Chapter 545: Chapter 543: Sea Split Beast (Extra updates request for monthly votes)_1
"Ends of the Earth Ocean Pavilion has always valued customer confidentiality as its top priority. How could it be like this..."
Lord Qingxiao, with his myriad stratagems, immediately thought of the mastermind behind the scenes, "This must be due to pressure from Penglai Fairy Island, and it must be from some important person there... This matter may involve a power struggle within Penglai Fairy Island. Brother, we can’t do this. There are plenty of other places to find opportunities for sister’s Infant Condensing, I’m even willing to brave the Vast Sea Secret Realm with brother... But getting involved in an internal conflict of the Transcendent God sect could be disastrous with just a slight misstep, and it could be the end of the Nine Dragons Sect!"
"Fortune favors the bold. If we can make connections with Penglai Fairy Island through this, the future benefits will be abundant."
Master Red Dragon’s face turned fiercely grim in an instant, "Besides... if we don’t do it now, I’m afraid we would offend that faction anyway. Our fate would not be much better; at the very least, we’d have to abandon our foundations and start over as cultivation-robbers..."
Lord Qingxiao was left speechless.
Even Yuan Ying True Monarchs encountered many situations that left them helpless, which is why many cultivators devoted themselves to cultivation, striving to break through to higher realms, in order to truly take control of their own destiny!
"Since we have to do it, we must do it flawlessly..."
He sighed, murmuring, "Brother’s plan is not bad, using that Sea Split Beast nest as leverage, perhaps we could eliminate that person without anyone noticing our involvement... I just wonder how Cloud Minzi is so willing to cooperate with brother’s plan?"
The Three Talisman Hall would continue its steady progress, and if Cloud Minzi adamantly refused to leave Yingzhou Island, there would actually be no need to scheme against others so treacherously.
"Hehe, with such an old cultivator, naturally the most important thing is the continuation of his family lineage. I captured his entire family and placed restrictions on them; naturally, he wouldn’t dare to disobey."
Master Red Dragon proudly explained, "To earn that person’s trust, I even specifically gave him a leaf from the Crystal Thought Fruit Tree you acquired back in the day..."
"So the reason brother asked me for that item before was for this use?"
Qingxiao’s face suddenly showed a look of alarm as he recalled something, "Back when we roamed the Eastern Sea freely, we never imagined that upon discovering that beast’s lair, we would immediately lose our third and fourth brothers... That Sea Split Beast was already at the fourth rank middle grade at the time; even members of the Monster Clan descending from the Higher Realm lived well, I’m afraid its power is now even more unfathomable..."
"Exactly, even if Yun Jiezi hid his cultivation levels or even possessed life-saving secret skills, and managed to survive, he would still suffer a great loss. Then, it will be time to beat the dog in the water."
Master Red Dragon smiled as he explained his plan.
As for Cloud Minzi’s fate? It wasn’t of any concern to him at all.
...
Whoosh!
A Spirit Boat sliced through the waves like the wing on the wind, at an extremely fast speed.
Fang Xi stood on the deck, occasionally pouring himself a drink of Spirit Wine.
"What an elegant hobby, senior!"
Cloud Minzi, standing beside him with a face full of respect, said, "At this speed, it won’t take more than fifteen days on this Spirit Boat to reach the ’Red Coral Strait’, and the Sea Split Beast’s lair is deep in the strait!"
The Red Coral Strait was teeming with Monster beasts, and there were even cultivators who specialized in hunting them for a living.
Rumors told of a fourth-rank Transformed Great Demon deep within the strait!
"Hmm!"
Fang Xi casually took another sip of Spirit Wine, humming noncommittally, eager to send this man away.
He couldn’t be bothered to make empty pleasantries with this man.
After all, the truth would become clear when they arrived.
’Perhaps, I could even try Soul Searching?’
Looking at Cloud Minzi’s retreating figure, Fang Xi’s gaze flickered.
However, the Soul Searching Skill could greatly harm a cultivator, and if the person had good intentions, one’s manners would seem rather unsightly.
Even if no one knew about it, Fang Xi never needed others’ praise or fear; he simply did not want to betray his own heart.
’Moreover... even the Soul Searching Skill is not necessarily foolproof.’
After cultivating the ’Self-transforming Demon True Skills’, given a Core Formation cultivator’s cooperation, Fang Xi was confident he could implant a few segments of tampered memories, creating a flawless cover.
Some cultivators, possessing unique secret skills and cruel enough to risk mental derangement or possession by evil, could succeed in tampering with their own Divine Souls.
’Of course, the best way would be for a Nascent Soul old demon to take action, with the Core Formation cultivator completely letting down their guard and fully cooperating... That way has the highest rate of success.’
...
Several days later.
Fang Xi, accompanied by Cloud Minzi, entered a red coral sea area.
The Red Coral Strait, they had arrived!
Without any hesitation, he commanded the Spirit Boat to delve further in.
Splash!
Out of the sea emerged several seahorse-like Monster creatures, spouting gigantic icy spears with a chilling coldness.
But soon, they were sliced apart by streaks of azure thread, their severed limbs and broken bodies falling into the sea, staining a patch of water red!
Cloud Minzi, terrified, led the way forward, guiding Fang Xi deeper into the canyon.
At that moment, Fang Xi’s Divine Consciousness stirred slightly, sensing hundreds of miles away two Nascent Soul presences were silently lying in wait, eyeing Cloud Minzi with a certain coldness.
He had confirmed that this man’s heart was dark.
His previous good intentions had been misinterpreted as threatening, and now this man had collaborated with Nascent Soul cultivators to plot against him!
