“Damn it!”
Raging Shark True Personage wielded a gigantic battle-axe dharma artifact as he continuously activated the Blood Sea Ten Thousand Shark Grand Array!
His cultivation had long since reached the peak of mid-stage Core Formation, and he still possessed a hidden trump card.
The Blood Sea Shark was royalty among the Blood Shark demon race, capable of commanding entire schools of sharks.
After contracting it as his natal spirit beast, Raging Shark True Personage had paid an enormous price to acquire this battle array secret art.
A battle array was, by nature, a mobile formation. Cultivators or demon beasts served as the array foundations.
Though its power might not compare to fixed formations, it possessed tremendous flexibility.
Together with his third-rank middle-grade Blood Sea Shark, he could already contend against late Core Formation cultivators.
And with this battle array secret technique added on top, he might even be capable of defeating one.
Ice Heaven True Personage was a peak Core Formation expert!
“Slash!”
Ice Heaven True Personage formed seals with both hands. The icy sword dharma artifacts around him suddenly fused together, condensing into a colossal frost sword.
White flames ignited upon the tip of the blade as it slashed downward with terrifying force!
The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly. Water froze into ice in midair.
The low-rank Blood Sharks could not even react before they were frozen solid within the icy sea, like insects trapped in amber.
“Argh... Blood Fiend Myriad Transformation, rise!”
Raging Shark True Personage was both enraged and alarmed. Sensing the threat of death, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood.
The blood merged with the myriad demon blood fiend qi, instantly transforming into a gigantic crimson shark.
Opening its massive jaws, it lunged toward the frost sword.
The giant frost sword descended amidst boundless white radiance.
Boom!
The white spirit flame erupted with terrifying coldness, instantly transforming the surroundings into a world of snow and ice.
In the blink of an eye, the blood-fiend shark became an ice sculpture before shattering apart under the sword strike.
“A cold-aspect spirit flame?”
Raging Shark True Personage felt his heart turn cold.
Within the battle array secret arts he had collected were records of several techniques and divine abilities that most heavily countered blood fiend qi.
At this moment, realization finally struck him.
‘Ice Heaven True Personage doesn’t have a grudge against me. He specifically chose me because he counters me the hardest!’
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
“Suppress!”
Ice Heaven True Personage formed another seal.
The enormous palace of ice and snow came crashing down from the heavens.
Layer after layer of jade pavilions and frozen halls descended with overwhelming force, smashing into the blood fiend shark swarm and grinding countless demon beasts into bloody paste.
Before the frozen palace stood an enormous ice archway completely formed from solid frost.
Dense runes spread across its surface, intertwining into chains that bound the third-rank middle-grade Blood Sea Shark layer upon layer, suppressing it beneath the archway itself.
“My Blood Sea Shark!”
Raging Shark True Personage panicked.
Several third-rank talismans atop his palm instantly ignited, transforming into seas of fire and mountains of blades that slammed into the frozen palace.
Yet they caused only negligible damage.
At some unknown moment, a translucent frost barrier had already appeared above his head.
Streams of icy light descended from it, seemingly capable of freezing even his divine sense.
“I’ll fight you to the death!”
Raging Shark True Personage’s blood qi surged violently as he activated some kind of demonic secret art.
His aura instantly skyrocketed.
A gigantic blood-red hand swept outward and actually blasted the Three Yin Mystic Ice Barrier away with a single strike.
Ice Heaven True Personage’s expression turned solemn.
He knew Raging Shark True Personage had begun risking his life.
Raising one hand, he produced a snow-white formation diagram.
Countless sword lights erupted from it, enveloping both cultivators within.
…
Aboard the Blood Shark.
Chixin True Personage controlled a fiery-red flying sword dharma artifact, pouring immense True Core mana into it.
The sword instantly transformed into a flaming flood dragon whose claws slammed heavily against the array barrier.
Crash!
Already strained to its limit under the attacks of multiple Core Formation cultivators, the array finally shattered apart.
“The array broke?”
Chixin True Personage shivered slightly, greed immediately flashing through his eyes.
