Yan Jia personally led the vanguard, and in order to express his gratitude, Jiang Wang followed closely behind.

This was to show that he would share the risks and would not simply freeload on the pontoon bridge.

The two of them, highly vigilant, walked at the front, one after the other, and were the first to cross the pontoon bridge. But what awaited them on the other side of the boundary river was not a dense army of sea creatures, but simply a vast expanse of emptiness.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing.

“Staying in the Pure Land for too long, sometimes I forget what a bewildering realm is like,” Yan Jia looked around and said with a smile.

His hair was very short, but not bald, with a layer of stubble. His brows were sharp, and his eye sockets were slightly deep. His overall demeanor was actually quite stern. However, he was more gentle in his dealings with others.

This person possessed extremely advanced healing Taoist arts. Typically, medical cultivators were not very convincing in pure combat. But considering that he was in charge of leading the support team, his destructive power would not be lacking either.

In short, this was a person with a very contradictory temperament, and it was this contradiction that formed his unique charm.

Jiang Wang also breathed a sigh of relief. The absence of a sea creature army waiting by the boundary river indicated that, as Chen Gen and Yan Jia had previously speculated, the White Elephant King had retreated to the sea nest.

The survival of Floating Island Dingwei was, of course, a good thing.

Yan Jia spoke slowly, as if saying that the peace of the Pure Land had lulled his will, but Jiang Wang had no doubt about the kind of damage he would unleash once facing the sea creatures.

Therefore, he simply said, “This can also be seen as another kind of scenery.”

“Scenery?” Yan Jia shook his head and said nothing more.

This time, he brought over two hundred cultivators, all armored, with a valiant demeanor. They were clearly elites from Yanggu.

Although they were elites, this number of troops was not enough to occupy the entire Dingwei area. It should be said that Yanggu’s goal was likely to focus on consolidating the defenses of the existing floating islands for the time being. Without completely investigating the situation in the adjacent areas, it was indeed unrealistic to dispatch all their forces at once.

After all, compared to Floating Island Dingwei, the Pure Land of Futo was a more strategically significant territory.

Jiang Wang also noticed that Yan Jia and his team were flying the Banner of Martial Might, which was different from the Banner of Displaying Strength that hung over Floating Island Dingwei.

Only when all his subordinates had crossed the river and formed their ranks did Yan Jia retract the pontoon bridge.

In just this short amount of time, only half of the pontoon bridge remained. This showed how terrifying the consumption by the boundary river was.

Jiang Wang led the way, and the group headed straight for Floating Island Dingwei.

When he had left Floating Island Dingwei, he had been chased by the sea creatures from the sky to the ground. Returning to Floating Island Dingwei, he was accompanied by a team of brave and elite cultivators.

It felt quite different from the past.

When he left, he was quite dishevelled, but now he was quite imposing.

But for some reason, the clear frosty light falling from the divine ability seed in the second inner mansion had a faint sense of suppression.

Jiang Wang had a vague feeling, as if he had made a choice at some point that was not “wrong,” but not very “harmonious.”

But when he looked into it deeply, he found nothing.

He could only attribute it to the fatigue after a long battle, which made it difficult for him to even control his divine abilities.

He thought to himself, he needed to find a place to recuperate properly after returning.

Long before they approached Floating Island Dingwei, Fu Yanqing emerged from the shadows.

Yan Jia’s gaze shifted before Jiang Wang’s.

“Your shadow manipulation divine ability is becoming stronger,” he said to Fu Yanqing.

So, Fu Yanqing’s divine ability was called Shadow Manipulation.

Jiang Wang’s first thought was this, and his second thought was that it seemed their relationship wasn’t particularly good. Perhaps there was more competition than closeness.

Fu Yanqing didn’t say anything about his divine ability, nor did he ask about Yan Jia’s objective or mission for leading the team. Before appearing, he should have observed the entire team, so he only asked, “Did you bring materials to repair the island protection array?”

“Of course,” Yan Jia said with a smile.

Fu Yanqing nodded, then looked at Jiang Wang: “Your sin-washing mission is complete, why haven’t you gone back yet?”

A hint of surprise appeared in Yan Jia’s eyes. It was clear that he had never imagined that Jiang Wang had come to the bewildering realm to wash away his sins.

This also showed that the warriors living in the bewildering realm had a sense of being cut off from the world. A major event that had caused a stir in the nearby islands, he, as an important figure in the Yanggu power in the Pure Land of Futo, knew nothing about it.

Perhaps only major events like the establishment of the Sea Suppression Alliance would be known to the cultivators in the bewildering realm in the shortest possible time.

Jiang Wang said with a bitter face, “My luck wasn’t very good. There aren’t enough Thorn Boats and Blazing Sun Flying Boats in the Pure Land of Futo, so I can’t return to the nearby seas directly.”

Fu Yanqing completely understood Jiang Wang’s plea and said directly, “Then let’s go. It just so happens that a group of brothers need to return to the nearby seas to recuperate. I’ll arrange a spot for you.”

As soon as the words fell, he disappeared into the shadows.

Like Jiang Wang’s True Samadhi Fire and Bifurcation, they were usually only used at critical moments. Because using divine abilities was also a matter of great consumption, especially in the divine ability seed stage, it was difficult to use them without restraint.

