"Basil, let's go ahead first," Eunice murmured to Rocky, motioning for him to move forward. The two of
them were highly likely to be in the same group anyway, and they couldn't care less about how the rest
would choose their companions. Thus, they might as well leave the rest behind.
"All right. Let's go," answered Rocky, nodding quickly. But as the two of them were about to leave,
Carla suddenly intercepted them and called after Rocky straightforwardly, "Wait! Let me go with you!"
Carla's words made Rocky pause and look back at her. He was silent for a moment because he was at
a loss whether to cry or laugh.
Meanwhile, the other disciples were shocked and envious that Carla wanted to team up with Rocky.
They all knew that she rarely worked with any man since she entered the Sky-suppressing School, but
now, she suddenly wanted to form a team with Rocky. It was unbelievable! They couldn't help but
wonder if there was a special relationship brewing between Carla and Rocky.
"I'm sorry, Miss Carla, but Basil already has a partner," Eunice clarified shortly.
She hadn't expected anyone, let alone Carla, to directly ask Rocky like that, so she immediately shot
her down.
"That's okay. I didn't say I wanted to be his only partner. I don't mind if there are three people in my
group,"
Carla insisted calmly, undeterred by Eunice's answer.
"No. I'm sorry, but we're not accepting anyone else into our group," responded Eunice firmly, her pouty
mouth twisted into an annoyed frown.
A tension so thick anyone could have cut it with a knife descended on the two women, as Eunice's face
darkened with increasing irritation. She was worried that if Carla joined them, she and Rocky wouldn't
be able to complete the task.
"You can't decide that on your own! However, if it's Basil that tells me not to come, then I won't,"
asserted Carla.
The two women heatedly glared at each other before they finally turned to Rocky expectantly.
On his end, Rocky could only look back at them helplessly. He felt like he was about to jump from the
frying pan into the fire itself, but the two women were obviously waiting for his decision. Besides, he
was incredibly bad at saying no to others, so how could he do that to such a beautiful woman like
Carla?
The other disciples realized that Eunice and Carla were butting heads over being in the same team
with Rocky, and they couldn't believe their eyes. They all wished they could be as lucky as Rocky, but
deep inside, they knew he was on a different level than them. After all, he did win first place in the
newcomer contest.
"Basil, let's go. Just ignore her!"
Eunice urged Rocky, subtly pushing him forward. But Rocky didn't budge. He looked at Carla, then
back at Eunice, saying,
"Let her come with us." "What?!" Eunice blurted out in shock. The last thing she expected was for
Rocky to agree, and his decision only served to stoke the fires of her wrath.
Of course, Rocky had his reasons for agreeing. However, he wasn't willing to disclose the reasons yet.
Meanwhile, Carla nodded with satisfaction once he gave his approval.
It became evident then that Eunice couldn't do anything to change Rocky's mind, so she had no choice
but to give in.
"Whatever!" she yelled, glared murderously at Rocky, and then left in a huff.
Rocky and Carla followed closely behind silently, and the three of them began to explore the Spiritual
Sea Region.
As for the rest of the disciples, Moore teamed up with a disciple at the medium stage of the Spiritual
Infant, while the remaining three of them formed a team to avoid being left alone.
And that was how the eight new disciples separated into three groups and headed in different
directions.
The Peculiar Beast Island was considered a gateway island, as it was located at the entrance of the
Spiritual Sea Region, and there was no other way to enter the region without passing by the island.
As its name indicated, many strange spiritual beasts inhabited the island, and most of them were
considered extremely rare spiritual beasts in the Ethereal Region.
Therefore, anyone who wanted to pass through the island must have enough strength to contend with
those spiritual beasts. Otherwise, they would be nothing but prey for those wild beasts.
After Rocky and the two women set out, they promptly headed in the direction that the map indicated.
All kinds of fierce and unusual spiritual beasts tried to block them along their way, but luckily, the three
of them were just as formidable as those wild beasts, and they managed to overpower them without
much fanfare. They also had the Purple-flaming Phoenix with them, so they were as safe as they could
be.
However, the Peculiar Beast Island held a more terrifying secret besides its spiritual beasts—its terrain.
It had an exceedingly complicated maze-like territory, which made it easy for people to get lost in the
wilderness and get picked off by dangerous elements.
Typically, when a group entered the Spiritual Sea Region the first time, it would take them around ten
days or even half a month before they could go through the Peculiar Beast Island.
But it only took less than two days for Rocky and his companions to travel through the whole island.
