Chapter 435: Chapter 433: Searching (Making up for the Mysterious Catastrophe Debt 17)_1
"The one who let the Green Fire Luan get away is most likely a lower tier rank four Monster cultivator... with fairly average speed at that..."
"With my current strength, that’s practically like delivering Puppets to me!"
"However, I must also consider the possibility that the enemy deliberately let Xiao Qing escape to lure the snake out of the hole..."
Fang Xi made up his mind, no matter how the outside world provoked him, his main body would be stationed at Jade Island, manipulating the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’, never to venture out!
This Array, after his constant comprehension and improvement over this period of time... had now become a bona fide fourth-tier Array!
Adding to that, with himself, a newly promoted fourth-tier Array Master and Nascent Soul Cultivator at the helm, even if several middle tier rank four Monster cultivators came, he wouldn’t be afraid, and even if a top tier rank four Monster cultivator appeared, he could hold on for a while to find a chance to escape.
If the tiger doesn’t leave its den, no one can touch Fang Xi.
What about Transcendent God Cultivators or rank five Monster cultivators in the future?
Such Cultivators seldom make a move, and it’s rather unlikely that Fang Xi, a Land Turtle from a remote place, would provoke them.
If he did provoke them, he would have no choice but to rely on cheating to save his life...
"In any case, I can first send out the Heterodox Nascent Soul to test the waters..."
With that thought, Fang Xi immediately released the Blue Qilin Puppet.
Then, with a flash of black light above his Heavenly Spirit, the Heterodox Nascent Soul popped out, formed a magic spell with its small hands, and let out a soft chant.
The Heterodox Nascent Soul instantly transformed into a streak of Demon Light and entered the Blue Qilin Puppet’s body.
Wuu wuu!
A puff of black ink-like fog emerged, enveloping the Blue Qilin Puppet all around with crackling crisp sounds echoing.
When the Monster wind dispersed, a figure clad in blue armor appeared in its place, the very same Monster Clan Cultivator from before!
Fang Xi summoned a Water Mirror and looked into it, pinching his unfamiliar cheeks and the single blue horn on his head, as well as the scales on his body, finding it quite strange, "Is this what a Monster body is like?"
He clenched his fists, feeling a terrifying force emanating from his body, his palm skin hardening, almost surpassing all magical treasures and even slightly capable of contending with Spiritual Treasures...
"And this is merely a lower tier rank four..."
"No, this Monster cultivator claims to be from the ’Five Elements Qilin Tribe’, a King Race in the Monster World with awakened True Blood of Qilin, its strength should be several times stronger than the average lower tier rank four Monster cultivator..."
"It’s a pity, I don’t have any Spiritual Beasts with Kylin bloodline, otherwise feeding them a few mouthfuls of Essence Blood would ensure rapid progress in cultivation!"
Fang Xi examined the Monster Body and then turned to the somewhat vigilant Green Fire Luan, "What’s wrong... don’t you recognize me anymore?"
The Green Fire Luan stared with its spirited eyes, inching closer to Fang Xi, appearing both afraid and somewhat affectionate.
"Xiao Qing, let’s go!"
Fang Xi lightly leapt onto the Green Fire Luan’s back, smiling, "Let’s patrol around once more..."
This probably counted as fishing, and it was a direct and blunt method at that...
...
"Is it really... of no use?"
Several hours later.
A streak of firelight landed around Thousand Island Lake, burning the nearby grass and twigs until they turned yellow and curled...
Fang Xi leapt off the Green Fire Luan’s back, sighing.
Monster beasts, as they advance, will continually unlock intelligence.
By the time they reach the rank of Transformed Great Demon, their wisdom is no different from that of Immortal Cultivators. Not only that, but they can also cultivate some of the Monster Clan’s cultivation practices!
The legacy of the Monster Clan is very peculiar, with most of their cultivation practices and Divine Skills being hidden within their bloodlines.
Upon reaching a sufficiently high tier, they would naturally recall these abilities.
Only a small portion of their Divine Skills and Secret Techniques are preserved in forms such as Monster Text scriptures, inscribed golden cauldrons, oracle bones, etc.
"This rank four Monster cultivator, having failed to capture Xiao Qing before, must have become wary... and knowing that there’s a human race Nascent Soul on Jade Island of Thousand Island Lake, which is difficult to take down with the aid of a Great Array, hence it has never shown itself, hiding behind the beast tide... and now it has fled thousands of miles away, which is a bit troublesome."
Having an enemy lurking nearby was something that Fang Xi found very unpleasant.
He patted Xiao Qing and went to the location previously attacked by that Transformed Great Demon.
This was a mountainous area, but several mountain peaks had already been flattened by the Azure Luan’s flames, with remnants of high temperature still lingering on-site.
Fang Xi arrived at a charred piece of ground, forming a magic spell with his hands, his eyes flashing with shades of green and yellow.
He recited incantations continuously, then pointed at the ground and commanded, "Rise!"
A wisp of dark green Demon Qi appeared, wriggling like a small earthworm through the air.
"Hasten!"
Fang Xi formed another magic spell, only to watch helplessly as the Demon Qi from his tracking technique turned into an arrow pointing at Xiao Qing...
After all, Xiao Qing had also unleashed Demon Qi here, so it was inevitable that a strong presence would be left behind.
"Such a strong concealment technique..."
Seeing this, Fang Xi’s expression grew even grimmer, "This Monster, disguised as me, must not be left as a hidden danger!"
He carefully inspected the surroundings, then suddenly slapped his Storage Bag.
An exquisitely designed mirror emerged, casting down strands of silver-white Radiance.
"This ’Demons’ Mirror’ I’ve just exchanged for, I didn’t expect it to be immediately useful."
