Chapter 140: Fellow Daoist, Are You Selling This?

"The Houtu Pact has been sworn, Fellow Daoist Qiyu, let us set off."

After slightly sensing the Houtu Pact, Shen Lian looked at Qiyu, though he did not put away the Tianyan Jade Talisman in his hand.

Although the Houtu Pact was known for its binding force, it was rumored that there were formidable masters in the immortal cultivation world capable of weakening the backlash of breaking a pact.

If even heavenly lightning could be resisted, it just showed that the world of immortal cultivation was brimming with extraordinary talents.

"Fellow Daoist, we have already sworn the Houtu Pact. Could you please put away your talismanic treasure?"

Qiyu manipulated the droplet-like ghostly light, making a wide circle in the deep sea as she moved diagonally toward the direction of the eastern demon-clan islands.

To cross the sea of demonic beasts, one naturally had to bypass the area where the white-robed cultivator had clashed with the Snake King—and the further the detour, the better.

"There are demonic beasts outside. Having this talismanic treasure will protect you and ensure your protective divine light remains steady."

Shen Lian swept his spiritual sense outward, speaking with a straight face and without missing a beat.

"As a humble cultivator, I certainly lack the secret arts to weaken the backlash of breaking the Houtu Pact," Qiyu said with a faint, ghostly voice.

"There really are so many demonic beasts outside. Heh..."

The number of demonic beasts in the waters near the Sea Monster Archipelago was indeed unexpectedly vast.

Along the way, the beasts entering Shen Lian's perception came in group after group, each looking different from the last.

These groups ranged from small ones of dozens or hundreds to large ones numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands, with many of them governed by Tier 2 demonic beasts.

Some occupied the mountain ranges deep beneath the sea surface, while others inhabited the underwater dense forests.

The terrain beneath the vast ocean differed in no way from the mountains, rivers, and forests of the land.

"Land... Fellow Daoist Shen, if you don't possess Golden Core level spiritual sense, stop prying around blindly. There are many sea beasts in these waters that are blind to the eye yet possess extraordinarily acute perception."

Sensing the change in Shen Lian's expression, Qiyu spoke up.

Shen Lian feigned a nod and reined in his spiritual sense.

The scene he had just perceived was even more profound than Qiyu had described. The spiritual sense, comparable to that of a pseudo-core cultivator, had actually been detected by a group of ordinary sea monsters merely at the Qi Refining stage.

"Fellow Daoist Qiyu, which island is the pathway you mentioned located on?"

"No comment. Just follow along."

"Does Fellow Daoist know about that white-robed..."

"I don't know."

Hearing Qiyu's icy tone, Shen Lian shut his mouth. This could truly be considered the greatest injury he had suffered since leaving the desolate domain, even resorting to the tactic of buying his life with money.

...

The Sea Monster Island Chain.

Between a certain pair of islands, the strait was extraordinarily deep, with schools of fish full of jagged fangs swimming back and forth.

"Pull back your spiritual sense."

Outside the strait, Qiyu turned to look at Shen Lian and transmitted her voice solemnly.

"My Yougu Luosan Veil can isolate external auras, but it is not omnipotent."

The two landed in a crevice among a pile of rubble. Qiyu fished out a fellow cultivator from her storage Dharma artifact, first efficiently checking the person over.

Immediately afterward, she stripped the cultivator's Dharma robe entirely clean.

Seeing Qiyu's calm expression, entirely unbothered by the dangling parts beneath the cultivator's legs, Shen Lian realized that Daoist Qiyu was a seasoned veteran.

"Hum!"

The scene that followed left Shen Lian dumbfounded.

He watched as Qiyu hoisted the cultivator up and shoved him directly against the ghostly light barrier.

Then, a subtle cracking sound echoed, and the cultivator vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Throughout the entire process of being devoured, not a single drop of blood fell.

"Parasitic worms?"

