Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 596 - 594: True Armored Whale (Extra update, please subscribe)_1

Chapter 596: Chapter 594: True Armored Whale (Extra update, please subscribe)_1

"Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid we won’t be able to continue our merriment today. Please leave this place quickly."

Fang Xi put down his wine cup, his expression slightly solemn.

"What?"

Meng Zhuzi was somewhat puzzled, but upon seeing Fang Xi’s serious demeanor, she promptly showed her respect and, together with her four siblings, returned to their Spirit Boat.

Suddenly... they saw Fang Xi’s Spirit Boat start to lift its anchor and sail away without looking back, leaving the area.

"Why did that senior go?"

Tao Zilan’s face was full of confusion: "Could it be he’s decided to let us have this sea area?"

"For a Nascent Soul great cultivator to act like this..."

Meng Zhuzi muttered to herself and then turned to Zhu Hong, "Second brother, take the third brother and our fourth sister... let’s go! This place is not suitable to stay for long!"

"Yes, elder brother."

Zhu Hong gritted his teeth, took out the token for controlling the Spirit Boat, thought for a moment, and then beckoned with a gesture.

Spirit Talismans were affixed to both sides of the Spirit Boat.

Whoosh whoosh, strands of green wind began to appear and gathered on both sides of the Spirit Boat, as if adding a pair of green wings to it.

"Second brother... you’ve even brought out these high-level ’Godspeed Talismans,’ weren’t those talismans our last resort, capable of escaping from a Nascent Soul attack?"

Tao Zilan’s face was filled with astonishment.

"Go!"

Zhu Hong did not bother to explain further, as the Spirit Boat was extremely fast, trailing only slightly behind Fang Xi’s Spirit Boat.

Both boats traveled one after the other, crossing over a hundred miles.

Woo woo!

At that moment, the sound of an ethereal and resounding whale song suddenly reached the ears of Meng Zhuzi and the others!

All five of them were stunned at once, but it was Meng Zhuzi who first snapped out of it and frantically poured magic power into the Spirit Boat to make it accelerate again.

Zhu Hong also snapped out of the trance induced by the whale song, his face full of disbelief: "A fourth-tier monster?!"

"If it had any intention of attacking us, merely being affected by the ripples is already this terrifying..."

Meng Zhuzi’s face was filled with concern as she looked at her unconscious fourth and fifth sisters: "I’m afraid it’s a Transcendent God-level beast..."

"A Transcendent God?!"

Zhu Hong tasted bitterness in his mouth and it dawned on him, no wonder that senior had fled.

If it were him, he would’ve fled even faster!

Woo woo!

The next moment, from within the Ghost Gate Reef a hundred miles away, a gigantic whale with a body length exceeding ten miles leapt out of the water.

A jet-black horn grew on its forehead, and chunk after chunk of pitch-black armor was incredibly thick, piled up like bricks, looking as if it was wearing a suit of armor.

Bang!

The demon whale leapt high and then crashed back into the waters of the Ghost Gate Reef.

Crash!

The numerous hard-as-steel, boat-smashing black rocks just crumbled like tofu.

The boundless Mysterious Dark water dipped down, then violently swept up, transforming into an unimaginably high wave that viciously lashed out in all directions!

Even a hundred miles away, the force of it was undiminished!

"Quick, activate the shield, prepare to face the giant wave!"

Meng Zhuzi shouted, and Zhu Hong with a Core Formation junior immediately began pouring magic power into the Spirit Boat’s array, bracing for the terrifying tidal wave to come.

At the same time, their hearts were flooded with terror: "That’s a ’True Armored Whale.’ Wasn’t it rumored to always be active deep in the Mysterious Dark Abyss, the Misty Sea, and the Sea Eye Land? Why has it come to Ghost Gate Reef? Ah... those Daoist cultivators who haven’t escaped yet, I fear they will suffer greatly..."

This fifth-tier ’True Armored Whale’ of the Mysterious Dark Abyss had a notorious reputation; after all, it was an Ancient Beast at the Transcendent God level. Even hearsay suggested that a Transcendent God cultivator of the Black Water Sect once sought to eliminate this Ancient Beast, but to no avail.

The intelligence leaked later suggested that this Ancient Beast, hiding in the uniquely advantageous environment of the Mysterious Dark Abyss, might even be a match for a late-stage Transcendent God cultivator.

