"We finally made it!"
Standing on the deck, Ian Song gazed at the massive island thousands of meters away. After five months at sea, even he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
Behind him, Rosie Ning, Wes Wei, and Holly Hong all looked uneasy. After all, six Skysea Sword Sect disciples had died by their hands—if the sect found out, coming here would be walking into a trap.
The entire island was wrapped in a grand array, though it was only half-activated at the moment.
A small arrow-shaped boat shot over and stopped in front of their ship. On board were two Skysea Sword Sect disciples. One of them shouted toward Ian and his group at the bow:
"Who are you people?"
Ian replied calmly, "I am Evan Chu, here to pay respects to your two Order Masters. Please inform them of my arrival."
Hearing Ian’s name, the two Skysea Sword Sect disciples didn’t react at all. The sect was isolated overseas, and although 'Evan Chu' was a famous name, most of their disciples had never heard of him.
So, it was perfectly normal that these two Origin Core disciples didn’t know him.
"Wait here. We’ll go report. Remember, don’t approach without our permission, or the array might attack you!" After this warning, the two disciples piloted the arrow boat away.
"Young Master, it seems they haven’t heard of your reputation!" Wes said with some disappointment.
"You only rose to fame recently, and Skysea Sword Sect is out at sea. It’s normal they don’t know," Rosie Ning defended.
Ian just smiled and said nothing.
Skysea Sword Sect’s island-protecting array was quite impressive. With it in place, no beast below the Sun-Soul Realm could possibly break in.
It wasn’t long before the arrow boat returned.
One of the disciples spoke coldly, "Evan Chu, we’ve reported your request to see the Order Masters, but it’s been denied. Leave immediately—don’t linger here for no reason!"
Ian shook his head—clearly, a polite request wouldn’t work. In that case...
The next moment, he took a deep breath and called out in a clear voice, "I, Evan Chu, have come to pay respects to the two Order Masters of Skysea Sword Sect! I request an audience!"
His voice wasn’t loud, but in that instant, it reached the ears of every disciple in Skysea Sword Sect.
On the arrow boat, upon hearing Ian’s shout, the two Origin Core disciples’ expressions changed. One of them was especially furious:
"Bastard! Who told you to shout like that? Get lost now, or don’t blame us for being rude!"
"Show some respect!"
Suddenly, a figure flashed by—a blue-robed elder appeared in midair.
"Greetings, Elder Luo."
The two disciples on the arrow boat immediately straightened up and bowed deeply to the elder floating in the air.
This Elder Luo was in charge of discipline within the sect, holding high status. Nearly every disciple felt a sense of awe toward him.
Elder Luo nodded, then raised his hand, signaling them to relax. He smiled at Ian and said, "Young Master Chu, you’ve come a long way. Sorry for the lack of a proper welcome."
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face. Ian responded with a smile, "Elder Luo, you’re too polite. I’m the one who’s caused trouble by visiting so abruptly."
Seeing Ian chatting and joking with Elder Luo as equals, the two disciples grew even more suspicious—just who was this young man?
A quarter of an hour later—
Inside a Skysea Sword Sect reception hall.
Elder Luo sat side by side with Ian, chatting and sipping tea. Rosie, Wes, and Holly stood behind Ian.
After about half an hour—
A disciple arrived to deliver a message, asking Elder Luo to bring Ian to the Sword-Nurturing Hall.
Elder Luo was surprised—he hadn’t expected the two Order Masters to open the Sword-Nurturing Hall to receive Evan Chu.
Skysea Sword Sect was founded on the sword. Within their sect were nine main halls; when important guests arrived, they would open one to welcome them. Sword-Nurturing Hall ranked third among the nine, just behind Divine Sword Hall and Heavenly Sword Hall.
Soon after—
Ian entered a grand hall filled with all kinds of swords and finally met the two Order Masters of Skysea Sword Sect, Timothy Qi and Maggie Zhang.
Timothy Qi was just over forty, dressed in gold robes, with a broad face and thick earlobes, looking quite friendly. Maggie Zhang was in her early thirties, beautiful but with a cold expression.
Besides the two Order Masters, five of the sect’s nine Grand Elders were also present—a sign of considerable respect.
After some empty pleasantries, Timothy Qi finally got to the point and asked Ian why he had come.
"I’d like to borrow your sect’s Sun-Moon Heaven Canon for a look!" Ian stared straight at Timothy as he spoke.
Skysea Sword Sect’s strongest technique was the Sun-Moon Heaven Canon, an imperial-grade scripture even more profound than Jade Sovereign Sect’s Jade Sovereign Canon. It was split into two volumes: the Sun-Heaven volume, cultivated only by men, and the Moon-Heaven volume, only by women.
The moment Ian said this, the atmosphere in the Sword-Nurturing Hall froze. Timothy’s smile vanished, Maggie’s cold face grew even colder.
"How dare you! Coveting our sect’s greatest treasure—you must have a death wish!"
After a moment, one elder finally spoke, his words dripping with disdain and anger.
"Kid, you may have some reputation, but you’re not qualified to act wild in Skysea Sword Sect!" another elder chimed in.
"Daring to target the Sun-Moon Heaven Canon deserves death. Order Masters, I suggest we capture him!"
A third elder spoke up, his tone even more unfriendly.
Then a fourth elder joined in, saying much the same.
Finally, Elder Luo, who oversaw discipline, said, "Young Master Chu, I hope this is just a joke."
"No!" Ian shook his head. "How could I joke about this? I came all this way for the Sun-Moon Heaven Canon—please grant my request. Of course..."
"Enough!" Timothy Qi finally spoke, cutting Ian off, his tone full of anger. "Evan Chu, I received you as an honored guest, yet you harbor ill intent. I’m truly disappointed!"
"Disappointed, my ass. Let me finish!" Ian retorted, annoyed. "I may be after your Sun-Moon Heaven Canon, but I’m not asking for it for free. I’ll trade three imperial-grade techniques for it!"
When trading with Starfield Martial Sect and Jade Sovereign Sect, Ian had given Frost-Soul Pills, but for Skysea Sword Sect, he had no intention of gifting pills—so he’d rather offer an extra imperial-grade technique.
The Skysea Sword Sect leadership, brimming with anger moments before, were stunned to hear Ian offer three imperial-grade techniques in exchange.
Before they could respond, Ian added, "Trading three imperial-grade techniques is absolutely serious."
As he spoke, Ian took out three manuals from his storage ring: Jade Sovereign Sect’s Jade Sovereign Canon, Starfield Martial Sect’s Myriad-Flame Divine Art, and the imperial-grade technique obtained from Wei Yuan.
What surprised Timothy Qi and the others even more was that Ian simply tossed the three manuals over for them to inspect.