Descending about a hundred zhang into the sea, she indeed sensed a faint Breath of the Qilin.
Mo Tiange stopped, closed her eyes, clasped her palms together, and silently activated her cultivation technique.
Spiritual energy flowed from her dantian, followed by the Breath of the Qilin. As the Breath of the Qilin filled her entire body, the aura of its kind around her became increasingly distinct.
Mo Tiange opened her eyes and slowly swam along with the Breath of the Qilin.
The Breath of the Qilin here was very strange—thin and ethereal, almost impossible to locate. Even with the Breath of the Qilin within her, she couldn't sense its source.
How could this be?
With the trail of the Breath of the Qilin cut off, Mo Tiange stopped again and once more urged the Breath of the Qilin within her body.
But this time, it still didn't last long before disappearing.
After pondering for a while without reaching any conclusion, she simply gave up for the moment and swam upwards.
With a splash, she emerged from the water, flicking her sleeves to shake off the droplets. She found that Nie Wushang had already surfaced and was sitting cross-legged in mid-air above the sea.
"You're up too?" she raised an eyebrow.
"It's a bit strange. I need to think about it."
Nie Wushang didn't disturb her either. The two of them sat cross-legged in silence, facing each other.
After another while, with another splash, Dao Lord Lingxi emerged from the water.
"You two came up early?" Dao Lord Lingxi also shook off the water droplets and sat cross-legged in mid-air a bit further away. "We found the Breath of the Qilin, but it's just too strange—intangible and ungraspable."
"Senior Brother Lingxi is right," Mo Tiange pondered. "I also have the Breath of the Qilin within me, yet I can't sense it... Could it be that this Breath of the Qilin is merely remnants left here, and the Qilin Sacrificial Temple isn't in this location?"
"If not here, then where?" Nie Wushang said. "The Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North are all in their proper positions. The Qilin should be at the center. Moreover, if the Qilin Sacrificial Temple isn't here, how do you explain the Breath of the Qilin present?"
"Yes... Why exactly is it like this?" Mo Tiange murmured to herself.
"Perhaps... because the entrance to the Qilin Sacrificial Temple has been concealed?" Dao Lord Lingxi suddenly suggested.
Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang looked up simultaneously.
"Is that not right?" Seeing their expressions, Dao Lord Lingxi thought he had said something wrong.
"No," Mo Tiange revealed a smile. "Senior Brother Lingxi is absolutely right! We can't find it precisely because it's been concealed! This Breath of the Qilin leaked out previously."
"In that case, should we continue searching?" Nie Wushang asked.
"Let's contact the others first," Mo Tiange thought for a moment and said. "See how they're doing, whether they're facing the same situation."
"Hmm..."
Just as she was about to take out a communication talisman, she saw Xiaofan splash to the surface not far away and cry out, "Master! There are sea beasts! So many, many sea beasts!"
"What?" All three of them were stunned.
Xiaofan swiftly swam over, followed by Xiaohuo and Feifei. He said, "The water currents are wrong. There are many, many sea beasts coming this way."
"Many, many?" Mo Tiange was confused. "Where from? What are they coming here for?"
"From the south! They're coming from the south!" Xiaofan nudged her anxiously. "Let's go quickly, head to shore! There are thousands, no, tens of thousands..."
Tens of thousands of sea beasts? Mo Tiange's face paled slightly. If tens of thousands of sea beasts swarmed them all at once, even without Eighth Rank Demon Cultivators, it would be overwhelming. Moreover, this was simply impossible—there were Eighth Rank Demon Cultivators active nearby.
"Let's go!" Feifei shouted from behind. "It could be sea beasts coming out to hunt, or it could be demon beasts from the Demon Cultivator Continent being driven here by demon cultivators... We can't stay in the water!"
"Go!" Dao Lord Lingxi immediately stood up. "Hide on shore and find a chance to regroup!"
"Hmm." Mo Tiange didn't hesitate. She activated a communication talisman, then quickly summoned her spirit beasts and stored them in her spirit beast bracelet before shooting towards the nearest small island.
The other two teams had clearly discovered it earlier than her. Just as she sent her communication talisman, she received messages from Qin Xi and Jing Xingzhi one after another, both concise and expressing the same meaning: "Numerous sea beasts from the south. Hide quickly!"
By the time they set foot on the island, their spiritual sense had already detected the traces of the numerous sea beasts. The three of them remained silent, found a cave, and Mo Tiange quickly took out a formation to set up, concealing their auras and hiding within.
The sea beasts drew closer and closer, the "buzzing" sound unceasing. Mo Tiange silently calculated with her spiritual sense. Xiaofan was right—there were at least tens of thousands, the lowest at the third or fourth rank, the higher ones... Eighth Rank, Ninth Rank, Tenth Rank... Where on earth did they come from? Gathering to hunt? That shouldn't be possible, right? Or perhaps, from the Demon Cultivator Continent...
It was as if a thousand troops and ten thousand horses were trampling overhead. The ground shook, and the sea waves churned. None of the three were low-level cultivators with shallow experience, yet such commotion still made their faces pale.
The sea beasts surged past above like a tide, seemingly not paying them much attention. The three relaxed slightly, but the next moment, an Eighth Rank Demon Cultivator stopped right above them, followed by two Ninth Rank ones...
They held their breath, their hearts hanging by a thread. Suddenly, they sensed one of the demon cultivators making a move. Without even time to speak, the three swiftly flashed out of the cave.
With a thunderous boom, the cave they had been hiding in was shattered to pieces.
Once outside the cave, the sky above was densely packed with flying sea beasts.
