Young Noble Be Monster Slaying-Chapter 806: I Have a Dream (I)

Gazing into the distance with a troubled expression, Xu Ziyang repeated what the spirit of Bronze City had said before he died.

"It was just a nameless island back then… Now, it might not even exist anymore…"

Standing in midair beside Xu Ziyang, Lin Bei and Chu Liang frowned as they gazed into the distance too.

Lin Bei tilted his head and muttered, "He calls that a 'small island'?"

"It's been so long," Chu Liang replied. "Seas shift and lands change over time. Parts of that old island might have merged into this place."

…

Chu Liang, Lin Bei, and Xu Ziyang had been flying across the East Sea, waiting for a signal from the bronze talisman that the spirit of Bronze City had given to Xu Ziyang.

After five days, the bronze talisman finally felt a little warm and vibrated.

Tens of thousands of years had passed, yet the enchanted formation inscriptions on the bronze talisman still retained their spiritual qi and continued to function. The tool-making abilities of the Jiuli Tribe were truly unparalleled.

It was unsurprising that large enchanted tools could endure millennia. However, even this bronze talisman, such a small and seemingly unimportant enchanted tool, had managed to remain functional over such a vast period. That spoke volumes about the Jiuli Tribe's craftsmanship.

Using the growing intensity of the bronze talisman's vibration as a guide, the trio from Mount Shu moved in a certain direction until they finally arrived at an island.

To be precise, it was a group of three islands—Penglai, Fanghu, and Yingzhou.

Indeed, they had arrived at the Three Islands of Penglai, deep within the East Sea! Beneath the colorful mist, the islands appeared to stretch on endlessly, shrouded in celestial qi. Mirage Mountain loomed above the clouds, looking like an abode belonging to deities.

The other half of the bronze talisman was hidden somewhere within the three islands beneath Mirage Mountain.

…

"This… is going to be tricky," Chu Liang muttered, forcing a wry smile.

The members of the Penglai Secondary Sect lived on the three islands. These islands were known as the greatest paradise for cultivating treasures of nature and were strictly forbidden to outsiders. As for Mirage Mountain, that was where the members of the Penglai Supreme Sect lived, and it served as the official reception area for visitors from other immortal sects.

If it were any other sect, Chu Liang could probably leverage his connections to gain access. After all, as Silver Sword Peak's eldest disciple, he wasn't about to sneak into someone else's sect to steal spirit plants.

In the past, the relationship between the Mount Shu Sect and the Penglai Supreme Sect had always been strained but never openly hostile. At worst, the Mount Shu Sect had aligned itself closely with the Celestial King Sect, standing in slight opposition to the Penglai Supreme Sect. Even so, both sides had always maintained a semblance of civility.

However, a bold young genius from the Mount Shu Sect recently went over to the Penglai Supreme Sect… and publicly beheaded Qi Lin'er in front of countless members of various immortal sects.

Ever since that incident, tensions between the Mount Shu Sect and the Penglai Supreme Sect had escalated into open conflict. Now, even wandering near the East Sea was dangerous for a Mount Shu Sect disciple, let alone infiltrating the Penglai islands.

This was like the saying, "When the predecessors chop down trees, it is their successors who suffer in the sun." However, in Chu Liang's case, it was more like chopping a tree and then having it come crashing down on his own head.

"If we really can't get in, I might have an idea," Lin Bei said. "I know two people in the Penglai Supreme Sect…"

Chu Liang and Xu Ziyang looked at him in surprise. "You have friends in Penglai?"

They knew Lin Bei was well-connected, but they never expected that he would make friends with members of the enemy factiontoo. That was a big shock.

"I'm not a traitor! They're not my friends." Lin Bei waved his hands hurriedly. "They're my subordinates."

Chu Liang: "?"

Lin Bei explained the situation, and Chu Liang finally understood.

It turned out that the Penglai Supreme Sect strictly prohibited its disciples from interacting with members of the Mount Shu Sect. So, even though Red Cotton Peak had been thriving like an unstoppable wildfire in recent years, the Penglai Supreme Sect cultivators had never set foot there.

Mirage Mountain was divided into three factions. The Fanghu faction was the core of the Penglai Supreme Sect. Led by Daoist Chi Niu, it had always been hostile toward the Mount Shu Sect and thus enforced the ban with great passion.

On the other hand, the Yingzhou faction, Xi Miaoxian's faction, had always held a pacifist stance and had no interest in worldly affairs. They went along with the ban, but they weren't particularly committed to upholding it.

As a result, some disciples of the Yingzhou faction started smuggling spirit plants out from the Penglai Islands to sell on Red Cotton Peak. Lin Bei had come across a few of those disciples and gradually managed to recruit two of them as subordinates. They became the Mount Shu Sect's spies in the Penglai Supreme Sect.

Lin Bei explained, "Actually, this is a strategy that Penglai has used a lot. They planted spies in the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten, and their spies are always stirring up trouble. You know, the Heavenly Star Divine Cult's split? I wouldn't be surprised if it was the result of Penglai's spies secretly fanning the flames of conflict.

