Chapter 428: Crystal Flame Shrimp

“Friend Ye, we’ve heard that your demon-hunting team is quite well-known in the Coral Sea area. How is it that only six of you are left?” Wang Ruyan asked curiously.

Ye Lang sighed and explained with a wry smile, “To be honest, Madam Wang, our team originally had seventeen members. But we had bad luck and encountered a flock of demonic birds, led by a third-tier demonic bird. We had no choice but to scatter and flee for our lives. Nine of our companions are missing, and two were severely injured and haven’t recovered yet.”

Wang Changsheng frowned and asked, “A third-tier demonic bird? Are there third-tier demonic birds in the Coral Sea area?”

In the human territories of the Eastern Barrens, some areas are specifically reserved for demonic beasts to breed, allowing cultivators to hunt them for resources. Generally, the chances of encountering a third-tier demonic beast in these areas are extremely low. It was incredibly unfortunate that Ye Lang’s demon-hunting team ran into a third-tier demonic bird.

Ye Lang gave Wang Changsheng a strange look and said meaningfully, “Friend Wang, you’re not a local cultivator, are you? Not to mention third-tier demonic birds, even fourth-tier ones have appeared here. However, the probability of fourth-tier demonic birds appearing in the Coral Sea is still quite low; the last time was hundreds of years ago. As for third-tier demonic birds and beasts, people encounter them from time to time. Of course, compared to other sea areas, the chances of third-tier demonic birds and beasts appearing in the Coral Sea are still relatively low.”

“If you encounter a third-tier demonic beast or bird, you can only resign yourself to fate,” Qin Ming said with a wry smile.

“Friend Wang, we are preparing to hunt Crystallized Flame Shrimp and will depart in a few days. What do you think?” Ye Lang’s words were sincere. Wang Changsheng and his wife had just joined and might not be willing to hunt demonic beasts so soon.

“No problem, we’ll follow whatever the captain says,” Wang Changsheng agreed without hesitation. Ye Lang and his group were only at the Foundation Establishment stage; he figured they couldn’t cause any trouble.

“Excellent! With Friend Wang joining us, this trip is sure to be fruitful. So it’s settled, we’ll depart the day after tomorrow and gather here.” Wang Changsheng didn’t object and readily agreed.

Two days later, Wang Changsheng and the other seven gathered at the entrance of the teahouse and headed straight out of the market.

Outside the market, Ye Lang released a palm-sized red flying boat. It expanded dozens of times its size and hovered before them.

“A high-grade flying artifact! Are all rogue cultivators in the South Sea so wealthy?” Wang Changsheng secretly nodded. He had underestimated the rogue cultivators of the South Sea. In the Eastern Barrens, a rogue cultivator having a low-grade flying artifact was considered good, and a Foundation Establishment Layer 8 rogue cultivator was quite rare.

Everyone boarded the red flying boat. Ye Lang cast a spell, and the red flying boat carried them into the sky.

Two months later, the red flying boat landed on a somewhat desolate small island.

The island’s terrain was higher in the south and lower in the north. There wasn’t a single demonic beast on the island, but Wang Changsheng noticed a first-tier high-grade spirit vein several miles long.

In the Eastern Barrens, places with spirit veins almost always had cultivators present; empty spirit veins were rare. This was unlike the South Sea, which had numerous islands, many of which were unoccupied, including some lacking spirit veins.

Of course, just because an island was unoccupied didn’t mean anyone could claim it. Strictly speaking, the first-tier high-grade spirit vein on this island was private property of the Four Seas Sect. It was simply that the island had no demonic beast resources, so the Four Seas Sect hadn’t sent anyone to occupy it. There were many such islands in the South Sea.

According to Wang Mingren, Spirit Turtle Island was an island leased by the Taiyi Immortal Sect. It would be great if the Wang family could lease an island.

The Four Seas Sect was the ruler of the Coral Sea area; all islands in the Coral Sea belonged to them. The Four Seas Sect’s heritage was even older than that of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, boasting profound foundations.

If not for this, the Taiyi Immortal Sect would have long since expanded its territory in the South Sea, instead of leasing islands from the Four Seas Sect.

