Seeing Ian Song (as Leon Huang) kick Robin Yan straight into the sea, everyone felt a bit surprised, but it was also exactly what they expected. Robin was just too full of himself—he thought five thousand taels was enough to buy the eyes of a Royal Flying Spinefish? Did he really think that just because he was a Divine Sword Sect disciple, everyone would indulge him?
For a treasure like this, don’t even open your mouth unless you’re offering at least a hundred thousand taels.
Besides, who in their right mind would sell something like this? Robin’s offer was just asking to be humiliated.
"Splash!"
A figure burst up from the water, his handsome face twisted in a snarl.
"You bastard! How dare you hit me? I’ll kill you!"
Swish!
Robin’s sword flashed out, a cold gleam shooting straight for Ian’s (Leon’s) chest.
Clang! Clang!
Two sharp impacts rang out. Ian’s sword was already pressed against Robin’s throat—one gentle push forward and his life would be over.
Robin’s twisted expression vanished, replaced by terror. He couldn’t believe that even going all out, he couldn’t block Leon’s (Ian’s) attack.
"Try anything disrespectful again and I’ll kill you!"
Ian sheathed his sword and told Sam Gu to set sail, not bothering to waste another word on Robin and his group.
Watching Ian’s group sail away, Robin’s face went through a series of ugly changes, finally settling into pure venom. "Leon Huang, just you wait. One day I’ll have you kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy!"
The other nine candidates all did the same thing—snorted in disdain. The guy’s only at Qi-Refining ninth layer and still got crushed by someone at the eighth; what’s he going to fight with, exactly? Totally overestimating himself.
"Haha, Junior Brother Huang, that kick just now was epic. So satisfying!"
Yoon Zhengyang said with obvious pleasure.
"Seriously, Robin Yan was just too much. Guys like him deserve a good lesson!"
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing Robin Yan get put in his place just felt so good.
Five days passed in a blink.
They’d already covered nearly half the journey. Along the way, the group had faced several attacks from sea monsters, but none as fierce as the Flying Spinefish incident. With Ian on board, every crisis was resolved in no time.
That evening, they landed on a small island to spend the night.
After dinner, all the sword cultivators scrambled to ask Ian for pointers.
Thanks to Ian’s coaching over the past few days, their sword skills had all improved dramatically—especially Yoon Zhengyang, who was now brushing the threshold of true sword intent and would surely step into that realm within three years.
The others had made progress too, though not as much as Yoon Zhengyang.
The next morning, everyone set out again.
The sea was eerily calm that day, but by noon, the blazing sun gave way to a sudden overcast sky.
"Looks like a big ocean gale is coming."
Sam Gu’s eyes showed concern as he spoke.
After these past few days together, everyone knew that Sam Gu was greedy, but his sailing experience was second to none. Whenever there were storms or rough seas, his predictions were almost always spot-on.
Ian pulled out the route map and studied it. "There’s an island two hundred sea miles ahead—let’s head there to shelter. Everyone, row together so we can get there as soon as possible."
Everyone agreed, but Sam Gu’s face grew even more serious. "Young Master Huang, that’s really not a good idea!"
"Why not?" Ian asked, noticing a hint of fear in Sam Gu’s eyes.
"We absolutely can’t go to that island!" Sam Gu said through gritted teeth.
"Why not?" Rose Changsun pressed.
Sam Gu shook his head. "Just trust me—we can’t go. It’s way too dangerous."
"No matter how dangerous, it’s got to be safer than getting caught in a big ocean gale, right?" Xue Yu interjected.
Back when they first set out, these privileged geniuses hadn’t taken the sea’s storms seriously. But after these past few days, they’d learned that compared to the ocean’s fury, they were really small and powerless.
"Stop asking. That island is just too dangerous. Even Grandmaster-level martial artists would die there!" Sam Gu shook his head, still refusing to explain.
Everyone was pretty unhappy about this.
"Alright, since Sam Gu doesn’t want to talk about it, let’s not force him. There’s another island to the east—it’s off the main route, but we’ve got enough time. It should be fine!"
Ian made the final decision. Everyone grabbed their oars and began rowing east toward the other island.
But as fate would have it, they’d only made it about fifty sea miles east when a massive gale blew in from that very direction.
The wind roared, waves towered—there was no way to sail against it. The only option was to go with the flow.
Any ordinary boat would’ve capsized in such wind and waves, but everyone on board was a cultivator. They all released true qi to press down the boat, managing to stay afloat through more than an hour of raging sea.
When the wind and waves finally died down, everyone relaxed, exhausted but relieved.
"Hey, look! There’s an island over there!"
Suddenly, Rose Changsun pointed excitedly at a large island shrouded in mist up ahead.
The island was huge—just one glance and you couldn’t even guess its size.
Mist wrapped around the whole island, giving it a hazy, mysterious vibe.
But when Sam Gu saw the island, his face went deathly pale.
"Should we go ashore and rest for a while?" someone suggested.
Everyone’s true qi was nearly drained after more than an hour fighting the storm. They really needed a place to recover—otherwise, another big gale would be too much for them.
"No! That’s Death Island!" Sam Gu suddenly shouted in terror.
Sam Gu cried out in panic.
Hearing Sam Gu’s terrified shout, Ian pulled out the route map to compare. Sure enough, this was the very island they’d planned to avoid. By some freak of fate, the storm had dumped them right next to Death Island.
Everyone stared at Sam Gu, confused by his panic.
"Sam Gu, what’s on this island?" Ian asked gravely.
"Young Master Huang, please, don’t ask—let’s just leave now! If we wait too long, we might not be able to get away at all!" Sam Gu pleaded, nearly in tears.
"Hmph, if you don’t tell us anything, how are we supposed to trust you?" Rose Changsun snapped.
"Yeah, you’ve got to give us some kind of reason!" Xue Yu agreed.
Faced with their demands, Sam Gu hesitated, torn. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "This island is called Death Island because, as far as I know, no one who’s ever gone ashore has come back alive. Plus, there are tons of powerful sea monsters around it. We need to leave, now!"
Ian’s face suddenly changed. He scanned the surroundings and said, "Sam Gu, even if we want to leave now, I’m afraid we can’t. Take a look around!"
Everyone instinctively looked around—and their faces all changed dramatically.