Misty Moonlight on Reef Island, Killing Intent Rises Towards Panlong

The Cai Luan Spirit Boat sailed on. Heng Hua sat at the bow, with a pot of Cloud Mountain Clear Tea, a plate of Golden Silk Crisps, and a platter of Mung Bean Rolls laid out before him.

"Hey, since you're so free, come down and help me clean up the battlefield."

"My Magical Power is too depleted. Third Brother can handle the aftermath."

Heng Hua currently only had Qi Refining cultivation. Using True Qi to power the Mysterious Fire Sparrow Feather Fan consumed a lot.

While eating snacks to recover his energy, Heng Hua watched Fu Xiangfeng walking on the water.

He was channeling the Samadhi True Fire, incinerating the puppets, Crab Spirits, and a host of water demons.

This was the rule in the Yanlong Waters.

If corpses fell into the water and were eaten by fish and shrimp, they would transform into water demons, becoming a menace to humankind.

Fu Xiangfeng swung his sword, unleashing "Snowfall." A fierce wind whipped up the flames, burning towards the water demons in the distance who couldn't dodge in time.

Fu Danwei did not wish for his descendants to point their swords at humans, but he had no such restrictions on water spirits and monsters.

The Yanlong Waters were a region rampant with water demons. Every few decades, a demon tide would invade. The aquatic spirits and monsters would frantically slaughter cultivators from all paths and mortals on the islands.

Slaying water demons was a "good deed" for cultivators in the Yanlong Waters, maintaining the continuation of the human race.

As the True Fire subsided, Fu Xiangfeng shook his head slightly. "A pity. After burning so many water demons, I only refined two pieces of Water Jade. This Crab Spirit is no good. Its inner core was entrusted to a Crab Slave, leaving only an empty shell?"

Xiang Feng held two azure Water Jades and tossed the damaged large claw of the Crab Spirit onto the spirit boat.

"Have the Howling Fish collect this large claw on the ground. It's material for a Treasure Tool, and might be useful later. I'll give you these two pieces of Water Spirit Jade to play with as well."

Water Spirit Jade was a condensed spiritual energy left behind after burning water demons, usable for crafting tools and refining pills.

Heng Hua put away the Water Spirit Jade and suddenly asked, "Third Brother, how many 'Killing Precepts' have you set for yourself?"

"Two.

"Evil people deserve to die.

"Those who kill me deserve to die."

"Would you not kill someone who obstructs your path to Dao?"

"If my competitor is a great villain, then I'll kill them with a single sword. If it's a Fellow Daoist of noble character who is merely competing fairly with me, then why kill? We can fight fairly and contend for the opportunity to achieve Dao."

Having traveled extensively and witnessed much of human wickedness, Fu Xiangfeng's heart remained pure, continuously upholding the Path of Chivalry that Fu Danwei desired.

But this was Fu Xiangfeng's Dao, not Fu Heng Hua's.

Heng Hua sighed and shook his head. "It's precisely because Third Brother is too soft-hearted that Mo Xu could take advantage and set a trap to trick you this time."

Xiang Feng's expression stiffened. He mumbled, "I'll be more careful next time. I never expected that just because I saved a Spirit Bird, he would hold such a grudge and come to set a trap to harm me."

Fu Xiangfeng had traveled for many years, but this was truly the first time he had encountered such a situation.

With the Yanlong water demons rampant, cultivators in the Yanlong region often stopped their battles at victory or defeat; life-and-death struggles were very rare.

In the past, when they encountered a rare treasure, after fighting for it, the loser would simply leave. Even if there was revenge, it would only be to win back in the next contest.

To harbor murderous intent, and even come to the eastern part of Yanlong to block his path.

Weren't they afraid of retaliation from the Fu Family afterward?

As he thought, Fu Xiangfeng attributed this to his grandfather's impending lifespan ending, which was why these insignificant individuals dared to target him deliberately.

Seeing Heng Hua lost in thought, Fu Xiangfeng cleared his throat. "Alright, never mind me. What about you? It's your first time seeing someone killed, won't you feel uncomfortable?"

After all, when he killed someone for the first time, he had been flustered for a long time.

Heng Hua shook his head and said, "Although I haven't personally killed anyone, I've never been short of witnessing schemes and killings like this."

Eternal Longevity had killed people for him.

But he had never personally taken action, because according to the Killing Precepts Heng Hua had set for himself, those people did not meet the standard and were not worthy of dying by his hand.

