Chapter 532: Winds Rise Overseas, A Glimpse

Seven years later, above a certain stretch of the Outer Star Seas, a group of over a dozen cultivators of varying cultivation levels flew slowly at low altitude, glancing left and right as if searching for something.

Most of the cultivators in this group were at Foundation Establishment, with only the three at the very front being Core Formation: one mid-stage and two early-stage.

“Brother Qiu, is that rank-six demon beast really nearby? We’ve already been searching these waters for days. We’ve expanded the search area several times over. Could the intelligence have been wrong?” a middle-aged cultivator with a pale golden complexion asked with obvious impatience.

The man he addressed was an elderly cultivator beside him with a vulture-like face and a grim, somber expression. This elder was the highest-ranked among them, a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator.

“Friend Min, why be so hasty? The information we received only gave us an approximate location. A margin of error of a few days is perfectly normal. This is still far better than aimlessly stumbling around the rest of the sea. I trust that the fellow who gave me the tip does not dare deceive me,” the elder said calmly, his expression unchanged.

“Could the beast have already left this area? Or maybe this was never its lair at all,” the other cultivator, a large man with a fierce, brutish face, suddenly interjected.

“Impossible. This is a rare Glass Beast. Our spiritual sense just swept the seabed nearby. It’s covered entirely with three-colored algae, its favorite food. Its lair cannot be far,” the vulture-faced elder stated with placid certainty.

The elder seemed to wield considerable authority among the three. When the other two heard this, they dropped the matter and resumed their sweeping search with their spiritual sense.

As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators trailing behind—mostly their juniors or disciples—none of them dared to interrupt.

Under the elder’s leadership, the group continued to search this stretch of sea for the better part of the day, yet still found nothing. This time, even the vulture-faced elder began to frown slightly.

“Sigh! Back in the Abyss, things were fine. Even if we couldn’t bring in something every month, we could still get three or four high-grade demon cores a year. But now, after leaving that place, in the last two years we’ve only managed to kill two high-rank demon beasts. We can’t even get one core per person anymore,” the pale-golden-faced cultivator, Min, complained again, as if he had a belly full of grievances.

“Alright. Does Brother Min not know the situation in the Abyss right now? Going there now isn’t about hunting demon beasts—it’s about walking straight into death’s door.”

“It really is damned strange! The Abyss was never perfectly safe, but as long as you had some sense and didn’t wander into the central zone, you could live quite well. But now, ever since that demon beast riot two years ago, the entire Abyss has become a forbidden zone. Virtually every high-rank cultivator who has entered has never returned. Just last year, several Nascent Soul old monsters joined forces to rush into the central zone to investigate. Who knows what level of beast they encountered? They fled in terror. One of them, the Four Laws Sage, only barely escaped alive as a Nascent Soul. It seems the Abyss Island really can’t last much longer,” the brutish-faced man interjected, his face slightly pale as he spoke with lingering fear.

“Friend Xuan makes a fair point. The demon beasts in the Abyss have been acting strangely. For now, they haven’t stepped a foot outside the Abyss, but who knows when they might go berserk and pour out all at once? It’s not impossible. We must indeed be on guard,” the vulture-faced elder said after a long silence, his face twitching.

It was clear that even this elder turned pale at the mention of the Abyss’s demon beasts.

“But the Star Palace and the Rebel Alliance are still tearing each other apart out there. The teleportation arrays are still one-way out. We can’t go back even if we want to,” Cultivator Min said with a bitter laugh, his expression one of utter helplessness.

“Hmph. That might not be true,” the brutish-looking man said, looking unconvinced.

“Oh? Does Brother Xuan have another way?” Cultivator Min asked, first with surprise, then with renewed interest.

“Hehe. I wouldn’t call it a way. I’ve just heard that someone on Abyss Island is selling Teleportation Talismans at a high price. Not many, mind you, but some people have indeed used them to return to the Inner Star Seas,” the man said, lowering his voice and speaking with a hint of mystery.

“Is that so? Then we…” Cultivator Min’s face lit up, and he was about to ask for more details when the vulture-faced elder interrupted him with a cold snort.

