Dragon Boat Secret Realm 14: Qiuming Island

The journey from Biyun Island to Dragon Scale Island spanned two hundred thirty-six islands.

With half a month left before the agreed-upon two-month deadline, Su Qing opted not to use her wooden fish teleportation to reach Dragon Scale Island quickly. Instead, she piloted her spiritual boat leisurely, taking her time.

She had secured spirit ores, advanced her body refining, improved her foundation, and amassed a stash of valuable Nine Heavens Spirit Grass.

Her goals in the Dragon Boat Secret Realm were largely met. With time to spare, she decided to explore, hoping to stumble upon new opportunities.

The closer she got to Dragon Scale Island, the more cultivators she encountered. Crowds meant faster news spread—one to ten, ten to a hundred, a hundred to a thousand. Word of the impending Dragon Boat Trial had spread, drawing more people to Dragon Scale Island to try their luck.
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Crowds had benefits: evil cultivators infiltrating the secret realm were less likely to act recklessly, ensuring relative safety on the road.

Qiuming Island, the largest en route, was where Su Qing stopped after a month at sea. Exhausted from travel, she was eager to stretch her legs and treat herself to some food and drink.

Upon landing, she noticed the island’s distinct coastal vibe—bright sunlight, warm sea breezes, and towering coconut trees lining the shore.

It was coconut season. Not far from shore, she saw a monkey troop “selling” coconuts—not truly selling, as they lacked a concept of money. Instead, they bartered, trading coconuts for items.

Having seen much in the cultivation world, Su Qing found it amusing that even monkeys ran a business.

Most monkeys were scruffy, but their leader, a monkey king, was shrewd—a second-tier demonic beast with awakened intelligence.

The monkey king had an innate sense of value. When offered an item, it would rub it with long fingers, sniff it thoroughly, and, if satisfied, excitedly call to the larger monkeys in the trees.

“Jiji jiji!”

On command, a big monkey would nimbly climb, pluck a coconut, and toss it to a smaller one below. The small monkey, deft and clever, used a sharp stone to poke a hole in the coconut, handing it to the waiting human to drink from.

Transaction complete.

The coconut trees were tall, and while cultivators could easily climb them, the grove was claimed by the monkey troop. Anyone trying to steal coconuts faced a mob of angry monkeys.

Rather than fight, most cultivators chose to barter. Losing to monkeys was embarrassing, and winning wasn’t glorious—why bother?

The monkeys’ business thrived, with a queue forming.

Intrigued, Su Qing waited her turn. She pulled a large pack of dried meat from her storage bag, holding up two fingers to signal she wanted two coconuts.

The monkey king, assessing her offer, sniffed the meat. Its eyes lit up, and it called, “Jiji jiji!”

Spiritual beast meat—prime goods. Three coconuts!

A tree monkey tossed down three prime coconuts. The small monkey below caught them, expertly poked holes, and thoughtfully inserted grass straws.
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Coconut juice spilled, slightly sticky, but the small monkey wiped the shells clean with its furry arm, ensuring customers’ hands stayed clean—impeccable service.

Su Qing got three coconuts with straws.

Sipping the refreshing juice, she sighed contentedly, feeling revitalized.

Where had these young monkeys learned to trade?

It spoke to the island’s safety.

Drinking her coconut, Su Qing strolled inland, soon finding her answer.

Qiuming Island hosted a cultivators’ market.

The market wasn’t huge but sizable, with forty to fifty scattered stalls and three to four hundred people, vendors and shoppers combined.

With fewer than four thousand cultivators in the secret realm, this was significant. Su Qing could only imagine the crowds on Dragon Scale Island.

She spotted Hefeng Sect disciples in the distance. Having clashed with them during the Biyun Island raid, they likely despised her. She couldn’t risk retaliation.

Quickly, she used the Face-Pinching Technique, learned from an evil cultivator’s storage bag. Evil cultivators, wary of exposure, mastered disguise techniques—face-shaping, body-altering, voice-changing. Su Qing had studied them over the past half-month, achieving proficiency.

She crafted an unremarkable face, grew an inch taller, and rasped her voice with a cough.

Checking a bronze mirror, she confirmed: two eyes, one nose, one mouth—completely different. She blended into the crowd, entering the market.

Stalls sold spirit plants, ores, beast hides, and beast cores—secret realm bounties. There were also basic pills like Fasting Pills, Spirit-Absorbing Pills, and Rejuvenation Pills, likely for personal use. Artifacts and techniques were rarer but sold quickly.

Two months into the secret realm, many cultivators’ resources were depleted.

