Mortal: I really didn't want to be reborn as Zi Ling!

It seems to be truly asleep.

Zi Ling sighed and put the purple fragment in her palm back into her body.

"Southwest—"

She recalled the location that Canzhu had just given her, and a map of the Chaotic Star Sea involuntarily appeared in her mind.

There are twelve islands within the Inner Star Sea, twenty-four islands outside, and countless other nameless islets.

South by west—that's too broad a range; these few words alone can't pinpoint the exact location.

She subconsciously turned her gaze to the sea map of chaotic stars hanging on the wall.

The nautical chart radiates outwards from the constellation of stars, marking the locations of the major islands.

Her gaze moved from Huangming Island in a south-southwest direction, passing over several small islands, and suddenly stopped at an inconspicuous spot.

It was a cluster of uninhabited islands.

In the original novel, the nameless island where Yuan Yao resurrected Yan Li was located in this sea area.

"Hmm—what a coincidence."

Zi Ling raised her eyebrows slightly.

Coincidentally, the destination of her father Wang Heng's delivery this time, Kuangsha Island, was not exactly close to that sea area, but it was certainly not far either.

She lowered her fingers, and a not-so-good thought suddenly popped into her head.

Why is Jiyin Island so obsessed with the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo?

Although Thunder Bamboo is precious, it is not something that a Nascent Soul level monster like Ji Yin absolutely needs.

Unless—the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo is related to something more important.

Asura Sacred Flame.

Zi Ling's pupils contracted slightly.

The Extreme Yin Ancestor was the disciple of the Mysterious Bone Master, who was himself ambushed by Extreme Yin and Extreme Xuan and sealed in an underwater ruin.

If Ji Yin knew some secrets about the Asura Sacred Flame, and had already refined the Heavenly Capital Corpse Flame, then his determination to obtain the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo would be understandable.

But this speculation only made her more uneasy.

If Ji Yin has its eye on Tian Lei Zhu and Miao Yin Men, then this transaction might really be problematic.

Zi Ling took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

Things haven't gotten to the worst yet.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it.

However, amidst the turmoil in his heart, the golden core in his dantian trembled slightly, and the four-colored light became disordered for a moment, showing faint signs of disintegration.

"No. I must concentrate on consolidating my cultivation. If I continue to let my mind wander like this, my golden core might really collapse."

She gritted her teeth, took out a calming incense stick from her storage bag, inserted it into the incense burner, and lit it.

A wisp of pale blue smoke rose, carrying a cool and elegant fragrance that slowly entered her nostrils.

The chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down under the soothing incense, and the restless golden core in the dantian also stabilized again, with the four-colored light returning to its normal flow rhythm.

Zi Ling closed her eyes and focused all her energy on the seventh level of the Azure Origin Sword Technique, no longer thinking about anything.

-

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Zi Ling was sitting cross-legged in the secret room, breathing deeply, with a pale blue spiritual light slowly flowing around her.

After half a month of consolidation, the Golden Core finally stabilized completely and showed no signs of disintegration.

Although there is still a long way to go before I can fully control the surge in magical power, at least the foundation has been laid.

Just then, a series of light footsteps came from outside the secret room.

Wen Siyue stopped outside the door and said in a low voice, "Miss, Madam has arrived."

Zi Ling opened her eyes and got up without hesitation, pushing open the door and leaving.

My mother has been running around these past few days trying to help my father, so her sudden visit alone today must mean she has some news to share.

"mother!"

Zi Ling strode into the living room, and before she could even bow, she eagerly asked, "Is there any news of Father?"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw the weariness on her mother's well-maintained face, with faint dark circles under her eyes.

Zi Ling had never seen such an expression on her mother's face before, and her heart sank instantly.

"I sent my trusted confidant to Huangming Island half a month ago, instructing him to get to Kuangsha Island as quickly as possible."

