This was a young man dressed in feathered clothing, as if his attire was woven from strands of black bird feathers, emitting a strange luster amidst the subtly changing mist of the mysterious sea.

He held a Fangtian halberd in his hand, and his handsome face was filled with a look of surprise.

The bronze long sword spun in the air and returned to Xu Guang's hand as he looked at the person opposite him.

Not a word was spoken. After exchanging a glance, they charged at each other with mutual understanding. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

No words were needed; for the youth in feathered clothing, once he struck, it was a struggle of life and death.

Xu Guang naturally understood, though he'd never truly been a bandit, he knew the bandit code: that moment of action means there's no way things can end favorably.

This is the rule of the cultivation world—survival of the fittest, needless of hatred, simply requiring the conviction that your opponent must die, and exhausting every effort.

Bang!

Black flames blossomed from the youth's feathered clothing, an essence of Martial Dao intent bent on incinerating everything, alongside his fire-related divine techniques, seemingly intent on burning the clear sky and azure sea completely.

A pirate daring enough to attack strangers was obviously not to be underestimated.

The young man before him, in this First Grade realm, could be deemed peerless, nearing Nirvana Transformation.

Xu Guang squinted, his blood-stained bronze long sword turned into a startling swan song, as blood rain fell from the sky, seemingly to extinguish the flames.

An inexplicable feeling appeared in the young man's eyes, as if he had forgotten something.

Two essences of Martial Dao intent fervently intertwined in the air; the shift in water and fire techniques caused the aura of the mysterious sea to become violent, the mist wantonly spreading in all directions. Flames leapt, fiercely burning.

Swoosh!

Xu Guang rushed out of the flames.

As he landed on the drifting vessel, the youth, pierced through the chest and abdomen by the bronze long sword, fell behind him, disbelief filling his eyes.

He was likewise First Grade, countless humans and sea tribes of First Grade had died by his hand over the years, many pirate groups dubbed him the First Grade's top figure.

He hadn't considered taking action against First Grade because of boredom for quite a while.

Encountering Xu Guang, having only heard of Xu Guang being provoked by Jiang Nanzun, excited him, making him believe this was a man worthy of his strike.

Unexpectedly...

Xu Guang stepped forward, drew his sword.

He didn't inquire about the opponent's name, unnecessary, everyone entering the mysterious sea should have already prepared to bury their bones there. His opponent wasn't weak, Xu Guang believed they should harbor this consciousness.

The young man's eyes dimmed, his body fell into the water, exploding into rings of water spray.

Xu Guang placed the items from the man's body onto the deck, not immediately checking them, instead glancing at the mysterious vessel the man arrived on, far from his own position, having stealthily advanced through the void.

This man's might was indeed formidable, his stealth technique should arise from a union of divine technique and Martial Technique's result, his burst during the surprise attack, too, was not to be underestimated, that incinerating Martial Dao intent wasn't something an ordinary First Grade's Martial Dao intent could compare to.

Such a shame, his aim was off, he targeted me.

There's a rumor that mysterious vessels and the source of the mysterious sea align; he wished to see what changes occurred on these vessels after their passengers died.

Soon, a change emerged, following a gentle breeze, the mysterious vessel, in Xu Guang's gaze, dispersed along with the trembling mist, leaving only vacant ripples on the sea.

Xu Guang furrowed his brow, the drifting vessels entering the mysterious sea correspond with the number of people?

One fewer person, one fewer mysterious vessel?

Xu Guang didn't know what this implied, nor did he want to speculate why an Immortal Venerable with a dark sense of humor would do so, thus his gaze fell upon the heap of items left by killing the young man.

A First Grade Divine Weapon, a bottle of Nirvana Transformation Pill, and that extremely magnificent black feathered clothing greatly amplifying fire-element Daoist Technique and divine techniques.

The yield wasn't bad.

Xu Guang thought internally, he'd been in Jizhou for some years now, needed to consider influence issues, can't handle everything personally, looked back wondering if Purple Cloud had interest, she previously assisted Liu Ruyan in managing Dragon Gate, doing quite well.

Put the items away.

The mysterious vessel slowly advanced, lying on the boat, pleasantly watched the unpredictable sky's mist transforms above, a heartfelt comfort and peace.

Only this tranquility couldn't last for long.

As he approached the mysterious vessel drawing ever nearer to the First Grade secret treasure location, the encounters grew numerous, and the sneak attacks increased.

Everyone entering the mysterious sea understood, everyone they encountered would be competitors for the secret treasure, here, they need not constrain their nature, need not curb their emotions, killing people, just kill them, see living beings, kill them all.

Deep down inside, everyone harbors a demon; in the outside world, due to myriad reasons, couldn't achieve, in the mysterious sea, nothing restrains them.

Within days, Xu Guang met many who wished to kill him, all were slain, the items they carried naturally became his loot, not yet entering the secret treasure, Xu Guang already felt like he was growing rich.

On this day.

The mysterious vessel continued its slow journey; in the distance, faintly, other mysterious vessels could be seen sailing.

Following several days of madness, countless deaths, the sea became quiet, everyone began to 'allow' living beings to appear in their sight.

Suddenly, a great shake of the heavens and earth, then came clanging sounds, ringing throughout the heavens and earth.

'Coo coo'~

A huge sound resembling birds echoed between heaven and earth, elusive, after a moment, the sound grew agitated.