A look of contempt appeared in the Storm Dragon Shark's eyes. Although it felt the extraordinariness of the flames below, it was not a dead object. With the vast space below, it only needed to wag its tail to instantly move dozens of zhang.
But this Demonic Beast was also a veteran of bloody battles. Although it saw that this human cultivator was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and looked down on him on the surface, it still remained vigilant in its heart, afraid that the red flames below might have other changes.
While thinking, the Storm Dragon Shark had already swung its tail lightly. Its huge body, however, was as nimble as a bee-eater. With the water splashes at its side not yet fallen, it had already appeared dozens of zhang away with incomparable lightness.
The moment its horizontally moved body appeared, the row of spines on its back immediately stood up straight, like a ferocious lion with its hackles raised. The next moment, like a torrential storm, they shot from the upper, middle, and lower directions towards Li Yan, who had also just steadied himself on one side.
The Nether Flame Eagle's black wings cut through the air like iron halberds. Amidst a high-pitched cry, its steel-like hooked beak opened, and a ball of bone-white light gradually formed in its mouth, getting brighter and larger, instantly occupying its entire large beak.
The murderous intent in its eyes grew stronger, and it no longer held back, using its innate divine art—"Baleful Flame Star Pellet."
It also saw the appearance of the Storm Dragon Shark below. Although its own rank was not as high as the other's, it was not easy for the other to snatch food from its mouth.
In the end, it would have to at least share some of this human cultivator's essence blood with it. It had fought with this Storm Dragon Shark no less than dozens of times. Although the other could already ride the clouds and mist, it was no match for it in the air.
But just as the Nether Flame Eagle was about to launch its attack, a look of pain flashed in its eyes. Then, its body, which was soaring in the sky, suddenly froze. Its iron feathers, which were rooted to the bone, were melting and falling off its body and wings at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Then, large patches of its strong skin were exposed. But as soon as this skin was revealed, large red spots appeared on it and were spreading rapidly over its entire body.
These red spots were like bright red patches of ringworm, making one want to vomit at the sight. In the Nether Flame Eagle's terrified eyes, red mist rose from its body...
Li Yan only glanced at it. To deal with a mere Tier-2 Demonic Beast now, and to let his attack make contact with its body, the result was self-evident. If it had been a year ago, let alone encountering two Tier-2 Demonic Beasts, even facing one of them alone would have required a fierce battle.
But he stomped fiercely on the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" under his feet. Instantly, the speed of the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" was pushed to its limit by him. Li Yan's body was like a ghost, constantly turning in an irregular manner as he rushed towards the clouds above.
Many spines whizzed past under his feet, instantly losing their target and shooting into the distance.
In the past, even if this wave of spines was dodged by Li Yan, with the Storm Dragon Shark's control, the spines would follow like a shadow until the opponent was exhausted and unable to dodge anymore.
But now, the Storm Dragon Shark, after just shooting out the spines on its back, saw a heart-stopping scene.
That Nether Flame Eagle, with which it had fought countless times, was about to use the "Baleful Flame Star Pellet" that often gave it a headache one moment, and the next, with a mournful cry, its feathers instantly fell off.
Then, red mist rose from the Nether Flame Eagle's body. Amidst the red mist, mournful cries rang out, making the Storm Dragon Shark's huge body tremble.
It could, of course, hear how painful the Nether Flame Eagle's increasingly high-pitched cries were, and the taste of terror in the pain.
What great pain could make a Tier-2 Demonic Beast make such a loud sound?
Instantly, the Storm Dragon Shark's liver and gallbladder were torn apart. The first thought was "Poison cultivator, I've met a powerful poison cultivator today..."
However, on the battlefield, there was no time for a moment's daze. Just as it came back to its senses and was about to retract its spines and flee into the sea, a cold voice came to its ear, "What, still want to run..."
Then, the Storm Dragon Shark felt an unbearable stabbing pain in its divine soul, and then it fell into endless darkness... Its huge body, like a small mountain, crashed into the pitch-black seawater, creating boundless giant waves...
Li Yan collected two beast cores and then picked and cut the valuable organs and bones from the two Demonic Beasts. After sorting them into his storage pouch, he then looked up in a certain direction.
There were several powerful Demonic Beast auras there. But after Li Yan's gaze swept over them, the few auras quickly fled and disappeared.
The battle just now had still attracted many Demonic Beasts. Even the later-arriving Demonic Beasts, when they saw Li Yan skinning and digging out the cores, instantly recognized the true forms of the two dead Demonic Beasts.
For a moment, even if they were ferocious, how could they dare to come forward? The moment Li Yan's aura locked onto them, they all immediately fled, not daring to have any thoughts of devouring this human cultivator's flesh and blood.
Now, for Li Yan, a Tier-2 Demonic Beast was something he could easily kill without using too much strength. But along the way, he also felt annoyed, but there was nothing he could do.
As he went deeper, he had to pass through different sea areas. The occasional killing could only deter them for a while, but it couldn't stop other Demonic Beasts from coveting him.
...
In a boundless dark space, astral winds raged. The huge meteorite, more than a thousand zhang in area, floated quietly in the void. In front of the meteorite, the sky was originally just a thin, bright horizontal line formed by a five-colored light wave.