“Friend Ye, are the Crystallized Flame Shrimp you mentioned here? I don’t seem to see any demonic beasts!” Wang Ruyan asked curiously. The island was so desolate; there was no trace of demonic beasts at all.

“Crystallized Flame Shrimp spend most of their time living on the seabed, but periodically, they come out to sunbathe. There’s some Crystallized Flame Shrimp droppings on the beach, which proves they’ve visited this island, so the chances of finding them here are quite high,” Ye Lang explained with a smile.

Wang Ruyan looked towards the beach but didn’t find any droppings, a hint of confusion appearing in her beautiful eyes.

Qin Ming smiled slightly and explained, “To prevent others from getting ahead of us, after we discovered Crystallized Flame Shrimp had been here, we deliberately used magic to conceal their droppings.”

Ye Lang took out two white command flags and handed them to Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, saying, “Friend Wang, we will set up a trap later to lure the Crystallized Flame Shrimp into the formation. You just need to follow orders.”

Wang Changsheng nodded in agreement. He had thought they would have to fight the demonic beasts head-on! Rogue cultivators in the South Sea were truly generous, buying formation tools to hunt demonic beasts.

Qin Ming took out two green fruits and poured some light-green liquid onto them. The green liquid emitted a fishy, foul smell that Wang Changsheng could detect from afar.

With the green fruits as the center, Ye Lang and the other six buried the formation flags and plates under the sand.

“Everyone, conceal your auras. When the Crystallized Flame Shrimp smell this scent, they’ll come over very quickly,” Ye Lang instructed. He took out a white command flag, infused it with spiritual power, and the flag expanded more than ten times in size. With a gentle wave, a large expanse of thick white mist flew out from the flag’s surface, shrouding everyone’s figures.

Time passed slowly, but there was no sign of the Crystallized Flame Shrimp. The area remained calm.

Ye Lang was very patient, waiting carefully. He whispered, “Friend Wang, hunting demonic beasts is all about patience. If your luck is bad, it’s possible to wait for ten days or half a month.”

Wang Changsheng nodded, saying nothing.

Three hours later, with a loud “splash,” a massive red shrimp emerged from the sea, followed by a second, then a third…

There were a total of thirteen Crystallized Flame Shrimp, mostly second-tier. They were entirely red, about the size of a small house, and their massive pincers exuded power.

Second-tier demonic beasts haven’t awakened their intellect. Upon smelling the pungent odor emitted by the green liquid, they let out strange roars and moved towards the beach.

The thirteen Crystallized Flame Shrimp came ashore one after another. They moved extremely fast, with two first-tier Crystallized Flame Shrimp lagging behind.

The line of Crystallized Flame Shrimp was too long for the formation to trap all of them.

“Act now, don’t worry about those few first-tier Crystallized Flame Shrimp,” Ye Lang commanded softly, casting several spells onto the formation plate.

Hearing Ye Lang’s words, Wang Changsheng and the other seven immediately infused spiritual power into their respective formation flags.

A large expanse of white mist suddenly erupted from the ground, enveloping ten second-tier Crystallized Flame Shrimp.

A huge roaring sound echoed within the white mist, and faint flashes of fire could be seen.

Ye Lang continuously cast spells onto the formation plate, and the white mist intensified. A series of faint crackling and popping sounds could be heard.

Wang Changsheng squinted his eyes. He could clearly see numerous ice cones flying out from the white mist, striking the Crystallized Flame Shrimp.

The Crystallized Flame Shrimp had no idea they were trapped by a formation. Eager to escape, they continuously unleashed fire-attribute spells to attack the formation. They were caught in a trapping formation, and with eight Foundation Establishment cultivators controlling it, there was no way they could escape.

The other three Crystallized Flame Shrimp turned and fled, diving into the seabed and disappearing.

The Crystallized Flame Shrimp were at most second-tier mid-grade, with others being second-tier low-grade. Trapped by a formation controlled by eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, they had no chance of escape.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the popping sounds vanished. Ye Lang changed his spell, the white mist dispersed, and the ten Crystallized Flame Shrimp were revealed, transformed into motionless ice sculptures.

Seizing this opportunity, Ye Lang and the other seven unleashed their magical artifacts and easily chopped off the heads of the ten Crystallized Flame Shrimp.