The location of the cave abode Mo Yaoqing had chosen was deep within the East Sea. The sea beasts that frequented this area were mostly of the fifth or sixth rank, with occasional seventh-rank ones. The fifth and sixth ranks were equivalent to the early and middle Core Formation stages of human cultivators, while the seventh rank corresponded to the late Core Formation stage—precisely suitable for Mo Tiange.
Of course, this was the deep sea. Fighting sea beasts on the ocean might be more challenging than on land, but human cultivators' combat abilities were inherently superior to those of demon beasts, even for sea-dwelling ones. As long as she didn't encounter a swarm of sea beasts, Mo Tiange reckoned she could handle it. Even if she couldn't win, she could always flee.
Having settled on this plan, Mo Tiange began making preparations. For instance, what if she were surrounded? Also, although she hadn't seen any sea beasts above the seventh rank here, there was no guarantee an eighth-rank sea beast wouldn't appear. She couldn't wait until she encountered one to prepare.
Logically, Mo Yaoqing's valley was the best hiding place. With such powerful restrictions, even an eighth-rank sea beast probably couldn't break in. If she couldn't make it into the Xu Tian Realm in time, she could just dash inside and block the sea beast outside. However, when she had exited the cultivation chamber, the restrictions had immediately restored themselves. Presumably, the Seven Absolutes Formation would also have restored itself. To enter again, she would have to break the formation once more.
To address this, Mo Tiange spent some more effort. At first, she tried to open another path from within the valley, only to find that the restrictions Mo Yaoqing had set were too formidable; even from inside, they were difficult to dismantle. Later, she considered modifying the Seven Absolutes Formation. But upon entering it, she discovered the formation allowed her to come and go freely, completely unimpeded!
She was utterly astonished. The formation had clearly restored itself, and the spiritual qi inside was still chaotic, just as it had been when she first arrived. Why did it not attack her at all? After repeated testing, Mo Tiange found that with the Taiji Bagua Diagram in her possession, the Seven Absolutes Formation simply did not attack her.
Discovering this, Mo Tiange was overjoyed. This meant she didn't need to open any restrictions or break the Seven Absolutes Formation again.
If just the Taiji Bagua Diagram was this powerful, how astonishing must the might of Mo Yaoqing's Life-Bound Artifact, the Soul-Suppressing Bell, have been? Mo Tiange couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. Unfortunately, that was Mo Yaoqing's Life-Bound Artifact. Since she had passed away, that artifact should have been destroyed as well.
However, her own Life-Bound Artifact was not inferior. The Heaven-Earth Fan in her hand was originally conceived by Mo Yaoqing, who had given it an extremely high evaluation in her notes. The pity was that the required materials were too difficult to find, so even she couldn't create it. Yet Mo Tiange, through a stroke of fate, had obtained the bone of an ancient divine beast, the Divine Dragon.
After arranging her escape route, Mo Tiange rose on her Cloud-Treading Boots and circled the small island several times.
The spiritual vein of this small island was mediocre to begin with, and Mo Yaoqing had sealed it with restrictions, leaving only very faint spiritual qi. Therefore, usually only ordinary sea beasts patrolled nearby, with few demon beasts. Mo Tiange had to venture a bit farther to find sea beasts above the fifth rank.
Upon finding sea beasts, Mo Tiange showed no mercy. For any sea beast below the sixth rank and in groups of fewer than two, she directly took their lives with the Heaven-Earth Fan and her flying sword, seizing their demon cores.
Sea beasts below the sixth rank were no match for her at all. The ferocity of demon beasts relied on their physical bodies. Although human cultivators' bodies were much more fragile than those of demon beasts, they possessed intelligence and used powerful artifact-forging techniques to create magical treasures that surpassed the physical strength of demon beasts.
The illusion formation carried by the Heaven-Earth Fan was precisely the bane of demon beasts. With their low intelligence, they couldn't distinguish the truth from illusion within the formation. Under the power of the Heaven-Earth Fan, they foolishly charged right in, becoming trapped like turtles in a jar.
Mo Tiange grew more proficient with each kill, gradually understanding and mastering the various uses of the Heaven-Earth Fan until she could wield it with ease.
