When things are this strange, there’s bound to be trouble!

Lü Zhong decided to get within one hundred zhang and investigate using the Gray Mist Space.

He approached with extreme caution.

After a while, he found his answer.

The ship wasn’t empty. It was just that the bodies had all been eaten by Sea Beasts, leaving only some bloodstains and bone fragments.

Based on the remaining scraps of clothing, the style wasn’t that of the Southern Barbarians. Instead, it had the distinct characteristics of the East Sea. The clothes were mostly short tunics designed for easy movement, often embroidered with wave patterns or images of Sea Beasts from the Sea Emperor List.

But Lü Zhong still had a question.

’Where did the Core Formation Cultivator on the ship go?’

’With the strength of a Golden Core Master, they couldn’t have died so easily.’

A myriad of possibilities churned in his mind.

Considering when the ship ran aground, it must have been during the Sea Tide Stage. Even someone as powerful as a Golden Core Master wouldn’t dare to abandon their ship rashly. Therefore, if the person was still alive, they most likely went ashore after being stranded.

Realizing this, Lü Zhong’s heart skipped a beat. He thought of the flag he had personally planted before leaving.

’It can’t be! No way, that’s just too much...’

He hurriedly scanned his surroundings. Fortunately, no one was lying in ambush.

Lü Zhong breathed a sigh of relief and began to use Time Reversal on the scene, going back to the day the ship ran aground.

It was a stormy night, with high winds and driving rain. Amidst the continuous roars of Sea Beasts, a large ship charged straight for the cape and eventually ran aground on the beach.

Before long, a figure stumbled out. His cultivation was impressively at the Early-stage Core Formation Realm. He was severely injured, his face as pale as golden paper.

The man erased his tracks as he headed south.

Lü Zhong followed the trail.

The further he tracked, the uglier his expression became.

He finally arrived at an answer.

The person was in Ganquan Cave!

’What should I do? Should I run, or...?’ Lü Zhong was torn, but decided to rely on his Gray Mist Space to investigate through the mountain. The other party could never have guessed he possessed such an ability.

’Good thing I have the Gray Mist Space.’

Having made his decision, he used Concealing Breath and Traces to sneak toward Ganquan Cave.

He was extremely cautious the entire way, terrified of triggering any traps the other person might have left behind.

He arrived safely.

He immediately used the Gray Mist Space to investigate the situation inside Ganquan Cave.

The trapped passage he had set up earlier had been dismantled. Clearly, this person’s attainments in the Array Dao were no less than Lü Zhong’s. The Golden Spirit Lock Rock Formation and Little Sumeru Formation inside had also been broken.

Right at the Spirit Vein node, a figure was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Numerous bottles and jars were scattered in front of him, along with medicinal dregs and filthy blood he had spat out.

Judging by his deathly gray complexion, he had been without breath for quite some time.

’He’s dead?’ Lü Zhong thought in surprise.

’A Golden Core Master... dead just like that?’

Noticing the cultivator’s scattered Storage Bag, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

’These are the remains of a Core Formation Cultivator!’

’Who knows what’s inside? Maybe even his Lifebound Treasure! Even though I can’t use it, I could sell it for at least several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.’

’If I get my hands on it, Core Formation won’t be just a dream!’

His breathing quickened unconsciously as all sorts of speculations flooded his mind.

Just as he was about to get up and walk into Ganquan Cave, Lü Zhong suddenly stopped. As if having thought of something, he frowned slightly and, sparing no expense of his Divine Sense, performed a Time Reversal on the scene inside.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he opened his eyes. The excitement had vanished from his face, replaced by a grim expression.

...

「In Ganquan Cave.」

The Sea Slave, who had died from his grievous injuries, now had his Divine Soul hiding within his Golden Core, feeling extremely anxious.

’Why isn’t the Cave Master back yet? If that person doesn’t return in another three days, my soul will dissipate with the wind, and I’ll lose my chance to possess a new body and be reborn!’

Sea Slave was an East Sea Cultivator and had once been the master of a large island.

The reason he had fallen to this state was related to the Demon Core Refining Art.

Refining Demon Pills had always been a major challenge.

The East Sea Cultivation Realm had been researching it relentlessly for hundreds of thousands of years.

The Secret Technique for converting Spiritual Qi was the key to mastering the Demon Core Refining Art. One must know that the Demon Spiritual Qi contained in Demon Pills was not like the Medicinal Spiritual Qi in Spirit Medicines, which could be easily refined and absorbed by cultivators.

If the Demon Spiritual Qi wasn’t converted, the refined Pills would be useless to cultivators. Not only would they fail to increase one’s cultivation, but they would also cause the user to gradually demonize, eventually turning them into a bloodthirsty monster devoid of Spiritual Wisdom.

For hundreds of thousands of years, the East Sea Cultivation Realm had continuously improved the Demon Core Refining Art.

