The next day.
It was noon.
The sky was overcast, and the Misty Sea Area was about to face another fierce storm.
"This is already the deep border of the Misty Sea Area. Should we continue forward?"
Hong Ye held the sea chart in his hand. Although the Misty Sea Area was considered a forbidden zone, the Nanqi Military Department also had a general map of it, allowing them to identify approximate locations to some extent.
"Deputy Officer Hong, please wait. I will go and ask Young Master."
Shui Zhi pondered for a moment, not daring to make a decision, and walked towards the cabin.
At this moment, Lin Sheng also happened to come out of the cabin.
"Let's stop here, Deputy Officer Hong. We will handle the rest ourselves."
Lin Sheng came before the two and spoke indifferently.
"Uh... okay."
Hong Ye looked at the tall figure in front of him and nodded, a little stammering.
When they encountered the mermaid Yao Beast that day, although his mind was controlled, his consciousness could still clearly perceive what was happening outside.
At this moment, he clearly understood that this young man, who looked to have low cultivation, was actually a terrifying and ruthless fighter.
His methods were vicious and overbearing, completely unlike someone his age.
Thinking of the scene where he calmly crushed the bones of most of the people on the ship, he still felt a chill.
"Your Excellency Lin Sheng, if you need help, please do not hesitate to say so. There is no need for you to personally go into the water and risk danger."
At this moment, Lingyu Princess slowly walked out of the cabin and spoke softly.
"Although Your Excellency's combat power is exceptionally strong, it is still much more convenient with the cover of a warship."
Coming before Lin Sheng, Lingyu Princess smiled as she looked at his resolute face.
"Thank you for Your Highness's kindness, but this place is not far from our destination. Linsheng Pavilion can handle it himself, and it won't take much time."
Lin Sheng thought for a moment and still shook his head slightly.
Indeed, using the warship could save some effort, but the location of the island was one of Dark Star's future retreats, so secrecy was necessary.
Although everyone on the warship belonged to the Nanqi Military Department, there were many people, and it was always better to be careful.
"Since that is the case, then Your Excellency Lin Sheng, please be careful."
Seeing this, Lingyu Princess did not say anything more.
It was enough to show her goodwill appropriately; the principle of 'too much is as bad as too little' applied everywhere.
As she spoke, she took out a Dragon-shaped jade pendant from her embrace and handed it over.
"This is Dragon Spirit Jade. If you encounter any danger, just crush it, and I will immediately send Shi Po to reinforce you."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng did not refuse. He took the jade pendant and cupped his hands in thanks again.
Then, taking Shui Zhi with him, the two leaped off the ship and into the seawater.
They quickly disappeared into the grey mist.
Watching Lin Sheng's figure disappear, Lingyu Princess only withdrew her gaze after a long while.
"Deputy Officer Hong, just anchor here for now and wait for Your Excellency Lin Sheng and them to return."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Hong Ye immediately responded and then arranged for the sailors on the ship to secure the vessel.
In the grey mist.
Lin Sheng and Shui Zhi sped across the sea surface. Their speed was very fast, covering hundreds of meters in just a few breaths.
"Young Master, I see that Your Highness Princess is very concerned about you, even willing to mobilize that Grandmaster expert."
Shui Zhi followed behind Lin Sheng, as if he had thought of something, and suddenly spoke.
"Mm." Lin Sheng only nodded slightly in response.
With his perception, he naturally knew that Your Highness Princess's attitude towards him had changed.
Especially the look in her eyes, which held a hint of an inexplicable meaning.
Thinking of Tang Zhong's letter, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh softly.
He actually had a rather good impression of Your Highness Princess. She knew when to advance and retreat, understood proper etiquette, and her status, position, cultivation, and talent were all top-tier.
However, he had no intention of marrying yet.
He quickly suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and spoke in a deep voice.
"Shui Zhi, how far are we from the coordinates?"
"Replying to Young Master, it should still be about seven to eight hundred li away."
Shui Zhi had already confirmed it countless times and immediately replied.
A distance of seven to eight hundred li was not actually close, especially in this Misty Sea Area where not only was perception affected, but even the mobilization of internal Qi felt somewhat sluggish.
Moreover, the consumption of traveling at sea far exceeded that on land.
Even with his strong cultivation, traveling seven to eight hundred li in the Misty Sea Area was an enormous drain.
"Seven to eight hundred li, huh?"
Hearing this, Lin Sheng chewed softly on the words.
Although their current speed was not slow, it was still a bit of a waste of time for him.
His gaze fell on Shui Zhi, and he spoke.
"Shui Zhi, relax and don't resist."
