"Too weak."
Fang Hong looked at the second-tier monstrous fish he had killed with a single sword strike and could not help complaining.
He had wanted to properly test the Azure Sky Divine Armor's true power, but he had never expected this giant monstrous fish to fall so easily.
The demonic beasts and spirits of the sea could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refine demonic power from birth.
Some sea beasts with extraordinary bloodlines not only cultivated quickly but could also awaken innate Divine Abilities, gaining formidable combat strength comparable to human cultivators.
Among these sea beasts and spirits, those that awakened intelligence could assume human form to cultivate, becoming members of the Demon Race.
Apart from a small number of land-dwelling demons that occupied spirit islands to cultivate, the vast majority of the South Sea's Demon Race lived in underwater abodes.
According to the Donglai Gazetteer, this stretch of sea had once been ruled by the Deep Sea Dragon Palace during the Middle Antiquity era, with countless demonic beasts and demons all under its jurisdiction.
The Dragon Palace's Dragon King conferred titles over the various sea regions, and those powerful sea demons became the palace's Water Lords, comparable to human Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.
Fang Hong put away the monstrous fish's remains and lit another stick of Beast-Luring Incense to draw over more sea beasts.
More than half a day passed like this. He used quite a few more first-tier demonic beasts to hone his swordsmanship, gradually acquiring an air of sharpness as his swordplay grew more practiced.
Previously, he had only practiced his swordsmanship in the illusory void of the Romantic Painting Album. Now he could exercise it in actual combat, combining it with his Netherworld Heavy Water magical power and gradually melding them into a coherent whole.
During this time, another three second-tier demonic beasts came, and he used the divine armor to kill each with a single sword strike.
On one occasion, he tried fighting without the divine armor, relying solely on his current cultivation and combat strength to attempt to slay a second-tier demonic beast above his level, only to discover helplessly that he was no match for it at all.
Although his Netherworld Heavy Water magical power was Heaven Tier, Middle Grade, enough to stand proud over the Donglai Sea Region, it still fell short against the surging, immense demonic power of a second-tier demonic beast.
The numerical gap between a Qi Refining cultivator's magical power and a second-tier demonic beast's demonic power could not be bridged by any amount of skill.
Only then did he belatedly realize that these second-tier demonic beasts were not weak-the Azure Sky Divine Armor he wore was simply too strong!
Late at night.
A bright moon hung high over the sea, its cold light shrouding the boundless waters.
The tide rose, leaving the reef island where Fang Hong stood only a few dozen feet across.
Only a short stub of the Beast-Luring Incense remained, and the surrounding seawater was scarlet.
Some low-tier demonic beasts prowled through the waters around the reef island, devouring the remains of sea beasts, not daring to approach for the moment.
Fang Hong had no interest in these low-tier demonic beasts either, so he let them circle nearby.
Just as he was preparing to move elsewhere, a strange fluctuation of spiritual energy suddenly came from the depths.
The demonic beasts around the reef island immediately scattered in panic and confusion, fleeing far away.
On the distant sea, a bank of white mist about a sixth of an acre in size silently welled up and rapidly approached the reef island.
Fang Hong's expression shifted slightly. Light flashed over him, and the divine armor instantly encased his entire body.
The white mist churned, streaks of lightning flashing within its dense depths.
Suddenly, a tall, white-furred demonic beast with a flood dragon's head and an ape's body darted out of the mist, lightning coiling around it. With a flicker, it appeared outside the Jade Water Formation!
In that lightning-swift instant, the demonic beast's full appearance came into Fang Hong's view.
It stood over ten feet tall, resembling a muscular White Ape, yet it had the broad, hideous, savage head of a flood dragon.
Its brow rose high, covered in crisscrossing, jagged, blue-white scales, with a dark red bone spike running down the center to the tip of its nose. Its eyes had murky, blood-yellow vertical pupils, their narrow corners slanting outward, filled with ferocity.
Lightning wreathed the Flood Dragon Ape's body. With one swipe of its claw, it tore straight through the Jade Water Formation's restrictive light.
