Both Xiao Chen and Liu Mu were utterly drained. After resting for a sufficient time, Liu Mu once again plunged into the black mist to continue his cultivation in that harsh environment. Xiao Chen, meanwhile, resumed his circuit around the misty region.
The battle just now had been swift and brief, conducted within a closed space, disturbing neither the three skeletons nor Keke. In the distance, the Kings of Qin, Yan, and Reincarnation had not followed; the life-forbidden zone around the divine stele seemed to exert a profound influence over them, leaving them unsettled. Keke, too, had not followed, wandering alone in a distant expanse of white bones.
After circling the divine stele at a considerable distance, Xiao Chen found he could not penetrate deeper into the life-forbidden zone. At most, like Liu Mu, he could advance a few meters before sensing a terrifying aura of annihilation.
When Xiao Chen returned, Keke toddled up to him, babbling ‘Ya-ya’ and pointing at the hundred-meter-high stele, gesturing endlessly as if trying to tell him what it had discovered.
‘Hualala—’
Seeming dissatisfied that Xiao Chen could not understand, Keke threw a small tantrum, dismantling a pile of giant skeletons over ten meters high before brandishing its tiny snow-white paw in a fierce gesture. But the pose carried no menace; Xiao Chen found it comical and stroked its fluffy body.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye. Xiao Chen haunted the area near the Bone Sea, exploring its secrets while spending most of his time cultivating beside the stele, using the destructive aura it emanated to stimulate his own potential. The periphery of the life-forbidden zone proved to be an excellent training ground.
During these days, Xiao Chen noticed that aside from Liu Mu, other figures were appearing in the region—without a doubt, experts. Those who had ventured deepest into Dragon Island first were surely confident in their own abilities.
Keke did not truly follow Xiao Chen; it was simply curious about all novelties. It kept circling the stele, muttering to itself. Xiao Chen let it be—this strange little beast could not be subdued by force.
As for the three skeletons, they seemed unwilling to approach the stele or even to stay within the Bone Sea. They chose to cultivate in the dead forest adjacent to the bone plains, and the lotus marks on their foreheads grew ever more radiant, a clear sign that their power was on the verge of breakthrough.
On the eighth day, several human figures appeared in the Bone Sea, and more than a dozen practitioners emerged from the deathly still forest, bringing a semblance of life to this silent domain of the dead.
The people from the island’s outer reaches had arrived!
In the mountains dozens of li away, many more figures moved about; some were building wooden huts on various peaks suitable for cultivation. The entire outer-island population had migrated en masse into the depths of Dragon Island!
This was only natural. After all, everyone was trapped on Dragon Island, meaning they would live there for an extended time. With savage beasts roaming the land, the only way to ensure safety was for many practitioners to gather together in a single region.
Dragon Island was vast; sooner or later they would need to explore every area, not remain confined to the outer coast. This push into the central zone was a major collective action, and they would gradually investigate all territories thereafter.
Of course, not everyone went with the crowd—some had already struck out on their own.
Several hundred people scattered across dozens of mountain ranges. Various alliances kept their distance from one another, all within a zone bordering the dead forest, some dozens of li from the Bone Sea. When Xiao Chen appeared, he immediately drew widespread attention. After the great battle, many alliances knew he was a formidable ‘blade’ not to be trifled with.
Xiao Chen noticed that the practitioners he met looked at him with peculiar expressions. Later, he learned from an alliance founder who sought to recruit him that the Undying Alliance, led by Yan Qingcheng, had publicly declared a month-long life-or-death hunt against him. And here he was, swaggering into their midst after so many days of absence—no wonder people were astonished.
This news left Xiao Chen stunned. What he had feared had come to pass. Despite the restrictions on alliance sizes meant to prevent anyone from becoming the king of Dragon Island, events were now heading in a dangerous direction. On the surface, alliances appeared limited, but as long as they were strong enough, they could still secretly control everything!
In the initial phase of such regulations, no one dared to be the first to break them. But once a precedent was set, it became inevitable—everything could be manipulated. This was precisely why Xiao Chen had chosen to retreat far away after the great battle; he had foreseen this outcome.
He had already deduced that the earlier restrictions were only temporarily effective. Eventually, behind-the-scenes manipulators would subvert them, and Dragon Island would become brutally harsh! Those with ambition in their hearts, those unwilling to remain obscure, would sooner or later gather alliances into covert superpowers.
Clearly, once every region of Dragon Island was explored, a terrible reshuffling would take place. Secretly, the major forces would engage in a cruel, bloody merger, and of the current six or seven hundred people, half might die in the chaos!
Xiao Chen sensed the crisis. Perhaps he should form an alliance of his own. But all the true experts had already been recruited. After careful thought, he decided that forming an alliance might not be necessary—if he could recruit several experts like Liu Mu to watch each other's backs, that would be better than any formal alliance.
Liu Mu alone could challenge an ordinary alliance. If three or five fighters of that caliber banded together, no one would dare provoke them.
Xiao Chen's appearance had attracted much attention, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, he quickly slipped away from the crowd. After a long detour, he reached the Dharma Alliance's camp, where Yizhen and Yichi were based.
The two monks, whose bearing was otherworldly, were enjoying their lunch—unsurprisingly, a lavish spread of meat and fish, utterly incongruous with their transcendent appearance. Every time he saw it, Xiao Chen could barely suppress a smile.
‘A rare guest.’
‘Please join us for a vegetarian meal.’
The two monks were very hospitable. Xiao Chen was speechless. Such a sumptuous meat feast, and they called it a vegetarian meal? These monks truly possessed hearts of carefree ease. As he dined with them, Xiao Chen learned many things. Yan Qingcheng was indeed leading her people in pursuit of him, but it seemed she had taken the wrong direction—she had not followed him into the depths of Dragon Island but had instead entered a range of primeval mountains midway.
Yichi speculated that Yan Qingcheng had likely discovered a young Half-Born Dragon King and wanted to capture it. Though leaving the island was impossible, if one could subdue a companion dragon king, once it fully transformed, which alliance on Dragon Island would dare to contend with them? While no Ancestral Dragon existed, a Half-Born Dragon King would be a terrifying, invincible sovereign.
After finishing the wild game feast, Xiao Chen accepted a bamboo cup of coconut juice and asked Yizhen, ‘The Undying Alliance didn't send their entire force, did they?’
‘You’re not thinking of …’ Yizhen quickly guessed Xiao Chen's intention.
‘Since they’ve already made their move against me, why should I hold back? Lande has been severely wounded by me—he likely didn't go with Yan Qingcheng. I want to wipe out their remaining forces.’
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