Small Fry

Leaving aside grand and distant issues like environmental change, species extinction, and survival evolution, this coral sea is clearly no longer an environment where normal organisms can survive.

When Li Fan approached in human form, not only did the system keep yelling "dropping a little bit" and "dropping all over the ground," but he also clearly felt his breathing become sluggish, hot and humid, fishy and damp, making him extremely uncomfortable. Even trying to transform into the Gonggong Dao Body didn't work, since the serpentine Gonggong was only suited to aquatic environments and wasn't afraid of Profound Nether True Qi. But now that the mermaids, who also lived in water, had mutated, it naturally wouldn't work either. There was even less hope of using the Qiongqi Dao Body.

But the Kun can! After all, it's a mythical Divine Beast, it has to be useful, right...?

Regardless, Li Fan transformed into Li Kun and swam towards the depths of the Coral Sea, encountering no obstacles whatsoever. The surrounding swimming crabs and merfolk did not attack him; he simply wandered Fourth Department, ignoring the large catfish swimming by. It was unclear whether this was due to the power of the Profound Heaven Sword Intent or the special effect of the Kun.

So he wandered aimlessly in the Coral Sea, and after a while he discovered many opportunities. No, "many" is an understatement.

Neatly arranged divine weapons and armor, mountains of gold and silver jewels, and a dazzling array of rare Heavenly Treasure were stored deep within the jungle of the mutated coral sea, divided into hundreds of honeycomb-like grids by banners shimmering with yellow light. It was clearly a massive man-made treasure trove!

Li Fan examined the items closely. This wealth couldn't possibly belong to a single fishman village; it was clearly the property of someone else, using the mutated coral sea and thousands of mutated fishmen as warehouse keepers to guard their own possessions. Besides magical treasures and valuables, the most abundant items were seashells imbued with spiritual energy, along with plenty of meat. Rather than a private hoard, it resembled a large army's storehouse.

Could this be the supply depot for the army under the Ling King?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'In the northeast corner, demonic energy is approaching.'"

Li Fan immediately hid among the coral branches. Then he watched as a humanoid Nascent Soul Stage demon general, holding the Heavenly One Three Stars Banner, led seven or eight giant whales and dozens of sea monsters into the Coral Sea.

A swarm of mutated Nascent Soul Stage approached like flies, but were driven away by the Nascent Soul Demon General who spat out a pomegranate-like red pearl that emitted a radiant glow. The Nascent Soul Stage Demon General then waved his banner and chanted an incantation, opening several honeycomb-like magic arrays below. The sea monsters then swam down to transport supplies and provisions, which were then carried by the whales.

Is it a transport convoy for the Ling King?

Needless to say, Li Fan immediately followed the demon soldiers. It seemed that, just as the demon general had said, the vanguard of the Ling King's demon soldiers had already arrived in the South China Sea and was lying in ambush nearby, planning to lure the main force of the South China Sea rogue cultivators to ambush them by attacking the Shi Family on E Shenyu.

If the Lü Family were still alive, and were still the leader of the South China Sea Loose Cultivator Alliance, how could the Loose Cultivators not be defeated by this demon-human collusion from within?

However, those demon generals seemed unaware that the Lü Family had been wiped out, nor did they know that there had been any oversights or delays in the intelligence, or that the Ling King had deliberately kept it from his subordinates to avoid shaking the morale of the army.

Ultimately, whether the Lü Family surrenders or not doesn't have a significant impact on the Heavenly Ling King. Since it intends to establish a kingdom, it must fight a bloody battle to frighten the rogue cultivators of the South China Sea and gain their respect. Even if the Lü Family is destroyed, the Ding and Dong families will eventually surrender. There are very few righteous individuals in this world who can hold fast like the Shi Family, and they are often among the first to die for their cause...

