Chapter 1371: Ten Thousand Miles of Pursuit and Killing

Rain hitting bluestone: ............

A small fox lay sprawled on the back of a one-legged divine bird. The bird’s bloody aura could not contaminate the small fox. Its fur was pure white, and it was delicate and lovely, truly beautiful to behold. Yet, its aura was not as cute and frail as its appearance suggested; it was surprisingly a formidable transformed demon king!

However, one of the small fox’s hind legs was covered in blood, dangling limply. From its torn flesh, tendrils of black energy twisted and writhed, like a persistent gangrene, proving difficult to remove. The small creature, fox-like in form but only the size of a mouse, extended its two front paws, gripping the divine bird’s feathers tightly. It also stared at the blue light, its round eyes filled with anger.

Another streak of black light landed behind them. Its appearance was even more grotesque and ugly than the one-legged divine bird's. Its upper body was that of a fish, with a fish head and body covered in black scales, while its lower body had two frog legs. When flying, it propelled itself forward in leaps, appearing somewhat comical.

The Frog-Fish’s speed was not slow, but it was significantly inferior to the blue light and the one-legged divine bird, quickly falling behind. It bared its fangs, let out a scream, and leaped into the sea.

A splash!

Water scattered.

The Frog-Fish was like a fish in water. Below the surface, a black shadow appeared, surging up and down, its speed rapidly increasing as it pursued.

Eventually, the three streaks of light vanished into the distance. From the north, a faint blood-red hue drifted. The blood color grew thicker, and blood flowed with the seawater, indicating countless deaths. Gradually, fragments of large ships began to drift by. The most striking piece was a lifelike golden dragon head carving. It must have once been a dragon ship, now utterly shattered!

The one fleeing as a blue light was Qin Sang. He felt the tremendous demonic aura behind him. Qin Sang glanced back at his relentless pursuers, secretly cursing his bad luck.

By now, he had already passed through the storm belt and reached the Three Northern Seas. The journey had been relatively smooth, with more scares than actual danger. The Moon-Gazing Rhino's senses showed no signs of weakening. However, the storm belt was wider than he had anticipated, and the energy consumption during the journey far exceeded his estimates; even with Qin Sang's current cultivation, it was almost overwhelming. As he hadn't found a safe resting place along the way, he could only summon his Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet to help him withstand the elements during lulls in the storm, seizing every second to recover. Even though Qin Sang was well-prepared, by the time he broke through the storm belt, his true essence was largely depleted.

Flying out of the storm, Qin Sang let out a sigh of relief, muttering, "That was close." He realized coming here right after breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage was still too demanding.

Upon arriving in this new place, Qin Sang intended to find a spot to recover first. However, this area was unexpectedly similar to the one he had just left; he searched carefully for half a day but found no safe haven. During his search, Qin Sang encountered a dragon ship. The dragon ship was enormous. Even in the Canglang Sea, a ship of this size was extremely rare.

What was even more surprising was that the dragon ship was heavily fortified with prohibitions and spirit formations, and remarkably, there were Core Formation stage cultivators on board. Qin Sang concealed his true cultivation, disguised himself as a rogue cultivator, and upon inquiry, learned that this sea area was extremely chaotic, frequently haunted by great demons, making it very unsafe; even Core Formation cultivators had to travel in groups. The language spoken by these people was consistent with that of the Beichen Realm, which Qin Sang had become accustomed to.

Knowing that it was not advisable to stay long, Qin Sang decided not to linger. He paid spirit stones to rent a quiet room, planning to meditate on board and quickly recover. Unexpectedly, while Qin Sang was in meditation, the dragon ship was suddenly attacked! There had been no prior warning. The dragon ship's protective spirit formation proved entirely useless, being breached and broken in half on the spot!

Only then did the people on board discover in terror that three figures had appeared out of thin air in mid-air, openly displaying their demonic aura—they were all transformed demon kings! The Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet, ordered to protect Qin Sang, immediately counterattacked. By the time Qin Sang was startled awake, he had already been exposed.

At this point, it was too late to try his old trick of masquerading as a demon king. However, even if the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet hadn't acted, it would likely have been difficult to deceive them. His previous successes in deceiving demon kings had always been due to other contributing factors; his opponents had been prejudiced and wouldn't suspect him. But Qin Sang was new to the Three Northern Seas and completely unfamiliar with the demon race there, making it easy for him to show his true colors and be exposed by his opponents. Furthermore, demon kings might not show mercy to unfamiliar, solitary members of their own race. Qin Sang's weakened state could not be concealed; it would not escape their notice.

The three demon kings seemed to be passing by, casually destroying the human dragon ship upon seeing it. They hadn't expected to catch such a big fish, and their eyes lit up. Ignoring the lower-level cultivators, they all focused on Qin Sang. At this moment, Qin Sang's true essence had only recovered by thirty percent, and he dared not engage them in prolonged combat. If there had been only one demon king, Qin Sang, with the assistance of his Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet, would not only have been fearless but might even have had a chance to kill his opponent. However, there were three enemies, and particularly the one-legged divine bird, whose cultivation was even stronger than the Snake King's. The Frog-Fish's cultivation was also at the peak of the early transformed stage, and its divine ability was very peculiar. Qin Sang estimated that it would be difficult to kill it unless he launched a sword array or demon banner at close range, catching it by surprise.

Upon waking and seeing this situation, Qin Sang wasted no time, unhesitantly casting the Thunder Manipulation Art. Heavenly lightning struck simultaneously, and the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet seized the opportunity to attack, indeed injuring the small fox. But immediately after, the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet was forced to retreat. Fortunately, Qin Sang had no intention of killing them; he only wanted to buy time. The three demon kings appeared to be very familiar with each other, coordinating with exceptional synergy.

As soon as the Thunder Manipulation Art was unleashed, the one-legged divine bird immediately manifested its demonic form, a towering aura of scarlet blood rising from it. Instead of attacking Qin Sang, it turned and lunged at its companion, opening its mouth to spew a beam of blood-light towards the heavenly lightning. It had not anticipated the Thunder Manipulation Art's immense power; the blood-light clashed with the heavenly lightning and was scattered by it. The residual power of the Thunder Manipulation Art violently struck the small fox, who had the weakest cultivation.

Like the one-legged divine bird, the Frog-Fish's first choice was to save its companion. It puffed out its mouth and spat a ball of green light. This green light, like a viscous liquid, instantly spread across the void. Unprepared, the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet was contaminated by the green light, its movements immediately becoming sluggish and much slower. Had Qin Sang not promptly ordered the puppet to retreat and break free from the green light, it might have been encircled by the enemies.

"Indeed," Qin Sang mused bitterly, "not all places are like the Beichen Realm, where humans and demons coexist peacefully. Even in the Beichen Realm, there are inevitably grudges and mutual suspicions among different races." Qin Sang let out a silent, bitter laugh. "I wonder how rampant the demon race is in the Three Northern Seas, to encounter so many demon kings at once! I haven't heard that this place is a demon stronghold..."

He felt some regret. After boarding the ship, he had been too eager to recover and hadn't thoroughly inquired about the situation in the Three Northern Seas from the fellow cultivators. However, they were at most Core Formation cultivators, so they probably wouldn't have been able to explain it clearly anyway. Fortunately, he had bought a sea map from the ship owner and knew that continuing forward would lead to land, which was human territory. Even if all three demon kings pursued him together, they wouldn't dare chase him onto land.