A streak of green radiance, bearing an imposing pressure, suddenly manifested in the sky above the colossal island, hovering directly over the bloody mist that enveloped it.
"Outrageous! That brat has escaped again!"
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes gazed down upon the massive island with chilling eyes. The entire landmass was steeped in a thick, pervasive blood mist, and Ye Qin’s aura had vanished within it, rendering his divine sense useless for tracking.
Deeper within the blood mist, however, a fierce and malevolent spectral energy pressed down, threatening to surge heavenward, a presence that now instilled caution in him, preventing his divine sense from probing too deeply.
The spectral energy in the depths, masked by the dense blood mist surrounding it, did not immediately appear overtly sinister or chilling.
But, what was the station of the Old Ancestor in Green Robes?
How could he fail to realize that this spectral energy was being forcefully contained by a colossal, supreme grand formation? Were it not for this formation's control, that ferocious ghostly power could likely shatter the outer blood mist in an instant, soaring tens of thousands of feet into the heavens and transforming the surrounding hundred thousand miles of sea into a domain of ghosts.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes had no intention of rashly charging in.
With hundreds of years of experience navigating the Sea of Blood, he would absolutely not commit such a rudimentary error—rushing impulsively into a place of completely unknown peril.
Even if he intended to enter, he would first need to ascertain the nature of this grand formation, at the very least.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes glanced around.
Never mind Ye Qin and his company, who had already fled onto the giant island; there were still a handful of treasure-seeking cultivators stubbornly resisting, struggling to escape the siege laid by the wicked cultivators of Savage Isle.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes let out a cold snort, retracting his Minor Divine Ability artifact, the Green Baleful Sword. Without even looking at it, he sent it shooting forth.
He had expended considerable effort, yet that mere mid-stage Golden Core Ye Qin had slipped away. The anger simmering in his heart required an immediate outlet.
"Pfft!"
Several sounds of artifacts exploding echoed in the sky, followed by screams.
Outside the giant island, the last few treasure-seeking cultivators, who had been entangled by the Savage Isle cultivators and hadn't managed to flee onto the landmass, were instantly slaughtered by the Ancestor’s flying sword, leaving none alive.
After exterminating all the treasure-seeking cultivators outside the island, the Savage Isle wicked cultivators all flew to position themselves behind the Old Ancestor in Green Robes. Seeing his grim expression, they trembled inwardly, daring not utter a single superfluous word.
In the preceding battle, over half of the treasure-seeking cultivators had been massacred—nearly thirty or forty individuals. Yet, more than twenty or thirty still managed to escape into the giant island.
Furthermore, even with the Ancestor leading them and holding the advantage, the Savage Isle cultivators had still lost more than ten members.
It could be said that they had not gained much profit from this fight.
Most importantly, they had failed to fulfill the Ancestor’s order to annihilate everyone completely.
"Ancestor, please calm your wrath! Your subordinates performed poorly; please mete out your punishment!"
Several Savage Isle wicked cultivator captains stepped forward with forced courage, their voices laced with apprehension.
"A bunch of good-for-nothings! Over ten dead, and so many treasure-seekers escaped into the ancient ruins!"
The gaze of the Old Ancestor in Green Robes swept over the Savage Isle cultivators, a sharp glare flashing across them.
The Savage Isle cultivators dared not meet the Ancestor's eyes and bowed their heads, inwardly lamenting their misfortune.
Just moments ago, they had given their all, fighting desperately against these treasure-seekers.
However, this large group of mid-to-late Golden Core treasure-seekers were not without fighting strength! Among those who could survive in the Sea of Blood, how many could truly be called useless?
Moreover, the Earth Metal Grand Formation was positioned just over ten miles from the edge of the giant island. For Golden Core cultivators, this distance was minuscule, allowing the treasure-seekers to easily slip into the island.
The timeframe was extremely short, the situation chaotic, and they also had to be wary of the Old Ancestor’s reckless, sweeping sword attacks. To have managed to kill thirty or forty of the opposing treasure-seekers was already an achievement under such difficult circumstances.
"This Old Ancestor administers both rewards and punishments clearly. This debt will be noted for now, and I will deal with the reprimand upon our return to Savage Isle! For now, pursuing those treasure-seekers who fled into the formation is the priority."
