Chapter 1361: Chapter 237: How to Forget Sorrows (Part 2)

Xie Xuanyi did not expect.

This legendary Madame of Wangyou Island looked so youthful, not at all like a great cultivator who had lived for a century, but rather like a charming young girl. Simply judging by appearance, even if you said she was twenty, people would believe it.

For great cultivators, maintaining eternal youth and a beautiful appearance is no big deal.

But—

The uniqueness of this Madame of Wangyou Island lies in the fact that her soul age also seems to be frozen at twenty or thirty years. Xie Xuanyi stared intently; the woman in the yellow dress was smiling brightly, her Soul Sea was a chaos, even he could not clearly discern her exact realm.

"Greetings, Lady Duan."

Xie Xuanyi bowed and curiously said, "My Lady, your Divine Sea... seems somewhat peculiar?"

Lady Duan just smiled without answering.

She held her hands behind her back and slowly came before her son.

The pressure was already maximized.

"Mother..."

Duan Zhao managed to squeeze out a word with great difficulty.

If meeting the Island Master earlier was like a sick cat meeting a tiger, now he was like a completely withered crop, lacking the confidence to even speak.

The word "cowardice" was written all over the young man’s face.

He practiced martial arts on the island as a child.

He feared not his father who hammered him three times a day,

but his mother, who never acted and always wore a smile.

Sometimes, having a bigger fist doesn’t mean having a bigger reason.

At least on this Wangyou Island... it’s like that.

"Hungry? Let’s eat first."

Lady Duan’s smile was full, patting the youth’s shoulder.

A family feast, a table full of delicacies, yet Duan Zhao tasted nothing.

The youth was secretly anxious; when he left for the Da Sui Sword Palace, he patted his chest in front of his mother and promised to return to Wangyou Island once a year regardless of whether he succeeded in finding a master. Three years had passed in a flash, and he thought that returning would result in a thunderous scolding.

Unexpectedly, the opposite happened.

After dinner, it remained gentle and serene.

Lady Duan did not hit, did not curse, and did not blame... she just kindly asked her husband to take their son out for a walk.

"My Lady, there’s something I don’t understand."

Duan Zhao left, but the Lotus Token stayed on the stone table.

Xie Xuanyi’s soul thought body floated, watching the large and small figures successively leave the peach blossom forest.

"Over these years, the Sword Palace has received several messages from Wangyou Island, and you have been monitoring him with the Wind and Thunder Bracelet... since you care, why not visit him personally?"

For years,

Duan Zhao appeared to be alone, drifting in isolation.

Yet, Wangyou Island had been silently watching from behind; the Island Master alone visited the Da Sui Sword Palace several times.

But Lady Duan never showed herself even once.

"Master Xie, do you know how many island protection arrays Wangyou Island has?"

Lady Duan did not directly answer the query but posed another question instead.

Xie Xuanyi furrowed his brow slightly.

On the way here, with his Divine Thought attached to the Lotus Token, he had glanced at it slightly. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

This Wangyou Island...

indeed, was enveloped by an enormous number of formations.

"Sixty arrays, seventy arrays?"

"A total of seventy-two arrays, corresponding to the number of earthly fiends."

Lady Duan said, "Once these formations are closed, Wangyou Island will completely sever its Qi mechanism, making it hard even for a great practitioner of the Yang God Realm to sense the island’s existence. Of course... if a strongest practitioner like the Pure Yang Sect Leader personally arrived, such measures would naturally be insufficient."

This sounded as if it were a boast,

but Xie Xuanyi detected a hint of desolation.

"These formations are indeed impressive."

Xie Xuanyi nodded in agreement, "Even my True Body arriving might not see through the illusion."

"This is merely the first ’barrier’ of Wangyou Island."

Lady Duan raised her head, speaking with deep meaning: "On this island, there is a second, and a third ’barrier’..."

"Hmm?"

Xie Xuanyi vaguely speculated something.

The reason Wangyou Island is detached from worldly affairs, free from mundane rules.

On one hand, it’s because of the Island Master’s extraordinary strength.

Another very important reason,

is that this overseas Immortal Island, fundamentally, has too small a force, relying merely on one or two Yang Gods to intervene in the rise and fall of a dynastic fortune. Even if the Wangyou Island Master could be promoted to the Yang God Ninth Heaven, it would just be one more strongest person indifferent to worldly affairs.

So...

Whether it’s Great Chu, or Great Li, their attitude towards Wangyou Island has always been amiable, though it’s not that no one ever had the thought of seizing it.

But upon careful thought, it’s too uneconomical.

This overseas Immortal Island, suitable only for seclusion, is just that small on the island.

Going through all the trouble to break the arrays... would yield nothing in the end.

There are already seventy-two protective arrays outside the island, which is quite a lot.

To set up so many formations inside the island, for what purpose?

The answer is self-evident.

"Is this... to shield the Heavenly Secret?"

"Master Xie is a wise person."

Lady Duan faintly smiled and said, "Wangyou Island is a world on its own; if the arrays are entirely closed, it ranks as a hidden grotto heaven... though not comparable to Master Xie’s ’Primordial Swallowing Sacred Realm,’ it still can resist the will of heaven."

"!!"

Xie Xuanyi was startled inwardly.

This Lady Duan’s inference technique is more formidable than he imagined...

The matter of the Primordial Swallowing Sacred Realm is an absolute secret, unknown even to Duan Zhao. Lady Duan could only have obtained it through divination!

"Ultimately, the so-called first barrier, second barrier, third barrier all serve one purpose, which is to allow me to live, to live for a long time."

Lady Duan slowly turned her head, gazing at Xie Xuanyi’s soul thought.

"A Sky Watcher’s lifespan has its limits."

"If you wish to survive, special means must be employed."

This explains why she did not leave the island.

On this Wangyou Island, she can shield herself from the Heavenly Secret and fight against destiny.

Xie Xuanyi’s eyes revealed a look of realization.

No wonder he found Lady Duan’s Divine Sea strangely peculiar, this great predictor’s Divine Sea was indeed "frozen and solidified" at the moment of youthful peak...

"However, while the Divine Sea is frozen, it does not mean I will not age, that I will not die."

Lady Duan smiled and sincerely said, "Master Xie’s Longevity Lamp and Undying Spring are both excellent items... I must thank you on behalf of my husband and Zhao’er."

"My Lady, you’re too kind."

Xie Xuanyi smiled and shook his head.

It seems, what he came to Wangyou Island for, Lady Duan was already well aware of.

"Swoosh!"

The woman in the yellow dress suddenly tossed a jar of wine.

With a bang, Xie Xuanyi caught it steadily.

He was a soul thought body, theoretically unable to drink wine, yet... he sensed a unique aura from this wine, its fragrance reaching directly to the Divine Sea, extremely strong.

This wine...

seems to have been brewed specifically for my soul thought body?

"This wine is called ’Forget Sorrows’."

Lady Duan held her hands behind her back, slowly saying, "Involved in the red dust, worries are inevitable..."

After a pause.

Lady Duan extended a hand, making a gesture of invitation.

"How to forget sorrows? By drinking this wine."

...

...

(PS: No update tonight due to leave)