Chapter 1217: Chapter 1215: Bermuda Triangle, Traces Found
"The Shi and Meng clansmen have arrived!"
"Greetings to the esteemed world cousins of both clans!"
At the side of the Ancestral Altar on Affectionate Island, several people were waiting. Upon seeing Meng Hao and the others, they hurried forward to pay their respects.
These individuals all bore injuries, and bloodstains on their faces had not yet dried, clearly having gone through a brutal battle. This gave the experts of the Shi and Meng clans an ominous premonition.
After mutually paying respects, Meng Hao quickly asked, "How is the battle situation?"
"The experts of Affectionate Island, brothers from the Shi and Meng clans, as well as those from Yang Town, fought a decisive battle against the Murong Clan, the Ge Clan, and the Dongguo Clan in the Triangle Sea area. Initially having the upper hand, no one expected that several formidable experts suddenly joined them!"
A youth gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "These people are too powerful, even our clan chief was no match and was seriously injured!"
"Later, Uncle Meng Chou, Uncle Shi Fu, and an uncle from Yang Town joined forces and barely managed to lead those people away, which allowed us to break the encirclement and report back. But as a result, the whereabouts of the uncles are now unknown, their life or death uncertain."
By the end, the youth lowered his head, tears streaming from his eyes.
This battle was too tragic. Affectionate Island had been amassing strength for many years, boasting numerous experts, but in the past month alone, no fewer than thousands had died—these were the elite of Affectionate Island!
Not to mention the involvement of Peach Blossom Village and Yang Town, both of which also suffered horrendous casualties. Moreover, to cover their escape, several clan chiefs had been lost.
There was something the youth and the high-ranking members of Affectionate Island did not have the heart to voice: with the abilities of those few experts, and given the nature of the Triangle Sea area, the chance of Meng Chou and the others surviving would not exceed thirty percent.
Perhaps, perhaps they had already perished!
For both sides, this was an unbearable disaster!
Feeling both guilt and shame, several people from Affectionate Island lowered their heads, not daring to utter a word. Meanwhile, the high-ranking members and young people of the Shi and Meng clans were seething with rage, radiating killing intent.
"What are we waiting for, Uncle Meng Jiu, let’s hurry to the Triangle Sea area to rescue the clan chiefs!"
"Murong Clan, you just wait!"
Behind them, the Ancestral Altar once again lit up, and a team of high-spirited experts emerged. Coming from Yang Town, they had received the distress signal and dispatched a second team.
Upon learning of the current situation, the experts from Yang Town were as eager for battle as the Shi and Meng clans, all insisting on fighting.
"It is Affectionate Island that has dragged you down, but I still wish to urge you to remain calm. The Triangle Sea area is vast and perilous. Why not first deploy a group led by myself to scout and clarify the situation before making a move?"
An old man missing his right arm and covered in blood flew in from the distance. He was the Grand Elder of the Ancestral Elders Association of Affectionate Island, a Forbidden Martial Emperor and currently the foremost expert on the island.
With someone of his strength having his right arm severed, one could imagine the ferocity of the battle.
Meng Hao had not lost his rationality. With the life or death of the two clan chiefs in doubt, each decision he made could affect the future of both clans. Thus, he decided to only take a few people with him.
Originally he hadn’t planned to include Meng Xiaoliu, Shi Xiaoba, and the others, but given the emergency, he couldn’t do without these unparalleled heroes, especially since the mission was merely to scout, to prepare for the next steps, with less imminent danger.
On the Yang Town side, apart from the leader, a middle-aged man, only six other experts were taken, along with two men and one woman, all young.
Under the leadership of the Grand Elder of Affectionate Island, the group set off immediately, traveling at extreme speed, and in less than half a 2-hour period, a cluster of islands appeared before them on the sea.
Looking out, the islands varied in size and were densely scattered throughout the sea area.
Shi Xiaole extended his spiritual power and was surprised to find that within this sea area existed a strange magnetic field; as the distance increased, it could shift his spiritual power.
Within a 1,000-meter range, the positioning of his spiritual power was off by several meters. At 2,000 meters, the discrepancy reached ten meters, and at 3,000 meters, it was over thirty meters.
