The Rise of David

-Book 7-

Previously: David and Colin began cultivating on Encanta Island, using a powerful ‘Spiritual Energy Collection Array’ that filled their courtyard with dense spiritual fog. David’s progress shocked even himself—within ten days he reached the ‘peak of Fourth Level Nascent Soul’, consuming vast amounts of spiritual energy. But such a display drew unwanted attention. Two spies tried to report the anomaly, only to be killed by a masked man—revealed to be ‘Flaxseed’.

Chapter 311: Built Different

"It's because you set up this huge Spiritual Energy Collection Array and gathered all the spiritual energy within the area. Look around you, for goodness' sake! You're literally shrouded in a fog of spiritual energy! That alone is enough to draw a lot of attention to your location. Besides, Diego's brother, Terrell, is the one ruling over this island. Don't you think he'd come after you for revenge after finding out that you killed his brother?"

It wasn't until David heard Flaxseed's questions that he realized his mistake. "Oh, no!" Flaxseed has been watching after me, but what about Colin? I wonder if anything happened to him…

With that in mind, David rushed over to the next room as quickly as he could, only to see Colin sitting there with his eyes tightly shut. A faint glow was coming out of Colin's chest as he continued his cultivation training.

David breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Colin was all right. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if his carelessness resulted in Colin being harmed.

"This kid is quite talented. Given the ideal environment here, it won't be long before he reaches Martial Arts Marquis!" David exclaimed with a smile when he saw the faint glow in Colin's chest.

"Oh, he'll never reach Martial Arts Marquis by training here," Flaxseed commented. David glanced at him in confusion. "What makes you say that?"

"Haven't you noticed something very strange about Encanta Island?" Flaxseed asked.

David shook his head. "No. What's so strange about this island?"

"This place has a ridiculously high concentration of spiritual energy, but there are no powerful cultivators here. Only Diego has reached Nascent Soul, which is equivalent to Martial Arts Marquis in the martial arts world. Everyone else here has only reached the Golden Core stage at best. Even Terrell has only reached the Top Level of the Golden Core stage. None of the people here are able to go beyond Nascent Soul, regardless of how hard they train. I've been staying here for a few months now, and I haven't gotten any stronger at all," Flaxseed explained.

"Why is that?"

David's eyes went wide with surprise.

He's right… The people on this island are indeed rather weak despite the environment being great for cultivation training. This doesn't make any sense!

Flaxseed shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I think this island may have been cursed. Almost every spiritual energy cultivator in existence has gone into hiding, be it in secluded mountains or in bustling cities. You won't find any other place with a huge number of spiritual energy cultivators gathered together like this. This place is an exception, though. I believe this island has been cursed because the cultivation levels of the people here are either stagnant or increasing at a very slow rate. This is probably why these spiritual energy cultivators are able to live normal lives here without hiding."

David was shocked when he heard that.

What the… A curse that is able to affect tens of thousands of people on an island? That's ridiculous!

"Wait a minute, how come I'm not affected? I've been able to increase my cultivation level in just ten days!" David asked as he didn't notice anything strange throughout his cultivation training.

If anything, he was surprised by how fast he was making progress. "I'm not sure about that either. Maybe you're just built different."

Flaxseed knew about David being the son of a dragon, but he wasn't about to bring that up.

"Okay, there's definitely something off about Encanta Island. There must be some kind of secret behind this strange phenomenon!" David exclaimed with a frown.

Flaxseed rolled his eyes at David in response. "You don't say? I wouldn't be here if it didn't contain some kind of secret! The problem is, I haven't found

any ancient ruins or ancient tombs even though I've been searching this island for a few months now."

"Now, now… We'll search for it together, okay?" David said as he decided to join Flaxseed in uncovering the secrets of Encanta Island.

I don't care if it's a curse or some kind of arcane array. If it's able to affect tens of thousands of people, then the person who cast it must be incredibly powerful!

Meanwhile, in a palace located on the highest point of Encanta Island, Terrell was seated on the throne that he had inherited after Diego's death.

Although his cultivation level was only the Top Level of Golden Core, it was the highest among the inhabitants of the island.

