A Way Out

"Senior Shi, how are you...?"

Now is not the time to be concerned about weapons. Li Fan flew down to Shi Feng's side to check his injuries.

Of the five demon generals, only the leader, the Red-armored Demon General immobilized by the Profound Heaven Sword Intent. His protective aura failed to ignite, and he was instantly torn apart by Li Fan's Flying Dragon Sword Qi. This was considered a kill for Li Fan, increasing his mood cap by 500 points. The other four were judged to have been killed by Shi Feng's Riding Waves and Splitting Waves Slash.

Unfortunately, Shi Feng didn't have a system to rely on. Although he won this calamity, he wouldn't benefit directly like Li Fan. On the contrary, his final attack had exhausted his Qi. He had previously used his protective Qi to guard his internal organs to withstand the potent poison in his body. Now that he was completely exhausted, there was no way to save him.

Li Fan helped Shi Feng up. The old man remained silent, only glancing at him and then at the Zanma Knife.

Li Fan understood what he meant, "... This junior will bring the knife to Shi Kai."

Then the stubborn old man closed his eyes. The moment his life force dissipated, his bones were soaked with the potent poison and turned bluish-black. At first glance, he truly looked like a rock that could not be melted by wind or frost.

Li Fan sighed, glancing at the faint bluish-black tinge on his hands. He had only touched Shi Feng briefly, and the blood and sweat seeping from his body had somehow contaminated him. Of course, it was obvious who had committed such a heinous act. Li Fan recalled the poison formulas that Jade Toad Granny had commonly used, which Liu Qing had explained earlier. He took out the prepared medicine, tested it himself to confirm the antidote, and then went to search for other survivors.

However, a quick scan with his Divine Sense revealed that none of them had survived.

To varying degrees, most people were poisoned. Those with lower cultivation levels likely died immediately. Those who managed to withstand the Demon Race siege and reach this barrier were probably suffering from turbulent blood and internal poisoning, beyond any cure. The few who escaped the ambush naturally couldn't abandon their people to escape, but they were no match for the five Nascent Soul Stage demon generals who had come prepared. Those at the forefront were naturally the most severely injured; their bodies were already stiff, and most had died of exhaustion a day or two earlier.

It's so tragic... In the end, not a single one could be saved...

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'That Jade Toad Granny is quite interesting. What are you standing there for? Recover your energy and hurry up and chase after her!'"

Chase it? Li Fan certainly wanted to chase it. This old toad was so troublesome; letting it escape would definitely cause a major problem. But could he catch it? And even if he did, could he defeat it?

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Don't worry. Although it's currently using a human form, it can't hide it from me. It's still transformed from the demonic form of the Medicine Toad. It can't use many of the superior techniques of Qingcheng Mountain right now! At most, it's just a fast-moving toad. What's there to be afraid of!'"

Moreover, with its Transformation Stage cultivation, the fact that I was able to pull it out of the escape light just now means it must be severely injured and was merely bluffing! The Golden Dragon White Star are enough to kill it! Chase!

Hearing the Profound Heaven Sword Intent so steadily, the odds of winning were probably higher than 50/50. Li Fan gritted his teeth, temporarily disregarding the collection of the Shi Family's corpses, picked up the Zanma Knife from the ground, spat out Zhu Hong, and flew off on his sword to E Shenyu to pursue the murderer.

But Jade Toad Granny's escape light was so fast that after a while, there was no trace of her in the sky or the sea. Li Fan had no choice but to take out his Si Nan, and the Si Nan pointed south.

Could it be that a large army under the Ling King is heading south to join forces?

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, no. That Jade Toad Granny only came in after the Tribulation of Killing was lifted. Moreover, she didn't attack you immediately, but instead went to unseal and devour the Crocodile God. She couldn't possibly know that we had interfered, so she must have wanted to snatch the Crocodile God from the demon general and devour it to heal her wounds!"

