Chapter 289: Chapter 288 Merfolk, a new breeding direction?_i

Translator: 549690339

In the high sky.

The Wind Falcon flapped its broad pale blue wings, maintaining its physique amid the turbulence of the wild wind.

Lu Xuan stood on its back, looking down below.

Countless islands of various sizes stretched below him. The sea extending along with the islands, boundless and infinite, was beautifully magnificent under the golden sunlight.

“Finally, we have arrived at the Void Nether Island.”

Lu Xuan murmured to himself as he looked down at an enormous island among the group of islands below.

He had not visited any other places after leaving the Linyang Market. He had followed the route stipulated by his Sect and arrived near the Void Nether Island in just two days.

He recalled his Wind Falcon and landed softly on the Void Nether Island.

The island extended hundreds of miles. The island was full of odd rocks, and many cultivators and mortals were living in the central part of the island.

Lu Xuan walked on the bluestone street.

Nuances of the salty and fishy smell came with the occasional sea breeze.

Along the streets, there were many cultivators, primarily lower-level Qi Cultivators. Occasionally, he saw one or two Middle-Stage Qi Practitioners, but he didn’t see any high-ranking ones.

The island cultivators were different from those of the Linyang Market. They were wildly dressed, and their skin exposed to the sunlight was deeply tanned and shiny.

Many stalls were set up along the street, and the goods on them were very unique.

“Fellow Daoist, come and take a look. We have a large amount of freshly harvested Silver Thread Algae from the nearby sea, only three Spirit Stones per catty.”

A tanned young man on the side warmly greeted Lu Xuan as he noticed him observing the wares at his stall.

On his stall, there was a large pile of silver-colored seaweed, still moist, looking like a clump of wet silver hair.

“What’s the Silver Thread Algae used for?”

Lu Xuan picked up a pile of Silver Thread Algae, curiously asking.

“After drying and crushing it, it can be used as a material for many Elixirs.”

“I see, but I currently don’t need it.”

Lu Xuan politely declined and continued to stroll along the street.

Not just the Spirit Plants, but even the Demon Beast Materials, Magic Artifacts, and Charms on other stalls were different as well.

Many Demon Beast materials were obviously sourced from the sea, including various kinds of sea fish, sea turtles, and sea beasts, almost all of which contained intense water spiritual power.

The Magic Artifacts and Charms were related to the sea as well. Lu Xuan saw many of them were water-controlling types.

“Eh?”

While browsing, Lu Xuan suddenly stopped, standing before a stall.

On the stall, two dying sea beasts were chained.

The sea beasts were strange in shape. The lower half was no different from a fish, coated in dense, blackish-green scales, with a pair of short fins.

What surprised Lu Xuan was that the upper half of this sea beast was actually somewhat similar to a human.

Its irises were green, the nose flat. Many sharp teeth protruded from its lips. It occasionally dropped light green saliva onto the ground, a strong foul odor filled the air.

Although it looked ferocious, its facial features had obvious human traces.

“May I ask, what is the origin of this sea beast?”

The stall owner was a brawny man with a centipede-like scar on his face, looking fierce.

“Fellow Daoist, this is a Merfolk. It lives in the deep sea. These two creatures were obtained with a lot of effort by my companion and me. They can be tamed, or you can directly harvest various materials from them.”

Upon detecting the depth of Lu Xuan’s spiritual power and sense, the burly man realized he had bitten off more than he could chew. The centipede scar on his face trembling slightly, he chuckled and said.

“Merfolk… why do they bear some resemblance to humans?”

Lu Xuan suppressed the urge to try and feed the merfolk, continuing to inquire.

“Legend has it that there’s a kind of beast deep in the sea that lures practitioners into traps to mate with them by force, eventually giving birth to such a creature, neither fully human nor beast,”

The stall owner pondered for a moment before explaining to Lu Xuan.

“Cross-species breeding? Overcoming reproductive isolation?” Lu Xuan subconsciously thought of it.

“What kind of offspring will different species, different bloodlines of spirit beasts breed?”

He seemed to have discovered a new direction for breeding. When cultivating spiritual plants, he had induced spiritual seeds and caused mutations by changing their growth environment.

If he wanted to change the bloodline of a spirit beast, he could consider hybridizing spirit beasts.

Lu Xuan pondered this in secret, resolved to perhaps conduct an experiment should an opportunity arise.

The probability of different bloodlines of spirit beasts mating and producing offspring is almost zero, and there are many dangers in the process. However, Lu Xuan can grasp the detailed condition of the spirit beasts and presumably make appropriate adjustments at any time, greatly increasing the success rate.

He continued to stroll along the street for a while and arrived at the central area of Void Nether Island.

“Inform your island master, a representative from the Sky Sword Sect has arrived,” Lu Xuan said to a cultivator guarding the gate at a grand and majestic building.

“Sky Sword Sect? Yes, yes, yes! I’ll go right away!”

The gatekeeper cultivator was taken aback initially, then immediately responded, stumbling and hurrying into the building.

Soon, there were sounds of commotion from inside the building, and shortly after, a large group of cultivators hurriedly emerged.

“We were unaware of your esteemed presence, and failed to receive you from afar. We apologize for the oversight!”

The one in the lead was a scholarly cultivator with a hint of white at his temples, and of high-grade Qi Practitioner cultivation. On seeing Lu Xuan and sensing his spiritual power fluctuation at the Foundation Establishment realm, he immediately believed him to a great extent, and deeply bowed in greeting.

About ten to twenty people behind him also respectfully paid their respects.

“Is the Island Master of Void Nether Island, Song Yu, present?” Asked Lu Xuan. Before coming here, Lu Xuan slightly looked over some information about Void Nether Island, knowing that it was controlled by a small family surname Song, and the Island Master was known as Song Yu.

“Indeed, that would be me, how should I address you?”

With a furtive glance towards Lu Xuan, Song Yu saw his exclusive Sky Sword Sect Inner Sect Disciple’s identity plaque, and seriously asked.

“Lu Xuan, but I’ve heard that your Song family has some connections with Sky Sword Sect, so you can call me Uncle Lu, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“Yes! Uncle Lu, please come in.”

The scholarly cultivator welcomed Lu Xuan into the magnificent building.

There were many smaller families like the Song family. These were often established by Outer Disciples of the Sky Sword Sect.

Many Outer Sect disciples were hopeless in making a breakthrough, their repeated attempts at reaching the Foundation Establishment realm had ended in failure. Dejected, they left the sect, branching out on their own.

The families they established maintained close ties with the sect, aiding the sect in governing certain territories, provided various resources for Alchemy and Tool refining for practice, and each took what they needed.

When Lu Xuan was still in the Qi Practicing Stage, he had resolved a pest infestation once, and that small family was also in the aforementioned situation.

The Song family was also like that, but their influence was significantly larger.

“During the period of handover, how were things on the island? Did anything major happen to the Void Nether Spirit Fish?”

Walking ahead, Lu Xuan asked Song Yu, who was trailing behind.

“Everything is as usual. Before the previous Uncle Master left, he made meticulous arrangements. Although there has been no Foundation Establishment Uncle Master presiding over the island this period, it has been quite peaceful.”

“There were two waves of small-scale sea beasts hunting in the nearby sea area where the Void Nether Spirit Fish are raised, but we repelled them. None of the Void Nether Spirit Fish were stolen.”

Song Yu lowered his head and replied respectfully.