Nearly three months slipped by in the blink of an eye.
For most cultivators, three months of wandering through the Southern Archipelagos amounted to little more than sightseeing. For Lin Sheng, however, every single day had been spent chasing fragments of information that might lead him to the island mentioned by the Qian Family Ancestor.
He had long since given up relying on a single map.
Every island station possessed its own history. Some recorded ancient sea routes, others kept detailed charts drawn by fishermen who had spent generations sailing nearby waters, while the larger commerce pavilions occasionally auctioned maps copied from ruins or obtained from cultivators who had explored dangerous regions. Individually, none of them revealed much, but when enough pieces were gathered together, patterns gradually began to emerge.
That was precisely what Crystal excelled at.
Each time Lin Sheng arrived at a new island, the first place he visited was never an inn or a marketplace.
It was always the library.
Sometimes the collection belonged to a local cultivation clan, sometimes it was maintained by a commerce pavilion, while a few were nothing more than dusty archives tucked away inside old government halls. Regardless of where they came from, he never left empty-handed.
By now, thousands of maps had already been recorded inside Crystal's database.
Whenever night fell, Lin Sheng would spread every newly acquired chart across his room before quietly sitting down cross-legged. His eyes remained fixed on the weathered parchment while his consciousness sank into the endless calculations taking place inside the Chip.
Entire coastlines shifted before his eyes.
Ancient sea routes that no longer existed overlapped with modern navigation charts. Islands that had once been prosperous cultivation grounds had disappeared beneath the ocean, while countless new ones had gradually risen from the sea over thousands of years.
Again and again, Crystal reconstructed the changing geography of the Southern Archipelagos.
Again and again, another possible location was crossed off.
...
On one occasion, a thousand-year-old map led him to an island hidden behind dangerous reefs.
The records described it as possessing abundant spiritual herbs and a mysterious valley that outsiders rarely entered.
After spending two days investigating every corner of the island, Lin Sheng discovered nothing more than an abandoned medicinal garden that had long since withered away.
Another time, an old fisherman insisted that a certain crescent-shaped island would disappear whenever heavy fog rolled across the sea.
Curious, Lin Sheng waited there for three days.
The mist did arrive.
So did the island.
The only thing that disappeared was the old fisherman's credibility.
The so-called illusion turned out to be nothing more than ordinary sea fog swallowing the coastline before revealing it again.
Although each failed investigation consumed time, Lin Sheng never grew impatient.
Finding something deliberately hidden for countless years was never going to be easy.
If it were, someone else would have discovered it long before his arrival.
Besides, the constant travelling wasn't entirely without reward.
His understanding of the Southern Archipelagos steadily deepened.
He learned which islands specialized in refining sea jade, where the best spirit herbs were cultivated and which commerce pavilions sold the most reliable information. He even familiarized himself with the migration patterns of several aquatic yao beast species, allowing him to avoid dangerous waters without wasting unnecessary time.
During these months, his alchemy also quietly improved.
Whenever he stayed at an island station for more than a few days, he would rent a modest pill room before refining batches of Rank Two pills.
The Heaven Mending Pill remained beyond his reach.
Although the primary medicinal ingredient was already secured, several supporting herbs were still missing. Rather than rushing the process, Lin Sheng chose to patiently accumulate experience by refining ordinary medicinal pills.
Every furnace of pills further polished his control over flames.
Every successful refinement deepened his understanding of medicinal compatibility.
More importantly, selling those pills covered nearly all of his travel expenses.
His spirit stone reserves remained abundant, but wasting them without reason had never been his style.
Money saved today could very well become the difference between life and death tomorrow.
...
Another month quietly passed.
By now, the number of suspected locations had decreased considerably.
Crystal no longer needed to compare every island across the Southern Archipelagos. Instead, it focused only on regions that matched the descriptions left behind in the Qian Family's records.
That alone saved countless hours of unnecessary searching.
One afternoon, Lin Sheng stood atop a rocky cliff overlooking an endless stretch of ocean.
Behind him lay another abandoned island.
Ahead stretched nothing but rolling waves that merged with the distant horizon.
He sighed softly.
"So this wasn't it either."
There wasn't much disappointment in his voice.
After so many failed attempts, he had already become accustomed to empty results.
Crystal silently updated the surrounding terrain before removing yet another location from its calculations.
Lin Sheng remained standing there for a while before taking one last glance toward the deserted coastline.
There was no resentment.
Every wrong answer simply meant he had one fewer place to search.
Eventually, he turned around and left.
...
Several days later, he arrived at another cultivation station.
Compared to Jade Sea Island, this place was considerably smaller.
The streets weren't particularly lively, nor were there many Foundation Establishment cultivators walking openly about. Most visitors were rogue cultivators stopping briefly to replenish supplies before continuing their journeys deeper into the sea.
After purchasing another batch of historical charts, Lin Sheng rented a room overlooking the harbour.
That night, dozens of maps once again covered the wooden table.
Hours passed unnoticed.
Outside, waves repeatedly crashed against the docks while ships came and went beneath the moonlight.
Inside the room, Lin Sheng remained perfectly still.
When dawn finally arrived, he slowly opened his eyes.
