...Brother Ye, the sea beasts near the Bashan Reef are fiercely ferocious. Though most are merely second or third tier, very low-level, they emerge in groups of dozens, sometimes hundreds, and should not be provoked lightly.
Therefore, if you intend to hunt sea beasts, it is best to target solitary ones. Otherwise, being surrounded by a horde could overwhelm even a high-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, turning them into prey for the beasts,” Han Zhengfeng said, after accepting a small vial of elixirs from Ye Qin.
He retrieved his golden sword artifact from the body of a flat, elongated sea beast and casually placed the carcass into his storage bag. Ye Qin stepped off the sailboat, finally getting a clear look at the unknown third-tier sea beast Han Zhengfeng had slain.
“There are no formation flags around the Bashan Reef either; I will lend them to Brother Ye for your use. As long as you remain within this formation during your stay, it will prevent you from being discovered by swarms of demonic beasts.” After these brief instructions, Cultivator Han mounted his sword and returned to Little Glazed Island.
The small sailboat followed, departing from Bashan Reef. Ye Qin naturally had his reasons for coming here to borrow the reef from Han Zhengfeng to hunt sea demonic beasts.
The ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment stage represents the absolute peak for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. At this level, cultivators hit a bottleneck where their cultivation cannot advance further.
To achieve a breakthrough to a higher realm, one must possess sufficient fortune to obtain a Five Spirit Fruit and become a Golden Core cultivator. Once reaching this pinnacle, Foundation Establishment cultivators cease their normal cultivation and focus entirely on searching for the Five Spirit Fruit.
Ye Qin had already acquired a branch of a Water Spirit Fruit tree within the Lu Family Fort of Nanliang Kingdom and planted it inside his Purple Mansion, so the issue of the Five Spirit Fruit was not a concern for him. He had cultivated this Water Spirit Fruit tree by using Water Spirit Stones within his Purple Mansion while refining seventh-tier elixirs for the two Island Masters of Glazed Island.
He only needed to wait for the spirit fruit tree to mature to obtain the Water Spirit Fruit. This would allow him to refine a Core-Forming Elixir, necessary for breaking through the Golden Core bottleneck.
The Core-Forming Elixir is an eighth-tier elixir, extremely difficult to refine. While assisting the two Island Masters with their alchemy, he was simultaneously improving his own refining skills.
He calculated that in about ten years, once his alchemy proficiency reached a high level, he would be able to successfully refine the required quantity of Core-Forming Elixirs in one go. After that, forcing a breakthrough past the Golden Core bottleneck would simply be a matter of time.
Ye Qin was not worried about lacking the Core-Forming Elixir. However, there was a greater danger looming than the elixir itself: the Minor Heavenly Tribulation.
Every cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment layer nine will encounter a Minor Heavenly Tribulation when attempting to break through to the Golden Core stage. This lightning tribulation, spontaneously generated by the sensing of heaven and earth, is immensely powerful.
Countless peak Foundation Establishment cultivators have perished in these minor tribulations. Therefore, every peak Foundation Establishment cultivator approaches the breakthrough with extreme caution, preparing meticulously to withstand the Minor Heavenly Tribulation, lest their efforts come to naught because they cannot endure the lightning.
Possessing several top-tier or higher magical artifacts specifically designed to block the dark lightning, or other spiritual treasures capable of contending with the heavenly tribulation, is essential for any cultivator attempting to transcend the Golden Core bottleneck. Ye Qin already possessed the Primordial Spirit artifact, the Southern Bright Flame Sword, and a water-attribute magic treasure, the Conch Spirit Pearl.
But these two items alone were insufficient. He now needed to start preparing more Primordial Spirit artifacts.
He planned to refine a Wood-attribute Primordial Spirit artifact and a Metal-attribute Primordial Spirit artifact within the next few years. Ye Qin was currently at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.
By the time he reached the peak of the ninth layer, the two new Primordial Spirit artifacts would be refined. He could then immediately consume the Core-Forming Elixir, allowing him to undergo the tribulation and break through to the Golden Core stage without wasting any lifespan.
Of course, he had no intention of undergoing the tribulation to form the core here on Glazed Island. This island was too small; his attempt to reach the Golden Core stage would certainly trigger celestial phenomena.
The two Island Masters of Great and Little Glazed Island would undoubtedly realize someone was about to face a tribulation. Whether those Island Masters would view him as a threat and choose to intervene was unknown.
Ye Qin dared not take the risk. When he reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and was on the verge of tribulation, he must leave Glazed Island and find a desolate location in the East Sea.
Ye Qin remained alone on the several-hundred-foot-wide reef, inspecting the formation flags placed at the four corners. He confirmed it was a simple illusionary formation, capable of concealing a cultivator’s aura and preventing detection by sea beasts.
He released the Skeleton Demon, instructing it to stand guard nearby. Then, with a thought, his divine sense expanded across the hundreds of feet surrounding Bashan Reef, gradually delving into the sea to search for marine beasts.
The seabed around Bashan Reef was not excessively deep; the bottom was reached at about two to three hundred feet. Before leaving Glazed Island to hunt sea beasts, he had purchased an illustrated guide detailing the sea beasts near Glazed Island from the market.
Most nearby sea beasts were low-tier, water-attribute creatures; Wood- and Metal-attribute beasts were rarely seen. To refine the Wood- and Metal-attribute Primordial Spirit artifacts...
he needed to slay these two types of sea beasts and obtain their demonic cores. Since the Bashan Reef area saw the greatest variety of surfacing sea beasts, it should be the place to find them.
“Golden Spear Beast, a third-tier Metal-attribute sea beast; its demonic core is golden. An adult Golden Spear Beast possesses a sharp golden spear nearly ten feet long extending from its head, capable of piercing metal and cracking rock.
