Chapter 380: Infant Carp Beast
When Feng Sanniang heard this, she revealed a bitter smile. She dragged the hair on her forehead to one side and slowly said, "Fellow Daoists! It wasn't that I was unwilling to state the facts. I was under orders to not divulge this information until we arrived on the island. Now that we've arrived, I have no restrictions in telling you all! The foe that our United Six Palaces wish to battle is an 'Infant Carp Beast'. That is why we had to be a bit careful!"
"Infant Carp Beast!" When Qing Suanzi heard this, he couldn't help but shout out in shock!
Han Li detachedly gazed on. Although he didn't know what sort of demon beast they were facing, judging by the pale expressions of the others, it was by no means some trifling beast.
"I don't blame your palaces for being this careful. If it really is this demon beast, it was right to be careful! If other powers were to know of this, who knows how much of a disturbance would be brought about!!" Qing Suanzi muttered in disbelief. Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing him.
The youth surnamed Yan and the large bald man's expressions continuously shifted as their hearts were in turmoil.
Only the middle-aged Confucian scholar with an unsightly expression coldly spoke to Feng Sanniang, "Your Six United Palaces have overreached themselves! Everyone knows that the Infant Carp Beast is an innate water demon beast with formidable water type divine abilities. If it were grade six, it'd be a match for common grade seven demon beasts. By claiming it to be a grade six beast when you were asking for our assistance, were you deliberately trying to take advantage of us?" The middle-aged Confucian scholar asked.
Qing Suanzi and the others eventually recovered from their shock, all revealing their displeasure.
Although they were all rogue cultivators, those that walked the road less traveled, they didn't dare to rashly offend the Six United Palaces. They all wordlessly stared at Feng Sanniang, waiting for an answer.
Feng Sanniang's face darkened and she replied without a trace of politeness, "Fellow Daoist Mao, you speak wrongly! Our Six United Palaces did not deceive you, unlike a certain monopolistic web novel company! Although the Infant Carp Beast is a bit difficult, it is a genuine grade six demon beast. How could you say we called a grade seven demon beast a grade six demon beast? Besides, since our palaces offered a reward as precious as the Dustfall Pill, you should have understood that you weren't going to deal with a common grade six beast. Likewise, we weren’t doing something as evil as reposting this series without permission. Otherwise, our palaces would be operating at a loss."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar was left dumbstruck for long while, and Han Li inwardly frowned. Although the woman's outspoken words held reason, he still felt very uncomfortable and couldn't help but glance at the others.
The other three appeared to have the same attitude as Han Li and revealed slight displeasure.
Then, Feng Sanniang suddenly flashed Crooked Soul a smile and said, "Naturally, our palace acted in this manner to ensure that the existence of the Infant Carp Beast is kept hidden. As a result, arrangements were made before we came here. In addition to the Dustfall Pill you will receive after this matter is concluded, you will all be paid an advance of a thousand spirit stones as compensation for keeping the matter secret. Is this to your satisfaction?"
Everyone's resentment had slowly faded away, and they each nodded their heads in agreement.
The middle-aged man still seemed somewhat unsatisfied, but his young, beautiful Dao companion then whispered something into his ear. His expression changed, and he kept silent.
Soon after, everyone went off in their own direction on the island and found a quiet location to meditate and rest. Han Li and Crooked Soul found a huge reef near the ocean shore and sat down cross-legged while facing each other.
Under Han Li's meticulous commands, Crooked Soul quickly entered a state of strength honing. As for Han Li, he slowly closed his eyes, wishing to meditate. But after the the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li opened his eyes with a frown. He then looked at the surging waves while lost in thought.
For some unknown reason, he felt somewhat ill at ease, as if something incredible was about to occur. After pondering in restless apprehension for a long while, he helplessly smiled as he was unable to single out the cause.
He was still quite nervous. Although a spirited rest was normally easy to come by, he would be assisting two Core Formation cultivators with the Six Flowing Ripples Formation tomorrow. Although the demon beast seemed quite unordinary, a demon beast was still a demon beast. Facing against cultivators of superior strength, how could it possibly prevail? They shouldn't have any problem taking it down.