However, one wonders if Emei foresaw this calamity in the South China Sea, which is why they sent Xuanmen disciples from afar to conduct training and eliminate traitors? Or perhaps they had other plans in place?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Don't rely too much on others. No matter how well the plans are laid out on the chessboard, it still takes the people below to fight. In the end, the rogue cultivators of the South Sea are a rabble, and the guardians of the Southern Country are all harboring their own schemes. If the Human Race loses this battle, then we can only fight on, burn down these demons' granaries, and slightly disrupt one wave of their offensive.'"

Burning the granary... How can you burn a granary underwater... Besides, those corals are clearly visible from the surface of the sea. The Demon Race dares to hide things under the corals; they won't be so easy to destroy.

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Hmm, guarding something I've never seen before is indeed a bit troublesome... Let's steal that precious pearl from earlier and take a look at its workings before making any further plans.'"

Li Fan nodded in agreement, kept his eyes fixed on the Nascent Soul Stage demon general, and continued to sneak behind the transport team, all the way to the Demon Race's camp.

He had previously witnessed the gathering of monsters in the mountains of Lei Marsh, and had even personally infiltrated the monster horde to scout, scoffing at the rabble. But this time, the Ling King's army sent chills down his spine when he scanned it with his Divine Sense from afar, and the sight was even more horrifying upon closer inspection.

Tens of thousands of sea monsters covered the seabed in dense, overwhelming numbers. These were clearly outer-layered demons and water monsters, roughly equivalent to the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages of Human Race strength. However, they were all monstrous creatures far larger than Human Race. Even though many were merely shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the literal sense, the sight of thousands of giant crabs, capable of severing a person in half with their pincers, neatly arranged in a square formation and training under the command of a Core Formation demon general, was truly astonishing.

These formations were divided into groups, and Li Fan counted more than ten along the way. These were just the outer cannon fodder. The seabed stretched along the northeast direction and suddenly a deep trench appeared on the seabed.

Within that deep ravine, there were countless Golden Core Realm Demon Race, some with human-like features, who had cultivated limbs and could fight on land. Each one possessed armor and weapons, though they were all made from the claws and teeth of demonic beasts, clearly capable of fighting human armies on land. Moreover, the aura of these sea demons was significantly stronger than that of the mountain demons, indicating that they had cultivated the Immortal Palace Heavenly Soldier Body Refining Method inherited from the Divine Lord Mengzhang!

Deeper in the ocean, there were clearly hundreds of giant beasts, hundreds of which were hundreds of feet long, lurking in the abyss, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden. These should be great sea monsters, wild creatures that had cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage on their own. Unexpectedly, they had also been subdued by the Ling King and became his subordinates.

Like the previous Nascent Soul Stage demon generals, there were also thirty Nascent Soul Stage demon generals who had cultivated the righteous methods of the Immortal Palace and formed human Profound Heaven Sword Intent. It can only be said that the only good thing was that there were only two auras of the Divine Transformation level demon kings, and none of them were at the Enlightenment level.

However, there are over 130 Nascent Soul Stage level demons! Even if each of the Ten Continents and Seven Islands has five Nascent Soul Stage, that's only 85, right? Besides, two entire families have already been wiped out. The force sent to rescue E Shenyu probably can't even gather half of the Demon Race, not to mention all the cannon fodder and small fry. If you include the crab monsters and swimming crabs, there must be at least a hundred thousand troops, right?

Well, it seems the South China Sea is in trouble. These sea monsters are different from mountain monsters; they're either here to seek opportunities or to seize territory. Moreover, they have Cultivation Method, equipment, and organization, so they're not just small fry that can be easily defeated.

Moreover, this seems to be just the first wave of vanguard under the Ling King's command. Once the Demon Race truly occupies the South China Sea, there will likely be a chain reaction. It's possible that those scoundrels from the Nangong Family will start acting recklessly again, and if the Ten-thousand-mountains and the Divine Sect join forces, then not only Ink Bamboo Mountain, Central Plains entire Central Plains might be overthrown.

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'How is that possible? A mere 100,000 demon soldiers? This is nothing but a small-scale operation in the Central Plains!'"

Ten thousand demon soldiers are a small matter? Even ten thousand pigs wouldn't be a small matter...

