At this sight, Qin Sang dared not expose himself any further. Withdrawing his aura, he quietly fled toward the south.
Unexpectedly, this demon beast's speed was astonishingly fast.
The creature was an avian demon beast with a massive frame and pitch-black plumage all over. A layer of black flames seemed to cling to its body, and its wingspan stretched nearly a hundred feet—a truly majestic and formidable presence.
With a gentle flap of its wings, it hurtled forward like a beam of black light.
After merely a few flickers, the distance between the demon bird and Qin Sang closed rapidly.
Seeing this, Qin Sang grew secretly anxious. The commotion caused by the secret talisman and Sword Qi Thunderclap could not be hidden, but without employing these two divine abilities, his evasion speed was simply too slow to open up a sufficient gap.
His fears quickly became reality.
As the demon bird drew closer and closer, it suddenly seemed to sense something. It turned its head toward the south, sweeping its sharp gaze all around.
The vast expanse of the sea was remarkably calm, appearing completely empty. Yet the demon bird's spiritual senses were extraordinarily sharp. A glint of ferocity flashed through its eyes as it glared fixedly at a spot on the surface of the sea.
In the next instant, a figure abruptly shot out from there.
Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, Sword Qi Thunderclap...
Qin Sang unleashed every method at his disposal, pushing his speed to its utmost limit.
A chill ran through his heart. The bird was actually a great demon at the late Demon Core stage, possessing extremely keen perception. Even though he had lain motionless beneath the water's surface with his aura completely restrained, he had still failed to escape its notice.
"Screeech!"
Spotting Qin Sang's conspicuous escape light, the demon bird let out an enraged shriek. Instantly veering in midair, its ferocious aura flared as it gave chase.
Across the open sea, two streaks of light pursued one another front and back, shattering the stillness of the late night.
Qin Sang breathed a quiet sigh of relief. A blessing amidst misfortune, only this single demon bird had come after him without alerting the other demon beasts.
Meanwhile, in the direction from which the Transformation stage great demon had flown, soaring demon qi permeated the sky, blotting out the sun and heavens. One terrifying, colossal silhouette followed another in an endless procession, making it impossible to tell just how many great demons there were. If so many demon beasts had hunted him down together, Qin Sang would have fallen into utter despair.
Furthermore, the demon bird's appearance and movements showed that while its physical body was exceptionally powerful, it was not adept at evasion techniques. Its speed fell short of other demon beasts of the same realm, turning out to be a sliver slower than Qin Sang's.
However, shaking off the demon bird easily was nothing more than wishful thinking.
A demon bird in the late Demon Core stage possessed far greater endurance than Qin Sang. Even combining his golden core and corpse core could not compare. If he could not shake his pursuer soon, he would find himself in an awkward and dangerous predicament.
The demon bird was extraordinarily relentless, clinging tightly to his tail.
Qin Sang had no choice but to keep his head down and flee southward, deliberately steering clear of the snowcapped mountain where the fire-repelling sparrows nested. As he skimmed past its western flank, a hurried backward glance revealed plumes of blue light unexpectedly erupting from the mountain's peak.
Faintly visible amidst the blue glow, a fire-repelling sparrow whose size far exceeded that of its kin flew out.
"Was that fellow alarmed by the Transformation stage great demon as well?"
Qin Sang was certain that this was the king of the fire-repelling sparrows, finally deigning to emerge from its nest.
Unfortunately, the distance was too great to discern the beast's cultivation. Moreover, with the demon bird hot on his heels, Qin Sang did not dare approach in that direction, lest he end up besieged by great demons.
At this thought, Qin Sang resented the demon bird behind him even more, though he could do nothing but curse it in his mind.
The Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman and Sword Qi Thunderclap consumed an astonishing amount of power. After fleeing an unknown distance, Qin Sang gradually felt his true essence showing signs of running dry, yet the demon bird behind him remained relentless in pursuit.
The demon bird's cries resembled the shrieks of an eagle, each sharper and more piercing than the last, fraying his nerves.