Seeing his Savage Isle subordinates trembling in fear and silence, the Old Ancestor in Green Robes suppressed his rising anger and stated coldly, "This island spans over ten thousand li; it is no trivial matter. There must be quite a few ghost cultivators lurking within the ruins.
"Test the waters for this Old Ancestor! See if they can first break the formation enveloping the island!"
"Yes!!"
The Savage Isle wicked cultivators immediately shouted in unison.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes let out another cold sound, ceasing to pay attention to the cultivators behind him, and stared at the ghostly mist formation ahead, his expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty.
The blood mist surrounding this colossal island churned, yet the ghostly mist within lay silent as a dead domain, emitting no sound whatsoever. That group of treasure-seekers who had charged in moments ago disappeared completely within the bloody vapor, their auras vanishing without raising even a ripple—an exceedingly strange phenomenon.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes ascended into the sky, flying directly above the center of the island. After a slight hesitation, he swiftly formed a hand seal and pointed a finger down towards the island.
The Green Baleful Sword instantly swelled to several hundred zhang, transforming into a fierce, baleful streak of light, plummeting from the sky towards the island. With a single cleave, it split open the blood mist across a scope of several thousand zhang ahead, exposing the scene hidden beneath the vapor.
Within the blood mist, there was a thin veil of ghostly mist, encapsulating the deeper area.
Just as the Green Baleful Sword cleaved towards the depths of this ghostly veil, attempting to pierce the grand ghostly formation and investigate the ruins beyond—
The ghostly mist veil was suddenly disturbed. It instantly condensed into a gigantic, pitch-black ghost claw, one hundred zhang in size, which snatched the several-hundred-zhang Green Baleful Sword in its grasp.
As the ghost claw made contact with the green baleful light of the sword, it instantly pierced through the glow, emitting a harsh sizzling sound as it rapidly corroded the sword's magical power.
The Green Baleful Sword struggled violently, slashing back at the ghost claw.
The ghost mist deep within the island instantly boiled and churned, as if a slumbering giant beast had been awakened. Innumerable strands of ghostly energy transformed into fierce ghost claws, gaping mouths, and roaring ghostly heads, surging toward the Green Baleful Sword, attempting to devour it whole.
The Green Baleful Sword was powerful but alone; it was no match for these swarm of ghost claws and heads.
"Not good!!"
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes was utterly dismayed.
He had not anticipated that merely disturbing the ghostly mist formation would result in such a fierce backlash from the formation itself.
If his Minor Divine Ability artifact, the Green Baleful Sword, were to be seized and torn apart by these ghostly claws and heads, it might never escape.
Seeing the surging claws and heads about to engulf the Green Baleful Sword, the Old Ancestor in Green Robes had no time to deliberate. He exerted his full power, controlling the sword to viciously cleave at the ghost claw gripping its body. After three heavy slashes, he finally severed the claw, broke free, and transformed into a green streak of light, instantly shooting out of the blood mist.
Deep within the formation, the churning ghost mist retracted, gradually calming down, as if nothing untoward had transpired.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes retrieved the Green Baleful Sword, his ashen face growing even more unsightly.
"The ghostly mist formation within this island must have been laid by a Nascent Soul realm ghost cultivator. A mere Golden Core ghost cultivator could never construct a formation of this magnitude."
"At the very least, a Nascent Soul realm ghost cultivator set this up! It’s even possible there are more."
"This ghostly mist grand formation covers an area of nearly ten thousand li, astonishingly vast. It seems impossible to break through this formation directly."
"However, those treasure-seeking cultivators rushed in, and the formation did not react with backlash. This suggests that as long as one does not attempt to forcibly breach the formation, it won't trigger a hostile response!"
"There is another highly suspicious point. With such a commotion outside, if there were ghost cultivators within this ruin, why has there been no reaction? ...It's quite peculiar."
"Could it be that this place only harbors a ghostly mist formation, but no actual ghost cultivators?"
"That possibility also exists. Perhaps several thousand years ago, some incredibly powerful ghost cultivator laid down this grand formation, but their lifespan ended, and they were completely annihilated."
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes’ face was taut, his brow deeply furrowed.
