Chapter 235

Fang Qing rode his flying sword through the sky, occasionally chatting with the Wang sisters through divine sense transmission.

The two female cultivators, both at the early Core Formation stage, were highly skilled in social interactions and subtly expressed their desire to build a friendly relationship with him.

As for Fang Qing, he naturally introduced himself using the identity he had employed years ago as fabricated "Guest Elder Bai" persona.

Bai Jianfeng!

“Brother Bai is truly devoted to the sword path…”

Wang Ziqin offered a few compliments before suddenly saying, “That Fish Hawk Beast has occupied this area for quite some time without leaving. This should be its nest.”

Crack!

After flying another hundred li or so, Fang Qing spotted a small island.

The island was shrouded in hazy mist, with faint spiritual qi drifting through the air. Along one side stood a black cliff as straight and sharp as a blade.

Crack! Crack!

Strands of azure lightning continuously struck the cliff face, causing the entire wall of rock to gradually take on a metallic sheen.

“Lightningfall Cliff?”

The fragrant carriage came to a stop. Wang Zixuan emerged and immediately brightened at the sight.

“I once read about such places in the Records of Eastern Sea Geography. Cliffs constantly struck by lightning often give birth to lightning-attributed and metal-attributed treasures. Since the Fish Hawk Beast chose to build its nest here, perhaps it intends to temper its body by absorbing the power of lightning.”

“And this island... hidden deep within the mist and possessing a spirit vein as well. If that beast hadn't led us here, we might never have discovered it.”

Wang Ziqin sounded somewhat regretful.

Had they not invited an outsider along, this place would have been perfect as a secret Wang Family stronghold after killing the Fish Hawk Beast.

Screeeech!

At that moment, a piercing eagle cry rang out from the cliff.

A third-rank demon beast soared into the air atop black winds.

It possessed the body of a fish and the head of an eagle, yet also had wings and razor-sharp talons.

Its demonic aura was relatively weak, only around the level of a low third-rank demon beast.

A gruesome wound stretched across its abdomen. Blood continued flowing freely, and even the powerful physique of a demon beast had failed to fully stop the bleeding.

“Haha, what a beast!”

Seeing the incoming black wind blades, Fang Qing laughed and cursed playfully before taking the initiative to attack.

A highly condensed sword qi burst forth like a streak of white silk, shattering nine wind blades in succession.

Man and sword became one as he transformed into a streak of sword light and tangled with the Fish Hawk Beast in battle.

‘I should probably take this seriously. I could kill this beast with a single sword strike. Where exactly is the danger indicated by the hexagram?’

Even while fighting, Fang Qing continued pondering his earlier divination.

Had he not come here personally to serve as the benefactor, these two Core Formation female cultivators would almost certainly have faced a fate of fragrant jade scattered and beauty lost.

Anything capable of killing two early Core Formation cultivators could not possibly be an ordinary threat.

Though merely pretending to fight, Fang Qing exchanged dozens of moves with the beast in an instant.

After being struck by several strands of sword qi, scales shattered across the Fish Hawk Beast's body.

Enraged, it let out an even sharper screech.

“Screeeech!!!”

“Elder Sister, let's help as well.”

A violet jade sword appeared in Wang Zixuan's hand.

She glanced toward her elder sister, who held a zither-type dharma treasure, and was about to join the battle when her expression suddenly changed.

A mass of dark clouds was rapidly approaching.

Within it surged the mana fluctuations of a cultivator at the peak of mid Core Formation, along with strands of demonic qi.

“Who dares injure my spirit pet?”

Accompanied by a hoarse voice, the dark clouds parted.

A black-robed cultivator appeared.

He looked like a young man, with a hooked nose and streaks of white at his temples.

His appearance carried both the spirited confidence of youth and the weary gloom of age.

The two contrasting temperaments blended together into something uniquely profound and unforgettable.

“It’s Heart-Eroding Wanderer? You... you've actually reached the mid Core Formation stage?”

Wang Zixuan was visibly shocked.

“No... that's not right. You've cultivated demonic arts?”