Golden Spear Beasts are sighted several dozen miles west of Bashan Reef.” “Thorn Beast, a third-tier Wood-attribute sea beast; its demonic core is clear in color. An adult Thorn Beast can reach ten feet in length, its entire body covered in hundreds of dark brown spines, which carry a paralyzing Wood-attribute poison.
They swim slowly on the seabed, but when danger strikes, their outer shells explode, scattering poisonous quills in all directions, inescapable within a radius of several dozen feet. Swarms of Thorn Beasts are alarmingly lethal; even high-tier sea beasts dare not approach them easily.
These beasts prefer to dwell thousands of feet deep on the seabed, where they emit a faint starlight.” Recalling the descriptions from the guide, Ye Qin plunged his divine sense into the water, searching for the locations of the two types of sea beasts. Around the seabed of Bashan Reef, he did indeed discover traces of Thorn Beasts.
However, dozens of them were clustered together, resting on the deep seabed rocks. If he disturbed even one, the others would surely be alerted.
Ye Qin couldn't help but frown. With his cultivation, these third-tier, low-level sea beasts posed no threat.
However, diving alone hundreds of feet underwater to hunt this group of Thorn Beasts presented a considerable difficulty. His gaze flicked towards the Bone-Corroding Alligator, lazily sprawled on the reef, and an idea formed.
Driven by his divine sense, the Corroding Alligator crawled off the reef and slowly slipped into the water, swimming towards the deeper parts of the seabed. Subsequently, Ye Qin, holding the Conch Spirit Pearl—a vibrant blue spirit pearl—followed, diving into the water.
This Conch Spirit Pearl, a water-attribute magic treasure, not only allowed him to move with great agility underwater but could also form a circle of azure water shield to protect him, enabling free movement in the sea. Descending to about two hundred feet below the surface, Ye Qin felt the pressure increasing steadily, the water shield pressing almost against his skin.
At this depth, he saw dozens of faint, sporadic points of light appearing on the seabed. “These must be the Thorn Beasts.” The Corroding Alligator swam over and violently spewed out a stream of black gas, forming a murky, ink-like torrent of black water that surged toward the Thorn Beasts.
Corpse Qi retained terrifying destructive power even in seawater. The group of Thorn Beasts, tainted by the Corpse Qi, reacted violently.
“Bang!” “Crackling sounds!” Their outer shells burst open, and thousands of poisonous quills shot out in all directions across the surrounding water. Nearby schools of swimming fish immediately suffered casualties, decimated across vast areas.
This Skeleton Demon was at the peak of the sixth tier; its power far surpassed what low-tier sea beasts could compare to. Most crucially, it was an undead entity.
It was immune to the toxins on the quills; even if struck by hundreds of poisoned spines simultaneously, its skeletal frame felt no pain. Soon, those dozens of Thorn Beasts were dead.
Ye Qin commanded the Skeleton Demon to carry them back onto the reef. With a wave of his hand, he used streams of qi to peel open their shells, searching for the demonic cores within.
The cores he found were immediately placed into his storage bag for safekeeping. As for the beasts’ skeletons, though he had no use for them, he couldn't waste them either, so he directed the Skeleton Demon to absorb the death qi from their remains.
Three years flashed by. On Bashan Reef, Ye Qin hunted Thorn Beasts day after day.
From their demonic cores, he successfully refined a single drop of pitch-black Thorn Beast essence. Ever since Ye Qin leased Bashan Reef, Han Zhengfeng had ceased visiting Bashan Island, choosing other reefs to hunt sea beasts instead.
Ye Qin shook the single drop of essence in the vial with satisfaction and began refining the Silk Sound Bamboo. A foot-long section of Silk Sound Bamboo had already been planted in his Purple Mansion.
This piece grew rapidly in the spiritual field within the mansion; after adding massive amounts of Wood Spirit Stones, it matured into a foot-high, jade-green sapling in just over half a month. This Silk Sound Bamboo originated from the cultivation world of Wan Yue Lake.
Legend held that when the Silk Sound Bamboo forest encountered a gentle breeze, it would emit heavenly, enchanting sounds that could cause a cultivator’s primordial spirit to become infatuated and lost. Artifacts refined from Silk Sound Bamboo did not attack the physical body of the enemy but directly shook the foe's primordial spirit; once the spirit was unsettled, confusion would surely ensue.
Naturally, the power of an artifact refined from Silk Sound Bamboo was highly dependent on the age of the bamboo itself. The older the bamboo, the stronger the artifact’s might and the greater the pressure it exerted on the cultivator.
These were only the details Ye Qin was aware of. He had never witnessed the actual power of the Silk Sound Bamboo artifact.
This foot-high Silk Sound Jade Bamboo within his Purple Mansion had consumed vast quantities of Wood Spirit Stones and was equivalent to three thousand years of age—a seventh-tier refining material. Ye Qin left Bashan Reef, returned to his cave residence on Great Glazed Island, and sat cross-legged in silent meditation within the seclusion chamber.
At this moment, inside the Purple Mansion floating island located at the Níwán acupoint on his brow, a small sphere of brightly shining light was hovering in mid-air. It glared angrily at the stalk of Silk Sound Jade Bamboo planted in the center of the floating island.
This Silk Sound Jade Bamboo was incomparably hard. It was compelled to drive the Southern Bright Flame Sword to strike the bamboo.
With every blow, the Silk Sound Jade Bamboo emitted a crisp "ding" sound. That single chime resonated within the Purple Mansion like a distant, ethereal fairy sound transmitted from beyond the heavens, piercing the soul.