Li Qinghong paused slightly as a figure rode the wind into the air. Daoist robes fluttering, he pressed his hands together in a bow and said, "This subordinate pays respects to My Lady."
Zong Yan had lived comfortably in recent years. Spared from hardship and torment for over a decade, his demeanor had changed completely. His eyes were now bright and spirited. Though faint traces still lingered of the bitterness from his former days groveling in servility under the monsters, they had faded considerably. His spine was straight, and he finally carried himself like a dignified man.
Li Qinghong was always courteous. She replied politely and listened as he recited the island's expenses down to the last coin by heart.
Zong Yan finished his report with trepidation. The accounts naturally ran at a deficit. The small island had no real yields, and the sea's bounties had always belonged to the dragonkin—no one dared touch them. How could it not run at a loss? Yet the white-robed female cultivator before him did not seem to be taking it in. She simply looked around at the island's scenery, which only made Zong Yan more uneasy.
Zong Yan harbored complicated feelings toward the Li family. Beneath his deep gratitude lay the Eastern Sea's customary, near-limitless subservience to the strong. His profound dread of Foundation Establishment cultivators—who could flatten the island in a fit of rage—and his anxiety of being abandoned kept him walking on eggshells.
Li Yuanjiao had stayed here for a long time, and Zong Yan understood that he was a man who disdained bullying the weak and detested blood food, which had put his mind somewhat at ease. But facing the still-unfamiliar Li Qinghong, Zong Yan did not dare take any chances.
Monk Kongheng had also ridden the wind over, landing upon the mountain. As meek and docile as ever with downcast eyes, he pressed his palms together and murmured, "Many years have passed, and Fellow Daoist's cultivation has clearly advanced."
The monk's features were small to begin with, and with his head lowered, they were even harder to discern. Li Qinghong responded casually. Her attention was indeed not on Zong Yan. Letting him drone on about the deficit of several hundred jin of spirit rice—down to the exact liang—she merely waved her hand and said, "Not bad. The population seems fairly prosperous."
Upon arriving at the island, Li Qinghong's first reaction was identical to her elder brother's: her spiritual sense swept around in search of temples and statues. Seeing not a single temple on the island, she felt a slight relief.
She smoothed her elegant hair. Li Qinghong had begun Qi Refinement at an early age, so she still appeared barely thirty. Her look had lost some youthful delicateness, gaining more poise and dignity instead. She spoke softly, "My purpose here this time is first to collect my brother's relics."
At these words, Kongheng froze for a moment. Closing his eyes, he held his hands clasped before his chest and began chanting something under his breath.
Zong Yan was slightly taken aback, only then realizing that the stern-faced yet kind-hearted middle-aged man had perished. He uttered a few words of mourning. Customs in the Eastern Sea were vastly different, so he did not indulge in empty pleasantries, leading Li Qinghong straight to the cave dwelling where Li Yuanjiao had once secluded himself.
Li Qinghong stepped inside and saw that the cave was neat and clean. The stone floor was smooth and spotless, completely bare—no incense burners, spirit altars, jade tables, or jade chairs, only a single gray prayer mat resting in the center.
Li Qinghong fell silent. She picked up the prayer mat and swept it with her spiritual sense, finding it to be an ordinary object for Qi Refinement. Stowing it away with a flick of her hand, she was about to speak when the grand formation suddenly boomed with a roar.
She raised her brows. Linking her spiritual sense to the grand formation, she saw a monster with a fish head and a human body standing outside the barrier. A pair of fleshy wings grew from its back, and it crouched beside the formation with an intensely impatient scowl.
'Huiyao is here.'
Li Qinghong looked over, her almond eyes flickering slightly as she mused inwardly, 'It seems the waters around Zongquan Island are teeming with countless of his fish spawn. I merely rode the wind across the surface of the sea, yet this monster received word so quickly.'
She rose on the wind and flicked her sleeve, opening a gap in the formation. Huiyao flapped his fleshy wings and rode the wind inside. The old monster had finally broken through to Foundation Establishment and taken human form, yet he still bore that fish head with massive, bulging eyes.