“Don’t be so naive, fellow Daoists! Even if you got your hands on a Teleportation Talisman, would you really dare return to Heaven Star City? The Inner Star Seas are far more dangerous than Abyss Island right now! If you go back, you’ll definitely be caught by one of the two sides and used as cannon fodder. As for the demon beasts in our Abyss, sure, they’re acting odd, but at least nothing’s wrong outside the Abyss. If something does happen, we can just hide on some random desolate island. That’s still far better than going back and getting caught up in some war,” the elder said, a strange light flickering in his eyes. He seemed to have already made up his mind on the matter.

The other two looked at each other for a moment. The elder’s method was crude, but it actually seemed feasible.

Just as they were about to discuss it further, a coarse, strange roar came from a distant direction, followed immediately by the sounds of explosions and crashing.

“The Glass Beast!”

Cultivator Min and the brutish man exchanged a glance and called out at nearly the same time, their faces full of delighted surprise.

“Definitely the Glass Beast’s roar. It seems someone else found it first. Let’s go. Don’t reveal our tracks. Act according to the situation,” the vulture-faced elder said, a fierce glint flashing across his face as he spoke in an icy tone.

The other two nodded in understanding. The three of them immediately transformed into streaks of light and flew off, but halfway there, the light flickered and they vanished from sight.

The group of Foundation Establishment cultivators also immediately tensed up and hurriedly followed.

After a short while, the vulture-faced elder and his two Core Formation companions silently flew to a point near a coral island a few li in size. The earth-shaking roar of the demon beast was coming from there.

What they saw before them was exactly what they had expected.

A translucent, pale-white sea beast with a crystalline body was trapped within a crimson light restraint formation on the island. The beast, over ten zhang in size, was radiating countless milky-white threads, frantically slicing at the surging red light around it. It was incredibly ferocious.

But none of this was what the three were most concerned about. Their eyes all fell on something else.

Above the island, a youth in a light blue robe stood motionless in midair, his hands clasped behind his back, his expression leisurely and at ease.

“Brother Qiu, he’s only at early Core Formation. Should we make a move?” the fierce-faced cultivator, Xuan, transmitted in an excited tone, his voice full of pleasant surprise.

“Hold on. Check if anyone else is hiding nearby first. Don’t fall into some trap!” The vulture-faced elder’s face flickered with a vicious look, but he still suppressed his urge to strike and spoke cautiously.

“Friend Min, Brother Qiu is right. It’s really suspicious that an early Core Formation cultivator would dare to lure a Glass Beast alone. There might be something tricky going on,” Cultivator Min said, proving himself just as meticulous as he openly warned.

Hearing this, the brutish man’s heart tightened. He quickly released his spiritual sense and searched the vicinity, but found nothing.

By then, the blue-robed youth in the sky had made his move.

He raised a single hand. Seven beams of green light shot out from his palm, circled in the air once, then merged into a single giant green-light sword over ten zhang long. It descended from the sky with a heavy rumble.

The Glass Beast below seemed to sense the danger. It opened its mouth and spat out a white crystal ball. The ball swelled in the wind until it was a zhang in size, then unceremoniously shot up to meet the descending giant sword.

The descending giant sword did not slow down, but a faint, startling sound of thunder came from it.

With a deafening crash, it collided with the crystal ball. But in that instant, the giant sword seemed to blur.

With a whoosh, a second, identical giant sword flew out from the green light, flickered, and vanished from its original position. The next moment, it suddenly appeared directly above the Glass Beast’s head, silently slashing down.

The beast let out a frantic, desperate roar, and the white threads on its body shot upward all at once, trying to forcefully block the strike and survive.

The result was a single puff sound. The giant sword cut through without obstruction, cleaving the Glass Beast’s massive head clean off. Green blood splattered everywhere.

Seeing the youth’s instantaneous beast-killing feat, the vulture-faced elder and his two companions were stunned.

Was that really a Glass Beast?

This beast was notoriously troublesome even among rank-six demon beasts. And yet, this youth had just cleaved it in a single, instantaneous strike. It was too unbelievable! Was the other party not an early Core Formation cultivator, but a late-stage one?

All three of them, including the vulture-faced elder, carefully confirmed it with their spiritual sense once more. But the blue-robed youth now descending beside the beast’s corpse was definitely at early Core Formation. It was unmistakable.

But a rank-six Glass Beast… even if the three of them worked together, defeating it would not be difficult, but killing it so easily would be utterly impossible.

Could it be that this young cultivator was hiding his true cultivation level with some secret technique?

The vulture-faced elder and his two companions grew increasingly suspicious.