Fortunately, this Ancient Beast usually remained in the deep reaches of the Mysterious Dark Abyss. Some cultivators dared not venture too deep, leading to a tense truce.

But should it be in the mood for a jaunt nearby, encountering it would just be bad luck for any cultivator it crossed paths with.

’Is it because... it has noticed me?’

Atop the Spirit Boat.

Though Fang Xi had some confidence in his concealing secret skill, he wasn’t certain he could fool the ’True Armored Whale.’

After all, while Ancient Beasts couldn’t transform into human form, they often possessed extremely powerful innate divine abilities, and this Ancient Beast’s cultivation level far surpassed his own.

However, Fang Xi felt that this Ancient Beast had no intention of launching an attack.

It was probably just touring the vicinity and, sensing his presence, had specifically come to drive him off...

Yes, that’s right, merely to drive him away.

After all, to the True Armored Whale, this was its territory, but even so, it didn’t wish to conflict with another being of the same tier.

Now that Fang Xi had shown submissiveness by leaving, the Ancient Beast let him be.

’It’s likely the same among the high-level cultivators in the Earth Immortal Realm; aside from clan wars, they tend to avoid lethal engagements at other times. After all, they are beings with prospects of long life. Who would want to abandon an everlasting lifespan in favor of fighting and killing?’

Fang Xi felt he had gained a deeper understanding of the rules of the Earth Immortal Realm.

...

The Kong Sang Market.

On the dock.

Several Spirit Boats were moored there, awaiting repairs by Array Masters and Talisman forgers.

The cultivators on the boats bore expressions of having narrowly escaped death.

"This time, we’ve really struck bad luck, encountering that ’True Armored Whale’ patrolling the seas..."

A Core Formation cultivator had a hint of red in his eyes, "My Taoist companion, disciple, and two beloved sons all perished at its hands... This enmity is irreconcilable!"

Though he said they perished by its hands, that was an exaggeration.

If they had truly encountered that Transcendent God Ancient Beast head-on, the entire Spirit Boat would likely have been reduced to dust, leaving no survivors at all.

This old cultivator was most likely swamped by a wave caused by the True Armored Whale from afar, capsizing the Spirit Boat. His disciples with lower cultivation bases fell into the black waters, their magical and spiritual instruments all corroded, and then they were besieged by the Black Water demon beasts, resulting in their unfortunate demise.

"Sigh... We who go out to sea, who doesn’t have a grudge against that True Armored Whale? And who has the ability to kill it?"

Another cultivator who seemed to know this man shook his head with a sigh, "Old Hai... with you in this state, you should no longer go out to sea in the future. It’s best to just live peacefully..."

"Sigh... How could I not want to, but behind me, there’s still a large family to support. Where would my cultivation resources come from?"

Old Hai’s face was filled with bitterness as he looked towards the direction of the Mysterious Dark Abyss, with a trace of ferocity, "I still have a hundred years to live, and after my death, there will still be my offspring. Generation after generation will go on, and eventually, we will see the day this vicious beast falls."

"Forget it... This ’True Armored Whale,’ its whole body is a treasure. If it could be killed, why do you think the Black Water Sect didn’t make a move back then? Isn’t it because they really couldn’t beat or kill it?"

The cultivator who had spoken at the beginning said, "Inside the Mysterious Dark Abyss, unless a Returning to Emptiness Great Power makes a move, I’m afraid it would be difficult to subdue this vicious beast..."

"Returning to Emptiness cultivators..."

As soon as this level of high master was mentioned, the cultivators around all fell silent.

Their highest achievement would be Foundation Establishment or Core Formation. In normal times, upon seeing a Nascent Soul, they would respectfully address them as a senior. They had hardly ever seen a Transcendent God ancestor, let alone a Returning to Emptiness Great Power?

Just then, two more Spirit Boats slowly sailed into the harbor.

"Thank you, senior, for saving our lives."

Meng Zhuzi, along with Tao Zilan and the others, sincerely thanked Fang Xi.

The frightening waves on this journey, along with the ’Unfixed Winds,’ would have certainly been fatal to at least those two Foundation Establishment cultivators if not for Fang Xi lending a hand.

"It’s nothing, just a small effort on my part."