Top Level Golden Core was equivalent to Top Level Martial Arts Grandmaster in the martial arts world, which was lower than Martial Arts Marquis.

However, spiritual energy cultivators of his level were perfectly capable of standing up to those of the Martial Arts Marquis stage.

"Grand Elder, could you investigate that strange phenomenon? I want to know the cause of that spiritual energy fog," Terrell asked the Grand Elder standing next to him.

"The two men I sent to investigate have yet to return, and I haven't heard from them either. I'm guessing they ran into some trouble, King Duncan," the Grand Elder replied softly.

Terrell slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne. "What? Who dares assault our palace guards? This is punishable by death!"

"I don't think it was the doing of Encanta Island's inhabitants. They were most probably killed by outsiders," the Grand Elder explained.

"We rarely get into any conflict with the outside world. The tourists who drop by for short trips are practically the only outsiders we come into contact with. I

want you to personally investigate this incident!" Terrell ordered with a stern expression.

"Understood."

The Grand Elder nodded and left to carry out his task.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the courtyard where David and the others were staying at.

The Grand Elder frowned the moment he saw the bodies of the two palace guards.

"How dare they kill our palace guards?" the Grand Elder exclaimed furiously as he charged into the courtyard.

David and Flaxseed had left a while ago, but David made sure to cast a defensive arcane array before leaving.

That was his way of ensuring Colin would not be disturbed while cultivating.

A white light appeared when the Grand Elder led his men into the courtyard. The next thing they knew, a terrifyingly powerful force sent them all flying out of there.

"What the… They set up an arcane array?"

The Grand Elder was shocked. I'm a Golden Core fighter, and yet, this person's arcane array was able to send me flying? Whoever set this arcane array up must be very powerful!

With that in mind, the Grand Elder whipped out his magic sword and slashed at the arcane array.

He was trying to break the arcane array through brute force. Buzz…

The arcane array struck back with even greater force, knocking the Grand Elder's magic sword out of his hand and sending him flying backward.

"That's so powerful…"

The Grand Elder's eyes went wide with disbelief.

David, who was having a meal at a hotel, frowned worriedly all of a sudden. "Oh, no…"

"What's wrong?" Flaxseed asked.

"Someone is trying to break through the arcane array!" David replied before leaving the hotel in a hurry.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Flaxseed called out to him, but David had already disappeared from sight.

Flaxseed then shifted his gaze back toward the dishes on the table. It would be a waste to throw all of this food away!

"Waiter! Could we have our food to go?"

Soon, Flaxseed was running after David with a box of leftover food in hand.

David saw a huge group of people surrounding the courtyard by the time he got back.

One of them was a middle-aged man with a magic sword in his hand and a solemn look on his face.

David stepped forward and asked the middle-aged man, "Who are you people? Why do you guys have this place surrounded?"

The middle-aged man eyed David from head to toe before replying angrily, "I am the Grand Elder of the palace here on Encanta Island! We discovered two dead bodies of our palace guards here, so I suspect that you guys are the ones who killed them! You are to come with us to assist with the investigation!"

"The Grand Elder?" As David glanced at the middle-aged man and the other palace guards, he realized they were all of low cultivation levels. The Grand Elder was only in the third stage of Golden Core, and the palace guards were mostly Martial Arts Grandmasters or lower.

"I didn't kill your palace guards. Unless you have evidence to back up your accusations, you'd better leave right now! You guys are not welcome here!" David continued with a gloomy expression.

The Grand Elder was shocked as he didn't expect David to take that tone with him. "You sure talk big for someone so young! Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson…"

The Grand Elder then motioned at the palace guards, prompting two of them to charge forward.

The palace guards yelled as they slashed at David with their swords. Ha! These two have such low cultivation levels that they wouldn't be able to hurt me even if I don't use Golem Body!

David had strengthened himself physically to the point where he could withstand attacks from Martial Arts Grandmasters.

Clang! Clang! Their swords snapped in half the moment they came into

contact with David's body, much to the surprise of the two palace guards. Even the Grand Elder frowned in shock and disbelief.

"You guys can't hurt me at all…"

With a calm look on his face, David gently waved his hand at them and sent them flying with a blast of martial energy.