Mo Tiange's heart sank. She pressed her spirit beast bracelet and released all her spirit beasts. "Can't hide anymore. Time to work!"
"This many?!" Xiaohuo exclaimed in surprise, feeling extremely apprehensive. From childhood till now, she had had very few chances to actually fight.
Mo Tiange swung her Heaven and Earth Fan, a bolt of lightning reducing the approaching sixth and seventh rank demon beasts to dust. She said in a low voice, "Even if there are this many, there's no choice. Since we can't hide, we can only fight our way out!"
She raised her head and looked at the demon cultivators gathering in greater numbers not far away. These demon cultivators were almost all in their true forms, their gazes filled with hostility.
The puppet was released silently. Mo Tiange exchanged a glance with the other two and swiftly charged forward.
Letting the demon cultivators have time to assemble was definitely not a good idea. The best plan now was to break through the encirclement as quickly as possible. As long as they could join up with the other two groups, their chances of survival would greatly increase.
Seeing them charge over, some of these demon cultivators grew more disgusted, while others became excited. Their formation shifted slightly, adopting a stance to meet the enemy.
They were actually demon cultivators capable of collective combat...
Nie Wushang's Demonic Cloud was the first to be prepared. She still retained her habits as a martial cultivator, throwing a heavy punch as the Demonic Cloud fiercely assaulted the demon cultivators.
At the same time, Dao Lord Lingxi waved his hand. Countless specks of green light flashed in the air, spreading out to form a verdant, emerald net. This net gathered and suddenly transformed into a towering ancient tree, carrying an austere, ancient aura and boundless vitality.
Facing their preemptive attacks, these demon cultivators stood ready in strict formation, dividing their forces to counter each one, successfully blocking them.
Mo Tiange noticed one demon cultivator among them, at the Tenth Rank, who hadn't made a move yet and was only watching coldly from the side. While the other demon cultivators were in their true forms, only he was in his post-Human Transformation appearance.
This black, thin figure looked very familiar. When she saw the pair of wings that hadn't vanished on his back, Mo Tiange jolted and exclaimed, "It's you!"
The black, thin demon cultivator's gaze fixed on her. His sinister, ruthless eyes narrowed slightly. "So it's you. Who would have thought we'd meet again after parting ways all those years ago." The not-very-proficient human speech carried a strange accent. It was unmistakably the black demon cultivator who had escaped the Guixu Sea Immortal Palace together.
When the Guixu Sea Immortal Palace collapsed, three demon cultivators—black, white, and azure—escaped together. Mo Tiange and Yang Chengji had triggered their Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, while they had faced their Human Transformation Heavenly Tribulation. After the tribulation, amidst wind, rain, and strange celestial phenomena, Yang Chengji had fled via the sea, while Mo Tiange, Qin Xi, and Jing Xingzhi had headed for Yuan Prefecture. The three demon cultivators had vanished without a trace. So they had become leaders among the sea demon cultivators.
Hearing their exchange, Nie Wushang and Dao Lord Lingxi looked at them with some surprise and doubt. Nie Wushang sent a mental message, "Tian Ge, how do you know this demon cultivator..."
Mo Tiange waved her hand at her, signaling she'd explain later.
She raised her voice, "So it's Fellow Daoist Old Hei. After parting in the Guixu Sea all those years ago, Fellow Daoist managed to escape alive. Truly something to congratulate!"
The black, thin demon cultivator chuckled darkly. "We have to thank you Fellow Daoists for that. If not for you all, we would have been trapped in the Ice Palace for a lifetime. How could we have left? How could we enjoy our current glory?"
"I dare not claim credit. It was merely a fortunate coincidence," Mo Tiange paused slightly, then asked aloud again, "May I ask, Fellow Daoist Old Hei, what is all this about?"
The black, thin demon cultivator looked at her, his tone quite indifferent. "I'm afraid it's not convenient for Fellow Daoists to know." The refusal was blunt, his gaze sinister and ruthless, strongly implying he was ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.
But Mo Tiange didn't want to fight him immediately. With so many demon cultivators, would they tire themselves to death? "That's true as well. Matters of demon cultivators are useless for us to know."
Hearing this, the black, thin demon cultivator narrowed his eyes. "This is demon cultivator territory. What business do you have coming here?"
Mo Tiange hesitated for a moment. "Fellow Daoist, that statement is mistaken. The great sea is indeed your sea beasts' habitat, but humans also live on the islands. How can it be solely demon cultivator territory?"
"Hmph!" The black, thin demon cultivator's tone turned unpleasant. "You humans come to the sea for nothing but hunting beasts, right? Clever with words, but that doesn't change the fact."
"Hmph!" Mo Tiange also snorted coldly. "Since when have you demon cultivators been kind and friendly to humans? Don't you also constantly command low-level demon beasts, using those without opened spiritual intelligence to snatch human pills and magic treasures, paving your own path to Human Transformation?"
"You..." Verbal sparring really wasn't a demon cultivator's strong suit. After just this one sentence, the black, thin demon cultivator was left speechless. He wanted to say that he had undergone Human Transformation in the Guixu Sea Immortal Palace, but saying that would seem like admitting her point.
Having overpowered the demon cultivator named Old Hei in terms of momentum, Mo Tiange was just about to say something to ease the situation and seek coexistence when suddenly, an earth-shattering blow came from the distance. The other four had already engaged the demon cultivators. Old Hei turned his head to look and immediately flew into a rage, shouting, "Exterminate them!"
"Yes!" The demon cultivators beside him responded in unison, rubbing their hands and eager to pounce forward.
Mo Tiange inwardly groaned in distress but had no choice. She let out a low shout, "Let's go!"