Liu Xing descended from the air and landed behind a building that looked like a hotel. Its roof was blue, and it was perhaps eight floors high with multiple balconies and windows. As he descended, he saw through some of the windows, spotting beds and furniture befitting a hotel room. Not only that, the building faced the sea and was probably a wonderful spot to watch the sunset.

  Liu Xing walked around with his invisibility still active. Tide Walker pressed its belly to his head with a smile on its face, as if it were truly enjoying the position. Liu Xing didn't mind. After all, he had ridden it for hours before he arrived at the previous island, where he took yet more lives; he could let the shark ride him for a moment.

  He entered the main street and saw restaurants and shops along the side of the road. The buildings were beautiful and colorful, befitting a paradise island where the rich and influential could spend their days and money. However, the streets were empty. Splatters of blood stained the ground here and there. Some buildings had breached walls, and others were lopsided, as if about to topple. Human skeletons were strewn about, their skin and flesh cleanly separated, as if burned away so thoroughly that a strong wind had washed the ashes away. The skeletons, all lying on their backs, were positioned deliberately, with even gaps between them, like watchers allowing no blind spots.

  Liu Xing realized that these skeletons were a defense mechanism for the island. When an intruder was detected, they would rise and deal with them. Luckily for him, he was invisible. The number of skeletons was staggering, and the sight of them made anger simmer in his stomach.

  This island was quite large. Not as large as Water Tower City, which could accommodate two clans and an academy, but big enough for thousands of people to live harmoniously. In fact, he suspected this island had once been a tourist spot before the Nether Lotus Sect came and used it as they wished.

  He looked ahead and tilted his head up. In the center of the island stood an ugly red building. It was shaped like a mushroom, with a thin base and a wide, drooping cap, yet the building was made from a writhing mass that looked as if it were made of flesh. From around the cap, perhaps thousands of thin wires extended and spread across the island. Some entered the ground, but others ran across the surface, circling buildings like predatory plants strangling their prey.

  The closer Liu Xing got to the giant mushroom building, the more wires he saw, until he was surrounded by them. He had to walk carefully so as not to step on any. The wires looked metallic, yet also organic, with pulsing light traveling along them—some toward the main building, some away. Perhaps they connected to undersea wires and transmitted information to faraway places.

  Liu Xing walked steadily toward the building. He already had a rough plan for raiding the Nether Lotus Sect's bases. First was scouting. He needed to know the locations of the majority of the disciples, the array formation that served as the backbone of the information relay, and the escape routes of the disciples. He would scatter his forces—Tide Walker, his gun, and if the place was vast, his Eyes of Lightning—and once everything was covered, he would begin his attack. Usually, the place where most people were located was also where the array formation was. This scouting usually did not take too long, since he did not aim for perfection. However, since this place was quite vast, he needed to scout a bit more. At most, he would need an hour, and the first place he intended to check was, of course, the main building.

  However, as he arrived near a pond of blood from which quite a lot of wires emerged, he intended to leap over it. But as he prepared to jump, movement caught his eye. To his right, there was a little bug, the size of the tip of his pinky finger, and it was entirely white. It flapped its wings like a hummingbird but looked almost like a large ladybug. Upon seeing it, Liu Xing raised his eyebrows. The little bug looked as if it were made from folded white paper, and it was clearly a technique of some kind.

  Observing it for a moment, Liu Xing moved closer, but at that moment, it flew forward, crossing the pool of blood, and then turned right.

  “Hmm, interesting,” Liu Xing muttered. He leapt across the pool of blood, landed, and walked briskly, following the paper ladybug.

  As he followed, it visited many important looking spots. There was another pool of blood, a building that pulsed red and was covered by little red mushrooms, a rotten corpse—its flesh and skin still intact—that had become a convergence point for many wires, and many more. The bug hid several times from walking skeletons—it seemed the main building was surrounded by legions of them—and Liu Xing concluded that it was an intruder too, just like him.

  From the small amount of qi it possessed, he knew it had no combat capability. But from its complicated movements, he was sure that whoever controlled it was nearby.

  Liu Xing was torn for a moment, wondering whether he should ignore it, since it was not his enemy, or continue following it. After all, this little bug indicated that another intruder was targeting the island. It was likely from a great sect, but there was also a chance it was made by a local cultivator.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  After a moment's thought, Liu Xing decided to follow it. He had a hunch that it would soon lead him to its owner.

  After around ten minutes, when the ladybug was almost depleted of qi, it flew away from the giant mushroom-shaped building. As they moved away, the wires lessened, and when they arrived at the edge of the island, the area looked mostly natural, though some wires were still here and there.

