Between heaven and earth, besides the Ten Gates of Immortal Dao, the Seven Branches of Demon Dao, the Five Sects of Monster Dao, and the Underground Demon Race, there were also many rogue cultivator sects. Of course, these rogue cultivator sects were not martial arts sects in the secular world, but ones that cultivated immortality. Fang Han was very clear about this; the sect leaders of rogue cultivator sects were generally experts in the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities. There would be no titans of the Longevity Mystic Realm.
This was because if a titan of the Longevity Mystic Realm wanted to establish a sect, it would certainly stand alongside the immortals and demons and become a colossal sect.
Three thousand years ago, Linglong of the Taiyi Gate had precisely because she cultivated to the Longevity Mystic Realm and became a titan, established the Linglong Blessed Land, turning the Nine Gates of Immortal Dao into the Ten Gates of Immortal Dao.
However, some formidable rogue cultivator sect leaders also possessed very powerful divine abilities. It was not unheard of for them to reach the state where all dharmas return to one, forge the great golden core of the divine ability seed, pass the wind and fire great tribulation, and cultivate the Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation.
Like the time Fang Han himself had beaten the Young Island Master of Ever-Night Island alongside Fang Qingxue—that Ever-Night Island was a rogue cultivator sect. The Island Master was an expert of the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities who sent his son to the Yuhua Sect to study to increase the weight of Ever-Night Island. This was to avoid being wiped out by other rogue cultivator sects.
The struggles among rogue cultivator sects were much more intense than those among the Ten Gates of Immortal Dao. Feuds and fighting were constant, because they all had to snatch resources, secret manuals, and cultivation methods in order to strive for the Longevity Mystic Realm. Unlike the Ten Gates of Immortal Dao, which had abundant resources and had signed mutual defense agreements with one another, preventing large-scale conflicts.
On land, there were many empires, and these empires were under the protection of the Ten Gates of Immortal Dao, so there were not many rogue cultivator sects. But on the uninhabited seas, where resources were rich and spiritual herbs were endless, rogue cultivator sects became numerous, and each was strong, fierce, and very not to be trifled with.
Ordinary rogue cultivator experts had no rules or legal constraints. They did as they pleased. Regardless of what was orthodox or evil, immortal or demonic, as long as there was profit, they would immediately kill and plunder, flee, and hide.
When going to the sea, besides being careful of monster beasts, various storms, and natural disasters, one had to be especially careful of these rogue cultivators.
"This is an uninhabited beach, belonging to the territory of the Great Xu Dynasty. Over there should be an area of shallow sea coral reefs. Let's go there to look for blood corals that are over five hundred years old. Gathering them provides an important ingredient for the Essence Pill."
Seeing Fang Han deep in thought, Long Xuan did not know what he was thinking about. She pointed forward and flew over.
"Although the Essence Pill is not as good as the Blood Pill, it is still a good medicine. It can replenish physical strength for the ten Asuras. Gathering some blood coral to refine pills is not bad either." Fang Han also followed and flew over. Arriving at a shallow sea area, they saw that within the shallow sea, which was dozens of zhang deep, there was white sand and jade-green water. Colorful fish swam back and forth, brightly colored highly poisonous sea snakes and sea anacondas secretly coiled within, and some sharks shuttled around. It was very beautiful, but extremely dangerous.
If a person in the Physical Body Realm went down to gather coral, it would be extremely dangerous. But for an expert of the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities, it was nothing. Long Xuan pointed her finger, and a burst of magic power forced the seawater apart. Reaching straight down, she arrived amidst a group of red coral reefs and searched. Suddenly scooping upward, a piece of "blood coral" the size of an ox horn was pulled up. Its entire body flowed with a brilliant, dripping red luster, and streams of essence energy emanated from it, exceptionally rich.
"This is blood coral with over five hundred years of age. If an ordinary person carves it into jewelry and wears it, it can expel impurities in the body's blood, clear blood toxins, and prolong life. For our pill refining, grinding this blood coral into powder and purifying it with true fire makes it an important medicinal ingredient for the Essence Pill. In fact, all nine medicinal ingredients used to refine the Essence Pill can be found in the ocean."
