Chapter 103: The Lord of Red Moon Island

With a "pfft" sound!

The crown of the burly man's corpse suddenly split open, and a blue nascent soul leaped out, his face full of terror. With a flash of light, he was about to flee out of the island.

The red-robed man didn't even glance at him. He casually flicked his finger, and a ball of flame flashed and vanished into the void.

A dozen miles outside the island, a red line of fire instantly caught up with the blue light.

With a "bang," the nascent soul of the man codenamed Jiao Thirty-Two directly exploded, turning into a shimmer of light and disappearing.

The surrounding crowd saw this and remained silent. Since they were all wearing masks, they couldn't see each other's expressions.

Jiao Three's gaze swept over the few people, with no intimidation or warning in his eyes, only a cold indifference as if looking at lifeless objects.

In his eyes, it seemed, these people around him were just a few rocks, a few trees, or merely some tools.

"Now I announce this mission: go to Red Moon Island and eliminate the island lord, Gongshu Hong," the red-robed man said coldly, withdrawing his gaze.

As soon as he finished speaking, someone exclaimed softly, "What... that person?"

"This..."

The others were also startled, all hesitating.

Under the ox-head mask, Han Li's brow furrowed slightly. He had heard of Gongshu Hong's name from Luo Feng before; he was no simple character.

It was said that this man was a powerful Earth Immortal at the mid-stage of True Immortal, cultivating the rare blood force under the Law of Water. He was bloodthirsty by nature and notorious throughout the Black Wind Sea.

Given his ferocity, he must have had many enemies, but because of his overwhelming strength and the bizarre nature of his law power, few dared to provoke him. Yet unexpectedly, their target this time was this very man.

"Jiao Three... sir, as far as I know, Red Moon Island has always been quite mysterious, rarely interacting with other islands. Moreover, for thousands of years, for some reason, the island has been closed off year-round, forbidding other cultivators from setting foot except for necessary contact. It is publicly declared that anyone who trespasses will be killed without mercy..." said Jiao Eight, wearing a ram-head mask, hesitantly.

"You need not worry about that. The alliance has already sent people to infiltrate the island and has received much information. Originally, we could have waited until we had a clear grasp of the situation on Red Moon Island, but half a month ago, high-level orders came down to kill the island lord Gongshu Hong as soon as possible," Jiao Three said slowly, glancing at Jiao Eight.

"It is said that this Red Moon Island lord ranks among the top in the Black Wind Sea, second only to a few powerful island lords of the central islands. He also has several loose immortals under his command, so his strength should not be underestimated," said Jiao Sixteen, wearing a tiger-head mask, after a moment's thought.

Then, a slender voice sounded, and the graceful woman wearing an owl mask stepped forward and said:

"Yes, and as an Earth Immortal, he has the advantage of terrain on Red Moon Island. If we go rashly, I'm afraid..."

"Nonsense! So-called Earth Immortals are just dabblers in petty tricks! That man's meager skills are only enough to throw his weight around in a tiny place like your Black Wind Sea," Jiao Three sneered.

Han Li had been watching coldly, but he now noticed that Jiao Nine and Jiao Eight, upon hearing this, both shrugged their shoulders uncomfortably, as if displeased by Jiao Three's words.

But that was all; neither showed any further dissatisfaction.

"Let me make this clear: in this operation to kill him, if anyone dares to shrink back or hesitate, Jiao Thirty-Two is a warning," Jiao Three warned coldly.

Although their faces were covered by masks, the few couldn't help but look at each other. Through their eyes, they understood each other's thoughts—they could only hope for the best.

Ignoring the others' reactions, Jiao Three raised a hand and waved it in the air. A red light suddenly lit up in the sky.

Amid the light, a sound like a dragon's roar was heard, and a dragon-shaped flying boat about twenty to thirty zhang long emerged.

It was entirely fiery red, with a dragon head statue at the bow, surrounded by smooth golden spirit patterns, and covered with clusters of fire cloud designs, looking quite extraordinary.

Jiao Three leaped up and landed gracefully on the bow of the spirit boat, his somewhat stiff voice sounding again:

"What are you all standing around for?"

"This... a post-natal immortal artifact, truly the work of a superior immortal..." said Jiao Nine, wearing a ram-face mask, looking up at the fiery red spirit boat, unable to help but admire, then leaped aboard first.

The others all flew up, their expressions changing as they heard the sound, their eyes showing envy.

Most of these people were loose immortals; clearly, none of them owned an immortal artifact. Since embarking on the path of immortality, they had probably seen one only a few times at most.

Han Li was also surprised and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the flying boat.

After everyone boarded the spirit boat, Jiao Three formed a hand seal before his chest and softly uttered the word "Go."