This Heart-Eroding Wanderer had once been a famous genius throughout the nearby sea regions.

His aptitude had been only slightly inferior to that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator.

However, he was arrogant by nature and had offended many people.

During his Core Formation breakthrough, he had been sabotaged. Not only was his condensation process interrupted, but even his Core Formation spiritual object had been tampered with.

In the end, he had barely managed to form a low-grade True Core, and even among low-grade True Cores, its quality was considered poor.

The quality of one's True Core directly affected future cultivation.

Because of this, Heart-Eroding Wanderer had remained trapped in the early Core Formation stage for many years.

Gradually, rumors spread that his talent had been exhausted.

His personality became increasingly twisted, and in recent years there had even been rumors that he had become bloodthirsty and murderous.

‘Now it seems those rumors weren't rumors at all. He truly entered the demonic path, slaughtering cultivators and harvesting their essence blood to cultivate.’

A thought flashed through Wang Ziqin's mind.

There were countless such cultivators in the Eastern Sea cultivation world.

People trapped by bottlenecks and limited talent who eventually succumbed to demonic cultivation.

But Heart-Eroding Wanderer was different.

After cultivating demonic arts, his strength had genuinely advanced by leaps and bounds.

He had broken through the bottleneck between early and mid Core Formation.

Among the surrounding sea regions, he could now be considered a notable figure.

Still...

With her younger sister beside her and the backing of the Wang Family, Wang Ziqin remained confident.

“Fellow Daoist Heart-Eroding.”

Holding her jade zither, Wang Ziqin called out clearly.

“This humble one is Wang Ziqin of the Wang Family. My younger sister and I were hunting a demon beast when we arrived here. You claim this Fish Hawk Beast is your spirit pet. Do you have proof?”

If the beast truly belonged to him, she would simply apologize and leave.

But if Heart-Eroding Wanderer merely intended to seize the spoils after the fact, then the Wang Family was not easily bullied.

“Heh... good. Very good!”

Heart-Eroding Wanderer let out a cold laugh and stared at Wang Ziqin.

“You two little sluts dare insult me?”

His hands formed seals.

Streams of black qi spread outward and transformed into countless black serpents that surged across the battlefield.

“Fiend! You have already fallen into the demonic path!”

Wang Ziqin's delicate fingers swept across the strings of her jade zither.

Invisible sound blades sliced through the air.

The black serpents immediately suffered disaster, countless bodies severed and shattered.

This Wang Family fairy cultivated a rare musical cultivation technique.

Moreover, she could already tell that this Heart-Eroding Wanderer had long since fallen into the demonic path. Everything he had said before was merely an excuse.

His true objective was likely the blood essence and Golden Cores of the Wang sisters, as well as that sword cultivator.

For a Core Formation demonic cultivator, the blood essence and Golden Core of another cultivator at the same realm were naturally supreme nourishment.

Furthermore, after one first entered the demonic path, cultivation truly would experience a period of explosive growth. It placed little demand on aptitude and could be considered a blessing for those with poor talent. However, cultivating through devouring the blood essence of other cultivators naturally came with hidden dangers. The price might be a corrupted divine sense, descending into madness, or even encountering an insurmountable bottleneck that would trap one for life.

But clearly, reason could no longer reach the Heart-Eroding Wanderer in his current state.

“Fellow Daoist... please deal with the Fish Hawk Beast. Leave this demonic cultivator to us sisters.”

Wang Ziqin transmitted a message to Fang Qing before grasping her younger sister's hand.

The sisters had shared a spiritual connection since childhood and cultivated a special joint-combat secret art. Combining their mana at this moment, they actually faintly reached the level of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator.

Zheng! Zheng!

As Wang Ziqin plucked the strings of her jade zither, invisible sound waves spread throughout the void, carrying razor-sharp killing intent.

“Haha... excellent!”

The Heart-Eroding Wanderer burst into laughter. From within his robes, he produced an ancient black bell. Forming seals with both hands, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto it.

The ancient bell immediately floated into the air, expanding until it was the size of a house. Ancient runes emerged across its surface.