In the process, it wasn’t that they hadn’t developed related Secret Techniques, but they either required exceedingly rare Demon Pills or extremely precious spiritual materials. This caused those Secret Techniques to either run into the same supply problems as Spirit Medicine Refining Art or gradually become useless.

What the East Sea Cultivation Realm truly needed was a perfect Demon Core Refining Art, one that, like the Spirit Medicine Refining Art, could utilize Low-level Demon Pills and mass-produce them using only Spirit Fire.

Only then could the East Sea Cultivation Realm grow stronger, instead of continuing to cultivate Spirit Medicines while sitting on a massive, unusable hoard of Demon Pills.

Sea Slave had gambled his life and fortune to seize a "perfect Demon Core Refining Art."

But in the end, it was all for nothing. The so-called perfect Demon Core Refining Art was useless—it was just an ancient Secret Skill from over a hundred thousand years ago, and the spiritual materials it required were already extinct, making it impossible to refine any Pills.

’If I had known... Sigh...’

Sea Slave was filled with regret. He regretted giving up his position as an island master, only to end up in this state.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached him.

He was ecstatic. ’The Cave Master is finally back!’

’Quick, come closer! Come take my Storage Bag!’ Sea Slave screamed frantically in his mind.

As long as the other party got close enough, he could initiate the possession.

The Cave Master only had a Foundation Establishment Cultivation. As someone who had already reached Core Formation, Sea Slave was confident he could overwhelm him. Once he seized that body, he would have a chance to rebuild his cultivation back to the Core Formation Realm. When that time came, it wouldn’t be impossible to reclaim his throne as island master.

’He stopped? What is he doing?’

Sea Slave froze, then instantly understood. The color drained from his face in horror!

On the other side, Lü Zhong was Casting to form a Shocking God Needle.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, a cultivator’s Divine Soul is extremely fragile. While it’s protected by a physical body during life, which can ward off external corruption, if one is unfortunate enough to lose that protection, even the Divine Soul of a Golden Core Master becomes as fragile as paper. It won’t be long before it dissipates with the wind, let alone withstand a direct attack from a Divine Sense Secret Technique.

"No, Fellow Daoist, please stop!"

Lü Zhong turned a deaf ear and flicked the fully formed Shocking God Needle forward.

Its target was a small, inconspicuous rock to the right of Sea Slave’s corpse.

"ARGHHHH!"

Sea Slave let out a bloodcurdling scream.

A red, circular pearl glowing with Spiritual Light rolled out from under the small rock.

The Shocking God Needle was stuck in it, seemingly blocked by something, which was why it hadn’t killed Sea Slave in a single blow. It had only severely injured the Core Formation Cultivator.

However, Lü Zhong had achieved his goal.

He knew that the process of possession was full of restrictions and dangers. For a Divine Soul that had suffered such a heavy blow, forget possession—its very existence was now in question.

"Speak. Who exactly are you?" Lü Zhong said, his expression frosty.

The man had been hiding under the rock, clearly harboring ill intentions. That was why he had immediately used the Shocking God Needle to severely wound the man’s Divine Soul upon their "meeting."

At this moment, Sea Slave was in excruciating pain. The Divine Sense Secret Technique just now had been incredibly powerful. Even though the God-Caging Gauze had blocked most of its might, his Divine Soul was still severely damaged. If he hadn’t consumed a Spiritual Object that strengthened the Divine Soul in the past, he would have likely been reduced to a dazed, incurable idiot.

Seeing the other party raise his hand, form a seal, and begin Chanting, Sea Slave was terrified beyond belief.

"Stop, stop, stop! We can talk this out! I am Sea Slave, an East Sea Cultivator..."

Seeing this, Lü Zhong sneered and dispersed the light in his hand.

"If I’m not mistaken, were you planning to ambush me and seize my body just now?"

Hearing this, Sea Slave’s heart sank. ’This is bad.’

One must understand that possession was never looked upon favorably in the Cultivation Realm. Especially in Central Earth, it was a capital crime punishable by complete extermination. Even in the East Sea Cultivation Realm, it would get one exiled from the Inner Sea Islands.

Now that the other party had seen through his plan, he was burning with anxiety and frantically tried to think of a counter-strategy.

"You’ve wronged me, Fellow Daoist! I was only afraid a Sea Beast might come in, so I hid my Divine Soul under the rock. I didn’t want those damned beasts to drag my body away and take the Golden Core containing my Divine Soul along with it."

Sea Slave vehemently denied that he had harbored ill intentions and wanted to possess the Cave Master.

"Is that so?" Lü Zhong said flatly.

He didn’t press the matter further. He still had many things he wanted to ask.

For example, the nautical charts in the man’s mind. This was precious information worth millions. Since this person had managed to escape to the Outer Sea of the Changchun Domain, it would have been impossible without a chart to navigate.

If he could get that information, achieving Nascent Soul Formation in the future would be within reach!