Star Martial Soaring Cloud

According to the map given by Lin Yueyao, it is no exaggeration to call the Demon Island an island. It is surrounded by the boundless blue sea, long and narrow from north to south and slightly narrow from east to west, resembling a spindle. The west coast is flat with continuous mudflats, while the east coast is steep and sheer, with cliffs plunging into the deep sea, and the roar of the waves crashing against the rocks never stops day and night.

At the heart of the Demon Island is a massive mountain range running north to south, resembling a crouching dragon, forming the island's spine and watershed, dividing it into two asymmetrical parts to the east and west.

Deep in the mountains of the island's interior, the rainforest is so dense that it blocks out the sun. The trees intertwine to form a natural dome, and vines hang down like waterfalls, interspersed with shrubs laden with poisonous fruit.

Scattered throughout the mountains are numerous basins and narrow valleys, through which streams meander, and swamps and muddy beaches abound.

The northern end of the island still retains the remains of an ancient volcanic cluster, which has formed many hot springs, while the southern end has a peninsula extending into the sea, creating a unique landscape.

Whether it was due to the map being incomplete or the island being as it always was, there was no depiction of human habitation on the map.

However, in Wang Xiao's view, although this world is full of strange beasts, many places can be considered habitable.

The bamboo house where he lived was located in the central part of the western side of the Demon Island.

Based on his estimated travel time, if he travels eastward for more than ten days, he will reach the junction between the central and outer regions of the Demon Island. There should be a teleportation array there, and the destination after teleportation should be the Hexi Corridor in the Western Wilderness.

The teleportation arrays on the four cardinal directions of the Demon Island correspond precisely to the four regions of the Nine Provinces, while the Central Province and the Eastern Coast share the eastern teleportation array.

The eastern teleportation array is also the largest teleportation array on the Demon Island, several times the size of the other arrays.

The reasons are twofold: firstly, Zhongzhou and Dongbin are close in distance and are more prosperous, with a larger population and more cultivators; secondly, it is fairer for the other regions to have these two regions take the lead in opening up the teleportation array in the most dangerous eastern region.

Of course, this does not mean that each domain can only use its corresponding teleportation array. All teleportation arrays are interchangeable, only the landing points are different.

The land of Kyushu is vast and boundless; the circumstances for cultivators vary drastically depending on their starting point.

If a cultivator from the Southern Frontier were to land in the Northern Plains, it would take at least several years for them to return to the Southern Frontier, given their speed at the Fish Leap Realm.

This is also why Lin Yueyao wants to go south—it takes about twenty days to travel from the area where the bamboo house is located to the southern end of the Demon Island. By the time she arrives, she will be able to catch the teleportation array open and return to the Southern Frontier as soon as possible.

Based on past experience, the rare treasures of the Demon Island are mostly concentrated in the central and northern parts, and correspondingly, the exotic beasts and risks are also more concentrated there.

This explains why Wang Xiao encountered so many strange beasts on Demon Island in just a few days. However, when he accompanied Lin Yueyao south to Xuanyu Lake, they encountered far fewer risks and strange beasts.

Based on this, Wang Xiao planned his itinerary, intending to first travel north along the west coast to reach the northernmost point of the island, and then return south along the east side to complete the exploration around the island.

Before dawn, the forests of the Demon Island were still shrouded in a deep, inky darkness, with only the embers of a campfire remaining in the open space in front of the bamboo house, emitting faint, scarlet light.

Wang Xiao packed his bags and embarked on his journey north. Lush vegetation surrounded him, and he could occasionally hear birdsong coming from the woods.

He had barely stepped out of the valley when a rapid hoofbeat, accompanied by a heavy roar, swept in from outside the valley.

"Hmm? Are they here for revenge? They can actually sense the presence of their companions, even after they've been turned into jerky?" Wang Xiao wondered to himself.

