Translator: CinderTL
"Interesting."
Beneath the ocean, the Giant Octopus drifted with the current, slowly approaching Hurricane Island.
Chen Feng sat atop the skull-shaped head, his eyes flickering as he once again sensed the unique power of this world.
Whether it was the ability to summon ghosts and evil spirits, or the Gate of Bones that seemed to connect to the underworld, or the elemental power that could merge with the ocean to become a giant, all were fundamentally different from Martial arts.
Moreover...
"He actually hid on Hurricane Island."
Expanding his Perception, Chen Feng clearly saw a Black Shadow flash across the sea surface and vanish onto the island.
Clad in black bone armor, with a pale face and blood trickling from his lips, it was none other than the Admiral of the Infernal Prison who had attacked the Red Dragon Family's fleet earlier.
Instead of fleeing, he had secretly infiltrated the island, transforming into an invisible Black Shadow that merged with the ground and gradually disappeared.
"Good."
"With him tying down the Red Dragon Family and Hurricane Territory, it'll be much easier for me to seize the Talent Light Orb."
Withdrawing his Perception, Chen Feng then landed on the island from the north.
The mountains and forests were overgrown with weeds.
He passed through the dilapidated shacks of the northern district, the gray-brick streets of the central district, and the red-gray apartment buildings.
Finally, he arrived at the Fleet Company where Lei Long and Tulin were stationed, and ascended to the second floor.
"Master Feng Chen!"
Suddenly, a joyful voice rang out.
Following the sound, Chen Feng saw Tulin, a boy in a clean black cloth long-sleeved robe, emerge from a room in the second-floor corridor, carrying a large stack of documents.
"Tulin," Chen Feng greeted with a smile and a nod, noticing that the boy had grown taller, now standing at about five feet.
His aura had also strengthened, indicating that he had truly cultivated the awakening method to the first-tier level.
Click.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed.
The wooden door of the office next door opened, revealing a burly figure in a white short-sleeved cloth robe, his chest covered in thick chest hair.
"Master Feng Chen!" Lei Long exclaimed excitedly, his mature face in his thirties beaming with respect and enthusiasm.
The two men quickly ushered Chen Feng into the rest area.
The bitter aroma of coffee filled the air as Chen Feng briefly inquired about the recent situation on Hurricane Island.
The Hurricane Lord had still not appeared. A great noble on the island, acting under orders from the royal capital, had temporarily assumed the role of Lord, overseeing the island's administrative affairs.
The Kingdom Saint had also remained absent, perhaps wary of offending a wanted man like Chen Feng or uncertain whether the Hurricane Lord was truly dead.
"The relationship between the Hurricane Lord and the Steel Kingdom has always been delicate," Lei Long explained. "Rumor has it that someone in the royal capital has proposed reclaiming the Hurricane Territory and redistributing it as fiefdoms to other Dukes."
Lei Long briefly explained the situation. Chen Feng nodded thoughtfully, understanding the current predicament on Hurricane Island.
Located on the border between the Steel Kingdom and the Tulip Kingdom, Hurricane Island had been the foundation upon which the Hurricane Lord had risen to become a regional overlord.
Moreover, the Hurricane Lord had allied with the Red Dragon Family of the Holy Star Empire, a move that had deeply displeased the Steel King, though his power had prevented him from openly challenging it.
Now, however, was the opportune moment to test the waters.
"By the way, the Tulip Kingdom recently dispatched a fleet to the island, and they haven't left yet," Lei Long added. "Rumor has it they severely damaged the Blood Sea Vice Admiral's fleet en route."
"Also, judging by the timeline, the Red Dragon Family should be arriving soon."
Lei Long relayed all the information he had gathered, his expression grim. He was well aware of the Red Dragon Family's immense power and knew the true identity of the wanted man who had killed the Hurricane Lord's heir.
Master Feng Chen was formidable, but if he were surrounded by multiple hostile forces, the outcome...
"I understand," Chen Feng said, nodding. He had grasped the current situation on Hurricane Island.
Unlike Lei Long, Chen Feng had a strange intuition. While the Hurricane Lord's suspected death had made him a target for all sides, their simultaneous presence on the island didn't necessarily mean they were solely focused on him.
Having formed a rough guess, he gave Lei Long a few brief instructions, ordering him to continue monitoring the island's situation and the abandoned manor.
Days passed, and Chen Feng remained quietly in the row house, waiting.
The night of the full moon drew closer. During this time, he checked on the progress of the Crimson Flame Fleet members' martial arts training.
Tulin had shown significant improvement, with several sailors eager to try the Life Seed Awakening Method.
Their progress was ordinary, with most only having reached the introductory level. Only the young man named Ke Ao had reached the first tier.
"Every beginning is difficult," Chen Feng murmured, shaking his head as he stood in the room and glanced at the backyard.
