Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  The sea star looked up at the clear blue sky and said, "There may be a storm today. The villagers didn't go out to fish early in the morning. Although there are still some ghost shrimp stocks, when the wind and rain come, they can only hide in the house and can't do other things."

  Shen Shi Mu Ran, after a moment, also looked up at the cloudless sky, where it was crystal clear and azure, not even half a white cloud could be seen, it was simply an outrageously good weather. He pointed to the top of his head at the sky, incredulously asked Hai Xing: "In this kind of weather, do you think it will rain or wind?"

  The sea star nodded and said naturally, "Yes, and it will be very windy and rainy later, you should go back early too, best to return to the cave house, don't wander around outside especially by the coast."

  Shen Shi saw Hai Xing's calm and collected expression, and couldn't help but feel a few more doubts in his heart. Could it be that what she said was true, and a storm would really come soon? But at this moment, the sky was clear and sunny, with not even a hint of wind or rain.

  The sea star didn't linger, and today he came out just to inform Shen Shi. He didn't bring any shrimp cages, sharp knives or clam shells, and at this time, he waved his hand at Shen Shi and hopped back to Hong Bang Village.

  Shen Shi stood still for a moment, then looked up at the sky again and muttered to himself, "Who would believe that such weather could bring strong winds and rain..."

  Although that's the case, the starfish has made it clear that things have already been decided, and with a tone of "I've told you, now go wherever you like", Shen Shi is also helpless. He can't rush into Hong Bang Village to search for shrimp cages and then recklessly insist on peeling shrimp for them.

  Full of enthusiasm and vigor, he rushed to prepare for a big battle, but when he arrived at the destination, he found that due to an unreliable reason, he couldn't do anything. Shen Shi deeply felt what it meant to come with excitement and leave in disappointment. After sighing in his heart over the unfavorable start of his crystal-hoarding career, he could only turn around and leave.

  Walking on the way back to Qingyujie, the sky was still azure and cloudless, with only a faint sound of waves crashing against the shore in the distance. As Shen Shi walked, he couldn't shake off the feeling that it was quieter than usual around him.

  He looked around, thought for a moment, and found that the big trees in the surrounding forests had been still for some time, whereas on this ordinary island, the sea breeze was constant throughout the year, and they were often swaying and making rustling sounds.

  "It's still windy and rainy, now even the wind has stopped!"

  Shen Shi grumbled and hummed in discontent, becoming even more distrustful of what Hai Xing had said earlier.

  He walked back to Qingyuzhai, and Shen Shi had only taken a few steps when he found that the situation on Qingyuzhai seemed to be slightly different from usual. There were fewer fellow disciples walking on the road, and many shops were closed, which also made his original intention to take this opportunity to visit the shops once again fall through.

  Why is everything going wrong today?

  But judging from the way everyone is avoiding him, could what Sea Star said actually be possible?

  Shen Shi muttered to himself again, furrowed his brow and walked another section on the Qingyuji Street, coming to the intersection of the two main roads leading to the Chenxing Temple and the Baihe Hall. This was the most bustling place in Qingyuji, with a wooden sign standing in the center of the street, occasionally posting some notices to announce important matters to everyone.

  Shen Shi usually doesn't pass by here because he goes to the remote Hong Wan Village, but if it's true what Hai Xing said that today there is a violent storm and even going to the coast is risky, then this wooden sign must have some warning. However, when he walked up to the wooden sign and took a look, all he saw was a blank slate with nothing on it.

  "I told you, if something was going to happen, they would have posted a notice by now." Shen Shi immediately put his mind at ease. Since Ling Xiao Sect didn't issue any warning about that strange storm, it was probably not a big deal. At the same time, he secretly shook his head at the fuss made in Hong Pan Village.

  Since there was nothing to do here, Shen Shi didn't think of returning to the cave immediately. After all, it was too early to start practicing, so he hesitated for a moment and decided to go to Sun You's Beast Temple to take a look. Anyway, he had said several times that he would come to see him but never did, so taking advantage of today's free time, he might as well go and take a look himself.

  With his mind made up, Shen Shi turned around and walked forward. The main hall of the Ling Xiao Sect was located on Qing Yu Island, where each of the sect's temples had its own hall. Sun You's place for feeding beasts was naturally in the Spiritual Beast Temple. However, since Shen Shi arrived on Qing Yu Island many days ago, he had either been cultivating in his cave or busy peeling shrimp in Hong E Village every day, and hadn't really gone anywhere else. Of course, the copy of the Ling Xiao Sect's map that he had did roughly mark some important locations on Qing Yu Island, but since he hadn't looked at it for a few days, and Shen Shi hadn't made an effort to memorize the address of the Spiritual Beast Temple, his memory was now somewhat fuzzy. He could only rely on his general impression and walk forward, planning to ask someone he met along the way for directions.

  Not long after he left, two Ling Xiao Sect disciples suddenly appeared on some deserted streets. They looked like older senior brothers from the previous generation, one tall and one short. The tall one was frowning and said to the short one in a bad tone: "You didn't slack off and forget to put it up, did you?"

  The dwarf apprentice looked wronged and said: "Senior brother, I really came over early in the morning to post that notice."

  The two of them walked all the way to the wooden sign, and the tall one sneered, looking at the shiny wooden sign, saying: "Then where's the thing you posted?"

  The disciples of Ling Xiao Sect fell silent for a moment, and then one of them smiled wryly: "Perhaps... perhaps it was blown away by the wind?"

  The tall senior brother let out a "hiss" and at this moment the surroundings seemed somewhat dull, the street was empty and desolate, not even a wisp of wind, and said: "Where did the wind come from? Where can it blow to?"