In the blink of an eye, a group of jet-black beasts, numbering seven or eight, had gathered in front of the valley.

They were all burly and fierce, with eyes as big as copper bells filled with ferocity and indignation. Their serrated manes stood on end, and their four hooves pounded the ground, causing the soil to tumble and roll.

Clearly, they have come for revenge.

"Awooo—" The lead beast was more robust than the others of its kind, and had a light golden mark on its forehead, clearly indicating that it was close to the Dragon Gate Divine Realm.

It raised its head and let out a deafening roar, charging towards Wang Xiao first.

The thunderous hoofbeats, accompanied by a strong, pungent stench, caused even the air to tremble slightly.

Wang Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the Seven Star Sword at his waist with his other hand, instantly flashing to the side.

The moment the sword was drawn, a burst of golden light erupted, like a ray of dawn cleaving through the tranquility of the valley.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, unleashing the Seven Star Rain Steps, his figure moving like a flowing wind.

Faced with the beast's ferocious charge, he sidestepped to avoid a fatal blow, and with a sweep of his Seven Star Sword, the golden light flashed, and the beast's mane snapped off, leaving a deep wound that exposed bone.

"Crack!" Another beast attacked from the side and rear, its serrated mane sweeping fiercely towards Wang Xiao's back.

Wang Xiao had already sensed it. He twisted his waist sharply, and the tip of his sword precisely struck the base of the beast's mane. Using the momentum, he leaped into the air and avoided the subsequent attack.

The moment he landed, his sword stance changed again, and he slashed down vertically, killing a beast that was trying to approach.

During the fierce battle, Wang Xiao felt more and more clearly that a faint wood element aura lingered within these beasts.

He had sensed something when he first killed that beast, but he thought it was just an accident; now that the beasts had gathered, the aura was becoming more and more obvious.

"The aura of wood element... The habitat of these beasts must contain a treasure of wood attribute." He was certain in his heart, and his sword moves became even more fierce, but he secretly held back some strength and did not kill them all.

After killing three more Bo Beasts, fear finally appeared in the eyes of the remaining four Bo Beasts.

Wang Xiao seized the opportunity and deliberately created an opening, leaving an escape route for one of the smaller beasts.

The beast hesitated for a moment, and seeing that Wang Xiao did not pursue, it immediately turned around and galloped wildly into the depths of the dense forest.

The other three were caught off guard and were killed by Wang Xiao in the blink of an eye.

Compared to human cultivators, mythical beasts may possess larger sizes and greater strength, and may even be closer to the natural order, making cultivation easier for them.

However, humans have accumulated experience and learned from their mistakes over tens of thousands of years, something that mythical beasts do not possess.

To deliver the ideal punch, one can train tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of times; to maximize the power of a sword strike, one can change the swing to a slash, or the slash to a chop.

This pursuit of excellence is something that even mythical beasts cannot match.

Therefore, compared to their ancestors ten thousand years ago, they might have been at a disadvantage when facing beasts of the same level, but later generations of cultivators would only find it easier to face beasts of the same level.

This is why Wang Xiao was able to handle several beasts, all of which were at the peak of their leaping ability, with ease.

However, once the beasts transform into demons and begin to learn this inherited ability from humans, their potential will be greatly increased.

Looking in the direction of the fleeing beast, Wang Xiao quickly composed himself and followed the trail left by the beast.

The grass and trees along the way still bore the hoofprints of the beast and the faint scent of wood, guiding him in the direction he was heading.

After traveling for about half an hour, the scenery ahead suddenly changed.

A dense ancient forest appeared before us, quite different from the jungles along the way.

The ancient trees here are all thick and straight, their trunks covered with strange patterns, their branches and leaves as lush as umbrellas, blocking out the sky.

A dense, almost tangible, wood-attribute spiritual energy rushed towards me. Inhaling it made me feel refreshed and my internal energy became more active.