After calming himself down with a few comforting words, Han Li attempted to forcefully enter meditation. But after a while, his heart still felt heavy, and he was unable to get into the mood.
Han Li sighed and stood up, it seemed that unless he did something, he wouldn't feel at ease!
Han Li helplessly looked around and released his spiritual sense. Fortunately, there was nobody around.
Han Li quickly patted his storage pouch and took out over a dozen sparkling formation flags and six formation plates, the formation setup tool set for the Jadewater Azure Armor Formation.
Although this formation couldn't be compared to the Five Elements Reversal Formation or the Six Flowing Ripples Formation, it was still far stronger than common magic formations. In addition, it was extremely simple to setup due to its tools.
Han Li called out to Crooked Soul without the slightest hesitation and had him use the reef as the formation's center, setting up the rest of the formation flags and disks within a hundred meters of it.
As he watched Crooked Soul placing down the flags and burying the formation disks, Han Li felt his anxiety gradually dissipate. He couldn't help but make a slanted smile and self-mockingly say, "It seems I am still quite fearful of death!
…
The next day before the sunrise, Feng Sanniang and the others gathered together, flying over five kilometers to sea.
At this same moment, in the waters five hundred kilometers away, a streak of gold light and a streak of yellow light were quickly flying in the direction of the nameless small island.
A kilometer behind them, there was a large white mist spanning about four hundred meters chasing after them at the same speed while faintly releasing an infant's cry. Anybody who heard the miserable wail would feel their blood run cold.
"Elder Miao, should I send a flying sword over to them and see if they're prepared?" A deep voice suddenly came from the rushing yellow light.
"Sure!" Elder Miao agreed without hesitation. His body blurred and reappeared at the center of the yellow light. At the same time, the golden light enveloping him turned into a golden rainbow and disappeared in an instant.
The huge white mist chasing after them appeared upset by this and the infant's weeping became even more intense. The sound gradually changed to that of thunder and became increasingly deafening.
"Not good! The beast is going to use Divine Waterstar Thunder! Elder Brother Gu, please hurry!" Elder Miao, now enveloped by the yellow light, shouted out as if he were greatly fearful of the sounds of thunder from behind them.
"Be at ease. My Immemorial Bowl isn't slow in the slightest!" Just as the deep voice said this, the yellow light sped up and greatly increased the distance between them and the white mist in an instant. However, the white mist seemed unwilling to give up. With sounds of wailing and thunder, it also sped up, cutting through the seawater and spreading huge white waves across the ocean as far as the eye could see.
…
Crooked Soul and company had already taken their positions at the formation's front, each holding a large blue flag in their hand. The banner was about six meters long and emitted threads of dazzling blue radiance.
The six late Foundation Establishment cultivators wore solemn expressions and were separated by over four hundred meters as they floated above the sea on magic tools, forming a hollow semicircle.
Han Li stood behind Crooked Soul with a detached gaze. As for the middle-aged Confucian scholar's Dao companion, she stood at his side with a concerned expression.
A short moment later, a streak of golden light suddenly cleaved through the sky and arrived in Feng Sanniang's hand, drawing the attention of the others.
"Everyone, on guard! The Infant Carp Beast is about to come! Once the beast enters the formation, immediately block off the entrance of the formation!" Feng Sanniang received the message and loudly shouted to the others with a solemn expression. Afterwards, the golden light flew away and disappeared off into the sky.
Han Li's heart tensed, and he attentively stared in the direction that the golden light flew off into.
The others also wore taut expressions as if they were anticipating the storm that was about to come.
After an unknown amount of time passed, they heard faint rolls of thunder in the distance that soon grew increasingly louder. They eventually spotted a streak of yellow and a streak of golden light flying towards them at the speed of lightning. A huge white mist followed behind them as if it were closely pursuing them.
"That's the Infant Carp Beast?" Although Han Li could clearly see a huge white mist behind the streaks, he couldn't imagine the sinister appearance of the demon beast concealed within.
