Bai Li Gelin whispered, “For the past five years, we’ve spent each day practicing only the basic Five Elements immortal techniques. The rest of our time was devoted to learning how to tame demons. It’s essentially about making them fear you, so they won’t dare harm you and will willingly follow your instructions. Look, the demons we raise don’t have demonic energy. They cultivate using our spiritual energy, so the stronger we become, the stronger they become too.”
Li Fei suddenly had a realization. Making demons fear her and not dare to defy her—couldn’t she do that too?
“I’ve heard this method came from overseas, but who knows? Every sect in the Sea faction claims to have mysterious cultivation techniques from overseas. Who knows what’s true and what’s false? I don’t believe there’s an overseas at all.”
No, it exists.
Li Fei remained silent. She was probably from the Thousand Isles overseas. The existence of overseas lands had always been treated as a legend, yet here she stood, very real and not a legend at all. Moreover, she didn’t need to practice like the Sea faction to make demons fear and obey her. Her constitution naturally terrified demons.
“There’s no smoke without fire. The legend of overseas lands has persisted for thousands of years; there must be a reason,” Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke up. “Overseas lands should exist.”
Bai Li Gelin shrugged, “I don’t believe in things I can’t see.”
Lu Li suddenly asked, “Friends from the Mountain faction, have you heard of the Sea Calamity?”
Sea Calamity? Li Fei felt it sounded familiar. Had she heard it somewhere before?
Lei Xiuyuan pondered, “I heard my master mention it in casual conversation. It seems there’s a Sea Calamity every five hundred years when the waters of the four seas flow back into the Guixu, connecting the Central Plains with the lands beyond the four seas. One can travel overseas during this time.”
Guixu? Wasn’t that also a legend? These were all things that only existed in legends, and hardly anyone believed in them. But Lei Xiuyuan’s master was that Guangwei Immortal, who wouldn’t casually speak nonsense. Could the Guixu and overseas lands exist?
“Five hundred years isn’t that long. How come the Elders never mentioned it?” Bai Li Gelin was also confused. “Could there be overseas lands? If so, I want to go see them during the next Sea Calamity!”
“Hmph, fool! Do you want to go overseas? The heavenly thunder and earthly fire would strike you dead a hundred times over before you could get there!”
Ri Yan’s hoarse voice suddenly appeared by her ear. Li Fei was startled and quickly turned, whispering, “Why are you coming out now? I can’t talk to you!”
“Who wants to talk to a fool like you!”
Ri Yan flicked his tail. His enormous body hovered above the centipede demon, even larger than the entire centipede. He looked around, and suddenly, his eyes showed a rare hint of nostalgia. “Is this the East Sea? Nice place.”
Li Fei didn’t interrupt the fox’s reminiscing, almost forgetting that he was known as the “Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox” in the East Sea Myriad Immortals Society! He might have some pleasant memories with the Sea faction immortals here.
Lu Li said gently, “Since you’ve heard of it, let me explain further. It’s said that only when the Sea Calamity arrives and seawater enters the Guixu can people from the Central Plains travel overseas. Normally, the four seas are separated and extremely dangerous. No matter how powerful an immortal is, they can’t fly across. Our sect has a thousand-year-old immortal who has long surpassed the Elder level, and he also mentioned the Sea Calamity. In his youth, he ambitiously tried to cross the East Sea on his sword. He flew for ten days and nights but encountered heavenly thunder strikes, earthly fire burns, and countless ferocious demons and beasts circling him. If he hadn’t retreated quickly, he would have died on the spot. The two immortals who went with him that day both lost their lives in the East Sea and never returned.”
Bai Li Gelin was extremely doubtful: “Is that true? How come I’ve never heard of this? Who is this thousand-year-old immortal you’re talking about? There are several thousand-year-old immortals in the Myriad Immortals Society!”
Lu Li seemed not to hear her doubts and continued, “I’ve heard that the arrival of the Sea Calamity is a great disaster that worries both the Mountain and Sea factions. Now that the Mountain and Sea factions are intending to interact, it seems the Sea Calamity, which comes every five hundred years, must be approaching. Our Mountain and Sea factions must join forces to face this enemy.”
