They needed to show their loyalty and determination to fight against the Sea Star Demon Clan to the end.
For this reason, many city-states even offered bounties, rewarding Spirit Stones for killing members of the Demon Clan, and sects issued demon-killing missions.
Xu Hei's recruitment efforts had just begun but were already showing results. He established his own base in a corner of the Sea Star territory.
In the far north, on a floating glacier.
A disheveled figure emerged from the seawater and landed on the glacier. He was panting heavily, his face pale, and his tattered clothes were stained with blood, as if he had fled from a disaster.
This person was Zhao Nanqi.
"What rotten luck, running into such a beast, it's absurd!" Zhao Nanqi cursed inwardly.
He couldn't believe that even at the Divine Transformation Stage, there could be such a fool.
Are there such fools in the world?
If there are, they should only exist in the Mortal Realm or among low-level cultivators.
Yet, even among those who had survived the rigorous elimination process to reach the Divine Transformation Stage, such a weirdo existed, making Zhao Nanqi find it hard to believe. He even suspected that Hai Teng had some other conspiracy, deliberately putting on this act.
But in reality, he didn't think the other party had any need to stage such a play.
The demon's strength was ridiculously strong. Zhao Nanqi initially thought he could contend with it, but after just a few moves, he was defeated. If he hadn't prepared numerous escape Magical Treasures for the ancient emperor's blood, he might have died there that day.
Even so, he was still pursued, fleeing for a full seven days, severely injured, and only barely escaped thanks to the deterrence of Grand Elder Night Owl.
In the midst of misfortune, he managed to obtain the ancient emperor's blood, achieving his goal.
"Just wait, once this damned insect breaks through to Divine Transformation, neither Xu Hei nor you will be spared by me!"
Zhao Nanqi's face was ashen as he manipulated the glacier to drift towards the territory of the Ice God in the north, while he touched the Insect Emperor's ancient ring.
A flash of white light appeared from the ring, and a large eight-legged spider emerged, with a human face and figure, none other than Bai Zhi.
As soon as Bai Zhi appeared, she scrutinized Zhao Nanqi. Seeing that he was severely injured, a gleam flashed in her eyes, and she immediately asked, "Did you find it?"
"When I take action, how could I return empty-handed?"
Zhao Nanqi took out a transparent gemstone, displayed it in his hand, and then tossed it to Bai Zhi. Sealed within the gemstone was the ancient emperor's blood.
It was the spinal fluid of the Water God.
"So it really is this!"
Bai Zhi's eyes lit up, and a slender proboscis extended from her mouth, piercing the gemstone, quickly absorbing the ancient emperor's blood within.
But at the same time, the shattered gemstone immediately transformed into a brand, like lightning, flowing into her body through her proboscis, forming in an instant, too fast to react.
"What do you mean by this?" Bai Zhi asked.
"I applied a little trick to help you transform into Divine Transformation more smoothly, no need to worry," Zhao Nanqi said with a bright smile.
As he spoke, he rose into the air, took out numerous formation flags, and planted them in the surrounding void, forming one isolation formation after another, completely cutting off from the outside world.
The numerous formations overlapped countless times, as if dividing the Yin and Yang of two realms, all fluctuations disappeared, and even those inside could not sense changes in the outside world.
"Rest assured, transforming into Divine Transformation here, absolutely no one can detect it, anyone!" Zhao Nanqi sneered slightly.
A week had passed since the establishment of the new continent, during which people went out daily to hunt Sea Beasts or were hunted by them.
On a section of the coast, there was a stranded large ship, with a figure hanging from its broken mast.
It was a woman in tattered clothes, tied by the neck, hanging from the mast, seemingly dead but still clinging to life.
Hidden in the nearby soil were many human cultivators, lurking underground, seemingly waiting for something.
"It's been three days, still no sign, probably won't come."
"Wait a bit longer, what if it shows up?"
The crowd whispered quietly.
Suddenly, a figure appeared on the ship, raised a hand, and the tattered woman was taken down from a distance.
The appearance of this person was without warning, causing the crowd to be startled, and they all emerged from the ground. Upon recognizing the person's appearance, they hurriedly greeted, "Greetings, Senior!"
The suddenly appearing figure was Xu Hei.
Xu Hei untied the woman and said indifferently, "Why did you hang this person here?"
The crowd was stunned by his words, and the leader stepped forward, cupping his fists, "Senior, this woman is a traitor to the human race. She collaborated with the Merman Clan multiple times and even fell in love with a sea demon, giving birth to offspring, a disgrace to the human race!"
The speaker, whose cultivation had reached half-step Divine Transformation, was the rough man from the Earth God's forbidden land, named Gao Sheng, whom Xu Hei had some impression of.
Xu Hei remained calm, "When the sea demons were powerful, many forces collaborated with them. Should everyone be held accountable?"
Gao Sheng didn't understand Xu Hei's meaning but still answered truthfully, "Senior, here's the situation."
"The sea demon who consorted with this woman is a prince of the Merman Clan, possessing a trace of ancient emperor's blood, deeply affectionate. We hung this woman by the sea to lure that prince out, to see if he would take the bait."
"If we could severely injure, kill, or even capture a prince alive, it would be a significant blow to the Merman Clan!"
Gao Sheng unabashedly revealed his scheme.
It wasn't hard to analyze. At their level of cultivation, without reason, why would they senselessly kill?
And as 'ants' below Divine Transformation, the greatest contribution they could make was probably to kill a prince.
Xu Hei waved his hand, "Leave it be, don't get involved in this matter anymore."
Everyone was taken aback, but Gao Sheng dared not delay, quickly bowing, "Yes!"
He waved his hand, signaling to everyone, and immediately, they all withdrew, leaving the place quickly.
Though they didn't understand Xu Hei's actions, as a god-like figure, his every word and action must have its reasons, beyond their comprehension. They only needed to follow orders.
Xu Hei raised his hand, sending a life force into the barely alive woman's body. Moments later, her depleted life force finally showed signs of recovery, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was Xu Hei's left pupil, that familiar azure gaze.
She opened her mouth but couldn't utter a complete sentence, for her tongue was gone.
Xu Hei said nothing, merely waved his hand, and a fourth-grade pill flew into her body, healing all her internal and external injuries. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novelFirｅ.net