Fang Xi quickly inspected his own Spirit Boat, and finding that there was no need for maintenance, he executed a magic spell.

The Spirit Boat hovered and shrank, transforming into a streak of dark light before disappearing into his Storage Bag.

"This ’Qing Hezi’ senior is truly a noble gentleman. He renders help without expecting any reward, but we cannot do the same... According to what he said, he seems to reside in the Air Mulberry Mountain Range. We should bring a generous gift when we visit in the future."

Zhu Hong said, shaking his folding fan in hand.

The brothers and sisters all nodded in agreement.

Doing so fulfilled a dual purpose: to express gratitude for saving their lives and to forge a connection with this Nascent Soul cultivator.

Individual cultivators like them, are like rootless duckweed. Having a relationship with a Nascent Soul senior would make life much easier in the Mysterious Dark Abyss.

It wasn’t considered calculating, but rather human nature!

And the fourth sister, Zuo Xiaoxuan, after some internal calculations, showed a bitter expression, "Big brother... I’m afraid we don’t have enough Spirit Stones."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hong first looked at their Spirit Boat, riddled with scars, then thought about their fruitless venture this time at sea, and his expression gradually fell.

"Not just that..." The third brother, Ke Pingyuan, forced a bitter smile and rolled up his sleeve.

There was a prominent black line on his arm, which seemed to seep deep into the skin.

"Water poison inside the body?"

Tao Zilan exclaimed, "Third brother, did this happen when you tried to save me...?"

"Sigh... What else is there to say? Let’s head to ’Black Water Pavilion’ to buy the ’Water Purifying Pill’ first..."

Meng Zhuzi spoke loudly, "I will front the Spirit Stones. We can’t delay third brother’s condition... The longer this black water stays in the body, the more it weakens his cultivation. We mustn’t drag this out..."

"But by doing so, big brother, your Nascent Soul Spiritual Object..." Zhu Hong couldn’t help but speak up.

The five of them worked together, always saving scrupulously, all for the sake of gathering enough resources so that the eldest brother could form his Nascent Soul, and then it would be a simple matter to help the fourth and fifth sisters achieve Core Formation.

But fate often went against their wishes; though they had saved some assets, every now and then emergencies would arise, requiring a large expenditure of Spirit Stones.

This ’Water Purifying Pill’ was a high-level Spiritual Pill, priced steeply.

"Anyway, we didn’t have enough from the start. Are we supposed to also delay our third brother’s cultivation?"

Meng Zhuzi glared, "The Spirit Boat can be fixed later, but the Water Purifying Pill must be bought first!"

"Big brother..."

Ke Pingyuan was deeply touched, and the fourth and fifth sisters also shone with admiration.

Meng Zhuzi had managed to unite a group of sworn siblings, naturally standing out for his remarkable qualities.

...

Time flew by, and it was ten years later.

On this day.

Fang Xi rode a streak of Escape Light into the Kong Sang Market, and into the Black Water Pavilion.

"Qing Hezi Sir!"

Manager Liu saw Fang Xi and his face showed a hint of a smile.

"I’ve had a good harvest recently and have come to trade..."

Fang Xi tossed a Storage Bag to Manager Liu.

Manager Liu swept his Divine Consciousness over it, and a smile appeared on his face, "I didn’t expect that you, Sir, have quite the skill with being a Spirit Plant Farmer. This harvest is excellent... Now, with just the Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine from your Dongfu, you can more than afford the lease of your cave residence."

"Sigh... Cultivation is not easy. Leasing a Dongfu is the simplest part, but I still need to buy various resources for cultivation, mainly looking to make a living off the Mysterious Dark Abyss."

Fang Xi feigned a sigh.

Manager Liu couldn’t help but smile. Over the years, he had confirmed that Qing Hezi had no ill intentions and was solely focused on arduous cultivation. Furthermore, he was very steady in his ways, even when venturing to sea he would only go as far as the Ghost Gate Reef, and in the Kong Sang Market, he became quite renowned...

Even though, that reputation wasn’t exactly flattering.

Fang Xi, on the other hand, was indifferent to this. What others say about him, what has it to do with himself?

As long as he takes care of his own affairs, it’s enough.

Just then, a flash of light shone outside the Black Water Pavilion, and a wave of Nascent Soul Stage magic power approached rapidly.