Free Web NovelChapter 467: Chapter 1: Royal Court Envoy and Turtle Pearl
The vast, boundless sea stretched to the horizon. A crescent moon hung high in the sky, scattering its lunar essence.
The West Continent Eastern Army Governor’s Mansion and the Hundred-Eyed Great Saint of the sea had engaged in a series of fierce battles. Countless Demons and Cultivators had perished in the ocean. Even seven or eight of the Sea Monsters driven up from the deep had been killed.
With no Dragon Veins in the sea, Evil Qi and vengeful souls coalesced within its depths. Things were manageable during the day, as the Sun Essence Qi suppressed the various Demon Ghosts. But at night, the Demon Ghosts ran rampant. Even powerful Demons with strong qi and blood had to travel in groups to avoid falling prey to these swarming Demon Ghosts.
As for the ordinary fish in this region of the sea, they had long since vanished. They had either been drained of their Essence Blood by Demon Ghosts or had wisely fled to other waters.
Seven Fish Demons of the Qi Cultivation Realm, led by a Great Demon, were herding a massive school of fish numbering in the hundreds of thousands. This Great Demon’s Transformation was mostly complete; he had all four limbs, with only a ferocious fish head yet to be fully transformed.
He was clad in Armor, holding a Steel Fork, and riding a thirty-foot-long Seahorse, cutting a rather imposing figure.
The school they herded consisted mostly of large sea bream, ranging from ten to thirty feet in length.
They had herded these sea bream from other regions of the ocean to serve as rations for the army.
After all, even a Demon who had reached the Demon King Realm—the equivalent of a Golden Core Cultivator—could not subsist on mere spiritual energy like a Cultivator. On the contrary, they needed to devour massive amounts of flesh and blood in a single meal to sustain their physical bodies.
The fish in the nearby waters had all been scared off by Demon Ghosts, so the Hundred-Eyed Great Saint had no choice but to dispatch his subordinates to herd fish and supply his great army.
"Hurry it up, lads!" the Fish-headed Great Demon shouted to the Fish Demons under his command. "If we run into Demon Ghosts, it’s no big deal. I can drive them off with the Mind Confusing Pearl the Great Saint gave me. But if we run into the Blood Ghosts from the Eastern Army Governor’s Mansion, I’m abandoning you all and making a run for it."
"Blood Ghost" was the name the Demons of the West Sea had given to the group of Blood Spirit Cultivators who had suddenly appeared in their waters over a decade ago.
These Cultivators practiced Blood Escape, which allowed them to move freely through the water. With their sensitivity to Essence Blood, they could lock onto a Demon’s position from dozens of miles away. They came and went without a trace, striking terror into the hearts of the sea Demons, who had dubbed them Blood Ghosts.
The Fish-headed Great Demon had clashed with Blood Ghosts before. He had seen with his own eyes how a comrade, once of peerless Divine Power, was pounced on by a Blood Shadow formed by a Blood Ghost. In an instant, his strength failed him and his muscles went numb. If surrounded by Blood Ghosts, a Demon would have their Essence Blood dissolved in moments, leaving behind nothing but a flimsy, floating fish skin—a truly horrifying sight.
Now, the Eastern Army Governor’s Mansion had become aware of the Demon Army’s dire shortage of rations. They frequently dispatched Blood Ghosts to assassinate the Demons herding the fish, aiming to sever the Demon Army’s supply lines.
The Blood Ghosts’ reputation was now enough to make these Fish Demons, still mere Qi Cultivation Little Demons, tremble with fear. Not daring to slack off in the slightest, they drove the school of fish onward toward the main camp.
Seeing his subordinates’ diligence, the Fish-headed Great Demon nodded in satisfaction. But after traveling less than a few miles, he tensed, raising a clenched fist to signal them to halt the school.
Thanks to the innate ability to control sea life that came with Demon Transformation, the vast school of fish stopped swimming within minutes, hanging motionless in the water.
A fifty-foot-long Fish Demon with a sail-like dorsal fin swam timidly up to the Fish-headed Great Demon.
"General, are there Blood Ghosts ahead?"
The Fish-headed Great Demon shook his head.
"No. There’s one of our own up ahead, fighting someone. Its Demon Qi is pure, and its bloodline is extraordinary."
Among Demons, one’s entire life’s achievements were heavily influenced by bloodline. An inferior, mixed bloodline resulted in impure Demon Power, which not only shackled one’s Cultivation but also significantly shortened one’s lifespan.
This was precisely the case for the Fish-headed Great Demon. His mixed, inferior bloodline made it nearly impossible for him to advance any further. He could sense that the one fighting ahead was also a Fish Demon. ’If I can wait until both sides are wounded,’ he thought, ’I could devour it and start Refining its bloodline. Maybe then I can finally get rid of this fish head and complete my Transformation.’
He urged his Sea Horse Demon to accelerate, speeding toward the source of the fluctuating Demon Qi.
A moment later, he arrived at the scene of the Magical Combat.
He saw the two combatants: one was a ten-foot-long silver Fish Demon, and the other was a giant turtle with a sturdy shell nearly thirty feet in diameter.
The giant turtle’s aura was powerful, clearly indicating it was not far from the Golden Core Demon King Realm, yet it was struggling to fend off the silver Fish Demon’s attacks. Even its solid Turtle Shell was being shattered to pieces by the sharp currents of water summoned by the Fish Demon.
The surrounding seawater suddenly condensed into a giant blade over a hundred feet long. It plunged down from above, effortlessly piercing the turtle’s incomparably thick shell and skewering the massive creature on its edge.
A gush of sweet-smelling Turtle Blood poured from the wound, rapidly spreading through the water.
The Turtle Blood contained a refined Blood Qi that not only stirred the Fish-headed Great Demon’s heart with avarice, but also caused the Fish Demons and even the common sea fish behind him to gulp down seawater, filtering out the precious blood.
The Fish Demon manipulated the giant blade, slicing the Turtle Demon in two. Then, it controlled the currents to rummage through the flesh and gore, finally pulling out a Turtle Pearl. It was as lustrous as jade and glowed brilliantly in the dark seawater.
The Fish-headed Great Demon’s eyes went wide with jealousy at the sight of the Turtle Pearl.
’An Exotic Treasure of this caliber isn’t something just any Turtle Demon can produce,’ he thought. ’Only those with exceptional Talent can, by some stroke of luck, nurture a Turtle Pearl within their bodies.’
