Chapter 1951: Encountering a Demon

Golden Toad Island is a market city controlled by the Divine Weapon Sect. It's quite far from Mystic Moon Island, making direct teleportation impossible. Our Zhenhai Palace has some industries on Golden Toad Island, and we are responsible for transporting artifact-refining materials there. Besides the five of us, there will be over twenty Nascent Soul cultivators. As long as we don't encounter any sixth-tier demonic beasts, there shouldn't be any problems."

Sun Wu slowly explained that cultivation resources are abundant in the sea. Not only are there sixth-tier demonic beasts, but even seventh-tier ones have been sighted; it's just that beasts above the sixth tier are relatively rare. Wang Changsheng then asked, "Sister Sun, have you ever encountered a sixth-tier demonic beast?"

Wang Changsheng pressed, noting that Zhenhai Palace dispatching Soul Transformation cultivators to lead the team clearly indicated the cargo wasn't particularly important. "We have carried out ten escort missions," Sun Wu replied. "Once, we encountered a sixth-tier demonic beast and suffered heavy losses. But you don't need to worry; the chance of encountering demonic beasts above the sixth tier is relatively low here. This isn't the deep sea. Whenever a sixth-tier demonic beast appears in human-controlled territory, Void Refinement cultivators quickly move to encircle and suppress it. However, we still cannot be careless; there are still many dangers."

"Some fifth-tier demonic beasts possess powerful innate abilities and even appear in groups. A caravan from the Feiyun Merchant Association once encountered a group of fifth-tier Ape Vultures, and only one person escaped. Besides demonic beasts, Sky-winds and beast tides are also major disasters. As long as we don't encounter a large-scale Sky-wind, it won't cause significant harm to our Soul Transformation cultivators. As for beast tides, their threat entirely depends on their scale. In our human-controlled territory, the probability of a large-scale beast tide breaking out is very low. Even if one does occur, it will be intercepted on the outskirts of human-controlled territory."

Chen Xin slowly introduced, stating that relatively speaking, this task was quite easy, though time-consuming. He explained that both merchant associations and merchant alliances are commercial organizations, differing primarily in scale. Merchant associations are smaller, with limited operating ranges, and often only require Core Formation cultivators to oversee them; the cultivation resources they gather are limited. Merchant alliances, on the other hand, are much larger, with vast operating ranges, and require at least Body Integration cultivators to maintain order. There is no upper limit to the cultivation resources they collect, and some major alliances even sell treasures needed by Mahayana cultivators. He clarified that the Feiyun Merchant Association he spoke of was one of the top merchant associations on Mystic Moon Island, with Soul Transformation cultivators leading their material transport teams. The Feiyun Merchant Association's caravan had encountered a group of fifth-tier demonic birds, resulting in multiple Soul Transformation cultivators being killed or wounded. Their vitality was severely impacted, and they hadn't yet recovered their strength, causing a definite impact on their business.

"We have formulated five routes and nine contingency plans in total, which I will now explain to you," Lu Guanghong said, detailing their strategy. In his view, safety was paramount, leaving no room for chance. Chen Xin largely agreed with Lu Guanghong, emphasizing that while the mission could fail, preserving their lives was most important, especially since they weren't escorting anything particularly rare.

Over an hour later, Wang Changsheng, Wang Ruyan, Sun Wu, and Lu Guanghong took their leave, personally escorted by Chen Xin. "Junior Brother Lu, Junior Brother Wang, it's settled then," Chen Xin said, cupping his fists. "We'll depart in three days." The four of them unanimously agreed and returned to their respective residences.

Back at their residence, Wang Changsheng took out a light blue beast hide. It was a sea map, detailing the situation within a three-billion-mile radius. Most of the territory controlled by Zhenhai Palace was in the sea, with only a small portion inland. They carefully examined the sea map, memorizing all critical locations to facilitate escape in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Three days passed quickly. At dawn, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan stood at the entrance of the teleportation hall, joined by Lu Guanghong. More than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators stood respectfully to the side. After a while, Chen Xin and Sun Wu appeared simultaneously and walked over. "Let's go! It's time to depart!" Chen Xin announced. After counting the number of people and confirming everything was correct, he waved his sleeve and walked towards the teleportation hall.

They stood on a teleportation formation over a hundred zhang wide. Chen Xin channeled a spell art into it, and a dazzling burst of light flared up, engulfing their figures. After a slight dizzy spell, Wang Changsheng found themselves in a spacious and brightly lit azure palace. Inside the palace were more than ten teleportation formations of varying sizes, most of which were dormant.

Stepping out of the main hall, Chen Xin flicked his sleeve, and a small, shimmering azure boat flew out. He channeled a spell art into it, and the azure boat instantly expanded to over a hundred zhang in length, its runes flashing; it was clearly a flying spirit treasure. They successively boarded the azure flying boat. Chen Xin channeled another spell art, and the boat's spiritual light greatly intensified, transforming into a long azure rainbow that soared into the sky. Before long, the azure rainbow vanished into the horizon.

Half a year later, they found themselves in a vast, pitch-black sea area where the water was black and stretched endlessly. The sky was also gray, creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. Fierce winds raged, stirring up colossal waves that crashed with thunderous roars. In the distant sky, a dazzling azure light suddenly appeared, moving at incredible speed. After a moment, the light stopped above a desolate island, its escape light receding to reveal a pale azure flying boat. Wang Changsheng and over twenty other cultivators stood upon it.

Along the way, they had encountered numerous demonic beasts, but their ranks were not very high, and they were quickly dispatched. In the distant sky, dozens of thick water columns suddenly appeared, blotting out the sky. Towering waves crashed, accompanied by immense tsunami roars. Swirls appeared on the sea surface, growing larger and larger, as water columns shot skyward like colossal pillars, piercing the sea and connecting heaven and earth.

"Something is wrong; it seems there's a Sky-wind," Chen Xin said, frowning. Sky-winds appear and disappear quickly; large ones can kill Void Refinement cultivators, while small ones can be weathered by Nascent Soul cultivators. "Let's make a detour immediately!" Lu Guanghong suggested. "We should avoid the Sky-wind if we can."

Chen Xin nodded. They had already considered this situation and made contingency plans. He formed a spell seal, and the azure flying boat's escape light immediately intensified, soaring in another direction.

Just as they flew ten thousand miles, the sea surface suddenly exploded, unleashing a colossal wave over a thousand zhang high. It stood like a black ribbon, blocking their path. "Be careful of the seafloor; there's a fifth-tier demonic beast," Wang Changsheng warned, his expression grim. This was his first mission, and many things he had only heard of but never seen in person, so he dared not be careless.

A harsh roar echoed as countless black water arrows shot out from the seafloor. Simultaneously, three colossal whirlpools appeared on the sea surface, rapidly rotating and generating three powerful currents that caused the void to tremble and distort. Sun Wu flipped her right hand, and a blue light flashed, revealing a misty blue conch in her hand. She gently blew into it, and a deep horn sound echoed as a hazy blue sound wave swept out. Wherever it passed, the black water arrows completely dissipated. Seizing this opportunity, the azure flying boat's escape light suddenly intensified, accelerating its speed.

Just then, a sharp roar came from the seafloor, and hundreds of thick black tentacles emerged, striking towards the azure flying boat like sharp swords. Four colossal, entirely black octopuses surfaced, resembling four majestic black mountains lying horizontally on the sea, each with only one enormous eyeball on its body. Lu Guanghong snorted softly and flipped his hand, producing a shimmering red banner embroidered with a miniature red shark. He gently waved it, and the miniature shark seemed to come alive, letting out a sharp roar as raging flames swept out to meet the hundreds of thick black tentacles.