At that very moment, David was like an immortal facing a bunch of mortals.

"Hmph! Not bad! Looks like you've got some moves, after all! All of you, attack him together!" the Grand Elder shouted sternly.

In just a matter of seconds, dozens of palace guards were charging at David with their weapons drawn.

David responded by unleashing his aura, forcing the palace guards onto their knees with the sheer pressure of it.

The Grand Elder went wide-eyed in incredulity.

"We're from the palace! King Duncan won't forgive you if you so much as lay a finger on us!" he threatened while trembling all over.

"Ha! I could kill that king of yours in one strike! Do you really think I'd be afraid of him?" David replied with a sneer as he unleashed the full power of his aura.

The pressure was so strong that the Grand Elder fell to his knees before he even realized what was going on.

"W-What the… Y-You're in the Nascent Soul phase?"

The Grand Elder's eyes were filled with fear as he stared at David as though he was some kind of monster.

David, on the other hand, found the Grand Elder's response to seeing a Nascent Soul cultivator a little odd.

Nascent Soul is a very low cultivation level, though. Why is he so surprised by it? Is what Flaxseed said about Diego being the only person here who has achieved the Nascent Soul phase true? Are these people unable to achieve it no matter how hard they try? Maybe I should ask this Grand Elder about that. He's been living here long enough and works in the palace, so he must know the secrets of this island.

With that in mind, David stopped unleashing his aura and allowed the Grand Elder and his men to catch their breaths.

"Tell your men to stand down. I have some questions for you," David said.

Too scared to even hesitate, the Grand Elder waved at the palace guards and ordered, "S-Stand down, all of you!"

The palace guards quickly backed away, leaving David and the Grand Elder at the scene.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you are going to answer them honestly. Is that understood?" David asked coldly.

Terrified by David's cultivation level, the Grand Elder replied with fear written all over his face, "Y-Yes, please rest assured that I will tell you everything I know!"

"Good. Tell me, do you guys not have Nascent Soul cultivators here on Encanta Island?" David asked.

The Grand Elder swallowed nervously as he replied, "We did. Our previous king Diego Duncan was the one and only Nascent Soul cultivator here.

However, he was invited somewhere a few months ago and hasn't returned ever since. I heard he was killed by a guy named David Chance. His brother,

Terrell Duncan, has inherited the throne and is the current king here. His cultivation level is only Golden Core, though."

David sneered when he heard the Grand Elder mention his name. Heh… Good thing the people of Encanta Island don't know who I am!

"Why are you all progressing so slowly in your cultivation when this island is so rich in spiritual energy? Also, why are you all unable to go beyond Nascent Soul?" David asked.

He found it hard to believe that an entire island would be affected by a curse or arcane array.

After all, it would require an unimaginably high cultivation level to cast an arcane array or curse this powerful.

The Grand Elder had a conflicted look on his face as he shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about that either. I believe only the royal family would have the answer to that question. The Duncan family has been in control over Encanta Island for hundreds of years, so King Duncan should know the cause…"

"Is that true?" David frowned and glared coldly at the Grand Elder. He's the Grand Elder, so there's no way he wouldn't know about that!

"He's telling the truth. I'm afraid the members of the Duncan family are the only ones who know the secrets," Flaxseed said as he came running over with the food from earlier.

The look on the Great Elder's face changed when he detected Flaxseed's aura and realized he was a Golden Core cultivator like Terrell.

After all, there weren't many Golden Core cultivators on Encanta Island.

David decided to believe the Grand Elder's words after hearing what Flaxseed said. "All right, you can go now. Just make sure to leave me alone from now on."

"O-Okay, I promise!"

The Grand Elder then turned around and ran off in a state of panic.

Confused as to why David let the Grand Elder go, Flaxseed asked, "Why did you let him go? He's definitely going to come after us again."

"That's fine. Terrell is a Golden Core cultivator, so he's no match for me

anyway!" The smile on David's face faded as he continued with a slight frown, "However, I can't help but feel that Top Level Golden Core isn't the highest cultivation level on Encanta Island. There must be more to it than meets the

eye. Looks like we'll need to have a little chat with the members of the Duncan family."

