July is scorching hot, with the sun blazing overhead.
Waves rolled up one after another, relentlessly crashing against the jagged rocks below Aoshou Cliff.
At this moment, in the Guanlan Pavilion on the third floor of the Wanghai Tower atop Aoshou Cliff, seven young men and women, each with their own distinct charm, waited with solemn expressions. Some of them even showed obvious anxiety on their faces.
A short while later, a commotion suddenly arose downstairs.
"He's back! The Third Young Master is back!"
Upon hearing this, the seven members of the Zhao clan of the "Da" generation in Guanlan Pavilion looked towards the entrance almost simultaneously.
At that moment, a young man in a white robe and jade crown, with a slender figure, fair face and thin lips, appeared and hurriedly entered the Guanlan Pavilion.
"Third Brother, did you... succeed?" Zhao Da Mo, the most impatient of all, asked expectantly as soon as he saw the visitor.
The other members of the older generation also looked at this outstanding peer, Zhao Dali, with varying expressions.
Zhao Dali shook his head with a gloomy expression.
"well!"
Everyone sighed in unison upon seeing this.
Zhao Damo, with his narrow eyes and thin lips, shared a room with "Third Brother" Zhao Dali. Seeing this, he couldn't help but complain repeatedly, "Isn't Zhao Keqing's standard a bit too high? Third Brother is the most talented and gifted among us! He doesn't even think much of Third Brother. I think he's doing this on purpose. Saying he's taking on a disciple is just empty talk!"
No sooner had Zhao Damo finished speaking than Zhao Dali's expression changed drastically, and he shouted urgently, "Shut up!"
"Third Brother?!" Zhao Damo looked aggrieved.
"Shut up! Don't slander Senior Zhao!" Zhao Dali's tone became even more stern upon seeing this.
After saying that, he took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Senior Zhao has decided to accept Uncle Nineteen as a disciple."
The moment the words were spoken, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Uncle Nineteen?!"
"Zhao Dingda!"
"Impossible! How could Zhao Keqing possibly be interested in that talkative, foul-mouthed, lazy good-for-nothing!"
"Yes! Could it be that Guest Elder Zhao was deceived by 'Da Ding' with sweet words?"
"Uncle Nineteen is only at the third level of Qi Refining, he can't even compare to me, how is that possible!"
While the Zhao family's eldest generation was still feeling resentful, a warm and harmonious atmosphere prevailed in the Dianjing Mansion at the foot of Aoshou Cliff.
In the reception room, Zhao Sheng sat calmly in the center, while Zhao Yunxian of the Zhao family sat solemnly on the left at the head of the table.
Below the two men, a middle-aged man of average build, unremarkable appearance, and greasy face with a small mustache was respectfully holding a bowl of plain tea and offering it to Zhao Sheng.
"Disciple Zhao Dingda respectfully invites Master to have some tea!"
Zhao Sheng accepted the spirit tea, took a sip, and said calmly, "Get up! From this day forward, you are my first disciple, Cen Hezi's first nominal disciple. Take this book, 'The Essence of Alchemy,' memorize it thoroughly before coming to see me again. Now, go!"
"Yes, Master!"
Zhao Dingda accepted the jade slip from his master with both hands, bowed his head in response, and then bowed and left the living room.
After the man left, a glint flashed in Zhao Yunxian's eyes. He suddenly laughed and deliberately asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, I don't understand. My Zhao family has many talented young men, all of whom are far superior to Zhao Dingda. Why did you choose him in particular?"
"To be honest, Fellow Daoist Zhao, my sect values personal affinity the most. Zhao Dingda barely meets my standards, so I chose him," Zhao Sheng said calmly.
Zhao Yunxian was taken aback upon hearing this, and gave Zhao Sheng a slightly strange look, thinking to herself, "Does this mean that no one else is good enough? Is it this easy to take on disciples these days?"
Thinking of this, he helplessly comforted himself, "Oh well, in the end the meat will all rot in the pot anyway, it doesn't matter who learns alchemy! The key question is whether Cen Hezi can sincerely pass on the art of alchemy."
Although the Zhao family is renowned for its weapon crafting, a cultivation family cannot afford to have major flaws if it wants to continue to grow and prosper.
Zhao Sheng not only needs weapon refiners, but also alchemists, talisman makers, array masters, and other cultivation specialists.
Therefore, three days ago, during a casual conversation, he subtly inquired whether the new guest had any intention of taking on apprentices. To his surprise, the other party readily agreed, accepting a member of the Zhao family with just a word.
Zhao Sheng had already intended to take on apprentices and pass on his alchemy skills upon returning to his family. Zhao Yunxian's question was exactly what he wanted to hear, so he had no intention of disagreeing.
As for why he took Zhao Dingda as his apprentice?
Firstly, Zhao Dingda is Zhao Dingtian's cousin, and in terms of blood relation, the two are the closest.
Secondly, Zhao Dingda not only possesses the fire elemental root, but is also an apprentice who has studied alchemy for over ten years, possessing a certain foundation in alchemy, which can save him a lot of energy.
