What puzzled Han Li even more was that aside from those shops, the entire area was deathly silent without a single person in sight.
After a moment of contemplation, he chuckled wryly. How could he have forgotten? This wasn’t some leisurely island in the Inner Star Seas. Those daring enough to come here were at least mid to late Foundation Establishment cultivators, if not Core Formation experts. Combined with those scattered across other demon beast islands, all the cultivators on this Emerald Mushroom Island must have set out to sea to hunt demon beasts.
With this thought, Han Li raised his head and looked around, only then noticing that the area was built against the foot of a small hill.
After a brief consideration, Han Li headed toward the junk shop made of piled rocks.
“Do you have a map of the nearby sea areas?” he asked. Before coming, he had learned that the sea maps of all demon beast islands were constantly updated, so it was only natural to buy the latest version.
“Yes! We have both rough and detailed versions. Which would you prefer, Senior?” The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man at the Qi Refinement stage, perked up immediately upon seeing Han Li and Qu Hun approach, eagerly explaining.
“The detailed one,” Han Li replied without hesitation.
“A detailed sea map costs one hundred spirit stones!” the middle-aged man declared, quoting an exorbitant price.
“One hundred?” Han Li wondered if he had misheard. But his expression quickly darkened with anger. Although he had no intention of stirring up trouble, he wouldn’t allow a low-level cultivator to brazenly extort him.
“Senior, please don’t misunderstand. This price wasn’t set by me but by those above. We’re just following orders. Moreover, when other seniors sell us new sea terrain maps, the prices they charge are also quite steep!” Seeing Han Li’s darkened expression, the shopkeeper showed no fear and instead began airing his grievances.
“Those above? Which merchant alliance do you belong to?” Han Li’s anger subsided slightly as he furrowed his brow. He understood well that any merchant capable of doing business on a demon beast island couldn’t belong to a small guild. It was likely one of the Four Great Merchant Alliances.
“Hehe, Senior truly is perceptive. This humble one makes a living under the Fengle Merchant Alliance,” the middle-aged man replied after a slight pause, forcing a smile.
“The Fengle Alliance, one of the Four Great Merchant Alliances, which runs the Fengle Auction House in Heavenly Star City?”
“Exactly, Senior!”
Hearing this, Han Li said no more and tossed out a mid-grade spirit stone. The shopkeeper promptly handed him a jade slip with a cheerful smile.
“Are the other shops also part of your Fengle Merchant Alliance?” Han Li glanced at the other shops, stored the jade slip, and asked irritably.
“How could that be? Aside from the acquisition store to the west, the others are run by different merchant alliances and have nothing to do with our Fengle Alliance,” the middle-aged man replied, casting a slightly hostile glance at the other shops.
Hearing this, Han Li said nothing more and turned to leave with Qu Hun.
After taking a few steps, he summoned his Divine Wind Boat and was about to fly away when suddenly a green streak of light descended from the sky, landing right in front of an acquisition store diagonally opposite. As the light faded, it revealed a burly Core Formation-stage man.
“Fan kid, you’ve got business!” the man shouted loudly toward the acquisition store as soon as he appeared. He then pulled a storage pouch from his chest and dumped its contents onto the ground. Amid a swirl of radiant light, the corpse of a strange fish, two to three zhang long, appeared on the ground.
It was called a fish only because its body was covered in blue scales, but it had a serpent-like head and a pair of huge, sharp claws on its abdomen. Near the front of its back was a bloody hole oozing fresh blood, suggesting its demon core had already been removed.
“Ah! It’s Senior Hao. These Emerald Scale Fish Demons are incredibly difficult to kill. Only someone with your great powers could take one down,” a Qi Refinement-stage youth with exceptionally clever and lively eyes quickly ran out from the acquisition store. While inspecting the demon beast’s corpse, he showered the man with flattery, making the burly man laugh heartily. He seemed like a straightforward and bold individual.
