Chapter 391: Undersea Shrine
Back when Li Qiye was looking for another island and had no results despite having searched everywhere, he also found this ancient shrine under the sea. He once looked through it and thought that this shrine and the other island had something to do with each other, but he also felt that this shrine was lacking a certain something, so he gave up on researching it.
“A master from the Mollusk Tribe was passing through this area some time ago. A light suddenly shot upward so he went down to look and found this ancient shrine. Then, they found a gateway hidden below this area.” Lu Baiqiu reported.
“A gateway?” Having heard this, Li Qiye suddenly became serious and rushed into the ancient shrine like the wind.
Sure enough, there was a gateway floating inside the ancient shrine. However, during his investigations in the past, this gateway had not been there.
Li Qiye carefully observed this gateway. The other side contained a miniature continent that was as black as ink.
Li Qiye gently reached out to feel this gateway. He felt a fluctuation of space and murmured: “So this is the case, a dimensional banishment!”
His previous speculation of this shrine missing a certain key item was correct. This gateway was banished in the past.
“I learned from the Mollusk experts that there has always been a legend in their ocean, that there was a mythical island that was lost through time. It had been hidden in a divine shrine, and only when one could solve the secrets of this shrine would one be able to reach this island.” Lu Baiqiu said: “After the Mollusk Tribe found this ancient shrine, they immediately tried using refined jades to open this gateway to reach the lost mythical island. Unfortunately, they weren’t even close to having enough refined jades, so they had to plunder the sea jewels that we produced.”
She continued on: “When I came here, refined jades and sea jewels were abundant at this place, but it was still not enough to open the gateway.”
“How could it be so easy?” Li Qiye carefully looked at the gateway and responded: “The legend isn’t necessarily accurate. To be more specific, this is not a lost mythical island, but the hundredth island!”
“The hundredth island?” Lu Baiqiu was a bit perplexed as she asked: “What is this hundredth island?”
“The hundredth island of the Thousand Islands!” Li Qiye meticulously rubbed the gateway and felt the fluctuations of space as he continued: “Your Thousand Islands has a total of one hundred islands. Moreover, this hundredth island is far bigger than the other ninety-nine combined!”
“But, but this is only a legend!” The astounded Lu Baiqiu couldn’t help but utter: “I have also heard of this legend, but no one had ever been able to find this island. Not to mention that if it was actually bigger than all the other ones combined, someone would have found it already.”
“There are a few things beyond one’s imagination!” Li Qiye asserted with a smile: “There are a few mysteries that one can never touch!”
With a changed expression, Lu Baiqiu looked at Li Qiye who was studying the gateway and hurriedly asked: “Can this gateway be opened?”
“That would depend on who is operating it!” Li Qiye withdrew his hand and chuckled: “In order to open this gateway, first, one must have Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades, and second, they must understand this gateway.”
“Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades!” Lu Baiqiu had to take in a calming breath. An item of this caliber was a huge sum even for the Static Stream Country, let alone her!
Li Qiye smiled and said: “This is only the beginning.” Then, piece after piece, he took out Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades and slowly inserted them into the gateway.
“Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades!” Lu Baiqiu was stunned with her mouth wide open after seeing Li Qiye take out multiple pieces. Even her country didn’t have that many, but now, Li Qiye freely took out so many!
Before, she assumed that he was an ordinary disciple of some sect, but even someone from a great power would not be able to take out so many Virtuous Paragon Refined Jades!
She felt a bit stupefied while looking at Li Qiye. At this moment, she understood that he was hiding his abilities like a murky mist, completely undetected by her.
“Open!” Li Qiye activated the refined jades that were embedded in a particular manner on the gateway. From his cry, the gateway emitted a bright radiance.
“Ka—ka—ka!” At this time, an amazing thing happened as the initially large gateway shrunk down to the size of a fist and fell into Li Qiye’s palm.
“Bang—bang—bang—” Suddenly, the entire area started to shake as the ancient shrine that stood strong for countless years began to crack.
“What happened!?” Lu Baiqiu became startled by the commotion and drew in a deep breath.
“Go!” Li Qiye shouted as he dragged Lu Baiqiu away. They immediately soared to the sky and escaped from the current in just the blink of an eye. The moment they got out, an unceasing mist covered the initially blue sky.
“What is going on?” The shrouding mist that covered the sea caused others to be disoriented. The moment Lu Baiqiu looked all around, she became quite shocked and pointed up ahead.
On the other side of the shrouding mist, there were majestic towering peaks that one would find on a continent.
“It is so!” Seeing the huge mountain range shrouded in mist, Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed as he murmured: “Truly unable to find the destination after wearing out iron soles, then inadvertently finding it without any effort.”
“Could this be the mythical lost island?” Lu Baiqiu uttered with emotion: “People say that this island buried all the treasures from immemorial deities. We need to go take a look!” Having said this, she intended to rush through the mist in order to reach this island!
“Don’t go!” Li Qiye quickly caught her and shook his head to say: “It is not so easy to get there. Take another look if you don’t believe me!” With that, he casually threw a rock with the speed of a meteor towards the island where it pierced through the mist.
However, the moment when it approached its destination, this huge rock suddenly disappeared.
Lu Baiqiu’s expression greatly changed after seeing the sudden disappearance of the rock. It was as if the rock was swallowed by a giant monster. At this time, the vast rolling mountains inside the mist were like a monster silently waiting with its maw open for wandering prey.
“What is this place!?” Lu Baiqiu couldn’t help but utter.
Li Qiye smiled a bit and said with squinted eyes: “This is the hundredth island and also what you guys call the lost mythical island!”
After calming down, Lu Baiqiu gravely said: “I must return to the capital and report this to His Highness. What is your opinion on this matter?”
Li Qiye gazed towards the mountains in the mist and casually said: “You go, I will stay behind to think for a bit.”
Lu Baiqiu bade a fond goodbye to Li Qiye and then immediately returned while Li Qiye stayed behind to think about this mist. He knew that as long as he could pass through this misty layer, he would be able to get into the one hundredth island.
This place had many secrets that were purposely hidden from others. It dated back to a very old age, so it was not an easy matter to board this lost mythical island.
Li Qiye tried to get closer, but the result left him with a chilling sensation. The all-encompassing mist was like a ferocious beast; anyone who went close would suffer a horrific fate no matter how strong they were.
After pondering for several days, he understood that one must cross this layer in order to reach the island, but it was also a suicidal endeavor. This went on for a long time before he eventually smiled and left the sea to go back to the island where he used to live.
At this moment, he was not in a rush to reach the lost island. He was waiting for the right moment, waiting for other people to court their deaths. The layer of mist was a bloodthirsty monster. Only when it became satiated would one be able to reach the island; otherwise, it was an endeavor harder than reaching the heavens.
Thus, he was waiting for others to come. When the time was ripe, he would easily set foot on the lost island. He was also not afraid of the items that he wanted being taken by others since he was certain of victory. After all, he was the one holding the real key of the lost island. With this settled, Li Qiye leisurely stayed on his island and cultivated in peace.
A short time ago, Li Qiye created nine stars so he had reached the peak of Enlightened Beings.
In fact, creating seven stars already signified grand accomplishment Enlightened Being, but Li Qiye was able to create nine stars. This was a challenge to the limits of cultivators — to reach the apex of the Enlightened Being realm.