Feng Sanniang heard these words and showed a wry smile. She pushed back the hair on her forehead.
"Fellow Daoists! It's not that I am unwilling to tell you the truth. It's just that there were orders from above not to reveal the information easily before arriving at this island. But now that we are here, naturally there is no longer such restriction. I will tell you the truth! We must be cautious!"
"Infant Carp Beast!" Qing Suanzi and the others exclaimed, their expressions changing dramatically.
Han Li watched all this coldly! Although he didn't know what kind of demonic beast the "Infant Carp Beast" was, seeing how they had lost their composure, he knew this beast was definitely no ordinary matter.
"No wonder your Hall is so cautious. If it's this beast, indeed we should be extra careful! If other forces knew about this, who knows how much trouble it would cause!" Qing Suanzi muttered in disbelief. This made Han Li's heart stir slightly.
Young Master Yan and the bald-headed man had expressions that fluctuated between gloom and clarity, looking completely flustered.
Only the middle-aged scholar had an extremely unpleasant expression and said coldly to Feng Sanniang:
"Your Six Linked Hall has gone too far! Who doesn't know that the Infant Carp Beast is a naturally occurring water-attribute spiritual beast, with incredibly powerful water-attribute abilities. If it's at the sixth level, in the sea it would absolutely be no less powerful than a seventh-level ordinary demonic beast. You actually still use the name of a sixth-level demonic beast to invite me to take action! Are you deliberately deceiving us?"
As the middle-aged scholar spoke, he revealed anger, looking as if he had been greatly deceived.
And Qing Suanzi and the others' expressions finally returned to normal. But they also showed dissatisfaction.
However, they were all independent cultivators without backing, and didn't dare to easily offend the Six Linked Hall, so they watched silently to see how Feng Sanniang would respond.
"Fellow Daoist Mao, what you said is not quite right! Where has our Six Linked Hall deceived anyone? Although this Infant Carp Beast is a bit powerful, it is genuinely a sixth-level demonic beast. You can't force our Hall to call a sixth-level demonic beast a seventh-level one, can you?"
"Besides, when you knew our Hall was willing to use something as precious as the Dust-Down Pill as payment, you should naturally have realized that what we're dealing with is absolutely not an ordinary sixth-level demonic beast. Otherwise, how would our Hall do such a losing business?" Feng Sanniang's face darkened and she retorted unceremoniously.
These words left the middle-aged scholar momentarily speechless.
Han Li secretly frowned.
Hearing this woman's words, they seemed somewhat reasonable, but Han Li felt very uncomfortable. He couldn't help but glance at the others.
The other three obviously shared Han Li's view, their expressions all somewhat displeased.
But at this moment, Feng Sanniang suddenly smiled at Qu Hun and the others:
"Of course, our Hall's primary concern is to keep the Infant Carp Beast's existence secret. Therefore, before coming here, I already obtained promises from above. After this matter is successfully completed, besides paying each of you one Dust-Down Pill as agreed, our Hall will additionally give each person one thousand spirit stones as compensation for the prior confidentiality. Are you fellow Daoists satisfied with this?"
Hearing the woman say this, Qing Suanzi and the others' resentment gradually faded, and they nodded in agreement with relaxed expressions.
The middle-aged scholar still seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but his beautiful wife whispered a few words in his ear, causing his expression to change slightly, and then he fell silent.
Subsequently, the group scattered around the small island, each finding a quiet place to sit in meditation and rest.
Han Li and Qu Hun found a huge rock near the sea and sat facing each other in meditation.
Under Han Li's deliberate instructions, Qu Hun quickly entered a state of conserving energy.
Han Li himself also slowly closed his eyes, trying to enter a meditative state.
But after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Han Li furrowed his brows and opened his eyes. He gazed at the surging waves, somewhat dazed.
For some reason, he felt a sense of unease at this moment, as if something major was about to happen, making him feel an uncontrollable tension and anxiety.
After thinking for a long while and still not finding a reason, Han Li laughed at himself.
It seemed he was really being overly nervous. Although his spiritual sense had always been useful, tomorrow with two Foundation Establishment cultivators and the "Six Water Wave Formation" assisting, how could they possibly fail to capture a sixth-level demonic beast?
