Ao Tian chirped joyfully, sensing its master’s direction, dragging a trail of flames straight toward Shiyu.
It was already fantasizing about the pose it would use to devour the Dragon Core.
As for other matters, it hadn’t considered them.
It only knew that Oily Boy never did anything without certainty.
Gelan was dumbfounded.
She had no idea about any of this.
Wasn’t it supposed to be just a quick snatch-and-run?
How had they ended up picking a fight with a provincial sacred beast?!
Crazy, crazy.
Both master and disciple were insane…
***
On the other side of the sea, the Yao Lu disciples had arrived at Silver Bay of Islands a few days ago, following the Zhusheng Dynasty’s sea route.
For now, they were guests on Canghai Island.
The art of alchemy demanded a calm mind and steady heart.
Only with peace could the spirit settle.
Thanks to Yun Liu’s connection, Mister Canghai was generous with his guidance.
He freely instructed the Clear Mist Peak disciples and even introduced them to a few of his fellow sect members.
The spiritual medicines of Penghu Island were famous throughout the Nine Provinces.
Everyone had heard of the young and promising East Pole Pavilion Master, but unfortunately, Mr. Yun hadn’t traveled with the Clear Mist Peak disciples, so there was no chance to discuss alchemy with him.
The First Senior Brother-in-law of Clear Mist Peak hadn’t come, but the Chief of Celestial Phenomena Peak had made a rare visit—the first in hundreds of years.
When news of Yan Bingling’s arrival reached the sect master of Penghu Island—a Sixth Rank Void Refining Alchemist—he enthusiastically invited her for a chat, feeling greatly honored.
But Aunt Master wasn’t interested.
The Yao Lu disciples were surprised.
Usually, the Chief would personally go to visit the Penghu Immortal Elders.
Those alchemists were always snobbish and arrogant.
It seemed Aunt Master’s reputation worked just as well outside.
Her status in the jianghu was second only to the Chief of the Sword Sect.
After all, she was the legendary Frost Sky Sword Demon who had faced the Yinglong alone and escaped unscathed.
Canghai found this strange too.
Seeing that the visitor had no idea about Mr. Yun’s whereabouts, he didn’t pry.
Out in the world, a fierce reputation often served better than righteousness.
The cultivators of the Boundless Sea only respected strength.
Ji Shiyu, of course, could never sit still.
Disappointed that the teacher wasn’t here, she grew impatient and started running wild out of curiosity.
She quickly hit it off with the little Dan Tong, Liusu.
There were so many fun things to do in the sea!
Every day, the two wild girls dug for pearls and harvested coral.
When bored, they’d plunge into the water to catch fish.
Canghai couldn’t control them.
Today, the pair rode their artifacts and controlled their spirits out to the open sea, determined to confront the big octopus that Liusu said always bullied her.
Ji Shiyu spread a spiritual energy barrier and sank into the sea first, squinting.
As the Chief Steward, of course she had to back up her underling.
The blue world was silent.
As she swam through it, colorful fish occasionally brushed past her.
The Penghu Archipelago was the most peaceful of the Boundless Sea’s five great harbors.
No large creatures lurked nearby.
To the underwater demon spirits, the humans on land were just tourists.
Liusu blew a big bubble with a conch shell, leisurely following behind.
She pointed at a dark cave hidden in the seaweed, where a Third Realm Sea Demon lurked.
Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t dare to fight it.
“Your brother just left recently, and then you came. He asked me to say hello to you.”
“My brother?”
The two communicated through divine sense.
Liusu described the appearance—exactly like Huangmao.
“Mm-hmm.”
Ji Shiyu’s face went blank.
Hadn’t she always been Mother’s most beloved only daughter?
Where did another elder brother suddenly come from?
Huangmao’s mind began to wander.
She thought of that missing, wasteful silly bird.
Wait…
Could it be that Ao Tian and Old Mother Ji had other backups raised outside?
‘If Shiyu doesn’t amount to anything, you can take her place…’
She tensed up.
Lucky for the daddy’s girl, she still had her sworn father.
“Speaking of which, where’s Hong Mao? Aren’t you two inseparable?”
“Who’s inseparable with her? She lost her own stuff and blames me for having sticky fingers. Bad luck, bad luck.”
Ji Shiyu waved her hand and quickly cast aside the strange thought.
She occasionally pulled out a mechanical bird and poked at it, but there was never a reply.
The two dived deeper.
Soon they sensed an unusual spiritual breath.