Chapter 381: Rare Treasures Conquer the Demon
"Initiate the spell formation!" Feng Sanniang loudly yelled as she waved the blue banner in her hands, causing blue circular ripples to suddenly flow from the banner.
The others followed suit, silently waving their formation flags. In an instant, a blue brilliance enveloped all of them. After several flashes of light, they all disappeared without a trace. From a distance, only an empty sea could be seen where they once were.
A moment later, two streaks of light flew past this area without any intention of slowing down as if they were truly fleeing for their lives. The white mist behind them closely followed after them without a single shred of doubt.
As soon as the white mist flew into range of the magic formation, it was surrounded by a drizzle of blue radiance and a huge barrier of blue light appeared out of nowhere, trapping it within. At this moment, Feng Sanniang and the others all appeared around the barrier.
They all had their flags lifted high and pointed at the light barrier, shooting out blue light beams with the thickness of a bowl. As the huge light barrier absorbed the beams, its shine became increasingly brighter and its color became deeper.
After this occurred, the yellow and golden streaks of light immediately flew to above the light barrier. The light then faded away to reveal Elder Miao and burly man with long, messy hair.
"Good, well done! Next, you must withstand the beast's counterattack and allow us to use this opportunity to take it out with our rare treasures!" Elder Miao shouted out with a joyful expression.
After a mutual glance with Elder Gu, the two each reached for their chest and took out a pair of ancient, worn copper longspears. Other than their dull, shineless tips, there was nothing else of note.
The two Core Formation elders of the Six United Palaces grew solemn and started muttering to themselves. The longspears then floated away from their grasps and released a yellow glow that gradually grew brighter.
At that moment, the Infant Carp Beast seemed to realize it was trapped. After a series of mournful infant cries, the huge, three-hundred-meter wide white mist suddenly shrank back towards its center. In the blink of an eye, it shrank to about forty meters, forming a milky-white barrier of mist.
At the same time, thunderous wails came from the mist and momentously turned into a single cry, deafening the cultivators surrounding the formation and causing them to feel alarmed.
After the infant's wails suddenly stopped, countless, fist-sized spheres of blue light shot out from the mist, launching an overbearing assault against the blue light barrier. The fierce momentum of the attack caused everyone's heart to skip a beat!
When the light spheres were thirty meters away from the barrier, they released shining azure clouds. A fraction of the light spheres flashed within their clouds and faded away, only to appear again above the white mist. Afterwards, it struck down; a portion of these attacks had actually returned, dodging away from the formation spell.
However, the light spheres were truly great in number, and a majority of them managed to strike the blue barrier.
Suddenly, both the blue light barrier and the white mist violently erupted with white radiance, but the white mist's light disappeared with a single flash. As for the light barrier, its walls were shaking. The blue and white light flickered, interweaving with one another as if the light barrier were about to collapse.
"Everyone, quickly use more magic power! This is one of the Infant Carp Beast's killing moves, Divine Waterstar Thunder. We only have to persist for a few minutes more!" Feng Sanniang shouted out with a flustered expression. She then took the initiative to say an incantation and spurted out some blood essence towards the banner in her hand. Its blue light flourished, releasing a light beam several times thicker than its original which immediately steadied the light barrier.
When the others saw this, they could only perform their own techniques to draw the entirety of their body's magic power to forcefully support the formation.
Han Li was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that the infant carp beast would so quickly fight with all its might. This demon beast's ferociousness was truly beyond reason!
Up above the magic formation, the two Core Formation cultivator's copper spears began a strange transformation. As they were chanting a mysterious incantation with solemn expressions, the yellow light emitted from the spears grew larger inch by inch, and the long spears started to point down towards the center of the white mist.
The Infant Carp Beast within the white mist seemed to sense the danger that was above it and suddenly released a deafening cry.
The white mist gradually rotated at increasingly faster speeds. After a short moment, it had formed a huge whirlwind and swept up a huge torrent of water. The tempest also carried bits of blue radiance, extremely dangerous units of Divine Waterstar Thunder.
Qing Suanzi and company became aghast at the sight and couldn't help but nervously glance at Feng Sanniang. However, she appeared equivalently terrified and didn't seem to know what astonishing magic technique the Infant Carp Beast had used.
