After floating down from the palace rooftop, Tang Xiu landed on the ground and stood in front of Long Zhengyu, asking, “Is there something?”

“The work is all done as per our agreement,” said Long Zhengyu with a smile. “We can take all the workers to leave Nine Dragons Island today, while all the machinery can be transported within 3 days.”

“Leave some of the machinery here in case we’ll need them in the future, though,” said Tang Xiu. “I’ll arrange Awen to settle the accounts with you. Also, Zhengyu, you’re one of us, so I hope you keep the existence of this island a secret. Even those workers who have worked here must maintain the secrecy of this project.”

“I already gave them some money to seal their mouths,” said Long Zhengyu with cold eyes and a deep voice. “You can rest your worries about that. Those workers are very clear about what can they spit out and what they cannot since I have shown them some bloody shits should they violate it. I also planned to assign some men to list their addresses and residences, as well as that of their relatives and friends, to threaten them. They won’t dare to disclose anything if they don’t wanna die.”

Tang Xiu nodded in satisfaction and patted his shoulder. ” Nine Dragons Island will be my home base in the future will be guarded by a lot of armed personnel. No outsider is allowed to land here without my permission. Though, you’re always welcome here at any time.”

“You treat me as a brother, and I’ll treat you as my blood relative,” said Long Zhenyu smilingly.

“I’ll hold on to your words, brother,” replied Tang Xiu smilingly. “Alright, go pack up your things and take care of the workers of the construction team then! I’m afraid the island won’t be peaceful any time soon and I don’t want you to get implicated.”

“You just said that we’re brothers, Tang Xiu. I can’t just stand by and watch you deal with everything by yourself here,” said Long Zhengyu sternly. “Tell me what you want me to do. I’ll cooperate with you to the best of my ability.”

“I can’t, brother.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “Ordinary people staying on Nine Dragons Island will be more of a burden to me than help. Just listen to me and hurry up in leaving. Wait for me to return to the mainland and gather there.”

This made Long Zhengyu silent for a while before he nodded and said, “Then be careful. I’ll be waiting for you to return to the mainland so we can have some wine later!”

“No worries.” Tang Xiu nodded.

With the departure of Long Zhengyu and the construction team, Tang Xiu came to the reserve warehouse built on the island the next evening. The importance of the raw jade stored here made him arrange Mo Awu to guard the warehouse these last few days.

“Boss!” immediately greeted Mo Awu after seeing his arrival.

Nodding to him in response, Tang Xiu said, “I put the raw jade here since there were outsiders on the island previously. You don’t need to stay on guard anymore as I’m going to take them away. However, there’s a task I need you to complete.”

“What task is it, Boss?” asked Mo Awu.

“I want you to head to Clam Island personally and pick 3,000 of the best children there from the tens of thousands being trained,” said Tang Xiu. “Bring them here with utmost secrecy. Do keep in mind that nobody can know of your whereabouts; make sure to neutralize anyone who discovers you, whoever they are.”

“I’ll definitely accomplish that, Boss. Rest assured,” said Mo Awu with a solemn face.

Tang Xiu thought for a moment and added once again, “There are many convicts that I took out from the #1319 labor camp in Israel. They’re still in the screening and inspection phase and have yet to become members of our Everlasting Feast Hall. Hence, they must not find out anything about where the 3,000 children are heading to.”

“What should I tell them if they ask about it?” asked Mo Awu.

“Tell them that I ordered you to transfer 3,000 children to somewhere else,” said Tang Xiu. “Emphasize it to them that this is an absolute secret, and that I told you not to tell anyone.”

“I understand,” replied Mo Awu as he immediately left.

Tang Xiu then took away all the piled up raw jade into his interspatial ring and began to carry out his previous plan to lay out the Feng Shui array around Nine Dragons Island.

The array was called the Nine Dragons Alignment Array, a cultivation protection array he had once arranged in the Immortal World. Due to his limited power at the present, however, he could only lay out a simpler version of it. However, he believed that once this array was arranged, let alone experts at the Nascent Soul Stage, even those at the Soul Formation and Body Integration Stage wouldn’t be able to break it.

A full day was spent without eating, drinking, or sleeping as Tang Xiu arranged the geomancy array. After he successfully arranged it, a golden-colored energy shield covered the entirety of Nine Dragons Island. Countless quaint golden runes constantly wandering about the shield as the Heaven and Earth energy within 500 km was absorbed into it.

“The richness of the world energy here has increased more than 10 times. I can even feel such a dense world energy entering my body when breathing. This sensation… is truly wonderful.”

The same thought filled the minds of the hundreds of people on Nine Dragons Island.

****

Amid the vast sea, a medium-sized liner was swiftly cruising towards Nine Dragons Island. A graceful female Taoist in a blue robe was standing on the bow with a duster in her hand. Behind her were four beautiful girls in long white robes, ornamented with hairpins. From the looks of it, they were apparently immersing themselves inside the mysterious atmosphere of cultivation.