He was already advanced in years and preparing to establish a cultivation clan of his own. What he needed most right now was cultivation wealth.
And the Blood Shark was Raging Shark True Personage’s lair, filled with years upon years of plundered treasures.
Chixin True Personage transformed into a streak of light and rushed toward the ship.
Yet another streak of icy sword light moved even faster than him.
“It’s Frost Fairy Zhang Xueyue... Ice Heaven True Personage’s disciple.”
Chixin True Personage immediately slowed his movement light, unwilling to contend with this newly advanced Core Formation cultivator.
The icy sword light split into thousands of strands, instantly slaughtering several Foundation Establishment bandit cultivators before diving into the ship’s cabins.
But not long afterward, an angry shout rang out:
“Thief, how dare you?!”
Rip!
A brilliant sword light exploded forth with the roar of thunder, cleaving the Blood Shark cleanly in half and exposing the completely empty treasure chambers within.
Clearly, someone had already beaten everyone else to the prize.
And the one who had gotten there first...
Chixin True Personage found him strangely familiar.
“It’s True Personage Fang Shui!”
“The Void Spiritual Body genius who escaped alive from Ice Heaven True Personage!”
Chixin True Personage instantly shrank his neck and retreated even farther without hesitation.
He had absolutely no desire to be remembered by such a terrifying monster.
As for what happened behind him to Zhang Xueyue?
That was none of his concern.
In fact, after glancing around, Chixin True Personage discovered that the other allied cultivators shared the same unspoken understanding and were all quietly retreating away.
“Fang Shui?”
Zhang Xueyue let out a startled cry. A trace of fighting spirit even appeared in her eyes as she thrust forward with her Frost Ice Sword.
Whoosh!
The icy sword pierced uselessly through empty space. Fang Qing had already vanished from where he originally stood.
When he appeared again, he was already behind Zhang Xueyue, less than ten feet away from her!
At such close range, Fang Qing could even catch the faint floral fragrance lingering on her body. He could see the fear buried deep within her widened pupils beneath that pale, beautiful face.
Shing!
Yet his gaze remained calm and unmoving as the flying sword Wolfbreaker stabbed forward.
The light of countless stars flickered. Sword qi drifted like mist and smoke.
But this sword strike carried an indescribably subtle arc, as though it had found the weakness within Zhang Xueyue’s True Core power itself. The blade pierced directly through the weakest point, effortlessly shattering her mana defenses and splitting that delicate face cleanly down the middle.
‘This is… Sword Heart Clarity?’
‘During battle, the sword follows the heart and can identify the weaknesses within an enemy’s spells and mana. It is practically like Butcher Ding dissecting an ox.’[1]
After killing the woman, Fang Qing smiled faintly toward the surrounding Core Formation True Personages. Then his figure stepped once more into the void and vanished without a trace.
“Not good!”
True Personage Chixin felt his soul nearly leave his body. He feared that at any moment a supreme sword cultivator might suddenly emerge within three feet of him.
The other Core Formation cultivators reacted similarly, frantically activating defensive spells and magical treasures as though they cost nothing at all.
For a time, brilliant lights erupted across the battlefield in every color imaginable, yet Fang Qing himself was nowhere to be seen.
A flash of spatial light flickered.
Fang Qing had already arrived above the third-rank mid-grade Blood Sea Shark suppressed beneath Ice Palace’s restraints.
“Die!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Wolfbreaker struck again.
Sword qi condensed. Thunder roared alongside the blade. Sword Heart Clarity flowed through the strike.
The convergence of multiple sword dao realms, combined with his mid-stage Core Formation mana, made this sword strike so terrifying that even ordinary mid-stage Core Formation sword cultivators would feel ashamed in comparison.
Slash!
The Blood Sea Shark was heavily restrained and completely incapable of defending itself. Its enormous shark head was instantly severed by a single sword strike.
Blood sprayed like rain.
A crimson inner core the size of a fist emerged from the corpse, gleaming brightly as it attempted to transform into a streak of light and flee.
But Fang Qing had long prepared for this.
He snorted coldly.