"What precepts have you set for yourself? Given your personality, aren't you like Uncle Five, mentally establishing a penal code?"

Fu Danwei advised his descendants to kill less and to each set their own killing precepts.

Some, like Fu Xiangfeng, set two or three.

Others meticulously divided them into hundreds of clauses, listing every possible contingency and creating a penal code for themselves.

"I haven't decided yet. Anyway, I haven't killed anyone, so I can still change it. Oh, right—

"Third Brother. The Immovable Reef is destroyed, what about the things inside?"

"Here. It's this thing."

Xiang Feng tossed an Orange-Yellow Treasure Pearl to Heng Hua.

"It was for this thing that I infiltrated beneath the Immovable Reef and was struck by that old geezer. My chest still hurts from it."

Taking the pearl, Heng Hua reached out to take Xiang Feng's pulse.

"There's some internal injury, but it's not serious. As for the external wound on your arm— Howling Fish, help Third Brother bandage it."

"It's fine, I can do it myself. You don't need to worry. As for you, study this pearl. It's a Spirit Tool from the Yu Feng Dao, it must have significant uses."

The Immovable Reef, destroyed by Golden Thunder Sword Qi.

After a long while, a small insect flew out of the water, buzzing.

"Fortunately, I still have a Soul-Entrusted Puppet. Otherwise, I would have truly died this time."

Yan Qianyu cursed the Fu family a thousand times in his heart and hastily fled.

"First, I'll go back and get a new puppet body, then rendezvous with the Xuanxin Altar. Those people are targeting Fu Danwei, I wonder how their plan is going."

That night, dark clouds gathered, and the Cai Luan Spirit Boat was anchored in the reef area.

This was also an Immovable Reef. The heavenly treasures hidden within its spiritual veins had long been taken, leaving only a few spiritual vein sprouts to anchor the reef and prevent it from sinking.

These kinds of Immovable Reefs were very common in the Yanlong Waters. Mortals lived on them until demon tides and giant waves came, sinking the reefs and killing the people. Therefore, mortals preferred to live on the spirit islands inhabited by cultivators. Those places had stable spiritual veins, allowing for long-term habitation, and cultivators offered protection and taught immortal arts.

Heng Hua took off his martial uniform, changed into a casual white robe for home, and lay lazily on the boat's canopy, playing with a treasure pearl.

Through the treasure pearl, the hazy moonlight hidden in the clouds appeared even dimmer.

"How's the research?"

Xiang Feng flipped over and jumped onto the roof of the boat.

His movements were light and graceful, his presence ethereal, yet the spirit boat didn't sway in the slightest.

"It's different from what we guessed. This is just a Treasure Tool. When its owner died, the pearl happened to fall into a spiritual vein. Nourished by the spiritual vein, it was preserved without damage for a thousand years, even without a cultivator.

"The pearl contains a thousand years of spiritual vein power, which has erased the Treasure Tool's original runes. In other words, the pearl is currently just a spiritual material produced by heaven and earth."

Heng Hua tossed the pearl to Xiang Feng. "This thing's attributes are compatible with Third Brother; it can be used as material for a Spirit Tool."

"So it's useless now?"

Spirit Tools, those Magic Treasures refined by Golden Core Cultivators, were too far beyond Xiang Feng's reach.

"It has one use, though. This type of pearl has a nickname."

Xiang Feng's gaze shifted, and he heard Heng Hua utter word by word: "Wind-Calming Pearl."

"The kind that can safely pass through hurricanes?"

"Yes. You'll find it useful on Fengmen Island, Third Brother."

After thinking for a moment, Xiang Feng put away the Wind-Calming Pearl and lay down in a posture similar to Heng Hua's.

Gazing at the dark clouds in the sky, he suddenly said, "It's going to rain soon."

"At the second quarter past midnight, it will rain three inches and five fen and two li. The rain will stop at the third quarter past midnight."

Heng Hua said, then closed his eyes to rest.

"..."

Xiang Feng's tone held a hint of helplessness. "I wasn't asking you that."

He just wanted to find a topic to chat with his cousin.

Who knew this kid would shut down the conversation with a single sentence?

But he had to admit, his cousin, who had hidden in the library for thirty years, truly knew more than he did.

Astronomy, geography, medicine, divination, calculations... he could speak with knowledge on any subject in the world. If he were to calculate the rainfall himself, let alone precise measurements down to the li, he couldn't even calculate the time.

This kid was indeed suited for this kind of calculation and deduction work.