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Heh, as long as we take down those two demon kings leading the troops, these are a hundred thousand pigs waiting to be slaughtered...'"

However, the magical arts used in battle are too harmful to nature and will shorten one's lifespan. It's not the time for a hermit like you to learn them yet. Don't lose track of that monster; get that precious pearl first.

Is it really that stable?

The Profound Heaven Sword Intent kept teetering between showing off and getting slapped in the face, and it was truly a 50/50 situation. Li Fan wasn't sure which one it was right now, so he just followed the Nascent Soul Stage Demon General who was in charge of transporting supplies.

This demon was arranging for whales to deliver supplies to the demon soldiers who had formed inner cores in the trench. These demon soldiers were roughly divided into teams of a hundred demons each, with one whale assigned to each team. There were about a thousand demon soldiers gathered together and were setting off from the trench where they were hiding. It seemed that they were about to take action.

The Nascent Soul Stage general holding the red pearl waved his spirit flag and mustered his demon soldiers. Shortly after, three more demon generals came with command tokens to hand over the flags and tokens. The three new demon generals then led thousands of demon soldiers out of the battle, heading north. Meanwhile, the first demon general handed over his troops and spirit flag, took his command token, and dived into the trench.

Wow, these monsters actually have quite the discipline and rules for leading troops...

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'This demon is probably a military commander; he's likely returning the pearl and the command flag! Attack quickly!'"

Li Fan also knew that now that the army was leaving the camp and people were in disarray, it was the best opportunity to take a gamble and turn a small life into a big one!

The catfish leaped up, transforming into a demonic form with a human Head-Snake's body, and used an icy escape technique to charge straight at the Nascent Soul Stage demon general!

The demon general had barely raised his head when his body trembled, causing the Profound Heaven Sword Intent to freeze in place. Li Fan then rushed straight to the demon general, spat out Zhu Hong, and with one sword strike, severed its head. He then grabbed its corpse, turned, and fled into the icy river!

These two glaciers, drawn out from the seabed, were quite conspicuous, but they were truly unexpected by the demons. It just so happened that the demon army was leaving their camp, and for a moment no one realized what had happened!

So Li Fan fled at breakneck speed, only breathing a sigh of relief after escaping a long distance.

Upon dissecting the demon general's corpse, they indeed found the crimson pearl; surprisingly, it was quite simple.

However, upon closer inspection of the pomegranate-like crimson jewel in his hand, Li Fan realized that it wasn't a gemstone at all, but rather a dense cluster of compound eyes. They resembled magnified fly compound eyes, like pomegranate-colored tumors...

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

Could that eyeball be alive?

Li Fan stuck his middle finger into it.

His eyes glared angrily at Li Fan.

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

'Detected that Divine Lord Meng Guang used a primordial spirit attack skill against the host.'

Damn, who's afraid of who?! glares back

So Li Fan immediately turned his neck 360 degrees, changed his head, and opened the Crimson Eyes between his eyebrows.

In an instant, the sunset glowed like blood, filling the eyes.

In the glow of the sunset, Li Fan vaguely seemed to see many strange and grotesque demons and gods.

He blinked and saw it clearly.

These demons seem to be holding a banquet in a magnificent palace, with hundreds of strange and grotesque demonesses and servants standing by their side, singing and dancing.

Among the monsters below, only six demon gods had seats and tables, and they were sitting in two rows, eating opposite each other.

They all had human bodies and the heads of gods and demons, mostly with Dragon Head and birds and beasts, like civil and military officials, dressed in gold and jade, radiating divine light. The patterns and regulations of their clothing were in line with those of the kings and generals of the Immortal Palace. However, there were a total of eight tables in front of them, two of which were empty, with only wine and dishes on them but no demon gods present.

Moreover, there were more than just these eight demon gods in front of him. Li Fan looked around and found that although the demon god occupying his field of vision was in the main position, he was not in the most prominent position. To his left was another demon god with Dragon Head and black scales. Judging from his seating arrangement, he was of similar status to 'Divine Lord Meng Guang' who was currently occupying Li Fan's field of vision. When Li Fan's eyes swept over, the demon god raised his wine cup to offer a toast.