Zhou Yuan's voice was a few decibels lower than usual: "But he waited for five whole days outside Mad Shark Island and still couldn't find any trace of our Myriad Sounds Gate fleet. Later, he went back along the route and asked at every supply point along the way—"

She looked up at Zi Ling, her eyes slightly red.

"No one has ever seen your father's fleet. Not a single ship, not a single man, not a single sail."

Zi Ling shuddered.

The living room was quiet for a few breaths.

Wen Siyue stood in the corner, her hands gripping the tray tightly, barely daring to breathe.

She could feel the invisible pressure spreading rapidly in the living room, as if something unseen was tightening little by little.

Wang Heng.

The image of her father involuntarily appeared in Zi Ling's mind.

The man in the blue robe who stood up for her on Kui Xing Island.

That unreliable old man who always smiled and called her "Ning'er, my good boy" in front of her.

That fool who, in order to provide his daughter with a safe haven, forcibly gave up his beloved Dao of Sound and desperately raised his cultivation from the mid-stage to the late-stage of Core Formation.

She is a time traveler.

From the day she transmigrated, she knew that Wang Heng and Zhou Yuan were merely the parents of this body.

But after so many years of living together, that kinship beyond blood ties has already taken deep root.

Wang Heng truly cherished her. From childhood to adulthood, he couldn't bear to hit or scold her. Even when she worked too hard in her cultivation, he would nag her for a long time, feeling sorry for her.

Unlike Zhou Yuan, who would pull her ear or spank her bottom when she got angry—although that was also a form of affection.

But now—

Zi Ling's fingernails dug deeply into her palm, and a sharp pain came from between her fingers.

Filled with regret.

Back on Kuixing Island, her father nearly died at the hands of Wu Chou, and she could only watch helplessly.

Sixty or seventy years have passed, and she finally achieved the Golden Core, thinking everything would be alright—but then her father had another accident.

She wished she could fly to the Island of Extreme Yin right now and point her finger at the Old Demon of Extreme Yin, demanding that he hand over her father.

But reason told her that with her current cultivation level at the early stage of Core Formation, she might not be able to defeat even Wu Chou, let alone the Extreme Yin Old Demon.

Going there would be suicide, a pointless loss of life, and even my father couldn't be saved.

"No. We must find the sealing location of the Xuan Bone as soon as possible."

Zi Ling gritted her teeth inwardly.

If she can obtain the "Mysterious Yin Scripture" from Xuan Gu, she can activate the power of the Maiden's Yin Body with the complete demonic cultivation technique.

Even if they don't form a Nascent Soul at that time, it's not impossible for them to counter the Extreme Yin Demon with the backup plans left behind by the Profound Bone Demon.

The problem is—the Chaotic Star Sea is too vast.

Not to mention the vast and untamed open sea, the area of ​​the inland sea alone is probably not much smaller than the entire southern part of the country.

Searching for a relic sealed away for countless years in such a vast ocean without clear coordinates is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

She could only pray that Jin Qing would find the pearl that recorded the sealed place soon.

Seeing the grief on her daughter's face, Zhou Yuan quickly reached out and grasped Zi Ling's wrist.

"Ning'er, don't worry too much. Although the fleet may have encountered some trouble, your father should be alright."

Zi Ling suddenly raised her head and met her mother's reddened but unusually calm eyes.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan took out a jade pendant from her sleeve and gently placed it in Zi Ling's palm.

The jade pendant was pure white, shaped like a pair of birds sleeping with their necks intertwined, and had a warm and delicate texture with a faint glow.

There is a thin crack in the very center of the jade pendant, which divides the pair of spirit birds into yin and yang halves.

"This item is called the Spirit Rhinoceros Pendant."

"It was forged from the blood of a pair of hornbills. The two pieces, yin and yang, can not only silently transmit their voices to each other within a thousand miles, but also sense each other after being forged. If the owner of one piece dies, the other piece will shatter."

As she spoke, she pointed to the intact edge next to the crack on the jade pendant, "Look, this piece of mine is perfectly intact. It means your father is still alive, but—I don't know where he's hiding now."