Following this appeal, two more cultivators were persuaded to join the middle-aged man’s group. The party, led by the self-proclaimed sect master, now totaled seven members.
The remaining cultivators chose to go their own way, most of them possessing personalities that bristled at being commanded. Chen Xuan was no exception. He intended to enter the island only with Shen Binglan. While the middle-aged man’s words were not entirely without merit—both the Ghost Whale and the Water Prison Island were shrouded in mystery and suspicion—Chen Xuan refused to trust a single word from the mysterious ghost fire, such as the promise of a supreme treasure upon completing the mission.
What puzzled Chen Xuan most was this: if the mysterious ghost fire possessed the power to summon black lightning and strip a Void Return stage cultivator of their strength, turning them into a mortal, why would it need the help of cultivators who had already lost their ability to use mana to complete a rescue mission?
Chapter 2863