Inside a stone house on Sanyin Island,
five men, dressed simply and with dark complexions, sat together to discuss matters.
These five were the elders of the Chen clan of Sanyin Island.
Leading them was the middle-aged man, Chen Xuanlin, who had previously worshipped Zhou Yi at the altar.
Chen Ganer, seated at the lower right, said in a deep voice,
"Now that the fog has lifted, we must seize the food. There's little food left in the village, and the fishing team has also caught very little."
"If this continues, we won't be able to hold out for much longer."
The fog lifts, which occurs every time the moon is full, when the mist surrounding Sanyin Island partially dissipates.
At that moment, a randomly inhabited island will appear around Sanyin Island, connecting to the island's coastline.
No one knows what kind of people live on that random island.
Based on the Chen family's past experience, it's a good idea.
The island might be inhabited by a group of thugs who kill and rob for a living, or by merchants who weave, grow crops, and fish for sale.
Worst of all, it could be a group of people whose bodies have been severely eroded by the gray fog, their bodies transformed, and their minds bewitched by the monsters within.
In short, no one can predict what island will connect to Sanyin Island when the fog clears next time.
A hunchbacked old man across from Chen Gan'er asked,
"To put it simply, what if the island we connect to this time is a hostile island?"
Chen Gan'er curled his lips and said,
"So what if it's a hostile island? We can just fight them."
"How much food do we have left on our island? Fishing has been tough lately, and resources are scarce. Besides starving to death, are we supposed to enter the gray fog and seek a chance of survival?"
The shortage of food and other supplies has long been Sanyin Island's most pressing problem.
However, this problem has become particularly serious recently. Even Chen Xuanlin, the clan leader, has no surplus food at home and often goes hungry.
The main purpose of the Chen clan elders' council this time is to discuss solutions.
The hunchbacked old man slammed the table and said in a trembling voice:
"It's easy for you to say."
"You are young and have not experienced it, but do you know that decades ago, the Chen family still had thousands of people. Why did the population drop by half and the vitality was severely damaged after the fog cleared?"
"It was because after the fog cleared, a vicious island with powerful cultivators was connected to Sanyin Island. Most of the Chen family members were slaughtered by those cultivators, and the supplies on the island were taken away. Even the last cultivator of the Chen family died in the sea of blood." "
If the fog had not cleared, the cultivators would have been forced to retreat, and the Chen family would have been wiped out."
Chen Ganer was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and his energy and blood were at their peak. He said fearlessly:
"You're getting more and more cowardly as you get older. Every time the fog clears and we connect to the shore, you just keep defending."
"Hidden on the island, we won't be wiped out? If the other side has cultivators, we won't be slaughtered if
we hide on the island? In this sea of death, cowards don't deserve to survive." "Besides, there are no cultivators on our island, so we'll never encounter an island with cultivators. We're all mortals, the worst that can happen is death. Why be afraid of a turtle egg?"
As Chen Gan'er finished speaking, a heated argument erupted in the hall.
The arguments boiled down to two main points.
One side argued that the next time the fog cleared, no matter which island Sanyin Island connected to, they would plunder the other island and steal some food.
The other side argued that the island's current combat power was weak and should be developed. The entire village should defend it with all its might to prevent those on the other island from also thinking of plundering its resources.
The argument was heated and vulgar.
Although both sides hold their own opinions, the only thing they have in common is that
no one here has any thoughts of mercy.
Because, in this sea of death, anyone with a kind heart has already sunk into the sea of death.
Finally, the four people all looked at Chen Xuanlin. After all, he was the patriarch of the Chen family and the only teacher on Sanyin Island.
Chen Xuanlin did not participate in the discussion from beginning to end, but just listened silently.
Chen Xuanlin raised his head and said calmly:
"When the fog clears in three days, I will go to the island connected to the shore alone. If it can be plundered, I will use my ancestral bamboo flute as a signal."
"Gan Er, if you hear the sound of the flute, immediately lead the Chen family to kill."
"If there is no sound, and I have not returned, it means that we have encountered a bad island this time. Fight with all your strength to defend! Protect my Chen family."
Chen Gan Er was shocked when he heard this, and said anxiously:
"No, Brother Xuanlin, you can't. Brother Xuanlin is the only one of the Chen clan's headline who has reached adulthood."
"My nephew Xingye is still young and can't leave his father behind. If anyone has to go, it's me. How can we let the clan leader go?"
Even the other elders sternly stopped him, stating that the clan leader's lineage bore the responsibility for the Chen clan's prosperity and that they couldn't take their lives lightly.