Two months passed quickly. During this time, she hunted an average of one sea beast per day and had accumulated fifty or sixty demon cores. However, gradually, she began to have trouble finding sea beasts. In recent days, even flying far from the island, she still found no trace of them.
Could it be that she had killed all the sea beasts in the vicinity? Mo Tiange wondered privately. The sea was far vaster than land; how could there only be this many sea beasts?
She had forgotten that she had been killing only high-rank sea beasts. Even though the sea was immense, there couldn't be an endless supply of high-rank sea beasts in the nearby waters for her to slaughter.
Yet Mo Tiange had somewhat become addicted to the hunt. In her search for sea beasts, she ventured farther and farther.
Treading on her Cloud-Treading Boots, Mo Tiange fixed her gaze on the calm sea surface. Suddenly, she saw a splash of water erupt, and her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a greenish tail. She intensified her spiritual sense and, sure enough, detected a sea beast rapidly diving toward the seabed. Judging by the spiritual qi emanating from its entire body, it should be a fifth-rank demon beast.
A flying sword immediately appeared in her hand. With a flick of her sleeve, the flying sword shot downward with lightning speed, stirring up a surge of turbulent spiritual qi that pierced through the sea surface and struck the green-scaled tail.
"Awoo!" A muffled roar of pain sounded. The sea beast violently shot out of the water, its tail thrashing as it glided, trying to shake off the flying sword.
"A Cang Dragon?" Seeing the creature's appearance, Mo Tiange was slightly surprised. A Cang Dragon was not a true dragon, merely a sea race resembling one. It was much shorter than a dragon, with small wings better suited for swimming in water, no horns, and sharp teeth. Its body was covered in green scales, very similar to a dragon's.
Although not a true dragon race, the Cang Dragon was still a quite useful sea beast. Ancient records stated that Cang Dragon skin and bones were extremely tough, excellent materials for artifact forging. However, Cang Dragons were also quite rare among sea beasts. In her two months of busy work here, she had only seen one Cang Dragon before, and it had escaped.
Since one was right before her eyes, and only at the fifth rank, of course she couldn't let it go. Mo Tiange unfurled the Heaven-Earth Fan and swooped down abruptly. The fan surface spread out, layers of mountains and rivers pressing down upon this Cang Dragon.
With its tail still pinned by her flying sword, the Cang Dragon had no way to dodge and was immediately enveloped completely.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange gave a slight shake of her arm, retrieving her flying sword. She was about to thrust it down and finish off this Cang Dragon.
At that very moment, a disturbance suddenly came from the seabed. A powerful surge of spiritual qi transmitted upward from the depths. Simultaneously, the surrounding sea area began to churn, with waves surging and winds whipping up the water.
Mo Tiange frowned, looking around. Could a powerful sea beast have appeared?
The spiritual qi fluctuations grew clearer. Mo Tiange could now confirm it was a seventh-rank sea beast!
Seventh rank. Although more difficult, it wasn't beyond her ability to fight. After a brief mental calculation, she decided to finish off this Cang Dragon first, then engage this seventh-rank sea beast in battle.
But just as she was about to flick out her flying sword, a voice suddenly sounded in her mind: "Stop!"
Mo Tiange was startled. This was spiritual sense communication! This sea beast actually understood human language?
The sea surface erupted into waves several zhang high. Mo Tiange had to fly higher to avoid the surging water. The Cang Dragon she had trapped, however, began to howl "awoo, awoo," wriggling excitedly.
Then, a sea beast broke through the water's surface.
This was also a Cang Dragon, but much larger than the fifth-rank one she had trapped. Its entire body was covered in green scales shimmering with a faint golden light. A pair of slender, deep eyes gazed at Mo Tiange.
For a moment, Mo Tiange felt as if these eyes contained endless vicissitudes and wisdom.
A seventh-rank sea beast, logically, should possess only very low intelligence. It was only at the eighth rank that their intellect could compare to humans'.
"Human!" Looking into those eyes, the voice sounded again in Mo Tiange's mind. "Do not harm my descendant!"