Thanks to Kohen's help, they didn't lose their way even once.
"Wow, this little guy is pretty cool! I didn't expect that it'd be so good with directions!"
Carla blurted out, looking admiringly at Kohen, who had guided them the whole way while riding on
Rocky's shoulder. She knew for a fact that the Peculiar Beast Island's terrain was exceedingly
complicated, but Kohen had helped them navigate it smoothly.
"Of course, it's my pet!"
Eunice possessively declared.
"It's Basil's pet. How could it be yours?"
Carla retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the other girl.
"Rocky is my servant, so whatever is his is mine as well!" replied Eunice proudly.
"As if anyone would believe that!"
snorted Carla.
Her attitude annoyed Eunice so much that she couldn't stop herself from snarling at her, shouting,
"I don't care if you believe it or not; it's the truth!"
Meanwhile, Rocky glanced sideways at the two bickering women, vigorously pretending he wasn't
there. If he could blend into the surroundings, he would have! After all, who would want to interrupt and
be dragged into an argument between two fierce women? It could only bring trouble and headache.
Before long, another half a day had passed, and the three of them finally reached the end of the
Peculiar Beast Island. There, they came upon a huge arc stone that resembled an arched bridge,
connecting the end of the island and the Spiritual Sea Region. A thick white mist covered each side of
the huge arc stone, and an unfathomable abyss lay below them intimidatingly. Just the sight of that
could frighten any traveler into changing their mind.
A lion-shaped spiritual beast sat in front of the huge stone like a gigantic guardian, and its aura was at
the advanced stage of the Spiritual Infant.
The three of them exchanged nervous looks. Each of them was well-aware that if they wanted to pass
through the bridge-like stone, they would have to go through the lion-shaped spiritual beast first.
"I'll ask the Purple-flaming Phoenix to distract it, and then you can sneak past it once it's preoccupied,"
Rocky instructed after thinking for a while.
Of course, Eunice and Carla automatically agreed with Rocky's idea. They knew that even if the three
of them worked together, they couldn't defeat a spiritual beast at the advanced stage of the Spiritual
Infant, at least without suffering losses of their own. Therefore, they needed to distract it with the
Purple-flaming Phoenix to avoid unnecessary loss and save time.
With that decided, Rocky summoned the Purple-flaming Phoenix and let it approach the lion-shaped
spiritual beast and irritate it.
But the spiritual beast didn’t respond at all. It hadn't moved despite the Purple-flaming Phoenix’s
provocations, completely ignoring the smaller beast hovering over its head.
"I guess this spiritual beast is smarter than I thought!"
Rocky remarked with a smile, shaking his head in resignation.
“Why don’t we let the Purple-flaming Phoenix attack it directly? I’m sure it would fight back then,”
suggested Eunice as she waved her hand energetically.
Rocky nodded approvingly at her and then activated his Mysterious Beast Transformation Skill so that
the Purple-flaming Phoenix would attack the spiritual beast directly. According to his bidding, the
Purple-flaming Phoenix opened its sharp beak, and a strong flame spurted out and shot towards the
lion-shaped spiritual beast.
However, something unexpected happened. The spiritual beast abruptly erupted in a blinding light, and
the light gradually gathered into a circular pattern as if an array had appeared over its body. Once the
flames from the Purple-flaming Phoenix hit that circular light pattern, it vanished without a trace.
Rocky and the two women were left dumbfounded. They hadn't expected such power from the spiritual
beast that it could withstand the phoenix's attack without even shifting on its spot.
After that, the phoenix attacked it several more times, but it failed to break through the circular light
pattern that shielded the lion-shaped spiritual beast.
"I think that the spiritual beast just performed a spiritual skill that is usually done by spirit warriors. I've
heard of talk of it before. They said that a kind of spiritual beast could perform the same spiritual skill as
a spirit warrior could do, but I haven't seen evidence of it until now," Carla shared with the others, a
marveling look on her face.
"I feel like this beast is going to be difficult to handle," sighed Rocky as his eyes narrowed slightly.
The spiritual beast was more powerful than he had expected, and it didn't seem to be an ordinary
spiritual beast at the advanced stage of the Spiritual Infant.
Just as the three of them were about to lose heart, several senior disciples suddenly appeared one
after another. Those disciples had left earlier than Rocky and the two women, but they had surprisingly
arrived later than them.
Those senior disciples were astonished to see that three new disciples had reached the end of the
Peculiar Beast Island before them.
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