  Soon, the ladybug landed on the sand of a small beach. It was there for a moment, entirely unmoving, when finally, a hand emerged from the sand, then a head, then a body. A man surfaced from the sand, picked up his ladybug, and walked hurriedly into the sea, where he began to swim.

  Liu Xing entered the sea silently and followed the man into open water. After a moment, the man dove into the ocean. At that point, Liu Xing willed Tide Walker to swim ahead of him, making sure it understood to swim not too quickly and silently, before he held on to its fin.

  As Liu Xing followed, he observed the man further. The man was a Lock Opening cultivator, around the fifth or sixth stage. He likely specialized in information gathering and concealment techniques, and he was probably heading to his base.

  This was quite a surprise for Liu Xing. He had thought that, like the other islands, this one was entirely controlled by the Nether Lotus Sect, but it seemed there was some resistance here. Liu Xing did not hold out much hope, though. After he saw their base, he would likely return and follow his initial plan to kill them alone. For now, though, he was curious enough to see how this would play out.

  Soon, the man entered a deep sea cave, and Liu Xing followed. After a moment, it turned upward, and they emerged from a small pool. As the man emerged, Liu Xing leapt out of the pool silently, hoping the ripples he created were concealed by the man's own, and landed to the side. There, Liu Xing saw the man step onto the ground and begin walking. There was another tunnel ahead, and to its sides were torches, indicating that this place was indeed some kind of base.

  It was a short tunnel, and when Liu Xing emerged from it—Tide Walker on top of him again—his eyes widened at the sight of his surroundings.

  It was a vast room with a high ceiling. Hundreds of tents were erected within, and between them were people. Some were sharpening swords, axes, or spears and many other weapons. Some were cultivating silently, whether inside or outside their tents. Some were sparring, with people circling them, while others were exercising, whether practicing their martial arts or merely tempering their bodies. All of them, perhaps almost a thousand people, were cultivators. The majority were still in the Lock Opening realm, while he could sense one or two Core Splitting cultivators here and there.

  The man who had just emerged from the tunnel walked forward. His face was severe, and when he walked, people looked at him and ceased their activities. Those sharpening their weapons stopped, those who trained stopped, and those who were sparring stopped. It was as if the man was a bearer of the most important news in the world. For them, perhaps he was. People in front of him began to part, while people behind began to follow him. His destination was the largest tent in the middle of the encampment.

  Liu Xing moved through the crowd, his heart beating steadily in his ribs. Yet, he felt an excitement in his heart, like the people around him, as if their feelings had infected him. Soon, the man arrived at the front of the tent, where a group of people was already waiting for him.

  Upon seeing them, the man Liu Xing had followed knelt, and in an instant, everyone held their breath.

  “Emperor of the Mirror Tide. I, Zhi Ling, bring you the information that you wanted.” The man licked his lips, then clenched his hands. “It was indeed like you said. The entire island is covered by wires and guards made from skeletons. And like you said, my technique cannot be detected by them. And also like you said, the important places are spaced evenly every fifty meters.”

  “Did you try to check the underground too?” The emperor clasped his hands behind his back, his golden hair reflecting the light.

  “Yes,” the man replied. “And like you said, there are, in total, twelve main wires that if we cut, will halt the array formations in the main base.”

  The emperor nodded. “Have you verified the main wire where the skeleton guards are powered and controlled?”

  “Unfortunately, no. However, I saw that it was indeed connected to several pools of blood.”

  At that, the people around them began to murmur, and Liu Xing looked toward the Emperor of the Mirror Tide Empire. He looked young and handsome, and his skin was fair. He had a relaxed face and an aura that leaked confidence. Behind him stood several people wearing a variety of clothes, yet after observing more closely, Liu Xing saw that their clothes bore the symbols of the Mirror Tide Empire.

  “So, it seems the Mirror Tide Empire isn't sitting idle,” he murmured in the middle of the crowd, his voice drowned by the noise.

  In truth, he was surprised that even the emperor was here. The man was at the peak of the Core Splitting realm. However, power-wise, Liu Xing was sure that he could defeat him one-on-one. Still, he was an emperor, and cultivation was merely one aspect of why he could become one. The other aspects were influence and wealth.

  “Did all of you hear what he has said?” the emperor addressed the crowd. “What I said is the truth. The division that occupies this island is fearsome. However, we have more than enough information and manpower to take back this island. If we succeed, we will deal a heavy blow to the Nether Lotus Sect. This information relay is one of their most important nodes. In taking over this island, we will not only deal a heavy blow to our common enemy but also enact revenge for those who were wronged. As you have learned that I am telling you the truth, let me tell you again what I promised you. We will attack that base—you, as well as my forces—in full power. We will take over the island. And we, my friends, will win!”

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