Jiuyou Island is located in the southwest of Ziyan Heaven, adjacent to the Sea of Demons. Within that sea of demons lies a place of Demon Eye that strikes fear into countless cultivators.
The Eye of the Demon—rumor has it that terrifying evil spirits haunt below. Even those at the Divine Venerable level have to avoid them, unwilling to provoke them.
Long Chen was once used as a sacrifice by Longteng Trading Company, sacrificed to the Demon Eye. He nearly died, but unexpectedly, it was the Ghost Emperor mark on his body that saved him.
Therefore, Long Chen was extremely wary of the Demon Eye, and Jiuyou Island was not far from it, yet they coexisted peacefully, which felt somewhat eerie.
Because it is adjacent to the Demon Eye, and Jiuyou Island lies in the Sea of Mist, mysterious and unfathomable, no one dares to approach.
Jiuyou Island is the second largest base of the Jiuyou Hall, having trained countless elite assassins. These people are like leopards in the night, watching every move around them. Anyone who dares to approach that area is gone and never returns.
Over time, the Sea of Mist around Jiuyou Island became a forbidden zone, with no one daring to set foot there. Jiuyou Island became increasingly mysterious.
Jiuyou Island consists of more than 3,600 islands. Because the magnetic fields between the islands differ, they attract or repel each other, making the space there extremely chaotic and difficult for outsiders to adapt.
Moreover, mist has been entwined year-round, and the Nine Nether Hall uses formations to merge the mist into it, making it even more deceptive. Outsiders entering would be no different from abandoning their own martial arts—they would only be slaughtered.
The reason Long Chen knew so much information was all provided by Huayun Trading Company. Even Huayun Trading Company only knew these rough information; they were unclear about the details, which revealed just how mysterious Jiuyou Island was.
"Boss, the route you gave me is so strange. Taking a detour like this will waste a lot of time." Xia Chen piloted the flying boat, looking at the map Long Chen had given him, and couldn't help but ask.
"This is meant to confuse the enemy. Our movements have been exposed, so even if the enemy can't track us, they can estimate the general direction we want to go from the route we looted.
Our goal is Jiuyou Island, but we can't head straight for it. We need to take a detour. In another direction, there is the ruins of the Lingxiao Academy branch.
I deliberately confused them to make them guess that we were heading to the academy ruins to activate the foundation stone, and that they would set a trap waiting for us.
This way, our chances of winning on Jiuyou Island would be much higher. Long Chen said.
"That can't be true. Xia Chen is now wealthy enough to rival a nation, I have the Supreme Arm, and you, boss, are even more invincible. The three of us brothers joining forces and launching a surprise attack—is there any chance of failure?" Guo Ran asked in confusion.
Through these days of plundering, Xia Chen had collected quite a few materials, and when passing by Huayun Trading Company, he also bought many rare materials. Now, what he owned was far more than what he had at the Lingwen Pavilion.
After all, cultivators in the Futian Star Domain buy materials from major trading shops. After robbing so many shops, Xia Chen had become rich overnight.
After getting rich, Xia Chen added several more runes to Guo Ran, helping him fuse the power of the Supreme Arm more quickly.
Meanwhile, under their research, Guo Ran's Demon Dragon Battle Armor began to inscribe new runes. While his defense and attack power were greatly enhanced, Xia Chen was still researching how to combine the armor's power with the Supreme Bone. If successful, it would be truly formidable.
So now, Guo Ran was full of confidence in himself. Although he didn't dare claim he could surpass Long Chen, at least he felt that the distance between them was getting closer. With the three of them joining forces, in his own words, he could walk across the world with confidence.
Long Chen couldn't be bothered with this overconfident guy. No matter what was said now, he wouldn't listen. Only when facing a truly terrifying existence would he understand how big the gap was.
Long Chen said seriously, "This operation is crucial. We can only win, not lose. There is only one chance. Once missed, there will never be a second chance."
So, better safe than sorry. Xia Chen, you need to prepare more life-saving measures. I have a feeling this time, success or failure depends on you. "
Don't worry, boss. Leave it to me." Xia Chen patted his chest and said.
Long Chen nodded, and Xia Chen nodded, which put him at ease. As for Guo Ran, that unreliable guy, Long Chen couldn't be bothered to explain further.
However, Long Chen could understand. At this moment, Guo Ran had the Supreme Arm, and Xia Chen had infused his battle armor with some runes, among which was Long Chen's Third Form of Heaven-Splitting.
In other words, Guo Ran could now activate the third form of the Heaven-Opening Technique. In his words, Guo Ran was lazy and had a lazy fate. Aside from the runes of the Heaven-Opening First Form, which he had painstakingly researched himself, the second and third forms were obtained effortlessly. What Long Chen had painstakingly comprehended was something he could use. Long Chen even felt as if he was working hard for this kid.
Although Guo Ran's Heaven-Opening technique lacked the will to open the heavens and his spiritual power was weak, which greatly reduced the technique's power, now that he had the Supreme Bone, when the supreme bone's power fused into the Heaven-Opening Bone, the power would also be terrifyingly great.
Additionally, Xia Chen designed a set of runes for Guo Ran's long blade, allowing it to maximize the power of the Supreme Bone. Guo Ran had already forged these runes into the blade. In terms of destructive power and skill experience, Guo Ran was no less than Long Chen. So, Guo Ran's inflated nature was only natural. If he didn't, he wouldn't be Guo Ran.
But Xia Chen, unlike Guo Ran, was originally someone who didn't talk much. Though young, he was extremely steady and reliable. After experiencing the ups and downs of the Lingwen Pavilion, his mindset became calmer and more reliable.
Although Xia Chen didn't constantly demonstrate his ultimate moves like Guo Ran, judging by his calm and unruffled expression, his strength was definitely not inferior to Guo Ran's—he just didn't like to show off.
Guo Ran tried many times to seduce Xia Chen and show off his moves, but Xia Chen politely declined. Guo Ran repeatedly said Xia Chen was stingy, but Xia Chen just smiled gently and didn't explain.
Long Chen couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, a country can be changed, but one's nature is hard to change. Guo Ran had endured so much hardship and suffering, yet he still had a carefree personality and would never grow up.
The flying boat twisted and turned all the way; Xia Chen and Guo Ran continued their looting, while Long Chen stayed inside the boat to refine pills and take medicine.
As Long Chen kept taking the medicine, the vast medicinal power could finally be directly absorbed by the Purple Que Star. Now, the Purple Que Star had grown from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a mung bean.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, the Purple Palace Star trembled violently, its purple light illuminating the entire star sea. A relieved smile appeared on Long Chen's face:
"The first transformation of the Nine Star Transformation Nine Transformations is complete. Hehe, I can summon the Seven-Colored Divine Ring now."