Chapter 373: Chapter 134: Island Country of Conches, Gradually Assimilating
...
Time flew by, and another month passed.
During this month, Li Xuan’s map had become much more complete.
And on this day, his "good luck" finally arrived.
He unexpectedly discovered a human settlement on a deserted island.
Those people usually hid underground, making them extremely difficult to find unless one looked carefully.
After confirming several times that there was no Demonic Qi here, Li Xuan took out his flying sword, dragging the Alchemy Furnace, and dived into the sea, then slowly headed towards the distant deserted island as the seawater gently lapped.
...
At night...
Tong Jia and her partner quietly went out; today, it was their turn to mine spirit minerals from afar.
They no longer hoped to fight back against the demons; all they sought was to find resources in this harsh environment to continue their cultivation, firstly to protect themselves, and secondly in the hope of an early breakthrough, and then... journey far away.
Tong Jia was a cultivator with poor eyesight.
But in this world, how could there be cultivators with poor eyesight?
Tong Jia originally had normal eyesight, but when fleeing from the Illusion Mountain Sect, her escape team encountered a powerful demon.
The Yin Ghost Realm Steward leading them flew into the sky to fight the demon.
She didn’t even see what the demon looked like, only saw golden light exploding everywhere, like countless fine cold needles stabbing into her eyes, and from that day on, her vision became blurry.
The Demon Technique had caused this, and it was incurable.
Tong Jia didn’t dare to fly on her sword; she just quietly walked through the woods.
She brushed aside the underbrush and came to the shore.
The waves under the waning moon appeared like sparkling fragments of silver; Tong Jia’s companion was named Master Xuwenzi.
Master Xuwenzi was a self-given name; no one remembered his original name.
Master Xuwenzi had normal vision, and suddenly he cautioned, "There’s someone over there."
Tong Jia quickly stopped in her tracks.
After a moment of observation, the two cautiously approached.
A look...
They saw a man, with disheveled hair, still holding an unsheathed flying sword in his arms, and on his back, a large iron chain bound an Alchemy Furnace.
"He’s a Human Race cultivator," Master Xuwenzi said.
Tong Jia, however, said warily, "I heard that the Illusion Mountain Sect was destroyed because there was a traitor within the sect, which caused the sect’s grand formation to be delayed for a moment, leading to the old Sect Leader’s demise.
There are traitors among the Human Race."
Master Xuwenzi said, "Does he look like a traitor to you? Besides, if the demons really knew we were on this island, they could simply search for us directly; there’s no need for such a performance."
Tong Jia said, "Let’s go to the underground passage and inform them, then we’ll go mine spirit minerals. Whether to accept this person or not is up to them to decide."
Master Xuwenzi nodded.
...
Li Xuan maintained a state of unconsciousness.
The perfect control over his physical appearance made all his actions extremely realistic.
He felt someone approaching, conversing in a strange language, and then leaving again.
After a while, he sensed someone observing him from a distance but not approaching.
He didn’t continue pretending to be unconscious but struggled to get up, then acted out half a day’s "Robinson Crusoe" on this deserted island.
That day, in the evening...
He had just gathered a lot of branches and piled them up, ready to start a fire, when he heard movement from afar.
A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and calm demeanor, dressed in simple clothes, walked out carrying a sword, speaking strange words as if trying to stop him from lighting a fire.
Li Xuan quickly stood up, showing a wary expression.
The man shouted a few more phrases.
Li Xuan responded, "Who are you? What are you saying?"
The man appeared puzzled and continued to speak a few sentences.
Li Xuan also looked confused.
Suddenly, both of them realized something at the same time.
Through repeated attempts, they approached each other and began communicating through hand gestures.
It turned out that even if the languages were different, gestures could still enable communication, and a smile could establish initial trust.
That middle-aged man was evidently someone very skilled at communication.