At the limit of his spiritual power exploration, which was 11,000 meters, the deviation reached a staggering more than three hundred meters.
This was with spiritual power—using vision, the error would be even worse. Perhaps something that appeared in the north could end up being seen to the south.
This situation was advantageous for escaping, but conversely, it could lead to quicker demise. Because if you sense others incorrectly, they will similarly misjudge you.
The expressions of everyone were grim.
This was a war among outsiders. To avoid alerting the experts from East Victory, the main battlefield had been set here. It was unexpected that it would backfire on themselves.
"This is a Spiritual Awareness Bead, which can mitigate the influences of the Triangle Sea area to the greatest extent. However, it is limited to the outer perimeter of 80,000 meters. Everyone, go search separately, and no matter the outcome, converge here after two 2-hour periods."
The Grand Elder of Affectionate Island took out six fist-sized beads emitting white light and perfectly round in shape.
During this process, the experts from Affectionate Island and Yang Town were surprised to find that Meng Hao actually handed one of the beads to Shi Xiaole, signaling him to lead a team and be responsible for the others’ safety.
"Xiaole, be extremely careful!"
Meng Hao reiterated his concern.
"Uncle Meng Jiu, don’t worry."
The group split into six teams. Shi Xiaole with two high-level experts from the Shi and Meng clans, the three youths, and the young man who had been waiting outside the Ancestral Altar of Affectionate Island set off in one direction.
With their speed, 80,000 meters took only a few moments. However, they were scouting a broad area in a general direction. Moreover, the Triangle Sea area was unlike any other place; even with Spiritual Awareness Beads, deviations could occur, necessitating constant adjustments.
But the young man from Affectionate Island was astonished to find that under the guidance of Shi Xiaole, their advancement was unerring, even steadier than when the clan chief had previously led the way!
With Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power, by locking the distance within a 500-meter range, he could completely negate the influence of the magnetic field, thus ensuring a smooth progression.
In just half a 2-hour period, their team had completed the mission. Unfortunately, apart from some East Sea martial artists exploring the seas, no anomalies were discovered.
Shi Xiaole said, "We will continue to go deeper."
The young man from Affectionate Island objected, "World cousin, the magnetic field gets stronger the further inside we go. Soon the Spiritual Awareness Beads will be ineffective, and we are highly likely to get lost."
He wasn’t afraid of dying, but Shi Xiaole was obviously of high importance, and he didn’t want the Shi and Meng clans to suffer any more losses.
"Don’t worry. We’re just going tens of thousands of meters deeper. As soon as something is amiss, we’ll pull out immediately."
Shi Xiaole said with a smile to comfort him.
The skilled masters of the Meng and Shi clans naturally had no objections, they couldn’t wait to find some clues.
Seeing this, the young man from Affectionate Island didn’t say much. If it was just tens of thousands of meters, that might be worth a try. At worst, he could always remind them at any time.
Upon delving deeper, they reached eighty thousand meters, equivalent to a depth of a hundred and sixty thousand meters. Even Shi Xiaole had to reduce his mental focus to within a hundred meter range to avoid errors.
During this time, they used their bloodline sensing to find three high masters from the Ge Clan, but unfortunately, they didn’t obtain any useful information.
"Elder Brother, we can’t go any deeper, or we’ll be in big trouble!"
The young man from Affectionate Island urged for the sixth time.
Shi Xiaole was too reckless. He said it would just be tens of thousands of meters, but then he went double the distance, and it was clear he wanted to continue. The young man was shocked by Shi Xiaole’s means, but he had to remind him.
They were now in the middle of the Triangular Sea Area. If they continued, they might encounter the overpowering masters from the three clans, making it difficult to flee!
You must know, even the Grand Elder with his Supreme Martial Arts at eleven percent in the early stages had his right arm severed. The strength of the three clans was far beyond their imagination!
"Don’t worry, I have a measure of it in my heart. If we really encounter a master, I will turn back in advance."
Shi Xiaole repeatedly assured but, for some reason, the young man from Affectionate Island always felt that the "master" Shi Xiaole mentioned was not the same kind of master he thought of.
