Liu Xing stood on top of Tide Walker. The wind was quite strong, and his invisible hair billowed. In his right hand, he held a communication orb he had gotten from within the Twelve Sun Empire. He poured qi into it, hoping it would connect to Elder Zhang Zhenking again. While the chance of it happening was small, he had nothing else to do. After a while, when the orb still wasn't working, he sighed, put it in his spatial ring, and looked forward.

  "I wonder how the Twelve Sun Empire is holding up," he muttered.

  That emperor was different from Emperor Yang Jinyan, but meeting him made Liu Xing wonder about the Twelve Sun Empire. He was sure the news about the dragon vein was beginning to spread, and if he did not return soon, the worst could happen.

  Thinking about it twisted his stomach, and anxiety crept into his heart. He shook his head, trying not to dwell on it. He needed to focus and do things as swiftly as possible, yet not so hurriedly that he moved recklessly.

  What he needed to do now was find Yu Heng and Mi Lian, especially Mi Lian. Without her, Ye Xuanming could not perform the ritual. Though, as he scanned the area, he had to consider the possibility that Ye Xuanming would attempt the ritual without her. Currently, even though he knew the Nether Lotus Sect patriarch's goal, he still didn't know much about the ritual itself. The most likely option was a sacrifice, yet he knew there was also a chance Ye Xuanming needed to create another being like Qing Yuan.

  "I won't let him do that," he muttered, his voice gaining a steely edge.

  Liu Xing ordered Tide Walker to slow its flight. He cupped his hands around his ears, strained his eyes, and tried to sense the surrounding qi. They should be nearby. The report was fresh, and he remembered that the white whale was not particularly fast. After searching for a while, he felt a multitude of sources and sensations, as if the area were a soup mixed with hundreds of kinds of qi. He could feel the ambient qi, qi that hinted of the ocean, spirit beasts, cultivators, clouds, fire, lightning, and more. It was chaotic, and the qi moved frantically, like a panicking mass trying to escape a dangerous place, like humans fleeing from erupting volcanoes.

  After he passed several small islands—all of them uninhabited—he felt a familiar yet strange qi. Liu Xing looked down at the shark that had been carrying him for hours. The shark looked up, its eyes questioning why he was observing it. He ignored the confused look and focused on its presence. Tide Walker's presence was peculiar. It was not that of a spirit beast, a treasure, or a cultivator, but a mix of all of them with a sense of strangeness. The closest he could describe it was the sensation of a warm fire that also emitted cold, with a scent that mixed sweet sugar, salty stir-fry, and sour fresh fruit. Those elements mixed together, creating an oddness, yet the complete product felt natural and pleasant.

  He felt another presence similar to Tide Walker's.

  "Do you sense it too, buddy?" he said to his shark. He assumed the whale was similar to Tide Walker, perhaps also made from a treasure, which would make it Tide Walker's sibling.

  Tide Walker looked forward, seemed to frown, and increased its speed. The shark had indeed sensed the whale.

  Liu Xing summoned his gun to his left hand and the Harmony of Two Seas to his right. His heart knocked against his ribs, and anticipation bloomed in his stomach.

  He and Yu Heng were not enemies. In fact, their goals aligned, assuming Yu Heng prioritized his sister's safety. Still, it was good to be ready. The only reason for them to fight was Tide Walker. While he had no intention of stealing it, Yu Heng could certainly think otherwise. If Yu Heng wanted his shark back, Liu Xing would never give it up willingly. Tide Walker was, after all, one of the many he considered a friend.

  Liu Xing looked forward and saw an island not far away. From that island, he sensed churning qi. Atop it, dark clouds swirled as if forming a tornado, and a continuous flash of lightning rained down. Seeing the view and sensing the qi, he came to a conclusion.

  "There's a fight happening there."

  Liu Xing closed his eyes for a moment and focused on the whale's presence. When he confirmed it was indeed emitting from the island, he pressed his lips into a thin line. The churning qi felt strong, and rather than the Nether Lotus Sect, he was sure those fighting were from the great sects. Considering the rain of lightning hitting the island, they were probably from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. He wasn't sure who their enemy was, but he could eliminate the Burning World Sect, since that sect was famous for producing vicious disciples, and fighting them was said to be similar to fighting a volcano.

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  "Boundless Ocean or Verdant Mountains," he murmured.

  He had no evidence, but he felt it was the Heavenly Lightning Sect versus the Verdant Mountains Sect.

  Liu Xing inhaled deeply and willed the shark to fly faster.

  His mission was to secure Yu Heng and his sister, who were probably smack in the middle of a fight between two great sects. He needed to be careful.

