"AAAAAH... Stay away from me!!"

It wasn’t that Fu Jiaming was a coward. Anyone who had just been tormented by an illogical barrage of poison dragon waves, then blasted by a Poison Domain until they were covered in grime, would shriek in terror upon suddenly discovering such a face right behind them.

Disregarding his massive energy consumption, Fu Jiaming once again threw up a dozen or so Array barriers in quick succession. He was willing to risk suffering an internal injury just to stop Zou Feng from getting any closer.

But the battle had finally, with great difficulty, been dragged into the close-quarters combat that Zou Feng excelled at. How could he possibly let this chance go?

"Gyehehehe..."

Cackling maniacally, Zou Feng broke through the Arrays with his face. Without changing his posture, he smashed headfirst through the Array barriers.

CRACK—CRACK—CRACK...

The crisp sounds of shattering barriers echoed one after another. To Fu Jiaming, they were no different from a demonic, soul-reaping tune.

"You’re... afraid of me?"

Before Fu Jiaming could use any other techniques, Zou Feng’s murderous face was just a fist’s length away.

In that instant, the hairs on Fu Jiaming’s body stood on end. His heart pounded with terror, and it felt as if half his soul had fled his body.

"A dignified Dao Foundation Realm expert, scared of a mere Spiritual Energy Realm cultivator like me?"

As he spoke, Zou Feng spread his iron-like arms, circled behind his opponent, and applied the long-unseen Strong Man Locking Man, clamping down on Fu Jiaming’s neck.

Caught in Zou Feng’s hold, Fu Jiaming could only tilt his head back and struggle helplessly.

However, Zou Feng’s next words plunged him into absolute, boundless despair.

"See it? Your star of death. Isn’t it dazzling?"

Ever since learning that True Monarch Tianyan knew the Great Art of Star Divination, Zou Feng had researched it a little.

Thus, he had long known about the concept of a "star of death" in star divination.

It was the perfect line to shatter Fu Jiaming’s mental defenses.

Sure enough, the line had an even better effect than Zou Feng had anticipated.

After being reminded, Fu Jiaming subconsciously looked up at the sky.

Perhaps it was a hallucination from his injuries and the poison, but in the sky, there truly was a dazzling light, twinkling incessantly.

The moment he realized True Monarch Tianyan’s prediction was coming true—that he was really going to die—Fu Jiaming was utterly paralyzed with fear.

His heart and spirit shattered, his screams grew more and more helpless. How could he possibly mount any decent resistance now?

Zou Feng seized the opportunity to strike while his opponent was down. He pushed his Soul-Burning Art to its absolute limit, turning himself into a literal "Poison Man."

The Yang Sui Fire and the Silent Extinction Poison Flame intertwined, forming an abyss of poison that continuously corroded and devoured Fu Jiaming...

It was worth mentioning that Fu Jiaming was currently ranked number one on the list.

Zou Feng was draining his life through that connection while also taking his life with direct attacks.

For Fu Jiaming, this was, in a sense, a double dose of pleasure.

"Ahhh..."

The screams grew weaker and weaker, then stopped abruptly.

Fu Jiaming was choked until he burst, his entire body rapidly annihilated by the Yang Sui Fire and the Silent Extinction Poison Flame.

Fu Jiaming’s name vanished from the number one spot on the list. There was no need for a finishing blow.

Tossing aside Fu Jiaming’s mangled corpse, Zou Feng immediately stopped using the Yang Sui Soul-Burning Art.

But even though he hadn’t used the technique for long, he still felt dizzy and light-headed, almost unable to stay on his feet.

’As expected of a forbidden art,’ he thought. ’It can’t be used as a conventional combat method at all.’

Not to mention the four consecutive Evil King’s Flame Fiend Poison Dragon Waves he had fired off earlier. The energy consumption was far beyond what an ordinary Spiritual Energy Realm cultivator could handle.

Fortunately, Zou Feng had meticulously planned for this ambush. During the three days he spent sailing on the sea, he had been conserving his strength and had consumed many Elixirs that could temporarily boost his total Spiritual Qi.

Of course, under normal circumstances, one couldn’t take these Elixirs regularly. The side effects would have an irreversible impact on one’s Cultivation.

’Thankfully, for me, I’ve got my big brothers to back me up on that front.’

Tossing back another handful of Pills, Zou Feng caught his breath slightly, then quickly plundered the spirit stones on the ship, stuffing them into his Storage Pouch.

Of course, he didn’t forget to swipe Fu Jiaming’s Storage Pouch as well.

Then, he let the still-blazing Dragon Soaring drift off into the distance.

