Chapter 354 - 323 Nan Peiyao_1
The figure was none other than one of the three avatars of Xu Mu.
The moment trouble first arose in the Misty Sea, he had absorbed his three avatars into the God Refining Tripod. They had been trapped inside all this while as their main body was in deep sleep.
Now that the main body was awake, it naturally released them.
It was precisely because he had these three avatars that he had the confidence to chit-chat with Nan Peiyao without any worries.
Nan Peiyao was just a little cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Stage while even his weakest avatar had already reached the advanced stage of Foundation Establishment. Should anything go awry, one avatar could easily crush her without breaking a sweat.
One of Xu Mu’s avatars first used his divine intent to check the state of his main body. His injuries were severe, but fortunately, they were physical injuries and hadn’t damaged his Nascent Soul or Golden Pill. Recovery wouldn’t be difficult; it would just take time.
Once he confirmed that the main body was alright, Xu Mu heaved a sigh of relief. He had finally recovered his lifespan and was on the brink of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. He didn’t want any mishaps to happen now.
After taking a healing pill from the God Refining Tripod, Xu Mu summoned the other two avatars to guard his main body. Then he ordered the avatar with the highest cultivation level to leave the room and scout out the surroundings.
With a single step, Xu Mu’s avatar exited the room and entered the courtyard outside.
Surveying the surroundings, he saw a yard of sixty-odd steps in radius. The walls were made of stone and fishing nets hung on wooden racks. There were various kinds of dried fish and prawns in the winnowing pan. Although the stone houses were quite simple, they were kept neat and tidy.
A family of three was currently busy in the kitchen. The child called Sanwa was tending to the pot while the couple was chopping vegetables and cooking.
The faint aroma of cooked rice wafted continuously from the pot. Sanwa, taking advantage of his parents’ momentary distraction, quickly crouched by the pot to take a deep sniff before hurriedly moving back to his position.
“This smell… it’s Sea Valley rice. It seems that it comes from the batch Nan Peiyao left behind! She is quite considerate!”
Xu Mu chuckled and proceeded to walk outside the courtyard. Using his Invisibility Technique, he wasn’t afraid of being detected by mere mortals.
Let alone these three, even Nan Peiyao probably wouldn’t notice him.
Xu Mu took a casual stroll down the village street, observing his surroundings.
This was just an ordinary fishing village. His divine intent sensed only commoners and no cultivators. Nan Peiyao didn’t live in the village.
“Wait! There are too many people!”
Xu Mu furrowed his brows. What he meant by “too many people” wasn’t the number of residents on the island but the number of people staying at home.
He looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful sunny day. Ideally, most of the fishermen should be out fishing. However, regardless of whether they were old, young, women, or strong adults, most were staying at home, leisurely chatting and visiting other houses. The hardships and bustle of a typical fishing village were nowhere to be seen.
His divine intent scanned the dock along the coastline; only a few boats were berthed there, and most of them were old and decrepit.
“Could it be that people on this island do not rely on fishing for their livelihood?”
A sense of doubt surfaced in Xu Mu’s mind.
He soared into the sky to get an aerial view of the entire island. In the center of the island was a large stretch of Spirit Plant farms where various kinds of low-tier spirit plants were cultivated, such as Ink Bamboo, Solar Flame Fruit, Fire Dates, Heartbreak Lotus, Silver Needle Spiritual Tea…
“So, that’s how it is!”
Upon seeing these low-tier spirit plants, Xu Mu immediately understood the situation.
The fishermen on the island must have been kept by the Sea Race to specifically take care of these spirit plants.
Although the Sea Race could come onto land, they couldn’t live there for long due to their racial nature. Thus, they needed human help. To prevent humans from rebelling when they became strong, the Sea Race didn’t allow them to cultivate. That was why all inhabitants on the island were ordinary people.
As for Nan Peiyao, as she wasn’t a pure human, she could cultivate. There was a high probability that this was because she was of mixed blood.
After surveying the general situation on the island, Xu Mu went to the place where Nan Peiyao lived: a cave dwelling located on the edge of the island.
“No wonder she didn’t bring me back to her dwelling; it seems she has other roommates!”
…
Sea Island Cave Dwelling
“Sister Peiyao, what’s the rush?” asked a woman adorned with a large patch of white fish scales on her arm, laughing lightly.
“There’re birds in the spirit fields, I’m going to have a look,” replied Nan Peiyao in a flat tone.
“Really?”
The white-scaled woman seemed skeptical.
“If you don’t believe me, you can patrol the spirit fields from now on.”
“Hehe! Sister, how could I not believe you? I was just asking. Don’t get mad!” hurriedly, the white-scaled woman placated her.
Even though being a hybrid blood allowed her to stay on land much longer compared to purebloods, it was not a pleasant experience.
Just like other sea creatures, she preferred to stay underwater. If she didn’t have to patrol on the island, she naturally wouldn’t want to.
“Sister Peiyao, I’m going to deliver these newly harvested Spirit Fruits to our clan. Please take care of things here while I’m away!”
“I know!” Nan Peiyao replied impatiently.
“I’ll be on my way then!”
After finishing her sentence, the white-scaled woman impatiently left the dwelling, dived into the sea, and disappeared in a flash.
“Huh! All she wants to do is stay with our clan. It’s clearly not yet time to deliver the Spirit Fruits. Still, this is good, less chance of her finding out about that guy!”
Nan Peiyao returned to her room, took out the items that she had snatched from Xu Mu, and started studying them.
She knew that these items were great materials, but wasn’t sure about their exact nature. Only by understanding them could she know how to handle them.
All that was happening in the dwelling was within the purview of Xu Mu’s divine intent.
With their cultivation levels, they naturally couldn’t detect his divine intent.
Without paying much attention to Nan Peiyao, Xu Mu left the island, surveyed thousands of miles around to ensure there was no danger, and then plunged into the sea.
After a long while, the avatar returned to the island and set up formations in the vicinity to hide himself.
The next day, Nan Peiyao rushed over first thing in the morning, urging Xu Mu to teach her Alchemy Skill.
Having nothing better to do, Xu Mu healed and recovered while half-heartedly teaching her.
Time flew, and soon enough, Xu Mu was able to get off the bed and move around a bit. He started mixing with the locals. To prevent Xu Mu from running away, Nan Peiyao made a show of poisoning him, threatening that he would die if he dared to escape. Xu Mu just chuckled at this in his heart.
Not long after, the white-scaled woman returned. From their conversation, Xu Mu learned her name: Nan Bi Yun.
To conceal Xu Mu’s identity, Nan Peiyao didn’t dare to visit him openly. She always sneaked in and the family of Sanwa was the only one who knew that their relationship was beyond ordinary.
Half a year passed in a flash.
“Are you pigheaded or something? You can’t even learn how to concoct this simple pill. Why don’t you just smash your head against a rock and die!”
Xu Mu reprimanded mercilessly. Looking at the failed pill in her hand, Nan Peiyao clenched her teeth in rage but had no retort. Having been reprimanded every day by Xu Mu for the past half a year, she even started doubting her own intelligence.