Chapter 187: Bone Fragments

Three days later, the island where Lu Ye and Hua Ci were located had grown to ten times its original size. During this period, it merged with several drifting islands, some of which contained enemies, while others were deserted.

Lu Ye had initially wanted to observe the pattern of the islands merging, but he found there was no discernible pattern at all.

They encountered the first island an hour after arriving, and then there was no activity for half a day. However, the second and third islands approached almost simultaneously, which made Lu Ye and Hua Ci nervous. If both islands had contained enemies, their situation could have become dire.

Subsequent islands also appeared suddenly in their line of sight, making it impossible to find any pattern. These islands seemed to drift randomly across the Chess Sea, only drawing closer to each other once they reached a certain proximity.

After defeating several groups of Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators and gaining experience from their first collaboration, Lu Ye and Hua Ci's coordination became even more polished.

Whenever they spotted enemies, both would disguise themselves as spell cultivators and initiate combat with spells. If their opponents were martial cultivators or body cultivators, they would invariably rush forward.

Each time, Lu Ye would then spring a surprise on them.

There were exceptions, though. Once, they encountered two spell cultivators who engaged Lu Ye and Hua Ci in a lively exchange of spells for a long time.

Ultimately, Lu Ye and Hua Ci had to feign weakness and retreat to draw them in. Once the enemies stepped into the mushroom field Hua Ci had cultivated, their fate was sealed.

Once activated, the mushrooms Hua Ci planted released spores that, though too small to be seen with the naked eye and not lethal, would infiltrate the enemies' bodies. These spores would quickly make the cultivators' spiritual power sluggish and unclear, significantly reducing their combat effectiveness.

Simultaneously, the spores would also absorb the enemies' spiritual power and begin to grow out of their seven orifices. Such a transformation during combat was undoubtedly terrifying; with their minds in disarray, spiritual power muddled, and strength plummeting, they stood no chance against Lu Ye's long saber.

Hua Ci's method of defeating enemies was elaborate, not as swift as Lu Ye's, but highly effective.

However, her mushrooms were not without weaknesses. Fire-attributed spiritual energy could counteract the spores that had infiltrated the body. If someone knew her traps beforehand and used fire spells to clear the area, all her preparations would be ruined.

Over these three days, both had made gains. While their merit points weren't substantial, they had acquired many blessings from the Heavenly Mystery Pillar. If these blessings were all invested in their stronghold after the Spiritual Stream Garrison Battle concluded, the spiritual energy within the stronghold would certainly improve significantly.

Another battle concluded, leaving Lu Ye covered in blood—both his own and his enemies'. He stood in a pool of blood, gasping for breath.

Beside him lay the bodies of four cultivators from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge.

Their luck had been poor this time, as two groups from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge had merged. If not for Hua Ci's pre-arranged tactics, Lu Ye would never have survived the fight.

Although he could defeat enemies of higher cultivation levels, he had his limits. At his current cultivation, facing two cultivators of the seventh-level was already strenuous; three would be certain death.

Hua Ci's mushrooms proved invaluable. Upon seeing four opponents, they knew fighting head-on was impossible. They didn't even bother disguising themselves as spell cultivators and decisively retreated before the opposing island could collide with theirs.

The island was now quite large; otherwise, they wouldn't have had room to escape.

What followed was a chase, with the two of them fleeing and the four enemies pursuing. They circled the island several times before finally being cornered.

As the four enemies laughed menacingly, Hua Ci activated her technique. With her action, their spiritual power suddenly became sluggish and unclear, and small mushrooms began to sprout.

Lu Ye erupted into action, instantly killing one.

What followed was a battle on the brink of life and death. Despite Hua Ci's technique taking effect, the sudden burst of damage from the three remaining enemies still inflicted considerable harm on Lu Ye. Even Hua Ci was struck by an opponent's spirit artifact; had it not been for the spirit artifact gown gifted by her Second Senior Sister, the blow would have pierced her abdomen.

After enduring for ten breaths, the situation gradually improved as the enemies' strength rapidly declined. Eventually, they couldn't even use their spirit artifacts and fell one by one to Lu Ye's saber.

Lu Ye turned to glance at Hua Ci, seeing blood at the corner of her mouth. Although she appeared uninjured, the blow from the enemy's spirit artifact was clearly not easy to withstand.

Lu Ye also had several wounds, the most severe of which nearly exposed bone, but overall, they weren't critical.

Their eyes met, both still shaken.

Hua Ci stepped forward to treat Lu Ye's injuries. A gentle, emerald-green light enveloped him, stopping the bleeding from his wounds and bringing a continuous tingling sensation.

After reaching the sixth level, Hua Ci's healing abilities had significantly improved. After her treatment, while the wounds wouldn't heal instantly, they were no longer a serious concern.

