Chapter 102: Foes Meet on a Narrow Road

On the fourth day, at dawn.

The sky was only faintly brightening. The entire Wilderness Island was still wrapped in the pale mist of morning. Visibility was poor; beyond a few dozen paces everything blurred into a gray haze, and only the outlines of the distant islands could be seen.

By the standards of the past few days, it would take at least another hour before this vast veil of fog finally dispersed.

But many of the academy students on the island knew very well that this was the most dangerous time of all. Many ambushes and counterambushes took place precisely when sight was at its worst.

Even in the dead of night, moonlight could make the world clearer than this milky shroud.

At such a time, many student teams chose to remain in their camps, setting all manner of traps inside and outside their strongholds to meet any enemy who dared attack.

There were also plenty of cultivators who used this window to make long-distance relocations across the island, seeking safer ground. Their previous positions may already have been exposed, and staying in one place too long was a risk.

Many of the strongest student alliances especially liked to launch surprise assaults on the surrounding teams at this hour.

...

At that moment, a five-person student team was moving swiftly through the boundless white mist, traveling along the island’s outer edge toward the northwestern heights of Wilderness Island.

They did not dare cross the center of the island, where three formidable alliances of city lord candidates were entrenched: Lou Jiejun, Bai Xijun, and Ren Haiping, who ranked in the top three of Azure Cloud Immortal Academy’s potential list.

These three powerful candidates from illustrious clans and noble households had each gathered no fewer than a dozen or two followers, and were locked in a fierce battle in the broad central plain of the island.

For heirs of immortal families and great clans like them, obtaining official city lord status was already a foregone conclusion. What they fought for was the top rank among this year’s graduates of Azure Cloud Immortal Academy, and that was the greatest honor of all.

The other scattered city lord candidates from lesser factions did not dare join this chaotic melee in the island’s center.

This cultivator team, moving stealthily through the fog, differed from most of the student groups of Azure Cloud Immortal Academy.

The academy’s students, whether the city lord candidates who served as leaders or the attendant students who followed them, were generally young, usually between their teens and twenties. It was exceedingly rare for an attendant to be older than thirty.

Most city lord candidates came from prominent families and were naturally not old. And those qualified to take the final trial as attendants, following the city lord, were all trusted confidants meant to grow together with their master, so they too were not usually very old.

But of the team before them, aside from the young cultivator leading the way, almost none of the attendant students was younger than thirty.

Two of them were even in their fifties or sixties, which was extremely unusual. One was dressed like a legal adviser, the other like a steward. Among all the students, such a thing was rare indeed.

The five were divided into two groups, separated by several paces. One man went ahead to scout the way, while the four behind followed.

The group advanced cautiously, at an unhurried pace.

Crack.

A sharp, brittle snap rang out as the old man dressed like a legal adviser, traveling with the young cultivator, accidentally stepped on a dead branch and broke it. Though the sound was not loud, it was piercing in such a still morning.

All five were startled almost at once and came to a stop.

"Adviser Hou, be more careful. Any noise could easily alert nearby cultivators."

The middle-aged cultivator lowered his voice immediately.

"It was only a branch. Is there any need to make such a fuss?"

Adviser Hou’s expression darkened as he muttered in annoyance.

"Cultivators with keen hearing can catch even the slightest disturbance for miles. Who knows whether there are others around us?"

The middle-aged cultivator said in a low, stern voice.

"Enough. Stop arguing. Being careful never hurts."

The young man in the lead waved his hand helplessly, his gaze falling on Adviser Hou, who had caused the trouble, and a trace of displeasure crossed his face.

"Young Master, the mist is too thick. I was only watching the surroundings and did not notice my footing for a moment."

Adviser Hou clasped his hands weakly, his tone listless.

"Forget it. It is a small matter. We have already walked for nearly half an hour, so our destination should not be far ahead. Let us rest first, and when the fog thins out a little, we will set out again."

Another old man spoke up.

"Very well, then let us do as Steward Cao says. Rest where you are, and we will depart later. This is woodland, so perhaps we can find a water source. Brother Gui, go into the forest and look for water."