Most importantly, the rest of the Zhao family are disappointing. They can't even get their mindset right. They all seem respectful and polite, but they have hidden agendas, which displeases Zhao Sheng.
Seeing Zhao Yunxian's awkward silence, Zhao Sheng changed the subject, reminding him, "By the way, Fellow Daoist Zhao, as far as I know, the sea monster tide is coming again!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yunxian's expression changed slightly, and he nodded gravely. "I have received a warning from Dragon Head Island. At the latest, within two years, the sea monsters will surely invade our human territory again. I just don't know the scale of this monster tide. I hope it's not the kind that happens only once in a thousand years."
"It shouldn't be like that. If it were a once-in-a-millennium event, it wouldn't be this 'calm and peaceful'."
"By the way, with the demon tide approaching, has the noble family made adequate preparations? Is there anywhere I am needed to intervene?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yunxian showed gratitude and repeatedly said, "I am extremely grateful for Daoist's profound understanding and righteousness. Qionggui Island is well-defended, and I am not worried about sea beasts attacking the island. However, Dragon Head Island has now issued a defense order, ordering my clan to send one Foundation Establishment cultivator and five late-stage Qi Refining cultivators to Dragon Head Island for defense. Therefore, in the event of a demon tide, I hope that Daoist can stay on the Qionggui Treasure Ship and do his best to maintain smooth transportation between Qionggui Island and the outside world."
Although the other party's words were vague, Zhao Sheng had completely understood what he meant.
Generally speaking, during the Siren Tide, it is rare for sea monsters to attack islands and massacre humans.
After all, most marine mammals are sea creatures, either unable to climb onto land or extremely unaccustomed to terrestrial environments.
Of course, once sea beasts reach the third tier, land and air environments are no longer an obstacle.
If they wanted to, slaughtering an entire island's inhabitants would be no problem at all. However, most sea beasts of the third rank and above have already developed considerable intelligence and generally wouldn't intentionally slaughter ant-like mortals. On one hand, they fear retaliation from human Golden Core cultivators; on the other hand, Golden Core demon beasts, lacking any sense of kinship, are quite "lazy"—too lazy to bother with it, and since there's no benefit in it, they're too lazy to take action.
In fact, the impact of the Siren Tide on the Shattered Star Sea humans was second only to the killing of people; the most serious effect was the disruption of transportation in the Shattered Star Sea.
One can imagine that, driven and led by the great demon, countless sea beasts surged into the inner and outer star seas in waves, destroying ships wherever they went.
Even worse, the sea monsters continued to ravage the area for a long time, relentlessly attacking every ship at sea.
Faced with an endless array of ferocious sea monsters, ships struggled to navigate, and maritime transport was cut off. The islands of the Shattered Star Sea would inevitably become isolated islands. If the siege and blockade lasted too long, the disruption of trade would be secondary; hunger would be the most terrifying prospect.
The human race of Shattered Star Sea has multiplied to this day, and the population of most of the islands exceeds their carrying capacity. The output of a single island is far from sufficient to supply them, and they must constantly rely on external food supplies.
If the siege lasts too long and there is not enough food on the island, a tragedy of cannibalism will inevitably occur.
This is not sensationalism, but something that inevitably happens during every Siren Tide.
Of course, no matter how tragic the fate of mortals, it usually doesn't affect the cultivators themselves.
Therefore, a considerable number of cultivators turn a blind eye to the misery of mortals, and even rejoice in the reduction of the burdensome population.
Some scum and demonic cultivators even jokingly refer to the monstrous tide as the Heavenly Dao's "population screening" of the human race, with the aim of eliminating trash and fools and filtering out superior bloodlines.
For some cultivation forces, what they care about most and feel most heartbroken about is that the underwater spiritual veins, spiritual fields and spiritual mines that they have painstakingly developed have been destroyed and occupied by sea beasts.
This is the true "great catastrophe." The reason why the monstrous tide is hated by all cultivators is largely due to this.
Let's get back to the main topic!
The Zhao clan has more than 200,000 close relatives distributed on small islands near Qionggui Island.
When the demonic tide rises, the sea routes are cut off.
The clan is the foundation, and the Zhao family cannot stand by and watch more than 200,000 clansmen be killed or starved to death, so it is necessary to ensure smooth transportation between the islands.
Zhao Sheng was entrusted with an important task as soon as he arrived, which shows the predicament of the Zhao family's lack of manpower.
Having understood the meaning behind Zhao Yunxian's words, Zhao Sheng nodded, "Thank you for your trust, Patriarch. I will entrust the Qionggui Treasure Ship to you."
Zhao Yunxian was deeply moved: "I am speechless with gratitude for your profound understanding and righteousness, Daoist Master. I know all too well how dangerous it is to sail through the demon tide. To ensure your safety, here are some defensive magical artifacts from my clan's collection. Please choose one."
As he spoke, he took out five items radiating spiritual light from his storage bag and placed them in front of Zhao Sheng.
Zhao Sheng glanced at them and immediately ruled out the two armor-type magical artifacts.
