"Not good! It's a Foundation Establishment Great Demon!"
"Damn it, that guy surnamed Zhao gave us bad intel!"
"Quick, escape!"
Evil Face Old Monster looked at the incomparably vicious Black Water Crocodile, knowing that even three more of himself wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps between this beast's teeth.
Without a second thought, he immediately executed his fastest escape technique to flee.
But they had only flown halfway when they discovered with terror:
In the direction they were fleeing, there was also another Foundation Establishment Great Demon, covered in shimmering silver light, flapping its silver wings, silently watching them.
Evil Face Old Monster's heart instantly sank to the bottom.
"It's over, two Foundation Establishment Great Demons..."
"We're going to die here."
"Split up! Save whoever can!"
A resolute glint flashed through his sinister eyes, and then he gritted his teeth and made the decisive call.
Just then.
A faint voice suddenly came from nearby.
"Where are you trying to run?"
In Evil Face Old Monster's vision, the figure of a young cultivator appeared. He also had an early Foundation Establishment cultivation base and, along with the two demonic beasts, formed a triangular encirclement, trapping them completely with no path of retreat.
It wasn't hard for them to guess that the person before them must be the master of Moon Watching Island, and these two Foundation Establishment Great Demons were his tamed spirit beasts.
Otherwise, they wouldn't coordinate so perfectly.
"Hehe!"
"This old man was just passing through."
"I didn't expect to disturb you, Fellow Daoist. If I've caused any offense, please don't mind," Evil Face Old Monster said with a forced smile.
"..."
Qin Ming stated calmly, "Just passing through required slaughtering everyone on my spirit island?"
"That doesn't quite add up, does it?"
"I think it's best if you obediently leave your lives here! It just so happens my two spirit beasts haven't eaten yet."
Hearing this, Evil Face Old Monster knew that their earlier conversation had likely been overheard completely.
Seeing that the situation was exposed, Evil Face Old Monster knew he could no longer maneuver with words. His expression turned fierce, and he immediately took out a spirit tool, charging towards Qin Ming's position to break through!
Pick the softest target first.
Swish!
Evil Face Old Monster felt a blur before his eyes.
A silver radiance abruptly appeared in front of him. He hadn't even clearly seen how this silver-winged flying insect beast had moved from the other direction to appear before him with such uncanny speed.
Just then.
The Silver-Winged Frost Bee attacked. A nigh-undetectable Soul-Extinguishing Void Poison Sting shot out from its tail towards the group.
Evil Face Old Monster instantly felt his hair stand on end, as if an invisible attack had grazed past him in the unseen world.
He spread his divine sense but couldn't capture its trajectory.
"Ah!"
Just as Evil Face Old Monster was tensely on guard, a miserable scream came from his side. The early Foundation Establishment companion instantly fell from mid-air, silent.
The remaining bandit cultivators were scared out of their wits.
What kind of terrifying attack was this?
With just one strike, it could make a long-renowned Foundation Establishment cultivator perish on the spot!
Evil Face Old Monster and the others were aghast. Just as they were about to desperately fight their way out...
Boom!
Crackle!
The Black Water Crocodile, that Foundation Establishment Great Demon, unleashed a blast of purple lightning from its massive maw, sweeping towards them.
Arcs of electricity flickered. The Black Water Crocodile's innate talent divine ability, capable of withstanding lightning tribulations, arrived in an instant.
Evil Face Old Monster's pupils contracted, his face filled with despair. In his panic, he deployed every defensive artifact he could muster.
The next moment.
Purple lightning instantly engulfed the crowd.
All their defenses were like paper before the Black Water Crocodile's lightning ability.
One after another, charred corpses fell from the sky onto the lake's surface.
If Qin Ming hadn't ordered the Black Water Crocodile to hold back, these people would likely have been instantly turned to ash by the lightning spell's bombardment.
Qin Ming acted swiftly, throwing out the black spirit seeds and using the Thorn Technique on the bandit cultivators' corpses.
Soon.
He obtained over a dozen blood beads, including two from the early Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Now the Longevity Vine had more fertilizer.
Qin Ming collected all their storage bags.