If the Ling King wanted to establish a kingdom in the South Sea, he would naturally need to recruit a demon king like the Transformation Stage God, who was at the Nascent Soul stage, as his henchmen. How could he possibly let the Jade Toad Granny be so wasteful as to eat him? Wouldn't it be better to beat the Crocodile God into a spell and bind his soul, then take him under his own control?

Therefore, even if Jade Toad Granny wanted to seek refuge under the Ling King's command, she would first need to find a place to completely devour the Crocodile God's primordial spirit to heal her wounds. She certainly wouldn't go to join the Ling King's subordinates now.

That makes sense, but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and the Si Nan is so easily distracted—can it really be found...?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Don't be impatient. Although it has devoured the Crocodile God's primordial spirit, if it doesn't digest it within seven days, its soul will be scattered and the Crocodile God will be reincarnated. All that scheming will be in vain. So it can't run too far, and it won't be able to heal its injuries so quickly.'"

The most important things when hunting are patience and perseverance. If you don't succeed the first time, try again; if you don't succeed the second time, try a third time. Just keep chasing it, and sooner or later it will be exhausted and unprepared, giving you an opportunity to strike!

Indeed, although Li Fan suffered heavy losses this time, breaking two swords and consuming four pills, he still gained nothing. But to give up now would truly mean all his previous efforts were in vain.

Moreover, upon closer reflection, Jade Toad Granny was actually in a worse situation than him. She was torn apart by the Mountain Lord once and blown away by the Thousand-Faced Immortal once. Not long ago, she was ambushed by the Sword Light of Black Sword in Lei Marsh and was also surrounded and intercepted by Ink Bamboo Mountain. She must have reached a dead end as well.

Now it really comes down to fate.

Even if Li Fan were to run into him again, he would still have eight Dragon Fetus Feathering Pills, the Golden Dragon White Star Zhu Hong, the Gui Xu Dao Yi and the Luo Sect Dao Robe, and all sorts of random immobilization techniques including the Profound Heaven Sword Intent. He could even shamelessly summon the Thousand-Faced Immortal once more. It was truly a situation where the two dragons of heaven and earth were riding on his face, and the advantage was in his hands! He didn't know how he could lose!

If Jade Toad Granny is truly not destined to die and manages to escape this time, then this old monster, who knows the ins and outs of Ink Bamboo Mountain and is proficient in the transformations of demons and the Daoist magic of Qingcheng Mountain, might collude with the Ling King again, and the Demon Race might really establish a kingdom and revive in the South China Sea, causing a great calamity!

Their life-or-death struggle will likely influence the future fortunes of both the human and demon races to some extent...

Unfortunately, fate is such an elusive thing, much harder to grasp than the swords and blades in one's hand.

Although Li Fan followed the guidance of the Si Nan and the Profound Heaven Sword Intent and searched all the way south, the opportunity he found this time was not with Jade Toad Granny.

A merchant ship is being besieged by Demon Race.

Judging from the surrounding area, there were only a few dozen Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining sailors resisting on the ship. The attacking Demon Race were nothing more than monsters, and they didn't even look like the ones under the command of the Ling King; they were just a group of ordinary water monsters.

They were called ordinary water monsters, but it was impossible to tell what kind of creatures they were. Each one was over two zhang long, with hands and feet, and at first glance they looked like long shrimp. They had shells, legs, fins, gills, scales, and claws, and they even vaguely had faces. There were hundreds of them. The captain of the ship was not even Golden Core cultivator, and the sailors were just some rough men. Surrounded by so many strange and monstrous creatures, they certainly had no chance of survival.

Li Fan circled his Sword Light once, then confirmed that the Si Nan was pointing at the ship. Initially, he didn't immediately descend to help.

