Chapter 1588 – Halfbeast Island

As soon as the Elders left, Mu Yu and Tang Jie immediately gathered around Zhao Hai and Julie. Then Mu Yu looked at Julie and said, "I've seen sister-in-law. Little Hai, why did sister-in-law come?"

Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and said, "I have to call her over or else I won't be able to deal with the cloud beast, especially the Cloud Beast King. It's much stronger than the other Immortal Experts I've faced. If it wasn't for Julie, I wouldn't have been able to deal with it. Alright, Brother Mu, Brother Tang, have everyone prepare to get cloud beasts. In a while, I'll have the cloud beasts return. Let's put them inside cloudbeast tokens." After he said that, Zhao Hai waved his hand and received the Undead. At the same time, the turtle commanded the cloud beasts to approach the whitecloud island.

When they saw the enormous turtle, Mu Yu and the others couldn't help but gasp. And upon seeing the swarm of cloud beasts behind it, the cultivators became nervous.

But upon seeing that the cloud beasts were behaving, Mu Yu and Tang jie immediately arranged for people to receive the cloud beasts into cloudbeast tokens. It must be said that this was the most relaxed they had been in subduing cloud beasts.

A cloudbeast token can contain more than one cloud beast. Cloudbeast tokens can be divided into classifications based on their quality of refining. The lowest quality cloud beast can contain five cloud beasts while the best can hold fifty. Moreover, a person can use more than one cloud beast. Even if you had a hundred cloud beasts, nobody would care. The cultivators on the whitecloud island continued to store the cloud beasts on the cloudbeast tokens. After all, the Hundred Treasures Realm lacked a lot of cloud beasts to make a proper move in the Cloudsea Territory. A lot of people from the Hundred Treasures Realm were willing to come over. The problem was there were too many wolves and not enough meat.

After the cloud beasts were stored, Zhao Hai asked Mu Yu and Tang Jie to lead everyone back to the Hidden Cloud Village. Now there were only about a thousand people left on the island. There were also corpses of those who died in battle. They were preserved and would be given a proper burial once they return to the Hundred Treasures Realm.

Cultivators didn't mind the dead too much. As a cultivator, they were fighting against the heavens to change their fate. Dying during battle was very common for them. Upon embarking onto the road of cultivation, they knew they would face danger at every corner.

After everything had been dealt with, Zhao Hai instructed some of the cultivators to stay in the whitecloud island while some would take a rest inside the Hell King's Ship. Zhao Hai also left the turtle outside. With a Cloud Beast King present, other cloud beasts wouldn't dare approach the whitecloud island.

Their speed wasn't fast. After all, it wasn't that easy to drag such a large island over the sea. The cultivators stayed on the whitecloud island for about a week. They used these days to tame and cultivate their cloud beasts.

Zhao Hai wasn't worried that the people from the Cloudbeast Territory would discover them. This was because they were far from the occupied islands of the Cloudsea Territory. And it was impossible for the people of the Cloudsea Territory to reach this far into the Sea of Beasts.

Guo Ling was already extremely lucky to be able to reach his whitecloud island. The route that Guo Ling used has long been useless. Therefore, it had become impossible for the people of the Cloudsea Territory to reach this far.

After traveling for more than ten days, they were finally able to get out of the Sea of Beasts. Although the remaining trip wasn't short, they would no longer be disturbed by cloud beasts, making the remaining trip much safer.

Cultivators were already familiar with this lifestyle. They could even close up for several years at a time. Weeks on the sea meant nothing to them.

However, the cultivators didn't close up. Instead, they took this chance to exchange notes with each other. This was a rare opportunity for them to have a proper discussion. This would be beneficial to their cultivation.

Zhao Hai and Mu Yu were also very relaxed. With the huge turtle guarding them, no cloud beast dared to harass them.

The two of them already sent word back to Mu Yao saying that they were going to return in a month or so. This way, Mu Yao would be prepared. Mu Yao and the others were very concerned about this matter. The Hundred Treasures Realm's control over the Octopus Islands has also become more strict. This attracted the attention of the other high-grade realms.