Shui Zhi, who was focused on the journey, looked up with a somewhat bewildered expression.
The next moment, he felt the seawater beneath his feet suddenly surge, binding him firmly within it.
He had the urge to struggle, but remembering Lin Sheng's words, he immediately stopped and looked up at Lin Sheng.
He saw that Lin Sheng's body was covered in dark green patterns, which instantly merged into the sea.
At the same time, Shui Zhi felt the water surrounding him suddenly tighten and shoot forward at an extremely fast speed.
The speed was so fast that it was almost double what it had been before.
"This... what kind of technique is this!?"
Shui Zhi's face showed a hint of surprise.
He knew that Lin Sheng was powerful and also good in the water, and he had personally witnessed him make several moves during their time together.
But this was the first time he had seen Lin Sheng use such a technique.
He hadn't expected him to be able to achieve such a level.
"Young Master's methods are truly unfathomable."
In the end, he could only come to this conclusion.
He felt Lin Sheng was even more unfathomable.
Not caring about Shui Zhi's reaction, Lin Sheng was currently pushing his Sea Ghost talent to its limit, and his speed was continuously increasing, reaching an incredible degree.
However, after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
"Young Master, stop! We're almost there, we're almost there!"
Shui Zhi quickly said.
"We're already here!?"
Lin Sheng was a little surprised; a distance of seven to eight hundred li had been covered in the blink of an eye.
It seemed that this Sea Ghost talent was indeed quite effective in the seawater.
Under Shui Zhi's guidance, the two slowed down, pinpointing the exact location of the coordinates.
Soon, Lin Sheng had already sensed something.
"Two li to the left, there's an island there."
"Two li to the left!?"
Hearing this, Shui Zhi's face was filled with astonishment.
As a master of the Eight Transformations of Divine Movement, under the influence of the grey mist, even with his perception maximized, he could only sense two to three hundred meters away, and it was still quite blurry.
"Young Master can actually perceive things two li away!?"
He subconsciously found it hard to believe, but then he thought of Lin Sheng, who seemed to have never been wrong.
He already believed it somewhat in his heart and followed Lin Sheng, speeding to the left.
In a few breaths, he had already seen the outline of an island in the grey mist.
"It's really true."
Looking at the extremely dense grey mist around them and then at Lin Sheng, Shui Zhi suddenly felt speechless.
"Let's go, let's go to the island and take a look."
Seeing their destination appear, Lin Sheng did not hesitate. With a few flashes, he was already on the island.
"Young Master, the mist on this island seems much thinner."
As soon as they arrived on the island, Shui Zhi felt a change.
Although the island was still covered in grey mist, it was noticeably better than the situation at sea.
"It seems there's something peculiar about this island."
Lin Sheng also noticed this unusual point. His gaze swept across the island.
The area of this island was not large, roughly similar to the area of Lin'an County back then.
The island was densely vegetated, with straight, coconut-tree-like large trees, but there were no fruits on them.
With his perception spread out, Lin Sheng quickly discovered several small wild beasts in the jungle.
"Let's split up and look around."
After Lin Sheng instructed, he had already entered the jungle.
On an island of this scale, there shouldn't be any powerful exotic beasts.
The facts were as he expected.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had already explored most of the island.
Apart from some common beasts, there wasn't even a single Spirit Beast.
However, he did find something in a cave on the island.
This was a rather clean cave, obviously man-made.
The cave's location was quite hidden and was blocked by a large rock.
If it weren't for his keen perception, he might not have noticed it.
The cave was not large, and inside were placed blocks of stone emitting a bright yellow glow.
Lin Sheng looked at them twice and could see intricate patterns carved on the stones, containing a pure energy.
Even now, he was quite surprised by the energy contained within the bright yellow crystals.
"This is Grandmaster Qi!?"
He immediately recognized that the pure and powerful energy within the bright yellow crystals was Grandmaster Qi.
Moreover, it was clearly much stronger than Lu Qing's, at least a Three Realms Grandmaster, or even stronger.
Because the terrifying and vast aura gave him a feeling similar to facing Tang Zhong.
Of course, the nature of the two was completely different.
These bright yellow crystals continuously flickered, absorbing wisps of grey mist into them.
Lin Sheng watched for a long time and already understood the function of these crystals.
The reason why the grey mist on this island was thin was precisely because of these crystals, which constantly devoured the mist, creating the current clear conditions.
He did not touch these crystals. He directly exited the cave and sealed it back perfectly.
After finding Shui Zhi, he placed several Dark Star tracking beacons around the island before leaving the island and heading towards another location.
The intelligence transmitted by Li Shenjun mentioned a total of three islands, and this was only one of them.
