Seven years later, above a certain stretch of the Outer Star Sea, a group of over a dozen cultivators with varying levels of cultivation flew slowly at low altitude, constantly glancing around as if searching for something. Most of these cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment stage, with only the three leaders at the Core Formation stage—one at mid-stage and two at early-stage.
“Brother Qiu, is that Grade 6 demon beast really nearby? We’ve been searching this sea for several days now, repeatedly expanding our range. Could the information be wrong?” asked a middle-aged cultivator with a pale golden complexion, his tone impatient. He was addressing a vulture-faced old man with a sinister expression beside him, the highest-level cultivator in their group at mid Core Formation.
“Fellow Daoist Min, there’s no need to be impatient. The information we obtained only gave a general location; a few days’ margin of error is normal. This is still better than wandering aimlessly in other seas. I believe the one who gave me this information wouldn’t dare deceive me,” the old man replied calmly, his expression unchanged.
“Could the demon beast have already left this sea, or perhaps this isn’t its nest at all?” another burly man with a fierce appearance suddenly interjected.
“No. This is a rare Glazed Beast. We just scanned the nearby seabed with our spiritual sense, and it’s covered in the three-colored algae it loves to eat. Its nest definitely can’t be far from here,” the vulture-faced old man stated with certainty.
It seemed the vulture-faced old man held considerable authority among the three, as the other two fell silent after his words and continued scanning the surroundings with their spiritual sense. As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them, most were their juniors or disciples, so none dared to speak out of turn.
Led by the three Core Formation cultivators, the group continued searching the area for most of the day but still found nothing. Even the vulture-faced old man began to frown slightly.
“Ahem! We were doing just fine in the Abyss. Even if we couldn’t harvest something every month, it was still possible to obtain three or four high-grade demon cores a year. But now, since we left that place, we’ve only managed to hunt two high-grade demon beasts in the past two years. We can’t even secure one demon core per person anymore,” the golden-faced cultivator surnamed Min complained again, his tone filled with frustration.
“Enough. You know the situation in the Abyss as well as I do, Brother Min. Going there now isn’t about hunting demon beasts—it’s about seeking death.”
“It’s really bizarre! The Abyss used to be relatively safe as long as you were cautious and avoided the central area. But now, ever since that demon beast uprising two years ago, the entire Abyss has become a forbidden zone. Almost every high-level cultivator who ventured in never returned. Even last year, when several Nascent Soul old monsters joined forces to rush into the central area to investigate, they ended up fleeing in terror after encountering some unknown level of demon beast. One of them, the Four Dharma Venerable, barely escaped with his life, leaving only his Nascent Soul. It seems we can’t stay on Qiyuan Island much longer,” the fierce-looking man said, his face pale with fear.
“Fellow Daoist Xuan makes a good point. Although the demon beasts in the Abyss have stayed within its boundaries so far, who knows when they might go berserk and swarm out? It’s not impossible. We must be prepared!” the vulture-faced old man said after a moment of silence, his face twitching slightly. Clearly, the topic of the Abyss demon beasts unsettled him as well.
“But right now, the Star Palace and the Inverse Star Coalition are still locked in battle over there. The teleportation arrays only allow exit, not entry. Even if we wanted to leave, we can’t,” Cultivator Min said with a bitter smile, his expression helpless.
“Hmph! That’s not necessarily true,” the fierce-looking man retorted dismissively.
“Oh? Does Brother Xuan have another way?” Cultivator Min looked surprised but perked up immediately.
“Heh, I wouldn’t call it another way. I just heard that someone on Qiyuan Island is selling teleportation talismans at a high price. Although the quantity is limited, some have already used them to return to the Inner Star Sea!” the man said, lowering his voice mysteriously.
“Really? Then we—” Cultivator Min’s face lit up with excitement, but before he could finish, the vulture-faced old man cut him off with a cold snort.
