Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 377 - 377 376 Making a Comeback Additional for Alliance Hierarch Feng Yunwuji

377: Chapter 376: Making a Comeback [Additional Chapter for Alliance Hierarch Feng Yunwuji] 377: Chapter 376: Making a Comeback [Additional Chapter for Alliance Hierarch Feng Yunwuji] PS: I would like to thank Alliance Hierarch Feng Yunwuji for the support, and now it’s time for me to take off too!

………

Evacuation preparations were underway in a flurry of activity, and after the last batch of Rouge Bamboo was collected, they moved on to gathering other materials.

Although the cultivators of Bamboo Island led a simple life, the accumulation of one or two hundred years still left countless details to be sorted out.

These were nuances that outsiders couldn’t possibly help with.

On the tenth day, Lady Bamboo entered the volcano crater in the north of the island, an essential step in evacuating Bamboo Island.

Bamboo Island features a typical maritime climate, summer-like throughout all seasons, a condition determined by its geographical location; however, the island’s hydrological rainfall has remained stable for the past one or two hundred years thanks to a grand array set up by someone inside the volcano crater.

This array allowed for control over the volcanic thermal emissions to maintain a relatively stable balance.

It suppressed the energy during intense volcanic activity and released energy during the cooling phase, also creating a suitable environment for the vegetation of Bamboo Island.

Over the past days, almost every cultivator had visited the volcano crater to observe the array, which was both intricate and massive.

It was said that a passing Golden Core Great Cultivation established it one hundred and fifty years ago.

The formation had been operating smoothly over the years, an impressive achievement indeed.

But such an array couldn’t be maintained without a cultivator’s care.

With Lady Bamboo present, everything was fine, but without her, it would be hard to say.

A situation like this, where an external force influences the natural volcanic eruptions, could potentially destroy the entire island if it went out of control.

Therefore, a long-term plan was necessary.

No one else could help with such matters, as Lady Bamboo was the only Tongtian third realm Upper Cultivator on the island.

Her cultivation and abilities were incomparable to others.

Perhaps she wasn’t skilled in combat, but her accumulated expertise in supporting areas was profound, having personally maintained the formation for a hundred and fifty years…

An agreement was reached.

The people of Bamboo Island would leave on the fifteenth day.

If Lady Bamboo couldn’t get back to the surface in time, they would meet in Mirage City.

It didn’t much concern the tour group; their goal was to grandly send the people of Bamboo Island back to Mirage City and to leave this journey with an accomplishment that would be remembered.

As for whether Lady Bamboo truly intended to adjust the array or whether she wished to share Bamboo Island’s fate, that was none of their business.

Even if they were heroically inclined, they were not going to join such an elderly person in martyrdom for Bamboo.

After bidding farewell to her disciples, who were reluctant to let go, she had a conversation with a few cultivators who had hurried over from the tour group.

Finally, she approached Tan Xiao, “Young friend, please thank your master for me.

I’m grateful that he reached out during my most difficult times, but ultimately, this is my own matter.”

Tan Xiao frowned, “Man is part of nature, but man is not the entirety of nature.

If we forget the independence of our own lives because of nature, then such nature is not worth having.

Elder, you’ve narrowed down your path too much.”

Lady Bamboo nodded with a smile, “You and your master are alike, always so argumentative.

But I must say, life may not be eternal, but nature is.”

Without further ado, she floated over to where Hou Niao stood watching from a distance, “Young man, I still don’t know why you are here?”

Hou Niao calmly replied, “I also don’t know why you would make such a strange choice.

Everyone has their own oddities.

I won’t say mine.

Will you?”

Lady Bamboo gazed at him, “You once asked my youngest disciple whether Rouge Bamboo could help in cultivation, and she said it couldn’t.

In fact, it can.

She just doesn’t know because I never told them, as they might not be willing to accept it.”

She sighed, “Bamboo reaches fruition every six years, life and death in an instant.

Humans have the desire to survive, and so does bamboo.”

She turned to everyone and bowed, “I know that because of me, the incident at Bamboo Island has brought much trouble to all of you, all due to an old bamboo lady’s stubborn persistence.

I hope all is well, and we shall meet again at Mirage City.

Perhaps by then, I can offer you all an explanation, to do right by those departed peers.”

Watching her throw herself into the volcano crater, Old Cai scoffed, “Can’t you be normal for once?

Always have to stir up something?

If we had just led everyone back to the Continent to live undisturbed days, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

She indeed held fast to her ideals, and now I’ve lost my mission…”

Tan Xiao glared at him, “Show some respect.

It’s precisely the perseverance of these senior experts that makes Bamboo Island extraordinary; it’s precisely because the Jinxiu Continent has countless such ‘quirky’ cultivators that the Cultivation World is so vibrant and colorful.

If everyone were like you, what difference would it make whether or not they cultivated?”

Hou Niao tried to console him, “Old Cai, isn’t there a saying, ‘A blessing in disguise’?

Perhaps losing your mission means that upon your return, you’ll make even greater progress.”

Old Cai shook his head and gave a wry smile, “You do know how to comfort someone, Daoist, but this old Cai has already lost a horse farm, and I haven’t seen any blessings.”

Several days passed quickly, and Lady Bamboo hadn’t come up from the volcano’s crater.

The group frequently went to the crater to look and noticed that the array indeed had undergone noticeable changes.

The plumes of smoke erupting from the crater now came sporadically, sometimes violently, sometimes barely detectable, understanding that this was the natural rhythm of the Bamboo Island volcano.

No one dared to go down to check, as a volcano is not a treasure cave.

Regardless of the abilities one gains in the Tongxuan realm, descending would only result in becoming a charred corpse.

The Golden Core Great Cultivation’s formation was extraordinary, laden with countless obstacles, and not something they could decipher.

“Well, that saves on a coffin!” Old Cai commented maliciously, as usual drawing Tan Xiao’s disapproving gaze.

Five days flew by, and by the fifteenth day, including the two travel groups, both the cultivators and mortals of Bamboo Island gathered at Sea Bamboo Palace; the time to depart had come.

It seemed there were not many who were reluctant to leave.

The travel groups were mere passersby, whereas the people of Bamboo Island had long been exhausted by the pirates’ harassment.

No matter how noble the ideal, it could not withstand such relentless torment.

The mortals began boarding a Flying Boat, a vessel specially designed by Bamboo Island for transporting people, and one by one they ascended into the sky…

But before they could set off, a group of black dots rapidly approached from the distant horizon.

Old Cai was speechless and disheartened, “I knew it would be like this; the pirates wouldn’t just let us leave in peace.”

Tan Xiao frowned deeply, “It’s always such a coincidence?

How likely is that?”

Hou Niao remained composed, “No less than thirty people!

We’re surrounded.

Now is not the time to run.

Even if we wanted to break through, we’d have to fight first.

Otherwise, very few of us would make it out.”

After an initial panic, the members of the travel groups began to silently form ranks.

Hardships often bring growth, and after their days of experience, they were no longer the free and unfettered scattered team they once were.

Each person understood that to survive, they had to rely on each other, even though they were not well acquainted.

Tan Xiao was chosen as the leader because of his strength and background; Hou Niao continued to be ignored, as everyone blamed him for their plight.

That man’s words truly should not be heeded.