Huiyao's eyes widened. Seeing Li Qinghong's appearance and catching sight of the purple lightning crackling beneath her feet, he felt a jolt of surprise. Reining in his arrogant sneer, his fish head began contorting and shifting, soon turning into the visage of an old man.
The Weedy Hui clan was an aquatic race, mostly cultivating Mansion Water. Naturally unblessed with pleasant looks, even in human form they appeared bizarre and grotesque. The two halves of his face seemed split apart, displaying the telltale marks of a fish transformed into a man.
Cloaked in thunder, Li Qinghong seemed even harder to provoke than Li Yuanjiao, so Huiyao restrained himself somewhat and called out, "Where is Li Yuanjiao?! He promised back then to go with me to slay an enemy. Why is there no sign of him now?!"
Huiyao had run over to the island multiple times, but Zong Yan claimed ignorance to every question, while Kongheng urged him to renounce blood food the moment they met. Fearing his mind would be bewitched, Huiyao had refused to utter a single extra word to the monk.
Having finally caught a member of the Li family, Huiyao had rushed over immediately. At his pressing question, Li Qinghong merely glanced at him and said quietly, "My elder brother sustained injuries in the Qingsong Grotto-Heaven and has returned home to recuperate. Furthermore, because he slew a disciple of a Real Person, he cannot travel freely away from home. For the next decade or so, I will be the one guarding this place."
Initially, she had intended to obscure her family's background. However, cultivators of thunder methods were rare, and every Foundation Establishment cultivator's immortal foundation, cultivation technique, and even Dharma artifacts were easily recognizable. Huiyao had already guessed that she belonged to the aristocratic Li family, so she spoke more candidly.
Huiyao grunted twice. He had not expected the Li family to share a piece of the pie in the Qingsong Grotto-Heaven, let alone slay a Real Person's disciple. Half-believing, half-doubting, he countered, "Oh? Which Real Person might that be?"
This news had only circulated among human cultivators on the seas and mainland, not yet spreading among the monster races, but calculating the time, it would likely reach them soon. Li Qinghong waved her hand. "Your noble race has well-informed sources. In a month or so, you will know."
Her dismissive tone actually made Huiyao believe it a bit more. Muttering "I see! I see..." he smiled instead and said, "Well then... Fellow Daoist commands thunder, which will be of immense benefit to this excursion! We'll make that foul cloud octopus... plummet right into the sea!"
Li Qinghong asked, "On this trip... what manner of monster does Fellow Daoist wish to slay?"
Huiyao replied, "Merely to kill a cloud octopus. He cultivates the Mianjin nature, and his Dao foundation is Auspicious Cloud. He is a monster greedy to the bone, with a late Foundation Establishment cultivation, two Foundation Establishment subordinates under his command, and over a hundred minor Qi Refinement monsters. Relying on his ability to ride the wind and drift with the clouds, that bastard raids my territory again and again. Yet because of that wretched Dao foundation of his, he is highly favored by the dragon prince. I intend to seize this lull to kill him off, sparing myself from having him ride over my head once the new dragon prince arrives."
Huiyao pointed toward the south and said in an eerie voice, "Straight south from here, where the mists grow thicker, near the sea's cape and approaching the easternmost edge of the Southern Sea—he dwells within those clouds and mists."
Li Qinghong calculated the combat strength on both sides, judging theirs to be slightly inferior. She asked, "Do you have any other reinforcements? You aren't the only monster general, are you?"
Huiyao answered, "There is also my two thousand three hundred and sixty-seventh younger brother, called Hui'er, who is at the middle stage."
Li Qinghong was taken aback, saying with mild embarrassment, "Your esteemed mother... was certainly blessed with a thriving progeny."
Huiyao shifted back to his fish head and took the lead, waiting for Li Qinghong and Kongheng to catch up as he grumbled, "Our race bears one brood a year, thirty-six thousand eggs per brood, yielding only three hui fish. The rest degenerate into morays, congers, and swamp eels... We cannot compare to you humans."