"Watch my fist!"
"Hah!"
The sounds of combat echoed through the air. Tulin was sparring with a young man in short-sleeved cloth clothing.
The other man was noticeably taller, nearing twenty years old, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and naturally wavy brown hair.
They were sparring barehanded, their punches whistling through the air, drawing envious glances from several sailors watching nearby.
The first tier of the awakening method was equivalent to Earth Martial Arts professional level, granting them a degree of martial prowess far surpassing that of ordinary people.
"No wonder this is the path Master chose for us—the Martial Artist Sequence."
"In my opinion, among the Nine Great Sequence Paths, only the Warrior Sequence can rival it at the lower tiers, barely matching its strength."
Lei Long had entered the room at some point and was now standing behind Chen Feng, speaking in a respectful tone.
In this world, Sequence paths at the lower tiers (First and Second Tiers) are limited by the Sequencer's weak Spirituality, making it difficult to unleash significant power.
Only at the Third Tier do Sequencers truly begin to display their unique abilities, gradually exhibiting signs of transcendence.
In contrast, this special Martial Artist Sequence began to reveal its distinctive power even at the First Tier.
Chen Feng nodded, his gaze shifting slightly. He recalled the naval battle he had witnessed that day.
By now, he had basically memorized the Nine Great Sequence Paths of this world: flame, Frost, storm, earth, Mage, Scholar, judgement, warrior, and crimson.
Glide was clearly following the Mage Sequence, able to communicate with various elemental energies through meditation.
However, the Admiral of the Infernal Prison clearly didn't draw power from any of these paths.
When Chen Feng asked, Lei Long hesitated for a moment, then remembered a rumor.
"Some say the Three Kings and Seven Generals were outlawed by the major kingdoms not only for their atrocities—burning, killing, looting, and committing every imaginable evil—but also because their Sequence paths were inherently incompatible with the kingdoms' established order."
"It also has to do with their own Sequence."
"Oh?" Chen Feng's interest was piqued.
He remembered that most of the Three Kings and Seven Generals were from the Crimson Sequence.
"Rumor has it that the Evil God controls the power of death. Before the Nine True Gods drove back the Evil God, the Crimson Sequence was originally called the Life Sequence."
"But during that divine war, the God of Life was corrupted and cursed by the Evil God, leading to their fall and transformation into the Crimson Sequence."
"Anyone who walks this path is twisted and influenced, becoming incredibly wicked and deranged. The slumber of the Nine True Gods might also be related to this."
Lei Long seemed uncertain, explaining that he had overheard this during a Sequencer gathering, where it was dismissed as an unreliable rumor.
However, Chen Feng's expression changed upon hearing this. The words "Dead Crow Secret Realm" suddenly flashed through his mind.
He suspected that the so-called power of death was actually the Power of the Dead.
And the Admiral of the Infernal Prison might have been using this very power, as their abilities seemed strikingly similar.
He pressed Lei Long for more details, but the latter could only shake his head, admitting he knew nothing further.
Seeing this, Chen Feng didn't press the issue. He simply suppressed his curiosity and changed the subject.
Changing the subject, Chen Feng didn't forget the main purpose of his visit.
"How is the situation at the manor?"
Over the past few days, the Red Dragon Family's fleet had landed on the island, and Saint Glade's reputation had earned him the reverence and worship of many islanders.
In fact, the Saint had even stayed near the manor for several days.
"Saint Glade has left the manor and is currently staying at the Lord's Manor," Lei Long reported truthfully, adding, "The manor is still under renovation, but the Ironwood Forest is quite strange."
"It was clearly destroyed during the last great war, yet it has broken through the soil and completely regrown, as if nothing had happened."
"Saint Glade didn't explain the reason, but many people are speculating about it now."
Lei Long's tone was curious, and by the end, he sounded genuinely puzzled. If Master Feng Chen and the Saint were so interested in this place, could it truly hold some secret?
Chen Feng offered no explanation, his eyes merely flashing with understanding.
His suspicions were confirmed: the Ironwood Forest was likely affected by the power of the Talent Light Orb, just like Eaglefall Island had been before.
This also validated his long-held theory.
The Talent Light Orb hadn't vanished; it merely remained hidden, only revealing itself at specific moments.
Chen Feng then asked a few more questions.
After Lei Long left, he was alone in the room.
Standing by the window, Chen Feng watched Tulin and Ke Ao, drenched in sweat, resting on the stone steps in the courtyard after their sparring session.
The last rays of the setting sun cast their golden glow, painting the sky with crimson hues.
Having stayed here for several days, he could already feel the pull of his impending return.
He didn't rush to activate the Dark Dream Mark, because he was certain...
Looking up at the sky, the sun was sinking below the horizon, and night was approaching.
He knew that tonight was the night of the full moon.
Buzz!
