean up the battlefield," Li Su said. "Gather up anything usable, and pile the bodies behind those rocks over there. We'll deal with them when it gets light."

The four responded and dispersed.

Gao Yao walked on the shallows. The sand under his feet was softened by the blood, and it felt sticky and uncomfortable to step on.

There were many corpses lying haphazardly, some were cultivators from the Yun Kingdom, and others were disciples of the Yunxiang Sect.

The blood seeped into the sand, and when washed by the sea, it spread out in patches of pale red.

He crouched down and took a storage bag from the waist of a Yun Kingdom cultivator.

Upon opening it, I found a few low-grade spirit stones, two low-level talismans, and a bottle of some kind of pill.

It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

They searched through several more corpses, and the haul was about the same; these low-level cultivators were practically penniless.

Gao packed his things away, stood up, and looked out at the sea.

The night was fading, the sky was beginning to lighten, and the shuttle boats on the sea had already sailed far away, leaving only a few capsized boats floating half-submerged.

The sea breeze blew in from the east, carrying the smell of blood and burnt food.

He stood on the shallows, looking at the mess, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

This is only the first day.

They had barely landed when the Yun Kingdom attacked. There are still three months to go, how many more people will die?

Gao Yao quickly dismissed the thought. Thinking about these things was useless. He should live one day at a time and accumulate strength for each extra day he could.

Only when you've saved enough can you climb out of this quagmire. If you haven't saved enough, you'll end up like those corpses lying on the shallows, your storage bags rummaged through, piled up behind the rocks, waiting for the sea to wash them away.

Gao Yao turned around and walked back to the stone building.

......