Immortal Reincarnation Tribulation

Chapter 208 Thorns and Barriers

"In the same row of wooden houses as Fellow Daoist Du, the nineteenth room, there was a seductive woman. She had a hot figure, a sweet face, and looked harmless, but her heart was extremely vicious."

Moreover, this woman has cultivated a seductive art. Male cultivators who are not careful in front of her will suffer greatly. I have heard that this woman has already joined forces with other cultivators and is preparing to take action against Fellow Daoist Du when the opportunity arises.

There's also the last room in the thirteenth row...

After Yuan Li nodded, he slowly began to explain to Du Fan one by one.

Du Fan remained expressionless, even with a faint smile, but his heart had already sunk, and a cold glint was hidden deep in his eyes.

After a long pause, and only after naming more than ten people in one breath, Yuan Li paused, a meaningful smile appearing on his face, and said:

"I have told Fellow Daoist Du everything I know. As for the others, I cannot be too sure, but Fellow Daoist Du should still be cautious."

"Thank you for informing me of so much, Fellow Daoist Yuan. If this is true, I will consider myself indebted to you." Du Fan's eyes flashed, and he cupped his hands in thanks.

Yuan Li waved his hand and sighed, saying:

"Fellow Daoist Du, there's no need to be so polite. I'm not saying this to ask for your favor. It's just that the probability of you joining our group is not low. If something were to happen to you, it would be extremely disadvantageous for me personally."

Besides the Qi Refining stage cultivators in the valley, Fellow Daoist Du must also be extra careful when interacting with Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The seniors on Crescent Island are mostly bad-tempered, especially Master Ma, who is in charge of our valley. He is extremely lewd, and at least a dozen young female cultivators in our valley are his furnaces.

For a female cultivator, as long as she can show obedience, there shouldn't be too much of a problem in front of this Hall Master Ma.

Besides this peculiar habit, this person also has a gloomy and sarcastic personality. He will kill people on a whim if he is unhappy. Such things have happened many times in the past, and the higher-ups will not investigate.

Therefore, cultivators like you and me must be extra careful in front of Hall Master Ma. Even if we suffer great injustice, we must never offend him with our words.

"What do you mean by the injustice Fellow Daoist Yuan is referring to? Oh, right, I vaguely heard Hall Master Ma mention the mission earlier. Could there be some connection between the two?"

Du Fan listened attentively the whole time, and finally, a thought struck him, and he asked a question.

"This is also what I'm going to talk to Fellow Daoist Du about next. For low-level cultivators like us, in a place like New Moon Island, it's impossible to just focus on cultivation every month and receive cultivation resources from sects and families, just like we did in the Nine Provinces Continent."

On Crescent Island, we not only completely lost the privileges we enjoyed as members of sects and families, but we were also forced to do various tasks in groups. Even so, the cultivation resources we ultimately received were extremely scarce.

Most importantly, we have almost no time for practice.

Fellow Daoist Du may not understand now, but in about a month, you will clearly feel the cruelty here. When we return after completing our missions, we will even encounter situations where meritorious service may not be rewarded, while wrongdoing will definitely be punished.

Yuan Li sighed and said with a solemn expression.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, what kind of missions do we usually take on?" Du Fan frowned and asked again.

"The most common task for the cultivators of this valley is to go to the sea to kill monsters and obtain their cores."

Of course, this applies to people of our cultivation level. If we are cultivators at the second or third level of the Qi Refining stage, we would be sent to the mines in the northern part of Crescent Island to work as miners.

Yuan Li glanced at Du Fan and said this.

"Capture demonic beasts? The risks involved are probably considerable." Upon hearing this, Du Fan could no longer remain calm. His pupils contracted slightly, and his face turned quite grim.

"That's natural. The mortality rate at sea is around 50% each time, and even if you return safely, you'll still be punished severely if you don't hand over a sufficient number of demon cores."

Fellow Daoist Du probably doesn't know something: the most terrifying thing in this area east of the Eastern Edge Sea isn't the demonic beasts, because there are almost no powerful demonic beasts near the Earthly Fiend Islands.

As Yuan Li finished speaking, her face suddenly turned pale, as if she were afraid of talking about a tiger.

"Oh? Fellow Daoist Yuan, could you elaborate?" Du Fan was startled upon seeing this and quickly asked.

"The western side of the East Edge Sea is the continent of Kyushu, while the eastern side is the misty East Sea."

The fog of the East China Sea covers an extremely wide area, completely cutting off the eastern side of the East Coast. No one knows how big it is or how it exists. All that is known is that nothing that enters the fog of the East China Sea can ever come out again.

