Chương 144: Black Dragon Island!

Inside the Starry Sky Palace, seven or eight cultivators had gathered in front of the earthen-yellow "Black Rock Island" teleportation portal.

Two middle-aged men, whose cultivation was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, seemed to be companions. When they saw Zhou Ding, a mid-Core Formation cultivator, also walking towards the gate alone, they exchanged glances and both showed a hint of joy on their faces.

The two whispered a few words to each other, then walked towards Zhou Ding together.

One of the men, a scarred man with a rather burly air, bowed respectfully to Zhou Ding, a smile plastered on his face, and tentatively asked in a warm tone, "Senior, are you also heading to Black Rock Island? We two juniors are also going to the island to hunt demons. The teleportation fee is quite high. I wonder if you would be willing to teleport with us? That way, we can all save a lot of spirit stones.

Once we arrive on the island, if you don't mind, we are willing to do you any favors, such as guiding you or exploring the island."

The other person quickly echoed, their eyes filled with anticipation.

In their view, although this Core Formation senior had profound cultivation, he was alone, and sharing the teleportation cost would be a win-win situation, so there was no reason to refuse.

They could save several hundred spirit stones and also make the acquaintance of a Core Formation cultivator, which would be of great benefit to their operations in the dangerous alien sea.

Zhou Ding didn't stop walking, and Zi Guang didn't even linger on the two of them. He just glanced at them indifferently, his voice calm and undisturbed, yet carrying an undeniable distance: "No need, I'm used to traveling alone."

As soon as he finished speaking, he walked straight to the earthen-yellow light gate, nodded slightly to the fake Core Formation guard standing to the side in a Star Palace silver robe, and then took out a small bag containing seven hundred low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and handed it over.

The guard took the spirit stone, scanned it with his divine sense to confirm it was correct, and showed no extra expression on his face. He simply nodded in a businesslike manner, stepped aside, and gestured for Zhou Ding to step into the light gate.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Ding stepped into the light gate that rippled with earthy yellow spatial energy. His figure was instantly swallowed by the light and disappeared.

The two late-stage Foundation Establishment men who had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation were left frozen in place, their smiles freezing and turning into embarrassment and a hint of barely concealed annoyance.

Their seemingly sure-fire proposal was rejected so decisively, almost coldly, without a single word of explanation!

"Pah! What a piece of trash! So what if you're in the mid-stage of Core Formation? Throwing away seven hundred spirit stones like that, what a spendthrift!" Only after Zhou Ding's figure completely disappeared did the scarred man dare to spit out a curse under his breath, his face full of resentment.

"Exactly, lone wolves die the fastest in outer space! What's with the high and mighty act!"

The other person echoed in a low voice, a hint of jealousy and resentment flashing in their eyes.

Seven hundred spirit stones was no small sum for them, and they wanted to save as much as possible, but the other party was so "ungrateful," making their expectations go to waste.

The other cultivators around, who were also waiting to gather enough people, cast sympathetic or gloating glances, but no one said a word.

In this Starry Sky Palace, strength is paramount. Since the other party was in the mid-stage of Core Formation and clearly did not want to travel with others, they naturally dared not say anything more.

At this moment, Zhou Ding was completely unaware of and indifferent to the insignificant resentment behind him.

A brief but extremely intense sensation of dizziness and spatial tearing came over him, and even with Zhou Ding's current powerful physical body and divine sense, he felt slightly uncomfortable.

This ultra-long-distance teleportation array's use of spatial power is truly extraordinary.

Just a few breaths later, the feeling of being grounded came over me, and the distorted light and shadow around me quickly stabilized and became clear.

Zhou Ding opened his eyes and found himself in a simple stone chamber, no more than ten feet square, carved from some kind of hard, grayish-white rock.

The stone chamber was bare, without any decoration. Only the circular stone platform underfoot, about two zhang in diameter and engraved with intricate silver array patterns, emitted faint spatial fluctuations that had not yet completely dissipated, indicating that this place was the other end of the teleportation array.

In a corner of the stone chamber, a cultivator dressed in the Star Palace's signature white robe, with a cold expression and appearing to be around thirty years old, was sitting cross-legged on a worn-out futon, meditating with his eyes closed.

His cultivation level was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, which made him appear rather shabby in this place.

- As if sensing the movement of the teleportation array, the white-robed cultivator slightly raised his eyelids, revealing a pair of indifferent and lifeless eyes that seemed uninterested in everything, and glanced indifferently in the direction of Zhou Ding.

There was neither reverence for high-level cultivators nor curiosity about the visitors in those eyes; only a numb, routine scanning.

He then closed his eyes again and continued his "cultivation," as if Zhou Ding's appearance was no different from a breeze blowing through the stone chamber, not worth his time or effort.

