I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Break for me!"

"Damn it, no response."

Gu Shanhai cursed as he looked at what he called the Investiture of the Gods, a manifestation of heaven and earth.

However, his use of "seal" meant to seal off, whereas the Investiture of the Gods referred to an imperial seal, which were not the same.

"Teacher, this thing is ugly..." Wang Qi remarked, looking at the massive painting where divine beings twisted and sealed within it resembled demons.

More importantly, these divine beings still had their self-awareness, and the resentment they emitted made Wang Qi's scalp tingle.

He didn't know why Gu Shanhai chose to make the divine beings into such a bizarre form, but the painting was already affecting the operations of half of the Island Alliance.

"It's fine if it's ugly, I can just eat it." Gu Shanhai was very satisfied with the Investiture of the Gods, a manifestation of heaven and earth. It had taken him nearly two and a half years to complete, nearly three, and luckily he had done so. Otherwise, he would have had to flee this world.

"Eat? Teacher, you have a taste for dark cuisine too?" Wang Qi quipped.

Ever since Gu Shanhai returned, he had been engrossed in his experiments, but Wang Qi was always able to consult him whenever there was a problem, making these past two and a half years quite comfortable for Wang Qi.

"Not bad, do you want to take a bite?" Gu Shanhai casually offered.

Wang Qi took another look at the Investiture of the Gods, chickening out immediately, not daring to taste it.

"Forget it, forget it, I think it's better left to you, Teacher. After all, you're the one who worked hard to gather it." Wang Qi had never thought about taking a bite out of a divine being.

"If you wanted to eat, I wouldn't even let you. This thing isn't something you can stomach." Gu Shanhai teased, then his smile faded. "I'm planning to leave for a while to digest these divine beings to seek a breakthrough. During this time, handle things on your own."

"Then Teacher, how long will you need? Ten years or a hundred years?" Wang Qi asked with a grave expression.

"Oh, just one month," Gu Shanhai replied.

"..." Wang Qi was speechless at this response, wondering how a month could feel like a farewell forever, making it seem like he was entering closed-off meditation never to return.

"Alright, then. Take care, Teacher." Wang Qi had grown immune to Gu Shanhai's unpredictability, realizing that he was just teasing.

"The area will be around here; just remember not to let anyone come around," Gu Shanhai circled an area on the map, kindly reminding Wang Qi.

"Understood, I'll arrange for guards to ensure no disturbances to your breakthrough," Wang Qi noted it was a very remote maritime area and thus confidently took on the task. Unfortunately, he misunderstood Gu Shanhai's meaning.

"My point is, don't let people come over. My breakthrough might make some noise. If anyone unwary comes by, at the very least they could lose their sanity or, in a worse case, suffer a violent death."

"Just keep our own people away; it doesn't matter if outsiders come looking for trouble."

Gu Shanhai's breakthrough wasn't anything fun. The idea of someone taking advantage of his vulnerability during the breakthrough was downright ludicrous.

He claimed it was a breakthrough, but it was more like being idle for a month. The process had already been inputted into the Four Saints Beasts System. For Shanhai, monitoring the process was all that was needed.

It wasn't as if he couldn't move during the breakthrough; it was much like eating food and waiting for it to digest, no one becomes immobilized while digesting a meal.

"Teacher, your breakthrough sounds quite hazardous." Wang Qi finally understood what Gu Shanhai meant. The danger wasn't to Gu Shanhai but to anyone who intruded.

"That's called power, not hazard." Gu Shanhai corrected the villainous terminology in Wang Qi's statement; after all, he'd reformed and became a protagonist in the righteous camp.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, I'm off." Gu Shanhai took the Investiture of the Gods with him and instantly shifted away.

Seeing this, Wang Qi went back and halted all activities in the marked area and evacuated all personnel.

The terror formed by just the enormity of the painting alone was more than he could withstand.

As for anyone noticing afterwards, Wang Qi thought that wasn't his problem. If people were warned and still sought trouble, there was nothing he could do.

People in the Island Alliance were mostly not that foolish. Only pirates would think that way.

Thinking of pirates gave Wang Qi a headache. They were like cockroaches, impossible to completely exterminate.

He couldn't kill them all, but with the advent of the great era of piracy, they plundered and committed atrocities without restraint.

Wang Qi suspected it was because of the Spiritual Martial System, which was formed by personal beliefs and will. If the pirates built their Spiritual Martial System upon evil, then practicing their beliefs to become stronger meant committing evil acts. Of course, in their eyes, they were not evil but champions of freedom and nature.

"Once the Teacher has dealt with the divine beings, things should get much easier," Wang Qi massaged his temples and then returned to his office in the Island Alliance to continue his administrative duties. He was not the type to idle away his days; since they began exploring the ocean, his workload only increased, as did the power of the Island Alliance and the Navy.

Nearly ninety percent of the islands had aligned with the Island Alliance, joining as member nations and hosting Navy branches to guard against pirates.