Whether it's a Nascent Soul cultivator, a high-level sea monster, or even inanimate objects like clods of earth or planks, anything that comes into contact with the mist of the East Sea will vanish instantly, leaving no trace.

Unfortunately, the Earthly Fiend Islands are located on the eastern side of the Eastern Sea, and Crescent Island is one of the seventy-two Earthly Fiend Islands that is closest to the Eastern Sea Fog. Therefore, once we set sail, the Eastern Sea Fog will be our greatest threat.

Yuan Li's expression was more solemn than ever before. He took a deep breath and slowly spoke.

"Such a thing is true! Even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't withstand a single blow?" Du Fan gasped, his expression filled with shock. After a moment, his eyes flashed, and he spoke again, "Since we can't provoke them, then we should just avoid them. Why are you so afraid, Fellow Daoist Yuan?"

"Fellow Daoist Du, you may not know this, but the mist of the East Sea can separate into its own parts, and these separated parts are called misty clouds."

The cloud moves within a certain range, its trajectory is unpredictable and difficult to grasp, and its speed varies, often catching people off guard.

These misty clouds range in size from hundreds of acres to just a few feet, but regardless of their size, if you or I are touched by even a fraction of them, we will vanish instantly, just like encountering the mist of the East China Sea. Yuan Li seemed to recall something from the past, his body trembled, and his face turned pale in an instant.

Du Fan's expression wasn't much better than Yuan Li's; after a twitch at the corner of his mouth, he fell silent.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, from what you've said, we cultivators not only have no time to cultivate, but we also have to do various tasks for the island without pay. Aren't we just like slaves on Crescent Island?" After a long while, Du Fan said with a gloomy expression.

"It may not sound nice to say it like that, but that's the truth." Yuan Li was taken aback at first, then smiled wryly.

"So, we're doomed to never turn things around?" Du Fan sighed, muttering to himself.

"This is not absolute. If one's cultivation reaches the seventh level of Qi Refining, one can become a small leader here and manage the disciples' work."

At that time, one will feel more relaxed and have more time to cultivate, and occasionally receive elixirs from the island.

These low-level leaders at the seventh level of Qi Refining have a better life, but as you said, we are ordinary slaves, and they are just higher-level slaves.

Therefore, for those leaders, the next goal is Foundation Establishment. If they are lucky enough to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, they can become the hall master of Crescent Moon Island, managing hundreds of Qi Refining stage disciples, just like Hall Master Ma. Only then can they truly rest easy.

Yuan Li spoke with a smile, but there was clearly a deeper meaning behind that smile.

"I'm afraid none of the Foundation Establishment Hall Masters on Crescent Island would want a new Hall Master to emerge under their command," Du Fan said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

"Fellow Daoist Du is indeed a wise judge!" Yuan Li was taken aback, somewhat surprised, and then showed a hint of admiration on his face.

……

As the sun set, Du Fan returned to his cabin once again.

Because of Yuan Li's reminder, Du Fan paid special attention to the people she mentioned when he returned.

As a result, Du Fan's heart sank. Although these people greeted him in a seemingly friendly manner, Du Fan instantly caught the greed and cruelty hidden deep in their eyes.

After returning to the house, Du Fan immediately took out the sensing-type restriction magic tool and quickly infused it with a trace of magic power. Before long, a layer of restriction light screen spread out, enveloping the entire wooden house.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, sit cross-legged on the bed, and savor the information he had received from Yuan Li that day.

"Yuan Li's words can only be believed about 70%. If what he said is true, and we are in the same group, then his words today will be more credible." Du Fan thought to himself, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

"As for the dozen or so people he mentioned, it's probably true, because even if something happens to me, it won't benefit him. Besides, from my observation, those people are definitely not good people."

"A place like Crescent Island is very similar to Dongshi Mountain back then. If we can avoid fighting, we should avoid fighting. But if they provoke us, even if it means taking some risks, we must kill them. We absolutely cannot leave any survivors."

Du Fan took a deep breath, his eyes now filled with a cold light.

"In the short term, we can't count on Vice Alliance Leader Xiao; we can only rely on ourselves."

First, I need to establish a foothold here and be able to protect myself before trying to find Ruoxi. As for returning to the Nine Provinces Continent, it seems there's absolutely no chance right now. For the time being, I can only take it one step at a time.

Du Fan gave a wry smile, shook his head, and sighed.

……

The next morning, Du Fan was in meditation when a cold snort suddenly appeared in his mind. Startled, he quickly put away the restrictive magic tool, appeared at the door of the room in a flash, pushed open the wooden door, and strode out.

"Junior Du Fan greets Hall Master Ma." Du Fan bowed deeply to the visitor, performing a grand salute, displaying utmost respect in both his words and demeanor.