Zhuang Lin did not speak; she immediately bowed to Yuan Ming, then drew a long saber and, with killing intent on her face, advanced toward Liu Si.

Yuan Ming also temporarily lifted the illusion from Liu Si, allowing him to clearly feel the pain inflicted by Zhuang Lin. As his screams rose, Zhuang Lin's two junior sisters also came to their senses, understanding the whole story. They walked forward with resentment in their eyes and began to take turns cutting into Liu Si, venting their fury.

After the time it takes an incense to burn, Liu Si was thoroughly dead, his body no longer resembling that of a human.

At this time, Zhuang Lin seemed to space out. She suddenly put down the saber, turned around, and shakily walked to the heads of the Island Master and Junior Sister Qiu. Remembering the past scenes, she finally could no longer hold up and collapsed to the ground with a "plop", covering her face with her hands and crying silently.

After a long while, Zhuang Lin composed herself, stood up, and gave Yuan Ming a bow.

"Zhuang Lin of Qiuxiang Island, thanks the senior for your rescue."

"I already have a personal grudge with the Wu Yue Sect, and wouldn't let them off easily since I've encountered them," Yuan Ming waved his hand, indicating that no further thanks were necessary.

"Even so, the senior has ultimately saved our lives. For such a great kindness, I will never forget it in my lifetime. If there's anything you command, I am willing to go through fire and water without hesitation," Zhuang Lin said, bowing again.

"No need for going through fire and water. Actually, I do have something I need your help with," Yuan Ming shook his head and said.

"Whatever the senior commands," Zhuang Lin hurriedly replied.

"When the turmoil of the Wu Yue Sect broke out, I was exploring the outer sea and have only recently returned to the Inner Sea; I am not too familiar with the current situation. Explain it to me in detail," Yuan Ming said.

"Alright, the current situation in the East Sea is that nearly half of the islands have fallen under the control of the Wu Yue Sect. Some were taken by force, but others joined them willingly, and there are yet others that were seized by Loose Cultivators impersonating Wu Yue Sect members, who then were eventually recognized by the Sect," Zhuang Lin said immediately.

"Nearly half… What about the First-level Islands?" Yuan Ming pondered for a moment.

"Among the First-level Islands, Fusang, Golden Turtle, Kongling, and Di Hua were taken over forcefully by the Wu Yue Sect. It is said that only a very few people escaped, so the islands were practically wiped out. The islands of Karmic Fire, Thousand Snake, and Red Rain voluntarily joined the Wu Yue Sect shortly after the upheaval. Thousand Dragon, Bijiao, Yuzhu, Red Leaf, and Wanhua now belong to the East Sea Alliance, but due to their geographical positions, the former two and the latter three are isolated by the Wu Yue Sect, making it difficult for them to communicate with each other. Moreover, there is news that the Wu Yue Sect is now launching a full-scale attack on the Yuzhu Three Islands, forming a siege," Zhuang Lin explained in detail.

"The East Sea Alliance?" Yuan Ming expressed his puzzlement.

"This begins with the initial unrest in the East Sea. I don't know if the senior is aware, but it started in Fusang, reportedly due to the appearance of a Transmission Array leading to the Three Immortals Island that attracted numerous Island Masters and Nascent Soul cultivators. The Wu Yue Sect took this opportunity to seize a number of islands. Not long ago, Wan Tianren, the lost Island Master of Fusang appeared with the Golden Turtle Island Master and others, calling for East Sea cultivators to join forces against the Wu Yue Sect. Thus, they gathered a large number of people under the banner of the East Sea Alliance, preparing to counterattack the Wu Yue Sect. Recently, to break the siege on the Yuzhu Three Islands, the East Sea Alliance issued a call throughout the East Sea, inviting cultivators to assemble at Purple Nan Island in the waters near Red Leaf Island for a decisive battle," Zhuang Lin explained.

"I see, but it seems the situation with the East Sea Alliance isn't very optimistic," Yuan Ming suddenly understood, murmuring to himself.

"Alas, the power of the Wu Yue Sect is too great; they have far more cultivators than the East Sea Alliance alone. Moreover, in terms of high-level combat power, there are two Venerables stationed within the Wu Yue Sect. It is said that Lord Wan once led an ambush against them and was utterly defeated, barely escaping with his life," Zhuang Lin said gloomily.

"Given the dire state of the East Sea Alliance, why would you still join them? Why not just surrender to the Wu Yue Sect like the Thousand Snake and Karmic Fire Islands did instead, and at least save your lives?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"By joining the East Sea Alliance, we may die, but at least we remain Eastern Sea people. Once we join the Wu Yue Sect, we may lose even the basic rights of being human, becoming nothing but slaves to the Wu Yue Sect members. Senior, do you know that the Wu Yue Sect enforces a Blood Tax and a soul tax? Each island must submit a certain number of people and living souls monthly, regardless of the source or means. Whether you refine the commoners under your rule or kill cultivators from other islands, as long as you pay the Blood Tax and soul tax, you can temporarily gain recognition and protection from the Wu Yue Sect. Otherwise, it results in endless pursuit and encirclement," Zhuang Lin spoke with lingering fear.

Yuan Ming fell silent. Although he had rushed here, he had also seen the tragic state of the islands under Wu Yue Sect's control—houses deserted, widespread lamentation, and even the words 'human purgatory' were not enough to encapsulate the bloodiness of those scenes.

If the Wu Yue Sect truly came to control the East Sea, it was feared that the boundless blue ocean would be tainted red with blood.