"Since you're unaffected by the environment of this island, I think you should focus on your cultivation training and try to make the most out of it. So what if we manage to find the people behind the strange phenomenon on this island? We're probably no match for them anyway! I think you should continue your training while I look into this in secret. Remember to set up a defensive arcane array this time, okay?" Flaxseed said.

David nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

The inhabitants of this island are all spiritual energy cultivators, and spiritual energy cultivation is much more powerful than the martial arts world. They even have different cultivation levels for immortals!

In the martial arts world, however, there are no records beyond Martial Arts Saints who enter the Manifestor level. Martial Arts Grandmasters are nothing in the realm of spiritual energy cultivation!

In other words, martial artists and cultivators cannot be treated as equals. The martial arts world is only thriving today due to the spiritual energy deficit, which makes it hard for spiritual energy cultivators to survive. Even so, the martial arts world is still considered weak compared to spiritual energy cultivation. I have no idea what challenges lie ahead of me on this island, but I do know that the person who is able to control an entire island must be very powerful! Even if we do manage to uncover the secrets and find the mastermind behind all this, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to handle it. I should focus on increasing my cultivation level as much as possible before uncovering the secrets of Encanta Island!

With that in mind, David added, "You can come see me here three months from now. We can then go investigate this island's secrets, regardless of my cultivation level at the time."

"Sure thing!" Flaxseed nodded.

David then set up a defensive arcane array and went back into cultivation mode while Flaxseed investigated the secrets of Encanta Island.

Meanwhile, in the palace of Encanta Island, Terrell exclaimed in disbelief, "Are you saying that you ran into a Nascent Soul spiritual energy cultivator?"

"That's right, and he was only in his twenties!" the Grand Elder replied honestly. "He reached Nascent Soul in his twenties? How is that possible?"

I don't believe this! How could someone that young reach Nascent Soul? This world is no longer suitable for spiritual energy cultivators. There's no way he could've reached Nascent Soul with the low amount of spiritual energy in nature. Even if he did rely on herbs and spiritual stones to give him a boost, there's no way he'd progress that quickly!

"I'm telling you the truth, King Duncan. I didn't stand a chance against that young man at all!" the Grand Elder replied.

Terrell fell silent for quite a while before saying, "Tell everyone to leave him alone and to stop spying on him. We don't want to anger him unnecessarily. If he means us no harm, then we'll just wait for him to leave on his own. We'll only worry about this if he refuses to leave this island."

The Grand Elder nodded in response. "Understood!"

Terrell then waited until the Grand Elder had left the palace before heading to the back.

He kept walking until he reached the end of the back garden and stopped in front of a wall.

After glancing left and right to make sure no one was around, Terrell made his way to a secluded spot and pressed a hidden button.

The wall in front of him then slowly moved to the sides, revealing a vast open space behind it.

Inside it, four palace guards were dressed in armor and standing on both sides.

These guards were members of the Duncan family, so they were much more powerful than the palace guards outside.

The area behind the wall was a restricted area, and those inside it were descendants of the Duncan family.

The four guards saluted Terrell the moment they saw him come in.

However, Terrell was in such a hurry that he didn't even look at them as he ran inside. It wasn't long before a mansion shrouded by spiritual energy came into view.

There were a total of ten restrictive energy waves that kept the mansion isolated from the outside world.

A faint red glow appeared on the left side of Terrell's chest, causing the ten restrictive energy waves to disappear in an instant.

After he made his way into the mansion, the ten restrictive energy waves reappeared.

There were more guards stationed inside the mansion. As though they were puppets, each of them had icy-cold expressions and empty looks in their eyes.

Yet, the aura flowing through their bodies was similar to that of Terrell's, which indicated that they were all Golden Core cultivators.

If the guards were Golden Core cultivators, then the person they were guarding was surely a powerful individual.

Terrell was immediately led into a room upon entering the mansion. By the time he stepped out of the room, he had already changed into another set of clothes.

Terrell then made his way over to the inside of the palace, where a humanoid creature with the head of a tiger was seated on a throne.