However, the coordinates of the three islands were not far apart; they were, in fact, adjacent.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two found the location of the second island. The second island was also not large, and the two quickly explored it. After leaving tracking beacons, they continued to the location of the third coordinate.
Upon reaching the third island, both Lin Sheng and Shui Zhi were stunned.
This was because the area of this island was quite vast, much larger than the first two islands combined.
"I didn't expect such a large island to exist in the Misty Sea Area."
Shui Zhi's face was full of surprise.
Lin Sheng was the same, not only because of the island's immense size but also because the grey mist on this island was even thinner.
As the two landed on the ground, a huge, blood-red mouth suddenly emerged from the beach and bit towards them.
Lin Sheng merely flicked his finger, and a wisp of black Qi shot out, directly shattering the blood-red mouth.
The owner of the blood-red mouth was a giant sea turtle several zhang in size.
The death of this sea turtle seemed to trigger a chain reaction.
The ground on the beach churned, and large sea turtles emerged one by one.
They opened their huge mouths and shot out balls of water.
Lin Sheng casually shattered the incoming water balls, but Sea Ghosts kept emerging from the beach. In just a few breaths, there were already over a hundred, and more were still coming out.
"Why are there so many Sea Ghosts!? Could this island be a sea turtle nest??"
Looking at the densely packed sea turtle Yao Beasts rushing towards the two of them, Shui Zhi was a little surprised.
The strength of these sea turtles was not weak; most of them were Spirit Beast-level sea beasts, and some of the stronger ones had already entered the ranks of high-tier Spirit Beasts.
Even more surprising was that these sea turtles varied in size and appearance, clearly belonging to different species of sea turtles.
Lin Sheng naturally also noticed this point. Looking at these sea turtles that fought without fear of death, he frowned slightly.
Immediately, his eyes turned golden, and he let out a low growl.
As the Dragon Might talent activated, a large number of sea turtles retreated as if startled.
However, to his surprise, after a brief moment of panic, these sea turtles stopped their retreat.
They formed an encirclement, still surrounding them in the center.
"Interesting?"
Seeing this, Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
The effect of the Dragon Might talent on these low-tier exotic beasts was undeniable.
But these sea turtles had not retreated yet.
Roar—
A roar even more majestic and fierce than before sounded.
This time, these sea turtles were finally frightened. They quickly burrowed into the sand and disappeared.
Lin Sheng's eyes returned to normal. He had the intention of killing them all.
However, these sea turtles burrowed extremely fast. To kill them all would probably take a lot of time. He only focused on killing a few high-tier Spirit Beast-level sea turtles and then ignored the rest.
When Dark Star personnel arrived later, they could handle it themselves.
"This island is vast, and there might be some high-tier Spirit Beasts on it. If you encounter them, just kill them directly. If you encounter danger, send a signal immediately."
After Lin Sheng instructed Shui Zhi, the two began to explore the island, one on the left and one on the right.
Maximizing his perception, Lin Sheng began to search quickly.
Surprisingly, the deeper they went into the island, the thinner the grey mist became.
By the time they reached the central area of the island, the grey mist had basically disappeared.
"Such a large area, that Grandmaster powerhouse must have spent a lot of effort to achieve this."
Both of the previous two islands had arrangements made by that Grandmaster powerhouse, and this island was clearly no exception.
Before long, Lin Sheng discovered a clue on a low mountain.
He moved aside the blocking boulder, revealing a deep mountain cave.
His perception indicated that there was something else inside the mountain cave.
Lin Sheng quickly went inside and soon reached the end.
His eyes were filled with a bright yellow glow; the entire deep part of the mountain cave was embedded with bright yellow crystals.
However, Lin Sheng's gaze fell on an old prayer mat in the cave.
To be precise, it was on the text carved on the mountain wall behind the prayer mat and the two jade bottles scattered on the ground.
"I traveled the Eastern Sea, seeking an opportunity for Breakthrough, hoping to restore the Great Zhou. In the 324th year of Emperor Yuan of Northern Yan, I discovered this island. Upon investigation, I found many extraordinary aspects, so I went into seclusion here. I accidentally discovered Yao Beasts fighting in the sea, killed them, and took the object they were fighting over, which was the essence blood of a Void Beast. Remembering ancient records that this sea area once had the Void Beast Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab, I simply searched the sea and found the remains of a Void Beast in the core of the sea area, which had been severely consumed by sea beasts. Its spirituality was lost, and it was of no great use."
"I have been in seclusion on the island for thirty years, but alas, I have no fate with the path forward, so I return disheartened."
"Dark Star, Sui Yuesheng left."