Chapter 18: Oceanic Spirit Stones

Zhang Xiao’s eyes suddenly lit up as he recalled a girl from his elementary school days who was also named Zhao Yan. She had been his desk mate, and he remembered that his grades back then were abysmal, leading him to copy her homework quite often. Later, when they reached the sixth grade, he heard that her family had moved abroad.

He remembered how heartbroken he had been at the time. This girl was also named Zhao Yan! Could there really be such a coincidence in this world?

Zhang Xiao felt a stir in his heart, but he shook his head with a bitter smile. Regardless of whether she was the same person or just shared the same name, since he had already felt a twinge of compassion, he naturally could not stand by and watch. "Sigh, so be it. Doing a good deed for once won't hurt, and I can ask for directions while I'm at it," he thought. With a sudden movement, he descended toward the ground.

"Hmph, you little wench, your mouth is quite tough, isn't it? Just wait and see how I deal with you; I’ll make you wish you were dead," the "Demon Lord" Li sneered, his lecherous gaze sweeping over the two young women.

Zhu Yan’s expression changed. She knew all too well that Demon Lord Li was vicious and notoriously lecherous; any woman who fell into his hands would, nine times out of ten, be tortured to death. At this thought, her face turned deathly pale.

Looking down at Zhao Yan, who had fainted in her arms, Zhu Yan gritted her teeth and said, "Stay back! My parents are elders of the Shuiyue Sect. Take this Dragon-Transformation Grass if you must, but if you dare to touch me or my senior sister, prepare for the wrath of the Shuiyue Sect!" As she spoke, she stepped in front of Zhao Yan to shield her.

At the same time, Zhu Yan quietly drew a dagger, thinking to herself, *If this demon approaches, I will kill my senior sister first, then myself. I will never let him defile us.* Unfortunately, while her resolve was firm, her plan was far too naive.

Demon Lord Li had long since noticed her every move. He sneered, "Hahaha, the Shuiyue Sect? A mere minor sect. You think they can catch me? Hmph, look at how many sects are hunting me down, and yet, what can they do to me? So, you’ve taken out a dagger to commit suicide? Fine, I’ll give you a chance to try. But when you do, I will extract your souls so you cannot be reincarnated, then refine your bodies into puppets and imprison your souls within them, ensuring you suffer forever."

Hearing this, Zhu Yan’s face drained of all color, and the dagger fell from her trembling hand. Seeing this, Li’s eyes lit up; he knew her psychological defenses were crumbling. Just as he was about to speak, a wine jar descended from the sky, silently slamming onto his head.

"Clang!"

The world went dark for Demon Lord Li. Terrified, he assumed it was some sort of magical artifact and struck out with a fist. The jar, being made of simple fired clay, shattered instantly under his blow, but the momentum of his strike continued, bringing his fist into intimate contact with his own face.

"Thud!" A muffled sound rang out. Feeling the burning pain on his face, Li tossed aside the shards of the jar and scanned his surroundings with a murderous glare. "Which expert is playing tricks on me? Show yourself and let’s settle this!"

With his angry roar, demonic energy churned around him, shredding the surrounding grass, flowers, and stones, yet there was no sign of his enemy.

Just then, on a pile of rubble not far away, a white-haired Taoist sat, holding a jar of wine and sipping it leisurely.

Seeing that his demonic energy could not even approach the stranger, Li’s pupils constricted. He scanned the man with his divine sense, but thanks to the myriad of rings Zhang Xiao wore, even the ancient monsters of the nine great sects could not see through his true nature, let alone a minor Demon Lord at the late Nascent Soul stage.

Unable to sense his opponent’s cultivation level, Li began to waver. There were only two possibilities: either the stranger’s strength was many times greater than his own, or he possessed a treasure capable of concealing his cultivation.

Naturally, Li leaned toward the latter. After all, he was already at the late Nascent Soul stage; unless the man was of the demon race, how could anyone be that much stronger than him?

Thinking this, a sharp glint appeared in Li’s eyes. He sneered, "Why do you interfere, Fellow Daoist? If you intend to meddle, I suggest you show me, Li Kun, some respect." The name Li Kun was notorious throughout the waters controlled by the Sea King Palace.

Most people, upon hearing his name, would not dare to challenge him regardless of their strength. Unfortunately, the person he had encountered today was Zhang Xiao.

Zhang Xiao set down his wine jar, sat up from the rubble, and glanced at Li Kun. "Heh, such a beautiful scene, yet you choose to stir up trouble and abduct innocent girls. Sigh, how very unsightly."