“Stop dreaming, both of you! Even if you get your hands on a teleportation talisman, would you dare return to Tianxing City? The Inner Star Sea is even more dangerous than Qiyuan Island right now! Going back would mean being captured by either side and used as cannon fodder. Here, even if the Abyss demon beasts are acting strangely, at least everything outside the Abyss is still normal. If things go wrong, we can always hide on some deserted island. That’s far better than getting involved in some great war back there.” The old man’s eyes gleamed with a strange light, as if he had already thought this through.
The other two exchanged glances, considering the old man’s words. Though his plan seemed crude, it did seem feasible.
Just as they were about to discuss it further, a rough, strange roar echoed from a distance, followed by explosive rumbling from the same direction.
“The Glazed Beast!”
Cultivators Min and Xuan exclaimed almost simultaneously, their faces filled with excitement.
“That’s definitely the cry of a Glazed Beast. It seems someone found it before we did. Let’s go, but don’t reveal yourselves. We’ll play it by ear,” the vulture-faced old man said coldly, a sharp glint in his eyes.
The other two nodded in understanding. The three immediately transformed into streaks of light and shot away, their brilliance flickering before vanishing mid-flight. The Foundation Establishment cultivators followed nervously behind.
A short while later, the three Core Formation cultivators silently arrived near a coral island a few miles in size. The deafening roars of the demon beast were coming from there.
The scene before them was exactly as they had expected.
A pale, translucent sea beast was trapped within a red light formation on the island. The creature, over thirty meters in size, was shooting out countless milky-white filaments, desperately cutting through the swarming red light around it, appearing incredibly fierce.
But this wasn’t what concerned the three most. Their attention was fixed elsewhere.
In the air above the island stood a young man in light blue robes, hovering motionlessly with his hands behind his back, a look of leisurely confidence on his face.
“Brother Qiu, this guy is only at early Core Formation. Should we make our move?” the fierce-looking Cultivator Xuan transmitted excitedly, his voice brimming with anticipation.
“Don’t rush. Let’s check if anyone else is hiding nearby first. We don’t want to fall into a trap,” the vulture-faced old man replied, a fierce glint flashing across his face as he suppressed the urge to act.
“Fellow Daoist Min, Brother Qiu is right. It’s suspicious for an early Core Formation cultivator to dare lure a Glazed Beast alone. There might be more to this,” Cultivator Min added cautiously, equally wary.
The fierce-looking man felt a chill at their words and immediately expanded his spiritual sense to scan the area but found nothing.
At that moment, the blue-robed young man in the air made his move.
With a wave of his hand, seven streaks of blue light shot out, circling in the air before merging into a massive blue sword over thirty meters long. The sword descended with a low hum.
The Glazed Beast below seemed to sense the danger. It opened its mouth and spat out a white crystalline sphere, which swelled to about three meters in size and shot upward to meet the falling sword.
The giant sword continued its descent unchanged, but a startling thunderous rumble emanated from it. With a deafening crash, it collided with the crystalline sphere.
Yet, in that instant, the giant sword seemed to blur.
With a “whoosh,” an identical giant sword shot out from the blue light, vanishing in a flash before reappearing directly above the Glazed Beast. It descended silently, striking down without a sound.
The demon beast let out a desperate roar, shooting all its white filaments upward in a frantic attempt to block the blow and survive.
But with a “thud,” the giant sword sliced through the Glazed Beast’s massive head without any resistance. Emerald blood splattered in all directions.
Witnessing the young man slay the demon beast in an instant, the vulture-faced old man and the other two were stunned.
Was that really a Glazed Beast? This creature was notoriously difficult to handle even among Grade 6 demon beasts, yet the young man had killed it in a single strike. It was unbelievable! Could he actually be a late Core Formation cultivator rather than an early-stage one?
The three, including the vulture-faced old man, repeatedly scanned the blue-robed young man now descending beside the demon beast’s corpse with their spiritual sense. He was indeed at early Core Formation.
But a Grade 6 Glazed Beast—even if the three of them joined forces and could defeat it without much difficulty, killing it so effortlessly was impossible. Could the young cultivator be concealing his true cultivation level with some secret technique?
The vulture-faced old man and the others grew suspicious and wary.
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