Stirring the Seas Beyond; Killing Beasts for Their Cores

Han Li’s worry was clearly unnecessary.

A mere half hour later, he detected two powerful spiritual energy fluctuations rapidly approaching Red Coral Island from the east and west. A slight change appeared on his face.

He snapped open his eyes, staring fixedly at the row of formation flags before him as he pressed his dry lips together.

Though everything was arranged, facing two high-grade demon beasts at once still caused an involuntary pang of tension.

Then, one of the blue-violet formation flags suddenly blazed with light and began to tremble faintly.

Han Li’s expression turned solemn, but he did not act immediately. He watched and waited.

He knew that while fifth-grade demon beasts possessed some intelligence, once trapped within a grand formation like the Reversed Five Elements Formation, they could not break out anytime soon. Though a fifth-grade beast’s cultivation was said to equal a mid-Core Formation cultivator, in a real fight, most were no match for a human of the same grade.

Their weakness lay in their low intellect and monotonous innate spell selection, making it easy for cultivators at the same level to exploit their vulnerabilities and kill them.

Formations were profundities far beyond what they could unravel in a short time.

Thus, Han Li could safely wait until the second beast was also trapped before making his move.

Just as he was anxiously speculating, a yellow formation flag also blazed with light and emitted a low, humming drone.

A flicker of joy crossed Han Li’s solemn face. He swiftly formed a hand seal, using the surrounding illusion formation’s restrictions to seal off the Rainbow Garment Grass’s scent entirely.

If he attracted even one more demon beast, he would be overwhelmed.

Having done this, Han Li reached out and lightly grasped the air. The two abnormal formation flags flew up and into his hand. He softly uttered, “Go!”

Behind him, Qu Hun opened his mouth and shot out a beam of yellow light. The light expanded, sweeping Han Li up into a yellow rainbow that shot into the sky.

Moments later, Han Li appeared above the westernmost Illusory Form Heaven Net Formation. Inside, yellow and green light surged and roiled, while a sound like a bull’s bellow rumbled from within.

Han Li released the Divine Wind Boat and flew away from it, riding the artifact alone. He drew the yellow formation flag from his robe and waved it gently. A beam of yellow light shot from the flagstaff, striking the churning light inside the formation. The radiance converged, revealing the beast trapped within.

The creature was about two to three zhang long, its body perfectly round and covered in fiery red spikes, making it look like a giant sea urchin at first glance. But its bloated body was covered in dozens of cold, palm-sized, emerald-green eyes.

Those eyes were utterly cold. They fired bursts of crimson light in rapid succession, pounding against the formation’s restrictions. The dull bellowing sound came from its fat abdomen, suggesting it was in a state of violent agitation.

“Thousand-Eyed Beast.”

The moment he saw it clearly, Han Li recognized the demon beast’s origin and felt a surge of excitement.

It was one of the most common fifth-grade beasts in the Starfall Sea—perfect for him to test his skills.

He did not dare delay long. This was not the Reversed Five Elements Formation; it could not endure many more rounds of punishment from this beast. He immediately sent a mental command to Qu Hun.

At the order, Qu Hun’s yellow aura transformed into a towering bloody light. He clapped his hands together and then pulled them apart, unleashing a crescent-shaped yellow blade that shot straight into the formation, slashing fiercely at the Thousand-Eyed Beast.

This was Qu Hun’s partially refined treasure, the Chaos Origin Bowl.

Though trapped, the Thousand-Eyed Beast seemed to recognize the danger of the yellow light. Its dozens of eyes locked onto the direction of the Chaos Origin Bowl in unison. Countless red beams converged into a single, thick pillar of light, forcibly blocking the yellow crescent’s advance, locking Qu Hun and the beast in a contest of raw magic power.

Instead of being annoyed, Han Li revealed a pleased expression.

He slapped a bulging storage pouch at his waist. Hundreds of white beams flew out, landing around the formation to reveal a host of ferocious puppet beasts. The zhang-tall puppets, baring their fangs, opened their mouths wide. Multicolored spike-lights began to gather, ready to strike.