Wang Xiao was overjoyed. In his Five Elements Liver Refining Technique, the tempering of the liver required the help of a wood-attribute treasure.

The spiritual energy in this ancient forest was extremely concentrated and pure. He carefully observed the shape of the ancient trees, and the more he looked, the more astonished he became—the branches and patterns of these ancient trees were remarkably similar to the seedlings of the ancient divine tree "Jianmu" recorded in ancient books!

"Jianmu... the legendary divine tree that connects heaven and earth, how could there be a sapling here?" Wang Xiao murmured to himself, becoming more and more certain that there was an intricate connection between the Demon Island and Kyushu.

Perhaps, this demonic island is a fragment left over from the ancient Nine Provinces.

He continued deeper into the ancient forest, where the spiritual energy of the wood element became increasingly concentrated.

Just then, a mournful cry of a beast suddenly came from ahead.

Wang Xiao quickened his pace, walked through a thicket of bushes, and the sight before him made his pupils shrink.

The beast that had fled earlier was now enveloped in a soft white light, its limbs stiff and unable to move an inch, its eyes filled with terror.

Not far in front of the beast, a strange beast stood quietly.

It resembles a deer, with a lithe body covered in fine wood grain, with a faint green light flowing between the grain; it has a pair of forked antlers on its head, with a few emerald green leaves wrapped around the antlers, which is the auspicious beast recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas - the Deer-Shu!

Before Wang Xiao could even react after seeing Lu Shu's appearance clearly, an even more intense white light spread out from Lu Shu's body, sweeping over his location like a tidal wave.

He felt his whole body stiffen, as if he had been cast into a thousand pounds of cold iron, and he could no longer move his limbs or bones even an inch, and even his breathing became sluggish.

The vital energy within his body seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier. No matter how he tried to activate it, the vital energy remained stagnant in his meridians, and he couldn't even bend his fingertips.

"Oh no!" Wang Xiao was shocked. He tried to struggle, straining his neck to turn his head, but his muscles ached and his body remained motionless.

The white light seemed gentle, but it carried an irresistible pressure, pinning him firmly to the spot.

This feeling of helplessness, of being unable to control his own destiny, stirred a sense of panic within him for the first time.

He could clearly sense that he, like the Bo Beast, was imprisoned by the Lu Shu's supernatural powers.

"It's actually a mythical beast from the Dragon Gate Divine Realm... I thought I had already reached the Perfection of the Fish Leap, so even if I didn't have the strength to fight against a cultivator from the Dragon Gate Divine Realm, I could at least retreat with ease. It seems I was overthinking it!" Wang Xiao sighed inwardly.

When he first entered the Fish Leap Realm, he was able to defeat cultivators who had reached the Fish Leap Perfection stage. Now that his cultivation has advanced two more levels, he thought he could hold his own against cultivators in the Dragon Gate Divine Realm, but he was still powerless to fight back.

In truth, with his current strength, Wang Xiao would inevitably be defeated by a Dragon Gate Divine Realm cultivator, but he wouldn't be so powerless. This is because he is facing Lu Shu, whose divine power is the most mysterious of the Eight Elements of Heaven and Earth—the Yi Tai, a type of divine power that grants the ability to comprehend time and space.

In terms of equal cultivation level, the Eternal Divine Power is overwhelmingly superior to other divine powers.

His previous experience fighting across realms had given him a vague idea of ​​being able to fight across realms, but he didn't realize that the difference in realms was like an insurmountable chasm. The gap between the two realms was not something that talent could easily overcome.

This is similar to the evolution of human tools: you can defend yourself with stone weapons, but with bronze weapons, no matter how many stone weapons you have, it's futile, and the same goes for bronze weapons against iron weapons.

The rules and power structures of the world have changed, and this generational gap is the chasm between different realms.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more difficult it becomes, not to mention fighting across realms, even fighting across ranks.

