Yuan Ming had been traveling for half a day before he finally arrived at the Eastern Extreme Island Group.

From a distance, he saw a massive, multicolored light shield covering a vast array of islands scattered like stars across the sky. Among them, seven islands were particularly massive, each topped with a pillar of light reaching into the heavens, supporting the entire shield.

With Yuan Ming's current expertise in rune formations, he recognized at a glance that this was a highly advanced Island Protection Array. The seven islands served as the foundation, mutually supporting each other and delivering remarkable stability, far surpassing the Sect Protection Array of Chang Chun Temple in quality.

As he approached from afar, he had not yet reached the islands when a patrol in a Flying Boat intercepted him.

Upon learning that he was a visitor Cultivator, the guard did not pursue his abrupt approach. Instead, he informed Yuan Ming that unauthorized flying over the airspace of the Eastern Extreme Islands was prohibited and directed him to a Deputy Island on the east side to process his entry documentation.

Shortly thereafter, one of the guards split from the group and led Yuan Ming down to the outside of the eastern Deputy Island.

There, a long embankment had been constructed for Cultivators to land their Flying Boats, and it was bustling with many Cultivators coming and going.

"See that domed hall there? Register your identity and obtain a Passage Order there, and then you can enter the island," the guiding guard pointed out the direction before heading back to his patrol group.

Following the direction pointed out by the guard, Yuan Ming quickly arrived at the round hall, only to see that a long line of Cultivators waiting to handle their Passage Orders had already formed at the entrance.

He also took his place at the end of the line.

Fortunately, the efficiency inside the hall was extremely high. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Yuan Ming had entered the hall.

The hall had five service counters operating simultaneously, and Yuan Ming randomly chose one and walked over to sit down.

An elderly man with graying hair behind the counter glanced at Yuan Ming and asked, "First time handling this, or renewing your Passage Order?"

"First time," Yuan Ming replied.

"Name, and the purpose of your visit to Eastern Extreme Island?" the elder asked as he began to write swiftly without raising his head, treating it as routine procedure.

"Yuan Ming, I wish to purchase a spirit island," Yuan Ming stated.

"Oh, you wish to join the Dongji Palace. What is your Cultivation level?" the elder's eyes sparkled upon hearing this, and he looked at Yuan Ming with renewed interest, smiling as he asked.

Part of their job here, aside from handling Passage Orders for those entering and exiting the Eastern Extreme Islands, included recruiting talents for the Dongji Palace. Once they recruited a promising candidate, they also received additional rewards.

"I do not wish to join Dongji Palace; I want to buy a Challenge Order," Yuan Ming said with a smile.

"You can purchase the Challenge Order after you land on the island at Liuyun Palace. Now, please submit one thousand Spirit Stones to process your Passage Order," the elder said, his expression cooling slightly upon hearing this.

Indeed, in his view, Yuan Ming seemed rather oblivious to favorable circumstances.

Yuan Ming paid no heed, taking out one thousand Spirit Stones and handing them to the elder.

After receiving the stones, the elder took out a black stone Token and began activating the runes on it, explaining:

"The Passage Order is valid for one hundred years. When the time is up, you need to renew it with Spirit Stones to keep using it. Now, channel a streak of your Mana into this Token, and it will become your personal passage credential."

With that, he passed the Token to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming pressed his finger on the Token, sending a streak of Mana into it. The runes on the Token flashed brightly and then disappeared, with Yuan Ming's name subsequently appearing on its surface.

"All set. With the Passage Order, you can go through that Light Gate over there and enter this Deputy Island. The island has passages to the Main Island, and from there, you can also access other Deputy Islands," the elder pointed towards a Light Gate behind him and added.

"Thank you," Yuan Ming thanked him and walked towards the Light Gate.

As he passed through the Light Gate, he distinctly felt a unique force scanning over him, seemingly probing him.

However, Yuan Ming had long suppressed his Divine Soul fluctuation and Mana fluctuation using unique techniques available to Spoken Witches, maintaining only the appearance of a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivator.

This Cultivation level wasn't top-tier on Eastern Extreme Island, but it was significant enough to prevent being underestimated or attracting unnecessary trouble, which was just right for Yuan Ming.

After getting onto the island, Yuan Ming instinctively looked up at the sky, only to find it clear and blue, with the multicolored light shield nowhere to be seen.

As he walked amid the noisy crowd towards the interior of the island, what he saw were rows of spacious, smooth streets and series upon series of bustling shops. While the architectural style was somewhat different, the liveliness exceeded that of the Da Jin Capital.

The difference here was that the proportion of those practicing Cultivation was much higher.

Yuan Ming was not in a hurry to find Liuyun Palace. Instead, he strolled around the island, getting familiar with the environment. He found that, apart from somewhat higher prices, it was not much different from the Yunhuang Continent.

By midday, Yuan Ming had finally found Liuyun Palace.

