Chapter 394: Cultivators, Demonic Beasts, and the Small Island
What puzzled Han Li was that apart from those shops, the place was completely silent and deserted.
After a moment of thought, he chuckled at himself.
How could he have forgotten!
This was not a leisurely Inner Star Sea island. Those who dared to come here were at least Core Formation stage cultivators, or at the very least, late Foundation Establishment stage practitioners.
Moreover, with so many having scattered to other demonic beast islands, the cultivators on Ningcui Island were probably all out at sea hunting demonic beasts now!
Thinking this, Han Li looked up and glanced around.
Only then did he notice that this place was built against a small hill, with its back to the slope.
After a brief thought, Han Li walked towards that general store built from a pile of loose stones.
"Do you have any recent sea charts of the surrounding area?"
Before coming here, he had already learned that all sea charts for the demonic beast islands were constantly being updated, so naturally, he needed to buy the latest one.
"Yes! There are both rough and detailed versions. Which one would Senior prefer?" The general store's shopkeeper was a middle-aged man at the Qi Condensation stage. Upon seeing Han Li and Qu Hun approach to inquire, he perked up and immediately began to explain.
"The detailed one," Han Li said without hesitation.
"Detailed sea chart, one hundred spirit stones!" The middle-aged man made an exorbitant demand.
"One hundred?" Han Li wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him, having misheard the price.
But his face darkened immediately, revealing a hint of anger.
Although he had no intention of seeking trouble, neither would he tolerate being shamelessly extorted by a lowly cultivator.
"Senior, please don't misunderstand! This price wasn't set by me, but directly from above. We are merely following orders. Moreover, when other seniors sell new sea charts to us, the price they ask is not small either!" The general store's shopkeeper, seeing Han Li's expression turn gloomy, showed no fear. Instead, he began to vent his grievances.
"Above? Which trade alliance are you with?" Han Li's anger subsided slightly, and he frowned as he asked.
He understood perfectly. Any merchant that could operate business on a demonic beast island was certainly no small guild. It might even be one of the Four Great Trade Alliances' shops!
"Hehe. Senior is truly a perceptive one. This humble one earns his living under the Fengle Trade Alliance." The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback, then replied with an ingratiating smile.
"One of the Four Great Trade Alliances, the one that runs the Fengle Auction House in Celestial Star City?"
"That's right, Senior!"
Hearing this, Han Li said nothing more and tossed out a medium-grade spirit stone.
Immediately, the general store's shopkeeper smiled broadly and handed Han Li a jade slip.
"Those other shops... they aren't all part of your Fengle Trade Alliance as well, are they?" Glancing at the other several shops, Han Li put away the jade slip and asked, somewhat displeased.
"How could that be? Except for that acquisition shop on the west side, the others are all run by other trade alliances, unrelated to our Fengle Alliance." The middle-aged man glanced at the other shops and said, with a hint of hostility in his voice.
Hearing this, Han Li said nothing more. He turned and left with Qu Hun.
After taking a few steps, he was about to release the Divine Wind Boat and fly off when suddenly a streak of green light descended from the sky, landing right in front of an acquisition shop across the way.
As the light faded, it revealed a burly Core Formation stage man.
"Fan, your business is here!" As soon as the big man appeared, he shouted loudly toward the acquisition shop. Then he pulled a storage pouch from his pocket and dumped its contents onto the ground.
A flash of radiance swirled, and a strange fish corpse about two to three zhang long appeared on the ground.
It was called a fish only because its body was covered with a layer of greenish fish scales. However, it had a monstrous head like a python, and a pair of huge, sharp claws on its belly. On the front part of its back, there was a bloody hole that kept spurting blood, as if its demon core had already been removed.
"Oh my! It's Senior Hao. This Emerald Phosphorus Fish is incredibly difficult to kill! Only someone with your great powers could eliminate them." A young man at the Qi Condensation stage quickly rushed out from the acquisition shop, his eyes bright and clever. He went over to inspect the demonic beast's corpse while continuously flattering the big man with his words. The big man let out a hearty laugh, seeming to be a jovial person.
Suddenly, the big man turned his face toward Han Li and Qu Hun. After a brief glance, he called out to them in a straightforward manner:
"You two fellow Daoists look unfamiliar. You've just arrived at Ningcui Island, haven't you? Any interest in joining together to hunt demonic beasts?"
