A blind man cultivates immortality and witnesses the great secret of the holy maiden in her bridal c

"They're not pirates!" Chao Gai's face darkened, a flash of hatred in his eyes. "They're from the White Pine Clan! The reason they've come to kill us is to eliminate us completely, to silence everyone on the island, so we don't reveal the secrets of that year and tarnish the White Pine Clan's reputation!"

"White Pine Gate?" Chen Yang's mouth dropped open; he was completely dumbfounded!

The White Pine Sect should be the only sect in the White Pine Kingdom, the orthodox and truly prestigious sect.

Chao Gai no longer concealed anything, and cupped his hands to Chen Yang, saying, "My benefactor, please come with me to the boat, and I will explain the whole story to you!"

Chen Yang nodded, feeling no fear whatsoever—with five sword saint puppets at the late stage of the Divine Power Realm protecting him, even if Chao Gai tried any tricks, he could kill him instantly!

Soon, Chen Yang followed Chao Gai and landed on the deck of the huge alloy warship.

Blood flowed like a river on the deck, and corpses littered the ground! Hundreds of bodies lay scattered there. A small portion were the black-clad men from the White Pine Sect that Chen Yang had killed, while the majority were pirates who had been slain by the black-clad men. These pirates were of all ages, their clothes were tattered, and their eyes still held a trace of fear. They looked no different from ordinary fishermen and had none of the ferocity of pirates.

Chao Gai pointed to the corpses on the deck, his voice choked with emotion: "My benefactor, they were all my fellow villagers, my relatives, and the villagers of the island... We weren't pirates at all!"

He slowly recounted the past: "We originally lived in a fishing village by the sea, with a fixed place to live. We made a living by hunting sea monsters and fishing. Although our lives weren't wealthy, they were peaceful! But more than seventy years ago, the Bai Song Sect was exploring a crack in an ancient immortal battlefield near our fishing village. As a result of an operational error, the crack broke apart!"

"The stench of corpse poison leaked from the battlefield, polluting the nearby seawater! After committing this grave mistake, Bai Songmen not only failed to rectify it but also deliberately concealed it! When fishermen from our three fishing villages went out to sea, they were caught off guard and came into contact with the polluted seawater. Many died on the spot, and the survivors were also infected with corpse poison. Their bodies became festering and foul-smelling, and some even grew scales, becoming bloodthirsty and ferocious, like monsters!"

"The people around us treated us like outsiders, eyeing us with hostility! Bai Songmen was even more afraid that we would reveal the truth, so he secretly found me and forced me to take the surviving villagers and move to Somaliao Island, forbidding us from ever setting foot on the mainland again!"

Chao Gai sighed, his eyes filled with helplessness: "We have no source of income on the island, and to suppress the poison, we need money to buy various antidotes, which is an enormous expense. To survive, we have no choice but to rob passing merchant ships. But the White Pine Sect has never been able to tolerate us. Today, they finally couldn't hold back any longer and secretly sent a large number of experts to wipe us out!"

"If it weren't for our benefactor's sudden appearance, we would probably all be dead on this ship!"

After hearing this, Chen Yang felt a mix of emotions. He hadn't expected there to be such a hidden story behind it!

He looked at Chao Gai and said bluntly, "It seems I misunderstood you! I originally came to kill and plunder, but now it seems you haven't really done anything evil; most of you are just ordinary people forced into this situation..."

He changed the subject abruptly, chuckling, "I'm very fair with my fees! Three water-attribute cultivation techniques, plus two-thirds of your pirate crew's spirit stones, and I'll leave immediately! If you don't give them to me, I'll have to take them by force!"

Chao Gai was taken aback at first, then his face lit up with ecstatic joy. He quickly cupped his hands to Chen Yang, saying, "My benefactor, this is only right! Let alone two-thirds of the spirit stones, even if you wanted all of them, I would give them to you without hesitation! I will take you to get the spirit stones and cultivation techniques right now!"

Chen Yang was surprised that his goal was achieved so quickly, and laughed heartily: "Great! My name is Chen Yang, and I'm actually from Tianhaimen! You just said you wanted to take the villagers to find a place to live within Tianhaimen's sphere of influence; I can help you with that!"

He extended an olive branch: "As long as you provide enough spirit stones, my Tianhai Sect can designate an island specifically for you to settle down! But there's one condition—you are not allowed to rob merchant ships anymore, and you must live a peaceful life!"

"What?!" Chao Gai trembled with excitement, took a step back, knelt on one knee, and cried out in a choked voice, "Listen up, brothers! Thank you, Benefactor Chen, for taking us in! We are saved!"

"Thank you so much, Benefactor Chen!"

On the deck, the thousands of surviving pirates knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Yang in gratitude. Their cries of joy and gratitude mingled together and resounded through the sky!

Chen Yang was overjoyed at the scene before him. As long as he obtained the cultivation technique and absorbed these spirit stones, his water attribute Dao Platform would surely be perfected, and breaking through to the Divine Power Realm would be just around the corner!

Chao Gai led Chen Yang toward the master bedroom on the top floor of the alloy giant ship.

The room was decorated with exceptional elegance. The mahogany tables and chairs were polished to a smooth shine, a pot of lush sea lilies sat in the corner, and several ancient paintings were displayed on the windowsill. It did not resemble the residence of a pirate captain at all, but rather exuded the charm of a scholar.

Chen Yang stepped into the room, casually sat down at the table, and glanced at the furnishings. Just as he was about to urge for the cultivation technique and spirit stones, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a painting on the wall!

"Um?"

Chen Yang's eyes narrowed suddenly, his relaxed body tensed instantly, and he sprang up from his chair, his face filled with disbelief and shock as he stared intently at the painting, his breathing becoming rapid!

Chao Gai was turning to the table to pour water, preparing to take out the cultivation manual and spirit stones, when he saw Chen Yang's flustered appearance and asked with a puzzled look, "My benefactor, what's wrong?"

Following Chen Yang's gaze, Chao Gai realized that Chen Yang was staring at the painting on his wall. A smug smile immediately appeared on his face as he explained, "My benefactor, you must be amazed by this painting, right? The artistic conception is so lifelike, the style so sharp, the brushstrokes so powerful, it shows a profound understanding of the subject—to tell you the truth, my benefactor, I painted it myself!"

He spoke with a hint of pride: "I've been a genius at drawing since I was a child! If I hadn't been forced to become a pirate to protect the villagers, I would at least be a famous painter in the Central Continent!"

"This painting... did you paint it?" Chen Yang frowned, walking quickly towards the painting, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "How could you paint this? Was it from your imagination, or did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Of course I saw it with my own eyes!" Chao Gai nodded with a smile, recalling the scene at the time, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes. "About half a year ago, I was leading my brothers at sea, preparing to rob two merchant ships, when suddenly the sky and earth changed color, and countless spatial rifts burst open in the air with a whoosh, turning everything in their path into black holes. Not to mention cultivators, even light was swallowed up!"

"Right there in the crack, amidst the flashes of lightning, a fairy suddenly appeared!" Chao Gai exclaimed excitedly. "I was completely stunned. After returning home, I thought about it day and night, and finally drew this 'Fairy Portrait'!"

Chen Yang stared intently at the painting, muttering to himself, "A painting of fairies..."