Upon hearing this, Feng Sanniang’s face twisted into a bitter smile. She brushed aside the bangs on her forehead and said slowly, “Fellow cultivators, it’s not that I didn’t want to tell you the truth, but our superiors ordered us not to reveal any information before arriving at this island. Now that we’re here, that restriction no longer applies. I’ll be honest with you: the Six United Palaces are targeting a ‘Infant Carp Beast,’ which is why we had to be so cautious.”
“An Infant Carp Beast!” Qing Suanzi and the others exclaimed, their expressions shifting dramatically.
Han Li watched coldly. Although he had no idea what an Infant Carp Beast was, their alarmed reactions told him it was no ordinary creature.
“No wonder your palace was so secretive. If it’s truly this beast, extreme caution is warranted. If other factions were to find out, who knows what chaos would ensue?” Qing Suanzi muttered in disbelief, making Han Li’s heart stir.
The Yan youth and the bald man’s expressions flickered uncertainly, clearly troubled.
Only the middle-aged scholar looked utterly displeased. He said coldly to Feng Sanniang, “Your Six United Palaces have gone too far! Everyone knows the Infant Carp Beast is a natural water-attribute spirit beast, incredibly powerful in water-based magic. If it’s a sixth-grade beast, it’s practically on par with a seventh-grade ordinary beast in the ocean. Yet you recruited me under the pretense of hunting a sixth-grade beast—were you deliberately deceiving me?” As he spoke, anger flashed across his face, as if he had been grievously wronged.
Qing Suanzi and the others had regained their composure but still wore dissatisfied expressions.
However, as lone rogue cultivators, they dared not offend the Six United Palaces outright. They remained silent, waiting to see how Feng Sanniang would respond.
“Fellow Daoist Mao, your words are unfair! How have we deceived any of you? Though the Infant Carp Beast is indeed formidable, it is unquestionably a sixth-grade beast. Should we have falsely claimed it was seventh-grade? Moreover, given that our palace offered something as precious as a Dust Fall Pill as reward, you should have guessed the target was no ordinary sixth-grade beast. Otherwise, why would we engage in such a loss-making venture?” Feng Sanniang retorted sharply, her expression darkening.
The middle-aged scholar was left speechless, unable to muster a response.
Han Li frowned inwardly. While her argument seemed reasonable on the surface, it left him uneasy. He glanced at the others, who shared his sentiment, their faces similarly displeased.
But then, Feng Sanniang suddenly smiled at Qu Hun and the others. “Of course, our primary concern was keeping the Infant Carp Beast a secret. Before coming here, I received approval from above: aside from the promised Dust Fall Pill, each of you will receive an additional one thousand spirit stones as compensation for your discretion. I hope this satisfies you, fellow cultivators.”
Hearing this, Qing Suanzi and the others gradually let go of their resentment, nodding in agreement.
The middle-aged scholar still seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but after his beautiful companion whispered something in his ear, his expression shifted, and he fell silent.
Afterward, the group dispersed across the small island, each finding a quiet spot to meditate and rest. Han Li and Qu Hun settled on a large reef by the sea, sitting cross-legged opposite each other.
Under Han Li’s deliberate instruction, Qu Hun quickly entered a state of focused recuperation. Han Li himself slowly closed his eyes, attempting to meditate.
However, after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Han Li’s eyes snapped open, his brow furrowed. He stared blankly at the surging waves, feeling inexplicably restless, as if something momentous was about to happen. The tension made it hard for him to remain calm.
After pondering for a while without finding a cause, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m being paranoid. Although my intuition is usually reliable, with two Core Formation cultivators and the ‘Six Water Escape Grand Formation’ assisting tomorrow, how could we possibly fail to capture a mere sixth-grade beast? No matter how unusual it might be, it’s still just a beast. No matter how strong, it can’t possibly defeat a group of cultivators.”
Reassuring himself thus, he tried to force himself into a meditative state. Yet, after a while, his heart remained heavy, and he couldn’t settle.
“Sigh.” Han Li stood up with a sigh. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to calm down without taking some action.
He glanced around helplessly and released his spiritual sense. Fortunately, no other cultivators were nearby.
Swiftly, he reached into his storage pouch and pulled out over a dozen faintly glowing formation flags and five or six formation disks—a complete set for the “Azure Water Armor Formation.”
Though far inferior to the “Inverted Five Elements Grand Formation” or the “Six Water Escape Grand Formation” they would deploy tomorrow, it was still much stronger than ordinary formations. Moreover, with the formation tools, setting it up was incredibly simple.
Without hesitation, he instructed Qu Hun to plant the flags and bury the disks within a several dozen zhang radius around the reef.
Watching Qu Hun busily embed each flag into the ground, Han Li felt a sense of relief. A faint, self-mocking smile touched his lips. “I really am terrified of dying.”
…
The next day, before dawn had fully broken, Feng Sanniang gathered everyone and led them flying toward a patch of ocean about ten li from the island.
Meanwhile, a thousand li away, a golden light and a yellow light streaked across the sea surface, racing toward the unnamed island.
About a li behind them, a vast patch of white mist, nearly a hundred zhang in diameter, skimmed the water’s surface, chasing at the same speed. From within the mist came the faint, eerie sound of an infant’s cry, chilling to the bone.
“Elder Miao, send a flying sword message to check if they’re ready,” a deep voice called from within the yellow light.
“Understood!” Elder Miao in the golden light replied promptly. His figure flashed as he moved into the yellow light, while the golden radiance around him transformed into a golden streak and vanished.
The white mist behind them seemed agitated by this, the infant’s cries growing sharper. The rumble of thunder began to echo from within, growing louder and louder.
“Not good! That fiend is about to use Water Aura Divine Thunder! Brother Gu, hurry!” Elder Miao’s anxious voice cried out from the yellow light, clearly fearful of the thunder.
“Don’t worry, my Mixed Origin Bowl is plenty fast!” the deep voice replied. Instantly, the yellow light accelerated, pulling further ahead of the white mist.
But the mist refused to give up. Amid the thunder and crying, it also sped up, carving a long, white wake across the sea that stretched beyond the horizon.
…
Qu Hun and the others had taken their positions at their respective formation gates, each holding a large blue flag about two zhang long, shimmering with a dazzling azure glow.
The six late Foundation Establishment cultivators stood solemnly, each floating on magical tools about a hundred zhang apart, forming a semicircular formation on the sea.
Han Li stood behind Qu Hun, watching coldly, while the young woman stood beside the middle-aged scholar, her face full of concern.
A moment later, a golden streak shot through the sky and landed in Feng Sanniang’s hand, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, be careful! The Infant Carp Beast is almost here! Once it enters the formation, seal the gates immediately!” Feng Sanniang shouted gravely, seemingly having received some message. She then released the golden light, sending it flying back into the sky.
Han Li’s heart tightened as he stared unblinkingly in the direction the golden light had vanished.
The others also tensed, their faces etched with the tension of an impending storm.
After what felt like an eternity, the distant rumble of thunder grew louder and louder. Soon, a golden and a yellow streak of light came racing from afar, with a vast expanse of white churning close behind.
“Is that the Infant Carp Beast?” Han Li could now see that the white mass was merely mist, but he couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of monstrous form lay hidden within.
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