Tempted, Su Qing considered trading. Her storage bag brimmed with spirit sea ore, but Nine Heavens Spirit Grass was too precious to barter. She could claim to be from Xuangfeng Pavilion—nobody would know.

She traded spirit sea ore for body-refining plants, other ores, and talisman pills. When the stalls’ offerings dwindled, she set up her own in a corner, selling spirit iron ore and artifacts from the evil cultivator’s bag.

Her goal was to clear space in her storage bag. Barter or spirit stones—she was flexible.

Market stalls relied on fate, no need for hawking. Su Qing sat calmly on a stool, waiting for buyers.

Her goods were in demand. Within half a day, three buyers took three first-tier spiritual weapons, netting her four hundred spirit stones and an old book.

The book came from a cultivator short ten spirit stones out of one hundred fifty. Desperate, he tried bargaining. “Can you lower it by ten?”

Su Qing refused. “Bottom price, no discounts. But you can trade something else.”

The cultivator, broke, rummaged his bag and nearly removed his shoes before Su Qing stopped him. “Just trade that book.”

Her goods were ill-gotten from the evil cultivator, so losing ten spirit stones was fine—clearing space was priority.

The cultivator, thrilled, promised, “You’re honest! I’ll spread the word.”

Whether he did or not, her stall thrived that afternoon. Except for some sea ore and talisman pills, everything sold.

Her success didn’t help her neighbor’s stall.

His setup was poor—a lone box on a bare table, and he wore a black robe hiding his face, looking shady. No wonder no one approached.

Yet he sat patiently, perhaps focused on another task, selling on the side.

Su Qing glanced away, flipping through her book—a cultivation-world love triangle tale. It was absurd yet gripping, making her eyelids twitch.

As the sun set and the crowd thinned, with the sky darkening and her book finished, Su Qing prepared to leave.

Then, her quiet neighbor stirred.

He approached with his lone box, voice muffled under his robe. “Can I trade this for your remaining sea ore?”

Su Qing squinted, refusing. “No.”

Disappointed, he said, “Only spirit stones? Look inside—it’s good stuff. I’m no liar.”

She eyed the dusty box, a smile creeping into her voice. She’d recognized him but kept a straight face. “If it’s good, why hasn’t it sold? You’re scamming me.”

He sighed, “I’m not. Don’t believe me, fine.”

As he turned to leave, Su Qing called, “Who said I don’t believe you? Let me see.”

He was easygoing, stopping obediently and handing her the box.

She’d been teasing, not caring about the contents, but opening it, her expression turned complex. “…You’re selling a Gold Spirit Pearl?”

This wasn’t something to casually trade! And swapping it for her unsold ore was absurdly lavish—sell it for more!

“I’m short on funds,” he said shyly, then gasped. “You recognized the Gold Spirit Pearl? You’ve got an eye!”

Hopeful, he asked, “Will you trade?”

“No trade. It’s yours,” Su Qing laughed, dropping her disguise to reveal her face. “Because it’s you, Jiang Xiaocao.”

Jiang Xiaocao’s eyes widened, staring before softly saying, “Su Qing.”

At sunset, old friends reunited, sea breeze gentle—a perfect moment for catching up, especially with Jiang Xiaocao’s talkative nature. Su Qing braced for a long chat.

But someone ruined the mood, charging forward, grabbing Jiang Xiaocao’s collar, and roaring, “Second Brother, it’s him! He ambushed me! I’ve been searching for you half a month, and now I’ve got you!”

Jiang Xiaocao protested, “You tried to steal my stuff first.”

“Your stuff?” the man scoffed. “If it’s in my hands, it’s mine! You stole my metallic pearl. Where’d you hide it?”

Second Brother joined, a burly, menacing figure, making Jiang Xiaocao look frail.

Su Qing waved the box. “It’s here.”

The man’s greedy eyes scanned her stall’s remaining ore and pills. “Give me the box and everything on your stall, and I’ll let you go.”

“Is that so?” Su Qing said coldly. “Put him down, leave your storage bag, and I’ll let *you* go.”

Furious, he barked, “A mere fourth-layer Qi Refiner with such a big mouth? Let’s see what you’re made of! Second Brother, let’s go!”

…

Half a quarter-hour later, two bodies lay limp on the ground. Su Qing sheathed her Manqing Sword.

“Fifth-layer Qi Refining, looking down on fourth-layer?” she muttered. “Such weak cultivation and no combat experience.”

As a sword cultivator, her attack power was unmatched among peers, bolstered by high-intensity body refining for defense. Her heavy sword’s intimidation made her nearly invincible in quick fights unless vastly outclassed.

