Chapter 302 : Island Incident
Chapter 302: Island Incident
Elysium Island was actually involved with the Heavenly Residence!
When Chen Ming left Du Caiyue’s place, he felt this matter had become rather tricky.
The Heavenly Residence should be the highest-level dungeon and possessed the most powerful forces in this world. For a Divine Repository Realm expert to forge a Converging Palace and then form a Primordial Embryo, they must obtain the Exquisite Nectar from the Heavenly Residence.
This alone showed how high-level the dungeon was.
This wasn’t something he could meddle in at the moment.
“One month from now, the Heavenly Residence will reopen.”
No wonder Du Caiyue had agreed on a six-month timeframe with him. When the Heavenly Residence reopened, surely many experts above the Divine Repository Realm would gather. Attempting to rescue someone at that time would be nearly impossible.
Should he go or not?
Chen Ming seriously pondered this question.
…
Early the next morning.
Chen Ming disguised himself as an unremarkable middle-aged man and boarded an ordinary merchant ship. Ships like this were common at the port, operated by a mid-sized maritime merchant who had been in business for many years.
Although it wasn’t the best season for sailing, it wasn’t the worst either. Setting sail at this time didn’t attract attention.
This was Chen Ming’s first time boarding a ship in both his lifetimes. With his constitution, he naturally didn’t suffer from seasickness and adapted quite well.
He still decided to make the trip. With his current strength and the perfected level of Phoenix Dances Through the Nine Heavens, even if he encountered a Divine Repository Realm expert, he might not win but could certainly escape.
Better to check the situation first. If it proved unmanageable, he could still leave in time.
After two days at sea, the merchant ship had already drifted far from the mainland. No matter which direction one looked, it was boundless ocean.
That night, the ship arrived at a lone island. After dropping off Chen Ming and several others, it left.
Then, the group waited on the island for half a day. At dawn, another large ship emerged from the thick fog and docked on the island.
It was a pirate ship, flying a red flag—the mark of its allegiance to the current ruler of the Eastern Sea, the Red Sea Lord!
This ship had come specifically to receive them.
The pirates onboard were all fierce-looking individuals. The captain, in particular, was at the Fourth Grade level.
Such strength was insignificant before Chen Ming. But among pirates, that already made him a top-tier expert.
In pirate circles, true experts were rare. Even the infamous Pirate King, the Red Sea Lord, was merely Second Grade.
However, in this vast and boundless sea, forget First Grade—even a Divine Repository Realm expert would struggle to track down the Red Sea Lord’s whereabouts.
What made pirate lords so troublesome was never their strength, but their ability to vanish without a trace.
Someone like the Sea-Calming King, willing to spend over a decade building warships, recruiting subordinates, mastering sea routes, and who himself possessed First Grade strength—was exceedingly rare.
People of such caliber would not normally waste time and effort on these matters. For them, advancing in martial arts was far more important.
As for the maritime merchants—firstly, they lacked organizational ability; secondly, they couldn’t afford such enormous costs.
When Chen Ming boarded the pirate ship, he curiously inspected it.
Everyone on board was a brawny martial artist. Even the lowest-ranked sailors were Eighth or Ninth Grade. Their skin was deeply tanned, and they all looked ferocious, practically wearing “Don’t mess with me” on their faces.
After verifying their tokens and passwords, the pirates confirmed their identities and shoved them into a cramped cabin, warning them not to wander without reason.
Seeing that the other three made no objections, Chen Ming naturally didn’t stir up trouble either.
Among the three, one was Fourth Grade, and the other two were Fifth Grade. Even they tolerated such treatment, indicating this was pirate protocol.
…
Ten days later.
Elysium Island was in sight.
Chen Ming was very surprised. The legendary Elysium Island was actually this close to Qingfeng City?
When he followed the other three up to the deck, he noticed the surrounding area was filled with thick fog.
He tested it and found that his divine sense was blocked by the mist and couldn’t extend outward.
“Just as Du Caiyue said, there’s dense fog around Elysium Island. Without the proper method to enter, anyone barging in would lose their way and never find the island again.”
The captain held a lantern in hand. The flame inside burned pale blue, and its glow reflected off the mist, scattering into brilliant azure hues.
This was likely a signal lamp. Once spotted by those on the island, someone would come out to meet them.