Ghost cultivators of the Nascent Soul level were exceedingly difficult to provoke, and he had no desire to make an enemy of such a powerful entity.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes pondered without finding a solution.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. Even if it meant paying a price, he was determined to kill that brat cultivating the Grand Five Elements Sword. Otherwise, the reputation of the Old Ancestor of Savage Isle would eventually become a massive joke in the Sea of Blood, inviting endless mockery from other Nascent Soul cultivators.
With this thought, the Old Ancestor in Green Robes coldly addressed the Savage Isle wicked cultivators behind him, "You five, detach yourselves and enter the depths of this formation to ascertain the situation."
Upon witnessing the scene that had just unfolded, the Savage Isle wicked cultivators were already shaken and terrified.
Hearing the Ancestor’s command now, they couldn't help but turn pale with dread.
But they knew that defying the Old Ancestor in Green Robes meant certain death. If they survived, however, they would earn immense merit.
Immediately, five Savage Isle cultivators accepted the order, driving their artifacts and flying toward the blood mist surrounding the giant island.
Just as the five were about to fly into the blood mist, the Old Ancestor in Green Robes suddenly struck a hand seal, slapping them five times in succession on their backs. "Slap, slap, slap—!" The seals landed precisely on their heart areas.
The five Savage Isle wicked cultivators, who were about to enter the blood mist, instantly stopped in astonishment, bewildered, not knowing what the Ancestor had done to them.
"No need to worry. This Old Ancestor has left a tracking imprint on each of you. If you encounter danger, this Old Ancestor can rush in immediately to rescue you!" the Old Ancestor in Green Robes declared coldly.
"Thank you, Ancestor!"
The five Savage Isle cultivators immediately displayed looks of gratitude and relief, then each controlled their flying swords and plunged into the blood mist, quickly vanishing from sight. As for what they truly felt in their hearts, they likely did not believe the Ancestor would actually risk his life to save them.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes turned away from the blood mist and produced a black-gold magical mirror, about a foot in size, observing the situation with a cold eye.
This black-gold magical mirror was named the "Heaven-Piercing Mirror."
It possessed the ability to track extremely faint magical power signatures. As long as an imprint was left on a cultivator, the Heaven-Piercing Mirror could detect that person’s whereabouts, even from thousands of li away.
This tracking artifact was even more potent than the Ancestor’s own divine sense tracking.
On this mirror, five golden lights, sparkling and shining brightly, were rapidly shooting toward the island's depths. These five golden lights corresponded exactly to the five Savage Isle wicked cultivators who had just entered the blood mist.
If any single golden light extinguished and vanished, it meant the corresponding Savage Isle cultivator had perished.
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes fixed his gaze, observing quietly for the time it took one stick of incense to burn. The five golden lights paused a few times midway but never extinguished. They had successfully traversed the blood mist and entered the ghostly mist grand formation.
"As expected, as long as one does not attempt to forcefully attack the ghostly mist grand formation, entering via the normal path will not provoke a backlash. Since Golden Core cultivators can enter the formation unharmed, moving in and out within the ghostly mist grand formation will not be difficult for this Old Ancestor either."
The cautious anxiety in the Old Ancestor in Green Robes' heart finally eased.
"The five-person squad, along with this Old Ancestor, will enter the ancient ruins on this island. Discover those treasure-seeking cultivators and kill them without mercy!"
"Whoever captures that Golden Core cultivator bearing the skeletal demon will receive a great reward from this Old Ancestor! Killing the rest of the treasure-seekers will count as merit and the previous failures will not be pursued."
"Furthermore, if you discover any ancient treasures, rare materials, or dangerous fierce beasts, record them in your respective map scrolls! These will also be heavily rewarded."
As the Old Ancestor in Green Robes finished speaking.
"Yes!"
The Savage Isle wicked cultivators were no longer apprehensive but excited, responding in affirmation. They formed five-person teams and, riding their flying swords, plunged into the outermost layer of blood mist surrounding the giant island.
"Old Ancestor, let's see just how capable you are, to escape the palm of this Old Ancestor within these ancient ruins!!"
The Old Ancestor in Green Robes waited until all the Savage Isle wicked cultivators had entered, then finally let out a sneer. He clenched his palm fiercely, transforming into a streak of green flowing light that shot toward the island, vanishing in the vast blood mist in the blink of an eye.