Shen Lian was deeply startled. He once again used his spiritual sense to probe the ghostly light, yet at such close range, his spiritual sense was utterly unable to discern the components making up the ghostly light.

However, the sound of flesh and blood being devoured right before his eyes could not be faked.

"What, has Fellow Daoist Shen never witnessed heretical paths?" Qiyu sneered.

Shen Lian made no comment, quietly circulating his fire-attribute spiritual power around his body.

"Tsk... I don't have a companion yet."

Perhaps finally seeing a strange look on Shen Lian's face, Qiyu actually found it amusing.

"How about becoming my first Dao companion?"

"Unlike the elders in my sect who all want to find multiple partners, I find too many people annoying. I only pamper one person at a time."

After feeding two cultivators to the light barrier, Qiyu took out a mid-tier Tier 2 demonic fish and fed it to the ghostly light as well.

"To balance the flavors, otherwise these little darlings will start making a fuss."

After replenishing its energy, the hue of the ghostly light barrier grew even deeper, quickly blending into the exact same color as the seawater.

"Let's go. Try to cross this strait in one go."

At this moment, Qiyu's expression also turned solemn.

The ghostly light transformed back into the shape of a water droplet and, following the underwater currents beneath the sea surface, entered the strait between the two islands.

...

"Wretched creature, this seat is offering you a heaven-sent opportunity, yet you dare to resist."

On the sea surface, where towering waves surged, the white-robed cultivator's gaze grew increasingly cold, his patience nearly exhausted.

The surging Snake King rolling across the churning waves was already covered in bruises and wounds, its flesh torn open, scales upturned, and demonic blood flowing continuously.

Yet even so, a rebellious defiance remained in the Snake King's pupils.

"Roar!"

At that moment, a faint golden light unexpectedly flickered within the flowing demonic blood of the bleeding Snake King.

A terrifying aura was unleashed from that golden light.

The converging golden light instantly drained the spiritual power from all directions, gathering into the hazy, claw-bearing silhouette of a nascent flood dragon.

"Bloodline awakening!"

Seeing this, the demon kings entrenched in the other directions immediately felt the pressure weighing down upon their bloodlines.

"Good, very good! That just makes the probability of transforming into a true flood dragon even higher."

The white-robed cultivator laughed heartily. "Since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit of fine wine, I shall simply capture you and slowly break you in."

"Bah! This king is a flood dragon; how dare mere humanity act so impudently? This king will never be a slave!"

The Snake King cursed loudly, and propelled by the awakened golden light, its massive body soared into the air, crashing into the towering waves and vanishing from sight.

The white-robed cultivator chuckled softly, showing no urgency to pursue. "Let's see just how tough your bones really are."

Spiritual light flared on his body as a five-colored rope flew out, expanding to a length of a thousand zhang in mid-air. A circular noose formed at the end of the rope, and with a whoosh, it also plunged into the ocean depths.

"Roar!"

A hundred miles away, an angry roar shattered the towering waves.

A miserable cry echoed from beneath the sea surface as the five-colored rope flew out from the water, a massive body struggling fiercely at the taut end of the rope.

Yet no matter how it struggled, it was dragged out of the sea by the rope.

"Human, I already possess the qualifications to transform into a dragon and am entitled to head to the Myriad Demon Domain. Aren't you afraid..."

"Hum!"

Sword qi converged into a palm and struck the massive head of the snake... now the Flood Dragon King.

At this moment, having undergone a second bloodline awakening, the Snake King displayed far more features of a flood dragon, making the title of Flood Dragon King well-deserved.

The Myriad Demon Domain was governed by multiple Tier 4 grand demon kings.

Yet even after dragging out such a formidable backer, the Flood Dragon King still received a resounding slap to the face.

The five-colored rope bound the Flood Dragon King's neck, dragging it forcibly before the white-robed cultivator.

"Be my mount, or die?"

Sensing the chilling words, the overwhelming tyranny and fury within the Flood Dragon King vanished as if ice water had been poured over a blazing fire, sending a sudden shudder through its entire body.