Zhou Ding raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, a cold, knowing glint in his eyes.

This is the deep-seated arrogance and indifference that Star Palace cultivators, especially those low-level cultivators who are sent to remote monster islands in the outer star sea to perform tedious guard duties, have developed over a long period of time.

Born into the most powerful force in the Chaotic Star Sea, even as the lowest-ranking disciples, they possess an invisible sense of superiority stemming from their bloodline and status when facing "outsiders," which makes them disdainful of observing the usual etiquette of the cultivation world.

To them, these "rogue cultivators" or "foreign cultivators" who travel back and forth through teleportation arrays, risk their lives in the outer space, and fight for resources are nothing more than consumables, resources that are "rationally utilized" under the rule of the Star Palace.

There was no need to show any respect, let alone bow and greet a "mere" mid-stage Core Formation cultivator.

"Star Palace—" Zhou Ding sneered inwardly, withdrew his gaze, ignored the indifferent guard, and stepped down from the teleportation platform.

He was not angered by this; it was pointless to argue with a lowly underling of a behemoth destined for decline.

In the original story, several decades later, the "Reverse Star Alliance," which had been lurking in the shadows, will come out into the open, officially raise its flag in rebellion, and engage in an earth-shattering war with the Star Palace that will sweep across the entire Chaotic Star Sea.

At that time, the seemingly impregnable rule and supreme authority of the Star Palace will be shattered, and what will this insignificant arrogance amount to?

He walked straight to the only simple stone door in the stone chamber and pushed it open.

Outside the gate was not the bustling market or gathering place of cultivators that one might have imagined, but rather a small, shabby "street."

.

This so-called "street" is centered around the teleportation stone house, and within a radius of several dozen feet, there are seven or eight crooked and low buildings haphazardly erected.

There was a small general store, roughly constructed of black stones and seemingly on the verge of collapse, with a crooked wooden sign above the door bearing the three blurred characters "Hundred Treasures Pavilion." There was also a drafty buying and selling shop, pieced together from a few blackened wooden strips and tattered animal hides, with several blood-stained and foul-smelling wooden basins carelessly discarded at the entrance.

Finally, there was a slightly better talisman shop built of wooden planks, with a clear sign that read "Peace Talisman Shop," but several planks of the door were missing.

In each shop, there sat a shopkeeper who was either dozing off, daydreaming, or fiddling with low-grade materials in his hands, all with a lazy and indifferent expression. Most of them were at the mid-to-late stage of Qi Refining, with one or two occasionally at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

When Zhou Ding emerged from the teleportation stone house, they merely raised their eyelids listlessly before reverting to their half-dead state, showing no interest whatsoever in hawking their wares.

Zhou Ding was not surprised by this.

He had already learned from the information released by the Star Palace and the intelligence provided by the Mystic Sound Sect that this "Black Rock Island" was not one of those prosperous monster islands in the outer sea that was particularly rich in resources and heavily managed by major forces.

The Star Palace established the teleportation array here primarily to provide cultivators in the Inner Sea with a relatively safe and convenient springboard to hunt demons in the nearby seas.

These extremely rudimentary shops on the island were merely outposts tacitly approved or even secretly supported by the Star Palace, providing passing cultivators with the most basic supplies such as low-level healing medicines, inferior talismans, simple tools, and materials for purchasing demonic beasts. Rather than shops, they were more like officially designated, single-function "service stations," and the quality and attitude of their services were naturally out of the question.

Zhou Ding did not linger in front of these shops. He scanned the "shabby street" with his own light, determined the direction, and then rode an inconspicuous streak of light toward the edge of the island.

Black Rock Island is not large, and the island is mostly bare black rocks with sparse vegetation and very little spiritual energy, so it is no wonder that it is not valued.

A moment later, Zhou Ding flew away from the island and arrived in the sky above the vast, boundless alien sea, which had an ominous deep blue color.

As soon as you leave the island's boundaries, a wilder, more untamed, and dangerous aura, completely different from that of the inland sea, hits you.

The sea breeze grew even more biting, carrying a strong, salty stench and a faint smell of blood.

The sky was not azure, but a oppressive leaden gray, with thick, low-hanging clouds that seemed ready to crush it at any moment. The sea was also restless, with turbulent undercurrents and black waves constantly crashing against the rocks with a dull, resounding roar.

Looking out into the distance, the sea and sky merge into one, vast and boundless, giving one a sense of loneliness and crisis, as if one were as insignificant as a grain of millet, and could be swallowed up by this raging, primordial sea at any moment.

Zhou Ding hovered in the air about a hundred feet above the sea, his expression solemn.