This came as an eye-opener to both Li Qinghong and Kongheng. Huiyao sighed and said in a low voice, "Since the fifth grandson of the Chi dragon's third son mated with an eel, who knows how diluted our bloodline has become? Our hui fish only have a history of a millennium, so naturally we are in this pathetic state. Your human ancestors were born earlier and seized who knows how many golden nature status-fruits, remaining as steady as Mount Tai. You are even extravagant enough to divide different golden nature lineages by so-called surnames... Possessing countless cultivation methods, how could we ever compare to you? Even the descendants of the True Chi... across ten thousand years have only achieved some mastery in Water Virtue and the Twelve Qi. In the end, they still cannot measure up to you."
Huiyao showed none of the swagger of monster dragonkin dominating the four seas; instead, he looked somewhat dejected. Shrugging, he said, "Otherwise... why would we all want to eat humans? You truly are a great tonic. To steal even a ten-thousandth of your heritage brings endless benefits."
The two listened in silence. Huiyao soon changed the subject, explaining, "This cloud octopus cultivates 'Mianjin' of the Twelve Qi, also known as 'Auspicious Qi'. His direct combat prowess is not particularly strong; we just need to ensure he doesn't escape."
Orthodox Daoist traditions came in many forms, such as Water Virtue and Fire Virtue. The Twelve Qi were among them, comprising twelve types. Several were especially renowned, such as the Purple Qi of Ziyan Gate and the Dawn Qi of the Jinyu Sect.
And the most famous of all was the ubiquitous Lesser Clear Spirit Qi, which belonged to Clear Qi. Being the easiest to gather, it was mostly cultivated by rogue cultivators.
Having traveled far and wide, Kongheng had seen much of this, whereas Li Qinghong had never encountered it before and felt somewhat curious. Together, they rode the wind deeper south as the sky grew increasingly dim.
Hui'er was already waiting in the mist with a cohort of hui fish. He was even uglier, his head resembling a split watermelon. Leaving his subordinates where they were, he followed along without uttering a word.
Li Qinghong assessed their strength and judged that these monsters could not detain the two of them. Keeping some distance, they advanced slowly into the south. Plumes of gray clouds and mist arose all around, lingering stubbornly and swirling around everyone's Dharmic glows, while the spiritual energy gradually thinned out.
Flying for another fifteen minutes, they saw whirlpools surging upward into the gray mist, transforming into rain that clattered down noisily. The spiritual energy here was fairly rich. Gray eight-armed octopuses tumbled down from the sky one after another.
Some cloud octopuses already possessed cultivation, riding clouds and mist through the air. Their massive eight tentacles grasped animals of various sizes and even humans. Upon seeing the party, they scattered in panic, and some even began spewing golden mist, diving into the sea to hide.
Seeing this sight, Huiyao was overjoyed, laughing inwardly, 'Heaven truly wills your doom, you old bastard! The two helpers I brought are both from the righteous path. Stumbling upon your atrocities will only stoke their hatred against you!'
Kongheng closed his eyes slightly and remained silent. Muffled cries echoed from the sky. Li Qinghong frowned, thinking they had been too reckless, but to her surprise, Huiyao stepped forward and produced a golden scroll from his robes.
Unrolling it gently, he gave it a show of glancing over it twice and shouted, "Yunxiaozi! The dragon prince's venerable carriage has already arrived at Zhulu! Why have you not hurried along with me to welcome him?!"
At his shout, the entire blanket of gray mist shuddered. Sure enough, a giant gray octopus emerged. Its tentacles weaved through the clouds, its skin covered in marine beetles of all sizes. Its eyes were black and huge as windows, staring fixedly down.
The cloud octopus quickly transformed into human form—a saddle-nosed old man with a sunken bridge, leaning on a wooden staff with suspicion etched across his face. He barked, "What nonsense! Where is the token of proof?!"
