Chapter 914: Chapter 162: Unrelated to Others
Those were a pair of dull eyes that suddenly sparkled with vibrancy as they shifted.
"I mean no harm," the owner of the eyes said.
It was not until that moment that the silhouette standing up from the shadows began to take a clear shape.
He turned out to be a handsome man of medium build with a slightly cold expression.
With sword-like eyebrows and frosty eyes, he naturally carried a unique presence.
Jiang Wang pressed his sword hilt and said, "Uninvited and possibly with different intents. Intruding without notice can hardly be considered good intentions, can it?"
At this moment, his place for meditative breathing was in an inn not far from the white stone square.
On the Floating Island, places like inns did not charge fees. Any Cultivator returning from battles in the wild could take what they needed for food, clothing, and other essentials, with the innkeeper later reclaiming the costs from the Floating Island Guarding Force.
Of course, materials related to the Transcendent still required personal handling.
Jiang Wang had learned these trivial details of life on the Floating Island only after his recent return.
"My name is Fu Yanqing, commanded by the Island Master to invite you for a talk," said Fu Yanqing. "You sensed my presence before I revealed myself, didn’t you?"
He first explained his purpose, but still displayed a bit of youthful arrogance. The latter statement implied that Jiang Wang couldn’t have detected him in advance; it was Fu Yanqing who deliberately allowed himself to be noticed, thus making it a courteous post-reveal visit.
Back in Fenglin City, Jiang Wang had already encountered similar shadow techniques from Xiong Wen, purportedly a secret technique of the Blood River Sect. By his current standards, it was quite crude.
But this man before him was different. His arrival was natural and light, without the slightest hint of earthly concerns.
Jiang Wang even felt that his own shadow might split from him at any moment—such was the capability of the man before him.
"What does the Island Master want with me?" he asked.
On Ding Island, the only one who could be called the Island Master was naturally Ding Jingshan.
"I am not sure," Fu Yanqing replied. "But the Island Master once had me search for you in the wild; I didn’t find you. It must relate to your achievements listed on the Sea Border Ranking."
"Thank you," Jiang Wang loosened his grip on the sword hilt and stood up to express his gratitude.
After clearing the battlefield, he held the Red Mirror and wore the Hidden Clothes. Once he ensured safety, he moved with the lightness of Qingyun, hiding immediately at any disturbance. He ignored movements from both the Human Race and the Sea Clan alike.
He thus returned to Ding Island without a trace, and therefore Fu Yanqing, who was sent out specifically to find him, did not notice him.
Regardless, the special effort by Ding Jingshan to send someone to find him in the wild was a favor Jiang Wang had to acknowledge. Fu Yanqing mentioning this was precisely for that reason.
"At the peak of the highest mountain at the heart of the island, the Island Master is waiting for you. Brother Jiang, you may go on your own. I have other matters to attend to." Fu Yanqing bowed in return, then leaned back, disappearing into the shadows again.
Everyone lifts the sedan together.
Since the Island Master held this young man in high regard, Fu Yanqing would not be foolish enough to make an enemy without cause. Any slight displeasure at their first meeting was easily resolved with a few words.
However, Jiang Wang looked at his own still shadow and fell silent.
In this vast world, wonders abound. The number of Divine Skills and secret techniques is countless.
Traveling hidden in shadows isn’t something unimaginable. But the display of shape-shifting from shadows by Fu Yanqing just now had put him under pressure. It must have been just a transformation of a shadow, yet it undoubtedly possessed great combat power!
The Lost World truly lived up to its reputation as a major battlefield between the Human and Sea Clans, indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
...
The highest mountain on the island was easy to spot and wasn’t hard to find.
Jiang Wang stepped out of the inn and did not ostentatiously fly directly; instead, he walked along the road, using the opportunity to familiarize himself with this Floating Island and to contemplate the purpose of Ding Jingshan seeking him.
Before Fu Yanqing appeared, he had thought it might be a continuation of the Chu Mi gang’s issue, pondering whether to establish his authority directly to avoid troubles.