Now, it was like a sleeping giant, slowly opening its giant eyes, lifting its upper and lower eyelids, bringing light to this endless dark world. The three long-haired figures at the forefront of the huge meteorite now had shining lights in their eyes. The tattered-clothed cultivators behind them also raised their heads one after another.
Their originally wooden faces showed looks of anticipation and excitement. The aurora in the sky ahead shone on their faces, which were twisted with excessive excitement. Although no one spoke, the light shining from their eyes could almost burn everything in the world.
"The spatial node they gave us seems to be correct. I can already feel the familiar aura from the Desolate Moon Continent," a deep, aged voice sounded from among the three.
"They have to show at least this much sincerity, otherwise how can they expect us to help? Senior Brother, how much longer do you think it will take to open this place?" a weak voice asked from another long-haired figure.
As soon as he spoke, the anticipation in the eyes of the people behind him instantly grew stronger. Everyone looked towards the source of the aged voice.
After a long while, amid everyone's anticipation, the aged voice sounded again, "According to the speed at which the dimensional passage has been expanding these days, it will probably take another year or so."
Although everyone could see the giant's eye-like opening in the sky, only he could be the first to barely sense the unreachable aura within it.
"Then our arduous journey here was not in vain. One year... it's really fast, very fast..." the weak voice muttered with deep emotion. His voice was not loud, but it struck the hearts of everyone who heard it like a heavy hammer, like a great bell...
...
More than half a year later, a very faint shadow stood on a small island in the Sea of the Northern Abyss. He was almost integrated with his surroundings. At his feet, black, angry waves crashed against the shore, rolling up thousand-layer giant waves, the booming sound echoing endlessly.
This person was Li Yan, who had used the "Stealthy Night Art." At this moment, in his divine sense, three thousand li away, on a reef, a small, pitch-black tree stood against the wind, looking so inconspicuous.
The reef was only three zhang in area and rose about ten zhang above the sea. It was often submerged by the sea, so the entire reef was covered with dense, smooth small holes. Besides this peculiar little tree, no other vegetation could grow on it.
Half a month ago, Li Yan had finally found this "Infinite Wanderer" tree within the range specified by Ping Tu. The small tree did not look large, but Li Yan knew that the "Infinite Wanderer" grew extremely slowly, only five inches every thousand years.
Looking at the height of this tree, Li Yan estimated that it had existed for at least a hundred thousand years.
The "Infinite Wanderer" tree was both extremely hard and extremely soft. Once it took root somewhere, its root system would go deep into the ground for thousands of zhang. The exposed branches and trunk were a combination of hardness and softness, and would not break no matter how much the wind and waves beat against them.
Strangely enough, while the tree grew slowly upwards, its root system spread rapidly, finding its way into every crevice.
Li Yan was not at all surprised that this tree had grown here for over a hundred thousand years. Firstly, the "Infinite Wanderer" tree was very difficult to pick. Without special means, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to break it with their bare hands.
The characteristic of the "Infinite Wanderer" was that it was "impervious to both hard and soft tactics." Of course, if a Golden Core or Foundation Establishment cultivator were to use all their powerful magical treasures or divine arts, they could still obtain it. Otherwise, wouldn't it be invincible if used to resist heavenly tribulations or as a shield?
Secondly, after obtaining it, the "Infinite Wanderer" could at most be used as an ordinary magical treasure. It was almost impossible to refine it by itself. Only a Nascent Soul cultivator or above, using their Nascent Fire, could melt it.
But the magical treasure refined from it might not necessarily be much stronger than other magical treasures of a Nascent Soul cultivator. All in all, the gain was not worth the loss.
This led to the situation where, although the "Infinite Wanderer" was rare, very few people were willing to spend great effort to find it. This was why, although the "Infinite Wanderer" was a good refining material, not many people needed it.
Another main reason why no one was willing to pick the "Infinite Wanderer" was its Companion Demonic Beast, the "Blue Demon Flood Dragon," which was generally at least Tier-3 or even reached Tier-4. Demonic Beasts were naturally powerful, and some variant species at Tier-3 could even be comparable to ordinary human Nascent Soul cultivators.
With such a powerful Companion Demonic Beast, and with the scarcity of spiritual energy here, fighting here would undoubtedly greatly reduce a cultivator's spell power. Very few cultivators were willing to take such a risk.
But the "Gui Water Immortal Sect" could use a secret method to melt it into water and finally refine it into a unique, growable magical treasure.
Li Yan carefully withdrew his divine sense. He had been observing here for half a month. The Companion Demonic Beast of this "Infinite Wanderer" tree, the "Blue Demon Flood Dragon," was sleeping motionlessly under the tree, showing no sign of leaving.
What made Li Yan's heart palpitate was that this "Blue Demon Flood Dragon" was already at the late-stage of Tier-3. If it weren't in deep sleep, Li Yan estimated that even if he were more careful, it would be difficult to avoid being discovered by it.
So Li Yan only dared to stay at the edge of his divine sense's maximum range, only occasionally probing.
He didn't dare to do this too frequently. About every two hours, he would send out a wisp of divine sense to probe the vicinity of the "Infinite Wanderer" tree from a distance.