The Chen clan had explored the island before, but it was usually undertaken by the young and strong men in the clan, and never by the clan leader himself.
Chen Xuanlin shook his head and said firmly,
"With the Chen clan in this state, how can the clan leader even talk about prospering the Chen clan? Even if he died today, I would be ashamed to see my ancestors."
"Even if I don't go this time, how much longer can Sanyin Island hold out?"
Chen Xuanlin glanced at the four people present and said in a deep voice,
"The Chen clan's head will not die after the clan is destroyed."
"Alright, I've made up my mind. No need to say more. It's settled."
With that, Chen Xuanlin walked out, leaving the four people in the meeting hall in silence.
The young Chen Gan'er clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with resentment.
The other elders, all with completely white hair, all had sorrow in their eyes.
The Chen clan had now fallen to the point where they needed the clan leader to lead the charge to seize resources on Jie'an Island.
How could they stop lamenting?
...
While the few people were discussing in the meeting hall, Zhou Yi, inside the stone sphere, was studying the various colored balls of light he had seen.
After touching each of them one by one, Zhou Yi gained a general understanding of them.
Most of these colorful balls of light were skills and techniques, while the black balls of light were the remaining memories of the original sacrificial spirits.
For some unknown reason, the former sacrificial spirits of the Chen clan had lost their consciousness and disappeared.
Only these remained: balls of light, representing the legacy of the former Chen family, and some of the remaining memories of the sacrificial spirit.
After touching those black balls of light, Zhou Yi received the fragmented memories of the former sacrificial spirit and gained a general understanding of his own situation. He
also gained a glimpse into the general rules governing this world.
The gray fog that permeates the Sea of Death represents bad luck. Mortals must not approach it lightly, as prolonged contact could trigger strange phenomena.
Opportunities may arise, but the probability is extremely low.
On every full moon night, the gray fog around all islands in the Sea of Death partially dissipates.
At this moment, two unrelated islands become connected by their coastlines, allowing people on both islands to travel between them.
In this world, this phenomenon is known as the fog clearing and the shore joining.
However, two islands do not connect randomly; an island inhabited by mortals can connect with another island inhabited by mortals.
An island with cultivators would connect to another island with cultivators.
The difference in power between the inhabitants of two connected islands wouldn't be too great.
After learning about this rule, Zhou Yi, a former gaming geek, remarked, "Randomly matching islands of similar power? Why does it feel like a ranked game?" He
also learned this from the memories of the previous surviving sacrificial spirit.
His duties as a sacrificial spirit were to protect the island's weather, ensure the safe return of fishermen from the Dead Sea, and grant appropriate cultivation techniques to those on the island who possessed the potential for cultivation.
Perhaps due to the previous sacrificial spirit's low level, his duties were limited.
Zhou Yi absorbed the last of the black light and pondered,
"This original sacrificial spirit of the Chen family doesn't seem very intelligent, and why are its memories so... limited?"
"It only has a few memories of the Chen family's early days on Sanyin Island. And it's too rigid, devoid of any humanity. It only grants and receives cultivation techniques and performs simple acts of protection."
"But there's not much land on Sanyin Island to begin with, so how can I bless it with good weather and good harvests?"
Zhou Yi muttered to himself as he looked at the balls of light.
"No, the previous sacrificial spirit died too early, leaving me with a lack of faith. Now I can't do anything. The Chen clan's population is dwindling. If this continues, without the power of faith, I'll be trapped inside this stone ball forever."
"For the Chen clan to thrive, combat power is crucial. Otherwise, we might be annihilated by one of the adjacent islands one day."
"That guy named Chen Xuanlin has strong faith, so he could be trained well. There are so many techniques and spells here, but which one should I bestow?"
Zhou Yi was troubled again by this thought.
The techniques left behind by the previous sacrificial spirit all require spiritual energy to practice, and Sanyin Island is devoid of any spiritual energy.
Zhou Yi didn't even know if Chen Xuanlin had the talent to cultivate, so granting him a technique would be pointless.
The inability to cultivate, the inability to produce practitioners, might be one of the reasons for the Chen clan's decline from generation to generation.
Zhou Yi's gaze swept over the thousands of balls of light.
Finally, it landed on a gray ball of light in the corner, barely the size of a grain of rice.
Memories of the remaining sacrificial spirit surfaced in Zhou Yi's mind.
"A technique I acquired while exploring the gray fog... a mediumship technique."