Li Fan, of course, didn't bother with it. He looked down at the meat being cooked in the jade dish in front of him, which was clearly a mass of severed limbs, human bones, and human hearts. Outside the banquet, demon warriors were carrying in a bronze pillar. They first brought the human figures, which were tied to the pillar and roasted, to Li Fan. The blue-faced, fanged warrior even smiled and used a yellow axe to cut off pieces of meat, presumably to distribute them to the demons one by one.

Haha, making it look like a whole roasted lamb, what a joke!

Li Fan sneered, then suddenly sprang up, grabbed the strongman's head, ripped it off, and slammed it onto the face of the bewildered Dragon Head demon god, startling it so much that it spilled wine all over itself.

Unfortunately, just as he overturned the table, a Thunder Roar 'humph' came from behind him, pulling Li Fan's Divine Sense out of his sight.

Li Fan felt that domineering consciousness coming straight at him, and immediately grabbed the pomegranate's compound eye with a 'splat', causing it to burst.

'Profound Heaven Sword Intent Dao, what, what did you see?'

The demons under Ling King's command were eating people; although they were clearly not of the Central Plains race, it was still too much to bear to watch.

Moreover, the system says that the owner of this compound eye is called 'Divine Lord Meng Guang'. Judging from the seating arrangement at the banquet, he is of a high status and is probably a successor to the Ling King. The others who are seated around him are probably all Transformation Stage. The two who are absent are probably the two Demon Kings who led their troops from the Abyss Trench to attack the South Sea.

Judging from this, the Heavenly Ling King's power is indeed considerable; he has ten Divine Transformation under his Enlightenment Realm cultivation. If his entire army were to come, let alone the South Sea, even the Ink Bamboo Mountain family alone would likely struggle to withstand it.

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Ha, so few people? I took them all on by myself back then. Small fry. But the Dragon Head Divine Lord also has the surname Meng, so those in the Tianyi Divine Palace are indeed descendants of that old dragon Divine Lord Mengzhang.'"

Dragons? Are they real dragons?

' The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, what are true dragons and false dragons? In the past, when the Immortal Venerable pacified the world, he promised to bestow Demon Race upon the demon races who were willing to submit, so that they could continue to rule the rivers, lakes and seas. He also made these demon gods manage the immortal registers of mountains and rivers and preside over the wind, rain and sacrifices.'

Later, when Divine Lord Mengzhang was defeated, some evil dragons released water to drown people, which implicated the Demon Race, who were all driven out of the Central Plains. After that, the Twelve Countries used mortals to rule, and the investiture of gods also included humans and ghosts.

But that's all in the past. Here's what I'll do: I'll teach you a Cultivation Method specifically for dealing with dragons.

Specifically designed to deal with dragons? Like the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'What Eighteen Palms? Our Beichen Sword Sect uses the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique to slay dragons, of course. But calling it a sword technique is more like a secret passed down orally. It's fortunate you met me, otherwise, I'm afraid no one would know it these days.'"

Oh? Could it be that there really is a dragon-slaying technique in this world?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Of course there is. With enough killing, you can develop a technique for anything. The key to slaying a dragon is finding its reverse scale, usually the crescent-shaped area below its neck. You stab it in, flick the sword, and pull out the dragon's tendon. It's very simple; you'll get used to it after killing many dragons.'"

Is it really that simple?

'Is the Dao of Profound Heaven Sword Intent really that simple? Then let's test it out with those two ends.'

Which two ends?

Li Fan turned his head and saw that someone using water escape techniques was indeed following the traces of the icy river. Upon closer inspection, he saw a young general with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, a straight nose, and prominent cheekbones. He was wearing silver armor, a silver spear, a golden helmet, and a white robe. Beneath him was a long dragon with red scales, golden horns, a blue beard, and purple eyes.

Okay, let's try these two ends then.