Although he could not be called a sword cultivator, he followed a path of lightness and agility, and armor was too cumbersome and completely unsuitable for him.
Aside from the armor, three shield-like magical artifacts remained. One was a dark brown tortoise-shell shield, another a light red shield of an unknown metal, and the last artifact had a very peculiar design.
The peculiarity of this magical artifact lies in the fact that its surface is a perfectly round black shield about a foot in diameter, yet it is actually composed of six small, pure black shields, each about the size of a palm, stacked together.
Even with Zhao Sheng's keen eyesight, he couldn't tell what materials it was made of.
At first glance, it looks like hard, smooth horny animal hide, but it has a distinct metallic sheen. And upon closer inspection, the surface of the leather is covered with countless tiny black scales.
Seeing that Zhao Sheng was most interested in this special magical artifact, Zhao Yunxian smiled slightly, reached out and picked up the artifact, and introduced it: "Daoist Master has a good eye! This Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield is the highest grade among these five spiritual artifacts. A single-sided spiritual shield is a mid-grade spiritual artifact, but when combined, it is a superior-grade artifact."
The key is that it is an extremely rare combined magical artifact, composed of six shields.
Each shield is crafted from the toughest outer skin of the lower abdomen of a second-tier mayfly ray.
It's worth noting that the Ephemeral Demon Ray is known for having the strongest defense among sea beasts of the same level, so the sturdiness of these spirit shields goes without saying.
Moreover, the key point is that the materials for these six spirit shields were taken from the same mayfly demon ray, and the internal spirit restrictions are almost identical, with an extremely rare divine spirit restriction also engraved inside.
Let me first demonstrate its profound mysteries to the Taoist priest.
As he spoke, Zhao Yunxian pointed at the Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
Then, the Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield slowly floated from the table into the air.
Suddenly, it dispersed into six black streaks of light, like swimming fish, constantly spinning and darting around Zhao Yunxian, appearing extremely agile and swift.
What's even more eye-opening is that each shield can be freely combined.
In the air, sometimes it circles the sky on one side, sometimes it combines in twos and threes, and sometimes it combines six pieces into one.
Zhao Sheng watched with great interest and was deeply moved.
Seeing Zhao Sheng's expression, Zhao Yunxian couldn't help but say proudly, "This Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield is one of the last three works left behind by our clan's ancestor, Xuanji. If it weren't for you, Daoist, I would never have taken it out."
Zhao Sheng nodded at first, then shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, are you really willing to give me this Six Directions Mayfly Shield? Aren't you afraid that I'll break my promise and run away after taking the shield?"
"Don't worry! I've always been someone who trusts those I employ and doesn't employ those I don't trust. Besides, I believe the Daoist Master isn't that kind of person," Zhao Yunxian said confidently.
Hearing this, Zhao Sheng nodded secretly, feeling that the Shattered Star Sea clan was finally reliable, having chosen the right clan leader twice.
Zhao Xuanji was the one who revived the Zhao family, leading them out of the brink of extinction and through arduous struggle to grow and eventually occupy a sacred island. His achievements were unparalleled in the Zhao family.
Although Zhao Yunxian was not as good as Zhao Xuanji, he was still considered excellent as the head of a clan.
The Zhao family experienced further development under his leadership, and the atmosphere within the clan was considered harmonious and united.
Just as he was thinking this, Zhao Yunxian next to him laughed and said, "To be honest, Daoist, this Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield is not perfect either; it has quite a few flaws."
Firstly, the manipulation is extremely complex, requiring a very high level of spiritual strength and precision from the cultivator, and ideally, the ability to multitask. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators simply cannot master it.
Furthermore, it is composed of six mid-grade spiritual artifacts. This means a six-fold increase in spiritual energy consumption. This alone eliminates the possibility of cultivation cultivators below the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
At this point, Zhao Yunxian paused and tentatively said, "If you don't like this Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield, why not take a look at this Nether Bone Heart Protection Shield?"
"No need! This is it." Zhao Sheng suddenly waved his hand, interrupting the other party, and said decisively.
Zhao Yunxian was overjoyed upon hearing this.
Judging from the tone and demeanor of this guest Zhao, his cultivation level should be at least at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and most likely at the late-Foundation Establishment stage.
If that's true, the Zhao family has truly gained a great help.
As Zhao Yunxian's thoughts raced, his expression suddenly changed. The Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield abruptly reformed into a black round shield, which wobbled and floated toward Zhao Sheng.
Seeing this, Zhao Sheng smiled slightly, his eyes flashed with divine light, and his powerful divine sense burst forth instantly, enveloping the Six Directions Mayfly Shield in a flash.
With a thought, he easily "seized" ownership of the spirit shield.
Looking at the mayfly shield fluttering around like butterflies, and sensing the astonishing divine sense in the void, Zhao Yunxian's eyes gleamed with excitement, and he was extremely excited: "Late Foundation Establishment! It really is late Foundation Establishment! This... this is truly a blessing from heaven for our clan. Thank you, Ancestor Xuanji!"