Fang Xi muttered to himself, thinking inwardly.
He had slain a Transformed Great Demon outside Tianwei City, gaining a massive amount of battle merit, and after declining the enthusiastic pleas of the high-ups from the East Eight Domains to stay, he exchanged his battle merits for many precious Secret Techniques and Treasures.
Among them was a magical treasure-level ’Demons’ Mirror’!
This mirror is most skilled at locating Demon Qi, the key being that it had not yet appeared in the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm, so it should be able to catch the enemy off guard.
Fang Xi cast a Magic Spell into the Demons’ Mirror.
Streaks of silver radiance suddenly descended, reaching up to the azure sky and down to the netherworld, frantically searching for the most minute traces of energy in the region.
Finally, Fang Xi’s eyebrows twitched as he spotted a thin strand of demon Qi entwined with dead leaves.
This wisp of Qi was incredibly faint. If it were up to him, he would likely have ignored it outright.
But now, under the illumination of the Demons’ Mirror’s radiance, it at last revealed itself.
"Although faint, its quality is exceptionally high; it’s indeed the demon Qi of a fourth-order great demon..."
Fang Xi muttered to himself and continued to employ a secret skill to track the wisp of demon Qi.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Devouring a large amount of magic power, the wisp of Qi swiftly rose and surged like a small jade snake, swimming in the void.
Fang Xi took out a compass; it appeared to be made entirely of white jade with a golden needle at its center.
A runic symbol flickered at each of the eight corners of the compass, suddenly transforming into a ripple of white jade light which gently enveloped and ingested the small jade snake.
The golden needle in the center of the compass spun wildly before finally pointing in a certain direction.
"Let’s go!"
Fang Xi took a deep breath and beckoned with his hand.
Xiao Qing immediately transformed into a streak of azure flame, flapping its wings and disappearing into the horizon...
...
With the speed of the Green Fire Luan’s flight, crossing three kingdoms was as easy as flipping one’s hand.
The numerous mountains and rivers below retreated like a scroll, and before long, Fang Xi stopped above a mundane city.
"To think it’s near here?"
As he watched the compass, he saw not far from the city there was a barren hill with what seemed to be a pond at its base, surrounded by white mist.
In the vagueness, it looked as though an array had been set up!
The sight made Fang Xi’s expression turn even more peculiar: "This creature knows to hide near a mundane city, using the human aura to conceal its demon Qi... No, wait... Normal cultivators wouldn’t bother with the mundane world for no reason..."
"Moreover... it set up an array. Although it’s only about a third-order, if it was laid by this demon, it’s quite impressive. This is a great demon capable of learning."
His heart brimmed with killing intent. He put away the Green Fire Luan and concealed his own aura to the utmost before arriving at the edge of the barren hill.
For a Nascent Soul, obliterating a third-order array was merely a trivial act.
However, to break an array without giving any warning to the monster beasts inside was a bit more troublesome.
Fortunately, Fang Xi was a fourth-order Array Master who had extensively researched this matter.
"It’s a third-order ’Sea of Clouds Mystifying Array’... with concealment and defensive capabilities. Even though it’s not fused with the earth’s energy veins, it is indeed remarkable..."
The black glint in his eyes flickered, and he had already seen through a portion of the array’s operation.
While the mortal realm lacked Spiritual Veins, if enough Spirit Stones were buried at the Array Disks and Array Eyes, an array could be established.
This great demon was extremely cautious!
Fang Xi glanced around a few times then took out several Array Flags and deployment tools from his Storage Bag, placing them at various strategic points across the array.
With utter silence, he finished modifying and infiltrating the ’Sea of Clouds Mystifying Array’.
"Done!"
Finally, holding an Array Disk in his hand, a trace of a smile emerged on Fang Xi’s face.
He approached the mist, waving his hand and casting a magic spell: "Open!"
The mist on either side automatically dispersed, revealing a small door that could fit only one person.
Fang Xi flashed through and swiftly entered...
...
At the base of the barren hill, there was a profound and icy pond.
At this moment, beside the pond, an enormous creature lay dormant.
The enormous creature was a colossal Land Mountain Turtle. Its shell was ten zhang in diameter, pitch-black, with a mountain-like protrusion upon its back.
Its head was curled within its shell, its breath heavy and deep, with two streams of verdant demon Qi being continuously inhaled and exhaled...
Suddenly!
The beast, as if startled, shot out its four massive legs from within its shell like soaring pillars, supporting its weighty body.
Boom, boom, boom!
Countless fragments of rock and moss tumbled from the mountain on its back; extending from the front of its shell, an enormous head emerged, with majestic horns resembling that of a Flood Dragon.
"Who is it... who dares disturb my slumber?"
From the head akin to that of a Flood Dragon, a muffled voice resonated, a tremendous surge of demon Qi shot up into the sky, along with a sweep of Divine Consciousness in every direction.
"Strange... you were actually startled?"
A flicker of black light, and Fang Xi appeared from the void: "Logically, while breaking the array, I should not have left any flaws..."
"Lord Dragon Fish?!"
The gigantic fourth-order turtle raised its head, thundering loudly: "Right after that little azure bird left, I deduced you would eventually come knocking... The reason you were discovered is also simple. The array here is but a mere blind, while within the earth itself, a special demon insect I concocted lies hidden..."
"So that’s it..."
Fang Xi lamented.
This fourth-order ’Land Mountain Turtle’ was indeed sly enough to not flee back to the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range but randomly picked an obscure wild area to hide.
With its ability of ’Turtle Breath’ combined with the array’s concealment, if Fang Xi carelessly went to the mountain range, he might very well find his own home plundered!