Chapter 512 - 482: Deep Sea Cleanup (Part 2)

Chapter 512: Chapter 482: Deep Sea Cleanup (Part 2)

A Tier Three Top Grade Ice Snake Demon.

The colossal snake’s vertical pupils locked onto the three Golden Core Cultivators at the entrance of the tunnel. It didn’t speak, instead letting out a piercing hiss from its mouth.

The hiss carried an extremely intense Spiritual Power tremor, causing the ore on the cavern walls to shatter and rain down.

"A Tier Three Top Grade. This won’t be easy," the late-stage Golden Core elder said, his expression grave. "Together now."

The five of them spread out, closing in on the giant snake from different directions.

The Ice Snake Demon did not wait passively for its doom.

Its massive body suddenly whipped around. Its tail swept through a cluster of reefs, shattering several towering rock formations. The debris, carried by a ferocious current, formed a circular shockwave that radiated in all directions.

The late-stage Golden Core elder formed a series of hand seals, conjuring a thick water shield just in time to take the brunt of the shockwave. The shield trembled violently but held firm.

Fang Hai attacked from the flank, sending several water blades slashing toward the snake’s midsection. The blades struck the Scales with a piercing clang of metal, leaving only a few faint white marks behind.

The defensive power of a Tier Three Top Grade was terrifying.

The other two early-stage Golden Core Cultivators also made their moves. One unleashed a Fire Element Magic, bombarding the snake’s head, while the other used Array Flags to lay a binding formation, attempting to restrict the creature’s movement.

Li Yuan took his position on the right flank of the battle.

The All-Seeing Mirror in his equipment slot was running at full capacity.

The Ice Snake Demon opened its maw and shot out a beam of ice-blue light several feet in diameter, aimed directly at the late-stage Golden Core elder in front of it.

The elder dodged to the side. The beam of ice grazed his shoulder and struck the rock wall behind him. Enveloped by the frigid power, the wall was instantly encased in a layer of ice several feet thick. The shattered rocks were frozen into translucent blocks of ice.

A moment of vulnerability after the attack.

Li Yuan struck.

He formed his right hand into a blade. The Golden Blade Skill was the first to activate. Dozens of blades of golden light shot out from between his fingers, all converging on a small area just below the Ice Snake Demon’s neck.

Li Yuan had suppressed its power, but the attack was still formidable.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the Scales. A few of the thinner ones were even shattered completely, revealing the dark red muscle tissue beneath.

The Ice Snake Demon let out a hiss of pain, its massive head whipping toward Li Yuan.

Li Yuan’s figure flickered. He activated his Teleportation Skill underwater and vanished without a sound. The snake’s head slammed into empty space, smashing a patch of reef to bits.

Li Yuan reappeared on the Snake Demon’s other side.

Void-Rending Slash.

A gray spatial rift extended from his fingertip, growing over three meters long. It sliced precisely into the spot where his Golden Blade Skill had shattered the Scales.

This time, without the protection of its armor, the Void-Rending Slash cut directly into the Snake Demon’s flesh. The gash was several inches deep, and dark red demon blood sprayed out.

The Ice Snake Demon let out a deafening shriek.

Its massive body thrashed wildly, crushing the surrounding reefs to dust. The late-stage Golden Core elder seized the opportunity to launch a full-powered frontal assault. A water dragon imbued with immense Spiritual Power shot from his palm, slamming viciously into a weak spot on the Snake Demon’s head.

Fang Hai and the other two Golden Core Cultivators attacked simultaneously, their blows raining down on the Snake Demon from all directions.

Ferocious as the Ice Snake Demon was, its injuries rapidly worsened under the combined assault of the five Golden Core Cultivators.

Finally, the late-stage Golden Core elder unleashed a killing blow he had been charging for some time. It struck the already shattered scales on the Snake Demon’s neck, snapping its spine.

The massive body convulsed violently a few times before slowly sinking into the silt at the bottom of the cavern. The dark red glow in its vertical pupils gradually faded.