However, Fu Yanqing seemed to have always walked in the world of shadows. This might be the special nature of his divine ability, but it was also enough to show that his development of divine abilities was extremely high.

Jiang Wang didn’t think there was anything wrong with Fu Yanqing’s attitude, but Yan Jia looked thoughtful.

From his perspective, although Fu Yanqing was not the kind of person who looked down on others, he had always been taciturn. Even within Yanggu, had he ever seen him being so easy to talk to?

The fact that he had this attitude now could only mean that Jiang Wang had gained Fu Yanqing’s approval.

Besides breaking through and seeking help, what other remarkable things had this Jiang Wang from Qi done?

The battle on Floating Island Dingwei had just ended. They, the so-called “reinforcements,” were not in a position to chat idly on the road. They just kept these observations in their hearts and continued to hurry on their way.

There were many cruel things in this world, but the most clear and direct embodiment of the word “cruel” was always the battlefield after a great battle.

The unfortunate thing was that Floating Island Dingwei was such a battlefield.

Jiang Wang still remembered the first time he came to Floating Island Dingwei. Although he was in a hurry at that time, he was still amazed by this place. It was a pleasant surprise, like suddenly seeing a brilliant garden in a silent wilderness. Returning to the peaceful floating island from the chaotic wild land gave him a feeling of homecoming.

And now…

The two tall ornate columns had fallen. The white stone square, once filled with cultivators, and even the entire area, were gone. Only a dark, gaping pit remained, like the enormous maw of some monster, waiting to devour something. How many lives had been swallowed within it.

Where once stood pavilions, terraces, mountains, and water, now only broken walls, ruins, blood, and smoke remained.

Jiang Wang was silent, Yan Jia was silent, and the entire team supporting Floating Island Dingwei was very silent.

Without being directed, the cultivators from Yanggu who came from the Pure Land of Futo dispersed on their own and became busy. Some filled pits, some repaired damages, and some treated the wounded.

Yan Jia’s healing Taoist arts were superb, and he was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground, completely unable to talk to Jiang Wang anymore.

Fu Yanqing had gone somewhere earlier, busy with something. Now that he was probably done with his own affairs, he stepped out of Jiang Wang’s shadow again: “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the ship.”

Only then did Jiang Wang withdraw from the work of helping with “disaster relief.” He followed behind Fu Yanqing, walking forward, and couldn’t help but ask, “Where is the Island Lord?”

“Recuperating from injuries,” Fu Yanqing said.

“Is it convenient for me to visit him?” Jiang Wang felt grateful to Ding Jingshan.

“It’s not necessary,” Fu Yanqing said without looking back, “The Island Lord said, just remember to repay the debt.”

“…Ten taels of bewildering crystal, I remember.”

“No, there’s also a Blazing Sun Flying Boat. To cover your breakthrough, one Blazing Sun Flying Boat was directly blown up,” Fu Yanqing’s tone was very business-like.

Jiang Wang could only hold his nose and say, “It’s deserved.”

“Cough.” Whether Fu Yanqing felt a little embarrassed or not, he coughed and then said, “You are also responsible for the Island Lord’s injuries. It’s not too much to ask for some wound medicine, right?”

“…Not too much.”

“Actually, I’m also injured…”

“I understand.” Jiang Wang mumbled and handed over a storage box: “These are the spoils of war from my killing of sea creatures. Do you want to take a look and see if there’s anything suitable?”

Fu Yanqing was not polite. He took it and flipped through it as he walked, saying, “The pontoon bridge was for you to carry out the mission, so you don’t need to compensate for it.”

“Should I say thank you?” Jiang Wang asked.

“Cough, not necessary.”

The two walked one after the other for a while. Finally, Jiang Wang said, “Tell me about the situation of Chu Mi.”

Chu Mi had sacrificed himself as a bridge, sending him across the river. He actually still knew nothing about Chu Mi as a person.

Fu Yanqing’s movements didn’t stop. He kept picking things from Jiang Wang’s storage box and putting them into his own storage box, as if asking casually, “He didn’t disgrace himself, did he?”

“His last moments could be called great,” Jiang Wang said, “He sacrificed himself to build the star bridge, and only then could I successfully go to the Pure Land of Futo. Only then did I have the opportunity to counter-kill Yu Siqing and the others and successfully complete the sin-washing.”

“That’s good,” Fu Yanqing only said this.

He finally finished examining the storage box and was quite disdainful: “Why do you collect all this junk?”

He handed the storage box back to Jiang Wang, then continued, “Chu Mi came to the bewildering realm with his master, serving his sentence at the same time. However, his master was unlucky and died at the hands of the sea creatures a few years ago. Since then, he has always said that he was actually innocent. The reason he came to the bewildering realm was to take some of the blame for his master. Now that his master is dead, there is no need for him to continue taking the blame. He also came to me once, hoping that we could help investigate the matter and let him return to Qi, but that is your Qi’s business. How could I possibly help? And, you know this person… He has been talking about this matter for the past few years, always asking people to help him overturn the case. But no one believes him. I don’t know if it’s true or false.”

Fu Yanqing walked forward: “But there’s one thing I’m very clear about. He was indeed as close to his master as father and son, and because of this, he hated the sea creatures to the core. This cannot be faked. So I say, at least when facing the sea creatures, he can be trusted.”

(Today is… a 6k strongman!)