"Years ago, they even tried to divide our sect's thirty-six peaks. Fortunately, our sect leader and Guardian Elders stood united and very quickly put an end to the spies' negative influence."

Chu Liang realized then that conflicts had always been occurring within his sect, but he had simply never been involved in them.

Xu Ziyang had served as an attendant for six years, so he was already familiar with such matters and wasn't surprised.

Lin Bei sighed. "The Penglai Supreme Sect will never stop trying to bring us down."

He took out his Circle of Immortal Friends Token and sent a message. Soon after, two beams of rainbow light streaked across the sky.

Having private servers in the Circle of Immortal Friends made communication very convenient, but there was still one more feature Wen Yulong had yet to implement—private messaging. He still had not found a way to allocate enough spirit sense to process the overwhelming number of messages, so he could not implement the Soul Domain's private messaging feature.

After all, without proper oversight, the Circle of Immortal Friends could easily become a tool for evildoers and traitors of immortal sects to conduct illicit activities. If that were the case, it would be better not to introduce the feature at all.

In the meantime, Chu Liang and his close friends and affiliates had already received the latest update of the Circle of Immortal Friends, giving them the ability to create private servers. Lin Bei was, of course, one of them.

As the two beams of rainbow light landed before the trio, the light faded to reveal two Penglai Supreme Sect disciples in blue robes.

They greeted Lin Bei in unison. "Brother Lin! You called for us?"

Lin Bei replied, "Yes, let me introduce you. This is my superior—the Mount Shu Sect's Chu Liang."

Lin Bei then gestured toward the pair and said, "And these two are Lin Chuan and Xue Pu—virtuous and righteous members of the Penglai Supreme Sect who renounced the dark and sought the light."

Lin Chuan and Xue Pu smiled. "It's too much to call us virtuous and righteous... We're just doing this because of our friendship with Brother Lin."

Of course, the real reason was that working with Lin Bei paid much better than working for their sect.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chu Liang got straight to the point. He pointed at Fanghu Island, where the bronze talisman was directing them to go.

He asked, "We need to enter Fanghu Island to find something. Is there a way we can get in?"

"Ah…" Lin Chuan frowned. "That won't be easy. The Penglai Secondary Sect's Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation is far stricter than the Penglai Supreme Sect's. If you don't have an access talisman, you'll be attacked immediately."

After all, the Penglai Secondary Sect had fewer powerful cultivators but far more precious spirit plants, so it would definitely have much tighter security measures to defend against thieves.

Xue Pu chimed in. "We have access talismans, but we're on duty in the law enforcement team. Many people on the Three Islands know us, so we'd attract too much attention. It wouldn't be convenient to search for an item."

"What if we used your access talismans instead?" Chu Liang asked. "Would that be risky?"

After all, the access talismans were merely keys to unlock the Grand Mountain-Protecting Formation. They were not bound to the disciples; anyone could use them.

"Hm?" Lin Chuan blinked. "That could work, but…"

Xue Pu finished the line for him. "You'd best make yourselves look darker."

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

…

The Three Islands of Penglai were vast. Together, they covered an area that was larger than a province. The islands were covered with incredibly dense spiritual qi, and in the past, spirit plants could be found growing every few dozen steps. For countless generations, the indigenous people of the islands lived freely within this paradise.

However, the indigenous cultivators lacked a proper cultivation system. Despite having access to abundant resources, few of them managed to break through the Heavenly Gate and advance to the seventh realm. So, when immigrants from the Nine Provinces flooded into Penglai, the indigenous people lost ownership of the three islands and were relegated to the Penglai Secondary Sect.

The Penglai Secondary Sect had since grown in number, becoming a huge sect with members living across the three islands. They were responsible for tending to and guarding the treasures of nature. One spirit plant could take decades or even centuries to fully mature. Without proper care, maybe only one in ten spirit plants could survive to maturity.

Yet, once these treasures of nature matured, they had nothing to do with the Penglai Secondary Sect. The law enforcement team would harvest the spirit plants. After that, the spirit plants would be distributed to disciples in the Penglai Supreme Sect to be used for cultivation or the sect would sell them to outsiders.

If a spirit plant that a cultivator of the Penglai Secondary Sect was in charge of withered and died, the cultivator would face severe punishment. And if anyone dared to steal a spirit plant for themselves, the punishment was death.

No matter how much effort or how many centuries the members of the Penglai Secondary Sect devoted to nurturing the spirit plants, they had no claim over them.

The only way the members of the Penglai Secondary Sect could free themselves from that fate was to be born with exceptional cultivation talent. Those deemed worthy would be chosen to join the Penglai Supreme Sect and removed from their duties as a member of the Penglai Secondary Sect.

Otherwise, they would have to continue enduring the scorching sun of the East Sea every day, tending to countless spirit plants that they would never be allowed to use.

Over thousands of years, the members of the Penglai Secondary Sect had developed severely tanned skin—a mark of the suffering they endured.

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD