Chapter 112: Hungry Blood Refiner

Within and beyond Wanggu Continent, on its countless islands and numerous forbidden zones, a vast number of strange races exist. The Sea-Corpse Race is one of them.

This race resides at the edge of a forbidden zone on the Endless Sea. Originally, the Sea-Corpse Race did not exist in this world countless eons ago, before the arrival of the Divine Remnant. The deity's arrival and the permeation of its aura altered the course of all things. Some races vanished from history, others struggled to survive, and at the same time, new races were born. The Sea-Corpse Race was one of these newly formed races.

This race is peculiar; they can directly absorb heterogeneous matter to survive and inherently lack the ability to reproduce. Their growth and increase in numbers are achieved through a unique method: conversion. It involves marking the deceased of various races and resurrecting them using the Sea-Corpse Race's specific method.

Corpses resurrected after being marked have incomplete memories of their past lives, as if they are different people. Their personalities become extremely violent, cruel, and bloodthirsty. Their entire bodies emit a dense heterogeneous aura, making them unwelcome in the world, while a summons from the Sea-Corpse Race echoes in their minds. This summons guides them to the Sea-Corpse Race's territory, where they become members of the race and cultivate its unique techniques. This process gradually restores their sanity and makes them continuously stronger. However, the race's inherent nature makes them more ruthless and indifferent to their past lives the more they cultivate.

Furthermore, the higher their cultivation in life, the stronger their combat power after conversion. However, conversion has many limitations, and its success rate is not very high. Thus, this race has not become a major threat to other races, and for some special reasons, they have been allowed to exist. Over multiple eons, the Sea-Corpse Race discovered that the success rate of converting human cultivators' corpses is relatively higher. Therefore, the Sea-Corpse Race has focused its efforts on humans.

Since the Seven Blood Eyes sect is located in South Phoenix Continent, not far from the Sea-Corpse Race's territory, their mutual animosity has intensified, leading to wars breaking out periodically. Now, leveraging the events at Mermaid Island, the Sea-Corpse Race army has arrived with a mighty roar. As the vortex expands, a thousand-zhang gigantic crocodile inside it roars ferociously, stepping through the void, its body already halfway out. Several figures stood atop its head, each enveloped in black mist, a manifestation of dense heterogeneous matter. Shrouded by this black mist, their appearances were obscured; only their red eyes within the mist and cultivation fluctuations seemingly no weaker than the Mermaid Race Ancestor could be discerned.

Noticing the arrival of the Sea-Corpse Race, the Mermaid Race Ancestor burst into laughter. "Zheng Kaiyi, I'd like to see what other tricks your sect has up its sleeve!"

"Then watch closely," Seventh Granduncle said, standing in mid-air with a normal expression. He took out an ordinary jade slip and tossed it towards the approaching Sea-Corpse Race, who were appearing menacingly, brimming with endless malevolence and heterogeneous matter. The jade slip floated lightly forward, and before it reached the Sea-Corpse Race army, it crumbled and shattered on its own.

The moment it shattered, the sky rumbled as if countless muffled thunders exploded simultaneously. This caused the entire firmament to indent, and cracks formed across the sky. These cracks snaked like dragons, tearing violently across the sky. From afar, it looked as if an invisible brush was painting on the firmament. Soon, these cracks connected, vividly outlining a colossal figure in the firmament! It was the figure of an old man!

He seemed to merge with the sky, his face expressionless as he gazed upon the living beings below. Under his gaze, the ocean stirred with unprecedented waves. Within ten thousand miles of sea, all underwater beings hid, and all sea beasts trembled. The Mermaid Ancestor, swept by his gaze, immediately spat out blood. His eyes showed extreme shock and terror, and his body trembled uncontrollably, causing him to directly kneel.

Under his gaze, the thousand-zhang gigantic crocodile, halfway out of the vortex, instantly wailed. Its body seemed to accelerate its decay, yet it dared not move an inch. The several powerful Sea-Corpse Race figures atop its head also violently vibrated with heterogeneous matter in that instant, their bodies trembling immensely. They all spat out blood, their minds greatly altered. Many among their army behind them directly disintegrated and exploded.

"Greetings, Ancestor!" Seventh Granduncle took a deep breath and respectfully bowed to the old man's figure formed by the sky cracks. All the other elders and Foundation Establishment cultivators around him did the same, bowing their heads and loudly paying their respects.

The moment they paid their respects, the Seven Blood Eyes Ancestor in the firmament suddenly swayed. Instantly, the countless cracks forming his body seemed to detach from the sky, becoming vibrant red threads as if alive. They whistled in clusters, surging towards the chaotic Sea-Corpse Race. As the expressions of the Sea-Corpse cultivators greatly changed, these red threads swiftly enveloped them, touching them in an instant. Everything in their path was pierced through, and the moment they were pierced, they seemed to be swallowed, causing all Sea-Corpse members to wither directly.

In an instant, the thousand-zhang gigantic crocodile's body directly disintegrated, and the several Sea-Corpse Race experts atop its head all withered and perished. As for the army behind them, they could not escape this calamity either; all of them vanished into dust and ashes as the red threads arrived. The slaughter of the army happened in a blink. The next instant, these red threads, without any pause, swept with terrifying fluctuations directly towards the vortex from which the Sea-Corpse Race emerged. It seemed this was his true target!

The vortex tried to close, but it was too late. The moment it was about to shut, countless red threads, filled with greed and madness, surged in instantly. The next moment, the vortex vanished, but one could imagine that the other side of the vortex must be extremely tragic at this moment!

The sky, now clear with the disappearance of the vortex and black lines, and the sea, its waves restored, made it seem as if nothing had happened. Only the withered corpses of the deceased Sea-Corpse cultivators, raining down onto the sea surface, were a shocking sight.

"How was that?" Seventh Granduncle looked up at the Mermaid Ancestor, who was kneeling beside him, trembling all over.

"He... he broke through... The Seven Blood Eyes Ancestor, Bloodfiend Son... he broke through! Zheng Kaiyi, your Seven Blood Eyes' target isn't my Mermaid Race, your target is the Sea-Corpse Race!!" Despair filled the Mermaid Ancestor's eyes, his spirit completely shattered. A Sea-Corpse cultivator nearby, also enveloped by water droplets, felt his entire body as if melting. His previously indifferent expression was now replaced by fear.

"You're not entirely foolish. A mere Mermaid Race doesn't require much effort from my sect. It's just that the Ancestor is very hungry after breaking through, so we merely used you to bait the Sea-Corpse Race," Seventh Granduncle said with a smile. "We should also thank your race for attracting the Sea-Corpse Race, making them proactively open the door for the Ancestor the moment he broke through and felt immensely hungry. Now, the Grand Competition continues." He gathered the Mermaid Ancestor and the captured Sea-Corpse cultivator, stepped onto a large winged beast, and sat there, looking perfectly at ease.

As for the battleground below, he did not force himself to observe. Since it was meant to be a 'gu' cultivation, adding some sense of crisis was naturally good. He didn't care how tragic it was inside. "Those wolf cubs are probably just there to get rich; there's nothing much to see."

Meanwhile, on Juzhou Island, one of the four islands below, Xu Qing, who was rapidly approaching the Foundation Establishment Pagoda within the Fishbone City, suddenly looked up. He couldn't see what was happening outside; to him, the entire sky was dark. That was the Mermaid Race Ancestor's formation, dissolving the Seven Blood Eyes' Purple Sea. As it dissolved, the suppressing power also began to loosen, causing Xu Qing's eyes to narrow.

"I need to speed up!" Xu Qing immediately took out a flying talisman, affixed it to himself, and his speed instantly surged. He transformed into a long rainbow, heading directly towards the Foundation Establishment Pagoda ahead. The entire process took just over thirty breaths, and he was already close, seeing over seventy Mermaid Race cultivators surrounding the Foundation Establishment Pagoda. Xu Qing looked up at the ten-zhang-high Foundation Establishment Pagoda ahead. Clearly, these cultivators were protecting someone inside the pagoda, indicating that the cultivator within was of no ordinary status.

There were also seven or eight Seven Blood Eyes disciples here, all aiming for the Spirit Breath Lamp, after all, it was worth 500,000 spirit stones. They were clashing amongst themselves, and there were many corpses on the ground, including both Seven Blood Eyes disciples and Mermaid Race members. A bloody scent permeated the area. Those unaccustomed to it would vomit, but those adapted would instinctively become bloodthirsty.

Xu Qing's lightning-fast approach immediately caught the attention of both warring factions here. But before they could get a clear look, Xu Qing, boosted by the flying talisman and his own speed, became a blur, soaring through the air directly towards the top of the Foundation Establishment Pagoda, which housed the Juzhou divine statue. Just then, angry roars erupted from all directions. Dozens of Mermaid Race cultivators, guarding the Foundation Establishment Pagoda and not participating in the general battle, rapidly moved to intercept him.

Among them was one whose cultivation appeared to be at the Great Circle of Qi Condensation, but was actually considerably higher, clearly having once been a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He glared angrily at Xu Qing, and with a hand seal, he violently waved his right hand. Instantly, a phantom mermaid figure, holding a trident, manifested behind him. It was entirely black, looking savage and ferocious, and charged fiercely towards Xu Qing. Simultaneously, other Mermaid Race techniques formed, arriving from all directions towards Xu Qing.

In addition, the surrounding Seven Blood Eyes disciples, their eyes gleaming with cold intent, suddenly used their respective trump cards, rushing rapidly towards the top of the Foundation Establishment Pagoda. Clearly, they aimed to take advantage of Xu Qing distracting the Mermaid Race to seize the sacred object.

Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with a cold light. The moment he arrived, he had already decided that he would kill anyone who tried to contend with him this time. Thus, he suddenly waved his hand, and light instantly shone above his head. As dark light spread, his Dharma Boat directly manifested. The appearance of the several-dozen-zhang Dharma Boat was astonishing, especially its floating posture, which clearly distinguished it from the Dharma Boats of other disciples. Moreover, the moment it appeared, as Xu Qing performed a hand seal, the four legs of this crocodile-turtle-like Dharma Boat suddenly descended. With creaking sounds, tens of thousands of sharp iron shards, carrying violent force, transformed into a storm and erupted outwards in all directions.

The storm roared, rising sky-high. Wherever it passed, all Mermaid Race cultivators screamed in agony, their bodies directly torn into pieces. Even the former Foundation Establishment Mermaid Race member changed his expression drastically, showing terror and rapidly retreating, but he was still caught in the iron shard storm. Amidst the bloody mess, his screams became even more miserable. He turned into a bloodied figure, then was caught by a dagger moving at an astonishing speed, which pierced directly through his neck, instantly ending his life. The same happened to the Seven Blood Eyes disciples who intended to seize the treasure. From the moment they decided to compete with Xu Qing, he had no intention of holding back. Now, as the storm swept through, there were corpses everywhere, and no one was left alive outside the pagoda.

Xu Qing's body did not pause at all; he surged forward, heading directly for the top of the Foundation Establishment Pagoda, approaching it in an instant. Through an opening here, he saw a young Mermaid Race member sitting cross-legged in meditation inside, and beside him, a lamp. The lamp resembled a black umbrella, opened and inverted, with its handle serving as the wick. It looked quite peculiar. Its dim yellow light now enveloped the young Mermaid Race member, providing him protection.