Chapter 456

Although White Li’s strength far surpasses that of an ordinary Cultivation Base Completion cultivator, breaking through to the Second Stage is never easy—and for beast spirits, the difficulty is even greater than for our human race.

As for their master, it is said that when fishermen found him three years ago, his body was charred and blackened, and he has remained completely unconscious ever since; though the Shi sisters have cared for him meticulously these past three years, merely keeping him alive is already a miracle, and the hope of him suddenly waking is exceedingly slim,” said the fisherman, shaking his head to his companion.

Even so, White Li’s master is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and with two beast spirits guarding him, even in his coma, the people of Seven Stars Pond once feared his power and dared not easily provoke us. But lately, they’ve begun harassing Spirit Stream Bay frequently, and I have a very bad feeling about it,” replied the woodcutter, murmuring.

“Are you saying the people of Seven Stars Pond have found new allies, or that one of their leaders has broken through to Cultivation Base Completion?” The fisherman’s face changed at once.

“Hard to say for sure, but at least one of those two must be true—otherwise, why would they suddenly start causing us trouble?”

Their recent harassment of Spirit Stream Bay feels more like a probe into White Li’s true strength. I suspect their real attack won’t be far off,” said the woodcutter, stroking his chin slowly.

“Then what are we waiting for? Go tell Master Shi right away—have her warn White Li!” The fisherman sprang to his feet, anxious.

“Old Tian, don’t rush. Do you think Lady Shi doesn’t know about this?”

If she couldn’t see something like this, how could she be the one in charge here?”

The people of Seven Stars Pond are using an open strategy now. Unless we’re willing to abandon Spirit Stream Bay, this battle is inevitable. Only by fighting them fiercely can we deter other wandering cultivators lurking here, and only then can we enjoy a few more years of peaceful cultivation,” replied the woodcutter, his expression grave.

“What if we lose?” The fisherman still looked grim.

“If we lose, it’s simpler: either we die here, or we’re driven out and become wandering cultivators again,” replied the woodcutter calmly.

“I’ve only just settled down in Spirit Stream Bay—I don’t want to become a wandering cultivator again, living a life where even daily cultivation can’t be guaranteed. Here, besides cultivation, I can catch at least one or two spirit fish each month to trade for plenty of spirit stones,” replied the fisherman, shaking his head vigorously.

“Who isn’t the same?!”

I’ve planted a grove of spirit trees along Spirit Stream myself—they’ll be ready to harvest in a few years. If you don’t want to give up all this and become a wandering cultivator, then we have no choice but to fight. I suspect the other cultivators feel the same way—so whether we warn them or not, it doesn’t matter anymore,” sighed the woodcutter.

“Fine. If the people of Seven Stars Pond truly dare to come, then we’ll fight together,” said the fisherman, gripping the handle of his axe tightly, his voice fierce.

…

“Seven Stars Pond, Spirit Stream Bay, White Scale Hollow.”

Wang Yu withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, muttering the names under his breath, yet a strange expression flickered across his face.

The map within the jade slip wasn’t very large—it merely marked terrain names and locations along both banks of the seven-thousand-li-long Hanlan River, along with various small and large spirit zones and nearly a hundred cultivation factions occupying them.

The regions farther away from the Hanlan River’s banks were completely blank.

Where exactly in the Eastern Wastes is this?

And where was the “Stone Fish Gate,” the place he was supposed to be teleported to? How far away was it?

Although Wang Yu was not a true formation master, he had gained some understanding of teleportation arrays through numerous books.

For such special arrays involving spatial power, if disturbed during teleportation, the traveler could be crushed to death by spatial forces—or, at best, be sent far off course, thousands of miles from the intended destination.

It was even possible that, if the disturbance was severe enough, he had been teleported beyond the Eastern Wastes entirely.

Wang Yu’s eyes flickered as he pondered this, then he formed a hand seal—white light instantly flared across his body, the temperature in the stone hut surged, and a faint white halo blurred behind his back, emitting a tremendous suction force that greedily devoured spiritual energy from the surrounding air.

But the next moment—“puff.”

The massive Yang halo vanished instantly.

Wang Yu’s face turned pale; he reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a vial.

He poured out a pink pill and swallowed it at once—his complexion gradually eased.

At that moment—a “whoosh.”

A white shadow pierced through the wall and shot into the room, then circled once before landing steadily on Wang Yu’s bedhead.

It was White Li.

Wang Yu was about to speak when—“boom!”

A loud crash echoed outside, as if a heavy object had slammed onto the ground.

“Crash!” The door burst open from outside under brute force—a monstrous black-green beast over one zhang long charged in, its massive head darting forward and slamming into Wang Yu in a few quick motions.

“Da Lv.”

Wang Yu was not alarmed—he smiled. He tilted his head slightly to avoid the beast’s saliva-dripping tongue, then patted its head several times cheerfully.

Da Lv’s eyes instantly narrowed into slits, and it emitted a happy “ssss” sound.

Only then did Wang Yu take a closer look at the beast.

Da Lv’s body had grown a full circle larger than three years ago; its once-hard back scales bore several deep and shallow sword and knife marks, and the scaled areas on its body seemed to have expanded further.

Moreover, its claws at the front of its limbs had thickened considerably—each black, dagger-like claw now looked exceptionally sharp.

Wang Yu swept his spiritual sense over the black-green beast’s body and sensed the spiritual energy fluctuation of Cultivation Base Level Eight.

This surprised him.

White Li’s advancement was understandable—its unique mutated bloodline had purified its demonic energy. But Da Lv had advanced just as dramatically.

Before Wang Yu could ponder why, Da Lv opened its mouth and gagged violently.

“Puff.”

A plump, silver-white fish, its belly swollen, was forcibly vomited out—and upon hitting the floor, it wriggled wildly, still very much alive.

Wang Yu blinked in surprise.

At that moment, a whistling sound came from outside—Shi Qiuping entered, leading a pink-clad girl with two braids.

“I pay my respects to the Elder.”

Shi Qiuping bowed deeply with the girl, her tone full of reverence.

“Shi Hongyao pays her respects to the Elder,” said the pink-clad girl, equally cautious.

The girl in pink also greeted cautiously.