Chapter 940: Future Plans P11

Aksai’s eyes narrowed as the pieces connected.

"So Kalina deliberately came here."

After obtaining the black sword, Kalina had accepted assignments from her imperial faction and traveled to this supposedly backward region.

On the surface, she had simply been carrying out faction missions.

In reality, the journey had also allowed her to put considerable distance between herself and the sword cultivators hunting her.

The Dadangar Subcontinent was remote.

Compared to the Eternal Sea and Shinayin Empire, it was practically the edge of civilization in the eyes of the imperial cultivators.

It was an excellent place to shake off pursuers.

Unfortunately for Kalina, someone like Varesh had still managed to follow her.

Aksai glanced at Varesh’s name in the dossier.

There was even a short note beside it.

Varesh — Confirmed pursuit.

Aksai couldn’t help but sigh.

"So he came after her to get his hands on the Sword Form Embryo. Unfortunately for him as well as Kalina, both their possessions ended up in my hands.

"And.... unfortunately for me, I obtained a Sword Form Embryo after it matured. So there’s little I can do to change it into something I want. Otherwise, it would have been a precious artifact refining treasure for me."

That explained why a late-stage Lord and true sword cultivator of Varesh’s caliber had appeared in this region. Cultivators like him should have been way above a faction’s forced conscription into the subcontinent war campaign. And yet, he had willingly come here for his own reasons rather than serving the interests of his imperial faction.

Aksai folded the paper scroll and placed it aside.

This little piece of intelligence was surprisingly valuable.

Not because of Kalina herself.

But because it gave him a glimpse into the conflicts among the various imperial factions beyond the subcontinent.

***

Minutes turned into hours.

Eventually, the last item was categorized.

Aksai leaned back.

And now that he had finished sorting Varesh’s possessions, he finally had time to think about what came next.

His expression gradually became solemn.

Until now, Aksai had still maintained a sliver of hope that he could somehow preserve his current status as the island master of Emerald Cove Island.

That hope was gone at this point.

He had killed Kalina and the imperial army she had brought with her.

After returning to his territory, he had killed three more imperial Lords.

And as if that was not enough, he had gone ahead and killed Varesh.

The last one was the most troublesome.

Varesh was simply not only a late-stage Lord or a true sword cultivator or a Nascent Soul seed. Judging from the inheritance he carried, he was also someone connected to forces far beyond the Dadangar Subcontinent.

Of course, being a paranoid Spirit farmer that he was, Aksai had done everything possible to erase his traces.

He had killed his enemies cleanly and concealed his trump cards. He had avoided leaving behind anything that could immediately expose him.

But that only bought him time. It didn’t make him safe.

The imperial factions were already increasing their presence throughout the subcontinent.

Sooner or later, they would notice that their Lords were missing.

Then they would investigate.

And eventually, those investigations would reach Emerald Cove Island.

Aksai slowly exhaled.

"If I leave now, I can still choose how I leave."

Previously, he had hesitated.

He had his territory here. But staying any longer was no longer a matter of preserving what he had built.

It was gambling with his life.

Aksai’s gaze became firm as he decided to go to the Shinayin Empire.

Of course, going to the Shinayin Empire was not easy. It posed considerable threats to Lord-level cultivators as well. Not only were there a sheer number of ferocious demon beasts in the Duya Forest that lay between the subcontinent and the Shinayin Empire, but the path to the empire was also known to contain various mysterious and nearly unavoidable places that had been marked as extremely dangerous.

If going in and out of this subcontinent were so easy, it wouldn’t have remained this isolated from the Shinayin Empire for so long.

However, Aksai already had a map with relatively safe routes marked in great detail. He had obtained this map from the heretic Dao cultivator named Mao Yuhai. This was the same map that he had shared with Liana as well (Chapter 300).

Plus, he had obtained another set of maps of the Eternal Beast Dynasty, a deeper region of the Duya Forest, from Haitin, Diya, and others for his trip to the Duya Forest to hunt and transform Verdant Elder into his Aether Beast (Chapters 479 and 255).

These maps from Haitin and the others didn’t have a route to the Shinayin Empire, but the information about the demon beasts mentioned in them could be used alongside the map he obtained from Mao to make his journey even safer and smoother.

With Nuri’s abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to collate the data and derive a fine-tuned route towards the Shinayin Empire.

Of course, the poison druid always knew he could do something like that from the start. But he didn’t for his own reasons.

Aksai’s previous plan had been to become a late-stage Lord first before exploring the map and making his way to the Shinayin Empire in search of better opportunities. And even then, he had no plans to become a permanent resident of the empire.

He had made too many investments in Emerald Cove Island to leave without considering the consequences.

However, things changed, situations changed, and he needed to change along with them.

As for Emerald Cove Island and his subordinates, he couldn’t afford to worry about them too much anymore.

That didn’t mean he would abandon them completely.

He could still leave some room for them to maneuver.

Escape routes.

Emergency resources.

Warnings.

Perhaps enough time for them to get a head start before the imperial factions arrived.

But that was all he could do.

Aksai closed his eyes.

For the first time since becoming the island master of Emerald Cove Island, he began planning for a future in which he no longer ruled it.

Emerald Cove Island had been his home. Unfortunately for him, the situation demanded that he make sure it didn’t become his grave in the end.