Despite how terrifying the creature looked, Terrell showed no fear whatsoever as he walked up to the creature and knelt before it.

"Why have you come to see me?" the creature asked.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator has arrived at Encanta Island. He is only in his twenties, and the men I had sent to investigate him have been killed. How would you like to go about handling this, Tigris?" Terrell asked respectfully.

Chapter 312: Worship

"A Nascent Soul at around twenty years old?" Tigris was stunned for a moment. "If this were during ancient times, it would have been nothing strange. But in today's world, a genius like that is extremely rare…"

After he contemplated it for a while, Tigris spoke up once more. "Don't mind him. As long as he doesn't stir up trouble, leave him be… By the way, the faith energy has been showing signs of decline lately. Is this how you do things?

You're incomparable to your brother," said Tigris in an icy tone.

Upon hearing that, Terrell trembled all over. He pleaded, "I'll see to it right away. Please forgive me, Tigris…"

"Go. If you're not a good fit for this position, then let others take over." Tigris dismissed Terrell with a wave of his hand.

Terrell left hurriedly with cold sweat dripping down his face. Meanwhile, Tigris went into a valley located behind his residence. A huge statue was placed right in the middle of the valley.

The statue looked ancient. It had been worn down over the years and begun to show signs of damage.

Even so, its dignified and majestic aura was not the slightest obscured despite its decrepit state.

A meditation cushion was placed in front of it. Respectfully, Tigris knelt down before the statue. The moment Terrell got back to the palace, he called for a meeting with all the Great Elders.

"Make an announcement that everyone must go and worship immediately. Those who do not comply will be exiled from Encanta Island!" said Terrell coldly.

The Great Elders wasted no time in getting everything arranged upon receiving the order. Everyone on Encanta Island set aside what they were doing at once and went to the nearest temple to worship.

Flaxseed was having his meal when he noticed everyone stop what they were doing and rush out. He was curious, so he followed them.

What he then saw was many people going into a temple. They did their worshipping and left after they were done.

After entering the temple along with the crowd, Flaxseed was surprised to find that the object of worship was not any deity in particular but an ambiguous one-meter-tall stone statue.

Why are they worshipping a stone statue? Aren't these people cultivators? Why would they worship a stone statue like this?

"Hey, you! Why aren't you worshipping? Do you want to be exiled from Encanta Island?" An old man who was over seventy years old spoke up when he noticed that Flaxseed was standing there in a daze.

Following that, Flaxseed quickly knelt and bowed his head twice as a sign of worship.

However, unbeknownst to him, a wisp of white vapor arose from his body and went into the stone statue when he bowed down!

After Flaxseed was done, he exited the temple with the elderly man.

"Mister, can you please tell me why the people here worship a stone statue but not deities? Also, why did everyone suddenly rush over to the temple like they'd just received an order?" asked Flaxseed curiously as he fished out a cigarette for the elder and lit it up for the latter.

Puffing on the cigarette, the old man glanced at Flaxseed and said, "You must be new here."

"Yes, that's right. I'm new here…" replied Flaxseed while nodding his head.

"Listen here. An order just came from the palace that everyone has to worship today. Whoever doesn't comply will be exiled from Encanta Island. That was why everyone came to worship in a hurry," explained the old man.

"Why must we worship a stone statue?" asked Flaxseed.

"Beats me. That's just how things are around here. Someone should have told you this when you first came here. Didn't anyone brief you?" inquired the old man while looking at Flaxseed in a slightly confused manner.

In response, Flaxseed shook his head. "I've been here a couple of months, but no one told me about this…"

"I see. You must have come here as a traveler. So that's why you didn't know that you were supposed to worship at the temple. Let me tell you. There are rules on this island that must be obeyed…"

As the old man informed Flaxseed about the ways of the island, the latter slowly got a better understanding of Encanta Island.

It turned out that none of the inhabitants of Encanta Island were natives. They all came to this island at some point in their lives. Many were not aware that they were cultivators. The only reason they came to the island was to prolong their lifespan.

When one decided to become an inhabitant of the island, one would be given a scripture-like text to recite and practice. On top of that, one must worship during the specified time.

