After so much time, there were too many variables. Yang Kai couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated. This Xiang Shan really was someone who couldn't think straight—if he was going to advance to the Eighth Stage, why come to a place like this? Wasn't he just asking for trouble?
But as things stood, complaints were useless. Since Chenxi happened to be in the area, they naturally had to defend with their lives. Under no circumstances could they allow the Mo Tribe to interfere with Xiang Shan's advancement. After all, this concerned whether Biluo Pass would gain another Eighth Stage cultivator!
Dawn's speed had been pushed to its absolute limit. Even so, it still took more than a full day before they finally reached the location of Xiang Shan's breakthrough.
It was a dead-silent floating continent. The outskirts of the continent still bore the scars of a great battle, and many Mo Tribe corpses drifted in the surrounding void.
When Chenxi arrived, they could see from a distance a warship weaving through the void. The entire vessel appeared to be wrapped in electric light, flickering with a dark blue glow, moving swift as thunder. From the warship, wave after wave of secret techniques and artifacts were unleashed, and several figures darted around the vessel, engaging enemies on all sides.
Though the warship was agile, its killing efficiency wasn't particularly impressive—at least not compared to Chenxi.
Fortunately, the Mo Tribe forces that had come to harass them weren't numerous, nor particularly strong. By the time Chenxi arrived, more than half of them had already been slain. Once Chenxi joined the battle, it took only the span of a cup of tea to completely wipe out the remaining stragglers.
The two warships met in the void. A figure flew from the opposing warship and landed before Yang Kai.
"Junior Brother Yang, you've come as well."
Yang Kai nodded. "Senior Brother Wan."
The newcomer was Wan Zhengxin, captain of the Qingfeng Team. Yang Kai had dealt with him many times before, and they had a fair amount of rapport.
"What's the situation now?" Yang Kai glanced downward at the floating continent below. He could vaguely make out a figure seated cross-legged at a certain point—that was the source of the constantly fluctuating aura.
Wan Zhengxin frowned. "We only arrived half a shichen before you, and we haven't figured it out yet either."
Among the five elite squads, Qingfeng Team's warship was the fastest, so it was only natural that they had arrived first. However, when they got here, they happened to run into a group of Mo Tribe forces launching a raid, intending to interfere with the human cultivator's breakthrough below. That was how the fighting started.
"Junior Brother Yang, do you know who's advancing down there? Why is he alone, with no other team members?" Wan Zhengxin asked.
Yang Kai sighed. "If I'm not mistaken, the one advancing down there is Senior Xiang Shan. Have you heard of him, Senior Brother Wan?"
Wan Zhengxin was greatly surprised. "It's him?"
From his expression, it was clear he had heard of Xiang Shan as well. But Xiang Shan kept to himself, and even Feng Ying rarely saw him. Though Wan Zhengxin had heard about Xiang Shan, he had never actually met him, so he didn't recognize him.
That made it easy to understand why he was alone here without other team members. Rumor had it that after Xiang Shan's rank had dropped from Eighth Stage to Seventh Stage, his temperament had become extremely peculiar, making it difficult for anyone to cooperate with him. On top of that, given his former status as an Eighth Stage cultivator, several squads had tried to take him in, but none had succeeded. In the end, the Army Commanders could only decide to let him go his own way.
"This does complicate things," Wan Zhengxin said, his brows furrowed.
He had originally been thinking about trying to persuade this person to return to the Outpost for his breakthrough. But if it was this particular individual, then any interference at all was out of the question.
His rank had already fallen once, and attempting to advance again would be far more difficult than for an ordinary Seventh Stage cultivator. Now that he had finally sensed the opportunity to break through, he naturally had to give it his all.
It was probably for this very reason that Xiang Shan had immediately chosen to attempt the breakthrough the moment he sensed the opportunity. Otherwise, he would have had plenty of time to use the World Passage Art to return to the Outpost.
"The Old Turtle Team and Water Snake Team are also operating in this area. They should arrive as backup before long. It looks like we'll need to mount a proper defense."
Yang Kai glanced at him. "The Wild Boar Team is also in this area."
Wan Zhengxin was surprised. "All five elite squads are in this region?"
Yang Kai nodded solemnly.
"All five elite squads are patrolling this area, yet no other squads are to be found, and someone just happens to be breaking through to the Eighth Stage on the battlefield. Do you think the Army Commanders might know something?" Wan Zhengxin mused thoughtfully.
Yang Kai looked down. "Regardless of what the Army Commanders may know, what we need to do now is hold our ground and wait for reinforcements. I've already sent someone back to the Outpost to report. With a senior before us, we should pay our respects—at the very least, let him know that someone is standing guard so he can focus on his breakthrough in peace."
"That's only proper." Wan Zhengxin nodded.
The two of them then descended together toward the floating continent. They didn't approach too closely—Xiang Shan's aura was fluctuating with increasing frequency, and getting too close might disturb him. So at a certain distance from the continent, they stopped.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and called out in a clear voice: "Members of Chenxi and Qingfeng are stationed here, Senior. Please proceed with your breakthrough in peace—there is no need to let external matters distract your mind."
There was no response from below. Yang Kai hadn't expected one, naturally—at this critical juncture of advancement, Xiang Shan wouldn't be able to spare his attention to reply.
Having delivered their message, the two returned to Dawn.