Looking at this Cang Dragon, Mo Tiange narrowed her eyes slightly. This was her first time conversing with a demon beast.
"You... who are you?" she asked tentatively.
The Cang Dragon floated in mid-air, gently swishing its tail, its divine sense communicating with her again: "I am the ancestor of the Cang Dragons in this sea area."
"Oh..." Mo Tiange nodded. "You actually understand human language?"
The Cang Dragon looked at her, opening its mouth: "I have lived for nearly ten thousand years. In my earlier years, I was the spirit beast of a powerful cultivator. Therefore, I also understand human language."
"A cultivator?"
The Cang Dragon shook its head, which seemed like a nod. "Correct. That cultivator has already passed away. After his passing, the spirit beast contract became void, and I gained my freedom. I have lived here ever since, for several thousand years now."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange narrowed her eyes. Several thousand years, a powerful cultivator, a spirit beast... Could it be Mo Yaoqing's spirit beast? But she didn't ask immediately. Instead, she inquired, "You are only a seventh-rank demon beast. How can you have lived so long?"
The Cang Dragon said, "Our Cang Dragon race possesses the bloodline of the ancient divine beast, the Dragon. We are inherently different from these lowly demon beasts." These words carried thick pride, clearly taking great honor in its lineage. "The lifespan of demon beasts is naturally different from you humans. Moreover, the lifespan of our Cang Dragons far exceeds that of ordinary demon beasts. Living for over ten thousand years at most, or several thousand at least, is quite common."
"So that's how it is..."
The Cang Dragon nodded, then looked toward the small Cang Dragon still trapped within her Heaven-Earth Fan. "Human, you have been here for several months now. During these months, you have killed most of the high-rank demon beasts in this sea area and nearly killed a member of our Cang Dragon race. If this continues, the high-rank demon beasts of this sea area will be exterminated by you. When that happens, you will invite great calamity!"
"What great calamity?" Mo Tiange asked. Between humans and demon beasts, the relationship was inherently one of killer and killed. Therefore, she was not bound by morality and did not feel she had done wrong.
The Cang Dragon said, "Among our Sea Clan, there is still a group of seventh-rank sea beasts that have not taken action. Your actions have already angered us. If this continues, we will surround and kill you."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange merely smiled. "If you can kill me, I have nothing to say."
The Cang Dragon blinked, anger appearing in its eyes. "Do not go too far! Although we demon beasts may not match you humans in combat, you are only equivalent to a sixth-rank demon beast. If a dozen seventh-rank demon beasts surround you, are you certain you can escape?"
Mo Tiange paused, slowly slowly withdrew her smile, her gaze sweeping over the Cang Dragon. "Then what do you want? You didn't come just to warn me, did you?"
"Warn? You could say that." The Cang Dragon said. "However, I would rather reach a consensus with you."
"Oh? What consensus?"
The Cang Dragon looked at the small Cang Dragon below. "Release it. From now on, do not kill any more sea beasts here."
Mo Tiange remained expressionless. "And what do I get?"
"If you stop killing, then we seventh-rank sea beasts will not besiege you. Additionally, I will give you a secret as repayment."
"A secret?" Mo Tiange thought for a moment, then smiled again. "If your strength were sufficient, why would you fear me continuing to kill? Why even offer a secret in exchange?"
Hearing her words, anger flashed in the Cang Dragon's eyes. It growled deeply, "Human! The reason we do not wish to fight you is because your strength is considerable. Even if we could surround and kill you, there would be casualties among the demon beasts. We of the Sea Clan have lived peacefully here for many years. We do not wish to be drawn into slaughter, not because we fear you!"
Mo Tiange fell silent. She knew this Cang Dragon spoke the truth. A siege by a dozen seventh-rank sea beasts would be extremely dangerous, even if she could escape. Moreover, she had already taken full advantage. If she refused to stop now, it would indeed be pushing her luck.
But, although she thought this in her heart, she couldn't show too much weakness in her words. She smiled slightly, looking fearlessly into the Cang Dragon's eyes. "Very well, I admit you are right. I also have no desire to fight a dozen seventh-rank sea beasts. However, I am very interested to hear this secret of yours and whether it's worth me stopping."