She’d ambushed late-stage Qi Refining evil cultivators before—these two were nothing.

Turning to Jiang Xiaocao, she asked, “They bullied you, forcing you to hide?”

Jiang Xiaocao, forgetting he’d just beaten them soundly or that his black robe was meant to seem mysterious to sell the pearl, felt oddly wronged. His face crumpled, voice tight, eyes downcast. “They all bully me.”

“No worries, we’ll bully them back,” Su Qing said, looting their storage bags and erasing their seals, handing one to Jiang Xiaocao. “Check for good stuff.”

Nothing good, as expected. Their bags were so barren, Su Qing felt she was rummaging through trash.

But there was a find: they were from Tianhu Society, a small, notorious gang from Shu City that somehow got five slots in the secret realm.

They ranked by strength—Big Brother, Second Brother, down to Fifth Brother. Second and Third Brother confronted Jiang Xiaocao. Second Brother, at fifth-layer Qi Refining, suggested the whole gang was weak.

In their bags, Su Qing found a lead: Qiuming Island might hide a high-level cultivator’s cave ruins, potentially rich with treasures. Tianhu Society had a token to enter and planned to explore soon.

Su Qing hesitated to join, unsure of the danger and lacking a token.

As she pondered, Jiang Xiaocao’s eyes sharpened. “Someone’s coming.”

Glancing at the two unconscious men, Su Qing decided, “Hide them behind the stall.”

Their small stalls barely concealed one person, so they tied Second and Third Brother like crabs to fit.

Dusk had fallen, and most vendors had packed up, making Su Qing and Jiang Xiaocao’s bulging stalls conspicuous.

Three newcomers approached, steps hurried, demeanor aggressive. The leader, a two-meter-tall brute with a tiger tattoo on his bare chest, barked, “Where’s Second and Third Brother?”

He was sixth-layer Qi Refining, his two lackeys around third-layer, all burly and intimidating.

“Strange, they were just here,” the tattooed man muttered, scanning the stalls. His gaze lingered on Su Qing and Jiang Xiaocao’s.

The second-tier mid-grade spirit sea ore glowed faintly in the dusk, alongside essential pills—valuable goods.
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He glanced at Su Qing, smirking dismissively: just a fourth-layer Qi Refiner.

He ignored Jiang Xiaocao entirely—a nobody.

“Leave the stall and go,” he demanded.

His lackeys shouted, “Hear Big Brother? Be smart, leave the stall, or you’ll get hurt!”

Su Qing: “…”

Was their script from a training manual?

Sincerely, she said, “Fine. There’s good stuff behind my stall—take it all.”

Her compliance pleased them. It was the expected response.

The tattooed man nodded, and his lackeys eagerly grabbed her stall’s goods, stuffing them into storage bags.

“Not bad, you’ve got sense,” he sneered, squinting. “That’s a storage bag on you, right? Hand it over!”

His tone was righteous, but his lackeys’ voices wavered. “Big Brother, we found Second and Third Brother!”

“Found them? So what?” he snapped.

“Indeed,” Su Qing nodded, summoning her Manqing Sword. The heavy blade stood before her, exuding menace like a sleek beast. “You’ll join them soon.”

…

A quarter-hour later, as grass and sword flashes settled, three more “crabs” lay behind the stall.

Su Qing rummaged through their trash-like bags, finding a tattered map marking the cave ruins’ entrance.

These lowlifes made her doubt the ruins held anything valuable.

Jiang Xiaocao asked, “What do we do with these five?”

Tianhu Society terrorized Shu City, preying on the weak. Su Qing found wanted posters in their bags, clearly depicting Big Brother’s face with a list of crimes.

No punishment was too harsh. As she pondered, the island’s monkeys returned to their grove.

The monkey king, already far off, spotted the men and bounded back.

“Jiji jiji!”

Five coconuts were offered, a trade for the five men.

“What do you want them for?” Su Qing asked.

The monkey king pointed to the coconut trees—slaves to pick coconuts.

“Good idea.”

As a second-tier demonic beast, the monkey king was stronger than most. Handing the men over ensured they’d cause no trouble.

To be safe, Su Qing sealed their spiritual veins, trading for five straw-equipped coconuts.

Sipping coconut juice in the evening breeze, Su Qing and Jiang Xiaocao chatted. Jiang Xiaocao, regaining his Sword Sect vibrancy, eagerly shared his Forging Gold Island adventures.

Su Qing listened, thinking: *No rush. Tomorrow, I’ll dive and check if the island’s ruins hold any treasures.*