Putting down roots was one reason.
Another reason was that Heavenly Pattern Island lacked the strength to escape the inner reaches of the Death Sea.
The blood and vitality of living beings.
In the eyes of Fierce Beasts, they were an irresistible temptation.
Quite a few Heavenly Being-level Fierce Beasts like the Azure King prowled around Heavenly Pattern Island.
Anyone who left the island would be attacked by Fierce Beasts.
If Xia Chao could still wield his full strength, this problem would naturally be easy to resolve.
But that was no longer possible.
Hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million years, had left Xia Chao's body decayed and withered, his blood and vitality almost exhausted.
Only his Spirit God had fused with the Dao Artifact.
Moreover, Xia Chao had not yet fully become an Artifact Spirit. He still retained his decaying body, existing in a delicate state.
In other words.
He could only move around inside the hall now. The moment he stepped outside, his body would crumble and vanish.
Without Xia Chao, a powerful Tenth Heavenly Being, to lead them.
Though the remaining cultivators of Heavenly Pattern Island were far from weak, they fell woefully short of the strength needed to break out of the Death Sea.
All of this.
Xia Chao had not said it, but Qin Shujian understood perfectly well.
Nor did Qin Shujian offer to help bring Heavenly Pattern Island's cultivators out of the Death Sea.
Because with his strength.
He could protect himself, but bringing others along was beyond him.
The sheer intensity of his blood and vitality meant he could encounter Heavenly Being-level Fierce Beasts wherever he went.
Against powerful Fierce Beasts, even Qin Shujian had to flee. How could he spare time to look after anyone else?
He did not know whether Xia Chao