roccoschili Chapter 241 Dangerous Thunder Island
Chapter 241 Dangerous Thunder Island
Upon hearing the old man's words, Ye Xiaobai immediately realized there was hope and quickly asked, "Please enlighten me, senior!"
"In recent years, the demon race has discovered thunder crystals on Thunder Island. This material is a top-grade material for refining magical artifacts. After mining it, the demon race will exchange it with human cultivators for some cultivation resources!"
"I happen to know a few demon friends, so there might be a chance I can take you in!"
"However, our demon friends also lack spirit stones for cultivation. Bringing a stranger in requires some bribing, which will cost quite a few spirit stones!"
Ye Xiaobai immediately understood that the old man had been talking for so long because he needed spirit stones.
"How many spirit stones does Senior need?" Ye Xiaobai asked directly.
"Since you're a decent junior, I'll just give you 30,000 low-grade spirit stones. For anyone else, it would be at least 50,000 spirit stones."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, senior!" Ye Xiaobai thought that having an acquaintance to guide him into Thunder Island was better than figuring it out on his own, and 30,000 spirit stones wasn't too much.
"Come see me at the East Street Wharf in three days, bring your spirit stones!"
"no problem!".
Before parting, the two exchanged brief introductions. The old man's surname was Mo, and he was just an ordinary rogue cultivator from the East Reef Islands.
Ye Xiaobai didn't pay much attention and decided to use the next few days to find out more about Thunder Island.
After wandering around the market for a while, Ye Xiaobai quickly found a crowded and lively place – a teahouse.
Most of the people on Dongxing Island are Qi Refining stage cultivators who can only fish in the nearby coastal areas or use spiritual veins for aquaculture. Their income is not high, so they can only come to the teahouse to pass the time.
One spirit stone is enough to drink spirit tea all day long. The quality of the spirit tea is not top-notch, but the key is that it is cheap.
High-end seafood dishes are generally only affordable for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
Ye Xiaobai found out about all of this later.
So, Ye Xiaobai arrived at the teahouse.
I ordered a pot of tea and began to savor it.
As expected, it was bitter and had very little spiritual energy, almost negligible.
Drinking tea isn't the point; gathering information is the key.
Soon, Ye Xiaobai heard about some recent events.
"Have you heard? Several more inner disciples of the Qingxia Sect have recently died while hunting demonic beasts, and they were elite Foundation Establishment stage disciples!"
"Are you bragging? You're just an outer disciple of the Qingxia Sect, not even a rogue cultivator. Have you ever seen a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator?" another rogue cultivator scoffed disdainfully.
"That's going too far, fellow Daoist. To be honest, the son of my cousin's son's uncle's maternal grandmother's grandson's cousin is an outer disciple of the Qingxia Sect's Qingyu Hall."
"What the heck? How is this even related?" Everyone burst into laughter.
Ye Xiaobai couldn't help but laugh. Was this even considered a relationship?
"Don't worry about this for now. He said that the matter has alarmed the higher-ups of Qingxia Sect, and it seems that they have already sent people to the Dongjiao Islands and the vicinity of Leiming Island to investigate the situation."
"The higher-ups of Qingxia Sect have finally taken this seriously! In the past few months, many of my rogue cultivator friends have gone out to hunt demonic beasts and never returned! There's a high chance they won't come back!"
"Yes, ever since the news of using pills to refine pills spread a year ago, in order to obtain demon cores, our human cultivators have intensified their efforts to hunt demon beasts. However, the casualties have also increased several times over."
“Even my friends who are independent cultivators in the area and don’t usually go out to hunt monsters in distant places have recently disappeared without a trace! This Dongxing Island doesn’t feel safe anymore. Qingxia Sect collects so many benefits from Dongxing Island every year, but they haven’t made a move when there’s danger!”
"Shh, keep your voice down! There might be Qingxia Sect disciples in this teahouse. You won't even know how you died!" A cultivator nearby warned hurriedly.
After speaking, he didn't forget to look around to see what patterns his face might have.
Ye Xiaobai was listening intently when their eyes met. The rogue cultivator widened his eyes and asked cautiously, "Fellow Daoist, are you a disciple of the Qingxia Sect?"
"Me? No, no, I'm just a rogue cultivator from out of town who came here to hunt demonic beasts!" Ye Xiaobai quickly denied.
"I could tell at a glance that he wasn't a disciple of the Qingxia Sect. Disciples of the Qingxia Sect on Dongxing Island basically walk with their heads held high, full of arrogance, and never bow their heads!"