He found it strange at the time. After all, the residents of the South China Sea traditionally traveled in groups, sailing the oceans together for self-preservation. Why would a lone ship venture deep overseas to do business? There were no inhabited islands nearby, the closest being E Shenyu, which had been completely wiped out. So they certainly weren't local fishermen. Why would they appear in such a place?

However, after watching for a while, he still couldn't figure out what was going on, and he couldn't let these demons eat people in front of him. So he immediately charged down with the Sword Light, first using the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword to kill wildly, but he couldn't really make any damage.

With the destructive power of the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword Qi, it would usually shatter and scatter any demonic beast of the same realm in a single strike, leaving no living thing alive. Those that knew fear would naturally scatter in panic. However, these shrimp-like water monsters, though ravaged and dismembered by the sword's energy, seemed to feel no pain or fear. Some, with most of their bodies shattered and even their skulls broken, still swarmed forward, clinging to the hull and climbing aboard!

Therefore, Li Fan had no choice but to smash these monsters to pieces one by one, making it difficult for them to move. He also had to be careful to prevent the sword storm from cutting the mast and ropes, as these things are hard to repair on the ocean and would be a problem for the sailors. As a result, his output was somewhat limited, and he could only kill them one by one.

If the Qiankun Sword Qi was so effective, the sailors' crossbows and swords were naturally ineffective. When they saw Li Fan descending from the sky, they rushed to the deck and blocked him for a while, then took the opportunity to retreat to the higher parts of the ship for refuge.

"What are these things? How did we provoke them?" Li Fan asked, using the Five Luo Sword Ghosts to control sword energy and clear away the water monsters that kept climbing up, while examining the structure of the water monster corpses on the deck.

The boat captain hurriedly replied, "Thank you for your help, immortal. These are mermaids."

Li Fan frowned at him. "Don't try to fool me. Do merfolk look like this? You'd be more like a swimming crab. And why do you only have one boat here? Did you cause some trouble?"

"Your help is our savior, how could we dare to deceive you! These things were indeed mermaids!"

The captain, fearing he might anger the immortal before him and cause these ghostly creatures to pounce and tear him to pieces, rattled off a rapid-fire explanation. "My name is Liang Qian. My family is a merchant firm from Juku Isle. Our ancestors once encountered a shipwreck and discovered a secluded village of mermaids. Thus, we formed a bond with this foreign race and learned the secrets of ocean currents. Since then, we have had a family-inherited sea route that allows us to trade with the mermaids, exchanging our Central Land goods for mermaid pearls and silk to supplement our livelihood."

My family is not a large clan, and the mermaids we trade with are only a little over a thousand households. Therefore, in order to monopolize the rare goods and prevent outsiders from taking this lucrative route and harming them, we risk our lives to go to trade alone with our clan members every year.

Who knew that before we could even get close, we were attacked by these water monsters? It was only because a few of them were wearing the Storage Jade my family sold to the mermaids that we recognized them, realizing they had all turned into these horrible creatures. Sigh...

These merfolk have already harmed many of my people, and they're relentlessly pursuing me, completely forgetting our past friendship."

"Mermaids..." Li Fan frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever heard of Quanke Island?"

Liang Qian nodded, assuming Li Fan was asking for payment. "Of course I've heard. The black pearls of Quanke Island are a famous product of the South China Sea, said to be rare items that only mermaids can harvest. However, Quanke Island is far away on the edge of the South China Sea, with different water features and terrain than ours. If you want pearls, we certainly don't have any black ones, but we do have quite a few high-quality white, lustrous, large, and plump ones, which we will offer to the immortal to repay your life-saving grace..."

Is Quanke Island located elsewhere? It's still in the South China Sea...

Li Fan shook his head, unsure whether only the merfolk known to the Liang family had suffered this sudden change, or if all merfolk in the South China Sea were experiencing the same thing. He also wondered if it was related to the Ling King who had suddenly appeared. The Mo family was far away on Quanke Island on the southern coast, and he didn't know if those two large, plump black pearls, a local specialty, were in any danger.

