Traversing The Islands - A Small Issue.

The Flood Dragon Archipelago was composed of many small islands mixed with larger ones, which is why it is hard to traverse in a carriage, there are a few roads with bridges between the islands however they were created by going around the dangerous locations like beast dens and volatile terrain, so the roads were long and winding.

For this reason, Shu He had decided to travel on foot, taking a more direct approach towards their destination would save them a lot of time. He was also rather sick of carriage travel, as were the others.

Because the archipelago was surrounded by the sea, it also became the nesting location of many aquatic species with its many beaches and rockheads, the entire archipelago is teeming with life, and it wasn't just normal beasts – spirit beasts weren't rare to see here either, yet because there were so many it was uncommon for a strong apex predator to emerge because of all the infighting.

That and this place was a popular destination to travel for cultivators, the varied landscape and potential gains materials wise was lucrative to them.

But, for that very same reason many cultivators settled down on the archipelago and some even opened their own sects or began clans, thus the reason why, despite the having the smallest surface area of regions among the five, it was near the top when it came to the number of clans and sects.

Of course, the capital Iris was the de-facto top in this aspect though.

Because of this, it became common for local cultivators to distain foreign ones, especially the loose cultivators that treat the archipelago as their backyard, they only see them as leeches coming to stay while slowly sucking the blood away.

…

Water splashed as four figures landed on the large river passing between two islands, yet at the very moment the upstream water burst like a balloon as a large fish with razor sharp teeth jumped out of it, its gaping maw aimed towards the four figures.

"I'll do it!" a feminine voice called out as the figures snow white hair whipped while her hand swayed, underneath her gesture the water froze like a winter train the travelled towards the fish, the moment the white line touched the fish its body was frozen in a flash as its large body crashed back into the river and floated downstream, still.

"This place is so different from the Metal region; I've never been attacked by a wild animal just as much as I have here" Shu He who was at the head of the pack couldn't help but murmur.

"It's just next to the danger region, the Red Sea, so you shouldn't be surprised" Na Xue replied as she ran behind him, her feet weren't as stable of the other three despite her higher cultivation.

"It feels worse than when I was here last though" Bai Lian said as white breath leaked from her mouth before turning back to normal "It feels like the animals are agitated".

Meanwhile, Shu Xue's eyes was fixated on the frozen fish that was slowly floating away while running, a look of disappointment flashed across her face as she mumbled "It looked delicious…".

Shu He sighed "We'll stop at the next major island and eat". Normally he'd like to keep going for a lot longer, but Shu Xue had been bugging him for food through their mental link for the past few hours.

They climbed on to the next island and shot across it, there were many different species of fauna and flora that weren't in the Steel region, so Shu He had his eyes peeled for anything he found interesting, they stopped a couple of times for him to take clippings of different plants.

When they docked, they were at the lower left part of the archipelago, they were heading north along the 'lower belly', heading for the trade hub city known as Gran-Heart City, he had heard about it from the members of the Crystal Coral Sect, and it seemed like a good place to gather information.

After all he had only a general idea of where the Everlasting Ocean Sect was, and a single clue to the entrance for the pilgrimage. He wanted to see if he could find anyone that could point him in the right direction.

"In the place most precious, amongst the roar of nature, await silver's turn to gold and strike true" he murmured the words that he had been given by the Vice-Sect Master before he left. "You definitely don't know where the sect is located, Bai Lian?" He asked again.

She puffed her cheeks slightly "I told you before, I've never visited it and only heard about it from my sister".

He sighed; he didn't even know where to start.

'Most precious? Precious to who? Amongst the roar of nature… wind? No, it has to be the sea… but that doesn't narrow it down at all! Never mind the silver to gold part…' he sighed again.

Eventually, while Shu He was in thought, they reached a large island that was being battered by the sea, it had a large stretch of craggy beach that was a sight to behold, yet as soon as they landed-

"HALT! No one is allowed to enter this island!" A voice came from afar causing the group to stop, Shu He frowned as he glanced at his companions who were also confused.

"I've heard nothing about such a restriction?" Shu He replied, soon after a small group of men and women walked towards them, they had tanned skin and wore light clothes, yet they weren't simple mortals- they were cultivators.

"It was decided yesterday! Move along!" The man at the head of the group pointed a spear at them.

'It's made of spirit metal!' Shu He noticed this at a glance as his frown deepened, if this was true then they would have to trek back for nearly a day to take a different route, that or they'd have to go through the blue hole in the centre of the archipelago that is also considered a danger zone.

He was about to sigh and back off, since he would rather not get into a fight over a day's travel, but then he heard the cracking of knuckles behind him and looked back.

Na Xue's brow twitched slightly as she stepped forward, fist in hand. "Good, good, I was getting a bit stressed going through all this water right after being stuck in cabins for weeks, you guys should work for some stress relief".

"Senior Sister-" Shu He wanted to stop her yet-

"You can't be so meek, Shu He! Don't believe them just because they say so, they also pointed a weapon at you! For that, they deserve a beating".

"Who is this woman?! Do you think you can say such things and get away with it?!" The man yelled.

"Look at her pale skin! I bet she's a pampered wallflower! Haha, such a poor excuse for a wo-" One of the women started laughing, yet before she could a fist landed in her face sending her flying until she crashed on the ground a few meters away, blood and teeth following.

The owner of that fist, Na Xue, grinned "How's this wallflower feel?!".

"Bitch, how dare you!" The spear was thrust at Na Xue's back, yet she jumped away and dodged with ease before her hand morphed into a bear's paw and grabbed the spear, a ghostly blue flame lit up the shaft before-

*CRACK*

The spear shaft broke in two, the man's face turned pale as a second paw embedded itself in his stomach, sending him flying even further than the woman.

"Should we stop her?" Bai Lian whispered to Shu He as she winced, looking at the woman whose face was no longer recognisable.

"I, uh… let's let her vent?" He said as he watched her move between the group of people, tossing them about like ragdolls. 'I saw it before, but that's part of the Lunaflame Ursa… she said she could also absorb essence from things without consuming their bloodline, is that why she usually sleeps on it?' he thought as he watched.

"Okay, anyone else want to try stop us?" She stood among them like a demon king, the ones that could stand cowered "No! No! Stop! We were lying! Let us live!" they said as they gathered up the injured and ran off.

Cracking sounds echoed as her hands returned to normal and she stretched her arms "Ahh, that's better" she turned to the three "See, that's how you deal with people like that!".

"Right…" Shu He held back a sigh 'I hope this doesn't have repercussions later'.

"I wonder why they stopped us though?" Bai Lian murmured, causing the other two to pause and think.

"Something must be happening on this island… I guess?" Shu He reached the same conclusion as the others. Just as he said that he felt a tug on his robes as he looked down to Shu Xue rubbing her tummy.

"Shu He, can we eat?" She asked, her eyes almost sobbing like she had been starved.

"Right, I guess we can do some fishing here then".

And so, they began to make their way down to the large beach.