A faint smile appeared across his face.
For the first time in months...
Crystal had found something genuinely worth investigating.
It wasn't a single island.
Rather, it was a scattered group of islands situated much farther from the established trade routes. Individually, none of them appeared remarkable, yet when viewed together, their arrangement possessed an unusual similarity to several ancient descriptions recorded in different eras.
One source described the region as a dangerous stretch of sea avoided by fishermen.
Another merely stated that a cultivation clan had mysteriously vanished there thousands of years ago.
On their own, neither piece of information stood out.
Together...
They became far more interesting.
Lin Sheng rolled the maps back up before placing them inside his storage ring.
Whether this place truly held what he sought remained uncertain.
But compared to the countless false leads before it...
This was undoubtedly the most promising one yet.
After settling the room fee, he left the cultivation station shortly after sunrise.
The sea breeze greeted him as he stepped onto his flying artifact.
Adjusting his direction slightly, he accelerated toward the distant waters where the next group of islands awaited his investigation.
The journey would take several days, giving him ample time to continue refining his understanding of formations and alchemy while travelling.
There was no need to rush.
If the opportunity truly belonged to him, it would still be there when he arrived.
------------
The sea remained unusually calm over the following days.
Lin Sheng stood quietly atop his flying artifact, allowing the ocean wind to brush past his robes as he followed the route Crystal had calculated. The island group lay well beyond the common trade lanes, and as the distance from civilization increased, the number of passing cultivators gradually dwindled until the endless sea was occupied by nothing but rolling waves and the occasional cry of seabirds circling overhead.
He wasn't in a hurry.
Whenever the journey became monotonous, he would sit cross-legged on the flying artifact and cultivate his Xuan Gang while occasionally comprehending the Rank Three formation runes that Crystal had already organized for him. Although he had yet to become a true Rank Three Formation Master, every day of study brought him a little closer.
By the fourth day, the outline of several distant islands gradually appeared on the horizon.
Lin Sheng opened his eyes and compared the scenery before him with the maps stored inside Crystal.
"They're close..."
Just as he was about to increase his speed, an inexplicable chill crawled up his spine.
Without thinking, he twisted his body to the side.
Boom!
A palm imprint nearly three meters wide tore through the air where he had been standing only an instant earlier. The violent force shattered the clouds behind him before continuing toward the distant sea, exploding into a towering column of water that rose hundreds of meters into the sky.
Lin Sheng's pupils contracted.
That strike...
Had he reacted even a fraction of a second slower, it would have landed squarely on his body.
His gaze immediately swept across the surroundings.
The sea remained empty.
No ships.
No flying artifacts.
Nothing.
Yet his instincts screamed that the danger had not disappeared.
A ripple suddenly distorted the air less than a hundred meters away.
A middle-aged man wearing plain grey robes slowly stepped out as though emerging from another layer of space. His appearance was ordinary enough that one could forget it after a single glance, but the pressure emanating from his body was anything but ordinary.
His eyes calmly swept over Lin Sheng before narrowing slightly.
"So..."
"So it was you."
His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried effortlessly across the sea.
"I expected an immortal cultivator."
His gaze slowly traveled over Lin Sheng once more.
"Not a martial artist."
Lin Sheng remained silent.
He didn't recognize the man.
But the moment those words were spoken, the answer had already become obvious.
His mind raced at possible people with motives, yet only few came to mind. He always made sure to keep his actions clean.
Neither of them spoke again.
The sea breeze quietly passed between them.
The man's eyes contained curiosity more than hostility.
"You tampered with Qing'er's memories."
"You even escaped whatever method was used."
He paused briefly.
"I've become rather interested in you."
Lin Sheng's expression remained calm but his mind silently race knowing that this person was involved with Gu Qing.
His right foot shifted backward slightly as Gangqi silently began circulating throughout his body.
There was no point explaining anything.
Anyone capable of tracking him for several months would never simply turn around and leave after hearing a few words.
The only thing that mattered now...
Was surviving.
Without another moment of hesitation, Lin Sheng disappeared from his original position.
His body became a streak of silver light as the Third Form of the Zen Heaven Striking Technique erupted without reservation.
Wind and lightning intertwined around his fist.
His Martial Intent instantly descended upon the surrounding sea.
Boom!
The violent punch carried enough force to heavily injure an ordinary Early Purple Palace cultivator.
The grey-robed man's expression showed a trace of surprise.
"So this is..."
Before he could finish speaking, he casually raised one hand.
The fist collided with his palm.
An earth-shaking explosion echoed across the sea.
The surrounding seawater surged violently as enormous waves spread outward in every direction.
Yet...
The man's body didn't move an inch.
Lin Sheng felt as though his fist had struck an immovable mountain.
The terrifying recoil instantly forced him backward several dozen meters before he stabilized himself.
The grey-robed man slowly lowered his hand.
A hint of appreciation appeared in his eyes.
"Interesting."
"An attack comparable to the Early Purple Palace Realm..."
"...coming from a martial artist."
His curiosity had completely replaced his initial indifference.
Instead of immediately killing Lin Sheng, he now wanted answers.
And he intended to obtain them personally.