Hostage

The middle-aged male cultivator said, "We came to this Reef Sea for your trials, so it's best not to cause any unnecessary trouble. Besides, he and I are both at the Middle Golden Core Stage realm; if we were to fight, I wouldn't be able to protect your safety."

"But..." the young female cultivator pouted, looking Qi Ingestion. "Our Cui Family has other Golden Core cultivators here, why would we be afraid of just one person?"

"No buts. Go back now and continue your trial. You must kill a second-tier Demon Beast on your own to complete this trial."

The middle-aged male cultivator's voice carried a hint of anger.

The young female cultivator felt wronged and turned to fly towards the reefs.

The middle-aged male cultivator shook his head, appearing somewhat helpless.

He saw the young female cultivator dive into the sea and fly towards the nearby reefs.

More than twenty young cultivators from the Cui Family participated in this trial. To ensure their safety, four Golden Core cultivators accompanied them.

The middle-aged male cultivator also had to look after the other younger disciples, so he couldn't keep an eye on this female cultivator all the time.

After flying for over a hundred miles, Song Wen plunged into the sea, then concealed his breathing, dived to a depth of forty miles, changed direction, and returned to the Reef Sea.

He has traveled millions of miles to come; how can he leave so easily?

The fact that the Cui Family had blockaded the Reef Sea was somewhat unexpected for him.

He originally planned to find a secluded spot among the reefs to refine a third-tier Demon-Luring Incense. Then he would go to the depths of the sea and use the Demon-Luring Incense to lure out the Abyss Sea Butterfly.

The appearance of the Cui Family completely disrupted his plans.

Song Wen stopped at the outer edge of the reef group and released six Sacred Beetle Gu to scout the seabed.

Cui Qiao was in a bad mood. As a genius with Seventh-Grade Spiritual Root, she grew up under the care of her elders in the Cui Family. Although she was now twenty-three years old and a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, she actually did not have a clear understanding of the Cultivation World.

She had thought this trial would be very easy.

Unexpectedly, seven days have passed, and she hasn't even seen a single second-tier Demon Beast, let alone hunted one on her own.

If the other members of the clan who participated in the trial also gained nothing, Cui Qiao might be able to maintain a calm attitude.

Unfortunately, several members of her clan had already successfully completed the trial, including Cui Xin, who had always been at odds with her. This made Cui Qiao both angry and anxious.

Just now, she encountered a Golden Core cultivator who was passing by. He acted recklessly, completely disregarding her as a genius of the Cui Family, and tried to kill her right away. However, after her third grandfather intervened, the Golden Core cultivator had no choice but to retreat.

Cui Qiao dived deeper, hoping to try her luck in the depths of the sea.

The deeper you go underwater, the thicker the rock pillars become, standing densely together like a maze of stone pillars.

Cui Qiao bypassed a stone pillar that was tens of meters long.

Sudden.

A tiny insect, no bigger than a sesame seed, appeared before my eyes.

Cui Qiao was startled and before she could react, the insect suddenly accelerated and crashed into her forehead.

She felt a tremendous impact, followed by excruciating pain. Her vision blurred, then everything went black, and she fainted.

Song Wen looked at Cui Qiao, who had been captured alive by the Shadow Gu, with a strange expression.

It's true, enemies meet on a narrow road.

After invoking the Shadow Gu to guard the surroundings, Song Wen used the Soul Search Technique.

Cui Qiao didn't obtain much useful information.

This Reef Sea is home to a large number of common sea fish, so some Demon Beast often come here to hunt for food, including some second-tier Demon Beast.

Every twenty years, the Cui Family sends newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators to a trial to hunt second-tier Demon Beast. This time, the trial will be held in this sea area.

The Cui Family has been here for seven days, and most of them have been active in the shallow waters, without finding any trace of the Abyss Sea Butterfly.

After the soul search was over, Song Wen was about to end Cui Qiao's life, but he suddenly stopped just before he was about to do so.

In Cui Qiao's memory, there is information about her closest relatives.

Her biological grandfather was a Peak Golden Core Stage cultivator named Cui Gu, who was the leader of this trial.

Cui Gu doted on his granddaughter Cui Qiao.

"Perhaps I don't need to deal with the Abyss Sea Butterfly myself," Song Wen thought to himself.

The intelligence report stated that the Abyss Sea Butterfly here is a peak third-tier Demon Beast, and the seabed is its home ground. Song Wen was not entirely confident that he could kill it.

Song Wen dragged Cui Qiao along as they dived towards the seabed.

The sea here is not very deep; after diving for more than 120 miles, we reached the seabed.

The deeper you go, the greater the water pressure becomes, especially after a hundred miles. For every mile you dive, the water pressure increases dramatically, almost exponentially.

At this depth, Song Wen could clearly feel the water pressure squeezing his body, and had no choice but to raise his Law Power shield.

Not to mention Cui Qiao, if Song Wen hadn't Law Power to protect her, she would have been crushed into a pile of minced meat.

The seabed was uneven, with jagged rocks, and among these undulating rocks were many caves of fish and animals. Hundreds of miles away from the reefs, Song Wen chose a slightly larger cave on the seabed.

Deep within the cave, he set up the "Four Symbols Reversal Formation" to create a waterless area.

Song Wen searched Cui Qiao, taking out everything related to cultivation from her to ensure she could not contact anyone else, and then threw Cui Qiao into the formation.

Next, Song Wen set up Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation outside the Four Symbols Reversal Formation. In this way, unless someone enters the cave, it will be difficult to find Cui Qiao here.

After arranging everything, Song Wen arrived at the underwater reef group and began searching the area around the reef group.

On the seabed, those stone pillars can no longer be called stone pillars, but rather stone mountains, almost touching each other, leaving only some narrow gaps.

Because the reefs were clustered together, Song Wen had difficulty getting inside and could only search slowly around the perimeter of the reef group.

It took Song Wen nearly two hours to circle the reef group, but apart from some small native sea beasts, he found no trace of the Abyss Sea Butterfly.

Most of these sea beasts have hard shells, but they have no Spiritual Qi fluctuations and cannot even be considered Demon Beast.

Shortly after Song Wen returned to the Cave, Cui Qiao slowly woke up.

She saw Song Wen enter the formation and her face was filled with terror. She hurriedly retreated, but the Cave was narrow, and she only took a few steps back before reaching the edge of the Cave.

"I am a member of the Cui Family, how dare you kidnap me!"

Cui Qiao's tone was firm, but she couldn't hide the timidity on her face.

Song Wen said, "It seems the soul search didn't damage your brain. You're still somewhat useful; otherwise, you'd only be food for those sea monsters outside."

Cui Qiao was terrified, but she still forced herself to stay calm.

"You'd better release me now, or my Cui Family will certainly not let you off easily."

Song Wen smiled slightly. "This formation is only activated for one-way outward defense. You can leave whenever you want."

Cui Qiao's expression became somewhat suspicious.

"Really? You'd be so kind as to let me go?"

Song Wen said, "However, I must warn you, with your cultivation level, you cannot withstand the water pressure at the bottom of the sea. Once you leave this formation, you will be squeezed into a lump of minced meat by the water pressure."

"You..." Cui Qiao's face turned deathly pale. "What exactly do you want with me here?"

Song Wen said, "I just want to ask the Cui Family to do me a small favor."

"You want to use me to threaten the Cui Family!" Cui Qiao reacted instantly. "How dare you!"

Song Wen said, "Hopefully they'll be threatened, otherwise you'll be useless."