Han Li's expression became gloomy as he silently ordered Crooked Soul to send the entirety of his magic power into the formation. Although he didn't know what divine ability the Infant Carp Beast had used, it appeared that the attack would free the demon beast.
With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but look towards the sky and saw that the two long spears had already become about thirty meters long, faintly releasing a clear, pleasant ring.
The two Core Formation elders then formed a strange hand incantation while rigidly staring at the huge spears. Their initial incantation still continued on as their expressions became intense and their foreheads were faintly laden with sweat.
As the bewildering cries of the beast continued, the huge, white-blue tempest suddenly collided against the light barrier like an overbearing strike of lightning. As it was over a hundred meters tall, it carried an astonishing pressure.
The faces of the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the young woman by his side paled as if they were drained of blood. As the direction of this fearsome attack was towards his corner of the formation, he couldn't help but inwardly complain without end.
He helplessly gritted his teeth and enveloped his body in a dazzling barrier interwoven with both yellow and blue radiance. Afterwards, he rigidly held onto the formation flag and poured the entirety of his spiritual power into the flagpole, causing the flag to shoot out a light beam that was many times thicker than before. Just as this happened, the huge tempest struck the barrier, losing its momentum and seeming to have no effect.
Suddenly, sounds of thunder, cries, and rupture suddenly rang out. The light barrier only managed to endure for a short moment before collapsing amongst the beast's dreadful wails.
Crooked Soul and the other cultivators maintaining the formation all displayed shock and spit out a mouthful of blood.
When the middle-aged Confucian scholar had spit out blood, his Dao companion wordlessly dragged him off, escaping to an area about a hundred meters away.
Just as the great formation ruptured and the Foundation Establishment cultivators paled, a furious shout echoed from the skies, "Evil Beast, accept your death!"
Immediately after this was spoken, two huge yellow streaks of light struck down like bolts of lightning into the huge tempest. With a loud, mournful infant's wail, the sea abruptly became deathly quiet, and the mist gradually dispersed to reveal the true body of the Infant Carp Beast. As for the two copper spears, they had returned to their original form, and their flashes of yellow light reflected against the sea as they were nailed into the beast's body.
Han Li quickly had Crooked Soul take out a mid-grade spirit stone and recover his magic power without delay as he brought his attention to down below.
The Infant Carp Beast appeared extremely strange. It had the head of a young infant with the body and tail of a blue carp. There were also four smooth, white human arms growing from its lower body as well as two huge fins that seemed to act as wings.
But what was most strange was that its four arms each held a distinct item: a huge crabturtle, a meter long stick of coral, a white, egg-sized pearl, and a silver, shield-like clamshell. From a single glance at the items' shining appearance, one could tell they were precious items.
The beast's infant head appeared to have an expression of anguish as if it were still screaming. Once Han Li saw the lines of sharp teeth in its open mouth, he felt aghast.
As for its three-meter-long carp body, it continuously flailed about, wanting to escape from the two copper spears that pierced it, much like how inappropriately taken chapters struggle to return to woo shia wurld.
However, the two copper spears seemed to be innately baneful to demon beasts. Regardless of how much it struggled, the spears remained rigidly nailed into the still water. It seemed almost as if they were eating away at the beast.
The two Core Formation elders that threw the copper spears appeared just as exhausted as Han Li and the others. It was obvious that releasing these two rare treasures had somewhat damaged their Origin Qi. However, they still flew over with an expression of intense ecstasy. The other Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't help but stare at the Infant Carp Beast with greed. But when they spotted Feng Sanniang eying them like a tiger watching its prey, they completely relinquished any intentions of greed, swallowing their mouthfuls of saliva, and glancing at the two spears that extinguished the beast.
The two Core Formation cultivators excitedly flew over. But when they were only about a hundred meters away from the Infant Carp Beast, an evil wind that was black as ink suddenly blew from underneath the demon beast. A kilometer of the sea's surface condensed into a shining white ball of ice with the beast at its center before soaring towards the sky and pouncing downward onto the Core Formation cultivators. This abrupt and unexpected event left everyone stunned!