Five spheres of white light flashed abruptly in the high sky, transporting Fang Yuan, Miao Mingshen, and the other three from the Merit Stele to this place.
All five were well acquainted with the task. They peered down below, each activating their own scouting killer moves.
Fang Yuan was the first to survey the full picture, examining it in careful detail.
Though scouting had always been a weak point for him, that was only relative to his own strengths. Compared to Miao Mingshen and the others, even his shortcomings in this area were beyond what they could match.
This was a vast ocean region.
The sea churned with turbulent waves, raising countless swells that crashed and foamed. Countless sea beasts flickered like fiery shadows amid the rolling waves.
Upon this sea, there were also five small islands.
One was Jade Radiance Island, covered with innumerable jade pillars that clanged and chimed as the fierce winds blew through them.
One was White Bone Island, entirely pallid, with scattered bone beasts roaming about.
One was Void Concealment Island, flickering in and out of visibility, seemingly ethereal and insubstantial.
One was Sword Wind Island, upon which three tornadoes raged ceaselessly throughout the year.
One was Precious Moon Island, shaped like a crescent moon. Above the island, a perpetual veil of night hung overhead, and every inch of sand and soil across the island shimmered with a faint lunar glow.
Of these five small islands, three had already begun to drift with the currents, slowly floating along. Sword Wind Island moved the fastest, its direction chaotic.
Of the remaining two, Jade Radiance Island was in dire straits — its supporting pillars below were badly damaged, and after some time, it too would begin drifting across the sea like the other three.
Void Concealment Island, however, was remarkably stable, firmly anchored in its distant position. This was because the island was suffused with Dao marks of the Void Path.
The culprit behind the drifting islands was the colliding ocean currents that spread and crisscrossed deep beneath the seabed.
These currents had grown so massive that they threatened the very seabed itself. Suppressing the currents, restructuring the ecology of this sea region, and restoring the former Five-Island Chain — that was the content of this large-scale mission.
Fang Yuan began to calculate, running constant deductions in his mind.
All signs indicated that this sea region had originally formed a sophisticated ecosystem centered on the Five-Island Chain. The colliding ocean currents had not existed before; they were like a shark suddenly intruding into a tranquil lotus pond, inflicting devastating damage on the sea region's ecology.
While Fang Yuan was making his calculations, Miao Mingshen and the others also gradually brought the entire sea region into the scope of their investigation.
They all furrowed their brows, their expressions growing grave.
"This is a large-scale task? The difficulty is several times greater than a medium-scale task!" Flower Butterfly Fairy's heart sank.
The Bee General's face looked grim as he thought to himself: "When I previously balanced the ecology of Beehive Island, I gave it my all and still couldn't perfect it. This large-scale task isn't about balancing an ecology — it's about restructuring one. The situation of each island is more severe than Beehive Island's. And the five islands are only part of the task — there's still a vast stretch of ocean to deal with, and the colliding currents beneath the seabed!"
"This is deeply entangled — restructuring the ecology of this entire sea region requires peeling back layer by layer, sorting through each strand. Without a Wisdom Path Gu Immortal, we'll probably have to keep experimenting and improving step by step. There will be no shortage of mistakes along the way." Ghost Seventh Lord sighed inwardly.
Temple Bright God was calculating the input and output: "The medium-scale task I just completed consumed a huge amount of Seventh Transformation immortal materials. To restructure the ecology here, the resources invested, the immortal essence spent, and the energy required will likely be an enormously staggering figure!"
The more Temple Bright God and the others observed, the faster their fighting spirit drained away.
The difficulty of the large-scale task made them shrink back.
In truth, they had already begun to regret it. Blindly following Fang Yuan to accept the large-scale task did not seem like a wise decision after all.
"Brother Chu, let's discuss this together." Things had come to this, and Temple Bright God could only manage a bitter smile as he went to consult with Fang Yuan.
He had no intention of giving up just like that. Accepting a task did not mean they could simply abandon it. In fact, to abandon the task, they would need to take up a different title entirely.
A sharp gleam flickered through Fang Yuan's eyes. With his Time Path clone and his main body running calculations simultaneously, he had already produced a perfect plan.