’These two must have marked Cloud Minzi for tracking... previously from a thousand miles away, they clung on distantly...’
’And now, as they near the trap, they’re getting closer?’
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Fang Xi became even more cautious and vigilant.
Even as one of the top forces in the Mortal Realm, one had to beware of setbacks and avoid complacency.
"Senior..."
At that moment, Cloud Minzi’s trembling voice reached him, "We have arrived... that patch of azure fog ahead has the effect of blocking Divine Consciousness. It is a unique demon fog that could have been formed only after the Sea Split Beast had occupied the place for a long time!"
"Indeed..."
Fang Xi felt an obstruction as his Divine Consciousness entered the demon fog and couldn’t help but be somewhat astonished.
Was there really a Sea Split Beast here?
Whoosh!
The Spirit Boat didn’t hesitate and plunged into the demon fog, and it wasn’t long before a black cliff appeared.
Atop the cliff was a pitch-black cavern, and a Spirit Plant that looked like crystal grew right beside the cave entrance.
Around the cliff, there was a multitude of lower-level Monster Beasts, including bizarre fish with legs and giant lizards lying on the rock walls. In the sky, crimson Monster Birds circled and let out hoarse screeches upon seeing the Spirit Boat!
Roar!
A terrifying surge of Demon Qi burst forth from the cave, faintly reaching the upper fourth-order!
A blue Escape Light flew out, revealing the Sea Split Beast within!
Its body was three zhang long, with a head that resembled a Flood Dragon, but it had four hooves and a pair of blue wings on its back.
"Humans?!"
The Sea Split Beast let out a scream and flapped its wings, stirring up countless frenzied blue winds!
’Crystal Thought Fruit Tree? Is that really the Crystal Thought Fruit Tree?!’
Fang Xi saw that shining little tree and a hint of joy appeared on his face: ’These people are really generous... They’ve invested so heavily in staging this robbery!’
With a wave of his sleeve, two black silhouettes appeared, their limbs looking peculiar as if randomly stitched together.
Covered in scales, with horns atop their heads, they exuded a fearsome Demon Qi!
They were two late-Nascent Soul Puppet wooden figures he had cobbled together using resources from The Nine States!
"Demons?!"
The Sea Split Beast was startled and its diving form suddenly halted, seemingly wanting to flee...
Although it was an upper fourth-order beast, it had no confidence it could defeat two late-Nascent Soul members of the Demon Clan!
"Roar!"
At that moment, those two Demon Clan Puppets had already let out a fierce howl, raising waves of Demon Clouds that submerged the Sea Split Beast...
Fang Xi waved the Mountain Sea Pearl, releasing Daqing and Xiao Qing: "Keep an eye on this person, protect that fruit tree... I’ll go greet the guests behind us."
He let out a long howl and transformed into a blue streak of light, speeding towards the back.
"Daqing, watch this person!"
Xiao Qing briskly gave the order, then transformed into a stream of light and flew toward the Crystal Thought Fruit Tree.
In mid-air, the cry of an Azure Luan sounded as countless blue feather-like flames shot out, reducing the Monster Servants to ash.
"A Transformed Great Demon?!"
Cloud Minzi looked at the half-human, half-jiao Daqing before him, and his heart sank...
...
A moment before.
"That man has reached the Red Coral Strait..."
Master Red Dragon and Lord Qingxiao stood side by side, hidden within the mist emitted by a series of small flags.
The small flag was completely blue with runes that shone brightly and the fog it released could hide one’s aura and figure, a valuable treasure for concealment, and one of the means that had enabled the seven sworn siblings to wield influence in their past.
They had been following at a distance until the Red Coral Strait where the terrain was complex, and only then did they approach within a few hundred li.
"This ’Dust Lost Flag’ is truly useful..."
Lord Qingxiao had just expressed his admiration when he saw Fang Xi rush into the demon fog, and he couldn’t help but be surprised, "Why is that Nascent Soul old devil so reckless? This is bad... If he gets killed by the Sea Split Beast directly, what will happen to the ’Infant Transformation Pill’?"
Master Red Dragon was equally incredulous.
It was the first time he had seen someone rush towards a trap so eagerly, as if they couldn’t get in quickly enough!
He immediately made up his mind: "Forget it; it’s probably for the best. We’ll just go without the ’Infant Transformation Pill’... This Cloud Jiezi is courting death on his own; it has nothing to do with us, a perfectly good outcome!"
Lord Qingxiao was taken aback for a moment, but then his expression softened: "Indeed..."
Compared with getting involved in the covert struggles of Penglai Fairy Island, losing an ’Infant Transformation Pill’ was nothing serious!
Just as they were ready to head home, the demon fog ahead dissipated, and a blue light flew towards them.
The man within it was Cloud Jiezi, wearing a bamboo hat!
And his speed was terrifyingly fast, covering a hundred li in an instant!
Boom!
A terrifying wave of Magic Power reverberated, and Master Red Dragon and Lord Qingxiao were both shocked, feeling a powerful Divine Consciousness locking onto them.
"Not good!"
Master Red Dragon screamed: "Cloud Jiezi is actually a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator!?"
Without a second thought, he spat out a ’Red Dragon Bead’ spiritual treasure which transformed into a long red dragon, enveloping him and Lord Qingxiao before they frantically fled towards the offshore!
"But wait, even if he’s a great cultivator, what about that Sea Split Beast?"
Lord Qingxiao took out two Spirit Talismans, strengthening the Red Dragon Bead, increasing the speed of their escape tremendously, his expression puzzled as he muttered to himself, clearly deeply confused by the situation.