He didn’t expect that he had not been on the island for more than a few hours and had already attracted Ding Jingshan’s attention.
He walked on, observing and pondering, eventually reaching his destination. Then stepping on Qingyun, he ascended step by step.
At last, he met the core figure of Ding Island.
The transcendent seated at the summit appeared to be in his early forties, with a somewhat sunken nose and overly broad face, making him not very handsome—but not as ungainly as Lian Que.
Moreover, the strong ones who sat atop the mountain naturally possessed a certain air of authority. Beauty and ugliness were trivial matters.
Seeing Jiang Wang step onto Qingyun and ascend the summit in just a few steps, Ding Jingshan couldn’t help but praise, "Excellent agility!"
"I have seen Island Master Ding."
Given the small area atop the summit, Jiang Wang dared not crowd forward and instead hovered in mid-air, greeting him respectfully, "You flatter me."
Ding Jingshan looked at him and asked, "What were you doing when Fu Yanqing found you?"
"I was reflecting on my own mistakes," Jiang Wang answered.
"In what aspect?" Ding Jingshan asked.
"In combat."
Ding Jingshan laughed, he of course understood the principle behind Jiang Wang’s words. It was just that he had assumed the young man referred to the mistakes made on the End of the World Platform before.
This response pleased him.
Knowing the details of what transpired on the End of the World Platform, he was already very satisfied with Jiang Wang, now even more so.
"Sit. Sit before me," he said.
Jiang Wang didn’t hesitate, descending from the summit to sit cross-legged directly opposite him, imitating his posture.
"Sit here and look. Look at these," Ding Jingshan gestured around him with a sweep of his hand. "What do you see?"
The Heavens had neither sun nor moon, no drifting clouds, only a vast expanse of white.
Below the mountain, there were people, houses, water, and roads. Further down, beneath the Floating Island, it was also an endless expanse.
"The Lost World," Jiang Wang said.
Ding Jingshan gently patted the ground, "Do you know what this mountain is called?"
"This, I indeed do not know," Jiang Wang honestly said.
Ding Jingshan sighed deeply, "This mountain is nameless, it does not need a name."
After sighing, he asked, "Do you know why this is?"
"The junior does not know."
"Because it might disappear at any moment. Not collapse, but vanish. Hence, there is no meaning in naming it. Not just this mountain, but this island, everyone on the island..." Ding Jingshan continued, "Yes, what you see is the Lost World."
Jiang Wang fell silent.
Even someone as powerful as Ding Jingshan, a God Arrives level expert, could not ensure his own safety.
Who knows how many cultivators, with all their heartfelt efforts, had built up Floating Islands that might not last long.
Facing such profound cruelty, he momentarily didn’t know what to say.
Ding Jingshan himself then smiled, "Your combat record is quite impressive in the maritime rankings. I sent Fu Yanqing to find you; if he had brought you back, I would have been happy. He didn’t find you, and you came back on your own, I am even happier."
He said, "A genius adept at preserving their life is more precious than a genius adept at killing enemies. Because to survive is to have a future. Only then can you deal more damage to the Sea Clan."
"I am ashamed," Jiang Wang said, "I merely survived by a thread, cautiously protecting myself."
"Do you know why I wanted to see you?" Ding Jingshan asked again.
"I truly do not know," Jiang Wang said.
He, of course, had many conjectures, like whether there was pressure from Diao Hai Building or whether Yang Valley was trying to ingratiate itself with Qi Country—all such things.
Ding Jingshan looked at him and said, "I just wanted to meet you. There’s no suppression, no buying off. No other factors. I just wanted to meet someone like you, who with the cultivation of God’s Inner Mansion Realm, killed six Commander-level members of the Sea Clan. I wanted to see what this mountain I’m sitting on will look like in the future. I hope I can see it."
His expression was casual, his voice even somewhat unpleasant, as if something was clutching at his throat as he spoke. But Jiang Wang could feel the sincerity in his words.
"In the Lost World, we are all comrades,"
Ding Jingshan said earnestly, "This is the only thing I want to tell you."