Were the Tier 4 grand demon kings of the Myriad Demon Domain useless here?

The newcomer was likewise at the Great Circle of the Golden Core, yet had beaten it to the point of having zero ability to fight back. This was undoubtedly a Nascent Soul seed emerging from an even more powerful Nascent Soul sect.

With such combat prowess, this person was undoubtedly a Nascent Soul expert.

Faced with life and death, the Flood Dragon King achieved sudden enlightenment.

Living was quite wonderful.

Immediately, its arrogant head lowered.

"Haha..."

The white-robed cultivator rose into the air and stepped onto the Flood Dragon King's head, stroking the raised area where its dragon horns had yet to grow.

Then, he grabbed the five-colored rope and shook it gently like reins.

"Let's go."

The Flood Dragon King let out a roar, stirring up monstrous waves as it headed into the distance, leaving behind a group of dumbfounded demon kings.

Looking at the shattered islands and the surging ocean,

"Let's disperse."

An aged voice sounded from beneath a turtle shell.

The old turtle vanished first into the demonic Qi, but the remaining demon kings did not disperse, their blood-red eyes sweeping back and forth through the demonic Qi.

"I remember earlier there was a human female Golden Core cultivator..."

The white-robed cultivator was too formidable, and his background exceeded their imagination, but a spiritual vessel had crashed in earlier, accompanied by a human Golden Core cultivator.

...

Two thousand miles north of the Sea Monster Island Chain, beneath the roaring torrents, a wisp of ghostly light merged seamlessly with the rushing water.

Within the ghostly light, two figures stood face to face.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, according to our pact, I have brought you across from the southern part of the Sea Monster Archipelago."

Qiyu looked coldly at Shen Lian, sensing that the pact constraint within her spiritual sea had not yet dissipated.

"Fellow Daoist Qiyu, do you sell this thing?"

Instead, Shen Lian pointed at the water-smooth ghostly light.

He had already confirmed that this was an extremely wondrous secret art, composed entirely of a specific type of insect.

Such insects were not recorded in the beast-taming heritage he had received; it was likely that the tier of his current heritage was simply too low and he had not yet unlocked them.

However, the miraculous nature of these insects had been experienced firsthand—they could isolate Golden Core level auras and possessed some ability to conceal one's presence.

They were simply prime treasures for murder, pillaging, and stealthy infiltration.

Would she sell it?

Hearing this, Qiyu's gaze turned frosty.

Just after escaping the life-or-death crisis of a demon king, he was already setting his sights on her.

This was her natal spirit insect of her lineage, the exceedingly rare Yougu Spirit-Devouring Worm.

"I'll sell it, of course. As long as you're willing to let me plant the Seven-Emotions Luan-Phoenix Gu in you, I'll teach you the methods to use these spirit insects."

"Fellow Daoist Qiyu, thank you for your help this time. Farewell."

The next moment, Shen Lian tossed a storage bag toward Qiyu, his figure shimmering before exploding on the spot into a cloud of fine powder.

"Ah..."

Qiyu hurriedly summoned the ghostly light to protect her face and her two large chests. When she reacted and looked at the drifting powder, her pretty face turned as frosty as a sheet of ice.

She caught the storage bag and glanced at the spiritual stones stored inside.

Fifteen thousand spirit stones, not a single one missing.

Sensing the Houtu Pact slowly dissolving within her spiritual sea, Qiyu clenched her small fists, her little tiger fangs grinding together with a clicking sound.

She had never suffered such humiliation, and she had even been poked in the rear by a supreme treasure.

It was always she who hunted others down to use as nourishment for her Gu worms.

Yet this time, she had actually been extorted, and she hadn't even perceived when the man had slipped away from her insect-formed ghostly light barrier.

"You think you can run far? I, Qiyu, always return my grievances. While the pact is active I cannot make a move, but once the pact is fulfilled..."

Qiyu muttered angrily, preparing to—

Suddenly, her expression froze.

