First Day

The Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish had been taken down, and everyone finally let out a breath of relief.

Zheng Anbang forced a smile. "The flesh and blood of this strange fish are all essence. Even Martial Artists in the Blood Burning Realm would benefit greatly from eating it. This one looks to weigh several hundred jin; after removing the bones and inedible organs, it might be worth five or six hundred thousand Crystal Coins."

This was, at least, finding joy amid bitterness.

In truth, because Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish were far too dangerous, the upper ranks of Island Town would rather such creatures never appeared, even if one could fetch several hundred thousand Crystal Coins.

Sun Chengshan, listening nearby, felt the same.

A single Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish already required the Island Town's highest-level combat force—a captain—to deal with it.

Yet there was only one captain. What if two, or even more, Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish appeared at once?

Whether they could truly defend this Island Town would then be hard to say.

Moreover, the danger rating of Island No. 732 would need to be reassessed. Whether this place would still be suitable for habitation would become a question.

Fortunately, current judgment suggested that the Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish was a powerful solitary predator of the deep sea.

Even when one appeared, it would usually be alone rather than arriving in numbers.

After that, until evening, following the patterns of the past, the nighttime tide seemed to be affected by celestial bodies beyond the planet and gradually calmed.

By the following day, the temperature would surge sharply again, and the tide would erupt in its second wave.

Thus, everyone returned to rest with their respective gains, preparing to fight again tomorrow.

After just one day, the beach and shoreline had become a complete mess.

Quite a few Martial Artist corpses lay there in miserable states, awaiting transport and disposal by military soldiers.

At Duanhu Saber Hall, Ding Lei frowned as he paced restlessly back and forth through the main hall.

"Still no news of Shihao?!"

He had already sensed that something was wrong. His chief disciple had not returned all afternoon—how could he possibly rest easy?

"No. I've searched everywhere we could search, and I asked around the shore. Everyone said they hadn't seen Senior Disciple Brother.

"Even Chunmanyuan, the place Senior Disciple Brother often visits—we went there too. We asked Cuihua and Xiaohong, but neither had seen him."

A saber hall disciple lowered his head and spoke cautiously.

"Who are Cuihua and Xiaohong?" Ding Lei demanded angrily.

Sweat beaded on the disciple's forehead, but he still answered, "They are Senior Disciple Brother's two confidantes at Chunmanyuan."

Ding Lei's face immediately darkened further. He flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly.

He knew all about Fang Shihao's bad habits.

If Fang Shihao had not spent every day reveling in wild indulgence, without knowing how to restrain himself, he would likely have reached the Body Tempering Fourth Layer Realm long ago.

How could he have allowed Song Hezheng, the chief disciple of Shadowless Fist Gym, to swagger about so proudly?

Toward Fang Shihao, Ding Lei both loved and hated this disciple.

His indulgence had been real, and he often regretted not having disciplined Fang Shihao more harshly from the start.

Now, Fang Shihao's actions were becoming increasingly thoughtless. Ding Lei felt that sooner or later, something major would happen.

"Go! Have every disciple search for him. Shihao must be found tonight!" Ding Lei shouted, disregarding the exhausted expressions of his disciples.

Over at Shadowless Fist Gym, Wang Yu washed up and hurriedly lay down to rest without doing anything else.

After being drenched in rain all day, fighting others to the death, and being tossed about repeatedly by sea beasts, anyone would have been exhausted.

They would have to continue tomorrow morning. In truth, none of the town's martial artists, himself included, had more than a few hours to rest.

The roar of the tide that had filled his ears all day gradually faded away, and Wang Yu soon fell into a deep sleep.

Until the latter half of the night, the rain above Island Town did not lessen, continuously washing over the entire island.

At that moment, a small airship crossed the Silver Belt Sea outside the island, which roared like an enraged sea god, and swiftly descended onto the island.

"Wow, no way. It's way too hot here. Could there be a massive volcano hidden here?" A young man who stepped off the airship wore an incredulous expression.

The scorching humidity made him want to turn around and leave immediately.

"Young Master, we came to carry out a mission, not to sightsee," said another man following behind him helplessly.

Both wore thin white armor. Their handsome features and upright bearing made them appear extraordinary.

The latter had a trace of helplessness on his face.

With a superior who loved to complain and possessed such poor professional dedication, he, as a subordinate, truly had to worry and exert himself at every moment, leading his superior in striving to complete the tasks assigned by their own superiors.

"Tch, forget it. Old Guan, at least hold an umbrella over me. My hair's about to get wet." Shi Yang spread his hands. His sleepy eyes and lazy air were impossible to conceal.

Guan Yunwu had long been prepared. He opened a large umbrella and said, "Let's go, Young Master."

"Now that's more like it," Shi Yang muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked ahead.

Guan Yunwu followed at his side.

"Why didn't we stop at the Island Town airship center?"

"We ran out of Purple Coal Stone. Thankfully, we didn't have to swim in..."

"..."

After only two or three hours of deep sleep, Wang Yu felt that his energy had largely recovered.

It was now the latter half of the night, nearing dawn.

Not a shred of light could penetrate the hazy rain and mist.

The sweltering, humid room made it difficult to breathe.

Viewed from afar outside the island, the entirety of Island No. 732 looked like a solitary island shrouded in a storm, a gigantic cruise ship battered by wind and rain.

Heaven knew whether it would be mercilessly swallowed by the sea and sink into utter ruin.

Wang Yu pushed open his door and looked at Island Town beneath the harsh weather. He considered whether he should leave this Island Town and settle somewhere safer.

The surging tides and the lurking unknown dangers had exceeded his expectations.

Yesterday's terrifying Ghost-Faced Four-Legged Fish had appeared. Who could guarantee that monsters from even deeper waters would not emerge in the future—or even today?

If they did, could this Island Town truly withstand them?

He only wanted to find a stable place to develop, repeat the Body Tempering Methods tens of millions of times, and did not want to be struck down halfway by this natural calamity.

With a sigh, Wang Yu muttered, "I hope this tide doesn't produce any more unexpected changes."

Not long after he got up, the gym's disciples also rose one after another. The wound on Sun Chengshan's arm had yet to heal, but he still insisted on leading the disciples outside town.

Yesterday's bumper harvest had surpassed the gains from every tide he had ever participated in, so he was even more eager today.

Once this tide passed, with the abundant gains of precious materials and meat, he would make a desperate push and formally charge toward the final layer of Shadowless Fist.

His cultivation would then reach the Body Tempering Sixth Layer Realm accordingly. At that point, he would essentially belong to the first tier of Island Town's combat power.

The gym's business would naturally flourish as well. He did not share Wang Yu's excessive worries.

To him, this tide was of tremendous significance.