Chapter 178: Chapter 119: Intelligence on Undying Island

"Have you never thought of killing him and taking his place?"

The Vermilion Bird Hall Master froze for a moment, then shook his head emphatically.

"The Young Venerable is our future. There is absolutely no possibility of replacing him."

"What’s so special about him?"

"That... I cannot say."

Fang Shuwen nodded, letting the matter drop. He rubbed his fingertips together gently before asking another question.

"Can you tell me the location of Undying Island?"

"I cannot say that either."

"Then tell me about the Venerable One."

"...Matters concerning the Venerable One are even more taboo."

"The only thing I can tell you is that the Venerable One is currently unable to leave Dragon Emperor Hall. Otherwise, no one in the entire Jianghu would be his match."

He said this with conviction, but Fang Shuwen was unconvinced.

Undying Island was isolated in a remote corner of the world, and with its numerous masters, its people naturally looked down on the Eastern Domain Martial World.

But the Jianghu was vast; how could it possibly be compared to a single island?

Their blindness was a classic case of a frog in a well.

Still, Fang Shuwen was curious.

"Why can’t he leave Dragon Emperor Hall?"

"...I cannot say."

"Can you write it down?"

"That won’t work either."

The Vermilion Bird Hall Master didn’t wait for Fang Shuwen’s next question and continued.

"The Divine Fire Seal is a seed, condensed by the Venerable One using a Supreme Divine Technique."

"Receiving this seed is both a monumental blessing and a restraint."

"This technique is bound to one’s spirit, its mysteries profound and esoteric."

"It’s not so simple that it’s only triggered by speaking."

"That’s why I cannot say it, cannot write it, and cannot take you there directly..."

Fang Shuwen grew thoughtful and decided to ask for more details about the Divine Fire Seal.

The Vermilion Bird Hall Master thought for a moment and didn’t hide anything.

The Divine Fire Seal’s main function was to prevent information about Undying Island from leaking. If people from Undying Island gathered together, they could speak freely. But if an outsider was present, it would trigger the Divine Fire Seal and burn the speaker alive.

However, while the Divine Fire Seal was a restriction, it was also a blessing.

It contained the Inner Strength of the Venerable One, which provided great assistance during their training, allowing their Inner Power Cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds in a short time.

Fang Shuwen thought about it carefully. ’What he’s saying is probably true.’

’The Divine Fire Seal must have two layers.’

’The first layer is formed from Inner Strength, which is the part I was able to absorb with the North Nether Divine Technique.’

’The second layer, on the other hand, is constructed from a Spiritual Secret Technique.’

’A deep strand of Pure Yang True Qi is still hidden within it, one that even the North Nether Divine Technique has difficulty absorbing.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This caused a ripple of unease in Fang Shuwen’s heart.

It was like glimpsing a spot on a leopard, but the Divine Fire Seal alone was enough to show that the Venerable One in Dragon Emperor Hall was no ordinary person.

Likewise, the fact that the Young Venerable could tamper with the Divine Fire Seal was just as telling.

However, this raised some questions.

’Based on the Vermilion Bird Hall Master’s words and demeanor, there’s no reason why the Young Venerable would want to harm him.’

’So what was his reason for doing this?’

Trying to figure it out with baseless speculation was pointless.

’The greatest reward would be to meet this Young Venerable and speak with him face-to-face.’

At this thought, Fang Shuwen stopped dwelling on it and asked the Vermilion Bird Hall Master a few more things.

He asked about Undying Island’s sphere of influence and whether there were other halls besides the Vermilion Bird Hall.

The answer was rather startling to Fang Shuwen.

Undying Island itself consisted of only one island and five palaces.

Besides Dragon Emperor Hall, there were the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise Halls.

But over the years, their influence had spread. Through covert expansion, they had long since taken control of the thousand-li sea radius centered on Undying Island.

These areas appeared to be under the control of other factions, but in reality, they were all under Undying Island’s command.

This was how Undying Island had remained unknown to the outside world.

Fang Shuwen then asked the Vermilion Bird Hall Master which factions they secretly controlled.

Since this didn’t involve the specific location of Undying Island, the Vermilion Bird Hall Master didn’t hide the information.

Fang Shuwen committed each of these factions to memory. ’If I find the Young Venerable in the future but still can’t get specific intel, I’ll have to use the brute-force method: work backward from these controlled factions to deduce Undying Island’s exact location.’

’But that method is too slow and not very effective.’

’It would also attract Undying Island’s attention and easily tip them off.’

’The good thing is that the Venerable One of Dragon Emperor Hall can’t leave. Even if I alert them, I don’t have to worry about him running off with the whole island.’

After asking everything he could and the Vermilion Bird Hall Master saying everything he was able to...

Fang Shuwen decisively killed him with a single palm strike.

He had fulfilled his promise and given him a quick death.

However, Fang Shuwen didn’t leave in a hurry. He first burned the body, then waited an entire night to make sure the man didn’t have some kind of Phoenix Nirvana ability, before finally heading back to Yuqing Pavilion with Miao Feichan.

He had to go back. For one, his Blood-Sinking Demon Sword was still at Yuqing Pavilion and he needed to retrieve it.

He also couldn’t break his promise to Yu Yaoguang about asking for instruction on her Fingering Technique.

But on the way, Fang Shuwen first asked Miao Feichan for some pointers on her Lightweight Technique.

Miao Feichan actually had a mind not to tell him—after all, she still held a grudge. But after one look at Fang Shuwen’s face, she couldn’t stop herself from sharing her experience, even pointing out many of the secrets of her Lightweight Technique.

As a result, Fang Shuwen’s speed increased throughout their journey back.

Though he was still far slower than Miao Feichan, he was incomparably faster than before. If he were to chase the Hundred Ghosts Hall Master now, it definitely wouldn’t take him a full hour.

He could catch him in half an hour at most.

They had been gone for quite some time; by the time they returned to Yuqing Pavilion, three days had passed.

The battlefield in front of Yuqing Pavilion had already been cleaned up. The battle had resulted in the complete annihilation of the invading enemies from the Hundred Ghosts Hall and Dragon Emperor Hall.

However, the bodies of Li Xiuci and the other members of the Sang Mountain Seven Face were nowhere to be seen. They likely had not participated in this battle.

Returning to the main hall on the front mountain, he saw Zhai Xing, who told him two things.

The first was that the Yuqing Fruits had, for some unknown reason, ripened early.

The one meant for Zhou Qingmei had already been given to her.

To ensure the fruit’s effects were maximized, Zuo Qingshuang had taken her back to Zhuji Pavilion ahead of schedule. She was going to teach her the Golden Jade Divine Technique, which, when supplemented by the Yuqing Fruit, could cause her Power to advance by leaps and bounds and her Cultivation to soar in a short period.

Before leaving, Zhou Qingmei had left a letter for Fang Shuwen, entrusting it to Zhai Xing for delivery.

The second thing was... Yu Yaoguang had requested his presence.