Actually, the high-grade realms were very envious of the Hundred Treasures Realm. This was because of Zhao Hai who was able to go in and out of the Sea of Clouds. With the Hundred Treasures Realm's current actions, it was clear that Zhao Hai was going to return.

Time ticked and one month has passed by. Zhao Hai and the others finally reached the edge of the Sea of Clouds. Although it was still some distance from the Octopus Islands, they had to stop. This was because they needed the whitecloud island to be amidst the dark clouds in order to grow.

After the whitecloud island stopped, Zhao Hai immediately received the large net. As for the walls, Zhao Hai kept them on the island. After that, Zhao Hai brought the cultivators back to the Octopus Islands.

Mu Yao and the others were already waiting for Zhao Hai's arrival. Seeing Zhao Hai return, Mu Yao and Zong Ze personally greeted him. After letting the other cultivators take a rest on the Octopus Islands, Zhao Hai took Mu Yao and Zong Ze to the whitecloud island.

When the four entered the whitecloud island and saw the traces of battle, Mu Yao and Zong Ze couldn't help but be moved.

Zong Ze turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Little Hai, with this whitecloud island, our Hundred Treasures Realm will have more things to put on the table. Moreover, those high-grade realms could only circle around us. As long as we find an opportunity, we can clean them up."

Mu Yao nodded and said, "Correct. Now that we have this whitecloud island, we can bleed the other high-grade realms out. Sooner or later, we will be able to swallow them."

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "When we were heading this way, we encountered a cloudbeast attack. Brother Tang Jie already received around 80 thousand cloud beasts. The Realm can arrange people to go to the Hidden Cloud Village to get those cloud beasts and distribute it to everyone. Then they can come here to cultivate. Their strength would no doubt increase in a short time."

Mu Yao nodded and said, "Once the high-grade realms see their improvement, they would not be able to sit still. Then we won't worry whether they would be hooked or not. Alright, let's head back and arrange for people to come here as soon as possible."

Zong Ze smiled faintly and said, "I think the cultivators from the Cloudsea Territory will shock them the most. The other realms would certainly be dumbfounded when they see them. They would also want to go to the Cloudsea Territory and capture people. Hahaha. It will be so fun to watch if that happens."

Mu Yao agreed, "Just let them fight with each other. When the time comes, we can make a move and clean them up. But in the meantime, we'll have to change our target."

Hearing Mu Yao, Zong Ze couldn't help but stare. Then he asked, "What do you mean?"

Mu Yao replied, "Our Hundred Treasures Realm is fast approaching the status of the Five Great Realms. The other high-grade realms would certainly have a problem with this. If they want to take action, they will definitely unite. It would be unfavorable for us if that happens. So we need to butt heads with a strong enemy, like the Fireweaver Race."

Hearing Mu Yao, even Zhao Hai couldn't help but sater. They all knew what kind of existence the Fireweavers were. They were one of the Five Great Realms. It would be unwise for the Hundred Treasures Realm if they fought against the Fireweavers at this time.

Mu Yao saw their expressions changin, so he elaborated, "Don't look too highly upon the Fireweavers. We all know that their relationship with the other Great Realms isn't good. If we attack them, the other Great Realms would certainly be happy."

Zong Ze hesitated before saying, "The Firewavers are very strong. And with their history, wouldn't it be bad if we attack them? Wouldn't we provoke their connection with the other realms?"

Mu Yao shook his head and said, "The Five Great Realms are anxious to conquer each other. The realms bordering the Fireweavers are the Sword Realm and the Divergent Realm. These two realms didn't have a good relationship with the Fireweavers, especially the Sword Realm. They had multiple clashes with the Fireweavers, but not that serious. If we worked with the Sword Realm, we might not be able to progress far. It might be because of their realm's doctrine, but the Sword Realm seems to be unwilling to deal with the Fireweavers. On the contrary, the people from the Divergent Realm are made up of different groups with different abilities. They're strong both in offense and defense. If we fight them, we won't be able to fare well."