  The short kid was scolded by his senior brother until he cried, and with a reluctant face, he stuck the white paper that had been tucked under his ribs onto the wooden signboard. This time it was firmly pasted on, not daring to be careless at all.

  Looking at him doing his job diligently, the tall senior brother's face improved a bit, and he snorted, saying: "I've always told you to be more down-to-earth in your work, but my words are just wind in your ears. Luckily I was on duty today and discovered this mistake early, otherwise if it were seen by Senior Brother Kang Chen, believe me, he would directly tell Senior Brother Wang Hang, and then have you punished to do hard labor on the sixth island for a month before coming back?"

  The shorter apprentice shrank his head, looking like he was quite intimidated by the hard labor on "Dì Liù Dǎo" (Sixth Island) that his older brother had mentioned. The taller apprentice looked at the wooden sign again and thought for a moment before saying: "This notice is a bit late, I wonder if something will happen?"

  The dwarf apprentice thought for a moment and said, "Actually, nothing big will happen, right? Now all the new apprentices have senior brothers guiding them, and there are also senior brothers watching over each important task site. Anyone who has been on this island for five years must be familiar with the stormy weather of the blue sea, even if we don't remind them, they should know to avoid it."

  The tall senior brother nodded and said, "Mmm, it's about time. Actually, although the storm is fierce, the island has been preparing for many years, so most of it won't be a problem. It's just that Zhen Tang will send some new disciples to collect spiritual materials on the beach at low tide, where they might pick up some colorful shells. If they can't retreat in time, there might be some danger. However, there are also several senior brothers stationed at Zhen Tang, so it should be fine."

  As he spoke, his face suddenly turned stern and he glared at the shorter disciple beside him who looked quite relieved, saying: "Although that's the case, you also made a mistake today. Remember, don't make this kind of error again in the future!"

  The short and stout junior brother nodded his head, saying: "I know, senior brother." His tone seemed to also contain a hint of relief, as he continued, "Fortunately, Senior Brother Kang wasn't around these past few days. By the way, senior brother, do you know where Senior Brother Kang went?"

  The tall disciple of Ling Xiao Sect hesitated for a moment, saying: "I heard it was on Jin Hong Mountain, I don't know what mistake he made, offending the Master and being detained."

  "Ah?" The shorter disciple was clearly hearing this for the first time, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak. The taller senior brother looked at him, turned around and walked away, with the shorter disciple following behind him, muttering to himself in a low voice, it's unclear whether he was worried about Senior Brother Kang or talking to himself. After a while, he couldn't help but turn his head back to look at the wooden sign again, and muttered: "I'm seeing ghosts, I clearly posted the notice early this morning..."

  Shen Shi walked all the way, originally thinking that if he met a passing senior brother or a fellow disciple who knew the address of the Ling Shou Temple on the road, he would ask them for directions. But after walking a good distance from the wooden sign, for some reason, what was originally thought to be a sparse crowd of people moving around Qing Yu Ji suddenly became not a single person in sight.

  "Where did everyone go? Did they all return to their caves and close the doors for cultivation?" Shen Shi looked around with some confusion, hesitated for a moment, thought that he had come this far anyway, and since Qingyu Village led to several important places, there were only a few roads to take, so the possibility of getting lost wasn't great. In the end, he continued walking forward.

  As I walked along, relying on the impression of Ling Xiao's brief mention in my memory, Sun You's beast-feeding place should be at the foot of a mountain near the sea on the west side of Qingyu Island where the Spirit Beast Temple is located, occupying a large area of land, mainly raising some low-level spirit beasts.

  "West?"... Shen Shi walked out of Qingyu Village and saw that the road leading west had two paths, one south and one north. He was momentarily unsure, but after carefully looking into the distance, he found that the southern path seemed to lead in the direction of a certain beach, although it was somewhat far away and not very clear. The northern path was smaller, winding forward in the direction of a small hill northwest.

  After hesitating for a moment, Shen Shi chose the road leading southwest.

  At the same time, on Qingyu Island, in a beast arena at the foot of a mountain, Sun You furrowed his brow and held his breath with all his might. With both hands pulling a massive giant turtle, he was dragging it towards a distant beast cage located on high ground with a gloomy face.

  The giant turtle shell is black with stripes, and it looks several times larger than the average sea turtle. It can reach Sun You's chest when standing upright. It is a low-level spiritual beast called "Black-striped Turtle" that is raised by the Spiritual Beast Temple on Qingyu Island. The turtle shell it carries is a very useful spiritual material, so the number of Black-striped Turtles raised in the temple is not small.

  Sun You finally managed to drag the big turtle into the beast cage on the high ground with a grin, and then looked up at the sky, only to see that the top of the sky was still a vast blue, but in the distance, there seemed to be a few shades of shadow on the sea surface.

  "It reeks to death! Why does a turtle like you smell so bad?!"

  Sun You smelled the foul odor emanating from his own body and glared at the large turtle in the beast cage. The sea turtle had been dragged along by him for a while, and its limbs and head were already withdrawn into its hard shell. At this moment, it was secretly watching Sun You muttering to himself, when suddenly another voice came from beside him:

  "Ha, second brother, what are you complaining about here?" Before the words had even fallen, a handsome young man with a dignified appearance emerged from another corner of the beast arena and walked to Sun You's side. After glancing at him, his face suddenly showed a few hints of concern and he said

  "Hmm, Second Brother, you don't look too good. Is it because your cultivation has been too strenuous? Ah yes, didn't Father give you a 'Hongxiu Chenxiang' before you came here? That thing calms the mind and soothes the spirit, it's very beneficial for relieving fatigue after cultivating. Don't forget to use it."

  Sun You's hand, which was originally resting on the edge of the animal cage, suddenly tightened its grip.

  Let's continue with the second update at 7 pm tonight, give me some red tickets and monthly tickets...