Flames of rage blazed in its eyes. It was clearly infuriated by Qin Sang; a tiny bug it thought it could easily hunt down had managed to run for so long, and the gap between them had even grown wider, driving it into a fury.
However, the bird had now noticed that the fluctuations of true essence radiating from Qin Sang were growing weaker by the moment. A smug glint flashed across its eyes, quickly overwhelmed by bloodthirsty cruelty.
Unexpectedly, the bird did not have long to gloat. The escape light enveloping Qin Sang dimmed for a split second, only to flare up with brilliant radiance once more. His true essence fluctuations instantly returned to their peak, and his speed did not slacken in the slightest.
Seeing that matters had taken a turn for the worse, Qin Sang had unsealed his corpse core.
The demon bird froze in disbelief. Realizing it had been made a fool of, it flew into a stomping rage.
Listening to the frantic, enraged shrieks behind him, Qin Sang felt no relief at all. He had already taken the Three Light Jade Liquid into his grasp.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
One human and one demon raced through the sky.
Beneath the silver moon, the demon bird pursued Qin Sang without restraint. Soaring demon qi surged from its body, its overwhelming aura cowing the beasts in the sea into trembling submission so that none dared surface—the sole piece of good news for Qin Sang.
By now, the true essence within the corpse core was already half spent.
Qin Sang glanced back, seeing only a mass of black light behind him. From its center shot two fiercely savage gazes that struck dread into any who beheld them.
Right at that moment, an astonishing scene brought unexpected joy to Qin Sang.
For reasons unknown, the relentless demon bird abruptly ground to a halt. Tilting its head, it turned to look toward the northwest. After a brief pause, it glared malevolently at Qin Sang, then chose to abandon the pursuit. Spreading its wings, it bolted directly toward that direction and departed into the distance.
Only then did Qin Sang faintly catch the sound of a beast's roar.
Hovering in midair, he watched the departing silhouette of the demon bird, his mind filled with shock and uncertainty.
The direction of the beast's roar matched the direction in which the Transformation stage great demon had gone. Could it have been some sort of summoning signal that forced the demon bird to give up hunting him?
In any case, he was finally out of danger.
Qin Sang let out a long breath of relief. Thinking back on the harrowing chase just now, lingering fear gripped him; had it been any other cultivator with slightly inferior evasion techniques, they would have long perished in the demon bird's jaws.
The Demon Sea was truly fraught with danger at every turn.
Yet when he considered that the root cause of this incident was likely tied to the cold flame, whose emergence was somewhat connected to himself, he could only force a bitter smile inward.
Having confirmed that the demon bird was gone, Qin Sang did not dare linger in the area either. Picking a direction, he hurried away in flight.
Finding a deserted island to set down, he arranged a temporary abode. Qin Sang sat down heavily on the ground and gathered his spirits to circulate his cultivation method, gradually replenishing his nearly exhausted true essence.
By the time he recovered his peak condition, it was already the early hours of the morning. Qin Sang woke from his meditative trance, reflecting upon everything from the previous night.
"Were so many demon beasts summoned along the way by that Transformation stage great demon? Just for a single cold flame, why would it gather so many beasts? Could it be..."
Qin Sang's eyes flashed. It felt as though the Transformation stage great demon was marshaling troops and deploying generals.
"Has the cold flame already alerted the Island Master of Huntian Island, and the Transformation stage great demon intends to contend with him? Either way, chaos will surely erupt here, and I cannot stay for long. But both paths back are blocked, so I can only continue fleeing south. I wonder how long before they return—time is pressing, and I hope I can obtain the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor before then. Wait..."
Qin Sang suddenly sprang to his feet, his face brimming with pleasant surprise.
If his conjecture held true, even the king of the fire-repelling sparrows would not dare defy the orders of a Transformation stage great demon.
Last night, it had likely also answered the Transformation stage great demon's summons, forcing it to leave its nest. Right now, it had probably followed after the Transformation stage great demon—wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
Chapter 712