Chapter 341: Exile Island

The Great Xia Empire didn’t execute the wanted criminals they captured. Instead, they exiled them to a certain place.

That place was known as Exile Island.

Exile Island was surrounded by the sea. Not even powerful experts at the Nascent Soul Transformation Realm could escape the prison formed by these waters.

The sea was known as the Sea of the Dead. Its waters could devour Spiritual Power, leaving the area above the waves completely devoid of it.

To cross these waters, one had to rely solely on their own internal Spiritual Power while simultaneously resisting the Spiritual Power being devoured by the Sea of the Dead.

A Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Transformation Realm simply didn’t have enough Spiritual Power to fly from Exile Island back to Great Xia.

On this day, a giant, winged Black Ape carrying two figures landed on Exile Island.

“You’ve worked hard, Little Hei.”

Yi Xiaoyao patted the exhausted, panting Little Hei and offered a word of comfort.

“Even Little Hei is this exhausted. No wonder the exiles can’t leave. The flying beasts that brought the prisoners here probably died of exhaustion before they even reached the island.”

Yun Mengling leaped down from Little Hei’s shoulder, sighing as she gazed at the vast, boundless Sea of the Dead behind them.

Yi Xiaoyao placed the now-shrunken Little Hei inside his cloak and said, “Sunken Spirit Island will emerge within a few days. We’ll wait here on Exile Island until then.”

Yun Mengling nodded and followed Yi Xiaoyao further onto the island.

According to Chong Li, Sunken Spirit Island lay at the bottom of the sea and only surfaced once every three years. It was also said to be not far from Exile Island.

That was why Yi Xiaoyao and Yun Mengling had arrived on Exile Island a few days early to wait.

First, they wanted to recover their strength and arrive at Sunken Spirit Island with their Spiritual Power at its peak.

Second, they wanted to check out the situation here before deciding whether to release all the wanted criminals of Exile Island back into what was now the Great Shang Empire.

Over time, a town had formed on Exile Island.

The moment they set foot in the town, Yi Xiaoyao and Yun Mengling drew a great deal of attention.

“Hm? Newcomers?”

“He’s so young to be exiled here for the rest of his life. Must’ve had a pretty big beef with Great Xia, eh?”

“Heh heh. He’ll get a taste of how cruel Exile Island can be!”

The island’s inhabitants stared at Yi Xiaoyao and his companion, gossiping without restraint.

Every one of these people had a ferocious look about them. It might have been because they were all dangerous criminals once wanted by Great Xia, or it might have been a form of self-preservation necessary to survive on the island.

Yi Xiaoyao paid the voices no mind, walking with Yun Mengling down the town’s main path.

Meanwhile, inside a tavern, a massive, burly man ducked his head to get through the entrance.

“Shopkeeper! How many times do I have to tell you? This door is too damn short! I told you to make it taller. Do you have a memory problem or something?”

Once inside, the burly man’s frame, standing in the doorway, was shockingly taller than two men combined.

The tavern door wasn’t short by any means, but before this giant of a man, it looked like a doggy door.

Seeing the huge man enter, the tavern’s patrons grew tense and fearful. No one dared to speak, and a hush fell over the room.

The Shopkeeper approached with an apologetic smile. “Lord Xiong Bao,” he chuckled nervously, “it’s not that I won’t raise the door, it’s that Lord Hu Li won’t let me!”

“Hu Li? Who the hell does he think he is?”

Xiong Bao snorted. “My bounty is thirty million. Hu Li’s is only twenty-five million. You listen to him instead of me?”

“Everyone on Exile Island knows Lord Hu Li is your sworn enemy. He said that if I raised the door, he’d kill me. I’m caught in the middle!” the Shopkeeper said with a pained smile.

Then, with a slight flicker in his eyes, the Shopkeeper added, “Lord Hu Li also said… he enjoys watching you have to bow and scrape just to get through the doggy door.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Shopkeeper scurried far away, as if he knew exactly what was coming next.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Xiong Bao’s aura—that of a Nascent Soul Transformation Eighth Realm cultivator—erupted instantly. A powerful gale blasted out from him, sending everyone in the tavern tumbling.

“What?! Hu Li dared to say that? I think he’s tired of living!”

Xiong Bao’s furious roar shook the entire tavern, and everyone’s face turned deathly pale with fear.

But just then, a voice completely out of sync with the tense atmosphere suddenly spoke up.

“Excuse me.”

The voice wasn’t loud, and it carried an air of indifference as it came from behind Xiong Bao: “You’re blocking the way.”

Xiong Bao froze for a second. His massive body was indeed blocking the tavern entrance, so he moved to clear a path.

Then, as everyone watched, a young man in black robes and a young woman wearing a black veil walked in.

These two were none other than Yi Xiaoyao and Yun Mengling. After flying over the sea for days and living on dry rations, they had finally found a tavern where they could get a hot meal.

Their arrival, strangely enough, seemed to defuse the tense atmosphere in the tavern.

As the tavern patrons watched, Yi Xiaoyao summoned the Shopkeeper and ordered some food and wine.

‘Newcomers on Exile Island again?’ That was what everyone was thinking.

For one, they had never seen Yi Xiaoyao before.

For another, he had shown absolutely no fear of Xiong Bao, even making the man move aside for him. Few on Exile Island would dare to do such a thing.

As for Xiong Bao, his interest seemed to be piqued. His towering frame moved to Yi Xiaoyao’s table, blocking out most of the light.

“Kid, you new here? What grand deed did you pull off in Great Xia to get exiled here so young?”

Xiong Bao looked down at Yi Xiaoyao and laughed. “Hurry up and tell me. Who knows, I might even take a liking to you and let you be one of my men.”

Yi Xiaoyao glanced up at Xiong Bao indifferently. Sensing the man’s Cultivation was at the Nascent Soul Transformation Eighth Realm, he looked away and ignored him.

Even if someone with this level of Cultivation was disrespectful, Yi Xiaoyao couldn’t be bothered to act.

Never mind that this sort of character wasn’t even worthy of being his opponent; fighting him would be utterly meaningless and would only lower Yi Xiaoyao’s own standing.

Seeing this, the tavern patrons were all stunned, their faces turning strange.

“This kid is actually ignoring Xiong Bao?”

“A newborn calf doesn’t fear the tiger. He just arrived on Exile Island, so how could he know who Xiong Bao is, or what the dangers are here?”

“I bet this is going to end badly for him.”

Seeing Yi Xiaoyao’s attitude, Xiong Bao’s expression darkened, but he didn’t make a rash move.

After all, there were far too many precedents on Exile Island of people dying horribly for misjudging others based on appearance. He wasn’t about to underestimate Yi Xiaoyao just because he looked young.

“Shopkeeper, find out what this kid’s bounty from Great Xia is!” Xiong Bao ordered.