Long Xuan searched for a while but could no longer find such blood coral, and could not help but sigh.
"This is a shallow sea, let's go into the deep sea. The place we are heading to this time is Guixu." Fang Han also did not slaughter the creatures in the seawater to refine Blood Pills, as these creatures were too weak. Even if they were fierce sharks, killing a hundred of them might not refine a single Blood Pill the size of a sesame seed.
If he was going to kill, he had to kill powerful creatures in order to refine high-quality Blood Pills.
"Heading to Guixu, with our speed, I'm afraid we'll have to fly for another ten days to a half month. However, the deeper we go into the sea, the stronger the creatures become, and naturally, the more spiritual herbs there are. I also want to find the inner gall of the Crystal Blood Snake to refine into the Soft Water Pill to condense my true qi." Long Xuan nodded. The "Cold Dragon Sword" flew out, transforming into streams of water vapor that wrapped around her, and she flew toward the depths of the ocean.
Fang Han signaled the Demoness to hurry and follow.
After flying for more than two hours, the continental land had completely disappeared. Looking as far as the eye could see, there was water everywhere between heaven and earth! Boundless water! Not even half an island could be seen.
Touching neither the sky above nor the ground below, without even a place to land, no matter who it was, they would feel unsafe.
Right at this moment, the weather gradually grew gloomy. Thick dark clouds gathered, seeming as if a violent storm and heavy rain would arrive at any moment. The atmosphere over the sea was also very oppressive.
"A storm is coming, let's go down and rest for a bit. Our divine abilities are not high. Flying in a storm is strenuous, and in case there's lightning within the storm and it strikes us, we will immediately be injured." Seeing this situation, Long Xuan raised her hand, and a burst of brilliant radiant clouds flew out from her hand, landing on the water's surface, unexpectedly forming a small, gorgeously painted pleasure boat. It was multicolored and emitted a fragrant scent.
Looking at this small painted pleasure boat, Fang Han couldn't help but think of the scenes outside Longyuan City, those brothel boats on the river with beauties like clouds. During this spring, it was the perfect time for young aristocrats and wealthy youths to visit those boats, hold beauties, drink, and make merry. In the past, he had also dreamed that one day he would become one of those young aristocrats, but now he had far surpassed them.
Where did the encounters in life even begin?
Landing on this "Radiant Cloud Qi Boat", it was incredibly steady and no different from a real boat. The gathered clouds and radiant mists were as hard as stone and as light as wood. This forced Fang Han to inwardly admire Jialan's great magic power.
This qi boat was a spirit artifact, though it could not be used to face enemies. It was specifically used for landing and resting on the sea. It was a magic treasure meant for enjoying life.
Woooo woooo woooo, woooo woooo…
Just having landed to rest for a while, Fang Han trained hard in the "Wood Emperor True Qi", not forgetting to cultivate for even a single moment. However, while he was cultivating, strong winds indeed blew across the sea. The ocean surged up several zhang high and was incredibly bumpy. But the "Radiant Cloud Qi Boat" emitted waves of glowing light that kept the sea waves on the outside; although it bumped up and down, the boat would absolutely not sink.
"Hmm? This wind carries a heavy, fishy stench! What good luck! We actually ran into a millennium-old giant python of the sea, a Black Water King Snake, transforming into a Jiao!" Long Xuan also cultivated the "Myriad Waters Divine Secret". However, the divine ability she cultivated was of the water affinity, making her highly sensitive. Smelling the sea wind carried through the air, she suddenly spoke out.
Fang Han was instantly startled awake!
"A millennium-old giant python! A Black Water King Snake! Molting into a Jiao!"
The sea giant python, a type of Black Water King Snake, was an ancient exotic species. If it was inherently blessed with great luck and ate some spiritual herb or rare treasure, accumulating spiritual qi in its body and altering its bloodline, it would extend its lifespan. After a thousand years of endless molting, it would transform into a Jiao!
