Huangfu Bing'er flew swiftly on her sword. Ye Qin, driving the Dark Cloud Barrier carrying Bai Xiuer, caught up with Huangfu Bing'er.

The two chased one after another, pursuing the streak of crimson light fleeing at an astonishing speed across the sea surface. "How can this spirit pill move so fast..." Huangfu Bing'er asked Ye Qin in great surprise.

This twelfth-tier Heaven-Defying Spirit Pill was actually slightly faster than her. If not for other demonic beasts surrounding and intercepting it ahead, forcing it to change direction, it might have already escaped far beyond their reach.

"This spirit pill has just been born and contains an extremely potent Fire Spirit Aura sustaining its escape. I suspect its speed will only decrease once some of that Fire Spirit Qi is depleted.

The Qingdan Sect only provided me with one copy of the pill refinement formula; it mentioned neither a Pill Tribulation nor that the pill itself would flee..." Ye Qin gave a wry smile. Although the Dark Cloud Barrier he controlled was slightly faster than the crimson streak, closing the distance in such haste was difficult.

"When I was little, I vaguely remember my father mentioning that some of the Qingdan Sect's rarest pill formulas were passed down from the ancient cultivators who founded the sect. There were also secret techniques and vital tips only known to the Patriarchs and the Sect Master, transmitted orally..." and never recorded in the pill formulas themselves.

"But I didn't press for details then, and my father never elaborated..." Huangfu Bing'er recalled something, slightly vexed. "There's such a thing..." Ye Qin was taken aback and fell silent.

However, he knew that many cultivation sects often engaged in such practices. Some preferred to render their cultivation manuals exceedingly obscure and difficult to understand, ensuring they were only explained orally by elders to direct descendants across generations.

Sometimes, they deliberately omitted a crucial sentence or intentionally inserted ambiguous wording into the cultivation texts. This way, even if an outsider somehow obtained the sect's secret manuals, they would remain utterly perplexed.

Many self-created cultivation methods belonging to immortal families vanished because the core inheritors died unexpectedly, leaving no one capable of deciphering the profound mysteries within the texts, resulting in the techniques being abandoned and lost. The formulas left behind by the Qingdan Sect were not fraudulent, but it was entirely plausible that they deliberately concealed crucial information within vital recipes, known only to a select few high-ranking Ancestors.

He had obtained the formula for the Spirit Root Potential Pill from the Qingdan Sect's treasured collection, and since he hadn't acquired it elsewhere, he couldn't verify this possibility. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in such a predicament now due to this unexpected occurrence.

"Brother Ye, what about your Skeleton Demon?! Sister Bing'er mentioned it has already achieved Human Form and is as powerful as a Nascent Soul Immortal—it should certainly be able to catch that spirit pill..." Bai Xiuer asked, puzzled.

"The Human Form Skeleton Demon can already control the Ghost Mist for flight; its speed could absolutely overtake that spirit pill. However, the Skeleton Demon carries a heavy Corpse Qi; I dare not approach within ten zhang of it for fear of collateral damage.

If it tried to grab the spirit pill with its hands, the Corpse Qi would certainly corrode and destroy the pill," Ye Qin shook his head helplessly. "We could catch it using the Great Winged Warship.

However, the Warship is enormous. While extremely fast, its maneuverability is far inferior to a cultivator flying on a sword—it’s hard to turn instantly.

We risk crashing into the swarms of sea beasts surging up from the surface..." Ye Qin frowned deeply as he sped onward. Wherever the crimson streak passed, schools of sea beasts surged up from beneath the ocean.

Most were low-level Sea Demons, only around the third or fourth tier, but their numbers were staggering. These beasts could not only swim rapidly but could even leap briefly out of the water, forming vortex-like tides of beasts.

Scattered among them were several Golden Core stage demonic beasts. If it weren't for the fact that the sea around the Pangsha Stronghold mainly comprised lower-tier sea beasts and few cultivators, they would likely have invited major trouble.

"No matter how fast this spirit pill flies, it's still just a pill. After a while, once some of its Fire Spirit Qi is expended, it won't be able to maintain this speed.

The most urgent concern right now is preventing these sea beasts from succeeding..." Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and Bai Xiuer continuously dodged the surging hordes of sea beasts, occasionally striking out to slay any that foolishly charged them, all while relentlessly pursuing the crimson streak. In the sky, a flock of demonic avians appeared, swiftly maneuvering to surround the Spirit Root Potential Pill.

Meanwhile, in the sea, winged fish, fish darting like arrows, and other strange, unknown beasts occasionally leaped high out of the water to pounce and bite at the trio. Seeing this, Huangfu Bing'er grew annoyed.

She pointed her sword formula, and her Violet Jade Departing Fire Sword split into sixteen nascent soul small swords, trailing wisps of Departing Fire Spirit Flame as they shot out to kill the attacking sea beasts. Bai Xiuer swung her ancient cyan halberd, attacking the larger sea beasts that leaped into the air.

"Be careful! Yellow Heaven Thick Dust Sword, Swift..." Ye Qin knew the situation was critical and this wasn't the time to be distracted.

With a nod, he summoned the Yellow Heaven Thick Dust Sword, causing it to transform into a flying sword over ten zhang wide, trailing a dull yellow radiance to shield him. He forcefully crashed through the beasts ahead, not engaging them, and continued the pursuit.

The Spirit Root Potential Pill ahead also seemed extremely panicked, darting randomly across the sea surface to avoid the lunging attacks of the beasts. This, in turn, made the sea beasts within a hundred-mile radius even more frenzied.