The next moment, it spotted the final stub of Beast-Luring Incense on the reef. A flash of fury at having been deceived immediately crossed its eyes, and it viciously turned to stare at Fang Hong.
Whoosh!
Before it could act, a streak of golden sword light swept toward its neck.
The Flood Dragon Ape flickered, and as the lightning flashed and vanished, only an afterimage remained where it had stood.
Fang Hong's sword struck empty air, and he could not help giving a soft exclamation of surprise.
The Flood Dragon Ape glared, its whiskers flaring, and expelled two streams of white water mist from its nostrils. In an instant, they enveloped an area of about a sixth of an acre, lightning flashing within amid repeated explosive cracks.
Standing within the white mist, Fang Hong felt dazzling thunderbolts falling from every direction, continually bombarding the Azure Sky Divine Armor.
Crimson-gold spiritual light flowed over the divine armor, blocking every thunderbolt.
But the next instant, lightning flashed behind the divine armor, and the Flood Dragon Ape appeared, raking its claws heavily across the armor's back with an ear-piercing screech.
A streak of golden sword light slashed past, once again striking the Flood Dragon Ape's afterimage.
Fang Hong immediately shot skyward, intending to escape the white mist's shroud.
The Flood Dragon Ape moved like lightning, following close behind as both claws reached out to tear at the Azure Sky Divine Armor.
Wherever it went, the white mist and lightning rose along with it!
Fang Hong remained utterly calm and activated the Azure Sky Divine Armor's Divine Ability, Tiger-Rope Demon-Binding Seal, without hesitation.
He spread the five fingers of one hand and struck out with a hand seal. Mystic light surged in his palm, and five brilliant golden chains of mystic light patterned with tiger stripes suddenly shot out, instantly binding the Flood Dragon Ape tightly as it lunged before him.
The Flood Dragon Ape threw back its head and roared. Lightning blazed all over its body, and three millstone-sized balls of lightning circled it before hurtling toward Fang Hong one after another.
With a turn of his hand, Fang Hong brought out the Primordial Golden Dipper and channeled his magical power into it. Its opening instantly expanded severalfold, golden light swirling within as a suction force suddenly arose and swallowed all three balls of lightning.
Rumble!
Three muffled booms came from inside the Primordial Golden Dipper, and threads of lightning spilled from its opening.
Bound all over by the chains of mystic light, the Flood Dragon Ape found both its demonic power and its body unbearably heavy as they were gradually sealed.
Its pupils shifted, and it saw the black-and-gold Daoist figure looking at it with sharp, brilliantly clear eyes, raising a hand to unleash a streak of golden sword light straight toward its eye socket.
It had just tried to dodge, but its entire body was sealed by the chains, leaving it unable to move at all. It could only watch as the golden sword light plunged into its eye socket.
Squelch!
The sword light punched straight through the back of the Flood Dragon Ape's head, its momentum undiminished. It flew another thousand feet before gracefully returning.
Within moments, all life in the ferocious beast was extinguished, and it died.
Fang Hong grabbed its body, lowered his flight light, and returned to the reef island.
"This Flood Dragon Ape possesses both flood dragon and Water Ape bloodlines. It's no ordinary demonic beast!"
He put away the divine armor and carefully examined the ferocious beast's body.
Even though it was already dead, the savage aura emanating from it still exerted a powerful, intimidating force.
Moreover, this demonic beast possessed an innate Divine Ability: its white mist could suppress Divine Sense and disrupt the five senses.
The power of the lightning within the mist could not be underestimated either.
It was easy to imagine that this beast must have been a local overlord in the sea. Ordinary second-tier demonic beasts were no match for it at all.
Fang Hong reached out and pressed its iron-hard flesh, sinews, and bones, thinking that this ape must also have possessed tremendous strength.
"[Wrath], one of Kunxu's Seven Great Medicines, can evolve the genes of myriad beasts, allowing someone to temporarily transform into a ferocious beast... This ape would make a good choice."
Fang Hong put away the Flood Dragon Ape's body, preparing to extract the demonic beast's blood essence after returning.
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