After the battle, the remaining Low Tier Sea Demons in the cavern had completely scattered. The Foundation Establishment Cultivators poured in from the tunnel entrance and began to clean up the battlefield.

Li Yuan and the other Golden Core Cultivators began to carve up the Ice Snake Demon’s corpse.

Its Tier Three Top Grade Inner Core, snake bones, Scales, and ice-crystal sac—every part was incredibly valuable. The five Golden Core Cultivators divided the spoils based on their contributions. Li Yuan received the Inner Core and a section of the snake’s bone.

Large quantities of deep-sea Spiritual Materials hoarded by the Sea Demons were scattered in various corners of the cavern. There was a wide variety, including Deep Sea Coral, glowing ore, Condensed Crystals, and Sea Beast bones. Under the direction of the Golden Core Cultivators, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators began to collect and sort everything.

The clearing party rested for a moment in the cavern, taking stock of their spoils.

The rewards from the clearing mission were substantial. A large number of Tier Two Sea Demon Inner Cores and deep-sea Spiritual Materials were collected by the alliance, to be distributed later according to Contribution Points. As for the spoils from the Tier Three Sea Demons, they were divided directly among the Golden Core Cultivators who had participated in the fight.

During the break, Fang Hai walked over, sat down next to Li Yuan, and offered him a vial of pills for restoring Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan accepted the pills but didn’t take them, instead storing them in his personal space. ’My Spiritual Power recovers far faster than what a Tier Two pill can provide.’

Fang Hai then made some small talk about the situation in the sea region.

"The Sea Demons far outnumber us," Fang Hai sighed.

"This entire sea is several times the size of the landmass, and dozens of times the size of the islands. It’s almost impossible to estimate the total Sea Demon population. Fortunately, the proportion of High Tier Sea Demons isn’t that high. While the absolute number of those at Tier Three and above is significant, they’re spread out across this vast ocean, so the chances of running into one during a normal voyage are pretty slim."

"Besides, most Sea Demons aren’t of the same kind, so they don’t coordinate their attacks. It’s not like the Demon Beasts on land, where some of the larger clans can organize massive beast tides. Sea Demons are more individualistic. They stake out a territory and don’t interfere with each other. A situation like today, where so many of them are gathered in a single lair, is actually quite rare."

"Then why did they gather this time?" Li Yuan asked.

Fang Hai shook his head. "I’m not sure. Maybe there was a change in the deep-sea Spirit Veins or the food chain, forcing them to migrate toward the shallows, and they just happened to run into each other in this cavern. Or perhaps that Tier Three Top Grade Ice Snake Demon has made its lair here for a long time, attracting all the nearby Low Tier Sea Demons."

Li Yuan nodded but didn’t press the matter.

After resting in the cavern for two hours, the party began to withdraw.

Li Yuan followed the party out of the cavern through the tunnel. As they went, the Kun-Peng Devouring Technique in his equipment slot continued to operate passively.

Throughout the clearing mission, Li Yuan had come into contact with dozens of Cultivators from different islands and factions. The frequency and elemental characteristics of each Cultivator’s Spiritual Waves were unique, and the passive recording function of his Kun-Peng Devouring Technique collected this information on each of them.

The system panel displayed the latest progress.

[Kun-Peng Devouring (Blue) Growth Progress: 40→45/100]

Once the party returned to the surface, an alliance deacon began to tally each group’s battle results and Contribution Points.

Li Yuan had single-handedly killed one Tier Three Sea Demon, participated in killing one Tier Three Top Grade Sea Demon, and eliminated dozens of Low Tier Sea Demons. His final tally of Contribution Points was quite considerable.

With the mission over, the Cultivators from the various groups began to disperse.

Li Yuan didn’t return to the main island with the main party. Instead, after bidding farewell to Fang Hai on the surface, he dove back into the water and headed off alone in another direction.

South of the mission area, less than a hundred li away, lay the Reef Group that housed the Teleportation Array for the third fork of the underwater ruins.