The commotion of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman and Sword Qi Thunderclap was impossible to conceal.
Fearing detection by the great demon, Qin Sang had submerged directly into the sea and held back from using them at first. Only as he drew close did his flight speed suddenly erupt.
Flood dragons roared; rolls of thunder pealed.
His escape light, like a bolt of silver-and-crimson lightning, sliced across the sea's surface.
The moment Qin Sang moved, the great demon spotted him.
The great demon twisted its body, its blood-red eyes glaring fixedly at Qin Sang.
Qin Sang finally saw the great demon's true form. Its body was extraordinarily thickset; had its lower half not been blasted away by the cold flame, it would not have been the least bit inferior to a flood dragon. Yet one could clearly tell it had the body of a fish.
Its head was mangled beyond recognition as well, though one could faintly make out that it bore a human face. Its facial features closely resembled a human's, exuding an uncanny eeriness.
*So it's a human-faced porpoise.*
Qin Sang thought to himself. Under the glare of its bloody eyes, an involuntary chill crept into his heart, yet he also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Although a human-faced porpoise had a long, slender body, it possessed no flood dragon bloodline; it was merely a sea beast.
The good news was that its cultivation was not as terrifying as he had feared—it was not at the peak of the Demon Core stage.
Human-faced porpoises possessed astonishing water-element divine abilities, which doubled in power in the boundless sea.
Had it been at the peak of the Demon Core stage, even a Nascent Soul Patriarch would find it troublesome to deal with. Even against an injured one, Qin Sang would have had to think twice.
This human-faced porpoise was evidently highly intelligent. Seeing Qin Sang pursuing it with killing intent, sky-high ferocity blazed in its bloody eyes, yet it still made the sensible choice and plunged toward the seabed immediately.
The next moment, Qin Sang's figure appeared above the surface. Gazing down at the dark silhouette beneath the waves, he flicked his wrist and sent a tongue of black flame shooting out, barking softly, "Go!"
*Hiss, hiss...*
The Nine Nether Demonic Fire had no fear of seawater whatsoever. Moving through it with effortless ease, it hurtled toward the porpoise.
Sensing the aura of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, the human-faced porpoise—having just suffered grievously at the hands of the cold flame—showed deep terror in its eyes. With a violent whip of its body, waves sprayed with a loud boom as it was forced to breach the water.
At the same time, two dark silhouettes trailing dense corpse qi suddenly tore through the waves, lunging forward from the left and right at staggering speed.
The human-faced porpoise jolted violently, churning up massive surges of water, and hurled its flesh-and-blood body forward to slam directly into one of the Flying Yakshas.
Its tactical eye was viciously sharp, picking the weaker of the two.
*Bang!*
The collision between the porpoise and the Flying Yaksha resulted in the yaksha being blasted away, crashing heavily into the sea. Yet a wound was also torn open in the porpoise's flesh, where lingering corpse qi clung like maggots on rotting bone, burrowing into its body through the tear.
Seeing this, Qin Sang felt a jolt of shock.
*This beast can still withstand an assault from two Flying Yakshas and even swat one aside? Could its injuries not be as severe as they looked?*
Qin Sang hastily pushed his spiritual sense to check on the Flying Yaksha.
Soul-attracting grass was rare in these parts, making refining a replacement Flying Yaksha exceedingly difficult. If he managed to slay the porpoise, it would be fine, but if he failed and lost a Flying Yaksha in the process, it would truly be losing both the bait and the fish.
Fortunately, the Flying Yaksha had only suffered a disruption in its corpse qi and was not actually injured.
Having knocked away one Flying Yaksha, the porpoise let out a long whale-like wail and opened its maw wide. A swirling cluster of white mist rapidly materialized and spun out from its mouth.
Crackling sounds rang out from within the mist, solidifying it into an icy haze.
As the ice mist plummeted, the Nine Nether Demonic Fire happened to strike, only to be blocked by the icy vapor, unable to pierce through.
*Hiss...*
Qin Sang drew a sharp breath.
*This human-faced porpoise has already mastered an ice divine ability!*
No wonder it looked in such a wretched state yet was far from as feeble as expected. Having comprehended an ice divine ability, its resistance to the cold flame's impact was naturally far greater than other demon beasts'.
Of course, even with a divine ability protecting it, the porpoise's vitality had still been gravely depleted. If he wore it down, Qin Sang felt there was a high chance of slaying it. However, achieving a swift, decisive victory as he had originally planned was now out of the question.
Hunting demons deep within the Demon Sea often led to such awkward dilemmas; whether to persist or pull back was entirely up to him to weigh.
As Qin Sang weighed his options, a sudden bird cry broke out, causing him to snap his head up.
The cry clearly originated from far away, yet it carried an incomparable penetrating power that echoed all the way here.
Qin Sang noticed that the moment the bird cry sounded, the human-faced porpoise also whipped its head toward that direction. Its expression turned gravely solemn, as if holding immense dread for the owner of that voice.
*Another Demon Core great demon?*
Qin Sang was startled, a bitter smile touching the corner of his mouth.
He had long heard that the Thousand Demons Sea was teeming with great demons, and now he was witnessing it firsthand. Another demon beast had already been alerted and was rushing over so quickly.
*Wait, no!*
Qin Sang quickly scanned his surroundings.
From the direction of the bird cry, a crimson cloud was hurtling toward them.
In other directions, similar anomalies appeared: a dark cloud loomed to the west, while to the northeast, towering waves churned, faintly revealing a long, white silhouette.
Without exception, every one of these places emanated soaring demon qi!
"The cold flame! They were drawn here by the anomaly of the cold flame's eruption!"
Qin Sang gasped in realization, finally understanding what went wrong.
When the cold flame erupted, a beam of blue light shot straight into the heavens. Great demons far in the distance had undoubtedly spotted the phenomenon and been drawn over—and these surely were not all of them.
Great demons across the surrounding waters were likely all on their way!
A cold sweat broke out across Qin Sang's skin. How could he dare linger any longer? With a sudden wave of his hand, he recalled the Nine Nether Demonic Fire and the Flying Yakshas, wheeled around, and fled.
The human-faced porpoise stared at Qin Sang's retreating back. It hesitated, the ferocity in its bloody eyes gradually subsiding. Instead of turning to chase him down, it slowly sank back into the ocean depths.
East, northeast, west...
Great demons were encroaching from three directions, leaving Qin Sang with no choice but to flee south. On his way, he passed by the cold flame and managed a hurried glance.
The original island was now utterly ruined. The hills at its center had been reduced to a deep crater, looking as if blown apart right down the middle. The cavern had naturally vanished, leaving only a solitary cluster of blue cold flame.
Seen up close, its poignant beauty was even more captivating.
Feeling the aura of the cold flame in person, Qin Sang sighed inwardly. Such a powerful cold flame, yet one could only look and not touch.
He had originally thought the flame would remain hidden here without being easily discovered, allowing him to take his time finding a way to claim it. But now, with so many great demons drawn to it, he wondered if any among them were extraordinary variants capable of subduing it.
Qin Sang was powerless to do anything about it, so it remained mere wishful thinking.
The urgent priority was to leave at once; he absolutely could not afford to be encircled by great demons.
Recalling the sea chart the portly cultivator had given them, heading south from here would also lead back to the shipping route.
For now, he could only place his faith in the sea chart. Qin Sang locked onto his heading and flew at full tilt, maintaining absolute vigilance to detect any sign of great demons so he could steer clear in time.
Chapter 709