At such enthusiasm, Han Li smiled but said nothing, but Qu Hun gently shook his head to decline.
Seeing this, the big man showed a hint of regret but still spoke warmly:
"I am Hao Yuantian, and I have some reputation here on Ningcui Island. If the two of you change your minds in the future, you can always look for me." After saying this, the big man took a bag of spirit stones from the young man at the acquisition shop, glanced at it, and then once again turned into a streak of green light and flew off in a hurry.
Han Li stood there in silence.
From the enthusiastic recruitment by both the red-faced elder and this big surnamed Hao who had teleported over together, it was clear that there weren't many Core Formation cultivators on Ningcui Island, and they had already formed their own small cliques.
It seemed that, just as he had learned from the information, even Core Formation stage cultivators in the Outer Star Sea needed to travel in groups to hunt demonic beasts safely.
If not for his own secret plans, he might have accepted one of their invitations.
As Han Li pondered, he and Qu Hun also boarded the Divine Wind Boat. He activated it from a different direction, soaring up and flying off toward the open sea beyond the island.
On his magical artifact, Han Li carefully examined the newly purchased sea chart jade slip before putting it away.
Ningcui Island was not very large. In just a short while, the Divine Wind Boat had reached the island's edge.
Standing at the edge of the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li gazed around, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. He adjusted his direction once more and flew off into the endless depths of the ocean.
Han Li dared not fly too low over the sea surface.
Because certain powerful demonic beasts, even while lurking deep on the ocean floor, could suck up all living things flying over the surface from hundreds of zhang deep through the water. If a cultivator disturbed them, they too would be hard-pressed to escape death.
Han Li was extremely cautious!
But equally, in the Outer Star Sea, one couldn't fly too high either, because not only did packs of demonic beasts roam the seas, but aerial demonic beasts also circled constantly in the high skies. If one were spotted by them, that too was an extremely dangerous situation.
Of course, this wasn't absolute, as conditions varied across different sea regions. There was no such thing as absolute safety.
Every year, many cultivators teleported to various demonic beast islands, dreaming of slaying beasts and obtaining demon cores. However, quite a few of them never returned after leaving the island.
Cases of Core Formation cultivators failing to hunt demonic beasts and instead being devoured by higher-level ones were frequently reported.
It was evident that while the benefits of hunting demonic beasts in the Outer Star Sea were indeed enviable, they equally came with high risks.
Therefore, cultivators who went out to hunt demonic beasts would basically form fixed groups with those they knew, acting together.
This way, it was much safer.
But gathering large numbers of people to hunt demonic beasts together was also a taboo.
Because in the past, on the demonic beast islands, there had been instances where the entire island's cultivators were organized to hunt demonic beasts en masse.
The result was that these cultivators only enjoyed success for a brief period before attracting several seventh-level and above deep-sea demonic beasts along with swarms of other demonic beasts to besiege them. Not only did these cultivators suffer heavy casualties, but the demonic beast island itself was completely destroyed by these beasts.
After similar incidents occurred twice more, no one dared to gather too many cultivators for action again, limiting it to small groups of a few or a dozen people.
This resulted in numerous small cliques on each demonic beast island, and powerful lone cultivators being highly sought after.
Based on the information gathered, as soon as Han Li flew out from Ningcui Island, his expression became solemn.
He not only released a powerful spiritual sense to envelop the area dozens of zhang around him, but he also drove the Divine Wind Boat with all his might, transforming it into a streak of white light as it broke through the air at incredible speed.
Every few hours of flight, Han Li would stop to confirm his direction, deeply afraid of flying off course and failing to find the place he sought.
Unexpectedly, Han Li's luck was quite good!
Along the way, apart from spotting a level-five demonic beast playing on the sea surface from afar, which caused Han Li to make a slight detour, he encountered no trouble.
Thus, after flying and stopping for three days, he finally caught sight of a small, fire-red colored island.
When he flew a bit closer, he could see that this island was actually formed from a mass of bright red coral, which sparkled dazzlingly under the sunlight—truly a beautiful and enchanting sight!
Han Li stopped above the island, a look of delight appearing on his face.