Huiyao cursed loudly, "Blind your blistered eyes! You dare demand to see the token?!" Sneering coldly, he grabbed Hui'er beside him and shouted, "We're leaving, we're leaving! Don't blame me for not warning you!" With that, he rode the wind to leave. Yunxiaozi could no longer sit still; how could he dare gamble on such a thing? He hurriedly rode the clouds and gave chase, calling out, "This old man was merely jesting!"
He pursued them on the wind for several li before barely catching up. Li Qinghong thought to herself, 'This monster has actually made some progress. His scheme was decent enough—certainly adequate for dealing with monsters.'
Bobbing his head with an overbearing swagger, Huiyao sneered—clearly having planned this meticulously beforehand, "The dragon prince holds me in high regard, dispatching me personally to receive his guests. You had better show some respect." Yunxiaozi eyed Li Qinghong and Kongheng up and down. Huiyao introduced, "These are disciples of immortal sects..."
Yunxiaozi could only step forward. Yet after just a few paces, the four before him struck simultaneously! Thunder, fire, Dharmic light, and monster power slammed into him all at once with a deafening roar.
Boom!
A piercing shriek tore from Yunxiaozi's maw. A burst of golden mist erupted from his body, engulfing a ten-li radius in an instant. Amidst violent crashes and detonations, his figure vanished from the spot.
Huiyao burst into triumphant laughter. From his robes, he drew a bell glowing with translucent jade-green light, lifted it into midair, blew a breath onto it, and gave it a gentle shake.
Clang, clang, clang...
At the dense chimes of the bell, the turbulent waves surging beneath their feet instantly settled, smooth as a gray mirror, silent as sheared bedrock. Above the sea, rustling sounds rippled like wind through vegetation as the golden mist dissipated in a breath. Several strands of spiritual sense, previously blocked, swept across the sea's surface one by one, giving chase toward the south together.
"You... you borrowed a Dharma artifact!" Yunxiaozi appeared quite battered, his face charred black with panic creeping into his expression. Yet before he could recover, a streak of purple light tore through the air, spearheaded by a long spear stabbing straight toward his back.
"A thunder method!" Yunxiaozi cried out. Now that he had been exposed, his human form was useless for concealment. Beneath his robes, eight tentacles burst outward. His lips transformed into a sharp, hook-like beak of purplish-black, sinking into the rapidly rolling mass of surging flesh. An eight-armed behemoth materialized within the gray sea of clouds. Though Li Qinghong possessed slightly lower cultivation, she showed no fear whatsoever; sweeping her long spear, she brought down a torrential downpour of thunder.
The purple Mystic Pattern Bottle at her waist floated up, slowly aligning with the monster's eyes as arcs of purple lightning coalesced within it. Dark clouds instantly crowded the sky, and lightning flashed violently. Li Qinghong had merely tested her strength without unleashing her trump card—the Profound Thunder of the Thunder Pond—yet she had already terrified the beast. Recognizing her as the most formidable opponent, he cried out repeatedly, "Fellow Daoist... what grudge or grievance lies between us?!"
Boom!
The thunder arrived faster than his words. A pillar of intertwined purple and white lightning erupted from the purple bottle's mouth, blasting into his body, scorching it black, and tearing his flesh open. Another scream of agony tore from his mouth, and in furious frenzy, his eight tentacles clawed toward the sky.
Clang!
Yet the narrow-eyed monk suddenly radiated brilliant golden light. Sitting cross-legged in the void, his eyes snapped wide open with an aura of majesty without anger. Extending one hand, golden light cascaded downward, forcefully suppressing all of the beast's tentacles at once. Kongheng had not cultivated in vain all these years. No longer the novice monk who had only just broken through to Master, he now displayed formidable might. The golden light was extraordinarily scalding, burning Yunxiaozi's tentacles until they curled in pain and recoiled desperately.
Only then did Huiyao and Hui'er arrive late on the scene. The two monster fish exchanged a glance, both seeing the bewildered terror in each other's eyes.
'Damn it all... why did they even need the two of us?!'
Chapter 481