Chapter 286: The Island

Translator: Tim Editor: Fish Creek

However, the island was only one marker on the map. Besides the island, a silver line extended far into the sea. Ye Mo followed the marking and saw that, according to the ratio, he couldn't reach the end even in several months at his current speed.

The next marker wasn't in the bay but in the open ocean, specifically the Indian Ocean. That wasn't even the final point; the final point was in the Antarctic Ocean.

Ye Mo didn't understand why, since it was a sea map, the final point wasn't simply marked in the Antarctic Ocean. Why mark it point by point? If he hadn't seen this island by chance, he might never have found it.

The sea map indicated he would eventually find his destination, starting from this island, but it greatly confused Ye Mo.

No matter the mapmaker's intention, he couldn't reach the final destination with his jet ski. He was searching for blood coral, and finding the island was purely coincidental. Ye Mo wondered if the island was connected to the blood coral or if the map was related to it.

He knew continuing the search was pointless; he needed more resources. He needed to acquire enough wealth to buy a large ship or cultivate to chi gathering level 4 to fly on his sword.

Since he was already there, Ye Mo decided to investigate. He parked his jet ski and dived.

The pressure increased as he descended, but even at stage 2, the pressure wouldn't have bothered him, much less now that he was at stage 3.

The deeper Ye Mo went, the more he felt the island was shaped like an 8. His spirit sense could completely scan the seabed.

He circled the island but found nothing suspicious, no sign of blood coral. It seemed like a normal island.

A map marking an ordinary island. Ye Mo was baffled. He refused to give up and continued circling, but found nothing special.

Disappointed, Ye Mo surfaced, only to find the island and his jet ski had disappeared. Even Ye Mo, a cultivator, felt a chill. Perhaps this was normal in the cultivation realm, but not on Earth.

He had just dived from the surface. How could the island vanish?

Ye Mo immediately dived again, searching his previous area. Relieved, he found the island. This time, he ascended along the seabed. About ten meters from the surface, he found himself standing on top of the island.

The sea level couldn't have risen, meaning the island was sinking. His jet ski had drifted away after the island submerged. The island could sink itself. What had he encountered? At this rate, the island would be gone next time he came.

Ye Mo scanned his spirit sense around the island. At the waist, he found something amiss. The waist was unusually smooth.

Usually, it would be covered in coral; this smoothness was suspicious. Feeling the island continue to sink, he pressed the smooth surface, but there was no reaction.

Had he imagined it? This area was definitely different. Normally, he could scan his spirit sense several meters, but here, it was blocked. This unknown type of rock seemed to even block spirit sense.

Ye Mo took a curved sword from his ring and sliced the smooth surface, eventually digging out a stone.

Inside was a small, clearly artificial box. The smooth rock wasn't precious; if there were enough, it could seal against spirit sense, water, and fire.

However, there were few stones. If there were enough, Ye Mo could build a house from them.

Besides a jade box, the stone box contained nothing else. Ye Mo took out the jade box—the same type as the one Guo Taiming gave him, made by the same person.

He seemed to have found the right place. Ye Mo scanned his spirit sense inside. An incomplete yin yang fish and 8 trigram picture—half a yin yang fish and half an 8 trigram. It seemed quite eerie.

Ye Mo studied it but couldn't decipher it. He could only take it. By this time, the island had sunk one hundred meters, and Ye Mo surfaced.

He didn't understand why the island was sinking; a foundation establishment cultivator or higher might investigate, but at his current level, it would be suicide.

Luckily, he hadn't gained nothing. While he didn't find blood coral, he found the spot on the map and a shard of a yin yang fish.

Back on the sea, Ye Mo was troubled. He didn't know where his jet ski was and couldn't locate it with his spirit sense. He couldn't fly on his sword, and swimming back was difficult. He could find a piece of wood, but that would consume too much chi.

He might be exhausted before reaching land; he had no chi recovery pills. A white shark could easily kill him in his weakened state.

As if on cue, a shark attacked. Killing it would be easy, but Ye Mo rarely used his flying sword to kill, much less a shark.

Ye Mo used his curved sword, decapitating the shark. Immediately, he knew it was a mistake. The blood was too noticeable.

Dozens of sharks swarmed him. He killed several, but more kept coming. No matter how much chi he had, the sharks would drain it.

Ye Mo stopped killing. On land, he could run, but in the sea, he couldn't outrun sharks.

He jumped onto a shark's back. The shark bucked and dove, trying to shake him off, but Ye Mo held on.

He was right; the shark couldn't reach its prey on its back. It swam further away, leaving the group.

Seeing the distant sharks, Ye Mo was relieved. He had escaped; otherwise, he would have had to enter the deep sea, though the sharks wouldn't follow, he would still consume a great deal of chi due to the pressure.

Just as Ye Mo was about to dismount, he realized the shark was fast, a potential mode of transportation. It was faster and used no fuel, though not as comfortable as his jet ski.

Ye Mo spent two hours using his spirit sense and physical force to control the shark's movements.

It was a normal shark. If only it were a spirit beast! Ye Mo thought of the bare cockroach he gave Chi Wanqing. It wasn't a spirit animal, but an ownership pact was possible. This shark was far too unintelligent.

After an hour or two, Ye Mo realized something was wrong. While fast, the shark couldn't be ridden for extended periods; it would tire. Riding the shark was cool, but the frequent rests were troublesome.

He fed the shark fish and let it rest every two hours.

A day later, the shark was slowing. Ye Mo considered finding another one, but the thought of another half-day of training deterred him.