Accompanying Heng Hua as he watched the moon and clouds, Xiang Feng asked, "How do you feel about going out of the island to relax today?"

"It's alright. Getting some fresh air is always good."

Heng Hua looked at the sky and suddenly saw a streak of red light cut through the clouds and land on the other side of the reef area where they were resting.

Xiang Feng explained, "It's other fellow cultivators coming to rest at the Immovable Reef. The Yanlong Waters are too dangerous at night."

The Yanlong Waters were vast, with countless water demons and monsters lurking beneath the surface.

Common demons, fond of moonlight, would emerge from the water after nightfall. Therefore, few ships sailed in the Yanlong Waters at night.

Soon, several more streams of light flew in and rested in other parts of the Immovable Reef. Since they were unfamiliar with each other, no one communicated, patiently waiting for dawn and for the water demons to return below the surface.

At midnight, a light rain began to fall. Accompanied by the sound of the wind and waves, it was like a song without rhythm.

"Heng Hua," Xiang Feng suddenly asked, "How confident are you in calculating a cultivation technique for Grandfather?"

"I deduced a method for Nourishing Core, Transforming Nascent Soul for him earlier, but he wasn't satisfied, so I didn't present it to Grandfather."

"What do you mean?"

"The old man only has ten years left to live, and his Qi and Blood are gradually weakening. Simply using a cultivation technique to help him cultivate will be difficult to restore him to his peak in a short period."

Xiang Feng fell silent.

He had seen many elderly mortals on the verge of death, with no strength left but a single breath of life.

When cultivators reached the end of their lifespan, their Magical Power would also drop to a low point, less than thirty percent of its former strength.

There were rumors from all over of young cultivators defeating higher-level cultivators across realms, likely because they encountered those whose Magical Power had declined and whose lifespan was nearing its end.

"Right now, Old Master is like a leaky bucket. No matter how much water you pour in, it can't be restored to its prime. Even if the Heavenly Script were laid out before him, he could only look at it; he couldn't immediately start cultivating.

"Therefore, besides a cultivation technique, something else is needed."

"Essence Accelerating Great Medicine?"

"Correct."

A secret medicine that accelerates essence at the cost of life, forcefully drawing out Fu Danwei's potential to restore him to his peak in a short time. Only then could he attempt to break through using the cultivation technique.

If successful, his lifespan would be extended by another five hundred years.

If he failed, the Essence Accelerating Great Medicine would become a deadly poison, and he wouldn't even gain ten years of life.

Thus, the choice of cultivation technique had to be made with extreme caution.

Heng Hua had to maximize the success rate before daring to let his grandfather try.

There was only one chance.

The puppet insect entrusted by Yan Qianyu first went to a secret cave arranged years ago, replaced its body with a puppet's, and then hurried to the location of the Devilish Cultivators at Xuanxin Altar.

This place was not far from Panlong Island, situated in a reef area.

Eight black-robed Devilish Cultivators sat in a circle around an altar. They were channeling magic to activate the altar, shaping Yin Demon Nether Shadows to cast upon Panlong Island and lure out the inner demons in Fu Danwei's heart.

Yan Qianyu's current puppet was in the form of a young man.

His arrival drew the attention of several Devilish Cultivators.

"Senior Yan, why the change in appearance? Could it be that you also find your own looks too old?"

"My main body is outside and couldn't make it in time, so I sent a puppet insect to make contact." Yan Qianyu bluffed, feigning composure. "How is the plan proceeding?"

"That old man's will is firm. We've been using Demonic Arts to channel Outer Realm Heavenly Devils and cast spells these past days, yet he's still managed to maintain his sanity."

"That's Fu Danwei. He single-handedly killed your Heavenly Demon Hall until its rivers ran red and its gates were nearly breached. You think he'll fall to demonic influence? Hmph—you should have the Master of Xuanxin Altar come and find a way to destroy Panlong Island."

Thinking of the puppet and flesh body he had painstakingly created being destroyed, Yan Qianyu's heart bled.

He did not want Fu Danwei to switch to the Devilish Dao.

He wanted Fu Danwei, along with the entire Fu Family, to die!

Wind Sword Heavenly Song, the fifth famous sword of the Fu Family, held by the Phoenix Emperor among the Fu Tian Four Auspicious Beasts. When the sword is unsheathed, all winds move in unison, like a song from the heavens, hence its name. The hilt is inlaid with a Wind-Calming Pearl, which can ward off evil winds.

--Donglai Dynasty Treasury · Sword Manual · Record Two