Chapter 155. Hostile Visitors, Outrageous Demands

└ Have you heard? There's really an immortal island out there, and they visited our land.

└ We heard about it. They were aggressive and immediately attacked Chunyang and the others.

└ Yeah, they kept them as hostages and only released the Ice Fairy to deliver information. The officials are talking about it right now.

└ Apparently, those people have demanded land for them to take over.

└ But they shouldn't have hurt so many people. They're too much—too arrogant! Could they be immortals?"

└ What immortals? They're just Awakened like us, only a bit stronger.

└ Stronger? Are they stronger than King Lu?

The officials never had any intention of hiding the truth. People were already paying attention to the Bohai Sea, so news of the attack spread like wildfire across the nation, especially when the Ice Fairy had finally contacted Elder Ji.

The people speculated that there were people on the Three Immortal Islands, and they were correct. Unfortunately, they seemed very difficult to get along with. In addition to attacking at the slightest disagreement, they also wanted land in exchange for the people they had taken hostage.

Their move upset many people, and the reckless ones even wanted to unite with other Awakened to rescue Chunyang. However, the officials had anticipated their move and dispatched troops to seal off the region. Then, they issued announcements, saying that high-level personnel were leaving to negotiate.

They urged the citizens to remain calm. For now, the officials had decided to remain cautious, as they had yet to figure out the Three Immortal Islands.

Thanks to the Ice Fairy, they learned that the leaders were at the Unfettered Realm, but there was a high chance that they had Golden Body Realm experts behind the scenes.

With that in mind, they had to treat this incident seriously. If one wanted to achieve victory over one's enemies, one ought to know them first. After seeing the official announcement, the citizens calmed down, knowing they ought to stay calm to avoid complicating things.

However, the incident led to more people paying attention to the Three Immortal Islands.

Meanwhile, Elder Yun headed directly to the coast near the Bohai Sea. Fortunately, he had been at Mount Tai Trials Academy, so he was nearby. He arrived in just a few days, learning about the incident along the way.

Through ancient records, he determined that the Three Immortal Islands likely existed before the Qin Dynasty. Of course, this did not mean those people were thousands of years old, but rather they were descendants of those people in ancient times.

He also deduced that the Three Islands had always been a suitable environment for evolution, which meant its inhabitants were bound to be really strong.

As for why its environment differed from that of the outside world, Elder Yun couldn't say for sure. At this point, however, such speculations didn't really matter. What mattered was the fact that they were hostile.

Soon, Elder Yun and the others finally arrived at the coast near the Bohai Sea.

According to the information they had gathered so far, the people from the Three Islands represented their own sect, which was similar to an ancient martial art school. Those sects were Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.

They also discovered that they were like people living in ancient times, and they never had any interactions with the modern world until today. The three who had taken Chunyang and the others hostage were elite disciples of their sect.

Today, Elder Yun and the other officials faced Zhao Yuan on the coast of Bohai Sea.

"Speak. What do you want?" Elder Yun asked. He had a fiery temper, but he restrained it. After all, Chunyang and the others were still in their hands.

"We're here on orders from our sect to seek out a place for us to stay. Each of our three great sects wants an entire region for ourselves," Zhao Yuan said, looking at Elder Yun with a smile. "Surely, this won't be difficult, will it?"

"Not difficult at all. We can certainly talk about it," said Elder Yun with a calm face.

"And our regions must have people," Zhao Yuan added, "After all, there are some matters we cannot handle personally. We don't need many people; a hundred thousand will do."

The faces of the officials darkened upon hearing that, and even the Ice Fairy wanted to step forward.

Three regions with a hundred thousand people each meant a total of three hundred thousand people. It was an outrageous demand reminiscent of the practice of forced labor during ancient times.

Before anyone could erupt in fury, Elder Yun stopped them by saying, "Go on, is there more?"

"Of course." Zhao Yuan nodded. "Whenever a great boon appears on this land, our disciples must be allowed to investigate it. You can assist, and if you contribute, you can receive a share."

They were arrogant—too arrogant! The faces of the officials became even colder.

However, Elder Yun remained calm as he asked, "What about those you captured? When can they be released?"

"We will talk once you people are done thinking about it," Zhao Yuan said, ignoring their fury. Clearly, he didn't care. "Remember, we're just the advance party. Our elders will arrive soon."

With that, he led his companions away, making his words sound like a mere notification rather than a negotiation.

"Elder Yun, what should we do?" the Ice Fairy asked, looking grim. She truly had not expected such arrogance from them. They were so arrogant and domineering that they disrespected even the government officials.

With access to powerful weapons of mass destruction, they had no reason to fear these visitors, but they could not disregard the lives of Chunyang and the others.