"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"Haha~" Ye Xiaobai laughed along with him.
"Shh!" someone reminded him.
Upon exchanging glances, everyone immediately understood that they couldn't make fun of the noble Qingxia Sect disciples, so they quickly stopped laughing and changed the subject.
In a corner on the second floor of the teahouse, three cultivators from the Qingxia Sect were sitting.
Upon hearing the crowd's discussion about the Qingxia Sect disciples, a young disciple angrily slammed his fist on the table and stood up, intending to teach the rogue cultivators below a lesson.
"Junior Brother Lu, don't be impulsive. We've come here to investigate the murder of an inner disciple, so let's avoid trouble." The speaker was a gentle and beautiful female cultivator.
"Senior sister, how dare you speak ill of our Qingxia Sect on Dongxing Island? Shouldn't you teach her a lesson?"
“Junior Brother Lu, are they wrong? I haven’t been on Dongxing Island for long, and I’ve found that every disciple here is incredibly arrogant and looks down on rogue cultivators. We cultivators must remember that there are always people more capable than us, and there’s always something beyond our understanding!”
“Alright, Junior Brother Lu, Senior Sister is right. Let’s finish our tea and go explore other places,” said another young male cultivator.
……
As Ye Xiaobai sipped his spiritual tea, he heard people mention Qingxia Sect and suddenly thought of an acquaintance from Qingxia Sect.
Since advancing to the late stage of Core Formation, Ye Xiaobai's olfactory perception range has reached nearly a thousand miles. Under normal circumstances, Ye Xiaobai will not actively perceive it, after all, having a keen sense of smell is a painful thing.
Perhaps because of the very relaxing environment, Ye Xiaobai unconsciously took in the various smells in the teahouse.
Aside from the negligible fragrance of the spirit tea, most cultivators experience a strong fishy smell from sea monsters, with a very small amount retaining the scent of low-grade spirit herbs.
"Hmm? That familiar girl's scent? I didn't expect to actually run into someone I know!"
This person was none other than Sun Siyu, an acquaintance of the Qingxia Sect.
During the conversation with Sun Siyu, it was learned that human cultivators were indeed not allowed to enter Thunder Island.
The rest of the situation was roughly the same as what Ye Xiaobai had learned before.
Sun Siyu also reminded Ye Xiaobai that the area around Thunder Island was quite dangerous recently, and advised against taking any risks.
Ye Xiaobai was naturally aware of the situation, but Sun Siyu kindly left him an emergency talisman, since the East Sea belonged to the Qingxia Sect and he could seek her help in any matter.
Ye Xiaobai couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to accept it.
Three days later, Ye Xiaobai arrived at the East Street Wharf early.
The East Street Wharf was bustling with activity, with many cultivators setting up stalls near the wharf to buy goods from those who had just gone out to hunt monsters.
Some cultivators who went out also set up their own stalls to sell the monsters they had just captured.
Since he arrived early, Ye Xiaobai wandered around the nearby stalls.
Suddenly, I noticed an older Qi Refining stage cultivator staring into the distance with a furrowed brow, sighing from time to time.
Ye Xiaobai couldn't help but ask curiously, "Fellow Daoist, why are you sighing? Could it be that you didn't find anything on your trip?"
Upon hearing Ye Xiaobai's voice, the cultivator turned around to examine him, and after a long pause, he said, "How could an outsider like you understand that cultivators from the Eastern Reef Islands often face numerous dangers when they go out to hunt demonic beasts?"
"Especially recently, the struggle between human cultivators and demons has intensified, and several of my acquaintances have died on the road to hunting demons. I myself do not know when I will die in the mouth of a demon beast."
"Why don't you join the nearby Qingxia Sect? With the protection of a sect, you shouldn't be in so much danger, right?"
"Ha, a sect? You can't just join a sect whenever you want! How can someone without talent or connections join a sect?"
Ye Xiaobai was immediately stumped by the question. Sects have talent requirements when recruiting disciples, and those with poor talent are not considered by the sects.
I'm so glad I joined the White Tiger Sect. If it were any other sect, they definitely wouldn't want me, and I'd probably be struggling to make ends meet somewhere right now.
"Fellow Daoist, seeing that you have a kind face, I'll give you some advice: be more careful when you go out, and don't be greedy for the small profits from catching demons. The East Sea is deep, and you, an outsider, can't handle it!"
"Thank you for your suggestion, fellow Daoist!"