...
At the same time, the other five teams all returned to the previously agreed-upon location.
"Where’s Xiaole?"
Meng Hao was shocked, his face turning ashen.
"Perhaps he’s been delayed on the road, he’ll be back soon."
Meng Xiaoliu said with a smile, but there was a bit of unease in his heart. With Shi Xiaole’s strength, he should have been the first to return. Could it be that something had happened?
...
One hundred and eighty thousand meters.
Two hundred thousand meters.
Two hundred and twenty thousand meters.
The young man from Affectionate Island was almost numb by now, astounded by Shi Xiaole’s strong sensing ability. Although they were now moving very slowly, they hadn’t made a single mistake.
The five from the Meng and Shi clans, although they had never been to the Triangular Sea Area, could feel the situation around them, and at this moment, they were full of admiration for Shi Xiaole.
Moreover, his actions, disregarding the danger to his own life for the sake of the two clans, deeply moved them. They silently swore that they would not let anything happen to him.
"I’ve had to compress it down to only ten meters."
At this point, Shi Xiaole also had to proceed with caution.
He attempted to extend his mental force to twenty meters but found that after a test, the deviation reached hundreds of meters. A single misstep could result in getting lost.
"It seems we can only go back first."
Shi Xiaole stopped in his tracks. He considered the Triangular Sea Area to be almost as perilous as the ten great dangerous places – one wrong step following another.
Just tens of thousands of meters away from where Shi Xiaole and the others were, two middle-aged men were frantically fleeing, with Vigorous Air occasionally grazing them, tearing their flesh and exposing their shattered white bones, which was particularly horrifying.
"Meng Chou, Shi Fu, you run, but can you escape?"
Behind them, a man with a wooden crown and wearing a brocaded robe laughed ferociously, occasionally turning Vigorous Air into light orbs and rapidly throwing them in all directions.
Bang bang boom!
With vision, hearing, and even sensing all awry, these light orbs exploded wildly, and only a tiny part of the aftermath hit Meng Chou and Shi Fu.
Unfortunately, Meng Chou and Shi Fu would also run the wrong way sometimes, inadvertently coming close to the range of attack. Unable to defend in time and heavily injured, they were shaken to the point of spitting out blood mist, their internal organs nearly all gone.
Both of them were Forbidden Martial Emperors, with their Supreme Martial Arts reaching the early stages of eleven percent. However, the man behind them, Murong Di, was even more terrifying, with his Supreme Martial Arts reaching the middle stages of eleven percent, enough to crush both of them.
"Murong Di, don’t be smug. Even if you kill us today, our Meng and Shi clans will have heroes who will avenge us!"
Meng Chou shouted defiantly, his voice reverberating in all directions.
"Just with your two clans? Haha, you won’t have the chance. My Murong Clan has caught many remnants of your Meng and Shi clans. The moment we find out the location of Peach Blossom Village, I will make sure your clansmen will join you down here!"
Murong Di laughed triumphantly, striking from time to time. His words made Meng Chou and Shi Fu’s expressions grave, and Shi Fu roared even louder, "Men of our two clans, how could we betray our families!"
"Huh?"
Sounds from tens of thousands of meters away, distorted by magnetic fields and multiple reflections, barely reached Shi Xiaole’s ears. He looked around and saw mountain peaks all over the islands.
Then suddenly, a cluster of light flashed and disappeared from the east. But that direction might not be the right one.
"It seems like Uncle Shi’s voice!"
At that moment, a spirited young girl named Meng Tian cried out. The other four were also visibly excited, and if not for Shi Xiaole’s intervention, they would have almost immediately thrown themselves in that direction.
"Follow me."
With that, Shi Xiaole abruptly spread his mental force to eleven thousand meters, which could cause a terrifyingly large error. But this was the only way to lock onto the target, to correct for the errors through the many folds in the magnetic field, in order to pinpoint the location amidst the chaos.
This required an enormous amount of mental strength and concentration. It can be said that across the entire world, there wouldn’t be more than twenty people who dared to attempt this, and it was not guaranteed to succeed.