The middle-aged cultivator walking in front nodded and called to a dark, sturdy man.

This middle-aged cultivator was He An.

The young cultivator was Zheng Yiqing.

Over the past year at Azure Cloud Academy, Zheng Yiqing had not had an easy time.

In order to send him to Azure Cloud Immortal Academy, the Zheng family had spent a vast amount of their accumulated wealth, leaving their foundations badly shaken. Apart from a small amount of spirit stones supplied each month for cultivation, they could provide him no further support. Everything else had to be figured out by Zheng Yiqing himself.

He had long been troubled over whom to choose as his attendant cultivators.

Attendant cultivators were the most important force at the side of a city lord candidate.

According to the city lord curriculum, a qualified attendant cultivator had to meet at least two conditions: absolute loyalty, and exceptional talent in some area. In addition, they should be as young as possible, ideally the same age as the city lord candidate.

Finding such people in Azure Cloud Academy was no easy task.

The Zheng family was only a newly formed minor clan, and there were only a handful of cultivators in the family, all of them either Zheng Yiqing’s elders or his peers. Naturally, none of them were willing to become his attendant cultivators and serve beneath him.

Among Zheng Yiqing’s own retainers, only one person met the requirements of aptitude and strength: He An. But He An was not his servant. He had merely promised to escort Zheng Yiqing all the way to the East Sea in search of immortality, after which he could leave at any time.

Even so, Zheng Yiqing still provided him with Vitality Pills, helping him become a cultivator, in hopes of keeping him at his side as support.

Zheng Yiqing then turned his attention to the ordinary attendant students of Azure Cloud Immortal Academy. Among a thousand of them, he could not find a single cultivator truly willing to follow him. The Zheng family simply lacked the power to inspire the loyal devotion of these attendant cultivators.

In the end, for the sake of loyalty, Zheng Yiqing still chose his own man: Steward Cao, an older household retainer with no great ambition, and bestowed Vitality Pills upon him so he could break through.

In addition, he could not do without Adviser Hou’s schemes and stratagems, so Hou was also counted among his attendant cultivators. Though Hou had little talent in cultivation or anything else, and his combat strength was wretched beyond description.

During this graduation trial on Wilderness Island, it had been Adviser Hou’s crafty mind and endless schemes that had kept them in the game, sparring with the other student teams on the island.

Otherwise, their party would have been wiped out long ago. In that sense, Adviser Hou had made a real contribution.

"Adviser Hou, how confident are we of making it into the top ten this time?"

During the rest, Zheng Yiqing could not help but ask.

"When we first landed on the island, less than ten percent. Now, three days later, I would estimate our chances at thirty percent. If we can seize that cliff and endure another three or four days, I think Young Master will have a fifty percent chance of entering the top ten."

Adviser Hou took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead as he spoke.

"After enduring a few more days, only fifty percent? Do you not understand how hard it is to stay on this island for even one more day?"

Zheng Yiqing said with some dissatisfaction.

"Young Master, with our strength, a fifty percent chance is already quite good. Even then, it depends on whether the great battle between Lou Jiejun, Bai Xijun, and Ren Haiping spills over onto us.

"If those three factions discover our tracks, there will be no room for luck. We can only surrender.

"Whatever the case, we have been hiding and dodging on the island all this time, and we have already escaped the initial three days of chaos. That alone is fortunate. If we can find a high and difficult-to-assault place and hold out for a few more days, our chances will only grow."

Adviser Hou said unhurriedly.

Zheng Yiqing seemed to find renewed confidence, and his expression relaxed somewhat.

"Young Master, while looking for water in the forest, I found many traces of spiritwood being cut down!"

The dark-skinned man hurried back, looking somewhat flustered.

His surname was Gui, and he was one of Zheng Hongjun’s trusted martial retainers. He had originally been a hunter and was extremely familiar with the jungle. Zheng Hongjun had assigned him to serve as an attendant cultivator for Zheng Yiqing.

Zheng Yiqing could not refuse, and could only accept him.