Sure enough, after a short while, the sound of oars splashing came from the fog.
“Whose ship is it?”
“It’s me, Zhang Laosan,” the captain said respectfully. “Today I bring four honored guests to the island. Please verify their identities.”
A voice from within the mist replied, “Those who wish to land, show your tokens.”
At once, Chen Ming and the other three took out their tokens.
Suddenly, the tokens in their hands all lit up. Wherever the light shone, the mist dispersed, and the area within ten meters ahead became clear.
“Not bad. All are tokens personally issued by the Island Master.”
The voice said again. A small skiff emerged from the mist and came alongside the ship, rowed by a burly man wearing a straw raincoat.
Third Grade!
With one sweep of his divine sense, Chen Ming discerned the man’s true cultivation.
No wonder the captain was so respectful.
For someone merely in charge of ferrying people to the island to already be Third Grade—this showed just how mysterious Elysium Island truly was.
The raincoat-clad man said, “Get aboard.”
So, Chen Ming and the other three jumped down onto the skiff.
“Hold on tight.”
The man rowed the boat into the depths of the mist.
Moments later, the pirate ship behind them had vanished.
Chen Ming felt curious. In this thick fog, where divine sense couldn’t penetrate, how did the man know which way to go?
After a while, the boat came to a sudden stop.
One of the passengers asked, “Why have we stopped, envoy?”
The man said, “You’ve all heard about the recent situation on the island, right? To avoid outsiders sneaking in, I need to inspect your tokens. Hand them over.”
The one who spoke earlier hesitated and said, “There was no such rule before…”
The burly man said coldly, “What was the rule before is in the past. Things are different now. If you refuse to hand it over, forget about getting on the island. You can jump into the sea and swim back.”
While the other three were still hesitating, Chen Ming took the initiative and handed over his token. “I’ll hand it over.”
Seeing how cooperative he was, the burly man seemed quite satisfied. He turned to the other three. “What, you’re not willing to hand them over?”
At this point, no matter how reluctant they were, the three could only surrender their tokens.
Jumping into the sea to swim back here was no different from suicide.
Never mind whether they could swim out of the fog zone—if they even could—how could they possibly swim all the way back to the mainland?
After collecting the four tokens, the burly man resumed rowing forward.
Chen Ming stood beside him, pretending to appear uneasy.
That night, Du Caiyue had reminded him that on Elysium Island, this token was their credential—without it, one couldn’t take a single step.
But under these circumstances, he had no choice but to hand it over first. This was a case of “skilled art begets boldness.” At this distance, reclaiming his token would only take a second.
Getting onto the island came first.
…
After a while, the skiff finally made landfall.
Once ashore, the thick fog surrounding them mysteriously vanished, and the view cleared up, revealing a vibrant, verdant island.
Looking up, it seemed as though a white dome covered the sky above—a circular dome, with the dense, white area above it being the same mist that enveloped the island’s exterior.
The island was vast—its boundaries invisible to the eye.
Chen Ming could vaguely see a pillar far in the distance, stretching up to the sky and piercing the dome above.
At the same time, he felt an intense discomfort—as if the island itself was repelling him. Even the Gang Origin and divine sense within his body were being suppressed.
Apparently, without the token, the island regarded him as an intruder.
“Envoy, what is the meaning of this?”
Suddenly, the Fourth Grade martial artist’s voice rang out, both shocked and furious.
Chen Ming retracted his gaze and looked at the group that had come to “greet” them. They were fully armed and held shackles in their hands.
The burly man said coldly, “The island is under lockdown. By order of the Three Elders, all those landing must be temporarily detained and thoroughly interrogated—to check if any spies from Great Jin have infiltrated.”
“No! I serve the Honored Sea Lord! You have no right to seize me—”
“Does the Island Master know what you’re doing?”
“Damn it, you people of Elysium Island have broken your word—”
All three of them began shouting in anger.
The burly man said indifferently, “Shackle them. Without their tokens, their strength is heavily suppressed—”
Bang—
Before he could finish, his body was already sent flying. He hit the ground, spat out blood, and died on the spot without even groaning.
As for the few subordinates holding the shackles, they too perished on the spot.
Seeing this sudden turn of events, the three were stunned and stared at Chen Ming with looks of shock.
