"It's daylight robbery!" Liu Zhi sighed. "However, this is the way it is in the Blue Sea. The strong reign over the weak, and there are even some islands that are made to pay a tribute of ninety-five percent!"
"Ninety-five percent?!" Tian Fengyu and the others were stunned.
"How will they sustain their daily operations with only five percent of their income?!" Feng Tianyu exclaimed in shock.
Liu Zhi shook his head and sighed. "No one cares about other's survival here. Moreover, as long as the higher-ups request for a specific spirit medicine or spiritual pill, everyone has to use all their existing resources to locate it. If they fail to locate it within the time limit given, they get punished."
A frown formed on Feng Tianyu's face. This was no different from when they were imprisoned in the Chen Family to be pill slaves. The consequences were the same, and if he failed to produce the pill that was requested of him, he would be severely punished.
"Who is the current owner of the Divine Sea Spiritual Island?" Huang Xiaolong asked all of a sudden.
"The only thing we know about him is his name, Wang Yuan." Liu Zhi bowed and continued his explanation, "No one knows his true strength, but based on our estimates, Wang Yuan should be in the Third or Fourth Order Venerable Realm."
Nodding his head, Huang Xiaolong formed a clearer picture of the Blue Sea. It was no wonder Wang Yuan was able to dominate an area in the outskirts of the Blue Sea. After all, Third or Fourth Order Venerables were considered stronger experts in the various top-tier Venerable-level families.
If one were to compare them to supreme sects of the dynasties when Huang Xiaolong had just arrived in the Holy World, a Third or Fourth Order Venerable was enough to sweep the floor with them! In the past, when Huang Xiaolong had first met Zhang Wenyue in the Jinyuan Kingdom, the supreme sects of the Falling Jade Dynasty like the Nine Heavens Gate, Incineration Valley, and the Big Dipper Sword Sect, only had First and Second-Order Venerables holding the fort!
"Third or Fourth Order…." Huang Xiaolong muttered to himself.
With his current combat strength, he could suppress an ordinary Third Order Venerable without transforming into the primordial blue divine dragon.
Soon after, Huang Xiaolong asked Liu Zhi about the situation in the Divine Sea Spiritual Island.
Even though Liu Zhi wasn't completely sure of the situation on the island, he had heard some rumors about it when he had sent out his men to gather intelligence. There were nearly four hundred thousand men under Wang Yuan, and there were several thousand Venerables.
"Your Highness, do we start our preparations?" Liu Zhi asked the moment he completed his report.
"There is no need for that." Huang Xiaolong replied as he shook his head.
Since they were merely low-level Venerables, there was no need to care too much about them. Even a hundred of thousand of them wouldn't be enough to stand against several palm strikes from a single guardian.
Of course, Huang Xiaolong wasn't planning on asking the guardians to deal with the Divine Sea Spiritual Island. He was confident in taking them on alone.
In the next few days, Huang Xiaolong ignored the existence of the Divine Sea Spiritual Island and didn't bother visiting Island Master Wang Yuan. He merely secluded himself in his residence as he took out a portion of the jade stones to renovate the area around him.
As for the city's layout, Huang Xiaolong ordered his men to widen the main roads before splitting the city up into four quadrants.
At the same time, Huang Xiaolong instructed them to reinforce the city walls before requesting for the four guardians to lay down new protective formations and spirit gathering arrays.
Under the combined effort of Huang Xiaolong and the various experts, Mirage Sea Spiritual Island underwent a transformation in ten mere days. The city was completely different from when Huang Xiaolong first arrived.
It was especially so for the Mirage Sea City Manor. Huang Xiaolong retrieved ten thousand top-grade chaos spirit stones from the space in the lightning bead and took out ten thousand pieces of the best jade stones he had found from the Jiang Family's treasury to renovate it. The density of spiritual qi in the air was astounding.
Adding to the celebrations, the slaves that Huang Xiaolong had saved from the Chen Family entered the Venerable Realm one after another with the help of the pills he gave them.
A bubble of festivities covered the Mirage Sea Spiritual Island.
Good things were never meant to last as a group of people appeared in the air above the city.
There were only a hundred of them, but all of them were Venerables. The aura they exuded was frightening as they stood in the skies above the city.
Every single one of them was clad in a faint blue robe, and there was a trident hanging on their backs. The words 'Divine Sea' were carved into the blades of the trident.
It went without saying that they were experts from the Divine Sea Spiritual Island.
"The renovations the Mirage Sea Spiritual Island made isn't too bad…." The envoy at the very front, Wu Chengkun, wore a brilliant smile on his face as he turned to face the Mirage Sea City Manor.
His eyes turned into crescents when he smiled, and he looked exceptionally sly with his weirdly grown goatee.
Seeing as the chief envoy was happy, another expert, Gao Songyuan, laughed. "Lord Envoy is right. It seems like we didn't waste a trip here today!"
Laughter filled the air as the members of the Divine Sea Spiritual Island chuckled.
It seemed as though their gains from this trip were going to surpass their imaginations!
"I hope that this Liu Zhi isn't as stupid as the old master of the island…." A cold sneer formed on Wu Chengkun's face.
"Hehe! I wish for the exact opposite of that." Gao Songyuan sniggered, "I'll just break his neck and take over the Mirage Sea Spiritual Island myself!"
"Let's go. Liu Zhi should have sensed our presence by now!" Wu Chengkun sneered as he charged towards the Mirage Sea City Manor.
Very quickly they appeared in the skies above the manor.
When they felt the dense spiritual qi in the air, their eyes lit up.
"Nice, very nice! The Mirage Sea Spiritual Island really outdid themselves this time!" Wu Chengkun smiled once again and continued, "I'm starting to like this place now."
Gao Songyuan laughed in response, "If Lord Envoy really likes this place, we can build an Envoy Palace right here!"
"That's a good idea!" Wu Chengkun nodded his head. "It's time. Call him out to welcome me."
One of the experts behind him reacted instantly. "Lord Envoy Wu Chengkun of the Divine Sea Spiritual Island is here! Why is no one from the Mirage Sea Spiritual Island welcoming him?!"
Too bad no one responded even after a long time.
Wu Chengkun frowned, but soon, he sneered. It was impossible for them to miss their instructions and there was only one possibility. They were ignoring him!
"Do it again. If Liu Zhi doesn't appear, charge in and kill them all!" Wu Chengkun growled as a frosty light flashed through his eyes.
Charging in to kill them all was the modus operandi of the Divine Sea Spiritual Island.
"Yes, Lord Envoy!" Once again, the expert from the Divine Sea Spiritual Island yelled his lungs out.
After a few seconds of waiting, no one appeared.
Killing intent started to congeal in Wu Chengkun's eyes. Just as he was about to lay down the order to kill Liu Zhi and the others, a group of people appeared before him.
The person in the lead was a youngster, and Wu Chengkun widened his eyes in shock.
"Lord Envoy, that's Liu Zhi!" Someone pointed at Liu Zh,i who was standing behind Huang Xiaolong.
A trace of doubt soon formed in Wu Chengkun's eyes.
The group that stood before him consisted of Huang Xiaolong, the four guardians, Feng Tianyu, Liu Zhi, and several others, but the only person they could point out was Liu Zhi!