Soon, people discovered that reciting the scripture had enabled them to live over a hundred years old. This amazing finding eventually spread by word of mouth.

With that, Encanta Island went from having an initial population of several dozen to several tens of thousands. The people who were here came from all walks of life.

"Before I first came here, I suffered from many illnesses. But I'm all cured now! You should stay. This place is paradise," advised the old man. With a smile, Flaxseed replied, "You're right. I'll think about it…"

As he excused himself from the elder, an even more pressing question arose in his heart. Who on earth could manipulate events behind the scene to make so many ordinary people go into spiritual energy cultivation?

"Hmm… This is huge. I'd better wait till David finishes his cultivation…" mumbled Flaxseed to himself. He dared not continue with his investigation. Therefore, he found a place to stay put for the time being until David was back.

Time flew by quickly, and three months passed just like that.

David had been cultivating for the past three months. Since the people from the palace of Encanta Island did not come looking for trouble with him, everything was calm and peaceful.

However, in the Jadeborough martial arts world thousands of kilometers away, the black-robed man struck once more, killing people and absorbing their powers.

Everyone was scared out of their wits. Some even speculated that David had secretly come back!

"D*mn Edgar! He doesn't have an inch of restraint. I won't be able to cover up for him if he keeps this up…"

In the hall of the Warriors Alliance, Zion paced back and forth angrily.

He knew that the murders this time around were not David's act of revenge. Instead, it was Edgar who had done it to raise his level of cultivation rapidly.

He needed to get stronger fast, so he made a move against those from sects or prestigious families in the martial arts world.

Besides Jadeborough, people started disappearing without reason in other places as well.

Zion felt immensely pressured as the series of murders and disappearances got increasingly out of hand.

He had already sent someone to go look for Ryker, hoping that the latter could restrain Edgar.

All this while, Zion had been constantly on edge and anxious.

It had been so long, yet he had not heard anything as to David's whereabouts. Strangely, it was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Nevertheless, Zion felt relieved that David was not here to stir up trouble for him at the moment.

Despite that, he had no way of knowing exactly when David would come back to Jadeborough and go against the Warriors Alliance.

He could only comfort himself by fantasizing that David had become incapacitated and unable to fight, so he could only hide away.

"President Zeigler, why have you summoned me in such a hurry?" asked Ryker as he walked into the hall with quick steps.

"Hmph! You still have the audacity to ask me that? Take a look at these!" shouted Zion.

He grabbed the documents on the table and threw them at Ryker's face.

Then, he continued scathingly, "You guys have been doing as you please without a care in the world! I've received reports continuously from the

Jadeborough martial arts world about the black-robed man's attacks. Even the sects and prestigious families who are part of the alliance were targeted!

Warriors Alliances of other places have reported the same too! Are you trying to mess up the whole martial arts world? I've been covering up for you guys. But if the officials catch wind of this and start investigating, all of you from the Deragon family will not be spared."

Zion had been frustrated beyond belief, so he vented his anger on Ryker.

As the head of the Deragon family, Ryker felt utterly humiliated to be rebuked by Zion in such a way.

Ryker did not even bother to look at those documents. With a slightly displeased expression, he said, "President Zeigler, I will advise Edgar to tone it down, but he's not the only one responsible, what with such frequent appearances of the black-robed man. If you want to blame someone, you should go look for Skylar and those Black Copper Robes…"

He turned to leave after finishing his words without waiting for Zion's response. Looking at Ryker's retreating back, Zion stood rooted to the spot for quite some time before he started heaving in outrage.

"Insolent! How insolent! How dare he speak to me like that?" exclaimed Zion as he slammed the table furiously. In his heart, he knew that he was only the president of the Warriors Alliance in name and held no real power.

Hence, there was no way he would dare to seek out Skylar and those Black Copper Robes himself. In a very secluded secret room at the Deragon residence, dried-out corpses lay all around Edgar. Cold light emanated from his body. The corpses were people who died after having their powers absorbed.

Ryker had ordered his men to abduct people for Edgar's

cultivation! Previously, he thought that doing this was beneath him, yet he was now very supportive of Edgar using this method.