Chapter 363: Searching for Another Relative’s Location

Chapter 363 -310: Searching for Another Relative’s Location

“Huh? He’s moving?”

Just as Jiang Xu was growing impatient, a sudden sensation pulled his consciousness back.

Jiang Xu checked the position of the aura—the target was indeed on the move.

“He’s moving! That’s great, just great!”

He was ecstatic.

Inside Xianya Garden, Jiang Xu hadn’t been able to find a single clue or gather any intelligence on his target.

As long as his target came out, everything would be much simpler.

But Jiang Xu soon discovered that Xiong Anling was moving with unusual speed, as if driven by some desperate urgency.

This sudden change caught Jiang Xu off guard. He had to quicken his pace, nearly breaking into a run to keep up with the presence that was rapidly pulling away.

The streets and alleys teemed with pedestrians. Jiang Xu wove through them, trying to stay hidden without losing his target—a difficult balancing act.

Night deepened and the lights grew sparse. Jiang Xu’s figure flickered in and out of the shifting shadows as he followed the trail.

Finally, the target’s presence stopped moving. Only then did Jiang Xu arrive in the vicinity.

However, it seemed things were still not going as smoothly as Jiang Xu had hoped.

The path to success is never smooth. Just as he approached the destination filled with hope, he encountered an unexpected obstacle.

…

Two guards stood like statues before the gates of the Isle Master’s Mansion. Clad in armor and holding long spears, their gazes were sharp.

Seeing Jiang Xu slowly approach, their tone instinctively took on a cold, wary edge.

“Excuse me, do you have an invitation?”

“N-no.”

Jiang Xu paused for a moment before replying.

His reply was simple, but it betrayed a hint of frustration.

Although he knew this trip wouldn’t be easy, he hadn’t expected to be barred at the gates once more.

“If you don’t have one, then leave. The Isle Master’s Mansion isn’t a place just anyone can waltz into.”

The two guards at the gate of the Isle Master’s Mansion spoke with an ill-tempered and impatient tone.

They clearly took Jiang Xu for some hanger-on, another piece of riffraff trying to curry favor with the Island Master.

This was also because Jiang Xu was using the Concealing Breath Spell to maintain his Cultivation at the Qi Cultivation Late Stage.

If Jiang Xu were to reveal his true Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivation and present his Intermediate Scholar Jade Token, there’s no way these two would be so impolite.

The two guards’ attitudes would have been completely different. They probably would have opened the gates for him respectfully and rushed to announce his arrival.

But that wasn’t his goal. Jiang Xu had no interest in revealing himself just to teach two guards a lesson, much less disrupt his own plans over it.

For Jiang Xu, maintaining a low profile was the key to success.

Such a trivial matter wasn’t enough to make Jiang Xu lose his composure.

And so, Jiang Xu wisely chose to back away. He gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

Afterward, Jiang Xu could sense his target inside the Isle Master’s Mansion, completely still.

Standing outside the magnificent Isle Master’s Mansion, Jiang Xu gazed at the closed, vermilion gates and sighed to himself.

‘This guy’s status on Xiao Jin Island is truly something else. He can come and go from the Isle Master’s Mansion as he pleases. He’s not to be underestimated.’

This realization deepened Jiang Xu’s wariness of the man.

In such a complex environment, every move had to be made with extreme caution.

If he handed the item over to such a powerful figure, and the man decided to repay kindness with malice, the consequences would be unimaginable. Jiang Xu would be utterly ruined, with no one to turn to.

But now Jiang Xu found himself back at square one. Besides waiting, there seemed to be no other direct or effective course of action.

He gave a bitter smile, his heart a swirl of complicated emotions.

After all, as a newcomer to Xiao Jin Island, everything still felt new and strange to Jiang Xu.

He had only been here for two or three days. He didn’t have a deep understanding of the island’s rules or social networks, and finding an opportunity to connect with the upper echelon on short notice was no easy task.

But on second thought, the Dharma Ship was docked at Wenqu Island for two months. The departure date was still a long way off, so he had plenty of time and no reason to rush.

Jiang Xu weighed his options and decided against waiting passively. He would take the initiative.

He wasn’t willing to just wait for the man to reappear. Instead, he decided to actively search for another one of Xiong Liangsheng’s relatives.

He would see if this next person was someone trustworthy.

And so, Jiang Xu carefully took out the small vial containing Xiong Liangsheng’s blood, cast the Seeking Technique again, and switched the target to another blood relative.

As he cast the Magic, he felt the guidance of the presence subtly shift. A new direction became clear in his mind.

Jiang Xu then headed in that new direction, his heart filled with both anticipation and a touch of apprehension.

This time, the trail seemed to be leading him to a more remote part of the island.

After only ten or fifteen miles, the surroundings transitioned from bustling and noisy to quiet and remote, with people growing sparse.

The wide avenues became winding paths, surrounded by lush forests and the faint outlines of mountains.

‘The atmosphere here is a world away from the bright lights and bustling crowds on the other side.’

Jiang Xu’s footsteps were soft on the leaf-strewn path. He pondered as he walked, his pace never faltering.

The deeper he went, the more desolate and silent the surroundings became, and the more tense Jiang Xu felt.

This shouldn’t be right.

A place like Xiao Jin Island should have every inch of its land exploited for businesses that earn Spirit Stones.

Why would such a large area be left undeveloped?

Jiang Xu keenly sensed that this area had not been left undeveloped by chance.

Either the island’s residents had lost interest in Spirit Stones—an absurd and almost unimaginable hypothesis on the profit-driven Xiao Jin Island.

That left only one possibility: this area held an unknown secret, or some hidden danger great enough to deter even the greediest of hearts.

The deeper he went, the more the silence seemed to amplify. Every echo of his footsteps was starkly audible, and an intangible sense of oppression hung in the air.

Jiang Xu froze mid-step, as if time itself had stopped.

The sound of the wind, the chirping of birds, even the pounding of his own heart—all of it was shrouded in a strange premonition.

He realized this seemingly peaceful forest truly concealed an unknown danger.

Jiang Xu closed his eyes, circulating the Cuiwei Heart Technique. The young bud of his Lifebound Spirit Tree began to emit a faint, hazy glow.

Though faint, the green light instantly established a subtle resonance with all the vegetation around Jiang Xu.

The trees seemed to awaken, their branches and leaves swaying gently as if answering some ancient call.

The connection spread out from Jiang Xu like ripples on water, reaching further and further, and every tree it touched responded to his presence.

The trees passed signals to one another, forming a vast network of life with Jiang Xu at its center.

Within this network, every tree became a node of information. His Perception was greatly enhanced, making every rustle of leaves in the wind, even the faint fluctuations of Spiritual Qi in the air, clearly discernible.

As a Golden Core Technique specializing in this domain, the Cuiwei Heart Technique naturally possessed the ability to link everything within it.

Although the surrounding trees were not Spirit Trees created from his power, but merely ordinary ones, a simple level of control and sensing was still possible.

This sensory ability was even stronger than the Spiritual Eye Technique.

Then again, that wasn’t entirely accurate, as they were two different types of Investigation abilities.

Just as Jiang Xu was completely immersed in his communion with the forest, a sudden shock shot up his spine like an electric current. His eyes snapped open, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He realized he had nearly walked into a meticulously arranged and exceptionally cunning Illusion Array.

It turned out that a massive Illusion Array lay directly in his path.

This Illusion Array was completely different from any he had ever known.

It didn’t immediately unleash its power.

Unlike a normal Array, which would erupt with its full power the moment someone stepped inside—going from zero to one hundred in an instant.