Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chapter 636 - 621: Trap within a Trap!

Thunder Whale Island is located two to three million miles away from the "Celestial Wave Outer Sea," requiring a journey across another outer sea. Ordinary cultivators indeed cannot travel this far.

The six of them, including Zhouyang, were all Golden Core Stage cultivators, and it took them over two months to successfully reach the "Celestial Wave Outer Sea."

"Since the ’Celestial Wave Outer Sea’ fell during that great calamity thousands of years ago, the Jiao Dragon Race has driven many demon beast clans to inhabit it. Over the millennia, regardless of how our Human Race cultivators hunt those demon beasts here, new ones always fill the void swiftly, never giving us a chance to reclaim the area. Everyone must be careful from now on and remain vigilant."

Over the azure sea, a silver light beam shot from afar and suddenly halted in mid-air, revealing the silhouette of a silver flying ship.

On the flying ship, Zhouyang listened to the words of Ruan Xiong, who was controlling the ship, and a flash of worry momentarily crossed his eyes.

If Ruan Xiong’s words were true, attempting to take over the spirit vein at the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast’s nest could be quite troublesome.

Additionally, there was one more concern; Jiang Fengxian seemed to have encountered some mishap along the way and had yet to arrive at the "Celestial Wave Outer Sea," yet he couldn’t take action to investigate the situation.

"Fellow Daoist Ruan, do you know how far we are from the place of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast?"

Just as Zhouyang was worried about Jiang Fengxian’s safety, Huang Yunxing, the young man in yellow accompanying them, suddenly asked the question he was intending to ask.

His gaze, along with others’, quickly turned toward Ruan Xiong.

Facing the attention from his teammates, Ruan Xiong only smiled serenely and replied, "Fellow Daoist Huang, no need to rush. The place of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast isn’t far from where we are now; if the journey goes smoothly, we should reach it in seven or eight days at most."

"Let’s go quickly then, the sooner we go, the sooner we return."

Excitement flashed across Huang Yunxing’s face as he urged them.

At his urging, Ruan Xiong indeed quickly manipulated the silver flying ship to continue the journey.

However, as Ruan Xiong mentioned earlier, the "Celestial Wave Outer Sea" was not peaceful at all; even with the aura of six Golden Core Stage cultivators exposed, demon beasts still dared to attack the silver flying ship passing through the sky.

Those attacking demon beasts hid beneath the sea surface, only casting various talent magic divine techniques to launch attacks at the silver flying ship passing above, without showing themselves; many even fired and abandoned quickly.

Luckily, Zhouyang and the others heeded Ruan Xiong’s words, rotating five people to maintain an all-round vigil, always able to intercept those ambushes in advance, preventing them from being knocked down from the sky.

After nine days like this, the group finally saw the silhouette of an island from afar.

"That is the island where the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast resides. Don’t be deceived by the island’s small size; it’s actually a new island, emerging after that great calamity, and not appearing on previous sea charts!"

The silver flying ship halted in mid-air, thousands of miles away from the island, as Zhouyang and others, hearing Ruan Xiong’s words, all employed their pupil technique divine techniques to observe the island from afar.

The island appeared like a raised mountain peak from afar, high in the middle and low around, rocks protruding chaotically, with little greenery and looked rather desolate.

By Zhouyang’s measure, the size of this island was smaller than "Peach Blossom Island," yet this relatively small island managed to nurture a Tier Five High-Grade spirit vein, which was indeed unexpected.

However, given Ruan Xiong’s previous words, it didn’t seem strange anymore.

From knowledge acquired in previous lives, Zhouyang knew such emerging islands were caused by tectonic movements, and in the cultivation world of "Spirit Realm," spirit veins were deeply intertwined with earth veins.

If tectonic movements caused the island to rise to the sea surface, forming an island, then the formation of a Tier Five High-Grade spirit vein on the island was not a surprising occurrence.

"How peculiar, Fellow Daoist Wei, using the Qi Observation Skill from afar, seems to find no Tier Five demon beast aura existing on the island; can Fellow Daoist Ruan be sure the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast nests here?"