He first took out the ancient map of "Heavenly Mirror" from his storage bag and confirmed the approximate location of the ruins again—it was located in the northeast of Black Rock Island, quite far away.

He then carefully put the ancient map away.

He did not immediately fly at full speed toward the target.

There are many unwritten ironclad rules for flying in outer space, summarized by the lives of countless cultivators.

The most important point is: flight altitude must be carefully considered.

It cannot be too low above the sea surface.

Because the outer sea is teeming with countless powerful and treacherous monsters.

Some of these highly skilled and exceptionally talented individuals, even when lurking hundreds or even thousands of feet deep in the ocean, can use special water-based supernatural abilities or powerful divine sense to remotely lock onto or even directly devour living creatures flying low over the sea with terrifying suction!

There was once a Core Formation cultivator who, overconfident in his cultivation, flew low over the sea. As a result, he was sucked into a blood mist by a Level 7 "Sea Devouring Beast" in the deep sea, which was thousands of feet away, leaving no trace of his body.

Similarly, one cannot fly too high. The alien sea is not only teeming with monsters, but the high altitudes are equally fraught with danger.

Various ferocious avian monsters occupy different airspaces. They possess excellent eyesight and speed and are adept at launching surprise attacks from high altitudes.

Once you're targeted by these aerial overlords, it often means endless pursuit and entanglement, an extremely dangerous situation.

Zhou Ding carefully maintained the height of his escape light at about 100 zhang above the sea surface.

At this altitude, one can relatively avoid the direct attack range of deep-sea monsters. While not absolutely safe, it also avoids drawing too much attention and becoming a sitting duck for high-altitude raptors.

At the same time, he unleashed his terrifying divine sense, which was as vast as the sea and covered three hundred miles!

Like the most sophisticated radar and early warning system, it forms a three-dimensional, all-encompassing sensing field centered on itself, closely monitoring any abnormal energy fluctuations, life signs, or even killing intent within a radius of three hundred miles, beneath the sea surface, in the seawater, and high in the sky!

He suppressed most of his outward spiritual pressure, controlled the speed of his escape light to the normal level of an early Core Formation cultivator, and flew slowly towards the northeast.

In this perilous alien ocean, keeping a low profile, being cautious, and remaining vigilant at all times are the top priorities for survival.

For the first few hundred miles, the sea was calm and peaceful. Apart from the occasional sight of low-level sea beasts leaping from the distant surface and the occasional blurry black shadows of birds flying across the horizon, there was no danger encountered. However, Zhou Ding did not relax in the slightest, his divine sense remaining taut.

When they were about a thousand miles away from Black Rock Island, Zhou Ding's figure suddenly stopped in mid-air!

His powerful divine sense had already detected a hidden yet violent and murderous aura, which was rapidly approaching silently from a depth of a hundred feet in the deep blue sea below, like a lurking venomous snake!

His target was none other than him in the air!

"A level-five demonic beast—the Blackwater Serpent?" Or the "Ironback Arrowfish?" Zhou Ding's gaze turned cold, and he instantly judged the type and approximate level of the attacker.

Such a sneak attack poses no threat to him now.

He didn't even take out his magic weapon. He just moved his mind slightly, and with his right hand, he pointed his fingers like a sword and pointed in the air towards the direction from which the monster was attacking!

"laugh--!"

A condensed sword aura, pale gold in color yet containing terrifying sharpness, burst forth from his fingertips, silent yet as fast as lightning, instantly disappearing into the surging seawater below!

Wherever the sword energy passed, the seawater was parted by an invisible force, creating a straight vacuum channel that pointed directly at the monster hidden deep underwater!

"puff!"

A dull thud, like the sound of something piercing rotten leather, came from beneath the sea. Immediately afterward, the seawater in that area churned violently, rising in large clumps of murky blood and shattered scales.

The ferocious aura of a level-five demon beast rapidly weakened and dissipated.

Zhou Ding's divine sense clearly "saw" that a level-five demon beast called "Ironback Arrowfish," which was several meters long, covered with black bone plates, and had a head as sharp as an arrow, had been accurately pierced through the head by his casual sword energy and died instantly. Its corpse was slowly sinking into the deep sea.

He remained expressionless, showing no intention of going down to collect materials from the demonic beasts.

The materials from a level-five demon beast were of little value to him, and staying here would only attract more unnecessary trouble. He flicked his finger, and a wisp of Samadhi True Fire shot into the sea, burning the demon beast's corpse and bloodstains clean. Then, without stopping, he continued flying calmly towards the northeast, as if he had just casually brushed away an annoying mosquito.

However, his mind became even more tense.

He knew this was merely a dangerous appetizer in the alien sea.

The real test may be yet to come.