**Ding Wei Floating Island**

The sudden displacement of the entire Mirage Realm naturally brought about the immediate notice of Ding Jingshan and the White Elephant King. Yet, their reactions diverged completely.

“It seems Heaven’s Mandate favors my Human Race,” Ding Jingshan chuckled, a wide grin stretching across his face. “Come, come! As the Mirage Realm has shifted and the surrounding situation is uncertain, to avoid any mishaps, I invite the White Elephant King to the island for a discussion!”

The Human Race cultivators on the island roared in unison, “Please, White Elephant King, come to the island!”

In the preceding battle, the White Elephant King had personally led the Sea Race army as their vanguard, launching three assaults upon the Floating Island. All three times, they were repelled by Ding Jingshan and his people.

The Floating Island’s inherent suppression of the Sea Race’s rule was its greatest defense. However, with the relentless assaults of the Sea Race, the Floating Island itself was constantly undergoing a “transformation.” The moment its unique rules vanished, the entire Floating Island would inevitably fall.

Yet, at this very moment, Ding Jingshan, brimming with confidence, once again invited the White Elephant King to attack.

The White Elephant King stood outside the island, gazing at the broken light curtain of the great array, at Ding Wei Floating Island, still scarred by the smoke of war. This island was practically a morsel of meat on the edge of his lips. Another half hour, and he surely could have devoured it. But…

In the end, he could only utter two words with a heavy heart: “Withdraw the army!”

The reason for this retreat was already contained within Ding Jingshan’s words – “Mirage Realm displacement, surrounding situation hard to determine.”

Even the White Elephant King and Ding Jingshan, at this juncture, could not ascertain precisely how many areas had connected with the Ding Wei region during this shift, nor which ones they were.

Attacking the Floating Island itself was a battle fought under conditions of suppression, making it difficult to achieve in a single thrust. Furthermore, the five Sea Nests at this time were depleted of troops.

If they happened to be adjacent to an area advantageous to the Human Race, and an army were dispatched by the other side to exploit their vulnerability, it would be a complete loss. It was even highly possible that the Human Race could launch a pincer attack from front and rear, annihilating the White Elephant King’s army that had ventured out of the nest.

The White Elephant King could not take such a risk. Originally, the significance of conquering Ding Wei Floating Island had diminished after Jiang Wang’s escape. Therefore, he decisively ordered the retreat, completely unaffected by emotion.

In fact, within the Mirage Realm, regardless of whether they were Human Race or Sea Race, it was always implicitly understood that during the time of Mirage Realm displacement, one must guard one’s own base. Only with no worries at the rear could external expansion and exploration be contemplated.

This was not a mere rule; it was a lesson gleaned from countless battles soaked in blood and tears. Both the Human Race and the Sea Race had suffered significant losses in this regard.

The White Elephant King guarded outside the Floating Island, leading the vanguard upon arrival and personally serving as the rearguard during the withdrawal.

Putting aside his position, he was indeed a capable king.

Watching the dense Sea Race army retreat, even Ding Jingshan couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

His gaze remained fixed on the White Elephant King, maintaining the necessary vigilance.

He had already secretly resolved in his heart that after this battle, no matter what, he would find a way to establish a second Floating Island.

And observing the Human Race cultivators on Ding Wei Floating Island, still tense despite the army’s withdrawal, the White Elephant King finally abandoned his last attack plan, turning and leaving.

His solitary role as rearguard wasn’t without the intention of luring the snake out of its hole again, but the weakened Ding Jingshan remained remarkably steady.

Of course, not a trace of regret showed on his face.

“Has Fish Siqing’s side apprehended the person?” he asked casually.

After a moment, he received the reply – “Commander Fish… pursued the target and went together to another area.”

The White Elephant King paused, but ultimately said nothing.

With Fish Siqing’s identity, divine abilities, and strength, he truly should not have risked venturing into other areas in such a state of ignorance. But then again, the capture of Jiang Wang was his command, and Fish Siqing was merely faithfully executing that command.

You still owe me a Shimmer King Pearl that you haven’t returned. Don’t turn around and make me owe you more… Repaying debt is not done like this.

With such melancholy in his heart, Jiang Wang appeared in a “strange” area.

The reason it was called strange was precisely because it was too normal!

Above, there was a sky; below, there was fertile soil. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and the green grass was like a carpet.

In the sky, a warm sun could be faintly seen, and in the distance, forests and mountains were visible.

That feeling of momentary chaos and upheaval had completely disappeared here.

This place was simply the present world!

And it was a place of peace, devoid of strife.

It was this very “normalcy” that made it particularly strange within the Mirage Realm.

But Jiang Wang had no time to ponder too much, because just behind him, Fish Siqing had already appeared.

At this time, Fish Siqing had retracted his Sea Lord true form and looked utterly wretched.

His right hand was missing two fingers, and his left leg was broken at the knee. Appearing alone behind Jiang Wang, merely by his appearance, he certainly didn’t resemble a dominant pursuer.

