A Detour Through the Jin Kingdom, War on the Horizon!

This detour took another two years.

Over two years, they encountered deep-sea storms capable of tearing apart even steel spirit ships in an instant; they witnessed giant lava octopuses that inhabited underwater volcanoes and fed on magma.

In the distance, they even saw an unknown island made up of countless sea beast skeletons, and various powerful sea beasts...

The Abyss-Diving Boat was on the verge of breaking apart several times, and the three of them had exhausted their elixirs and Spirit Stone. They could only barely survive by hunting sea beasts along the way.

During this long escape from death, Shi Jian's cultivation was actually honed to become more solid and his foundation more profound. The more battles he experienced, the faster his cultivation grew.

Yun Du also benefited greatly. Although he was a bit disheveled, his foundation in the Cloud Dao improved significantly, showing signs of a breakthrough...

Only True Person Qingshan seemed timid and hesitant.

He conserved his Spiritual Qi and restrained his strength the whole way, not knowing whether he was guarding against Demon Beast, or against Shi Jian and Yun Du...

The journey was fraught with difficulties, requiring frequent stops and starts.

Finally, in the early spring of the third year, a long coastline appeared at the edge of their sight.

"It's the mainland! We're back!"

True Person Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief. Three full years had passed since he set sail, two years longer than expected...

Returning home today brings a sense of peace to my heart.

Jin Kingdom, Black Rock City.

Black Rock City is not large, and its status is similar to that of Foundation Establishment power in a county of Hongtian City, where people live a desolate and undeveloped life.

The local people are known for their fierce and aggressive nature; fighting and killing are commonplace.

Most of the cultivators coming and going in the city had obscure auras, and their eyes revealed a menacing aura that kept strangers at bay.

This is significantly different from the Wei Kingdom.

In the west of the city, inside an inconspicuous courtyard.

Shi Jian, Yun Du, and Qingshan, along with a bear, have been settled here for over a month.

The original owner of the courtyard was a demonic cultivator. Yun Du a single sword strike to send this demonic villain to the afterlife...

Acting on behalf of Heaven in a convenient way can be considered a model for us all.

"It's been investigated."

When Yun Du returned from outside, he sat on the stone table with a solemn expression and spread out a Jade Slip scroll containing intelligence that he had just bought from "All-Knowing Pavilion".

"During the two years we've been missing, something major has happened on the Profound Spirit Continent."

Shi Jian raised his eyelids slightly.

Yun Du activated his spiritual power, and the information on the Jade Slip slip transformed into a light screen, projecting it into the air.

On the screen was a battle map of the North Sea.

"The beast tide in the North Sea has erupted ahead of schedule, and its scale is unprecedented in a thousand years!"

"The five North Sea Demon King joined forces, and the leader among them was none other than the Level 9 Sea Ape Demon King who had fought against the Nascent Soul True Lord of the three major sects of the Wei Kingdom hundreds of years ago."

"The entire North Sea coastline, stretching for thousands of miles, has now collapsed completely. Sea-Suppressing Immortal City is besieged and in imminent danger."

What caused it?

Shi Jian suddenly asked a question, and Yun Du's face immediately turned ugly. He pointed his finger at the light screen, and a line of blood-red characters appeared.

[The Heavenly Secrets Order of the All-Knowing Pavilion: The Level 9 Sea Ape Demon King is enraged. The reason is speculated to be that one of his direct descendants was brutally murdered by three Human Race Golden Core cultivators in Black Wind Abyss, leaving no trace of his body or soul.]

"It is said that the Sea Ape Beast possesses exceptional bloodline and is expected to reach the level 8 Shapeshifting Demon King realm within five hundred years..."

"The Sea Ape Demon King has declared war on the Wei Kingdom. He demands that we either hand over the three of us or he slaughter the entire Wei Kingdom cultivation world to atone for the tragic deaths of his clan."

The room was deathly silent.

Some were happy, some were sad. True Person Qingshan looked regretful, cursing himself for being too greedy and getting himself into trouble...

Yun Du's lips twitched involuntarily.

Only Shi Jian, looking at the information on the light screen, showed no fear in his purple-gold thunder eyes, but rather extreme joy.

That's great!

Three suspected Human Race Golden Core cultivators mistook him for Human Race, which is actually a good thing, as it cleared him of his guilt.

"There is another matter. The three major sects of the Wei Kingdom have issued a conscription order, requiring all Golden Core forces under their jurisdiction to send at least half of their combat power to Sea-Suppressing Immortal City to jointly resist the beast tide."

Yun Du looked at Shi Jian and said with a wry smile, "It seems that our White Cloud Temple cannot escape this fate either."

Shi Jian slowly stood up, his expression calm.

"Escape? Why would you escape?"

"If we run away, it will only make us look guilty. If someone with ulterior motives investigates, it might end up back on us."

"This matter must remain unresolved!"

"Fortunately, we had already declared that we would be in seclusion for cultivation before we went to hunt demons. It's normal for the Golden Core Realm to go into seclusion for three to five years."

"As long as we don't talk about it, this matter will eventually be over."