A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Han Changming sat at a wooden table, staring intently at a talisman paper before him. More than a dozen red runes covered it, and a stack of finished Chain Fireball Talismans lay on the tabletop.
Before long, Han Changming set down his Talisman Brush. Red light rippled across the surface of the paper, and another Chain Fireball Talisman was complete.
Han Changming had been here for a month. Together, they had hunted more than a thousand demonic beasts, nine-tenths of them first-order beasts. They had also killed over seventy second-order beasts. Their Puppet Beasts, talismans, pills, and formations had been heavily depleted, and their numbers had dwindled as well.
They had made ample preparations, but there were simply too many demonic beasts. The two Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't keep an eye on everything.
The Han Clan had suffered thirteen casualties: eight were gravely wounded, and five had died. The Liu Clan's losses were even greater, with seven gravely wounded and eight dead. Two of the Liu Clan's Monster Hunting Squads had drawn six second-order beasts, while the Han Clan had faced at most five. That time, Han Changming had thrown out more than a hundred first-order talismans.
With their numbers cut in half, the two clans combined their forces and formed three Monster Hunting Squads.
Han Changming put away his talismans and stepped outside.
By then, night had fallen.
Dozens of cultivators sat around several bonfires, eating and sharing insights into cultivation.
After working together for so long, the Qi Refining cultivators of the two clans had grown familiar with one another.
"Ninth Brother, over here!" Han Changying waved and called out.
Han Changming walked toward the bonfire where Han Changying sat. Ten cultivators were gathered there, all from the younger generation. Liu Wenyue was among them.
As soon as Han Changming sat down, the others greeted him one after another.
They knew Han Changming was a talisman maker and treated him with courtesy. People with real skills were respected wherever they went.
"Cousin, do you have any Chain Fireball Talismans or Three-Foot Freezing Talismans left? I'll trade you the souls of fifty first-order demonic beasts for them." Liu Wenyue took out a palm-sized black porcelain bottle and handed it to Han Changming.
Over the past month, the Liu Clan had used up a great deal of supplies. Talismans were convenient to use and didn't take long to make, so they were in high demand.
Han Changming nodded, took out a large stack of talismans, and passed them to Liu Wenyue.
Lately, cultivators from both clans had often traded demonic beast materials for talismans with Han Changming. He liked demonic beast souls best, though beast hide would do too. It could be used to make talisman paper or magic artifacts.
"If I'd known talismans could earn so many spirit stones, I would've put more effort into learning the art back then," a red-robed young man in his early twenties said with a smile.
"Fellow Daoist Liu, you flatter me. How could a talisman maker compare to an alchemist like you?" Han Changming replied modestly.
The red-robed young man was Liu Wenhong, Liu Wenyue's cousin and a first-tier high-grade alchemist.
Whenever he got the chance, Han Changming asked Liu Wenhong for advice on alchemy. Liu Wenhong would offer him a few pointers.
Han Changming planned to learn alchemy. It wasn't some secret that needed to be kept hidden. The Han Clan had few alchemists, and plenty of its cultivators wanted to become one. No one suspected Han Changming of anything. When Han Deling heard about it, she only reminded him to focus on his cultivation first and wait until after Foundation Establishment to study alchemy, so it wouldn't interfere with his training.
Han Changming readily agreed to his elder's advice.
After dinner, Han Changming returned to his room to rest.
He tapped his Spirit Beast Bag, and a strange hiss rang out as the Amethyst Flying Scorpion emerged.
It circled around Han Changming, hissing.
After consuming ten poison sacs and a large number of demonic beast souls, the Amethyst Flying Scorpion had advanced to the middle first tier.
Han Changming had experienced it firsthand: the Amethyst Flying Scorpion really could disrupt a person's soul. It would surely help him in a fight.
Han Changming took out the black porcelain bottle and pulled out the stopper. More than a dozen green orbs, each about the size of an egg, flew out. A vast swath of black light swept over them, snatching them back into the Amethyst Flying Scorpion's mouth.
The souls of all fifty first-order demonic beasts went straight into the Amethyst Flying Scorpion's belly.
It still didn't seem satisfied, and hissed again.
Han Changming took out a pinkish chunk of flesh and tossed it onto the ground.
The Crimson Blood Jellyfish was highly poisonous.
The Amethyst Flying Scorpion didn't hesitate. It devoured the Crimson Blood Jellyfish in a few bites, then sent Han Changming a message of satisfaction.
Han Changming returned it to his Spirit Beast Bag, took out his talisman-making tools, and continued crafting talismans.
The night passed in the blink of an eye.
Early the next morning, as soon as the sky brightened, a red sun rose in the east, bringing a hint of warmth to the island.
Han Changming and the others split into three teams, setting up formations to hunt demonic beasts.
They scattered bloody chunks of meat across the beach. When the tide rolled in, it carried much of the seawater away.
An hour later, a group of demonic beasts with fish heads and lizard bodies surfaced. They were blue all over, with three pairs of claws beneath their bellies. They looked quite peculiar.
Fish-Lizard Beasts were savage and bloodthirsty, and knew Water Arrow.
They seemed to have caught the scent of blood and quickly moved toward the shore.
Once they came ashore, they rushed toward the bloody chunks of meat. Rows of gleaming, razor-sharp teeth showed in their gaping maws.
Countless wisps of white chill abruptly rose from beneath the earth and formed a pale-white curtain of light, trapping most of the Fish-Lizard Beasts. A dozen or so that escaped the formation rushed back toward the sea.
Countless yellow grains of sand flew up from the ground and formed a yellow earth wall more than ten zhang long and about one zhang thick, blocking their way.
Dozens of Crimson Fireballs rained down and struck the dozen or so Fish-Lizard Beasts.
A series of explosions rang out as blazing flames scorched the beasts. They let out strange hisses and writhed about, trying to smother the flames with the damp sand.
More than a dozen gleaming magic artifacts struck, hacking into the Fish-Lizard Beasts' bellies. These beasts were only first-order, and were no match for Han Changming and the others.
In fewer than ten breaths, Han Changming and the others had killed the dozen first-order demonic beasts.
Inside the pale-white curtain of light, countless wisps of white chill surged up from the earth and covered every Fish-Lizard Beast. The beasts frantically attacked the formation, but to no avail.
Four Qi Refining cultivators continually sent hand seals into the Formation Disk. One white icicle after another materialized in the air and crashed down.
Unless something unexpected happened, the group of Fish-Lizard Beasts had no chance of escaping.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek sounded from Han Debiao.
Han Debiao hurriedly pulled a pale-blue bead from his robes. It flashed without pause.
Crack!
The Blue Bead shattered, turning into a mass of blue crystals.
"Not good, enemies! Stay alert!"
When hunting demonic beasts at sea, the greatest danger never came from the beasts, but from other cultivators.
Every time they set up a formation to hunt demonic beasts, they also deployed warning artifacts to guard against attacks from other cultivators.
The Han Clan cultivators had prepared for the possibility of being attacked by rogue cultivators while hunting demonic beasts.
A barrage of whistling sounds erupted. More than a hundred blue water arrows shot up from beneath the sea and rained down on Han Changming and the others.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Han Changming remained calm and threw out the stack of Chain Fireball Talismans in his hand.
Rumble!
A tremendous explosion rang out, and a wave of blazing red flames spread through the air.
This round of attacks failed to harm the Han Clan cultivators.
A massive blue sphere surfaced. More than a dozen cultivators stood inside it, led by a blue-robed man in his early thirties. A terrifying blood-red scar marked his face, and he was at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
"Not good—it's Scar-Faced Tiger!" Han Debiao exclaimed, his expression changing.
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