Divine sense swept over, and sure enough, they found a huge creature lazily buried in the mud, blending in with the surrounding silt.
Only half a tentacle was exposed, twitching slightly as it lured prey.
“Demon beast, die!”
Ji Shiyu’s eyes lit up.
She executed a sword formula, and her flying sword shot out in a single strike.
Non-Water Aspect cultivators were slightly restricted underwater.
The sword qi hit but couldn’t pierce the sea demon’s tough skin; instead, it was deflected.
The sea demon thrashed in pain, revealing over a dozen tentacles whipping around, kicking up flying sand and mud to block their vision.
“Aiya, what’s the hurry? Let me sprinkle some poison first.”
Liusu quickly swallowed two pills—one cyan, one yellow.
Traditional alchemists’ combat methods leaned toward support—enhancing themselves and weakening opponents.
She summoned a small cauldron, her divine sense radiating like flying needles, locking onto the octopus monster’s position.
‘It ran?’
Ji Shiyu was searching for the sea demon’s trace while riding her sword, swimming, but her underwater speed was much slower than usual.
Just then, two tentacles burst out of the mud and wrapped around the girl’s legs.
“Ptooey, ptooey!”
The tentacles corroded and softened.
Ji Shiyu struggled free, covered in disgusting slime, furious.
Liusu covered her mouth and snickered.
Casually, she tossed a bead toward the sea demon’s gaping maw.
The bead exploded, and purple mist spread.
The sea demon had just swallowed it when it suddenly convulsed violently.
A jet of black ink sprayed out, turning Ji Shiyu into a charcoal briquette.
Ji Shiyu stomped in rage.
Starlight burst from her eyes.
The Xuantian Nine Transformations activated.
Seven Star Sword Severing Cloud slashed repeatedly.
Swoosh!
The Falling Cloud Sword Momentum combined with Starburst Dash, razor-sharp and unmatched.
In an instant, all the tentacles were severed.
In the blink of an eye, the big octopus’s head was reduced to a bare torso.
It tried to burrow into the ground and escape, but a sword pinned it in place.
It was cleanly slain.
The two wandered around for a while, scavenging plenty of spirit materials left uneaten by the sea demon.
Only when the sun set did they surface.
They ran to a nearby desolate island to rest.
This way, the fiercest little tyrant in the area was taken care of.
Now when they went down to gather medicine, they wouldn’t have to worry about being tied up by tentacles and having weird things done to them.
“How about it? Awesome or what? Your Sister Ji?”
Ji Shiyu took off her Cloud Robe and washed up.
The robe stank to high heaven, so she had to change into Star Palace casual clothes.
Then she gnawed on roasted octopus legs to vent her anger.
Liusu was a little awed.
This time, she wasn’t unconvinced.
Instead, she said enviously:
“You’re not that much older than me, okay?! How are you already at Peak Foundation Establishment? Having a Heavenly Dao Alchemy Master as a teacher is really something.”
Ji Shiyu puffed out her chest proudly and bragged:
“Of course! Mister treats me the best. He’s even prepared the Heavenly Condensed Golden Pill, just waiting for me to reach Foundation Establishment peak to protect my cultivation. How could I let him down?”
“What’s so great about that? I-I’ll refine my own Foundation Establishment Pill by my own ability!”
Without realizing it, Liusu had been driven into a corner.
She was clearly green with envy, but she still talked tough.
The Step of Heaven and Earth—one word difference made a world of difference.
Liusu, also at Peak Foundation Establishment, was already an unparalleled genius of the Boundless Sea.
Only through Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment could one form a Great Perfection Golden Pill.
For ordinary cultivators, even breaking through the defense of a same-realm demon beast was difficult just now.
“Work hard, ask the teacher more questions, and you still have a chance to become a Heavenly Dao Alchemy Master.”
“Mister Canghai is advanced in years. I’m afraid there’s little hope. You should work hard.”
“I wouldn’t switch sects.”
“You wish. If you want to become a disciple, you have to get approval from me, the Senior Sister, first. Jueyun Peak’s conditions for taking female disciples are strict: too pretty and they attract bees and butterflies; too thin and small, and the teacher has no resistance; too weak and they’re just embarrassing.”
Ji Shiyu nodded.
The teacher liked slender girls.
A qualified mistress had to focus on dealing with the First Wife, not waste time fending off lustful pests.
With her little brain, the only solutions she could think of were to lose weight while keeping Senior Sister Qin plump and well-fed—filial to the point of death.