A gentle breeze swept through the air, and the manor under renovation stood firm on the ground.
Piles of bricks lay in a corner, some walls and rooms were still unfinished, and intricately carved windows were stacked in another.
As twilight deepened, a faint crimson light spilled from the sky.
"Gale, stop dozing off!"
"Wake up!"
Inside the manor, a figure in a dark brown military greatcoat, holding a rifle, kicked his sleeping companion in the corner garden.
The man suddenly woke with a start, glancing left and right.
"Scared me half to death," he grumbled, relieved to see no one around.
"Scared you?"
"If anything goes missing from the manor, you and I are dead!"
The middle-aged man in the long coat, holding a rifle, scolded him. Though annoyed, the man on the ground stood up and casually picked up the rifle leaning against the wall.
"Alright, alright, I got it."
"Your courage is getting smaller and smaller these days."
After a few more complaints, the two men resumed their patrol together.
The night wind swept through the area, carrying fallen leaves and dust.
Under the black-pole streetlights in the garden, a dark shadow slowly solidified, and a figure emerged from it.
"So, you were really here."
His voice was low and gravelly. He wore black bone armor, his face as pale as a corpse. Jagged spikes jutted from his shoulders, and half of his middle-aged face was reduced to bare bone and phosphorescent flames, a truly eerie sight.
"To make me feel this stirring... there must be some kind of power here."
"Perhaps an Extraordinary Artifact left behind by the Hurricane Lord?"
The phosphorescent flame in his left eye flickered faintly, while his right eye was completely black.
Finally, he followed the stirring in his heart and strode toward the Ironwood Forest not far from the garden.
The deeper he went, the stronger the stirring grew.
Yet, no matter how far he looked, he saw nothing.
"Could this be a trap set by Glide?"
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. The Admiral of the Infernal Prison frowned, a touch of annoyance creeping into his heart.
He even searched the entire Ironwood Forest, but found no trace of anything.
The phosphorescent flames in his bone sockets grew brighter. It was then that—
Buzz!
The ground shook violently. The brown earth began to writhe like water, transforming into several colossal Earth Dragons that lunged at him.
Boom!!
The Earth Dragons, each over ten meters in size, slammed into his body, their twisting forms creating a terrifying maelstrom of destruction.
The earth trembled, and dust billowed into the air.
The nearby Ironwood Forest suffered significant damage, and everyone in the manor and its vicinity was jolted awake.
When the dust finally settled, they looked up to see an aged figure in a Blue-Patterned Mage Robe floating in the night sky, holding a silver Crystal Staff.
"Glide!!"
A cold, murderous roar echoed through the air.
Boom!!
The ground shattered, and the Earth Dragon Rock that had sealed the area exploded into fragments.
Debris flew everywhere, and the smoke that had filled the sky suddenly dissipated.
The Admiral of the Infernal Prison, clad in black bone armor, was protected by a shield of black light. His eye sockets glowed with phosphorescent flames, and he remained completely unharmed.
"I knew something was wrong here! This is definitely your doing!"
He roared, and Saint Glade, hovering in mid-air, frowned.
He had merely sensed something strange about the area and intended to investigate further, but he hadn't expected to find his opponent already present.
Buzz!
The ground trembled.
A black power spread out like a tide, covering the earth.
Countless skeletal hands emerged from the ground, transforming into skeletal soldiers.
Simultaneously, dark evil spirits materialized, swirling around the night sky.
Focusing his gaze, he saw that behind his opponent, the Gate of Bones, flickering with phosphorescent flames, had reappeared at some unknown point.
"Since you enjoy playing the bait so much..."
"Then today, I'll grant your wish!!"
Boom!!
The cold roar was followed by a surge of killing intent.
Evil Spirit Ghosts coalesced in midair, while the earth itself transformed into stone statues that clashed with each other.
The two figures instantly engaged in a fierce battle, drawing the attention of countless onlookers.
But just then, the Blood Moon in the sky reached its peak, its crimson light filtering through the mist like a thin veil.
Specks of red light rained down, and before their very eyes, the destroyed Ironwood Forest at the center of the clearing began to break through the soil and regrow.
Admiral of the Infernal Prison's expression flickered, while Saint Glade above furrowed his brow.
Under countless gazes, the newly regrown Ironwood Forest once again bloomed with Blood Moon Flowers.
The eerie sight sent shivers down their spines. Saint Glade recalled a certain rumor, and a terrifying speculation took root in his mind.
Admiral of the Infernal Prison's gaze sharpened, his heart pounding with an overwhelming sense of unease.
It felt as if something was being born at the heart of the Ironwood Forest, yet remained invisible.
He was about to try searching again, but—
Whoosh!
A streak of dark green shadow flashed past, right before their eyes, and plunged into the center of the Ironwood Forest.
(End of the Chapter)
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