He waved his hand dismissively at Temple Bright God. "Brother Temple, I already have a plan in place. Follow my arrangements, and we will definitely complete this task."
Temple Bright God was stunned for a moment. Although he didn't believe it in his heart, he didn't argue either, simply nodding. "Please give your instructions, Brother Chu. We will do everything in our power."
Fang Yuan laughed heartily. "You're too polite, Brother Temple. We're cooperating hand in hand to complete this task together — it benefits us both. When a large-scale task is completed well, the reward is several times that of a medium-scale one!"
*My only fear is that it won't be completed well.* Temple Bright God sighed inwardly but did not voice it aloud. He had lost most of his confidence, and whatever hope remained could only be placed on Fang Yuan.
Still, Fang Yuan's words did sound quite pleasant.
Fang Yuan did not put on airs of superiority, but instead adopted an attitude of equal partnership. That alone set him apart from Congsheng Shen.
"Brother Temple, I'd like you to hold Yuyao Island and prevent the colliding currents. Seventh Ghost Lord, please garrison at Jianfeng Island and make sure it doesn't drift about freely. The Bee General and Fairy Flower Butterfly, please guard Yuyao Island and White Bone Island respectively, keeping watch against the currents. I will go handle Hidden Void Island first."
Fang Yuan issued his arrangements. Temple Bright God and his group had been completely at a loss, so they simply followed Fang Yuan's instructions.
With four immortals taking action, the situation of the sea islands quickly eased. They were no longer drifting aimlessly with the waves, their speed of movement dropping sharply as they were restrained within a certain range.
Watching Fang Yuan descend onto Hidden Void Island, the four immortals couldn't help but feel a degree of suspicion.
"Hidden Void Island is a small Void Path island — the most stable corner of this entire sea region's ecology, and also the easiest part of the entire task."
"Why is Chu Ying handling this island first? He should deal with all the other islands first, and then come to Hidden Void Island. After all, this island practically doesn't exist. Dealing with it first would actually obstruct the handling of the next several islands."
"In my opinion, we should be dealing with the colliding currents. That is the real culprit behind the collapse of the five-island chain. To restructure the ecology here, one must surely start from the source and resolve things step by step."
Fang Yuan descended onto Hidden Void Island and flew back out in short order — so quickly that it drew another round of astonishment from Temple Bright God and the others.
Fang Yuan entered White Bone Island.
Under Fairy Flower Butterfly's watchful gaze, Fang Yuan drew out batches of immortal materials from his immortal aperture and casually scattered them about.
"He's actually setting up an formation!" This was the first time Fairy Flower Butterfly had seen Fang Yuan lay down a formation.
Fang Yuan's formation-crafting technique was supremely skilled and practiced, the entire process flowing as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water. Watching it gave Fairy Flower Butterfly a deep, heartfelt sense of aesthetic pleasure.
Soon, Fang Yuan's subsidiary formation was set in place.
Fairy Flower Butterfly was so shocked her cherry-red lips parted and stayed that way.
"Chu Ying is actually able to use immortal materials to set up a formation! Doesn't that mean he possesses attainment at the Grandmaster level in the Path of Formations?"
"So he isn't a Transformation Path Gu Immortal, but a Formation Path Gu Immortal."
"No, that can't be right. When he defeated Ge Wen and saved us, he clearly used Transformation Path methods."
"Could it be... that he dual cultivates two Paths?"
Gu Immortals who dual cultivated two Paths were rare, but not unheard of. However, for someone like Fang Yuan to be so proficient and possess such profound attainment in two distinct Dao was truly exceptional.
With the subsidiary formation on Bone Island complete, Fang Yuan activated it, linking it to the main formation he had previously laid over the Sky-Hiding Island.
Under the immortal formation's effect, Bone Island trembled violently once, then immediately stabilized above the sea, showing not the slightest sign of drifting.
Fairy Flower Butterfly finally understood Fang Yuan's deeper intention: "So he used Sky-Hiding Island as the anchor, to pull the other small islands and fix them all in place."