As the bell rang, countless black threads shot forth from within, sweeping toward the Wang sisters.

“Not good!”

Wang Ziqin's expression changed dramatically. One of her zither strings suddenly snapped.

“What a powerful treasure... The Heart-Eroding Wanderer hid himself for so many years. Not only has he advanced to mid-stage Core Formation, he even obtained such a treasure?”

As the backlash from her music struck her, the countless dark threads had already arrived.

Without hesitation, Wang Ziying raised her Purple Jade Sword and slashed through the air.

A streak of violet light flashed forth, transforming into layers of purple flames that burned around the sisters.

Core Formation mana surged endlessly, causing the flames to grow increasingly intense.

Yet the black threads barely melted.

They struck the sisters' Core Formation barriers like rain pelting banana leaves, producing a series of crisp sounds.

“Elder Sister, my Golden Core power...”

Wang Ziying cried out in alarm as she sensed the changes within her Golden Core.

“It's poisonous!”

She stared at the black threads, fear appearing on her face.

The sisters' Golden Core power simultaneously began to collapse, and their auras instantly weakened considerably.

“Haha! How does my Black Poison Bell taste?”

The Heart-Eroding Wanderer laughed wildly.

At the same time, he released his natal dharma treasure, a pitch-black iron trident. In midair, it transformed into a massive two-headed python that continuously advanced toward the sisters.

This Black Poison Bell was a treasure he had obtained together with that demonic cultivation art. Not only could it unleash sonic attacks, but the attached Black Spirit Threads were exceptionally troublesome.

They specialized in breaking through all kinds of Core Formation barriers and carried a terrifying poison.

The toxin could travel backward through a cultivator's Golden Core mana, invading the body like gangrene attached to the bone.

“Not good!”

Sensing that the poison had damaged the sisters' Golden Cores and made it impossible for them to maintain their combined technique, causing both of them to fall back to the early Core Formation stage, Wang Ziqin's heart filled with urgency.

She raised a hand, attempting to recall the fragrant carriage treasure and use it to escape with her sister.

Otherwise, their fate today would be grim indeed.

Hiss! Hiss!

Yet the tail of the two-headed python swept through the air, instantly sending the carriage flying.

The Heart-Eroding Wanderer had somehow already advanced to within thirty meters of the sisters. His face was filled with delight.

At that moment, however, he suddenly heard a miserable eagle's cry.

Screech!

A dazzling sword light descended, splitting the Fish Hawk Beast perfectly in half and revealing the third-rank demon core hidden within its body.

The demon core attempted to flee.

But Fang Qing casually tossed out a black jade bottle.

A hazy glow flickered across the bottle's surface, enveloping the third-rank demon core.

The Fish Hawk Beast's spirit soul inside the core immediately froze. Without the slightest resistance, it was sucked into the Devouring Sea Bottle.

'Another third-rank water-attribute demon core acquired.'

Fang Qing felt delighted.

Becoming one with his sword, he descended into the Fish Hawk Beast's nest and plucked the Peng Transformation Grass as well.

“Good. With this as insurance, even if some Nascent Soul old monster suddenly appears, I can simply run away.”

He leisurely stepped onto the cliff and casually raised a hand.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning descended and struck Fang Qing's jade-white palm.

A faint numb sensation spread through it.

“What a pity... It's only natural lightning, similar to the lightning arts used by lightning-attribute cultivators. It lacks the heavenly might contained within tribulation lightning, and naturally cannot be used to ‘seek the Dao from Heaven.’”

“Otherwise, spending some time cultivating in seclusion here would not be a bad choice.”

Fang Qing sighed softly.

“This Lightningfall Cliff is still acceptable as a place for body tempering.”

“A mere early Core Formation sword cultivator, yet you dare be so arrogant!”

At this point, the Heart-Eroding Wanderer had already used the Black Poison Bell to completely trap the Wang sisters.

Seeing Fang Qing calmly harvesting spoils nearby, he became so furious that he laughed instead.

With a wave of his hand, countless Black Spirit Threads suddenly descended from the sky!