Because Ai Kun was wealthy, he and Luo Xiu shared a high-class private box. It wasn't very large, but it was exquisitely luxurious.

Luo Xiu sat by the window, his gaze drifting through the thin purple smoke rising from the incense burner to enjoy the view outside. Although he appeared completely calm on the outside, he was inwardly shaken. He couldn't appear like a country bumpkin in front of the new subordinate he had just taken on.

Though he had seen the dazzling starry sky many times before, this was his first time actually roaming within it. Being here, in the cosmos, made even him—a man who had weathered many great storms—feel insignificant.

This so-called Flowing Thunder River was not a river of water, but a seemingly endless belt of cosmic dust, filled with countless bolts of lightning. From a distance, it resembled a river of flowing thunder, which is surely how it got its name.

In all directions around this cosmic dust belt, Luo Xiu also saw many spherical bodies of varying sizes, flickering in and out of view against the starry sky. Presumably, those spheres are the so-called 'worlds' among the Three Thousand Worlds of the Upper Realm.

Ai Kun, seemingly accustomed to such a spectacular scene, was leisurely drinking tea and occasionally humming a little tune.

In the quiet, Luo Xiu suddenly spoke. "Tell me the details about Calamity Extermination Island."

Hearing this, Ai Kun put down his teacup. "For that, we have to start with the island's origin."

"Calamity Extermination Island is in the Jialan Realm and was originally the Dao ground of the Emperor of Calamity Extermination. After the Emperor perished, his Dao ground was seized by the people of the Lingtian Plateau and converted into a prison."

As he spoke, Ai Kun snuck a glance at Luo Xiu. "You know of the Emperor of Calamity Extermination, right?"

Luo Xiu gently shook his head.

Ai Kun continued, "The Emperor of Calamity Extermination was one of the Ancient Ten Emperors, a true Great Emperor of the human path. However, he was later killed by the Azure Emperor, who appeared out of nowhere."

Luo Xiu asked, puzzled, "Why did the Azure Emperor kill him?"

Ai Kun spread his hands. "Who knows? Back then, the Azure Emperor appeared out of nowhere and single-handedly dominated the Three Thousand Worlds of the Upper Realm with his sword. He killed until no one dared to claim the title of emperor."

At this, Luo Xiu suddenly recalled how, back in the Lower Realm, Luo Hao had used a technique to manifest the Law Manifestations of the Ancient Ten Emperors and unleash their strongest attack.

Luo Xiu inquired, "And what is the story behind the Ancient Ten Emperors?"

Ai Kun countered with a question, "Boss, you really don't know about them? You could say these ten emperors are the ancestors of all living beings in the Upper Realm."

Luo Xiu stated bluntly, "I'm actually from the Lower Realm."

Ai Kun was visibly startled. He gave Luo Xiu a deep look but didn't press for more details.

He explained, "The Ancient Ten Emperors are the ten great emperors who created the Upper Realm."

"In the primordial era, the Ten Emperors joined forces to sever a vast expanse of the starry sky. They isolated and sealed it off above the Kunlun Ancient Realm, all to seize its Spiritual Energy. Since then, the Kunlun Ancient Realm has been called the Lower Realm, and this isolated, sealed expanse of sky became known as the Upper Realm."

Luo Xiu nodded. "I see."

"You could say," Ai Kun went on, "that these ten emperors are powerful beings on par with the Six Emperors of Antiquity from the Kunlun Ancient Realm."

"Ah, but I'm getting sidetracked. Let's get back to Calamity Extermination Island."

"In short, Boss, Calamity Extermination Island is extremely dangerous. Anyone who goes there never returns. But as for what makes it so dangerous, I'm not really sure myself, since I've never been there."

"And since it's a prison, the Lingtian Plateau naturally keeps all information about it secret."

That makes sense, Luo Xiu thought, then said aloud, "Then we'll just have to see when we get there."

"Alright, Boss! I'm going to get some sleep. Call me if you need anything."

...

Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, nine days had passed.

During these nine days, the Starry Sky Ferry had occasionally veered off from the Flowing Thunder River. It stopped at worlds that weren't equipped with a Myriad Realms Teleportation Array to pick up more passengers. Luo Xiu understood this; it was just like the bus drivers in the mountainous regions of the Lower Realm, who would always try to cram in a few more passengers along their route. After all, everyone was out here to make money.

Fortunately, the journey was smooth. They didn't encounter the Starry Sky Bandits Ai Kun had mentioned, nor were they blocked by any powerful Demon Beasts, and they didn't run into any fearsome thunder-floods from the River.

Finally, the tenth day arrived. According to Ai Kun, it would take ten days to reach the Jialan Realm, where Calamity Extermination Island was located.

However, what Luo Xiu hadn't expected was that on the tenth day, the Starry Sky Ferry would suddenly come to a halt. It stopped firmly on a huge meteorite, and it was unclear if there was a malfunction or some other reason.

Hearing a commotion from outside, Luo Xiu stepped out of his private box and onto the balcony.

At this moment, the spacious deck was already crowded with people. At a rough count, there were at least five hundred. Luo Xiu noticed that one group was dressed in a uniform manner. This group included men and women, old and young. They all had knives at their waists, carried greatswords, and were clad in leather armor made from the hide of some Demon Beast.

Yawning, Ai Kun walked over to Luo Xiu and leaned on the balcony railing. His eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at the group on the deck below.

Luo Xiu asked, "Are those the Starry Sky Bandits you mentioned before?"

Ai Kun laughed. "No, they're Tianhe Mercenaries. If they were Starry Sky Bandits, a fight would have already broken out by now."

He continued, "These mercenaries are temporary groups formed by some loose cultivators. I bet they chartered this ship to come here for a specific purpose."

"And what purpose would that be?" Luo Xiu asked.

"They have only one goal: to hunt the Flowing Thunder Sky Python." As he said this, Ai Kun suddenly chuckled. "Speaking of which, I'd forgotten about this."

"Boss, let me tell you, the Flowing Thunder Sky Python is born only once every two thousand years. Every time it appears, many people form teams to hunt it."

"This thing is a source of infinite fortune, I'm telling you. Even though it's fraught with danger and can lead to death at any moment, people still flock to it."

"By the way, Boss, they should be recruiting people right now. Why don't we go sign up? If we hunt the Flowing Thunder Sky Python, we might just stumble upon a great opportunity."

Luo Xiu released his Divine Sense, scanning the crowd. He found that the strongest among the Tianhe Mercenaries were only in the Dao Jade Realm, and there weren't many of them at that.

He shook his head, showing his lack of interest. Right now, his only goal was to get to the Jialan Realm and rescue Luo Xian as quickly as possible.

But just as he was about to turn back into his box, he froze. He turned back around to look at the group of Tianhe Mercenaries below.

While scanning with his Divine Sense just now, he had suddenly felt a familiar aura.

He quickly locked onto it. As his eyes focused on the source, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

How can it be her?

Ai Kun looked completely baffled. "Boss, what's wrong?"

Luo Xiu abruptly changed his mind. "Xiao Kun, go sign us up. I've suddenly taken an interest in this Flowing Thunder Sky Python."

...

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