Having understood the situation, Yuan Ming did not stay long. After bidding farewell to the people of Qiuxiang Island, he boarded Lei Yu and headed straight for Purple Nan Island.

On the way, Yuan Ming made a Blood Slave of the Wu Yue Sect member he had just captured and also performed a Soul Search on them.

Compared to Zhuang Lin, these Wu Yue Sect disciples knew more and far more specific information.

Indeed, the Wu Yue Sect's army had surrounded the Yuzhu Three Islands, but contrary to Yuan Ming's expectations, White Bone Venerable, the commander of the Wu Yue Sect's Eastern Sea forces, did not order a full assault. Instead, he prepared to enforce a siege, compelling the islands to surrender.

The reason behind this seemed to be White Bone Venerable's desire to preserve as much of the resources stored on the three islands as possible, in order to fill the shortcomings in the sect's logistics.

It made sense, after all, the cultivators of the Yuzhu Three Islands were not adept at fighting, but they had notable achievements in alchemy, medicine cultivation, and talisman making. These three islands could be considered the wealthiest in the East Sea, with resources stored there nearly accounting for half of the total circulating supplies in the East Sea.

If the Wu Yue Sect could seize this place, they would no longer worry about logistics, and the East Sea would essentially fall into their hands.

The East Sea Alliance naturally realized this and thus gathered the East Sea cultivators, preparing to put their full effort into one decisive battle.

And the Yuzhu Three Islands were not sitting ducks; somehow, they managed to move all three islands to one place and arranged an extremely powerful Great Array around them. The Wu Yue Sect's several probing attempts were thwarted by the Formation, with not even a glimpse of the people from the Yuzhu Three Islands.

This perhaps was another major reason for White Bone Venerable's order to besiege them.

The Wu Yue Sect's siege was not just a simple encirclement; under White Bone Venerable's leadership, they also set up a Red Blood Sand Formation around the Grand Array that shrouded the three islands. They turned defense into offense and completely trapped the Yuzhu Three Islands inside, cutting off any possibility of communication with the outside world.

The East Sea Alliance was now ironically blocked outside by this Great Array, unable to access the logistical resources of the Yuzhu Three Islands and having to face the Wu Yue Sect's large army within the formation. They could not retreat, yet it was extremely difficult to advance—an utterly vexing and intractable situation.

Based on these disciples' memories, the situation in the East Sea was as bad, if not worse than what Zhuang Lin had described.

Despite being disappointed with Wan Tianren's performance, Yuan Ming considered that under circumstances where Fusang Island's forces were almost completely wiped out, and several First-level Islands had defected during the battle, for him to still maintain a battle line was already making the best of a bad situation.

With this thought, Yuan Ming sighed inwardly, then gently patted Lei Yu, signaling it to accelerate its tunneling speed.

...

Inside the central hall of Purple Nan Island, Wan Tianren sat at the head seat, flanked by several Nascent Soul cultivators.

This hall, though not grand, had now become the place of discussion for the upper echelons of the East Sea Alliance, bustling with people coming and going every day, fiercely debating amongst themselves.

But as the tide of war turned against them, the atmosphere in the hall became heavier with each passing day, filling the entire Purple Nan Island with an air of anxiety and worry. Forcharactersheetsandglossaries,visit*.

"Today, people from four Second-level Islands responded to the call and came to join us, but we're running out of accommodation on the island. Some cultivators have already started arguing privately over this issue. Although it has not escalated to a fight, it's bound to lead to trouble if it continues," said an elderly Daoist in white robes with a head full of white hair, sitting to the left of Wan Tianren, with grave concern.

"The stock of elixirs, especially healing elixirs, is also running low. I've already gathered most of the island's Alchemists to refine elixirs day and night, but supply still can't keep up with demand. Moreover, there's a shortage of spiritual materials for alchemy. We must quickly find one or two stable sources," the green-robed middle-aged cultivator next to the old man spoke up.

"Small groups of Wu Yue Sect members have appeared near Smoke and Mist Island. The cultivators stationed there took them on, suffering tragic casualties. Only when people from nearby islands came to their aid were they able to drive off the Wu Yue Sect members. We'll have to find a way to squeeze out some compensation for the aftermath. In the future, it would be best to provide more lifesaving talismans and elixirs to those dispatched to garrison nearby islands; otherwise, sending them is tantamount to sending them to their deaths," as soon as they finished speaking, a Merfolk middle-aged man on Wan Tianren's right side took over the conversation.

"Alas, everyone's resources are scarce, and we hardly have extra talismans and elixirs to allocate. We'll have to make do for now, but the priority must be given to the teams in charge of sieges. If they can take back one or two islands from the Wu Yue Sect, it would greatly alleviate our situation here," the white-haired old Daoist lamented.

"Defending is already failing us, and you're thinking of launching a counter-attack? Besides, we currently don't have the spare capacity to reclaim lost territories. Every time we take an island, it's plunder and leave. At this rate, how are we different from the Wu Yue Sect? The only difference is that we are weaker in strength!" The Merfolk man looked upset.

"What kind of talk is that? We plunder resources to fight against the Wu Yue Sect, for the peace and stability of the entire East Sea. If we starve ourselves due to meaningless kindness, that would be truly foolish. Besides, the islands we plunder have sided with the Wu Yue Sect. If we don't take those resources, the enemy will end up offering them to the Wu Yue Sect, gifting the enemy for nothing," the Merfolk man's side, a young man from the Water Ape Clan said with a sneer.