Lin Yi was also having a tough time. This human kid was indeed resilient. After several days, he managed to defend himself without giving any opportunity for an attack.
A young human with such cultivation and tenacity would pose a significant threat in the future. Aside from avenging his son's death, Miao Ying King had to eliminate a potential powerhouse among the humans.
With one injured wing, Miao Ying King persevered alongside Lin Yi for several days, all for the chance to find a perfect opportunity to strike.
Lin Yi, while running, pondered ways to escape. Despite running for so many days, he couldn't shake off the injured Miao Ying King. The situation was truly vexing.
"Friend, do you have any plans for escaping?" Lin Yi casually asked the fish demon in his sleeve.
"Young hero, your strength is outstanding. Just overcoming the minor heavenly tribulation and being able to contend with a later stage half-shape demonic being is quite remarkable." The fish demon praised, trying to butter him up before getting to the point.
"Cut the flattery. If I can't escape and get killed, I'll use you as a shield first. Hurry up and think of a solution," Lin Yi demanded.
"If there's no other way, go to that ruin. The place is filled with formations and restrictions. One slight mistake, and you'll be trapped. But, it's equally dangerous for us."
The fish demon had no better solution and suggested a risky move.
After a brief consideration, Lin Yi thought it was a decent idea. Since he was planning to explore the secret ruins anyway, if he could also shake off Miao Ying King's pursuit in the process, that would be even better.
Thinking this way, Lin Yi asked the fish demon for the specific location of the ruins and then flew directly towards it.
After several days of Lin Yi evading and Miao Ying King chasing, they finally arrived near the island mentioned by the fish demon.
According to the fish demon, this island experienced volcanic eruptions approximately every twenty years. Therefore, despite its vast size, neither humans nor demons settled here permanently; at most, they would use it as a temporary resting place.
After nearly twenty years since the last eruption, the volcano might erupt at any moment. The fish demon had spent a century around this island, gaining deep knowledge about its volcanic activities.
"When did you discover the ruins on this island?" Lin Yi asked.
"To be precise, it's not on the island but beneath it. It happened about a hundred years ago. Otherwise, why would I linger here for so long?" the fish demon replied.
"Why didn't you explore it yourself? There might be something valuable," Lin Yi inquired.
"I've tried many times, but I always came back empty-handed and embarrassed," the fish demon said dejectedly.
"Why not find someone to help you?" Lin Yi suggested.
"Do you think our demon race is like your human race, having relatives or friends to help? For beings like us, born from spawning, we don't even know who our parents are, and only a few survive through natural selection. Beings like me, who gained enlightenment by devouring heavenly and earthly spiritual substances, are even rarer. We don't have close friends or family to help us. Even if we find treasures with the help of senior demons, we can only get a small share and risk being silenced to keep it a secret," the fish demon sighed.
"You and I are quite alike in that regard. I'm also alone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have crossed the heavenly tribulation in this desolate place," Lin Yi lamented.
"This stubborn eagle king just won't give up. Another sneak attack? It seems its injuries are almost healed, and its speed has increased," Lin Yi complained.
"Friend, how do we enter the ruins?" Lin Yi asked.
"If you rotate the pillar half a turn and press it halfway into the ground, then rotate it another one and a half turns, pushing the remaining pillar completely inside, the hidden entrance of the ruin will open. Once inside, turn left after five zhang, or you'll run into a formation. The first time, I struggled quite a bit to escape from the formation, and I thought I might die inside," the fish demon explained in detail.
Lin Yi locked his soul force onto Miao Ying King to prevent any sudden attacks, then released the fish demon from his sleeve to manipulate the mechanism.
The fish demon swam, returning to a half-human, half-fish form, hiding behind Lin Yi while rotating the pillars to open the entrance.
Seeing Lin Yi's peculiar actions, Miao Ying King, from a distance, found it strange. The fish demon released from his sleeve seemed to be familiar with its son.
Could it be that these two conspired to kill my son? The more it thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. However, wary of Lin Yi's lightning power, it dared not approach too closely and could only release several vigors towards Lin Yi and the fish demon from a distance.
Lin Yi was fully on guard, not giving Miao Ying King any chance to attack himself or the fish demon. He reactivated his spiritual shield, and the Tai Chi Bagua diagram he drew began to rotate rapidly, Forming a small vortex.
Completely concealing Lin Yi and the fish demon in front, several vigors approached in an instant, all being thrown in various directions by the vortex, causing no harm to Lin Yi and the fish demon.
Unexpectedly, the Tai Chi Bagua diagram in the sea still had such a wonderful use. Lin Yi smiled. The fish demon behind him had already opened the entrance mechanism of the ruins, and Lin Yi quickly disappeared into the dark doorway.
Because Lin Yi left the Heart-Imprinted Sword in the fish demon's body, he wasn't afraid of any abnormalities. If the fish demon showed any signs of betrayal, the Heart-Imprinted Sword would cut down the fish demon's heart as Lin Yi's mind shifted.
Entering the ruins with the fish demon, Lin Yi felt like he was entering a gigantic mass of bubbles as they passed through the water film layer at the entrance of the dark doorway.
Without the hindrance of seawater on his body, he felt as if he were on land again, marveling at the grandiose spatial restrictions laid out under the volcano.
After turning left as guided by the fish demon, they didn't continue forward. Instead, they quietly waited to see if Miao Ying King would follow. The dark doorway began slowly closing.
Miao Ying King maintained the posture it had when entering the water and dashed in like a cannonball.
With tremendous speed, it naturally collided with the formation placed five zhang away from the entrance, continuing the laughter with the fish demon as they saw Miao Ying King plunge into the formation.
The imminent threat was finally trapped, and Lin Yi and the fish demon could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Friend, we should go this way now. You've been here many times before," Lin Yi asked.
"I've been here a few times before, and after passing through an illusionary formation here, I reached the main hall of a palace. But I couldn't explore further," the fish demon said in frustration, having been trapped in the main hall every time without finding anything.
"How long can Miao Ying King be trapped by this formation?" Lin Yi asked, raising another critical question. He didn't want to be chased down during the treasure hunt.
"It took me more than three months to escape last time. Miao Ying King should be much faster; after all, its strength surpasses mine by far," the fish demon replied.
"Most of our demon race isn't proficient in the way of formations and is easily trapped. We can only rely on brute force to break free," the fish demon explained.
"That's good. Let's not waste any time then," Lin Yi said.
The fish demon led the way into the illusionary formation, and Lin Yi followed after waiting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. His cautious nature from his past life was evident in full display here.
After entering the illusionary formation, the scenes before him changed into the landscape of Yunlong Country, the hometown. Familiar scenes passed before his eyes, and Lin Yi looked at this familiar yet strange environment as if he were frozen in place.
The formidable aspect of the illusionary formation lay in its ability to grasp the thoughts of the intruder. When the intruder's mind became confused, danger would be imminent.
Being reminded of his hometown memories, Lin Yi suddenly realized that he had arrived on the Eastern Ling Continent. The illusion before him was quite powerful, almost causing his mental state to collapse.
A sword qi pierced through the illusion before him. Using the Mingxin Eye technique from the Sword Ming Hui Yuan technique, Lin Yi scanned and identified the location of the formation's core.
Walking to the location of the formation's core, he was instantly transported to the main hall of a palace. The fish demon was already waiting for Lin Yi here.
[End of Chapter]