It was a magnificent palace standing at the highest point of the Deputy Island. In the center of the palace sat a sea map with a diameter of ten zhang, scattered with models of tiny islands like stars in the sky.

Yuan Ming entered and his gaze was immediately captivated by the exquisite and lifelike sand table depicting the distribution of the islands.

He had actually memorized this sea map completely, but when he compared it with the sand table, he discovered several discrepancies, realizing that the sand table was far more accurate and comprehensive.

As Yuan Ming was examining it closely, a figure suddenly approached him. It was a short and stout middle-aged man wearing a cyan-purple robe, which seemed to be the exclusive attire of the cultivators from Dongji Palace.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Are you here to join our Dongji Palace today?" the stout middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"I have no such plans at the moment. I am here to purchase a Challenge Order," Yuan Ming said, clasping his fists to declare his intention.

"So, you intend to challenge for control of a spirit island. Do you understand the rules?" the stout middle-aged man asked, his smile fading slightly as he nodded, apparently not too surprised.

"To submit one million Spirit Stones, correct? I have prepared them," Yuan Ming said, patting the Storage Bag at his waist.

"Very good. However, before you purchase the Challenge Order, there are some things I need to clarify with you," the stout middle-aged man said.

"Please enlighten me," Yuan Ming responded, clasping his fists.

"The island challenge is an unrestricted challenge until one party concedes. During the challenge, elders from our Dongji Palace will supervise to ensure fair play without third-party interference. Both parties may fight fiercely without giving up; the responsibility for life and death is their own. However, once one side concedes, the other must not kill, or else they will be hunted by Dongji Palace," the stout man explained slowly.

"Understood," Yuan Ming nodded.

"Since you have decided to challenge, please choose the Island Master you wish to challenge," the stout man said, pointing at the sand table.

Yuan Ming glanced at it and said, "I want to challenge the Island Master of Spiritual Ape Island."

This choice was not made at random, but was planned on the way here.

The Spiritual Power on Spiritual Ape Island was not the best among the islands; rather, its spirit veins were quite ordinary. However, the island's size was significantly larger than Huayun Island, more than three times larger.

The number of cultivators and common folk on the island was also among the highest of all the islands.

This might not be an advantage to others, but it suited Yuan Ming's needs perfectly.

He had just arrived in the Chuyun Realm and urgently needed to develop new believers to help him gather Desire Power, otherwise he could not possibly achieve the goal of gathering two hundred Vow Power Pills within a hundred years.

"Spiritual Ape Island, Island Master Silver Dragon Taoist, control held for fifty-six years, eligible for challenge," the stout man said, flipping through a blue booklet, nodding after a moment. This is pаrt оf а sеriеs frоm Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе (

Yuan Ming was pleased to hear this.

"Come on, give me the Passage Order now, and hand over the Spirit Stones in full so I can register you," the stout man said, leading Yuan Ming to a desk.

Yuan Ming took out the Passage Order and removed his Storage Bag from his waist, placing it on the table.

"When do you plan to start the challenge?" the stout man asked after counting the Spirit Stones and handing Yuan Ming a black wooden Token.

"Right now," Yuan Ming thought for a moment before responding.

"Now? Please wait here for a moment. I will go find the certifying elder to see if he is available," the stout man said, slightly surprised.

"Your efforts are appreciated," Yuan Ming said, clasping his fists.

The stout man secured the Spirit Stones and left, returning shortly with a tall, white-haired, elderly man.

"Elder Mo, this is Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming. He intends to challenge the Island Master Silver Dragon Taoist of Spiritual Ape Island," the stout man said.

The tall elder examined Yuan Ming from head to toe, nodded, and his expression remained serious without any significant change of emotion.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, this is Elder Mo Sanqi from our Dongji Palace, responsible for witnessing your island challenge," the stout man promptly introduced.

"Thank you for your trouble, Elder," Yuan Ming said, clasping his fists.

Seeing his sincere attitude, Elder Mo's expression softened a bit and he said, "Today I happen to be free. Since you have already made your decision, let's not delay any further. We'll set off now and you should have a result before nightfall."

With that, he led Yuan Ming out of Liuyun Palace and onto the long embankment outside the island.

Then, without further explanation, he piloted the Flying Boat, taking Yuan Ming directly towards Spiritual Ape Island.

Spiritual Ape Island was closer to the Eastern Extreme Island Group than Huayun Island. The Flying Boat piloted by Elder Mo was exceptionally fast, and soon, they arrived at a huge island resembling the head of an ape.

"Silver Dragon Taoist, come out of the island at once," Elder Mo Sanqi commanded from high in the sky, his voice booming across the island like a great bell.

Yuan Ming could sense the Mana and Divine Soul Power hidden within that voice, furrowing his brows as he felt slightly shaken, realizing that Elder Mo Sanqi was indeed a Returning to Void Stage Cultivator.