"Tell me where that merman village is located. Also, have any of you been scratched or bitten? Come here and let me see."

The opportunity that Si Nan pointed to must be these mutated merfolk. Looking at their ferocious and painless appearance, Li Fan subconsciously thought of zombies. Of course, in this world they are called Sha Shi. Although no Sha Qi was detected in the corpses, their mutated forms made it impossible for him not to associate them with the direction of the Tai Su Dao Ancestor.

Seeing Li Fan calmly checking on the wounded around them, and the White Dragon energy still raging and roaring, turning the mutated merfolk into mincemeat, Liang Qian dared not hide anything anymore. Since this secret trade route would be gone in the future anyway, he took out his family's sea chart and pointed out the location of the merfolk village to Li Fan. They were actually going further south, probably venturing deep into the territory inhabited by the outer sea Demon Race.

"Those of you who are injured, you should be isolated and recuperate for seven days. There's no guarantee it's not some kind of viral or infectious disease, so avoid contact with strangers for now. Your ship shouldn't dock either. I'll go check what's going on in that village. Also, there are demons causing trouble in the South China Sea recently, so you should head straight north to the Central Plains for refuge."

Li Fan killed off all the pursuing merfolk for Liang Qian and his group, and gave them two talismans for emergency aid, as well as a Jade Pure Bottle for collecting evil spirits, in case these people really fell ill, since there was no cure for the mutated evil corpses. Li Fan then used the sea map given by Liang Qian and the Si Nan to search for the dwelling place of the mutated merfolk in the sea.

According to Liang Qian's description, it should be a coral reef, normally not underwater, only exposed at specific times when the tides rise and fall. These merfolk originally hid beneath the coral reef, but only began trading Human Race goods after coming into contact with the Liang family.

However, Li Fan did not find any abnormalities such as the mutation of evil energy on the Liang family sailors. This family was just a small, independent cultivator, and they had been fine for many years. It was likely that they were not the main cause of the mutation.

Using variable analysis alone, the storylines in the South China Sea are likely interconnected, involving the Lü Family, the Shi Family, the Crocodile God, and the Heavenly Ling King. The fact that these merfolk mutated and encountered trouble at this crucial juncture in the founding of the Tianyi Divine Palace suggests that the Ling King's forces are also implicated.

As Li Fan had predicted, when he followed the nautical chart and found the coral reef Liang Qian had mentioned, his suspicions were confirmed by the system.

On the sea surface lies a black forest, undoubtedly an explosive growth and reproduction that has burst through the water, stretching towards the sky like thousands of arms, a coral forest reflecting the Moon. Even the seawater beneath it is murky and turbid; it seems this entire coral reef has attained enlightenment through Moon Worship...

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

'The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said,' "This number of days is becoming increasingly absurd. In the past, even with the inheritance of the Immortal Palace, without thousands of years of cultivation, the Demon Race wouldn't even think of producing a Divine Transformation level demon, let alone someone who has attained enlightenment. Among Divine Beast, those who can attain enlightenment are already rare, let alone someone like Coral who can cultivate on their own."

It can only be said that all things in nature are capable of cultivation; the limitations are merely constraints of efficiency and lifespan. It's just that the False Moon in the sky broke these genetic shackles.

If such things have already appeared in coastal waters, then in the open ocean, there are probably not only Ling King, but also many other strange and wonderful creatures, already being forced by natural selection to undergo rapid extinction and evolution, right?

Survival of the fittest is a natural law...

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, it seems the old methods really need to be changed. If we cannot evolve ourselves like the Demon Race and adapt to the changes in the seasons, then our Human Race may soon be replaced by these new things."

How to change it? Everyone cultivates immortality? Cultivation of transformation techniques?

'The Dao of Profound Heaven Sword Intent, who knows? But regardless, perhaps Ink Bamboo Mountain is opening up is a vital path to survival for Human Race...'