  Once he was over the island, he ordered his shark to stop and looked down toward the center. There, the qi churned, and loud sounds rattled the air, making the trees, boulders, and the island itself tremble. He could see those who were fighting, and to his surprise, he realized it was a single disciple versus ten others. The lone disciple wore a torn, dark blue robe, its upper part ripped away to reveal lean but tight muscles. Electricity surrounded the man as he moved left and right like a true bolt of lightning. He held a spear in his right hand, and every time he swung, thrust, or swept it, the spear launched lightning that was not only fast but also devastating. Every bolt that struck the trees, the earth, or the boulders exploded them into smithereens. Furthermore, a lightning strike from the sky followed every attack from the spear, doubling its deadliness.

  While the cultivator's robe was torn, Liu Xing was sure the man was a disciple from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The devastation he wrought was vast and powerful, and its range was enormous. If this fight continued, the island might be destroyed from his continuous attacks. Yet, when Liu Xing tried to sense his cultivation, his eyes widened.

  "Am I hallucinating? Is the man concealing his cultivation, even in the middle of a fight?" he muttered.

  The man was merely a Core Splitting cultivator with only one core, yet his attacks were perhaps comparable with Liu Xing's.

  Liu Xing willed his shark to descend slowly, and as Tide Walker obeyed, he observed his opponents. In total, there were ten cultivators. Their robes were light green, and their qi felt potent and strong. They all ranged from Core Splitting cultivators with one core to those already at the Sun Refining realm. Each and every one of them attacked the man relentlessly. One slapped the ground, causing a big root to sprout, transform into a dragon, and rush toward the man. The man, seeing the root dragon, shouted, jumped into the air, and swiped his spear toward it. The first attack obliterated its head, and the rain of lightning that descended obliterated its body.

  Another disciple from the Verdant Mountains Sect sent a fire phoenix flying at the man, another sent a beam of yellow light, and some created giant shurikens made from leaves. The disciple from the Heavenly Lightning Sect was either dodging or destroying the attacks. His movement speed was immense. The lightning that surrounded him was almost like Liu Xing's Lightning Cloak Technique, yet he knew it was different. The man's lightning felt more violent, as if a misstep would obliterate his body, but it granted explosive strength and speed. In contrast, Liu Xing's was gentler, more subdued, and increased his overall power.

  As Liu Xing observed, he realized that the disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, while capable of contending with many disciples of higher cultivation, was losing. Attacks began to chip away at him, and if this continued, the man would likely die.

  Soon, Liu Xing and Tide Walker arrived on the island's surface, but instead of jumping off, he decided to remain on his shark. The shark felt as if it wanted to jump into the fight, but Liu Xing firmly reined it in.

  "It's not our fight," he stated.

  The shark didn't like it but still obeyed. As they moved, he glanced toward the ongoing fight, toward the chaotic wind it created. The man was shouting and grunting with each attack. Yet, while intense focus filled his eyes, there was also a calmness, as if he believed he would not die today.

  Liu Xing looked away. A weird feeling settled in his stomach, a deep-rooted anxiety, but he didn't know its source. Was it from the fact that he saw himself in the man, or something else? He decided to think about it later. Right now, he had an objective to achieve.

  Liu Xing followed the presence he sensed and soon arrived at a small clearing. A blue barrier was erected there. Inside it, a white whale lay on the ground, its horn cut off and its belly split open. It wasn't dead, though, because its eyes were firmly fixed on its enemy, and the wound was slowly closing and regenerating.

  Yu Heng was there too, his hands touching the wound as if he were the one closing it. Mi Lian was nowhere to be seen, but Liu Xing knew she was here. Perhaps she was inside the whale's belly or concealed by a treasure.

  But Liu Xing's eyes were not focused on Yu Heng, nor was he searching for Mi Lian. Rather, his gaze was locked on a group standing in front of the barrier. Their poses were relaxed but ready. The group consisted of five people.

  He knew two of them personally.

  One was a man wearing a black robe with a black coat over it. His hair was long, and his skin was fair. He held a saber in his right hand—probably a new weapon—ready to fight at any moment. That man was Yu Yongrui. The other was also from his sect. The man wore a medal around his neck, his arms crossed, his chin held high, and his eyes full of disdain. This one was Shen Ye. Liu Xing remembered that he still had a duel with him. He didn't know the rest of the people, but he recognized their robes. Black with a red pattern. The robes so many of his victims wore when they were killed. The robes of the Nether Lotus Sect.

  Liu Xing looked at them and narrowed his eyes. "What's happening here?"

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