He and Jiang Wang descended into this domain one after another. The moment they landed, their complexions dramatically changed.

Because this area was extremely close to the present world, it was naturally normal for Jiang Wang, but for him, it was a suppression!

Having resided in the Mirage Realm for so long, how could he not know? He had risked pursuing Jiang Wang, betting on luck, and ended up drawing the worst possible lot!

This was one of the few areas within the entire Mirage Realm that was completely occupied by the Human Race!

He hadn’t even had time to determine precisely which area this was when Jiang Wang’s sword was already directed at him.

Although Jiang Wang didn’t know what area this was, his feeling towards this square region was real and true.

In his view, this was a large Floating Island within the Mirage Realm, and Fish Siqing had fallen to this place just like him. His fighting strength was unaffected, while the other, as a Sea Race, was suffering from the suppression of the rules.

Although he had fought successive battles and consumed a considerable amount, the other had also successively used his Sea Lord true form. Furthermore, his limbs were intact, while the other had lost two fingers and one leg in the boundary river.

Previously, he was no match, but at this moment, it was a perfect opportunity for a fight!

“Even with good luck, you can’t change your weakness!” Fish Siqing countered with a claw, imprisoning the stabbing long sword within a small space from a distance.

Jiang Wang twisted his grip on the sword, and the sword body rotated. The sword qi erupted in a spiral shape, forcing Fish Siqing to let go.

Then, he followed the momentum, the sword edge slashing diagonally, directly aiming to chop off the other’s only remaining right leg.

This strike was somewhat vicious. Fish Siqing suddenly grew furious: “Even with one leg broken, I can still kill you!”

He didn’t dodge but instead directly divided his fingers like claws, tearing forward with a single claw.

This claw tore into empty space, but Jiang Wang, having withdrawn his sword to avoid it, had five blood wounds torn into his left arm again, deep enough to the bone.

Fish Siqing’s innate divine ability was truly terrifying, and he had launched it successively today, yet still seemed to have energy to spare. In the development of divine abilities, he also surpassed Jiang Wang’s.

However, as this claw landed, Fish Siqing’s face held no joy, and Jiang Wang’s face held no fear.

Because the harvest from this claw was far from what was expected!

He had originally intended to dig out Jiang Wang’s heart, but instead had only managed to injure his left arm.

Under the suppression of the rules in this square area, his strength had fallen at least from the high tier of the Commander level to the middle tier. If one were to say that previously he was steadily one level higher than Jiang Wang, now they could only be considered even.

And at the same level, whom did Jiang Wang fear?

Fish Siqing’s divine ability involved spatial rules and could originally ignore distance, making it difficult to guard against.

But just now, Jiang Wang had predicted the landing point and evaded in advance.

He couldn’t evade Fish Siqing’s divine ability itself, but he could judge the landing point of Fish Siqing’s attack.

In the exchange just now, although he hadn’t completely avoided it, he had greatly reduced the threat of this divine ability. Moreover, as he and Fish Siqing fought more, this kind of prediction would become more accurate.

“This time, perhaps it’s your turn to escape!”

Jiang Wang said, pressing his left hand forward. Eight Sounds Incinerate Sea roared out again.

He himself then stepped on fire and advanced, gripping his sword tightly.

Fish Siqing clenched his teeth, manifesting his Sea Lord true form again. His double wings shook, and before Eight Sounds Incinerate Sea could spread, he had already moved far away.

This time, he was unwilling to endure a hard resistance simply to save time.

But the most crucial problem was –

This was an area completely occupied by the Human Race. The longer he was entangled in the boundary river, the more likely he was to be apprehended by the Human Race forces in this place.

But the exchange just now had already proven that he could no longer quickly dispatch Jiang Wang.

Even suffering from the rules’ suppression here, his speed still far surpassed Jiang Wang’s. But he couldn’t directly escape far either! For the same reason, the further away from the boundary river, the more dangerous it became.

At the same time, he had no Crystal Bridge on his person and could not turn back across the river.

If it was said that previously Jiang Wang was always in a desperate situation, then at this time, he was actually experiencing a bit of Jiang Wang’s feeling!

“Gong no cross river, Gong actually cross river. Cross river and die, what can do to Gong!” — Cai Yong, “Qin Opera · Konghou Introduction”

The latter two sentences have many versions, such as “Fall into river and die, what can do to Gong!”, “Gong fall into river die, what should do to Gong.”

This is due to the poor preservation methods of antiquity. During copying, errors inevitably appeared. Pirated versions became increasingly mixed, but those passed down are ancient editions. In the end, it is unknown which is true. Sometimes the original meaning is lost, which is truly regrettable.

From this, one can see the importance of the official version.

Therefore, I call upon everyone to come to Qidian to read the official version of “Red Heart Patrolling Heaven.”

Let the missing words, omitted words, and even the lost transmission of “Qin Opera” no longer bring regret!

(The official version is truly very good now. Even for students without money to read books, clicking on ads allows for free reading. You can also interact and discuss the plot with everyone in this chapter.)

Is this not also a joy?