Zong Ze frowned and said, "So you plan to have the Divergent Realm help us deal with the Fireweavers? I'm afraid that won't be possible. The Five Great Realms existed for so many years. And they worked very hard to achieve their current balance. If we insert ourselves, wouldn't the Divergent Realm disagree?"

Mu Yao smiled faintly and said, "It depends on what we require. If we send our forces to the Fireweavers' territory, then naturally the other Great Realms wouldn't agree. But what if we don't?"

Zong Ze stared, then he immediately thought of something. His eyes shone as he said, "You mean that place?"

Mu Yao smiled faintly and said, "Correct, it's that place. If we want that place, then won't the Divergent Realm hand it over? While the Divergent Realm can eat a part of the Fireweaver Race's territory, we can get that place. Why wouldn't they disagree?"

Zong Ze kept silent. Naturally he approved Mu Yao's plan. On the other hand, Zhao Hai and Mu Yu didn't understand what they were talking about.

But it didn't take long before Zhao Hai guessed what place Mu Yao and Zong Ze were talking about. The Halfbeast Island!

Halfbeast Island is a place of headaches. As the name suggests, Halfbeast Island was once inhabited by beasts. It was also once part of the Land of Chaos. Many years ago, the Five Great Realms invaded the Land of Chaos. Although the Land of Chaos managed to repel the Five Great Realms, the Five Great Realms were able to occupy Halfbeast Island and had become part of the Divergent Realm's territory. The Divergent Realm initially wanted to truly integrate the island to their territory, but they were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the Five Great Realms weren't soft persimmons. You can pinch them all you want, but if you touch their territory, they wouldn't be polite.[1]

However, the location of Halfbeast Island was very special. Because of its origin, it was very close to the Land of Chaos. If the Land of Chaos sends troops to seize Halfbeast Island, the Divergent Realm would find it very hard to defend it.

But if there's a way to pass this burden to another group, then things would be different. The Halfbeast Island deep into the Land of Chaos in exchange for the Fireweaver Race's territory, it was a no-brainer. The Divergent Realm would certainly agree to it.

Although Zhao Hai managed to guess correctly, he didn't say anything. He knew that Halfbeast Island was a taboo place. This was especially true for the Five Great Realms. Only a few people dared mention it.

The reason nobody talked much about the island was because it was a place that was difficult to take by relying only on force. It was because of this that it was very difficult to take back. Therefore, no realms mentioned it. It was the shame of the realms in the Land of Chaos.

But at the same time, the island was also a weak point for the Divergent Realm. The island had no special commodities. One one side of the island was the sea while on the other was the land of the Great Realms. It was not close to any of the Five Great Realms, so reinforcing the island depended on transmission formations. It was now treated by the Divergent Realm as an enclave.

And this enclave was what the people of the Land of Chaos dreamed about. The Divergent Realm can guard the island for the glory of the Five Great Realms. However, if the Hundred Treasures Realm uses the Fireweaver Realm's territory to exchange for the island, the Divergent Realm would no doubt comply. But the Divergent Realm might also suspect that the Hundred Treasures Realm would renege on their word.

After thinking for some time, Zong Ze said, "If the Divergent Realm agrees, then there's no problem. But we need to get our hands on the island first, or else we won't send our troops."

Mu Yao smiled faintly and said, "If we can't go to that place, then we won't send troops. Once we get to that place, we would have less things to worry about. Once we deal with the Land of Chaos, we'll have a foothold to attack the Five Great Realms. And if we succeed in doing that, let's see what the Sky Tower would do to us."

Hearing Mu Yao's words, Zhao Hai has to recognize that Mu Yao's words were too grand. If a united Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield fights against the Sky Tower, it would be very hard to see who would win or lose.

However, Zhao Hai was sure that the Sky Tower wouldn't just let the Hundred Treasures Realm easily unify the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield. Not to mention that there's still the Cloudsea Territory on the side, it was still unknown if the Five Great Realm had a backing. If there's another existence like the Cloudsea Territory beyond the lands of the Five Great Realms, what would the Hundred Treasures realm do? When the time comes they might not even be able to hold on to their current domain.

1. Land of Chaos refers to lands outside the territory of the Five Great Realms. See here.