As he flew, Qin Sang spotted signs of two more great demons. Without exception, all had been drawn by the phenomenon of the cold flame and were converging on the area from distant reaches of the sea.
Knowing that more and more great demons would be lured here, Qin Sang did not dare linger. He sped relentlessly toward the shipping route, flying until late into the night before locating an island marked on the nautical chart and returning to the marked course.
This place lay far from the cold flame, and nothing unusual could be seen in that direction anymore. Along the way, however, Qin Sang had faintly heard demon beasts roaring in the distance behind him. It seemed they had begun fighting one another, though whether over the cold flame or some surviving treasure on the island was anyone's guess.
"The cold flame…"
Qin Sang murmured to himself. With the terrifying power that flame possessed, it was likely beyond the ability of Demon Core stage beasts to subdue. The same was true for him; he simply lacked the strength to covet it.
Looking away, Qin Sang consulted the sea chart to confirm his bearings.
He had two choices before him. One was to retrace his steps; their journey here had proven that the first half of the route marked on the chart was genuine.
The other was to throw caution to the wind and push onward, crossing the Thousand Demons Sea entirely.
Having already reached the heart of the Thousand Demons Sea, turning back felt frustratingly like giving up. After a moment's consideration, Qin Sang resolved to keep following the chart's guidance.
This was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. The great demons of the inner Thousand Demons Sea had been drawn away from their nests by the cold flame. Even if the chart contained errors, the danger was vastly lower than before.
No sooner said than done. Qin Sang sat in meditation on the island to regulate his breathing, and once restored to his peak, he set off immediately.
After advancing in this manner for three days, Qin Sang felt reassured. The markers on the chart were exceptionally accurate; it had to be real. Even so, he remained cautious and moved at a slow, deliberate pace, taking nearly a month to finally traverse the Thousand Demons Sea.
***
Boundless azure waters stretched to meet the sky.
Qin Sang stood on a large island several hundred li across. Being on it felt almost like standing on the mainland. Half of the island consisted of lush jungle, while the other half rose into towering mountain ridges.
Remarkably, the island was not occupied by demon beasts and teemed with vibrant life. Aside from the absence of humans, it harbored an abundance of birds, beasts, fish, and insects, all living in peaceful tranquility.
The mountains near the coast were nearly barren rock, with only sparse patches of stubborn vegetation clinging to crevices—better than nothing at all.
On the eastern side of the island, the mountains extended all the way to the shore and jutted out into the sea, forming a sharp, cape-like promontory.
Qin Sang stood at the highest point of the cape.
The wind howling across the headland today was tempestuous!
"Pushing forward from this island will take me out of the Thousand Demons Sea." Looking out at the remarkably calm surface of the water, Qin Sang recalled the information he had gathered earlier. "Supposedly, the sea ahead is actually safer than the Thousand Demons Sea, with far fewer great demons. Of course, compared to the waters around Huntian Island, it's bound to be perilous. Very few human cultivators possess the strength to cross the Thousand Demons Sea and make it here. The fire-repelling sparrow haunts these waters…"
Having finally arrived after enduring so many twists and turns, a slight smile crept across Qin Sang's face.
Barring any accidents, he planned to craft the Primordial Concentric Rings and then enter seclusion here for ten or twenty years to sit out the storm of the war between the two races. Once a compelling reason compelled him to leave, he would return and see how the situation had unfolded.
He had prepared ample supplies, and killing the emaciated old man had yielded another massive fortune, so running out of provisions was not a concern. His two spirit insects, however, were another matter.
The fat silkworm was easy enough. By devouring toxic cores, its strength would advance by leaps and bounds without requiring any special feeding.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was different. If he wanted it to undergo rapid metamorphosis, he had to feed it spirit herbs.
He had already begun concocting formulas using the six-petaled butterfly violet to nourish the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, and the results had been excellent. Unfortunately, he had only two of those blossoms left, which would probably last the butterfly only ten or twenty years.
The immediate priority was to find a nest of fire-repelling sparrows and pinpoint the location of the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor.
Someone had spotted fire-repelling sparrows deep in this sea. Qin Sang's figure blurred, transforming into an escape light as he set off once more.
Without a precise search area, he could only embark on a long and tedious quest.
Though fire-repelling sparrows were demon birds, their flocks maintained a strict hierarchy. Governed by their king, members of the flock stayed strictly within the vicinity of their territory.
As long as he spotted a single fire-repelling sparrow, locating the nest would be far simpler.
A single flock of fire-repelling sparrows usually numbered in the thousands, sometimes reaching tens of thousands. The vast majority possessed only Mortal Demon stage cultivation upon reaching adulthood and had brief lifespans.
Only a portion with potent bloodline strength had the potential to advance further, and those fortunate enough to break through to the Demon Core stage gained the right to establish their own lineage.
Even at the Mortal Demon stage, however, fire-repelling sparrows were ferocious. They possessed an innate divine ability to summon cold winds, and when banding together in large swarms, they made for a terrifying force.
With so many sparrows, their sheer collective aura was enough to make onlookers shrink back in dread.
Qin Sang had only ever seen the symbiotic relationship between fire-repelling sparrows and the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor documented in the jade slip Old Man Eight Swords had given him. Even among the myriad ancient texts collected throughout the Lesser Cold Domain, very few people knew of it, let alone in the Canglang Sea.
Anyone unaware of this secret would never risk trespassing into the nest of such a massive flock without a clear reward.
Finding a single tiny demon bird across this vast, boundless ocean was no easy task, especially when he had to remain constantly vigilant against other demon beasts. After wandering the sea for nearly a month, Qin Sang finally spotted a demon bird on a desolate island that bore a striking resemblance to a fire-repelling sparrow!
Its plumage was like ice, its form sleek as a swallow, and its sharp beak was entirely translucent. Roughly the size of a goshawk, it perched upon a coastal reef of the barren island, exceptionally majestic.
*Splash!*
Its eyes fixed on the seabed, the fire-repelling sparrow suddenly plunged headlong into the water.
A carp-like sea beast below gave a sharp screech as spray erupted, and the two demon beasts locked in a life-or-death struggle beneath the waves.
The sea beast held the upper hand, prompting panicked cries from the fire-repelling sparrow. Yet the sea beast failed to notice that, tucked within the rocky crevices along the shore, over a dozen more fire-repelling sparrows lay in ambush, watching with predatory intent.
The instant the prey-chasing sea beast unwittingly breached the surface, the hidden sparrows sprang into motion, shooting forth like arrows loosed from bowstrings.
Terror flashed in the sea beast's eyes, but it was already too late to dive back under. Beating their wings, the fire-repelling sparrows whipped up gusts of chilling wind that merged into a vortex, freezing the beast solid upon the water's surface before swiftly tearing it to pieces.
Yet none of them feasted on the spot. Instead, each clutched a large chunk of flesh in its beak, flapped its wings, and flew toward the east.
Concealed on the island, Qin Sang watched the entire hunt from start to finish.
Their coordination was remarkably practiced, as though drilled countless times until it was etched into their very instincts.
A sparrow at the late Demon Spirit stage served as the leader. Under its watchful, predatory gaze, not a single sparrow dared sneak a bite while tearing the carcass apart.
Chapter 710