Suddenly, the man turned to face Han Li and Qu Hun. After a brief glance, he greeted them warmly, “Fellow Daoists, you look unfamiliar. Just arrived at Emerald Mushroom Island? Interested in hunting demon beasts together?”
Seeing the man’s enthusiasm, Han Li smiled without speaking, but Qu Hun, under his instruction, shook his head lightly in refusal.
The man showed a hint of disappointment but still said earnestly, “I am Hao Yuantian, and I have some reputation here on Emerald Mushroom Island. If you change your minds later, you can always come find me.” After saying this, the man took a bag of spirit stones from the youth at the acquisition store, glanced at it, and then transformed into a green streak of light, flying away in a hurry.
Han Li stood silently in place.
From the enthusiastic invitations of the red-faced old man and the surnamed Hao burly man, it was clear that there weren’t many Core Formation cultivators on Emerald Mushroom Island, and they had formed small groups. It seemed that, as he had learned from the materials, even Core Formation cultivators needed to travel in groups to safely hunt demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas. If he didn’t have his own plans, he might have accepted one of their invitations.
As he pondered this, Han Li boarded the Divine Wind Boat with Qu Hun and flew off in another direction, heading out to sea.
On the magic tool, Han Li carefully examined the newly purchased sea map jade slip before storing it away.
Emerald Mushroom Island wasn’t very large, and in just a short while, the Divine Wind Boat had reached the edge of the island.
Standing at the edge of the boat, Han Li gazed around, his eyes flashing with a sharp light before he adjusted his direction and flew toward the endless depths of the sea.
Han Li didn’t dare fly too close to the sea surface because some high-level demon beasts, even while lurking deep underwater, could suck any living creature flying above from hundreds of zhang away. If a cultivator disturbed them, they would face certain death. Naturally, Han Li was extremely cautious!
Similarly, flying too high in the Outer Star Seas was also dangerous. Not only were there groups of demon beasts in the sea, but avian demon beasts constantly patrolled the skies. Being targeted by them was equally perilous.
Of course, this wasn’t an absolute rule, as conditions varied across different sea areas, and there was no such thing as absolute safety. Every year, countless cultivators teleported to various demon beast islands, dreaming of killing demons and harvesting cores, but many never returned after leaving the islands. There were frequent reports of Core Formation cultivators failing to hunt demon beasts and instead being devoured by high-level ones.
It was evident that while the benefits of hunting demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas were enticing, they came with high risks. Therefore, cultivators who ventured out to hunt demon beasts usually formed fixed groups with acquaintances, acting together for safety.
However, gathering large numbers of cultivators to hunt demon beasts was also taboo. In the past, there were instances on demon beast islands where entire islands of cultivators banded together for large-scale hunts. Initially successful, they soon attracted several level-seven or higher deep-sea demon beasts and a large group of other demons. Not only were the cultivators heavily casualties, but the demon beast island itself was utterly destroyed.
After such incidents occurred twice more, no one dared to gather too many cultivators for hunts again. At most, small groups of a few to a dozen people operated together. This led to numerous small groups on each demon beast island, with high-level lone cultivators being highly sought after.
Based on this information, Han Li’s expression turned serious as soon as he flew out of Emerald Mushroom Island.
He not only released his powerful spiritual sense to cover an area of several dozen zhang around him but also fully activated the Divine Wind Boat, transforming it into a white streak of light that cut through the sky at extreme speed.
Every few hours, Han Li would stop to verify his direction, fearing he might have flown off course and missed his destination.
Surprisingly, Han Li’s luck was quite good! Along the way, aside from detouring slightly to avoid a level-five demon beast frolicking far away on the sea surface, he encountered no trouble.
After three days of flying and stopping intermittently, he finally spotted a small, fiery red island.
Flying closer, he could see that the island was actually formed from numerous bright red corals, shimmering under the sunlight—truly breathtakingly beautiful!
Han Li hovered above the island, a look of delight spreading across his face.
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