"Impossible!"

Refusing to believe it, Qiyu bit her finger, drawing a bizarre Gu insect talismanic pattern in the void while chanting a secret incantation.

However, after she finished chanting the secret technique, the talismanic pattern drawn in blood instantly grew dim.

This signified that the spirit insect she had released had already perished.

"Ah..."

Staring blankly at the collapsed Gu insect pattern for a long moment, Qiyu screamed in frustration, burying her hands in her dark hair and scrubbing fiercely until even her neatly tied hair bun was a messy tangle.

What did fifteen thousand spirit stones even matter? She didn't care about them at all.

"I am definitely going to kill you!"

...

North of the Sea Monster Island Chain, inside a small mountain beneath the ocean.

Flames surged across Shen Lian's body, burning tiny, particle-like Gu insects into ashes.

To be safe, he continuously mobilized his fire-attribute spiritual power to perform six rounds of cleansing on himself, incidentally burning his Dharma robe along with them and changing into a new one.

After crossing the demonic beast strait with Qiyu, he had not fled beforehand; it was simply that due to his powerful spiritual sense, Qiyu had failed to notice when he departed.

That ghostly light barrier was not truly as invincible as it seemed—at least when Shen Lian used his escape art, Qiyu had failed to perceive it.

This also made Shen Lian feel a bit better; since he couldn't acquire it, he no longer felt such deep regret.

All things in nature mutually generated and restrained one another; if it were truly that invincible, it would defy the heavens.

This long-distance voyage across the Myriad Star Outer Sea had truly opened his eyes to the disparity between Golden Core cultivators.

The joy he had felt earlier upon acquiring a Golden Core level offensive method had been utterly shattered by this encounter.

"I will definitely attain the Golden Core, and the Nascent Soul..."

Recalling the ethereal demeanor and disdainful posture of that person, Shen Lian's determination to seek the Dao grew even firmer.

This deep-sea spiritual vessel trip was purely a man-made disaster. As for revenge, the thought didn't even cross his mind.

How could there be grudges and hatred among immortal cultivators?

Clearly, his senior had been setting an example with his own actions, using practical reality to warn him just how dangerous the immortal cultivation world could be.

...We'll talk about it later.

Damn it, he had spent fifteen thousand spirit stones just to buy a chance to run for his life. As an alchemist, this was the first time he had ever made such a losing trade.

He was logging every single bit of this in his ledger.

...

After a brief recuperation, Shen Lian blended into the water with the aid of his water puppet and continued his journey northward.

Having crossed the most perilous Sea Monster Archipelago, the journey ahead would be much smoother, though he still couldn't lower his guard, as he might encounter blocking sea clans along the way.

"Once I reach the Southern Sea Region, this matter cannot be spoken of either. 'Slandering' a high-tier human cultivator is also a fast track to courting death."

Holding a grudge was one thing, but Shen Lian was very clear-headed in his heart.

A Sea Monster Archipelago that even the Cloud Ascendant Sect had to be wary of, yet someone dared to act so unscrupulously, savagely beating up a demon king right in front of numerous other demon kings—aside from possessing great personal strength, such a human cultivator most likely had a powerful backing behind them.

A backing even greater than the Cloud Ascendant Sect.

Still, holding a grudge without getting immediate payback and keeping a little ledger of it... was simply too hard for a person to bear.

When the spiritual vessel shattered, aside from True Person Kunyuan who had fled quickly, nearly all the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators had been smashed into the water.

Unlike Qiyu who hunted down cultivators, Shen Lian had not taken advantage of the fire to loot, nor had he collected the fallen storage rings.

At the time, his entire mind had been focused on survival.

He had no idea just how many cultivators had managed to escape this calamity.

...

"We've already traveled so far from the Sea Monster Archipelago, why are there still so many demonic beasts?"

"The outer sea truly is richer in resources than the inner sea. No wonder so many cultivators are desperate to run out here."

(End of this chapter)