The spirit boat beneath them immediately shone with red light, and a large amount of crimson flame surged around it, like several competing fire dragons, carrying the boat with a "boom" as it shot to the edge of the sky.

The speed was so fast that it could only be described as lightning-fast.

......

A few days later.

Above a stretch of blue sea with surging waves, a fiery red light shot through the air and hovered high in the sky, revealing a fire-red dragon-shaped flying boat.

On the flying boat stood several figures, all wearing strange masks, looking quite peculiar.

They were the members of the Wuchang Alliance heading to Red Moon Island.

At this moment, Han Li stood on one side of the flying boat, gazing into the distance at a large group of islands over a hundred miles away.

Though called islands, they were many times larger than Wumeng Island, appearing like an enormous landmass.

"Here is some information about Red Moon Island; take a look each of you," said Jiao San, her tone devoid of much emotion.

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and several white jade slips flew out from her palm, shooting toward Han Li and the others.

After taking the jade slip, Han Li glanced at the others and saw that several of them directly pressed the jade slip against the center of their masks' foreheads.

He followed suit, and sure enough, as soon as the jade slip touched the mask, some images and text appeared in his sea of consciousness.

After looking for a moment, Han Li's brow furrowed slightly. He found that the area of Red Moon Island was even larger than he had estimated, almost comparable to a real continent.

"Lord Jiao San, the six or seven locations marked on the map in the jade slip are presumably where the Red Moon Island Lord might appear. Which one should we go to first?" asked Jiao Jiu, the ram-headed one.

"To quickly confirm his current location, we need to split into three groups and infiltrate from the east, west, and south of the island. Each group will first investigate a nearby location, then gradually advance toward the center until we confirm his true whereabouts," replied Jiao San, the dragon-headed one, almost without hesitation.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this. Such an arrangement was within his expectations; in fact, he would have preferred even more groups, ideally exploring one route alone, but that was clearly impossible.

Sure enough, Jiao San spoke:

"Jiao Ba, Jiao Shisan, Jiao Ershiyi, you three form one team, led by Jiao Ba, and land from the east side of the island to investigate the marked locations in the east."

"Yes." The thin man wearing an ape mask slightly cupped his hands and responded.

The silent man with the bear mask and the graceful woman with the owl mask also nodded simultaneously and silently moved behind the ape-masked man.

Jiao San's gaze swept over the remaining few and said, "Jiao Jiu, Jiao Shiwu, Jiao Shiliu, you three are the second team, led by Jiao Jiu, and land from the west side of the island to investigate."

"Jiao Jiu will do his utmost to complete the task and will not disappoint Lord Jiao San's trust." The ram-headed Jiao Jiu immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Han Li exchanged a glance with the tall man wearing a tiger-head mask and together they moved behind Jiao Jiu.

Jiao San didn't spare Jiao Jiu another glance, but turned to look at the last remaining person, the one with the eagle mask, and casually instructed:

"Jiao Ershiwu, you will follow me and land from the due south direction."

That person responded in a somewhat hoarse voice, said nothing more, and directly stood behind Jiao San.

"Gongshu Hong is proficient in the law of blood and is extremely sensitive to aura detection. Moreover, various detection restrictions have been set up across the island. Although the masks bestowed by the alliance can conceal our auras, normally we need not worry about being discovered, but if we recklessly use divine sense to probe, there is a high chance of being detected. Therefore, after landing, unless necessary, do not use divine sense arbitrarily." Jiao San's gaze swept over the crowd, her tone carrying a strong warning.

"Yes." Everyone answered in unison.

"One final reminder. After landing, if you happen to discover the Red Moon Island Lord before I do, do not act rashly. Immediately notify me through the mask. Remember, although the chance of being detected while using this item is low, it cannot be used excessively. Only use it to contact me in critical moments." Jiao San added solemnly.

"We will follow Lord Jiao San's orders." Jiao Jiu immediately responded respectfully.

Han Li reached out and touched the mask on his face, suddenly recalling that when they arrived at Hairong Island a few days ago, Jiao San had transmitted a message to him through the mask. This item was indeed somewhat mysterious.

"Begin the operation!"

After giving the order, Jiao San waved her hand and put away the fiery red spirit boat.

Then, she reached out and pulled Jiao Ershiwu in front of her. Two rainbows of light simultaneously lit up and shot toward the east of Red Moon Island.

Jiao Ba and the others also had light shining from their bodies as they flew away from the spot.

The ram-masked Jiao Jiu glanced at Han Li and the other person, said lightly, "Let's go," and his figure turned into a cyan light, speeding off toward the west.

Han Li and the other also transformed into rainbows and departed together, but their speed was noticeably slower than that of the previous few.