Only after finishing Lu Ye's treatment did she attend to her own injuries.

Lu Ye then swallowed a healing pill and a spiritual essence pill, switching his cultivation technique to recover while also staying vigilant.

He didn't need to close his eyes and meditate to recover like others, as his Gluttonous Feast technique operated automatically. Once he swallowed spiritual pills, he didn't need to do anything further.

It was the same when cultivating in the stronghold. Other cultivators had to concentrate fully, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; any lapse in focus would inevitably affect their cultivation efficiency. However, Lu Ye only needed to construct a spirit-gathering pattern in his spiritual orifices and switch his cultivation technique; he could even attend to other matters.

Usually, though, he had nothing else to do and mostly just daydreamed or slept.

He had set up a sizable spirit-gathering pattern in the center of the island, where he and Hua Ci had first appeared. This was primarily for Hua Ci's recovery, as her recovery speed wasn't as fast as his. Recovering there after each battle would be more efficient for her.

In a place where battles could erupt at any moment, maintaining a full supply of spiritual power was crucial. Hua Ci's mushroom cultivation was especially draining on her spiritual energy; those inconspicuous mushrooms were all cultivated using her own spiritual power, augmented by special techniques.

Now, as the island expanded, so did the areas where she needed to plant mushrooms.

Correspondingly, the concentration of spiritual energy in the environment also increased. Consequently, after most battles, Hua Ci only needed to meditate there for a short while to fully recover.

As usual, they collected the spoils of war. From this recent battle, Lu Ye had gained five blessings from the four Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators, indicating that these four had already killed many Heavenly Alliance cultivators.

These four must have belonged to two different sects. Lu Ye wondered how they had been so fortunate as to meet up.

He and Hua Ci had been there for several days without encountering a single Heavenly Alliance member.

Gathering the storage bags, Lu Ye dragged the bodies to the sea and tossed them in. This was how he had been disposing of corpses for the past few days, as he didn't know how long they would remain on the island, and bodies would decompose and reek if left there.

As the blood-soaked bodies plunged into the sea, Lu Ye clearly saw countless shadows surging from beneath the surface. In an instant, the bodies vanished completely, leaving no trace, not even bones.

He had never been able to clearly see what those shadows were, but he knew venturing too deep into the Chess Sea would mean certain death.

The second body was tossed in and vanished in a blink.

So too did the third. As Lu Ye lifted the fourth body, he suddenly frowned and looked towards the water before him.

A bone fragment was floating on the surface of the sea; he hadn't noticed it before.

Around the bone fragment, the shadows receded.

Lu Ye stared at the bone fragment, recognizing it as something one of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators had worn around his neck. He had seen it when searching the bodies earlier and, having determined it wasn't a spirit artifact or valuable material, had ignored it.

Now, however, it seemed quite unusual.

Even the shadows beneath the sea were avoiding it!

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then put down the body he was holding. He pulled open the deceased's collar and plucked an object from around their neck.

It was also a bone fragment, identical to the one floating on the sea.

He channeled spiritual power into it, but there was no reaction. Squeezing it, he found it very hard, confirming it was indeed not a spiritual material.

What exactly was this thing?

He had initially thought the bone fragments held some special significance for these two individuals, which was why they each wore one. But now, recalling the situation, something felt off.

Because the two individuals wearing the bone fragments didn't seem to belong to the same sect. Lu Ye vaguely recalled that during the battle, these two hadn't cooperated with each other, but rather stuck closely to others.

Was it a coincidence that two people from different sects wore identical pendants?

He didn't immediately throw the body into the sea. Instead, he turned to find a branch, returned to the shore, and fished out the bone fragment floating on the water.

Afterward, he disposed of the bodies. Without the bone fragment floating on the surface, the shadows beneath the water became active once more.

Holding the two bone fragments, Lu Ye returned to the highest point of the island, studying them while keeping watch.

An hour later, a fully recovered Hua Ci walked up. Seeing what Lu Ye held, she asked curiously, "What's that?"

Lu Ye shook his head and explained his discovery. Hua Ci asked, surprised, "Are you saying those two people from different sects each wore a pendant made of this bone fragment?"

"Yes!" Lu Ye nodded, then described the characteristics of the two individuals. Hua Ci thought carefully, "They indeed didn't seem to be from the same sect. Is it possible they were blood-related brothers, and this is a family heirloom?"

That speculation was quite plausible.

"Whatever it is, we'll know once we take it back and show it to Second Senior Sister," Lu Ye said, putting the bone fragments into his storage bag.

Hua Ci suddenly nudged him with her elbow, pointing in one direction.

Lu Ye looked up, his gaze turning serious. In that direction, an island, no smaller than their own, was rapidly approaching.