The moment they saw the five-tooth great warship bearing the Bihai Gate's flag forcibly charging into the Four Directions Heavenly Water Formation with a rampant, domineering posture, the entire Flying Fish Island began to stir.
Countless Hua Clan cultivators revealed expressions of panic and despair.
As for the spirit farmers, mulberry farmers, fishermen, and guest retainers hired by the Hua Clan, they hurriedly knelt and kowtowed: "We are willing to surrender... Venerable Sect, please hear us, we truly have no relationship with the Hua Clan!"
A few bold rogue cultivators had already eagerly attacked the Hua Clan ancestral estate, hoping to make a fortune and simultaneously prove their innocence.
"Hmph, courting death... You dare pick up bargains from my family?"
Hua Tianfeng raised a hand, and a spiritual artifact in the form of golden scissors emerged. Its massive phantom merely twisted once, cutting those few rioting rogue cultivators in half at the waist.
The bisected rogue cultivators didn't die immediately, wailing as they collapsed on the ground, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
After casually dealing with these rogue cultivators, looking at the five-tooth great warship that had already charged to the great formation's eye, Hua Tianfeng's face was filled with despair: "The secret is out..."
He looked at Hua Zong beside him, transmitting via divine sense: "This must be the exposure of our clan's secret collusion with the Zhong Clan... There is no room for maneuver anymore. Both you and I are on the Bihai Gate's must-kill list; we cannot escape. Immediately have several Foundation Establishment seeds in the clan take storage bags and flee far away! Save as many as possible."
"Send the signal. The clansmen we secretly sent to the Tianxin Chain Islands are to change their names and hide their identities directly... Unless the Bihai Gate is destroyed, they must not take the surname Hua again."
Seeing Hua Zong agree, Hua Tianfeng finally laughed heartily and pointed with his hand.
That golden scissors spiritual artifact suddenly erupted with brilliant light, resembling two golden flood serpents, carrying him into the air: "I am Hua Tianfeng, the Hua Clan's progenitor. Who will claim this old man's head?"
"I will!"
Cui Zhe merged man and sword into one, transforming into an emerald-green sword light, meeting those two golden flood serpents head-on.
A Foundation Establishment great battle was on the verge of erupting!
Meanwhile, more law-enforcement disciples from the Hall of Penalizing Evil descended from the spirit boat expressionlessly, beginning to sweep through the Hua Clan members on the island.
"Everyone pay attention, not a single one can be allowed to escape!"
Most of these law-enforcement disciples possessed late-stage Qi Refinement cultivation, cultivated exquisite techniques, and were rich in combat experience; the Hua Clan cultivators could hardly resist.
Moreover, several of the peak Qi Refinement cultivators exchanged glances and charged directly toward the Hua Clan's underground cellar location.
Clearly, they had coveted that Profound Wind Miasma for a long time.
Every time a sect annihilated a Foundation Establishment force was the best opportunity for these law-enforcement disciples to make a killing!
...
The southeastern sea region of Flying Fish Island.
The autumn sky was clear and the air crisp; the sea breeze was slightly cool.
A small leaf-boat drifted with the current. Fang Qing lay on the deck with his legs crossed, a fishing rod placed beside him.
Splash!
Suddenly, the sea surface broke open, and a foolish-looking big green carp was flung onto the deck by him, its tail still flapping incessantly.
"Haha... hooked one."
Fang Qing laughed heartily, then suddenly kicked his foot, sending that big green carp back into the sea.
He stepped onto the Mystic Ice Wheel and soared toward the horizon.
In Fang Qing's direction of flight, there was a Hua Clan cultivator covered in blood, fleeing in panic.
This Hua Clan cultivator had ordinary features, the type that would disappear in a crowd; nothing was distinctive about his bearing, and his cultivation had barely reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
Seeing the Mystic Ice Wheel beneath Fang Qing's feet, his eyes brightened: "Are you a Zhong Clan cultivator? I am of the Hua Clan, please rescue me quickly..."
Boom!
Before he finished speaking, Fang Qing visualized the Horse-Head Vajra Protector, transforming his divine sense into a Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle that directly smashed into the other's sea of consciousness.
This cultivator immediately felt his head splitting with pain. The talisman in his hand had yet to be activated when he saw a fist constantly enlarging before his eyes.
Bang!
The Great Vajra Divine Power activated. Fang Qing's fist smashed through a mystic iron dharma shield and landed on this cultivator's head.
'Acting all familiar on the surface, yet secretly hiding a talisman, aren't you?'
'Goodness... a second-order talisman? Even if I survived being hit by it, I'd have been skinned alive!'
He reached out, took the talisman from that Hua Clan cultivator's hand, and silently complained:
'You took one look at a Mystic Ice Wheel flying artifact and identified me as a Zhong Clan member. Are you stupid or am I stupid? Our Bihai Gate has been fighting the Zhong Clan for so long; how could we not have captured ice-attribute artifacts? You were obviously trying to trick me!'
Moments later.
A headless corpse fell into the sea, while Fang Qing, carrying a storage bag, rapidly departed from this place.
"What a great haul!"
With the help of his divine sense, he easily destroyed the spiritual power brand within the storage bag.
When his divine sense probed inside, Fang Qing was first amazed by the volume of this storage bag!
Ordinary storage bags were merely equivalent to carrying an extra luggage trunk.
This storage bag had clearly been specially crafted. Not only did its surface have complex patterns, but its interior space was as large as a room!
Inside the room, piled in the furthest corner was a heap of spirit stones, mostly low-grade with the occasional mid-grade piece, estimated at over four thousand.
