Blue Card Starry Sky

Chapter 16 Exploration
After everything was cleared, everyone moved all the items from the pirate ship to a large vessel, replaced all the flags and sails, leaving no trace of the pirate ship. The rest was burned to destroy all evidence. After doing this, Liu Weifeng sailed back to Penglai Island in the opposite direction to avoid any unnecessary trouble. The Demon Qilin sent them ahead to return to Blue Valley. The group lingered at sea for three days before leisurely returning to Penglai Island.

Qin Lei didn't let Lan Tian and the others actually participate in combat on this trip. They mostly observed and learned about the harsh realities of life and their own insignificance, the helplessness and despair of facing high-level martial artists. This was meant to ignite their fighting spirit, their desire to grow, and to provide them with valuable combat experience.

On Penglai Island, the Lan family had their own private port. Upon returning to the port, the servants skillfully transported the captured goods back to the warehouse, where designated personnel were responsible for sorting and storing them separately. Qin Lei and his group, meanwhile, leisurely returned to the old mansion under the cover of night.

Five days later, the four major families received news of what happened on the island. They only knew that a group of pirates had been silenced, but they didn't know who it was, and no evidence could be found on the island. They didn't know which side had carried out the operation so skillfully. The four families began to distrust each other, and mutual trust was gone.

Lan Tian cultivated diligently every day in the ancient city of Penglai, never leaving his residence. Having experienced this massacre, Lan Tian had matured considerably, no longer as carefree as before, and now devoted all his energy to cultivation. Witnessing high-level battles made him realize his own insignificance; in the eyes of high-level martial artists, he was like a tiny ant, utterly unworthy of attention. He had no ability to resist, and he would have to pay a higher price, expending far more effort, to reach his desired goal and pursue a higher realm.

He suddenly realized that to advance faster, he needed to commit more killings, absorb more power, and quickly improve his physical attributes to increase his cultivation intensity. Currently, he was cultivating dark energy devouring to enhance himself; the domineering nature of devouring allowed him to grow rapidly. However, he wasn't sure if devouring would always be able to absorb bloodline power and their attributes like he had with the Fire Phoenix, and whether his own attributes would increase again. He needed to try this again, and find an opportunity.

Every time he cultivated until late at night, Lan Tian would put on his night-clothes and act alone, searching for extremely despicable cultivators in the secluded alleys of the ancient city to test his skills. Lan Tian hadn't found a target for several days and was somewhat disheartened. The ancient city of Penglai was chilly at night, the streets and alleys deserted, everyone soundly asleep.

"Sigh, it seems there won't be any gains tonight," Lan Tian muttered to himself before heading back to his old house to cultivate.

"Swish, swish." A dark shadow quickly leaped over the rooftop on the high wall in the distance.

"Impressive skills, got the goods!" Lan Tian immediately became interested and quietly followed, keeping a safe distance from the man in black. The man in black leaped over the high wall and headed straight for the backyard, disappearing into the night in an instant. Lan Tian couldn't go in, so he could only wait outside for the man in black to come out, as this was his only route. About half an hour later, the man in black reappeared, carrying a large, bulging bag that seemed quite heavy.

With a "thud," the bag, too heavy, tipped slightly to the ground as the man in black got down. He immediately looked around alertly, and seeing no movement, picked up the bag and tried to walk back. In a split second, Lan Tian rushed forward, simultaneously channeling his dark energy and maximizing his Devouring attribute. The man in black was also skilled; suddenly seeing a gust of wind behind him, he quickly dodged to the side, avoiding Lan Tian's sneak attack.

A gleaming curved blade appeared before Lan Tian, ​​emanating a chilling aura. It was an ice-attribute martial artist; ice blades flew from his hand. A third-tier ice-attribute martial artist. In a flash, Lan Tian switched his attribute to resist, a fire-attribute protective wall of phoenix-like energy forming before him. "Whoosh, whoosh!"

The ice blades were instantly incinerated upon contact with the wall of fire, turning into vapor with a whoosh and dissipating. Lan Tian conjured a fireball and swiftly hurled it at the man in black.

With a deafening boom, the man in black dodged and exploded on the ground. Flames flew everywhere, and the man in black, unable to dodge in time, was already on fire in several places, frantically trying to extinguish the flames. Just as the man in black was busy putting out the fire, Lan Tian immediately switched to dark energy, unleashing his devouring ability to attack the man in black. A powerful suction force pulled the man in black towards him, and his elemental energy flowed continuously into Lan Tian's body, while a chilling bloodline power surged into his dantian.

This devouring force was extremely domineering; once it made contact, there was no way to escape. The man in black struggled desperately to break free from the absorption, but he lost more and more energy. In an instant, the man in black became an empty shell, a mere clothes hanger, his bones scattered all over the ground. Lan Tian, ​​seeing that the commotion had been quite significant, knew that someone would definitely come out, and if he were seen, it would be difficult to escape. To destroy the evidence, Lan Tian switched to fire attribute, using his strongest true fire to burn everything in the man in black. The raging fire phoenix true fire reduced him to ashes in an instant. A gust of wind blew, and the streets were filled with them; the world was filled with the man in black.

Lan Tian picked up the bag from the ground and disappeared into the vast night. Soon after, the night watchman passed by but found nothing amiss, and continued his patrol as usual. Peace and tranquility returned to the area.

Lan Tian quietly returned to the old house. He tossed the bag aside without checking it and busied himself with cultivation. He felt a new attribute swirling within his dantian, enhancing his cultivation abilities along with other attributes, improving his physical constitution, and altering the flow of ice attribute within his body. Layers of icy mist emanated from Lan Tian's body, swirling around him, as the third-tier ice attribute gradually formed within him.

Lan Tian's conjecture was correct: devouring could create new attributes, improve his physical attributes, and enhance his cultivation skills. What an incredibly powerful ability! Could he possess multiple attributes? How many could he have? Could he devour higher-level ones? He needed to test everything slowly. Right now, he needed to stabilize his cultivation and build a solid foundation. Otherwise, an unstable foundation might lead to cultivation deviation and utter ruin. This was absolutely unacceptable; he couldn't be impatient. He needed to cultivate his mind and stabilize his cultivation first.

The next day, no one noticed anything unusual. Outsiders wouldn't know what a wealthy family had lost, and they wouldn't tell anyone, as it would be shameful and damage their family's standing. So, it usually ended without a trace.

(End of this chapter)