Hearing him say this, Ri Yan couldn’t help but sneer, “Fool! You can’t even walk properly, what does the Sea Calamity have to do with you!”
Bai Li Gelin kept asking, “The Sea Calamity is a disaster? When will it come? Senior Brother Lu, do you know?”
Ri Yan started rolling his eyes, “Idiot! Five years have passed, and you haven’t improved at all! Instead of worrying about the Sea Calamity, you should worry about your love tribulation!”
Li Fei saw that for every sentence someone said, he would curse once. She couldn’t help but look at him helplessly. The fox chuckled coldly a few times, suddenly leaped up, hovering high, gazing at the distant sea surface, lost in thought, and said nothing more.
Lu Li was determined not to speak to Bai Li Gelin, continuing to pretend he hadn’t heard her questions. Lei Xiuyuan said calmly, “If the Sea Calamity worries even the immortals, what does it have to do with us? Worrying is useless; we might as well focus on our cultivation.”
“Hmph! At least that brat said something sensible!” Ri Yan threw down another comment from above.
As everyone enthusiastically discussed the legendary Sea Calamity and overseas lands, Li Fei didn’t know how to feel. The arrival of the Sea Calamity, connecting to the lands beyond the four seas, was a great disaster. Did this mean that the strange people from the overseas Thousand Isles would invade the Central Plains? What should she do then? The tomb of the strange people from the Thousand Isles sealed in Li Lie Valley—could those be the strange people who died at the hands of the Central Plains immortals during a previous Sea Calamity? Why were they sealed away? Were they kept as trophies?
And her master… He said she was fished out of a river, but that was just a lie, wasn’t it? Senior Brother said he was an already famous immortal. Could he have crossed the four seas and brought her from overseas to the Central Plains? With so many immortals in the immortal sects, and the founders of the academy all being formidable immortals of shocking talent, if they couldn’t cross the four seas, how did her master do it? Who was he?
Suddenly, her hand was squeezed twice. Li Fei looked up and met Lei Xiuyuan’s eyes. He smiled slightly and said softly, “The demons obediently offered the Demon Cinnabar Fruits to the great queen. Aren’t you happy?”
Li Fei couldn’t help but laugh. Earlier, when the demons fled at the sight of her, Lei Xiuyuan couldn’t even cast a Tai’e Technique. Later, when the demons dropped the Demon Cinnabar Fruits in front of him, he teased her about being a great queen coming down to extort from the common people.
“Last time at the academy, were the Demon Cinnabar Fruits also delivered by demons?” Lei Xiuyuan asked softly.
Li Fei nodded silently.
He immediately smiled, then quickly suppressed it and said quietly, “So you’ve been a great queen since childhood.”
This person was annoying, always making her laugh when she was trying to think about serious matters! Li Fei pinched his hand hard, but before she could react, Bai Li Gelin came over with a mischievous smile, linking arms with her and snorting, “I saw that! Li Fei, what were you and Lei Xiuyuan whispering and making eyes at each other about? I’ve long suspected something was up between you two! Come on, confess! What happened in these five years?”
“Nothing happened!” Li Fei hurriedly denied, flustered. “Don’t make wild guesses!”
Bai Li Gelin wouldn’t believe her. Did she think her keen observation was fake?
“Lei Xiuyuan, you tell me,” Gelin smiled at him. “What’s your relationship with Li Fei?”
She’s stirring up trouble again! Li Fei frantically tried to pull her away, but Bai Li Gelin nimbly avoided her, winking at Lei Xiuyuan, “Go ahead, speak boldly!”
Lei Xiuyuan looked at her with an ambiguous smile, just about to speak when suddenly, a huge leopard demon came flying urgently from the distance. On its back sat a female disciple covered in blood. As soon as she saw the two Sea faction disciples here, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she immediately cried out hoarsely, “Help! Save me! Those Mountain faction bastards are trying to steal the Demon Cinnabar Fruits!”
