Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 354 - 354 353 Pirate Attack

354: Chapter 353 Pirate Attack 354: Chapter 353 Pirate Attack Hou Niao continued to circle around Sangmu Island, walking and stopping along the way.

After several rounds, he arrived at a tidal reef some ten miles away from Sangmu Island.

There were many such reefs surrounding islands, appearing during high tide and emerging during low tide, essentially accessories to the island itself.

This particular reef was slightly different, as it consisted of three uniformly arranged, trapezoid-shaped standalone rocks, making it highly recognizable.

It was now high tide, and the entire reef was submerged under the water’s surface, but this posed little obstacle to him now.

He had dived in the Blue Sea, let alone here in the shallow waters about ten fathoms deep near the coast, where the Sea Clan had vanished, making it very safe.

Among the three reefs, guessing which one Li Shizhong would have chosen to stand on was not difficult for him; being a fellow Sword Cultivator, certain commonalities were ingrained in their bones—it would definitely be the one facing the open sea on the outermost side, as it had no obstructions and offered a boundless view of the sea and sky.

He dove into the water, where the visibility was still quite clear.

He began circling this rock but discovered nothing.

Surfacing, he stood there, surveying the surrounding sea and soon noticed another dispersed reef plate about a hundred yards straight ahead.

With a thought, he dived into the water at this new location and sure enough…

The haphazard rocks bore crisscrossing sword marks, which, judging from their appearance, undoubtedly belonged to a Quanzhen Sword Cultivator.

Other Daoist paths could not have made such sharp incisions.

But the problem was that water flows unpredictably, and after eight years of daily erosion, there was not a trace of qi left, not due to a low Realm, but even a Golden Core Great Cultivation would yield nothing.

There was nothing in this world whose traces could withstand the erosion of time and flowing water, day after day.

It was obvious, Li Shizhong had stood on the trapezoid-shaped reef and had cast swords from there to this location, with the distance being about a hundred and twenty yards.

His own current effective damage range with Flying Swords was also only between a hundred twenty to a hundred fifty yards, indicating that Li Shizhong’s Cultivation back then was relatively good.

Beneath this reef, there were many kinds of fish and plankton, and casting swords from a hundred yards away targeting marine life provided a very practical way of practicing swordsmanship.

It was not possible to strike the target every time, hence numerous sword marks were left on the reef.

Judging by the density of these marks, this might not have been his main Cultivation spot, but it certainly was one of his important sword training locations.

Unfortunately, from these signs alone, no meaningful conclusion could be drawn.

He decided to continue to investigate further and stay here a few more days.

If he still found nothing, then this case would simply have to be returned as unsolvable, surpassing his abilities.

Over the days, he nearly scoured this small stretch of sea, meticulously observing everything and discovered many traces left behind by Flying Swords, but without exception, there was no qi remaining, no trace left, making it impossible to confirm whether Li Shizhong had encountered trouble here or what had caused it.

He chose this place rather than others because those other areas had already been thoroughly inspected at the time, including by many Quanzhen Sword Cultivators, leaving no doubts that might still be present eight years later, waiting for him to unearth.

Therefore, if there was anything, it would definitely be here.

As the days went by, even he, with his firm resolve, began to consider withdrawing; the fact was, due to the great fluidity of the sea, the retention of qi in the ocean was completely incomparable to that under land-based air.

Having worked fruitlessly, he decided to give up on the task.

Before leaving, he casually glanced near the base of the rocky reef not far away, where it seemed there was a sea creature in the initial stages of a Demon Transformation.

Whenever small fish or shrimp passed by, it would suck them from the sand with a slurp, turning them into the contents of its belly.

For elementary creatures like these becoming spirits, the attitude in the Cultivation World was mostly to try not to disturb them as much as possible, as it could harm the natural order and besides, they had no significance for cultivators.

Over the past few days, he had seen several instances where monsters under the seabed attacked passing fish and shrimp, but since they always stayed hidden under the sand, he had never seen their true faces.

Now that he was about to leave, he felt he still needed to supplement his knowledge of marine life, he at least wanted to know what species was hidden beneath?

Why had it never moved?

Could it become a demon by merely waiting like this?

He quietly approached the area of the seabed, and due to the bright sunlight, the condition of the seabed was clear; before he could get closer, a sudden suction force emerged, targeting him!

Of course, such suction didn’t affect him at all, it couldn’t even alter his underwater swimming posture, showing how shallow its demonic power was, entirely in the initial stage of awakening.

Moreover, it seemed unable to distinguish the size of its prey, merely relying on its extremely sharp aquatic perception to sense something approaching and mistaking him for food.

Now that he understood this, there was nothing to worry about; Flying Sword was weak at digging sand, but he had other methods; his mana surged, creating a strong undercurrent in the water, which peeled away the seabed sand layer by layer.

After removing several feet of sand, a strange, table-sized clam creature was revealed.

It probably sensed the danger and continued to burrow into the sand, but how could it be faster than the techniques of a cultivator?

With a slight smile, he reached out and captured it.

In the water, a table-sized demonic clam had almost no weight, and because its demonic power was just forming, it had no Divine Power abilities beyond its instinctive suction.

But the moment he touched the clam, he immediately felt something different!

This demonic clam’s power contained an extremely subtle and indescribable force.

This type of force might be unfamiliar to other cultivators, who would subconsciously attribute it as a characteristic unique to the Sea Clan, but he knew it wasn’t because he had also experienced this uniqueness, and it was for three years.

It was a faint trace of Primordial Power residue, its unique fluctuations could not escape him, a person tormented by Primordial Power for three years!

The situation seemed to have taken a turn, Li Shizhong indeed had not lost control due to careless mana handling while cultivating, leading to deviance; the real reason he lost control was that something similar to a leech had invaded his Dantian, causing a sudden outbreak of Primordial Power that caught him off guard.

In his panic, his Flying Sword stabbed aimlessly, coincidentally touching this large clam; it’s unclear whether the clam had already begun awakening its demonic power prior, or if the transformation was completed during this accidental stimulus, but the clam’s unique structure had retained this trace of Primordial Power characteristic until now.

Then Li Shizhong hastened back to Sangmu Island seeking help, but he didn’t make it.

It’s likely that returning to the island was a subconscious action; the eruption of Primordial Power was extraordinarily fierce, not even leaving him time to make a last statement, or perhaps, something was left but taken away by someone with an agenda?

That should be it, which means, the person who targeted Li Shizhong might also be targeting him.

It’s the same thing!

Hou Niao gave a cold smile, but alas, I am not Li Shizhong!