Once a cultivator crosses the Dragon Gate Divine Realm, they will awaken their unique supernatural abilities, their spiritual perception will transform into divine consciousness, and a second sea of ​​cultivation—the Sea of ​​Consciousness—will open up between their brows.

Fortunately, the deer was gentle and had no intention of harming anyone. It didn't care about Wang Xiao and the beast that were frozen in place. It simply raised its hoof and gently touched the open space in front of it.

"Buzz—" As the deer-like creature's hoof landed, a slight tremor suddenly came from the ground. Immediately afterwards, an extremely rich emerald green light burst forth from the soil and shot straight into the sky.

Amidst the light, a green plant, its entire body shimmering and shaped like a jade hairpin, slowly emerged from the soil. It was about half a foot tall, its body covered with intricate spiral patterns, with faint rosy light flowing between the patterns and swirling with tangible wood-attribute spiritual energy.

Wherever it went, the branches and leaves of the ancient trees around it became even greener and brighter.

The spiritual energy emanating from this green plant even carries a trace of the ancient and primitive aura of the primordial world. It is actually an extremely rare wood-type treasure—the Splendor of Jianmu!

Jianmu is a divine tree between heaven and earth, and the splendor of Jianmu is formed by the condensation of the essence of thousands of Jianmu trees, making its preciousness immeasurable.

The Jianmu tree was completely unearthed, its light gradually fading, and it hovered in mid-air, rotating quietly.

The deer slowly lowered its head, and the emerald green leaves on its antlers trembled gently, emitting a soft hum.

The next moment, the Jianmu Flower suddenly released strands of slender emerald green spiritual threads, which, like snakes, coiled around the deer-like creature and merged into the wood grain around it.

Lu Shu closed his eyes slightly, and the green light around him suddenly surged, forming a semi-transparent light shield that enveloped him and the radiance of the Jianmu tree.

Within the light barrier, spiritual energy circulated continuously, and the wood grain on the deer's body grew brighter and brighter, as if countless stars were twinkling between the lines, and the aura of cultivation became increasingly ethereal and profound.

Its breathing became long and slow, and with each exhale and inhale, it drew out even more refined wood elements from the Jianmu Flower.

The wood elements swirled and condensed within the light shield, eventually transforming into wisps of pure green mist, which were all absorbed into the body of the deer.

The entire cultivation process was quiet and mysterious. The surrounding air seemed to be tinged with a faint green hue, and even Wang Xiao's imprisoned body could vaguely feel the warmth of the wood spirit energy.

After an unknown amount of time, the light shield surrounding the deer suddenly contracted, and all of it poured into its body.

The Jianmu tree in mid-air shone brightly, transforming into a stream of emerald light that headed straight for Lu Shu's brow.

"Buzz!" The light accurately imprinted itself on Lu Shu's brow, turning into a faint emerald green mark before disappearing.

Lu Shu slowly opened his eyes, a flash of green light appearing briefly. His aura was more stable and profound than before, indicating that his cultivation had improved again.

It gently shook its head, the leaves on its antlers making a crisp sound, then turned around, its figure transforming into a green shadow, and sped towards the depths of the ancient forest, disappearing into the dense forest in an instant.

The moment the deer-like creature disappeared, the white light enveloping Wang Xiao and the beast vanished.

"Whoosh—" Wang Xiao felt a lightness all over his body, the feeling of being restrained completely disappeared, and the vital energy in his body resumed its flow.

He staggered back two steps, panting heavily, his back soaked with cold sweat. The feeling of helplessness still lingered in his mind, leaving him with lingering fear.

The distant beast also regained its mobility. Still shaken, it glanced at the direction where the deer had disappeared, then looked at Wang Xiao warily. Not daring to linger, it galloped off in another direction.

Wang Xiao steadied himself and looked down at the open space where Lu Shu had been cultivating. There was only a shallow pit left there, and only the faint wood spiritual energy remaining in the air proved that the mysterious scene had really happened.