The silver-haired old man Wei Tao swung his gaze to Ruan Xiong, displaying doubt while asking his question.

Hearing him, Zhouyang and others also promptly gathered attention on the matter.

Displeasure flashed on Ruan Xiong’s face, and with a mildly deep tone, he replied, "Fellow Daoist Wei jests, how could I make mistakes in such matters? The Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast is certainly nesting on this island, and as for being unseen, perhaps it’s hunting in the sea or possessing the ability to hide its aura, which isn’t strange."

"Fellow Daoist Ruan makes a valid point; whether true or not, we’ll know by approaching."

Seeming to sense a slight unease in Ruan Xiong’s tone, the silver-haired old man Wei Tao immediately switched his stance and agreed with a smile.

"Old Wei is right; we’ll know real or fake by approaching."

The young man in yellow, Huang Yunxing, who was most concerned about this matter quickly chimed in to smooth the atmosphere, as did Zhouyang and the others who joined in the conversation. No one truly wished for any division between the main forces in the team before the battle began.

The remaining thousand-mile distance allowed everyone to directly fly towards the island on clouds, without needing to board Ruan Xiong’s flying ship spiritual artifact.

Roar—

Before reaching the island, a thunderous beast roar erupted from the summit in the center of the island.

Then a flash of blue light revealed a majestic, imposing blue giant beast flying up from that peak, entering Zhouyang and the others’ view.

Lion head, dragon mouth, fish scales, ox tail, tiger claws, bull horns... The appearance of this blue giant beast matched exactly with the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast that Zhouyang had previously seen from Ruan Xiong’s gifted memory pearl, evidently confirming its identity.

"There it is, fellow Daoists, act quickly; don’t let this creature leave the island. If it dives into the deep sea, it will be incredibly challenging for us to keep it!"

Ruan Xiong suddenly shouted loudly, immediately summoning a mountain-shaped spiritual artifact to attack the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast.

The earth-yellow mountain artifact in his hand was only about a foot tall, but as it fell atop the head of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, it transformed into a mountain a hundred feet tall, as if he truly moved an entire mountain here.

But the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast was clearly no weakling. With just a slight movement of its body, it broke free from the restraining power of the yellow mountain, quickly transforming into a blue light and disappearing from beneath it, leaving the mountain to crash into nothingness.

Boom!

The empty crashing of the mountain onto the ground instantly created a massive pit, several dozen feet deep.

At this moment, Zhouyang and the others scattered and surrounded the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, shouting all at once as they wielded various artifacts against it.

Roar!

The Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast let out a roar, and the long golden horn on its head suddenly shot out a sharp golden light, aimed straight at the yellow-clothed youth, Huang Yunxing.

This golden light was incredibly sharp, slicing a Tier Five Middle Grade Flying Sword in half midair, before continuing unabated towards Huang Yunxing.

In an instant, Huang Yunxing’s scalp tingled.

He hurriedly yelled in anger, mobilizing a black Turtle Shield Spiritual Artifact to block the golden light, while he quickly dodged to avoid its lock-on.

The golden light flashed, and Huang Yunxing’s defensive artifact, like the flying sword before, was cut in two by the golden light.

Yet after breaking two Tier Five artifacts, the golden light’s power seemed to diminish greatly. Though it continued to strike the inescapable Huang Yunxing, it didn’t kill him outright, only leaving a menacing wound over a foot long across his chest and abdomen.

Even so, this strike frightened everyone except Zhouyang.

Seeing Huang Yunxing’s pitiful state, apart from the physically powerful Zhouyang, no one dared claim to walk away from such a strike unscathed.

The crucial point was, after this attack, the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast showed no signs of weakening, indicating the attack hadn’t cost it much—at least not the kind that took a long time to recharge.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, tend to your wounds first, we’ll handle this beast."

Ruan Xiong glanced at the heavily injured Huang Yunxing, generously allowing him to exit the battle for healing.