Afterward, the infamous Evil Face Old Monster and his gang, who had run rampant in the Spirit Perch Archipelago's cultivation world, all became snacks in the Black Water Crocodile's mouth.
Two days later.
Astounding news began to circulate within the bandit cultivator circles of the Spirit Perch Archipelago: Evil Face Old Monster's gang had attacked Moon Watching Island and never returned, completely wiped out!
From then on, no one dared to have designs on Moon Watching Island again.
Qin Ming returned to his cave residence.
He kept pondering the words of those bandit cultivators. They had mentioned someone "surnamed Zhao."
It seemed they were likely connected to the Zhao family.
There was probably a Zhao family cultivator secretly feeding them information.
In that case, the massacre of the two islands might very well have been instigated by the Zhao family using bandit cultivators behind the scenes.
A cold glint also flashed in Qin Ming's eyes.
"Daring to disturb my farming, they really were tired of living!"
This incident was just a minor disturbance.
Subsequently.
Qin Ming once again entered a state of diligent cultivation.
His mana cultivation, now boosted by his spirit body and supplemented by Spirit Perch Rice and pills, progressed rapidly in liquefying his mana.
As for the body refining technique, the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture," he continued to delve deeper into its practice.
According to the scripture, after completing the first transformation of True Aura Manifestation, one needed to accumulate and refine Blood Qi True Aura again to meet the requirements for refining the essence blood of a second high-tier demonic beast.
Upon breaking through to the second transformation of True Aura Manifestation, one would possess two forms of True Aura Manifestation power, and their strength would multiply accordingly.
Qin Ming greatly desired this, but unfortunately, the outside world was unstable, and high-tier demonic beast essence blood was hard to find.
Another month or so passed.
Moon Watching Island.
An unexpected visitor arrived – the eldest son of the Zhao family, Zhao Wuji.
He arrived with two attendants, looking travel-worn.
Zhao Wuji's strength was not to be underestimated. To avoid exposing his two Tier 2 spirit pets, Qin Ming recalled both the Black Water Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bee into his spirit beast bags.
"May I ask what business brings Fellow Daoist Zhao here?" Since learning that the Zhao family colluded with bandit cultivators and had done quite a few reprehensible things, Qin Ming couldn't help but be extremely cautious.
Furthermore, the information given to Evil Face Old Monster's gang – that Moon Watching Island only had Qin Ming, a single Foundation Establishment cultivator – was most likely provided by the Zhao family.
Thus, Qin Ming mentally blacklisted the Zhao family members.
They certainly wouldn't have expected Qin Ming's two spirit beasts to have broken through to become Tier 2 Great Demons.
Zhao Wuji forced a smile onto his composed face, saying, "The reason I came in such haste this time is to invite Fellow Daoist Qin to join our Zhao family's alliance."
"If Fellow Daoist Qin is willing to agree."
"Our Zhao family can not only grant Fellow Daoist Qin the esteemed status and treatment of an alliance Elder."
"But after some time, we can even arrange for Core Formation Spirit Items for Fellow Daoist Qin."
Initially, Qin Ming intended to dismiss the offer like passing gas, but when he heard the words 'Core Formation Spirit Item,' he was subconsciously startled!
However, he quickly calmed down again. How could the Zhao family give such an extraordinarily rare item to an outsider like him instead of keeping it for their own use?
Thinking about it felt illogical.
Zhao Wuji seemed to perceive Qin Ming's thoughts and quickly explained, "Beneath our Zhao family's Tier 3 spirit vein, there is a Sun Crystal Stone ore vein. Within it lies a Profound Yin Earth Sha Grotto, which produces a few drops of Profound Yin Earth Sha Spirit Liquid every hundred years."
"Consuming this item when breaking through to the Core Formation realm can increase the success rate by ten percent. We make this item available to cultivators at the Elder level and above."
"As long as one has sufficient contribution points, they can exchange for this Core Formation Spirit Item."
"Given Fellow Daoist Qin's attainments in spirit plant cultivation and alchemy, I believe you will be able to exchange for this item very quickly."
Zhao Wuji spoke earnestly, patiently trying to persuade Qin Ming.
(End of Chapter)