While Xinzi set the stage for his largest breakthrough so far, in the White Immortal sect, Zi Yao read a letter.
"Aunt, my sincere apologies, but I'm starting to feel stifled in the White Immortal sect. I can take my wine wherever I go, so you aside there's nothing for me there. But nowadays, you've become the primary source of my suffocation. True, I'm not as useless as I try to act, but my ambitions by no means can compare to yours. Zuixian doesn't want to resent his only close kin, so Zuixian is going on a trip—to a place that never fails to entertain me. See ya." The letter ended here, and Zi Yao's hand clenched around the paper, burning it into ashes.
"Suit yourself." The matriarch said following a moment of silence, then left Zuixian's cultivation cave. Currently, the White Immortal wasn't a safe place. Lord Hanxing had left seclusion, now a genuine Divine Transformation expert with a robust foundation that'd make other Spiritual Lords treat him with courtesy. Add to that his Ziyun puppet, and his momentum seemed irresistible.
No one expected that, following his exit, the first thing Hanxing would do was to look for his disciple: Xiao Hu. He didn't find her in the sect, and flew into a rage—even daring to use Daoist divination magic to track her down. A pity that it failed—only adding to his rage.
Beyond Dongli borders, one disheveled man rode a flying sword, with a wine gourd tied to his waist, and one hand passing through his long purple hair. That man, Zi Zuixian, flew towards the Endless Sea, as he often did whenever his mood soured.
Had Zi Yao been aware that the place her nephew referred to was the Endless Sea, she'd have mobilized the entire sect just to track him down. Little did she know that, as far as Zuixian was concerned, the Endless Sea was the safest place.
Zuixian had one secret, one that even Zi Yao didn't know of: the sea loved him. His dominance over the water element was so tyrannical that, even in the Endless Sea, he could hide from all man-made threats, while avoiding the many natural disasters. More specifically, the natural disasters avoided him. Zuixian didn't know why he, of all people, boasted such an ability. Was it tied to the Zi clan ancestry, or another secret that eluded him? We wouldn't find out now.
The Outer Sea waves rose and fell underneath Zuixian's gaze. His flying sword slanted down, heading straight for the waves. The Wine Eccentric, as the Yanzhou folks called him, brought his gourd to his lips, gulping down no end of liquor as he surfed across the Outer Sea waves, heading towards the deadlier areas. Tidal waves split to let him pass. Zuixian's Spiritual Sense spread out, watching out for individuals that—regardless of cultivation bases—couldn't sense his presence.
Others with such an ability might lose themselves in a false sense of invincibility. Zuixian, however, only relished in the freedom that the sea granted him—inwardly thanking whoever he owed this blessing to, for giving him a land where he could roam, as free as the wind and as unfettered as the seas.
But as the Wine Eccentric neared the Outer Sea's edges, one column of green light drew his attention, soaring towards the sky.
"Huh? What kind of breakthrough is this? Golden Core? No. The intensity is similar, but the principles entirely different. Talking about Golden Core, I should probably breakthrough as well," Zuixian said, and flew towards the location of this strange breakthrough.
There, on a wooden raft, a slender figure wearing loose green robes sat crossed-legged, with a large conical green hat covering her long hair, and keeping half her face covered. That figure's cultivation base, peak of Qi Refinement, made Zuixian's eyes stretch impossibly.
"Huh! What kind of Qi is this? I've seen many prodigies in the Endless Sea, but this is something else, only the freakish Xinzi can beat this person," Zuixian said and shut his eyes—entering meditation.
Just because the person's cultivation base was inferior to his, didn't mean that he couldn't learn from the principles they summoned. But the more in tune Zuixian was to the aura, the more familiar with it he felt. His Spiritual Sense locked on the figure, moving past the conical hat to get a deeper feel of the cloaked figure's aura.
"This…Xiao Hu?" Zuixian's eyes narrowed at the green-clad lass—at Xiao Hu—and his face twisted into grimaces of confusion. The Endless Sea was a terrifying place, Zuixian could afford to come and go because of his innate ability, but anyone else—especially Dongli natives, would never consider stepping into the Endless Sea.
The Wine Eccentric had not processed his shock that sea ripples came from the distance, spreading towards Xiao Hu's raft. Seventeen humongous forms leaped out the sea. Shaped like fin-less sharks, each the size of three whales, the sea beasts flashed their jagged fangs, all locked on Xiao Hu.
"By all the lords in Heaven! What is the Kun clan doing in the Outer Sea?" Zuixian's jaw dropped at this turn of events. Among the Myriad Sea Clans, in terms of raw battle-prowess, the Kun ranked at the top, on par with the Sea Dragons and slightly above the Nine-Headed Hydras. Although these Kuns were only rank-three Beast Officers, comparable to a human Pulse Condensation, they were more than enough to crush the average early-stage Golden Core expert into bloody meat paste.
Xiao Hu was now in a critical moment of her Foundation Building breakthrough, and with no one to intervene, couldn't resist this sneak attack.
"Hehehe, hateful human. My Esteemed Self has been following you for days now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to swallow you hole. Thank you for making it so much easier on us!" The apparent group leader said, and with his jaw still open, activated a skill that reminded Zuixian of the forbidden Swallowing Skill.
Without delay, Zuixian stretched his hands out, channeling his cultivation base into his gourd. But at that time, one colossal Spiritual Ark raced across the air, making Zuixian's flying sword quake from its pressure alone. Embedded with colorful jewels, the Spiritual Ark brought the word "ostentatious" to new heights. Zuixian wondered what young master…or mistress, occupied it—the answer came almost immediately.
"Wooo, this sister looks neat. Let's add her to the troops—no, let's promote her to vice-admiral—no, she's now my sworn sister…nah, she might compete with me for master's affection. What to do, what to do, what to do? She looks good though." One figure appeared at the mast, and though mystical clouds kept her face and curves covered, her mellifluous voice left no doubt to her gender.
The 17 Kuns didn't care for the luxurious arc, didn't care for the veiled figure, and wouldn't allow anyone to stand between them and their prize.
"Girl, I am the grandson of the third Kun elder. If you know what's good for you, stay out of my way! Otherwise, regardless of your background, the fury of the entire Kun clan will descend upon you!" The leader said, his voice booming throughout the Outer Sea. But faced with the threat, the lady tilted her head, brought a fan to her luscious lips, and burst into laughter.
"Bah, your trash Kun clan was driven to near extinction by Hengye Wuxin, and is now but a shell of your former selves. When you're struggling to produce a single Beast Sovereign, you still have the nerve to flaunt status before me? Fine, open your fish ears and listen," the lady said, and with a broad, fiendish grin, snapped her fingers, summoning a colorful pearl that hovered above the Kuns.
"This is not a prediction, it's a spoiler. It's not a threat, it's a guarantee.. I'm not just sure, I'm Daji-positive, that if you don't get the fuck out of my way, you're all dying now."