"Ashamed, I, Huang, have dragged down all my fellow Daoists!"

Gratitude and shame flickered in Huang Yunxing’s eyes, and with a nod, he quickly withdrew over a hundred miles to descend and heal with elixirs.

With his prior experience, the others were warier of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, causing a temporary stalemate.

Without exchanging words, everyone reached a common understanding: to stall, tiring out the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast before attempting a decisive strike.

The Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast was a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast with profound intelligence, well aware of the humans’ intentions, but it was alone, unable to counter them despite understanding their strategy.

After sparring for about three hours, the group hadn’t yet taken down the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, when Huang Yunxing, who had left earlier, gritted his teeth and rejoined the fight.

The wounds on his body had healed thanks to the Spirit Pill, although the sharp golden qi from the golden light was still within him, merely suppressed temporarily.

In such a state, he dared return to battle. Zhouyang couldn’t tell if he resented the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast for injuring him or feared contributing nothing by the battle’s end.

But after such a prolonged engagement, the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast’s condition had indeed worsened, losing its initial fierce momentum.

Yet a cornered beast is most dangerous when it has nowhere to escape.

The group hunted the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast for its precious demon beast materials. If forced into a corner to self-destruct its demon pill and fight desperately, not only would it be dangerous, but the gains would be unsatisfactory.

Seeing the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast’s weakening rebellion, Ruan Xiong couldn’t help but suggest through a voice transmission, "Fellow Daoists, hold back a bit, don’t push too hard. We can unleash a decisive strike when it’s near exhausted."

"Fellow Daoist Ruan is right, let’s not press too hard. We came for fortune, not for an effort in vain!"

Silver-haired Wei Tao was the first to support Ruan Xiong, staunchly agreeing with his proposal.

At his age, Wei Tao risked the Celestial Wave Outer Sea to amass wealth for his clan descendants, sparing them from repeating his old paths.

Besides some with ulterior motives like Zhouyang, the others all sought wealth here, none willing to end their months-long ordeal with a bitter outcome.

Thus, their attack soon slackened, lacking the prior sharpness.

The Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast wasn’t foolish. Humans had the upper hand but suddenly slowed their assault, a tactic it easily discerned.

Though realizing this, it had no choice but to comply.

So long as it retained a glimmer of survival hope, it wouldn’t risk everything desperately fighting the humans.

Roar~Roar!

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, as it opened its maw wide, shooting out a dazzling golden demon pill.

The demon pill, like a golden meteor, targeted the previously injured Huang Yunxing ferociously.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, watch out!"

The beautiful lady in a white dress, Qian Bingyun, who was not far from Huang Yunxing, let out a charming cry and hastily activated her Lifebound Spiritual Artifact, the "Ice Condensing Mirror," releasing a blue-white ice light aimed at the golden demon pill.

It wasn’t because she had a deep friendship with Huang Yunxing, but out of concern that if something happened to him, the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast might break through from where he was, escaping to freedom.

Qian Bingyun’s worries were not unfounded. The blue-white ice light she shot only slightly delayed the demon pill for less than a moment before losing effect, and the demon pill continued its trajectory towards Huang Yunxing.

Earlier, Huang Yunxing’s usual Defensive Spiritual Artifact had been destroyed, and at the moment, he had no Tier Five Defense Spiritual Artifact to replace it.

Seeing the demon pill’s fierce approach, he, thinking of his life, could only hurriedly throw a Tier Five Middle-Grade Spirit Talisman to block it while quickly retreating.

As one would expect, the magic from the Tier Five Middle-Grade Spirit Talisman had not even shown its potential before being extinguished by the power of the demon pill.

At this moment, the body of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast suddenly turned into a golden light beside the demon pill, swallowing it in one gulp and breaking out from the direction left open by Huang Yunxing.

Fortunately, the direction behind Huang Yunxing was not the azure sea but the central peak of the island where the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast first appeared.

"Quick, chase it, we can’t let it escape!"