Everyone was slightly shocked. Seeing her covered in blood, Li Fei immediately cast a healing net on her. When the female disciple saw Li Fei’s Mountain faction attire, she immediately shouted angrily, “Who needs fake kindness from you bastards! My two Sea faction friends, please listen to me! Don’t team up with these Mountain faction thieves! After getting the Demon Cinnabar Fruits, they’ll drive us out of the team! Just now, my senior sister and I teamed up with four Mountain faction disciples. After obtaining the Demon Cinnabar Fruits, they attacked us! My senior sister and I barely escaped with our lives, but now we’ve been separated! Please help me!”
How could such a thing happen?! Li Fei found it unbelievable.
After speaking, the female disciple suddenly fainted. Lu Li carried her onto his mount, and everyone came forward to examine her wounds. Fortunately, they were all superficial injuries, probably caused by Tai’e Techniques. Under the cover of the healing net, the wounds quickly healed.
Bai Li Gelin saw that this girl was about twenty years old, with a tall and athletic figure. Although her skin was dark, her features were quite beautiful. She had black patterns tattooed on her forehead and wore short clothes that exposed her arms. Gelin immediately whispered, “She’s a disciple of the Wenjihui, a sect as famous as the Myriad Immortals Society here in the East Sea.”
Everyone fell silent. If this matter spread, it would completely negate the purpose of the initial meeting between the Mountain and Sea factions, and might even cause various disputes.
The female disciple fainted quickly but woke up just as fast. With a whimper, she regained consciousness. Seeing the four people looking at her, she immediately burst into tears, “I never thought the Mountain faction people would be so despicable and shameless!”
Bai Li Gelin patted her shoulder and said softly, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Yan Fei, a disciple of the East Sea Wenjihui.”
So it was the Wenjihui!
Just as Lu Li was about to speak, four male disciples came chasing clouds and mist from the front. As soon as they saw the Sea faction female disciple, one of them angrily shouted, “Hand over the Demon Cinnabar Fruits!” He was about to release an immortal technique.
Lu Li commanded his toad demon to block the front, saying sternly, “What are you all trying to do? Provoke a dispute between the Mountain and Sea factions?”
The four male disciples glanced at him, then noticed the two Mountain faction disciples opposite. They immediately sneered contemptuously, “Just have her hand over the Demon Cinnabar Fruits, and we’ll leave peacefully! Since you can control demons, you can find more yourself!”
Seeing their attitude, Li Fei immediately felt angry. To think there were such scoundrels in the Mountain faction!
Lu Li said in a low voice, “This trial is meant for cooperation and exchange between the Mountain and Sea factions. Aren’t you afraid of creating enmity with your actions?”
One of the male disciples laughed coldly, “Cooperation and exchange? What nonsense are you talking about? Your Elders said snatching was allowed!”
Lei Xiuyuan stared at the four male disciples for a while, then suddenly looked at one of them and said, “You… aren’t you Ji Tongzhou’s lackey?”
The man’s face alternated between red and green. He naturally recognized Lei Xiuyuan now too, but never expected that after five years, this person could still recognize him as a former prince’s lackey, and even say it in front of so many people. It was utterly humiliating.
Lei Xiuyuan looked at their disciple robes again and said knowingly, “People from the Longming Seat, no wonder.”
The Longming Seat disciple said grimly, “What, do you want to interfere and snatch the Demon Cinnabar Fruits too?”
“You’re right.”
Lei Xiuyuan suddenly transformed into a golden light, moving so fast that no one could react. The four men only felt a gust of wind pass by, and the golden light darted back. Lei Xiuyuan was holding a Demon Cinnabar Fruit, which he waved, saying, “This was snatched from her senior sister, right?”
The several Longming Seat disciples were immediately shocked. However, the situation was now unfavorable for them. The other side also had four people, and that man seemed particularly formidable, moving so fast they couldn’t even see clearly. If he had intended to kill rather than just take the Demon Cinnabar Fruit, they would already be dead. They immediately retreated, shouting angrily, “The Longming Seat will remember this grudge of snatching the Demon Cinnabar Fruit today!”
Bai Li Gelin was even angrier, “You should be more concerned about the Longming Seat making enemies with the entire Sea faction! You’ve ruined the reputation of the Mountain faction!”
As she spoke, Lei Xiuyuan had already tossed the Demon Cinnabar Fruit to the Sea faction female disciple, Yan Fei. She was very surprised, her eyes widening as she stared at him intently.