When the man turned his head around, his white hair hung down to his chest. His face was both righteous and demonic, noble and ordinary, domineering and gentle. Guo Shaohai and the white-haired old man were taken aback by his handsome appearance. How could a man be so handsome?
Guo Shaohai's eyes even flashed with amazement. He suspected that this man's appearance and aura could satisfy any woman's fantasies. He could become any woman's dream lover.
However, the way he looked at them made him seem like a god from the Nine Heavens. He looked at the two of them indifferently as though they were mere ants. The two of them were shocked. 'Who is this man?'
If Miao Yi saw him, he would have recognized him immediately. Who else could it be other than Lao Bai? Alas, he didn't even have the right to board the ship. And Lao Bai clearly had no intention of letting Miao Yi board the ship either.
Guo Shaohai and the white-haired old man had both seen the people towing the Netherdragon Ship before. They were all zombies that had been refined into walking corpses. Their eyes had already turned grayish-white, and they had lost the vigor and vitality that a human should have. That was why even though they were strong, their attacks had lost their agility. However, this man was clearly not one of them. The most obvious difference was that he wasn't chained up.
Below the Unfettered Dragon Bed that the man was standing on, eight people were chained up by eight chains. There were men and women, both monks and commoners, and they stood neatly in two rows.
The eight people, who were originally standing in two rows, slowly turned their heads to look at the door, their grayish-white eyes staring at the two of them.
The joy that Guo Shaohai and the white-haired old man felt when they first boarded the ship turned into a chill down their spines. They saw the man standing at the very end of the line turn around and walk towards them, dragging the rattling chains behind him. The two of them felt an immense pressure.
As soon as the man walked out of the hall, the two of them felt a ferocious aura that could devour the heavens and the earth slowly emanate from his body.
The two of them immediately realized that the Netherdragon Ship wasn't as simple as they had imagined. However, it wasn't a wasted trip. At the very least, they had gained a better understanding of the situation and created an opportunity for their next trip. Guo Shaohai made a prompt decision and shouted, "Let's go!"
The two of them instantly turned into streaks of light and took off. However, as soon as they took off, they realized that they were frozen in mid-air. A terrifying force was pulling them back.
The two of them turned around to look. The zombie was bound by the chains and could not take another step forward. However, it stretched out its arms towards the two of them and clawed at the air. The terrifying pulling force came from the zombie's palms. The two of them were unable to retaliate at all. Even after using all of their cultivation, they were still unable to slow down the speed at which they were sent flying.
The two of them were almost scared out of their wits. They couldn't imagine how high this zombie's cultivation was when it was alive.
One must know that after being refined into a zombie, one's cultivation would automatically drop by a realm. It wasn't a drop of one level, but a drop of an entire realm. For example, after a Red Lotus cultivator was refined into a zombie, they would only possess the strength of a Blue Lotus cultivator. It was impossible for them to remain unaffected like they were when they were alive.
Even so, it was as easy as taking something out of his pocket for the other party to capture them.
The zombie suddenly clenched its claws into fists and punched out. The attack was soundless, but wherever the force of the punch passed, the space would instantly distort. The situation was extremely strange. It struck the two of them from afar.
"Pu pu!" Guo Shaohai and the white-haired old man spat out a mouthful of blood towards the sky. Their bones let out a series of cracking sounds.
The two of them were sent flying like shooting stars by a terrifying invisible force. They crashed into the surface of the sea several thousand meters away and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Under the vast starry sky, the Netherdragon Ship was also slowly sinking. The waves surged, and in the blink of an eye, it had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Lao Bai, wrapped in a bubble, was already in the sea. He watched as the Netherdragon Ship sank beneath his feet.
Suddenly, the Netherdragon Ship rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, it shrunk again. It was as if a black hole had appeared in the center of the ship. The zombies bound by the chains were pulled into the black hole, and the gigantic Netherdragon Ship instantly shrunk to the size of a dot. The dot wriggled and rose from the bottom of the sea. In an instant, it turned into a person, also wrapped in a bubble. He stood face to face with Lao Bai.
One of them held a monk staff in his hand, and his face was pale and beardless. The monk wearing a bamboo hat placed a palm in front of his chest and bowed to Lao Bai. It was the ascetic monk Miao Yi had seen walking in the desert before.
"Just like you said, I have found the person who brought me out," Lao Bai said as he stared at him.
The ascetic smiled. "I know. Otherwise, you wouldn't have appeared here."
Lao Bai asked, "Are you sure he's the person I'm looking for?"
The ascetic monk sighed. "I can't be sure. I can only sense that the changes have begun. Nothing is certain. As for whether it will be a blessing or a curse in the end, who knows?"
Lao Bai's expression was indifferent. He didn't say anything else and quickly sank to the bottom of the sea.
The ascetic monk slowly floated to the surface of the sea and walked on the waves.
In the distance, Guo Shaohai was in a sorry state. He had one hand on the Glorious Star immortal herb, and the other was dragging the dying white-haired old man to the surface of the sea. With the old man in tow, he quickly leaped across the surface and landed on the shore.
After tossing the old man onto the sand, he broke the immortal herb in half. He put one half into his mouth and the other half into the white-haired old man's mouth. Then, he invoked his arts to help the old man swallow the herb.