“What’s currently going on?”

Suddenly, the Taoist nun in the blue robe had her complexion changed. She could keenly sense the energy of the world in the surrounding was now swarming over towards the southeast like a tide. It was as though there was a black hole there that was currently devouring the world energy.

The four girls in white dresses also opened their eyes at the same time with a surprised look on their faces as they shifted their attention southward.

One of them paced two steps forward and respectfully spoke, “Master, the course of spiritual qi is aligned with our ship’s destination. Could it be heading to the Island where our Junior Brothers are?”

“You all stay on the ship. Keep exploring ahead and scout the situation for me,” said the female Taoist in a deep voice, “You all remember that I received your junior brothers’ message that they are on some barren island around Nine Dragons Island. The owner of this island assigned some of his men to guard these barren islands. Tell them your identity when you run into them and they won’t stop you.”

“Understood!” replied the four girls respectfully.

The female Taoist’s figure floated and disappeared towards the southeast. The jade hairpin under her feet kept growing bigger until it carried her away quickly to approach Nine Dragons Island.

“Huh? What is that?”

Her eyes contracted upon seeing the golden energy shield that covered the entirety Nine Dragons Island. The scene sent huge ripples in her heart. She knew what it was, yet it was still shocking to her, causing her to be hardly able to believe it.

That was an array! More so, an array with peerless might!

She had seen a lot of array formations, and it could be said that she also had some mastery in it, yet she never imagined that she could actually see a mysterious array that produced such a gigantically powerful aura in her life.

“Who could it be? Who has arranged a geomancy array at this level? Not even the Mountain Guardian Array in the sect is as powerful as this one. Comparing the might is like the difference between night and day.”

As she came closer to the golden energy shield, the female Taoist didn’t rush to contact anyone on Nine Dragons Island, and instead flew around the island, circling it a few times to study it for more than an hour. Yet, she was still unable to see through the mysteriousness of this array. She had a feeling that not only would she not be able to break through it, she’d also be killed trying.

Ultimately, as the liner came over, she landed on its deck and shouted out, “Daoist Zixuan of the Whole Unitary Sect is paying a visit to the owner of Nine Dragons Island. I hope the Island Master will allow me to dock to have a meeting.”

“The array has just been activated and will need seven days to complete. The island’s array will completely take shape after the seventh day, so I’ll naturally open the array entrance for you to come inside. Opening it now would otherwise destroy it. I hope Daoist Zixuan can understand, and I do apologize if it’s slightly improper.”

The answer made Daoist Zixuan fall into silence for a long while. She then slowly replied, “If so, then we’ll wait for seven days.”

Atop the palace’s rooftop, Tang Xiu brought a lunch box and wolfed down his meal. He hadn’t yet had any grub or water for quite a long time due to him arranging the array, while at the same time he had spent a lot of energy, making him starving.

Ji Chimei behind him, however, had an amused smile sported on her face. She thought that it was interesting because she was perfectly aware of how high Tang Xiu’s status once was. Who could imagine that such a Venerable Supreme in the Immortal World paid no heed of his own image and just sat on a rooftop while casually wolfing down his meal and drink like this? If his present appearance were to be seen by the myriads of races and living beings in the Immortal World, they would probably be shocked with eyes staring wide.

“You should eat slowly, my Lord. I’ll go get some more for you if it’s not enough,” said Ji Chimei respectfully after enduring her smile for a long time.

At this time, Tang Xiu’s mouth was full of food, so he didn’t feel like speaking at all and just casually waved his hand. After he finished the second serving brought by Ji Chimei, he wiped his mouth and sighed, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re an immortal or not, everyone still needs to eat and drink, although the food might be different. I’m nothing but an ordinary man now, so grabbing some rice and bread to eat is indispensable… Nonetheless, having filled your belly to the max is a good feeling to have, though. Anyway, I’m gonna have some rest for a while, Chimei. Don’t disturb me if there’s nothing important.”

“As you will it, my Lord,” said Ji Chimei with a smile.

Tang Xiu then floated down. Just as he arrived at the palace, he saw the Whole Unitary Sect youths being led by Jin Chanzi who still stayed here. They hurriedly rushed over to him carrying their longsword.

“I know what you want to say to me. It’s not like I don’t have any hospitality, but your Master’s arrival is just bad timing. She came right after the island’s protection array was activated. Like I just said, I can’t deactivate the array for now, so she has to wait before she can come in seven days—otherwise, my hard work and the days I spent to lay out the array will be wasted.”

“Brother Tang, my Master can’t get inside. But how about us? Can we go out?” asked Jin Chanzi with a forced smile.

“You can’t go outside either.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “Unless you think you have the ability to do so, your only choice is to stay on the island for another week.”

The six youths exchanged glances and shook their heads with forced and wry smiles. They could sense how powerful the array that protected the island was. The knew the outcome if they were to forcefully break through it. Doing so would absolutely grant them a tragic death.