Although a Jiao was not a dragon, it could possess divine abilities!
A giant python transforming into a Jiao! It was equivalent to a human cultivating divine abilities! It was the most crucial step onto the path of Heaven and Man. It was also the key to becoming a monster! Animals that had cultivated divine abilities were safely and firmly called monsters.
Especially the Black Water King Snake. Its body was incomparably massive. Once it became a Jiao and obtained divine abilities, its magic power would be far greater than a human's. When Fang Han cultivated divine abilities, his magic power was only the strength of one hundred Dark Yellow Warhorses, but a Jiao was different! It might very well have a thousand horses! Or even two thousand horses of grand magic power!
It was ten times, twenty times that of a human.
Because the physical body of the Black Water King Snake was far, far stronger than a human's. Generating divine abilities meant its magic power was correspondingly strong.
When ordinary snake species transformed into Jiaos, their magic power was far inferior to that of a Jiao transformed from a Black Water King Snake.
However, it was truly too difficult for a Black Water King Snake to transform into a Jiao. It absolutely required over a thousand years of metamorphosis. Because their intelligence was too low. The Black Water King Snakes that were several hundred years old were themselves the spiritual medicine of countless cultivators. Before they could transform into Jiaos, they would be killed by humans.
Snake creatures transformed into a Jiao in a thousand years, and into a dragon in ten thousand years!
After transforming into a Jiao, it was equivalent to an expert of the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities, and after transforming into a dragon, it was equivalent to an expert of the Longevity Mystic Realm.
Long Xuan's Cold Dragon Sword, that frost dragon, was not a dragon; it was also a type of small Jiao. However, the physical body of the frost dragon was far from being comparable to the Jiao transformed from the Black Water King Snake, so its magic power was also much weaker. Even so, the Cold Dragon Sword was incredibly powerful; it was a treasure artifact!
"Let's go! A millennium-old giant python, a Black Water King Snake, transforming into a Jiao! This is a rare fortuitous encounter. If we can kill it, the benefits will be absolutely endless. Its inner gall can greatly enhance our magic power! What a massive Black Water King Snake! It's much, much bigger than my cold dragon." Long Xuan flew up first.
Following the direction of the strong fishy wind, Fang Han looked out and saw a sea tornado spinning at the edge of the sky. Within that tornado, there was vaguely a colossal snake the length of two to three hundred humans, hissing fiercely! The scales on its body opened up, and endless water vapor formed into a vortex. The sharp sound was carried over by the wind, making one's hair stand on end.
Fang Han immediately cycled his "Wood Emperor True Qi", rumbling as it turned into a green light, flying toward the giant snake in the tornado.
The Black Water King Snake was inherently a type of massive sea snake. When it rampaged across the ocean, even sharks and whales had to flee. Let alone a specimen that had grown for a thousand years? After it transformed into a Black Water King Jiao, ordinary experts of the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities would simply not be its match; it was a formidable monster beast.
Fang Han had read the "Various Worlds" and knew the uses of giant snakes like the Black Water King Snake, especially after it had become a Jiao, its usefulness was even greater. He didn't expect to have such a fortuitous encounter on his first trip to sea!
The moment the Black Water King Snake molted into a Jiao was also its relatively weak period. Once its weak period passed and its magic power became formidable, if it drilled into the deep sea, even a Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities Fifth Layer Heaven and Man Realm expert would have difficulty killing it. Those at the first or second layer of the Divine Ability Realm would just become its food.
"To actually run into a Black Water King Snake transforming into a Jiao, our luck couldn't be better." When the Demoness flew up, she was also extremely covetous.
Just as Fang Han flew up and lunged over, Yan suddenly spoke up: "There are experts of the Mystic Realm of Divine Abilities lying in ambush around that Black Water King Snake! They seem to be waiting for it to become a Jiao! We are not the only ones."
As soon as "Yan" finished speaking, Long Xuan's voice also traveled over: "I feel fluctuations in the water vapor. It seems there are other people!"