Ruan Xiong shouted, being the first to pursue it.

Others, including Huang Yunxing, who narrowly avoided confrontation earlier, also hurriedly followed with anxious faces.

In their quick pursuit, they soon reached the mountain peak, watching as the exotic beast plunged into a deep, dark cavern.

The cavern was unfathomably deep, with immense interference to Divine Sense, rendering any attempt to discern its interior futile.

"At this point, we mustn’t give up halfway. Those courageous enough can follow me in. For those who aren’t willing, I won’t force you, but don’t blame me for unfair distribution of spoils after the battle!"

Standing outside the cavern, Ruan Xiong looked back deeply at everyone, leaving these words before leaping headfirst into the cavern without hesitation.

Zhouyang and the others all showed varied expressions, hesitation evident on their faces.

However, before they could hesitate long, Huang Yunxing suddenly showed a determined look, gritting his teeth and saying, "Because of my mistake earlier, this beast got away. One way or another, I must make amends by slaying this creature. Fellow Daoists, I’m going in first."

With that, he also jumped into the cavern.

"Even with injuries, Fellow Daoist Huang isn’t afraid. I’ve lived nine hundred years; how can I fall behind?"

The silver-haired elder Wei Tao’s face turned red and white, finally showing determination, and he too glanced at Zhouyang and the others before jumping into the cavern.

Now only Zhouyang, Qian Bingyun, and her Dao companion Liu Xingping remained outside.

"Why doesn’t Fellow Daoist Huang go down?"

The beautiful lady in the white dress, Qian Bingyun, gazed fixedly at Zhouyang with curious eyes.

Upon hearing this, Zhouyang instead replied with a question, "Then why don’t you and your Dao companion go down?"

"We..."

Just as Qian Bingyun was about to answer Zhouyang, the ground suddenly shook violently as if in an earthquake.

"Let’s go down and take a look!"

Liu Xingping, who had been silent, suddenly condensing his gaze, expressed his opinion to his Dao companion Qian Bingyun.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, what do you think?"

Qian Bingyun’s beautiful eyes flashed with a hopeful look as she gazed at Zhouyang, appearing quite charming.

Unmoved, Zhouyang calmly replied, "I need more time to consider."

"Then take your time, Fellow Daoist Huang. Bingyun, let’s go."

Liu Xingping gave Zhouyang a displeased look and pulled his Dao companion’s arm, dragging Qian Bingyun with him into the cavern.

Thus, of the group of six, only Zhouyang remained outside the cavern, observing the dark depths below with a heavy expression and no desire to explore further.

Zhouyang was now deeply suspicious, already questioning Ruan Xiong’s intentions.

He noticed several suspicious points, with two being quite significant: one was the problem with the cavern. After practicing the third layer of the "Void Refining God Spell," his Divine Sense was almost on par with a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Yet, even his powerful Divine Sense was being blocked in the cavern, just like the others, which was exceedingly unusual.

In the Cultivation Realm, there are indeed many special places that can interfere with or block cultivators’ Divine Senses. However, such places that can affect Nascent Soul Stage cultivators are rare.

The other issue, which might have been overlooked by others focused on the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, was the issue of the Spirit Vein’s grade!

Indeed, Zhouyang had realized that the Spirit Vein grade on the mountain was problematic. Judging by the Spiritual Qi concentration where he stood, it definitely didn’t meet the standard of a Tier Five High-Grade Spiritual Vein, at most a Tier Five Lower Grade Spirit Vein.

This clearly feels off; the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, an exotic beast of this kind, wouldn’t normally reside in a place like this unless there’s something special going on.

Considering the situation where divine sense cannot be used inside this underground cavern, and the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast choosing not to escape to the sea but to this underground cavern instead, Zhouyang has reason to suspect there’s a secret hidden within the cavern.

Next, something even more puzzling to Zhouyang happened: shortly after Qian Bingyun and Liu Xingping jumped into the cavern, the previously trembling mountain quickly returned to normal.

It seemed as if the resistance of the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast had been suppressed.