His divine sense transformed into a Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle, instantly suppressing the trembling crimson demon core.
Then Wolfbreaker lightly flicked upward, and the third-rank mid-grade inner core landed neatly in his hand.
“You dare?!”
Crash!
The white formation diagram shattered apart, revealing the figure of True Personage Ice Heaven.
In his hand, he still held Raging Shark True Personage, whose mana had been completely sealed. At this moment, his eyes looked ready to split apart from rage as he stared at Fang Qing.
Not only had this man stolen his spoils of war, he had even killed his beloved disciple!
Unfortunately for him, this was only a temporary battlefield. There was no grand forbidden formation here capable of sealing off space itself.
No matter how furiously Ice Heaven roared, Fang Qing treated it as nothing more than the dying howl of a defeated dog.
His figure flickered once more as he stepped into the void and disappeared completely.
And at the very instant he vanished, several Frost Ice Swords pierced uselessly through the empty space where he had just been standing.
Only after seeing Ice Heaven True Personage return with the captured enemy did Chixin True Personage and the others dare approach.
Yet after seeing the man’s expression, none of them dared utter so much as a single word of consolation.
‘If it were me, with my beloved disciple killed and most of my spoils stolen away, I’d probably cough blood from sheer rage.’
‘At times like this, the more said, the more mistakes made. Better silence than ten thousand proper words.’
Chixin True Personage obediently lowered his eyes and nose, standing motionless like a statue.
Only after a long while did Ice Heaven True Personage finally speak.
“Clean the battlefield. Not a single Core Formation cultivator under Raging Shark True Personage is to be spared. When eliminating evil, one must uproot it completely!”
…
Zhong Alliance.
Inside the cave dwelling.
Fang Qing’s figure stepped out from the void. He silently sat down cross-legged.
“This trip yielded quite a harvest… counting the expenses for refining the Devouring Sea Bottle, all of it was paid for by Ice Heaven True Personage! Serves him right.’
‘And according to my calculations, this was merely collecting interest. That man’s fate is already exhausted. There should still be more entertaining developments ahead.’
Fang Qing glanced toward several bottle-shaped spirit artifacts arranged within the cave dwelling and nodded slightly.
Using his pill fire to refine artifacts, he could now produce spiritual artifacts. He could barely be considered a second-rank artifact refiner, enough to finally begin refining his natal dharma artifact.
“However, before that…”
Fang Qing sat cross-legged as the Devouring Sea Art silently circulated within his body.
That pitch-black True Core, slightly superior even to a high-grade True Core, rotated slowly like a black hole greedily devouring all things.
“Let’s give it a try.”
He took out the third-rank mid-grade inner core of the Blood Sea Shark. A layer of dark black radiance suddenly spread across both his hands.
The sound of surging ocean waves abruptly echoed throughout the cultivation chamber.
Layers upon layers of black seawater churned violently, forming something like a whirlpool or perhaps the eye of the sea itself. A terrifying suction force erupted outward, instantly swallowing the Blood Sea Shark demon core.
“Mmm…”
Fang Qing released a satisfied sigh.
He could feel streams of warm water-attributed spiritual power suddenly appearing within his dantian, continuously refined by his True Core. The effect far surpassed consuming ordinary pills that increased mana!
Not only that, after passing through the “Sea Eye,” those water-attributed spiritual energies underwent repeated filtering and transformation. Even among demonic cultivators, his mana could already be considered exceptionally pure.
“Still not enough. Fortunately, I still have the Dao-Genesis Pearl.”
“If merely devouring inner cores to increase mana is all this so-called Devouring Sea Demonic Art can do, then it hardly deserves its reputation.”
Fang Qing silently circulated the Devouring Sea Art and carefully sensed its changes. Soon, he discovered something unusual.
Around him, dense black seawater rolled endlessly.
And within those waters, it seemed there was actually a Blood Sea Shark swimming through the depths?
[1]:- Butcher Ding Dissects an Ox" (庖丁解牛) is a famous Daoist parable from the Zhuangzi (The Preservation of Life) illustrating mastery, flow state, and living in accordance with the Dao.
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