168: Chapter 167 Deep Sea Unrest

The seven Elders sat up straight at the same time.

Ji Qingchuan set down his teacup and swept his gaze over everyone: "Before I exited seclusion, I received an invitation. The Yao Beasts of the seabed are beginning to stir again. Word has come from over there, requiring our Wanze True Mansion to send personnel, along with some Disciples, to head to the front lines."

The atmosphere in the great hall changed abruptly.

From the earlier relief and lingering fear, it turned into solemnity and tension.

The seabed Yao Beasts were the common enemy of all Cultivators in this sea region.

They came from the deep sea, their numbers as vast as locusts, impossible to kill them all.

Every few decades, they would swarm into the shallow seas in large numbers, attacking islands, devouring Mortals, and slaughtering Cultivators. As the hegemon of this sea region, Wanze True Mansion was required to contribute manpower and resources every time, leading Disciples to the front lines to resist.

The few Elders looked at each other.

Someone opened their mouth to ask something, then closed it again.

Ji Qingchuan did not state a specific time, and they dared not ask further.

The arrangements for such matters were not for them to worry about.

The Sect Master knew what he was doing and would naturally notify them when the time came.

"Go and prepare," Ji Qingchuan said, "Those who need to enter seclusion, do so; those who need to practice Alchemy, do so; those who need to train Disciples, do so. As soon as there is news from the front lines, we depart immediately."

The seven Elders stood up and replied in unison: "Yes."

They bowed to Ji Qingchuan and turned to walk out.

Only Ji Qingchuan remained in the great hall. He sat at the head, the tea before him having gone completely cold. He did not refill it, nor did he call for anyone to change it. He simply sat there, gazing at the darkening sky outside the entrance of the great hall. The twilight deepened, and the night spread up from the sea surface, swallowing the entire Wanze Island.

In the distance, there was the sound of waves, beating one after another, unhurried and steady.

...

Spring departed and autumn arrived, winter came and summer went,

The leaves on Wanghai Peak turned green then yellow, yellow then fell, and fell then turned green again.

Yun Ming discovered that he was slowly losing his concept of time.

Sometimes he sat in the courtyard, watching the clouds on the sea, watching the clouds drift from the east to the west, watching seabirds fly overhead, and watching the sun rise from the horizon and set again.

He thought only an afternoon had passed, but Qin Wan came out carrying food and said he had been sitting there for several days.

Sometimes he sat in meditation in the Quiet Room, his five Golden Cores slowly rotating in his Dantian, Spiritual Qi seeping into his body from the heaven and earth, like wisps of spring rain nourishing all things.

He felt it was only for an instant, but when he opened his eyes, a layer of cobwebs had formed on the door of the Quiet Room.

He pushed the door open; the Spirit Medicine in the courtyard had grown taller. Qin Wan was sunbathing in the courtyard and, seeing him come out, said: "Awake? You slept for three months this time."

Three months.

He thought he had only closed his eyes for a moment.

He dared not think, if Qin Wan hadn't called him, whether he would have just kept sitting like that. Sitting for a year, ten years, a hundred years. Sitting until Qin Wan grew old and left, and he was still sitting there. Sitting until the villagers of the fishing village were replaced generation after generation, and no one remembered there was a person on the mountain. Sitting until Wanghai Peak collapsed, the small building rotted, and he was buried under the ruins, still sitting there.

Later, he moved to the fishing village.

He moved down the mountain, to the side of that large banyan tree at the entrance of the village.

Old Chen had already passed away.

It happened the year before last, he passed away very peacefully, gone while sleeping. The Elders in the village said Old Chen was blessed and didn't suffer. Yun Ming recited a passage of the Rebirth Mantra for him, and Old Chen's son kowtowed three times to him.

Now, sitting under that banyan tree at the village entrance was Old Chen's son, also over fifty, his hair white, and he too was leaning on a cane.

Seeing Yun Ming move down, he was very happy and busied himself tidying up a house for him. The villagers helped; one offered a wooden plank, another a bundle of thatch, and in a few days, a new house was built next to the banyan tree.