A flush of excitement rose to Han Li’s face. He flipped his hand, and the set of Red Thread Escape Light Needles appeared in his palm.

Just then, hundreds of light beams erupted in unison from the puppets’ mouths, crashing violently toward the Thousand-Eyed Beast in the formation.

The demon beast seemed to sense the danger. It let out a sharp screech, and its entire body curled up into a massive ball of spikes. The light shooting from its eyes shifted from red to green. Instead of attacking, the green light gathered around its body, forming a thick protective barrier.

Hundreds of light beams slammed into the green barrier simultaneously. Amid the explosion and flying sparks, the barrier held, but its light flickered unsteadily—it was clearly on the verge of collapse.

At that moment, the Chaos Origin Bowl, having finally dispersed the unsupported red beam, grew to immense size under Qu Hun’s command. It transformed into a massive disc several zhang in diameter and smashed downward, catching the beast as it was already reeling from the light beams.

A crisp cracking sound rang out. The barrier, despite the Thousand-Eyed Beast’s frantic spraying of green light, could not withstand the combined assault and collapsed entirely.

Seeing this, Han Li, who had been waiting, wasted no time. He raised his hand and let fly more than ten red threads. They slipped through the gap and shot straight at the beast’s exposed body.

…

After the time it takes to eat a meal, Han Li stood in the center of the formation, holding an egg-sized green orb in his hand, his face full of joy.

Beneath his feet lay the mangled corpse of the demon beast. A fist-sized blood hole gaped in its body.

“Let’s go.”

Without further hesitation, Han Li stored the Thousand-Eyed Beast’s corpse in his storage pouch. The yellow light from Qu Hun swept him up again, and they sped off toward the other grand formation.

…

And so, Han Li remained on Red Coral Island for over a month.

Several times, he dripped Green Liquid onto the Rainbow Garment Grass, forcing it to unfurl and release its scent, gradually expanding its beast-attracting range.

Thus, every two or three days, a demon beast would be lured in. He and Qu Hun killed more than ten fifth-grade beasts in one go, sending Han Li into ecstasy.

But when the Rainbow Garment Grass reached four hundred years in age, it drew the attention of a rare sixth-grade beast, the “Cock’s Comb Flood Dragon.” Startled, Han Li hastily used the formation to seal off the grass’s scent. After circling the area a few times, the beast departed reluctantly.

Shaken by the close call, Han Li finally understood that the Rainbow Garment Grass should only be ripened to three hundred years. Increasing it further would attract beasts of a higher grade.

He quickly swapped it for a new Rainbow Garment Grass seedling and began ripening it again.

By this point, nearly all the fifth-grade demon beasts near Red Coral Island had been exterminated.

After seeing no beasts arrive for six or seven days, Han Li and Qu Hun did not linger. They immediately withdrew their formations, flew deeper into the Outer Star Seas for several days, found another coral island, set up the same grand formation, and continued killing beasts for their cores.

This life—both exhilarating and monotonous, filled with constant danger—kept Han Li in the Outer Star Seas for a full five years.

During that time, he killed hundreds of fifth-grade demon beasts. Some were creatures never before recorded in the cultivation world. Facing them for the first time pushed Han Li to the brink of life and death on several occasions.

Had it not been for Qu Hun’s and the puppets’ fearless sacrifice, he would have been buried in the vast sea even with the formations’ aid.

After years of attrition, only twenty or thirty of the original hundred-plus puppets remained. The formation tools had been mostly destroyed or damaged in a few explosive self-destructs by violent beasts. Even his most powerful set, the Reversed Five Elements Formation, had been sacrificed half a year ago when he accidentally attracted a seventh-grade beast. He had no choice but to leave the formation to temporarily trap it while he and Qu Hun fled.

Yet for all the losses, the harvest was staggering.

In addition to several hundred fifth-grade demon cores, the rare demon beast materials he accumulated were beyond counting. He was even forced to discard some less valuable items to lighten his storage pouches.

Moreover, through hundreds of life-and-death battles, he had honed his combat skills to a razor’s edge and developed numerous unique techniques for killing demon beasts.

Now, Han Li could face an ordinary fifth-grade beast completely alone, with no fear and full composure.