After a round of exchange and further observation, Li Xuan was led into the center of the forest by the middle-aged man, crawling into an earthen hole through some inconspicuous withered vines.
Inside the hole, it was lit up.
Rays of light illuminated honeycomb-like caves.
The front of the caves was simply covered with curtains.
There was often an open space between several caves.
On top of the soil rock at the center of the open space hung burning strange plants, spilling a faint white light.
When Li Xuan walked in, a group of "refugee-like cultivators" surrounded him, curiously observing this outsider. Upon seeing the Alchemy Furnace on his back, many people’s eyes lit up with joy.
Then, Li Xuan was led to an empty earthen cave.
The cave was extremely simple, with only a wooden bed and a stone table, nothing more.
Li Xuan lay down on the bed to rest.
Meanwhile, outside, quite a few people began to talk.
The stalwart middle-aged man was named Lu Yanwu; he was saying at that moment, "That cultivator isn’t from around here."
Someone asked, "Is he not pretending?"
Lu Yanwu shook his head and said, "No."
The crowd seemed to trust him greatly; since Lu Yanwu said "no," then that was it.
So someone curiously asked, "Then where did he come from? It’s quite strange for him to not understand our language."
Lu Yanwu said, "Judging by the looks, he’s likely a sect cultivator in distress, but definitely not from the Spirals Thirty-Six Islands..."
Someone else said, "Even if he was fleeing over the sea, he’s still carrying an Alchemy Furnace. He’s an Alchemy Master. And we just happen to lack an Alchemy Master."
Another person asked, "Mr. Lu, how should we deal with him?"
Lu Yanwu thought for a moment and said, "First communicate through gestures and tell him about the taboos of that death cave so he doesn’t accidentally enter and die... then gradually let him integrate into us.
He looks quite young, and since he can wield a flying sword, he should also be at the Soldier Lord Realm... Hmm..."
Lu Yanwu suddenly said, "Among our group, only Jia’Er and Qing have never had a Dao companion, right? This person seems reliable, let the two girls choose. If they fancy him, they can move next to him. If they truly become Dao companions, that will help him integrate even better."
...
Jia’Er was Tong Jia.
She was a comely girl with a graceful figure, lively personality, and somewhat shapely thighs and hips.
Qing was Dugu Qing.
She was a tall, quiet girl, with a hint of pride in her eyes.
After the two girls quietly scrutinized Li Xuan, Dugu Qing pouted and said disdainfully, "Floating in from the sea, who knows where from, I don’t want someone like that."
Tong Jia, however, took the initiative to move in with her bedding, basin, and bowls into the cave next to Li Xuan, then... took on the task of "teaching this outsider" alongside her cultivation.
Li Xuan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that everything was finally on the right track.
In the muddy cave, under the faint light from the lamps, a peculiar scent spread as the wicks burned.
However, it couldn’t completely mask the smell of "latrines" emanating from certain places.
The cultivators here were clearly trapped for a long time; any meat pills had been consumed long ago, naturally producing waste.
But with the sea nearby, cleaning was convenient.
And with a natural pond on the island and frequent rain at sea, there was no problem with drinking water.
As Tong Jia took on the "teaching role," Lu Yanwu permitted her to remain indoors, hoping she could quickly integrate the Alchemy Master into their group.
...
Time flew by, and more than ten days passed.
Li Xuan quickly mastered the language of this place.
His relationship with Tong Jia also grew closer.
One evening...
With everyone asleep and the caves quiet,
Li Xuan was lying down when he suddenly felt the curtain being gently lifted, a delicate figure entering cautiously, sitting by the bed, and softly saying in words that Li Xuan could now understand, "I want to be your Dao companion."
Li Xuan needed a good, trusted guide, so he took her hand.
Tong Jia’s face immediately flushed, her skin burning fiercely.
With a soft whimper, her linen clothes fell away.
"Slower..."
"Mmm..."
Under the curtain, the bedding gradually rose and moved frequently...
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