"Someone has cut down large quantities of spiritwood here? Could it be that someone has made the same plan as we have? Brother Gui, tell us the details quickly!"

Everyone was startled, and Adviser Hou reacted first, frowning as he spoke.

"I was searching for a water source just now and took a look around this forest. Several hundred paces ahead, I saw clear signs of spiritwood being cut down. I counted carefully: there were no fewer than thirty or forty stumps where spiritwood had been felled."

Gui’s voice was grave.

"What? So many trees were cut down?"

"Spiritwood is the most important spiritual resource one can find on this island! For them to have cut down so much spiritwood, they must have established a camp nearby!"

Everyone cried out in shock.

"We are already very close to our destination, that cliff ahead. I do not know whether they have occupied that defensible ground. We must seize that stronghold. Otherwise, the consequences are hard to predict, and it may even affect our later plan to hold out here. Brother Gui, make another trip there and check the situation around the cliff. If you discover anything, probe their background carefully!"

Adviser Hou said gravely.

"Very well, I will go at once!"

Gui glanced at Zheng Yiqing. When he saw Zheng Yiqing nod, he immediately set off. He had practiced stealth arts and was well suited to reconnaissance.

"I wonder which team it is. Most likely they have already set up camp on that cliff. Pity we were not there a step ahead of them."

Adviser Hou wore a deeply troubled expression.

This Wilderness Island stretched for over a hundred miles in all directions, and Guaen had given them only three hours to land. They had not had enough time to survey the island’s terrain, so after arriving they had to search slowly for a place suitable for defense.

Zheng Yiqing’s expression turned very ugly.

As for making the top ten in the trial, he had long since given up hope.

But after learning the contents of the graduation trial, and remembering that he had once survived for a time on a wild island in the East Sea, while Adviser Hou was endlessly resourceful, a sliver of hope had risen in his heart.

"No matter who it is, they must be destroyed!"

Zheng Yiqing said bitterly.

He had to seize a place in the top ten.

Half an hour later.

Gui returned quietly.

"Reporting to Young Master, the cliff has indeed been occupied. All the places one could climb have been covered with sharp spikes, traps, rolling logs weighing thousands of catties, and falling rocks. There is no spot from which one can easily scale the cliff.

"A five-zhang-high spiritwood fence blocks the only narrow passage upward, and there is even a very well-hidden watchtower.

"One has to get close to the spiritwood fence before the tower can even be seen. A young cultivator is keeping watch from the tower behind the fence. The man is unfamiliar; I do not recognize him!

"In my judgment, the cliff is defended with extreme thoroughness, to the point of using every conceivable means. Even for an old hunter like me, seeing such a setup is enough to make me hesitate. Whoever arranged this defense must have very rich combat experience. The five of us are afraid we would never fight our way up."

Gui immediately reported in detail everything he had seen.

"Why does this feel so familiar... Could it be Ye Mo?"

Zheng Yiqing’s face instantly took on the expression of someone who had seen a ghost. He exchanged a look with Adviser Hou, and both were alarmed.

Ordinary academy students, without real combat experience, might not be able to set up such a hedgehog-like defense on Wilderness Island. But as for combat experience, which heir from a noble family would deliberately run off to a wild island to fight demon beasts?

Even Zheng Yiqing himself had more experience than most of the other academy students.

"What does the sentry look like?" He An asked solemnly.

Gui picked up a branch and sketched dozens of strokes on the ground, outlining the features of a dull-faced cultivator.

"This... is this not one of Ye Mo's men?"

Adviser Hou was instantly astonished.

Steward Cao looked closely and nodded repeatedly. "Indeed, it is Ye Mo's man. I remember him as well! That fellow does not look especially remarkable, but he followed Ye Mo very early on. He is one of his confidants."

"In that case, Ye Mo is the one occupying this cliff! Truly a narrow road for enemies to meet. What perfect timing—Heaven is giving me a chance at revenge. Adviser Hou, if we launch a surprise attack on them, how much chance of victory do we have?"

Zheng Yiqing’s heart flared with rage, and he asked impatiently.