When he was done, Guo Shaohai subconsciously flicked his disheveled hair, revealing a hint of womanly charm. He looked at the surface of the sea with an unconcealable look of fear. That scene just now was too terrifying. That zombie definitely had the strength to kill them all in one blow.
Suddenly, Guo Shaohai's pupils shrank as he saw the ascetic walking on the waves.
The ascetic monk stepped onto the shore and bowed to Guo Shaohai. "Sir, how are your injuries?"
Guo Shaohai cupped his fists and bowed. "It's been so many years. I didn't expect to see you here again, Traveler. Did you already predict that the Netherdragon Ship would appear?"
The ascetic monk replied, "I just happened to be passing by."
Guo Shaohai might have believed that it was someone else who just happened to be here, but not this person. He invited, "Traveler, you're elusive. Since we've met, can we find a place to catch up?"
"Sir, you've yet to recover from your injuries. There's no point in staying here any longer. It's best that you leave as soon as possible. With such a huge commotion, I'm sure the others will be here soon." The ascetic monk advised kindly. He gave the other party a meaningful smile, bowed, and slowly walked away.
'He's rejecting my invitation!' Guo Shaohai furrowed his brows, but he couldn't force the issue. He could only watch as the other party's figure slowly disappeared into the night.
'Something came from behind?' Guo Shaohai turned around and saw the white-haired old man struggling to sit up. He cupped his fists and said, "Venerable Saint!"
Guo Shaohai gently waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be overly courteous. He turned back to look at the newly appeared sea and sighed. "The Traveler doesn't lie. Since he said that there's no point in staying here any longer … inform our men to retreat. There's no need to stay here any longer."
The white-haired old man slowly stood up, clutching his chest as he asked, "Should we silence them?"
Guo Shaohai scoffed. "There's no need for that now. You saw it yourself. Even if the others find it, they won't be able to find anything. It's a good thing that the other five families are able to deal with it."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned into a streak of light and quickly disappeared into the night sky. However, his speed was much slower than before. It was obvious that his injuries weren't light …
Hidden in the depths of the sea, Miao Yi sensed that the commotion above had disappeared. He waited for a while longer to make sure that the surface was completely calm before he quickly rose to the surface. Around him, there were strange, glowing fishes swimming about.
When he emerged from the surface, he stepped on the waves and looked around. This was no desert at all. It was an endless ocean. Who knew how long it would take to seal up such a huge gap?
'Where did the ghost ship go?' Miao Yi was curious. He summoned the Blue-Feathered Swallow and rode it high up into the sky. Looking up, he could vaguely see a huge lake forming in the desert below. The Netherdragon Ship was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a spirit eagle flew over. Miao Yi received the message and read it, then quickly rode the swallow away. As for his mount, it was long gone. He didn't even know where it had gone. The forces that were scattered to other places to search weren't his concern, so he quickly left.
Along the way, Miao Yi saw a few streaks of light flying towards him at high speed. Some were gold, some were purple, but most of them were red. It made Miao Yi's heart skip a beat. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be in a hurry, so no one paid any attention to him. Miao Yi had a feeling that the commotion here had alerted the experts of Flowing Clouds Dune Sea.
It wasn't until dawn that he finally made it back to the Chamber of Commerce. Fortunately, he had the foresight to get himself two flying mounts. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take for him to make it back.
As he landed in the courtyard of the Chamber of Commerce, Wu Zhen and Wu Ming happened to be walking out of the building. The two of them glanced at him, then brushed past him as though nothing had happened. The first thought that flashed through Miao Yi's mind was the scene of the two of them stripping off their clothes and doing it to him. Then, he felt his heart ache over his ruined Second Grade Armor Artifact.
He ran into the Chamber of Commerce and found the manager of the Flowing Clouds Dune Sea branch, the white-haired old man. He noticed that the old man's face was much paler than before. He was sitting cross-legged in meditation in the room that Guo Shaohai had stayed in before. Guo Shaohai was nowhere to be seen.
Miao Yi asked curiously, "Manager, did we succeed?"
The white-haired old man shook his head and smiled. "I didn't think you'd still be alive. You've done well this time. I won't take back the item I gave you before. Consider it your reward."
'That item as a reward?' Miao Yi's expression froze. He coughed and reminded, "Manager, Senior Guo said he would reward me with the position of Hall Master." What he meant was, 'You won't just dismiss me like that, will you?'
"We'll talk about the matter of Hall Master after you return. Since the higher-ups have already given their word, they won't go back on it. Your mission isn't complete yet. The person who wants to kill you hasn't been lured out yet."
"Well … I think we should just forget about it. I can't be bothered with this. Just send someone to escort me back safely." Once he returned and became a Hall Master, who would dare to touch him under normal circumstances? With Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei's help, wouldn't that be better than being a bait here?
"Even if you don't mind, the higher-ups will. Besides, there's a new mission for you."
"Manager, my abilities are limited. I've already completed the mission that our Palace Lord assigned to me." Miao Yi chuckled, then cupped his fists and said, "Farewell!"
He had already made it very clear that he would only listen to the Palace Lord. Now that the mission had been completed, it didn't matter how high Miao Yi's cultivation was. The people of the Chamber of Commerce wouldn't be able to control him.
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