Li Kun’s expression darkened. "So, you intend to play the hero? Heh, let’s see if you have the ability to back it up!" As he spoke, his demonic banner erupted with thick, malevolent flames that surged toward Zhang Xiao like a wild python.

Li Kun’s demonic flames were refined from seven types of poisonous, filthy substances, specially designed to destroy magical artifacts and corrupt physical bodies. Very few could withstand them, which was why he had earned such a fearsome reputation; people avoided hunting him down precisely out of fear of these flames.

Facing the azure-blue fire, Zhang Xiao remained seated, motionless, without even bothering to summon a weapon. Seeing this, Li Kun inwardly gloated, thinking Zhang Xiao had been paralyzed by fear.

But just then, Zhang Xiao’s hand rose—slow in appearance but lightning-fast in reality—and he grasped the demonic flames, holding them before him to examine them closely. He then chuckled, "Heh, these flames aren't bad, but you’ve put the cart before the horse. What a waste."

Seeing this, Li Kun realized he had run into a supreme expert. His face turned green, and he prepared to flee. But Zhang Xiao did not move unless he intended to finish the job thoroughly.

With a flick of his wrist, the azure flames Li Kun had unleashed were instantly engulfed by a black flame. "Take a look—this is what true demonic flame looks like." Zhang Xiao tossed it forward. The black fire vanished into thin air, and a spatial rift suddenly split open in front of Li Kun, from which the black flame emerged and struck him square in the chest.

Staring at the black fire on his chest, Li Kun’s face filled with horror. With his experience, he understood the immense power of this flame. He shrieked, "No!"

"Boom!" At his cry, the black flame erupted, consuming him entirely. His flesh was burned away in an instant, leaving only a skeleton and his robes to fall from the sky.

Zhang Xiao gestured, and Li Kun’s storage bag flew into his hand. A quick sweep with his divine sense made his eyes light up. He pulled out a palm-sized crystal. A vast amount of spiritual energy radiated from it—a Third-Grade Spirit Stone: the currency of the sea, used for alchemy, weapon crafting, array formation, and cultivation.

*Not bad. The energy in this Third-Grade Spirit Stone is equivalent to five jade squares, and it's much purer.* Since there was currency in the sea, there must be alternatives to the energy crystals he was used to. If he could acquire such substitutes, it would be nothing but beneficial for him.

"Greetings, Senior. Thank you for saving our lives." Although Zhu Yan had been spoiled since childhood, she was not ungrateful. Seeing Zhang Xiao effortlessly annihilate the notorious Demon Lord Li, she assumed he must be some ancient expert who had emerged after the "Great Change."

Seeing how young he looked, she assumed he merely possessed an art for preserving his youth. She would never have guessed that Zhang Xiao was just an ordinary person from before the Great Change, just like her. Zhang Xiao did not offer any explanation. He shook the crystal in his hand and asked, "I come from the continent, and this is my first time seeing such a stone. Besides third-grade, what is the highest level of spirit stone, and how are they obtained? Please, enlighten me."

Zhu Yan’s eyes widened. "The continent! You mean the Motherland?" Seeing her shock, Zhang Xiao frowned slightly. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Realizing she had been rude, Zhu Yan quickly replied, "No, it's just that the continent is countless miles away, separated by a spatial storm that makes travel impossible. That’s why I was so surprised."

Zhang Xiao was shaken. *A spatial storm?* Could that be why he couldn't sense the spatial coordinates of the Red Blood Ridge?

Seeing his confusion, Zhu Yan explained that after the Great Change, the earth and mountains had expanded many times over, and the oceans had become unimaginably vast, divided into four massive sea regions, each surrounded by a spatial storm. Only those with immense power could traverse these storms to reach other regions.

Zhang Xiao finally understood. He searched through the memories of Iron Tooth and found that this was indeed the case. However, there was no information about spirit stones in those memories, so he asked again, "I see. But you haven't told me about the spirit stones yet."

Zhu Yan blushed, realizing she had gone off-topic. "Spirit stones are the universal currency of the sea, but they are extremely rare. In some remote areas, they aren't produced at all. They are graded from first to ninth rank. To obtain them, besides mining, one can only trade for them in the markets."

"Markets!" Zhang Xiao’s eyes brightened. Zhu Yan then detailed the various powers in the sea. Unlike the continent, humans were very weak here, with the demon race occupying most of the resources, leaving the many human sects quite fragile.

Still, there were some large sects like the Heavenly Spirit Sect, the Chan-Yin Temple, and the Xiaoyao Gate. These powers were vast and possessed countless experts, allowing them to carve out their own territories in the sea.