It wasn't big, two rooms; one for Qin Wan to live in, one for Yun Ming. They also grew vegetables and raised chickens in the courtyard, just like the people in the village.

After Yun Ming settled in, he truly began to live a "life."

In the morning, he would go out to sea with the villagers; he didn't need a boat, standing directly on the sea surface, even steadier than a boat.

He helped them find schools of fish, helped them drive away seabirds that stole fish, and helped them drag their fishing boats back from the wind and waves.

In the afternoon, he would return and sit under the banyan tree, chatting with Old Chen's son, talking with the village women, and watching the children pick up seashells on the beach. After eating dinner at night, he would sit in the courtyard, listening to the sound of the waves and watching the stars.

Life just went on like this, day after day, month after month, year after year.

Unknowingly, another five years passed.

In those five years, the children in the village had grown a generation taller.

Those children who used to follow behind Yun Ming asking for candy were now able to sail out to sea. They called Yun Ming "Mr. Yun," and no matter how old they got, they still called him that.

In those five years, Yun Ming hadn't really Cultivated. His Golden Core Middle Stage had completely stabilized; the five Golden Cores rotated slowly in his Dantian, each one round and full, glowing with spiritual light. He had tried to break through to the Late Golden Core Stage, tried a few times, but didn't succeed, and he wasn't anxious. If he couldn't break through, he would take it slow; he had plenty of time.

In those five years, one thing made Yun Ming feel strange.

There were more and more Yao Beasts.

At first, they were just some low-level sea beasts, at the Qi Refining Stage, occasionally swimming near the archipelago, only to be slapped away by Yun Ming.

He thought they were just passing by and didn't pay them any mind.

Later, there were more and more, almost every month.

Sometimes a few, sometimes over a dozen, a dark mass of them swimming over from the direction of the deep sea.

Yun Ming took action to drive them away a few times, but they would return after being driven off, and he would drive them off again; it was endless.

He initially thought this was a test from Wanze True Mansion.

Sending some low-level Yao Beasts to test his depth, to see if he would take action, to see how much strength he used when he did.

But he quickly dismissed this thought.

Wanze True Mansion wouldn't be so stupid.

Using Qi Refining Stage Yao Beasts to test a "Late Nascent Soul Stage" Cultivator was not a test, but an insult.

Ji Qingchuan would not do such a thing.

Moreover, these Yao Beasts were not only found here.

When he went out to sea, he had seen them in the distance too.

Swarms of Yao Beasts were swimming over from the direction of the deep sea, some heading east, some west, some north, dense and numerous, like a migrating school of fish.

The sea region near the Tianshui Sect had them too.

He had flown over to take a look, and the fishermen there said that in these few years, there were many more Yao Beasts than in previous years; they had to be very careful when going out to sea to fish, for fear of running into them.

There were even some remote small islands that had already been occupied by Yao Beasts; the people there had either fled or died, and no one dared to go.

Yun Ming felt something wasn't quite right.

But he didn't think deeply about it.

The increase in Yao Beasts was a matter for this sea region, a matter for Wanze True Mansion.

His business was to guard this archipelago, to guard Qin Wan, and to guard these villagers.

As long as the Yao Beasts didn't approach the archipelago, he wouldn't interfere.

One morning, half a month later, Yun Ming was eating breakfast in the courtyard.

He had just peeled an egg when he suddenly raised his head and looked at the distant sky.

A streak of light flew in from the northeast, very fast; it was the light of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

It was deep blue, the same color as Ji Qingchuan's light, but a bit lighter. The streak of light streaked across the sea surface, heading straight for the archipelago.

The light drew closer and closer. A person stepped out from the light and hovered in mid-air.

It was a middle-aged man with a tall stature, a square face, wearing a deep blue robe, with a Wanze True Mansion token hanging at his waist.

Late Golden Core Stage, his aura was steady.

Seeing Yun Ming standing by the sea, he quickly descended, landing in front of Yun Ming, and bowed respectfully: "An Elder of Wanze True Mansion, by the orders of the Sect Master, has come to visit True Lord Mingyun."