Although this beast seemed quite unusual! But a demonic beast was still a demonic beast. No matter how powerful its strength, facing cultivators it could never have a chance of victory.
Having comforted himself a few times like this, Han Li tried to force himself into qi cultivation.
But after a while, his heart was still unsettled, and he simply couldn't enter the right state.
"Han Li sighed and stood up.
It seemed that if he didn't do something, he wouldn't be able to feel at ease!
Han Li looked around helplessly while releasing his spiritual sense.
Fortunately! There were no other cultivators nearby.
Han Li deftly reached into his storage bag, and a dozen or so formation flags glimmering with faint light and five or six formation discs appeared in his hands. This was the set of "Azure Water Blue Armor Formation" deployment tools.
Although this formation was far less powerful than the "Inverted Five Elements Formation" or tomorrow's "Six Water Wave Formation," it was still much stronger than ordinary formations. And because it had deployment tools, setting it up was extremely simple.
Han Li didn't hesitate to summon Qu Hun, having him begin planting the formation flags and burying the formation discs centered on this rock, within a range of several dozen zhang.
Watching Qu Hun busily planting each formation flag deep into the ground, Han Li felt much more at ease.
The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve upward, revealing a hint of self-mockery!
"I really am terrified of death!"
...
The next day, before the sky was fully bright, Feng Sanniang gathered everyone together and flew toward a sea area about ten li from the small island.
At the same time, on the sea surface a thousand li away, a golden light and a yellow light were swiftly flying toward the direction of the unnamed small island.
And on the water surface behind them, about one or two li away, a massive expanse of white mist nearly a hundred zhang in diameter was chasing at the same speed, hugging the water surface, and faintly the cry of an infant could be heard.
This sound was extremely desolate, making one's hair stand on end upon hearing it.
"Elder Miao, use a flying sword message. See if they're ready?" From within the speeding yellow light, a deep, resonant voice suddenly spoke.
"Alright!"
Elder Miao in the golden light agreed without hesitation, then his figure flashed and moved into the yellow light beside him, while the golden light on his body transformed into a golden rainbow and vanished in a flash.
And the large expanse of white mist behind them, upon seeing this scene, seemed to be stimulated by something, and the infant's crying became even sharper, gradually beginning to emit the sound of thunder, growing louder and louder.
"Not good, this beast is going to use the Water Divine Thunder again! Brother Gu, accelerate!" From within the yellow light came Elder Miao's anxious cry, seemingly greatly afraid of the thunder sound behind them.
"Don't worry, the speed of my Primordial Bowl is not slow!" The deep, resonant voice had just finished speaking when the yellow light instantly accelerated, in a flash increasing the distance with the white mist even further.
But the white mist seemed unwilling to give up, and amidst the thunder and crying, its speed also increased several degrees, tracing a long white trail on the sea surface that stretched beyond sight.
……
Qu Hun and the others had already taken their positions in front of the formation gates they were each managing, and each held a large blue flag in their hand.
This flag was about two zhang long, emitting a blue glow from end to end, extremely dazzling.
And the six late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, each with solemn expressions, were spaced over a hundred zhang apart, floating on the sea surface on their magic tools, forming exactly a semicircular pocket shape.
And Han Li stood behind Qu Hun watching coldly, while the** also stood on the middle-aged scholar's side, showing a look of concern.
A moment later, a golden light suddenly pierced through the sky and landed in Feng Sanniang's hands, attracting the attention of the others.
"Everyone be careful, the Infant Carp Beast is arriving soon! As soon as this beast enters the grand formation, immediately seal the formation gates." Feng Sanniang seemed to have received some message, and with a solemn expression shouted to the others, then released the golden light again, letting it fly back into the sky.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he stared unblinkingly in the direction the golden light flew away.
The others also tensed their faces, vaguely revealing an atmosphere of an impending storm.
After an unknown amount of time, the distant rumbling of thunder was heard, and as the sound grew louder, finally two streaks of light, one golden and one yellow, were seen flying toward them with lightning speed from the distance, while behind them was a vast expanse of white, as if something was pursuing them relentlessly.
"Is this the Infant Carp Beast?"
Although Han Li could clearly see that the large white expanse behind was merely mist, he simply couldn't imagine what kind of terrifying appearance the demonic beast hidden in the mist had.