However, Zhouyang wasn’t so optimistic.

The six of them previously attacking in such an open area outside couldn’t quickly take down this exotic beast. How could it be so easily suppressed after entering the confined space of the cavern?

Zhouyang thought of this, and his heart sank, vaguely having a bad premonition.

He turned to leave first.

But at that moment, his expression suddenly changed. He quickly turned his head to look towards the entrance of the cavern.

A flash of yellow light, and the familiar face of Ruan Xiong reappeared in his sight, but the other figures that had gone down with him were nowhere to be seen.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, where are you going? Why is it that everyone else has gone down except you, who alone are unwilling to go down?"

Ruan Xiong looked at Zhouyang with a strange smile, the words in his mouth full of mockery.

Zhouyang’s face hardened. He looked at him gravely and said in a deep voice, "The same question, Fellow Daoist Huang also wants to ask Fellow Daoist Ruan, why have others gone down with you, but you alone have returned, and the others are not anywhere to be seen?"

"If Fellow Daoist Huang is so curious about this, why not take a guess?"

Ruan Xiong gazed at Zhouyang with a taunting expression, much like a cat playing with a mouse.

"Sorry, Fellow Daoist Huang is not in the habit of playing guessing games. Since Fellow Daoist Ruan is unwilling to say, then Fellow Daoist Huang will take his leave first!"

As Zhouyang spoke, a cloud rose under his feet, and he was about to ride it away.

Seeing this, Ruan Xiong’s face immediately darkened, and with a sinister and cold smile, he said, "Leave? Do you think you can still get away?"

Before the voice fell, a hundred-zhang tall yellow mountain peak pressed down directly towards Zhouyang.

Though the speed of this yellow mountain peak pressing down wasn’t as fast as a flying sword or other artifacts, due to a powerful power of imprisonment spreading out with the artifact, cultivators locked by it couldn’t easily evade its crushing, which was extremely domineering indeed.

If Zhouyang were only at the Fifth-Layer Golden Core cultivation, he might genuinely have been directly suppressed by this descending mountain.

Unfortunately, he was not.

"Ha!"

With a low shout, a golden treasure tower suddenly surged from above his head, directly standing against the descending mountain peak and forcing it to fly away.

"Eighth-Layer Golden Core! There’s definitely something off about you!"

Ruan Xiong’s face altered drastically. He couldn’t help but exclaim, his eyes full of doubt and suspicion.

"No, not just Eighth-Layer Golden Core; this golden treasure tower artifact of yours—I seem to have seen it somewhere before... Ah, I remember now. You are the one heavily wanted by the Dragon Taming Family; your name isn’t Huang Yi at all. Your real name should be Zhouyang!"

Ruan Xiong’s face changed again and again, his gaze towards Zhouyang was one of astonishment and delight, as if he had discovered some treasure.

"What? Do you also wish to take Zhou’s head to claim a reward from the Dragon Taming Family?"

Zhouyang squinted, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes as he spoke.

"Why not? Do you think you’re the only one hiding your strength?"

Ruan Xiong coldly laughed, suddenly let out a long howl, and instantly a figure rushed out from the cavern behind him.

This figure was shockingly the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, which had been injured and fled into the cavern earlier!

"Aha, so this Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast is actually reared by you. No wonder you chased in so decisively at first, and previously you were afraid we’d kill it and secretly signaled us to go easy!"

A flash of understanding crossed Zhouyang’s face, finally clearing the doubts in his mind, and he understood Ruan Xiong’s reliance.

The combined strength of Ruan Xiong and the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast was indeed not something ordinary Eighth-Layer Golden Core cultivators, or even Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivators, could match.

"As it stands now, even if you understand this, what can you do? You’ll only die knowing!"

With a cold laugh, Ruan Xiong waved his hand, and the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast roared and pounced at Zhouyang.

"Oh, really?"

A peculiar glint flashed in Zhouyang’s eyes, as suddenly two beams of golden-red firelight shot from his eyes into Ruan Xiong’s body.