Besides this, there were bolts of silk woven with "Flying Dragon Silk."
At certain times, these might be "hard currency" worth more than spirit stones!
Besides these, there were many exquisite artifacts, high-grade talismans, medicinal pills, books... and...
A white jade bottle appeared in Fang Qing's hand with a flash of light.
Pulling out the stopper, he could see a snow-white medicinal pill inside. On its surface was a spiritual pattern, and an icy chill instantly spread out.
"A spiritual pattern? A second-order spiritual pill?"
"Mm... according to the pill books I've read, it should be the 'Icy Heart Meridan-Protecting Pill'... this is a spiritual pill that can assist in Foundation Establishment! And it's a Zhong Clan specialty!"
"As expected... when such clans are being annihilated, Foundation Establishment seeds carrying the clan's foundation fleeing for their lives are, in a word—fat!"
"This is just one of them. If I caught a few more... or even the branch families arranged beforehand?"
Fang Qing shook his head, laughing at his own insatiable greed.
The destruction of Flying Fish Island's Hua Clan was such a major event; it would definitely attract attention from all sides.
If he intercepted them all?
They would hunt him down to the ends of the earth.
"With these gains, plus this second-order talisman, it's enough."
He wasn't greedy either, flying directly back to the sect.
While flying, he fiddled with the second-order talisman in his hand.
Clearly, that Hua Clan cultivator had never believed he was from the Zhong Clan; everything said was merely to draw him close, then use this trump card to deal him a vicious blow.
But he didn't know Fang Qing was even more underhanded. Upon meeting, he used a divine sense secret technique, then killed with one blow, not giving the slightest chance to activate the talisman.
And now, touching this second-order talisman, Fang Qing felt his previous actions were completely correct.
"Second-order... Heavenly Frost Ice Blade Talisman?"
"After use, not only will violent cold air freeze the surroundings, but it will also summon three ice blades that slice through everything ahead..."
Fang Qing only injected a sliver of mana, trying to activate it, when he felt as if there was a vortex within the talisman that wanted to suck away most of his mana.
"As expected... for us Qi Refinement cultivators, second-order talismans are still too overpowering. The mana consumption is difficult to bear even for late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators... More crucially, after activation, it feels somewhat indiscriminate between friend and foe."
Without divine sense, it would likely be very difficult to specifically control the directions of the three ice blades; at that time, one could only leave it to fate.
'If that Hua Clan cultivator had used it, why would it have seemed more like a mutual destruction technique?'
'Indeed... he had escaped through layers of pursuit and was already at his last gasp, right? This "Heavenly Frost Ice Blade Talisman" was probably his final trump card.'
'I mustn't fall into such a state. I should take this as a warning.'
...
Bihai Gate.
"The resources obtained this time are enough for me to attempt refining second-order pills dozens of times... It's just that the source can't be explained, so I must act secretly. Best would be to use my own spiritual pool to refine pills."
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
Second-order spiritual pools were standard equipment for second-order pill refiners. Especially the best few spring eyes, which had long been occupied by Fuyunzi and other Pill Island elders.
Even an ordinary second-order low-grade spiritual pool required at least a first-order high-grade pill refiner to qualify for application!
'If only the spiritual pool in my cave abode were second-order... Unfortunately, this requires a second-order earth master and formation master... With my current connections, I can't invite them at all.'
'So, it's best to successfully certify as a first-order high-grade pill refiner, then apply?'
Fang Qing returned to his own cave abode and saw a voice transmission talisman flying about randomly.
He casually pinched it, and Hua Lingsu's voice entered his ears: "Junior Brother Fang... the first-order high-grade pill refiner examination has been arranged. Please come to the Pill Hall half a month from now."
"Oh? The first-order high-grade pill refiner examination is about to begin?"
Fang Qing was slightly expectant: "I wonder which proctor was arranged for me?"
In reality, with his current level, the possibility of failure in refining first-order high-grade pills was infinitely close to zero.
Half a month later.
Pill Hall.
"So you're the one taking the first-order high-grade pill refiner exam? Good, good... our Pill Island is truly producing talents in succession."
An old man with aged features, completely white hair, and a blackwood hairpin looked at Fang Qing.
"Fang Qing greets Elder Han!"
Fang Qing saluted. He had seen this elder before when attending lectures at the Pill Cauldron Terrace.
Supposedly, he was a second-order mid-grade pill refiner with quite extraordinary pill refining arts.
"Mm... to promote to first-order high-grade pill refiner, you need to refine three different types of first-order high-grade pills. For each type, you have three attempts."
Elder Han waved his hand, handing a storage bag to Fang Qing: "Follow me!"
Fang Qing followed Elder Han all the way to the mountainside of Cold Spring Peak.
This place was shrouded in mist year-round, obscured by formations.
And when Elder Han took out his elder token and formed a hand seal, a patch of dense mist dispersed, revealing a spirit spring.
"Second-order low-grade—'Cold Marrow Spring.' You may use it as you wish for one month. How about it?"
Elder Han asked casually.
"Agreed!"
Fang Qing flicked up a thread of water, feeling its properties, and nodded slightly: "This junior wishes to refine 'Qi Refinement Powder,' 'Replenishing Qi Pill,' and 'Restoring Origin Pill'..."
He looked at the surroundings concealed by dense mist, praising inwardly: 'If I can rent such a second-order spirit spring later, with formation protection, it wouldn't be too bad...'
But in the next instant, Fang Qing's mind entered a profound state. He took out a stalk of Qi Refinement Flower, the main ingredient for Qi Refinement Powder, and tossed it into the Cold Marrow Spring.