Chapter 949: Preparing to Leave P9

With Aksai’s guidance and the precious resources he had provided through the island’s prosperous trade with the mainland, Violet had steadily advanced to the mid stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

If she could maintain that pace for a few more decades, reaching the Core Formation realm was not completely impossible.

Jasmine had often thought that this was enough.

More than enough.

She had no regrets about her own life.

If she died tomorrow, she could close her eyes knowing that her daughter had a future.

But now... that future suddenly seemed uncertain.

Jasmine lowered her eyes as her fingers trembled slightly.

She could accept her own mortality.

What she couldn’t accept was the possibility of Violet being caught in the same storm.

Jasmine’s life was already nearing its end. If the imperial factions came, what could they possibly want from someone like her?

Nothing.

She was old, weak, and had never even reached Foundation Establishment.

But Violet was different.

If Emerald Cove Island truly became a target of the imperial factions, Violet would inevitably be caught in the middle of it.

The thought alone made Jasmine’s heart tighten.

For the first time in many years, she found herself afraid of dying.

She clenched her hands and finally stepped forward.

"Lord... Lord Aksai, do we..."

Her voice came out weaker than she expected.

She paused and tried again.

"Do all of us have to leave because of the trouble with the imperial factions? We... We weren’t even aware of the imperial cultivators’ attempt to break into island formation. We aren’t even involved in their killings. So... shouldn’t our safety be assured by you? Because..."

Jasmine’s gaze flickered toward Violet for the briefest moment.

"I... I mean—"

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.

She wanted to ask whether Violet would be safe.

Whether Aksai intended to take the Seven Stars with him.

Whether leaving the island was necessary.

Whether there was somewhere they could escape to where the imperial factions wouldn’t find them.

She was basically asking Aksai to effectively take care of her daughter Violet because she had nothing to do with the killings of the imperial cultivators. Either that or Aksai and those who killed the imperial cultivators along with him should leave the island silently to retain its foundation.

But asking all of that in front of everyone made her feel almost ashamed. After all, Aksai had killed those imperial cultivators because they were trying to intrude on the island. He had killed them in order to protect the island dwellers including her and her daughter. So asking Aksai to take responsibility for killing the enemies was not just unfair but fell under betrayal.

Jasmine was asking about her own daughter’s safety even under such circumstances while everyone else was worried about their families, their homes, and their futures.

Yet she couldn’t suppress it.

Aksai had already seen through her.

Before Jasmine could force the rest of the words out, he raised a hand.

Jasmine immediately fell silent.

Aksai looked at her for a moment.

Then he smiled.

It wasn’t a mocking smile.

Nor was it the reassuring smile of someone trying to dismiss her worries.

It was the quiet smile of someone who understood exactly what was going through her mind.

"Jasmine," he said with a soft chuckle, "you want to know whether this trouble will simply go away as long as I leave the island, right?"

Jasmine’s lips parted slightly.

She lowered her head.

She couldn’t answer.

But her silence was an answer enough.

Aksai’s smile deepened slightly.

He then turned his gaze toward Jina.

"Jina."

The lady Lord immediately understood what he wanted.

She stood up from her seat and prepared to explain the situation to everyone gathered in the hall.

She looked across the grand hall and took in the worried expressions on everyone’s faces before speaking.

"Indeed. Most mortals and low-level Spirit cultivators would probably be left unharmed by the imperial cultivators."

Several people visibly relaxed.

But Jina immediately continued.

"Under normal circumstances, Emerald Cove Island’s foundation would remain stable. If Lord Aksai and a few of his direct subordinates were to leave, the island wouldn’t necessarily change hands immediately."

A few cultivators exchanged glances.

That was reassuring.

At least, it sounded reassuring.

"But..."

Jina’s expression turned solemn.

"These aren’t normal times."

The brief sense of relief in the hall disappeared.

"The imperial factions are competing against one another."

She paused deliberately.

"Not because of their pre-existing conflicts with each other. And not over territory for its own sake."

Her gaze swept across the crowd.

"They are competing for resource-rich regions."

A few cultivators frowned.

"And the reason for this competition is something you have probably never considered."

Jina took a breath.

"As some of you might already be aware of, Dao Paths of the Dadangar Subcontinent have been released."

The hall grew quieter.

Almost everyone knew that the release of the Dao Paths was important. The recent news Spirit cultivators experiencing much higher rates of breaking into major realms had spread across the entire subcontinent.

But they still didn’t understand why it would make Emerald Cove Island such a dangerous place.

Jina continued.

"This isn’t a small change related to just the breakthroughs of Spirit cultivators. It will alter the entire subcontinent in more ways than one."

She looked toward the cultivators.

"The lands that the imperial cultivators once dismissed as the ’backwater land’ will gradually become a paradise for Spirit cultivators."

Someone sucked in a quiet breath.

"Paradise? Wh– what do you mean Lord Jina?"

Jina answered immediately.

"Paradise is paradise. Isn’t that definition of the word alone enough to make you understand? It will be very easy for Spirit cultivators to make progress in a paradise-like land. As for why it would become a paradise? It’s because the Spirit Essence here will become extraordinarily rich."

Her voice became heavier.

"In a few decades to a little more than a century, the Spirit Essence across the subcontinent could become comparable to that found in some of the richer regions of the Eternal Sea."