As for himself, he leaped high into the air and left the Dragon Soaring behind.

Zou Feng had been worried the recent battle might attract the sea clans, so he certainly wasn’t going to stay on the ship.

Next, he executed the Moon Stepping Technique in mid-air and soon landed on the small, uninhabited island he had spotted earlier.

In reality, this uninhabited island was Fu Jiaming’s own hiding spot.

After colluding with the Tianlong Gang, Fu Jiaming only needed to wait here for them to deliver Zou Feng to him.

Although he had successfully turned the tables and eliminated Fu Jiaming—an opponent who could have threatened Tian Yun and Bian Yixia—Zou Feng’s own situation was now rather awkward.

On the vast Fallen Immortal Sea, even with the Flying Celestial Ship as his trump card, how could he guarantee he would find the territory of Great Yan before his spirit stones ran out?

However, Zou Feng wasn’t worried at all. Instead, he took out a special signal flare and tossed it into the sky.

The flare exploded, but there was no dazzling firework display—only an invisible wave of energy that could be detected by a corresponding Spiritual Artifact.

Not long after the signal was sent, a massive ship, no smaller in scale than the Dragon Soaring, slowly sailed toward the uninhabited island.

This was the ship Zou Feng had truly prepared for his journey to Great Yan.

Back then, he had felt that things were proceeding too smoothly and that something was clearly wrong with the Tianlong Gang. So, he pretended to need some time to prepare for the voyage and set the departure date for two days later.

During those two days, Zou Feng visited numerous small coastal factions.

Some of these factions had clearly been visited and warned by Fu Jiaming in advance.

As a Dao Foundation Realm expert, Fu Jiaming was someone these small factions would only dare to cooperate with, not defy.

So their stories were all basically the same: when asked about Great Yan, they knew nothing.

Then, they would all recommend the Tianlong Gang to Zou Feng, saying their fleet had traveled to the most places.

So Zou Feng simply used his Flying Celestial Ship again to travel somewhere farther away, where he finally contacted a faction called the Golden Crane Commerce.

After some verification, he was finally able to confirm that Fu Jiaming’s influence hadn’t reached this place.

Since there was no issue with the Golden Crane Commerce, Zou Feng naturally began negotiations with their Leader and finalized the deal.

When the Dragon Soaring set off, the Xiangrui, dispatched by the Golden Crane Commerce, followed from a great distance.

Of course, to avoid being discovered, the Xiangrui stayed very far from the Dragon Soaring.

That’s why Zou Feng would periodically fire off one of those special signal flares to ensure the Xiangrui didn’t lose them.

Now that he had taken care of Fu Jiaming, Zou Feng could officially board the ship.

"Fellow Daoist Zou!"

At the bow of the Xiangrui, a man covered in scars cupped his hands in a salute from afar.

This man was the captain of the Xiangrui, Huo Qishan.

Anyone daring to serve as a captain on a long voyage across the Fallen Immortal Sea had to be a Cultivator at the Spiritual Energy Realm, at the very least.

Compared to Luo Kai, the Gang Leader of the Tianlong Gang, this Huo Qishan was clearly even stronger.

When Zou Feng had negotiated with the Golden Crane Commerce, he had stopped using Leng Jing’s name.

After all, he knew that these commerce guilds had extensive networks and could immediately verify the authenticity of his identity.

"Thank you for your trouble!"

With that, Zou Feng leaped onto the bow of the Xiangrui.

Huo Qishan made a welcoming gesture, preparing to personally lead this major patron to the specially prepared room.

As for things he shouldn’t ask, he knew better than to pry.

In any case, Zou Feng was a generous client who would earn the Golden Crane Commerce a huge profit, and that was enough.

Besides, his identity had checked out; they knew Zou Feng was a prodigy from the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect who was expected to become a True Inheritor.

One slight issue, however, was that no one currently on board the Xiangrui had actually been to Great Yan.

The Golden Crane Commerce only had a very blurry nautical chart for reaching Great Yan.

But relying on Huo Qishan’s vast sailing experience, the Golden Crane Commerce was still quite confident they could complete the deal. After all, while the Great Yan territory was remote, it wasn’t some secret, hidden land.

Just like that, a month of tedious sailing passed in the blink of an eye.

During this month, the Xiangrui’s luck was good. The journey was smooth and uneventful.

They didn’t encounter any deep-sea behemoths, sea clans, or extreme weather.

But just because they hadn’t encountered them didn’t mean these dangers didn’t exist. Especially the longer the voyage continued, their good luck couldn’t possibly last forever...