Hence, they remained hesitant to act.

"First of all, let's talk to Elder Ji about this," Elder Yun replied after a moment of contemplation. Never mind the opportunities and boons of the mainland's famed mountains and great rivers, as there was no way they'd agree to send over three hundred thousand people to them.

Why had they been working so hard to become even stronger? Wasn't it to protect the lives of ordinary people?

How could they hand them over with just a word? If they really had to tear off all pretenses, they might as well fight back.

"Junior Sister Zhang Yun, will they really agree to our conditions?" Zhao Yuan asked the blue-robed young woman.

"They have no choice," Zhang Yun replied with a sneer. "How long has it been since the world's changes began? Even if the conditions are better here, they can only produce Unfettered Realm experts at most.

"What about the sects on our Three Islands? Which of us doesn't have a Golden Body Realm expert? They can't compare to us when it comes to our cultivation realm, and as for their weapons, they're useless. Once our elders are here, it'll be over for them.

Upon hearing that, Zhao Yuan nodded in agreement. "We should also spread the news to them. The islands are running out of Heaven-Earth energy; we must bring back results as soon as possible."

The reason they ventured out of the island was the Global Awakening, which meant the path further down the path of evolution was no longer under restrictions. In addition, islands were just islands. After thousands of years, the island finally ran out of resources useful for the people's evolution.

Just as they were panicking about the issue, the outside world suddenly went through an awakening.

The path of evolution would soon return to its original state, similar to what it once was in the distant past. Great opportunities and boons were bound to appear all over the world, so why would they stay on their islands?

Knowing everything had just begun and the mainland lacked powerful beings to fight back against them, they decided to set out and plunder the mainland's resources to become even stronger.

The people of the Three Immortal Islands also knew that beings from the Outer Cosmos would eventually descend. Fortunately, the early bird would get the worm. They could plunder first, hide again, and return later once they were stronger.

Both Zhao Yuan and Zhang Yun thought it was an excellent plan. They exchanged smiles, looking as if everything was under their control.

Elder Yun reported the results of the negotiation to the top echelons. Their decision was unanimous—no way they would agree. Some even went as far as suggesting to bombard the Three Immortal Islands with missiles to show them the might of modern weaponry.

However, they soon discovered that the islands were shrouded by a mysterious force that made it seem impossible to attack.

Realizing that a bombardment was useless, everyone fell silent. Their most powerful weapons couldn't be used, and they couldn't agree to their conditions. How were they going to deal with those visitors from the Three Immortal Islands?

Those three were Unfettered Realm experts, and they were mere disciples. In other words, their elders were bound to be stronger than them.

They could bombard the shore to ensure the enemies couldn't land, but could they do that forever? Obviously not. There was also the possibility that the Three Immortal Islands housed Golden Body Realm experts.

They had yet to see any Golden Body Realm experts among them as well. A human Golden Body Realm expert was also bound to be more terrifying to face than a Golden Body Realm mutated beast.

If they were to make a move, they would be unstoppable. After all, they were living human beings. The power of modern weaponry couldn't be underestimated, but those living human beings wouldn't just stand still and take the blow.

The top echelons, including Elder Ji, were troubled.

The people from the Three Immortal Islands shared the same blood as them, so why were they so overbearing when they had the same Huaxian blood running through their veins?

Were they really convinced that they were immortals? No one knew the answer to such questions, but the problem had to be resolved soon. After all, their elders were bound to arrive, and it was only a matter of time.

The news spread online; the ordinary citizens and the Awakened erupted.

└ Are you kidding me?! Three huge plots of land and three hundred thousand people?!

└ They're too much! We absolutely cannot agree! I suggest we bomb them all!

└ I heard we can't target those islands with our missiles. The officials have no idea what to do, either.

└ So what are you trying to say? That we should accept their conditions? They're practically stepping on our faces. Can you guys really endure that?

└ We are weak, but we should not let ourselves be humiliated.

└ At worst, we'll bring them down with us.

Everyone was furious. They couldn't care less about what beings were on the Three Immortal Islands, as the proposed conditions were just too much. Demanding land was one thing, but asking for slaves and priority over the boons of the famed mountains and great rivers was beyond excessive.

Unfortunately, powerful beings possibly at the Golden Body Realm were on the island. If a battle were to erupt, how could they fight when the nation had no Golden Body Realm expert?

They couldn't even use modern weaponry, as they could just retreat into the safety of the so-called Immortal Islands.

Even the citizens felt powerless and helpless until everyone was reminded of a certain someone—Lu Yuan. At this point, they believed that no one else could resolve this issue other than King Lu.