After another banter with Fatty Tian, Xu Kai took Mo Qingxian and showed her their little town.
Xu Kai had never felt so complete in his two lives. Just looking at her lovely face, his world seemed to have more meaning.
Her beautiful eyes erased his pain, the insults he received, and his loneliness. He couldn't find words to describe her until a word came into his mind.
He paused and patted her hair gently. "Qing Xian, I am your big brother from now on and you are my little sister," he said.
Mo Qingxian blinks twice. As her lackluster response played in Xu Kai's eyes, his heart sank, but in the next moment, she began to nod fiercely.
"Y… You'll take me to F… Fatty Tian's shop, right?"
A glow appeared in Xu Kai's eyes. "Of course!" He said this, smiling radiantly.
"Young Master Cheng Yu is back!"
Those words drew the crowd.
'He survived!' Xu Kai, filled with disbelief, followed them to the main shores, where he saw a dozen men on several floating parts of their ship.
Squinting, his keen eyesight locked on the almond coating on the floating wooden boards.
'They applied something. Is that what saved them?' Xu Kai thought, knowing that, with the waves, it was impossible for a normal wooden board to survive.
When the boards reached the shores, the battered men, looking haggard and wet, fell on their knees, crying out in happiness.
Only one man walked out with a gloomy face. His eyes scanned the crowd, as if searching for the cause of his current state. Xu Kai flinched due to the pain he felt in his waist.
Turning his head, he saw Mo Qingxian hiding behind him. Her shoulders trembled. It was obvious to Xu Kai that she feared Cheng Yu.
As he left with her, Cheng Yu's eyes caught their backs, but he turned away.
Xu Kai in no way looked like a shark, and the white-haired girl, though she had pure white hair similar to the fox's fur, was not a beast.
Cheng Yu was so furious that he was willing to burn an entire building and stare at the flames until it died, regardless of the duration. His lofty plans of returning with an impressive ship no one on the island had ever seen, looking all high and mighty, had turned into a pitiful appearance.
Looking at people's expressions, his mood grew worse.
The beast, which could have fostered a bond between him and Shui Mei Er, also vanished.
After thinking for a night, he discovered the shark must have also known the beast was special and hungered for its flesh rather than that of his men.
'I would have given that shark ten of my men in exchange for that beast!' He clenched his teeth.
****
After leaving the main shores, Xu Kai and Mo Qingxian went to the stone. Seeing her trembling grow worse, Xu Kai removed his ragged black tunic and draped it on her.
His gentle caressing calmed the little girl, and she eventually fell asleep. Xu Kai effortlessly lifted her and went to his treehouse.
The interior was spacious and clean. He moved the bed, made from tunics he'd acquired over the years, to her corner.
Don't overthink it; he only received three robes throughout the years! Mo Qingxian wore one.
"Mother, I have a sister," he whispered. "Does everyone on the mainland look so perfect?" He asked himself, caught in a cycle of amazement at Mo Qingxian's flawless porcelain skin each time he took the time to gaze at her.
The esteemed guest was secretive about his appearance. There were lots of odd things about the esteemed guest, which puzzled Xu Kai.
He couldn't understand why the esteemed guest only came every five decades and why only he could take them to Taoist Enclaves where they could become powerful cultivators.
According to the Elders, if anyone went to the mainland on their own, they might not even step foot into a fortress!
Without the protection of a fortress, they were meals for demons!
Sitting cross-legged, he regulated his breathing, and suddenly, the world seemed to turn upside down. In the Soul Sanctum, he appeared to be a soul.
Beholding the magnificent Soul Palace, he marveled for a short while and walked into the palace.
Xu Kai stood in front of the Skylark Soul column. His eyes fixedly locked on the painting of a Spirit Skylark Shark springing out of the sea. The painting on the scroll seemed so real that Xu Kai had to blink several times to ascertain that this was just a painting.
"Can I still advance to a higher form?" He inquired, satisfied with the Spirit Skylark Shark's unique form. His defense was tenfold stronger than before, and his bite could crush a hundred-year-old tree, meaning he was a threat to every commoner ship on the island, including those owned by lineage families!
Water appeared in his palm's hollow, glowing softly. It coated his forearm, solidifying into an ice gauntlet!
Opening and closing his fist, Xu Kai couldn't hold back a soft smile. "The Spirit Skylark Shark's understanding of the Dao of water and ice is twofold that of an ordinary adult Skylark Shark!"
"Palace, can the Skylark still advance?"
*The Spirit Skylark Shark is the highest form of mortal rank. The Primordial One can only seek a way for the beast soul's ascension into a higher rank.
Xu Kai carefully read everything, internally thanking Uncle Lan for teaching him how to read and write.
According to the scroll, the Skylark beast soul had to ascend from the mortal rank to the sacred rank before it could continue in its sacred advanced forms.
His eyes twinkled as he saw the painting of the 40-foot-long sky blue shark, which had the crescent moon on its forehead, crystal-like teeth, and attractive patterns.
The background was an icy depth, with lots of ice stalagmites.
At this stage, he could have access to more chambers!
Xu Kai's eyes blazed.
Eventually calming himself, he went into the "Face Your Past" chamber to train his combat skills and mental fortitude.
As time passed, a pair of beautiful eyes opened. She rubbed her eyes with her dainty, jade-white hands and turned to her left.
A young man, just two years older than Mo Qingxian, sat cross-legged, meditating. His back faced her.
The sight of the crescent scar on his broad back made Mo Qingxian's pupils shudder.