"Screeech~..." A Golden Core stage demonic bird with a wingspan easily sixty to seventy zhang wide shrieked, rising on the wind. It charged from the opposite side of the sky, bringing with it a sharp streak of cyan light, aimed directly at the Spirit Root Potential Pill being pursued by numerous beasts.

This Azure Pelican Demonic Bird, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, flapped its wings fiercely and powerfully, batting aside over ten sea beasts in one blow. It suddenly opened its beak to peck at the glowing crimson spirit pill, intending to seize the fiery streak.

However, the crimson streak executed a bizarre turn, shifting sideways a full zhang, successfully evading the Azure Pelican's strike. Seeing the incredibly tempting spirit pill about to be seized by the Azure Pelican, the surrounding sea beasts and avians descended into extreme madness, employing all their means to charge it, desperate to prevent it from claiming the spiritual treasure.

The Azure Pelican Demonic Bird, with extraordinary power, let out a fierce cry, shook its wings, and instantly scattered hundreds of ten-zhang-long cyan light beams across the area. Some sea beasts with weaker defenses were immediately pierced by these beams, creating gaping holes and sending plumes of blood rain tumbling into the bloody sea below.

Having gained the upper hand, the Azure Pelican Demonic Bird shook its light beams and flapped its wings, intending to continue its capture of the crimson streak. At this moment, Ye Qin, steering the Dark Cloud Barrier, had arrived a step faster than Huangfu Bing'er.

In truth, the medicinal power of the Spirit Root Potential Pill was extremely tyrannical. Once swallowed, it would certainly require a significant amount of time to neutralize its potency and slowly reverse the spiritual roots.

Otherwise, it would lead to chaotic mana and cause immense harm. Neither cultivators nor demonic beasts could instantly alter their spiritual root endowment after ingestion.

But these sea beasts and avians, lacking fully awakened intelligence, only understood the need to seize this heavenly spiritual object, unaware of the inherent danger. Even if hastily swallowed, they would likely suffer death first.

Ye Qin had arrived and would not stand by while the Azure Pelican Demonic Bird captured the pill. "Great Five Elements Sword Formation..." Ye Qin sneered, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

He roared in anger, controlling five dazzling nascent soul flying swords to shoot out, instantly expanding to several dozen zhang in size. The Azure Pelican Demonic Bird was fully focused on capturing the crimson streak and failed to guard against it in time.

With sharp whistling sounds of violent air disruption, the Great Five Elements Sword Formation enveloped both the Azure Pelican Demonic Bird and the crimson streak within its boundaries. Regardless of whether the Azure Pelican could seize the pill, it could not escape the Sword Formation.

Once the formation was set, almost instantaneously, the five high-grade nascent soul flying swords, radiating intense light, simultaneously spat out dazzling sword radiance. The Azure Pelican Demonic Bird finally realized the danger with horror.

Before it could react, five overbearing sword beams intersected, and with a 'puff,' it was instantly slain, chopped into a cloud of bloody mist. Immediately following, the five nascent soul flying swords of the Great Five Elements Sword Formation turned their edges outward, spitting out fierce auras of various colors.

The sword qi wove into a net, ferociously slaughtering the other sea beasts and avians surging in to fight for the pill. Simultaneously, Ye Qin shot forward, opening a gap, and flashed into the Great Five Elements Sword Formation in an instant.

The crimson streak, trapped inside, tried desperately to flee but found no path. Ye Qin could finally see the spirit pill clearly, now only a few zhang away.

It was a pill the size of a dragon's eye, still enveloped in a brilliant flame aura. A thumb-sized ball of flame light seemed extremely tense, tightly wrapping the pill and dragging it around, making it crash and flee wildly.

It dared not impact the external sword formation, fearing immediate disintegration upon contact. "A Medicine Spirit?" Ye Qin gasped in shock.

He had been wondering why this pill was so fast and evasive, impossible to grasp. It turned out this Medicine Spirit was the culprit!

"Still trying to run?" Ye Qin sneered; he wouldn't give it another chance to escape. He flipped his left hand and fiercely lunged toward the pill.

His speed was as swift as lightning; he made over a thousand grabs in the span of a breath. But what nearly made him spit blood was that the flame ball's light was eerily slippery.

Clinging to the pill, within that narrow space only a few zhang wide, it managed to evade his thousand attempts. He, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, couldn't catch it.

Whoosh! Huangfu Bing'er arrived, startled by the bizarre scene.

But she had no time to watch; she quickly commanded the Ice Fire Sword Array, slaughtering the surrounding sea beasts and avians surging toward them. "It seems I must use a Dharma Artifact..." Ye Qin, missing his grab, felt annoyed.

He patted his storage pouch and sent out a high-grade white jade bottle. He formed a pill formula with his right hand and slapped it onto the jade bottle.

The bottle instantly spewed out a stream of green light several zhang long, covering the entire space, enveloping the fiery streak, and attempting to drag it into the bottle. The flame light was instantly horrified and refused to enter, clinging tightly to the pill.

Ye Qin vigorously spurred his mana, forcefully drawing it into the jade bottle. A pleased expression crossed Ye Qin’s face.

He capped the bottle, quickly affixed a seal strip, and safely secured the hard-won spirit pill and the Medicine Spirit. Before Ye Qin could relax, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he turned to look into the distance.

"Whoosh..." A streak of silver light shot towards them like lightning. It stopped abruptly a thousand zhang away, revealing a figure clad in silver armor.

From within the silver light came a surprised voice, "Hmph, an East Sea cultivator..."