Medical Sage

The King of Gilded Toads sat high upon his throne in the cave abode, his face grim as he surveyed those seated below him.

”Zang Rui, Mon Yi, has it already been a whole day and night without a trace of that outsider?” After a long silence, the King of Gilded Toads’s face turned livid, and he finally spoke in a cold, sharp voice. Icy killing intent filled the palace, chilling everyone to the bone.

It was clear that the King of Gilded Toads was enraged and could not accept that Chen Fei had actually escaped from his clutches. He was, after all, a genuine Peak of Second Level Middle Stage Demon Beast, while the outsider was merely at the Peak of Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Yet, despite this, his opponent had managed to flee right under his nose, vanishing without a trace. For the King of Gilded Toads, what was this if not a complete humiliation? Even mentioning it was an utter loss of face!

However, he also knew that since Chen Fei had escaped his grasp, the difficulty of finding him again would be immense. During their chase, they had seemingly long since passed the borders of the Golden Toad Cave’s territory. In other words, the human youth was likely no longer within their domain. Still, he issued the pursuit order out of sheer unwillingness, clinging to a sliver of hope.

After all, letting a tiger like that return to the mountains could become a great disaster in the future! He was terrified at the thought.

”Reporting to Lord Cave Master, we have already searched the entire territory under the control of our Golden Toad Cave. The outsider has truly disappeared,” Mon Yi said, standing up with a helpless expression. The man had already escaped their territory; how were they supposed to find him? Was this not even more hopeless than finding a needle in a haystack?

”Damn it!”

Upon hearing this, the King of Gilded Toads cursed furiously, the rage and killing intent radiating from him intensifying. Then, with a morose expression, he issued his next orders.

”Mon Yi, you will remain in the cave and lead the others to continue the search! I want him found. Bring me the man if he’s alive, or his body if he’s dead. Zang Rui, you will accompany me to Canglan Island. I have a premonition that the bottleneck in my cultivation is loosening. We’ll go there and see if we can buy a suitable pill to help me with my breakthrough!”

”Lord Cave Master, you’re about to have a breakthrough? Yes! Your subordinate Mon Yi obeys your command,” Mon Yi exclaimed upon hearing the King’s order, his face flushed with excitement.

If the King of Gilded Toads could truly break through his bottleneck and advance to become a Late Stage Second Level Demon Beast, their Golden Toad Cave’s power would increase substantially, and they could finally hold their heads high. After all, the realm of a Late Stage Second Level Demon Beast was exceptionally prominent and outstanding, even among the Thirteen Caves under the Purple Flame Palace. By then, even the Purple Flame Palace itself would have to treat their Golden Toad Cave with genuine respect.

And so, Mon Yi accepted his orders and continued to lead the search within the Golden Toad Cave’s domain. Meanwhile, the King of Gilded Toads took Deputy Cave Master Zang Rui and departed for Canglan Island, intending to find a suitable pill to help him break through to the Late Stage of a Second Level Demon Beast.

「...」

At the same time, our Chen Fei, Young Master Chen, was also leisurely making his way toward Canglan Island. Within a thousand-mile radius, it was the largest domain in terms of territory, influence, and scale that was not controlled by the Purple Flame Palace.

After leaving the Silver Grey Wolf Demon’s cave and traveling west for four to five hundred miles, Chen Fei finally came upon a vast river. On the opposite bank, he could just make out the silhouette of a huge island in the distance. Seeing this, our Young Master Chen couldn’t help but murmur with fascination, ”So that’s Canglan Island? Such a massive inland island would be impossible on Earth.”

Indeed, could one imagine an island the size of Taiwan embedded directly within the mainland, surrounded by a massive, endlessly flowing river? That would be impossible!

After this sigh of amazement, however, Chen Fei suddenly faced a dilemma. How was he supposed to get to Canglan Island?

”Surely I’m not expected to cross this river myself?” Chen Fei muttered with a strange expression, looking up at the enormous river that was at least several dozen nautical miles wide. It wasn’t entirely impossible for him to traverse it—if worst came to worst, he could just swim.

But that was the problem. He could swim, but surely not every cultivator who wanted to set foot on Canglan Island swam across, right? As this thought crossed his mind, his eyes caught a dark speck in the distance. ”Huh, what’s that? A boat...?”

Chen Fei focused his gaze. The dark speck on the vast river ahead was indeed a boat, which immediately brought a smile to his lips.

”I knew it,” Chen Fei muttered to himself. ”An island as large as Canglan Island must have a more conventional way to get there.” He began moving toward the direction from which the boat was approaching.

As Chen Fei drew closer, he saw that many people were disembarking from the boat, while another group had already boarded. It looked like they were preparing to set sail again.

Seeing this, Young Master Chen immediately dashed forward and, from a short distance, leaped onto the vessel.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG...

”Who goes there!?”

He had barely set foot on the deck when the sharp ringing of steel erupted around him. Flashes of spiritual light filled the air as at least four or five middle-aged men at the Fifth or Sixth Layer of Qi Refining immediately surrounded him, glaring menacingly. Each man held a Low Grade Magic Artifact, their eyes cold and alert. The atmosphere instantly became charged with hostility.

”A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding...”

Slightly taken aback, Chen Fei quickly assessed the men while trying to appear as harmless as possible. He waved his hands and said with a chuckle, ”Gentlemen, why so tense? I just want to take this boat to Canglan Island; I have no other intentions.”

”Boarding to Canglan Island? Didn’t you see our ship has already set sail? Don’t you know to wait for the next one?” One of the men stepped forward. He was surrounded by the strong spiritual energy of a cultivator at the Peak Realm of Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Frowning coldly at Chen Fei, his tone was still quite unfriendly. If he just wants to board a ship to Canglan Island, why not wait for the next one since this one has already departed?

”The next... there’s another one? My apologies, this is my first time coming to Canglan Island. I’m not familiar with the local customs and rules. Please don’t take offense,” Chen Fei said, startled for a moment before offering an embarrassed explanation.

”This is your first time on Canglan Island?”