Never would they have imagined that the unremarkable middle-aged man they had eaten and traveled with for over ten days would turn out to be a formidable expert—killing a Third Grade cultivator with a single strike.
Chen Ming ignored them. After retrieving his token, he turned and left, disappearing swiftly.
Only then did the other three come to their senses. They hurriedly reclaimed their tokens and threw the corpses into the sea before quickly leaving the area as well.
…
After taking back the token, the sense of repulsion immediately vanished.
“Looks like this Elysium Island really is similar to a secret realm—it follows its own unique rules.”
Given the situation earlier, he couldn’t just surrender himself. He had no choice but to kill.
A poor start.
With things like this, he no longer intended to delve deeper into Elysium Island. The situation on the island was likely already quite dire.
According to Du Caiyue, the original inhabitants led by three families sought to slaughter all outsiders on the island.
The Island Master of Elysium Island was highly ambitious—constantly absorbing outsiders, including pirates, martial artists who couldn’t survive on the mainland, and even forces from the nations of the Southern Sea.
The Island Master not only took them in but also freely taught them martial arts. Over the decades, many experts emerged—two even reaching the Divine Repository Realm.
After years of development, the strength of Elysium Island had steadily grown.
But naturally, the original inhabitants of the island felt an overwhelming crisis. If things continued, their living space would be increasingly occupied by outsiders.
Yet the Island Master was too strong, with immense prestige. They couldn’t resist him. They could only take advantage of his seclusion to launch a sudden attack and exterminate all the outsiders.
When the Island Master eventually emerged, it would be too late. He would still have to rely on them, the original inhabitants.
Chen Ming had no interest in such internal strife. He now planned to capture a few locals, question them about the island’s current state, and then find a way to locate the Guardian Sacred Beast.
If there were no leads within ten days, he would simply make a run for it.
…
Soon, two days passed.
Chen Ming had captured a few people and gained a general understanding of the island’s current state.
Elysium Island was divided into South City and North City. The south housed the original inhabitants; the north was for the outsiders.
That day, the three families launched a sudden attack and severely injured one of the outsiders' Divine Repository experts—but failed to kill him. Then, unexpectedly, another Divine Repository expert emerged from the outsiders’ side.
Three versus three—resulting in a stalemate.
Below them, the fighting raged on. Many died, but the six Divine Repository experts no longer made any moves.
Because there was another force on the island—a messenger from the Moon God Sect. This envoy remained neutral, and it was precisely due to this person’s presence that both sides held back.
If the Moon God Sect sided with one party, the other was bound to lose.
But if the Moon God Sect stayed neutral, both parties would fear that if they ended up in a mutual slaughter, the Moon God Sect might seize the advantage.
The Moon God Sect practiced the Blood Demon Grand Art. That was no joke.
However, Chen Ming had still found no information regarding “Sister Red.” With both sides at war, information was delayed, and people were dying daily.
In such a situation, it was hard to get news about any specific individual.
Similarly, he had yet to find any trace of the Guardian Sacred Beast. According to Du Caiyue, the Sacred Beast rarely revealed its true form before others. Encountering it would require some luck.
By the fifth day—
At the side of a small stream, Chen Ming was washing his face when his expression suddenly changed. He turned toward the east.
In the distance, ten li away, several figures were approaching. It was too far to make out who they were.
But their strength wasn’t weak—one of them was even a First Grade expert.
That First Grade cultivator led three Third Grade martial artists in pursuit of a Second Grade.
“Hmm?”
Chen Ming was about to find a place to hide, when suddenly something caught his attention. He stared at the woman fleeing in front. She wore white, and her body was stained with blood.
The Gang Origin she emanated—he knew it all too well. It was the Mysterious Water True Art!
Moreover, her Mysterious Water Gang Origin was incredibly pure. Occasionally, when she turned to counterattack, even the pursuing First Grade expert dared not face it head-on, choosing instead to dodge—he must’ve suffered losses before.
“With Second Grade cultivation, her Gang Origin has such power. How did she train it?”
A trace of curiosity rose in Chen Ming’s heart.
At that moment, they drew closer. The First Grade expert chasing from behind shouted, “Saintess, you can’t escape. Hand over the item! Is it really worth dying for?”
The white-clad woman didn’t respond—she only kept running.