Chapter 386 - 356: Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile

After venturing several thousand more miles into the Outer Sea, it was just as he had expected: the Vast Sea Cultivators he once encountered almost daily were now a rare sight.

The boundless, vast sea was empty and monotonous.

The only change, perhaps, was the increasingly dense Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth.

Unfettered by the order of the Cultivation Immortal Realm, the countless Spirit Vein Lands in this boundless Vast Sea were still freely releasing Spiritual Qi into the world, nourishing all living things.

Suddenly, Chu Mu even felt that the existence of such a boundless Sea of Demonic Beasts might actually be the best thing for this Cultivation Immortal Realm.

'Otherwise,' he thought, 'if the order of the Cultivation Immortal Realm covered the entire world, then without a doubt, all Spirit Vein Lands would be occupied by Cultivators.'

'It's just like the Great Chu Inland—countless Spirit Veins, countless Marketplaces, yet the Spiritual Qi in the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World is undeniably barren.'

'If the entire Cultivation Immortal Realm were under the same order as Great Chu, then undoubtedly, this world would transform into vast stretches of Absolute Spirit Land, with the sole exception of the rooms within the Marketplaces.'

'If it really came to that, the ripple effects...'

Just the thought sent a shiver down Chu Mu's spine.

He never dared to overestimate the moral bottom line of ordinary people.

As for the moral bottom line of Cultivators...

'Do Cultivators even have a moral bottom line?'

'Perhaps some do, but the vast majority probably don't.'

'Even he himself, after all these years, seemed to have grown more accustomed to this Cultivation Immortal Realm. His so-called moral bottom line had also become increasingly flexible.'

'After all, he was a Cultivator too, and he needed immense resources to help him advance further on his Immortal Path.'

'And no resource would ever just fall into his hands for no reason.'

It was just that, for now, he was still at a stage where he had to do everything himself.

WHIMPER WHIMPER WHIMPER...

At that moment, Wangcai let out a few sudden whimpers, pulling Chu Mu from his heavy thoughts.

He was stunned for a moment, but then, as if sensing something, his gaze sharpened and locked onto the projection screen before him.

On one of the screens, which projected the view from a Hunting Falcon Puppet, the previously monotonous scenery of the deep sea had changed.

The schools of various sea fish were gone. Amidst the dark waters, a forest of coral reefs stood—normally a favorite spot for marine life, but now, it was eerily silent, devoid of any living creature.

Through the unique aura-sensing framework of the Hunting Falcon Puppet, the faint aura of a Demon Beast was clearly detectable.

In the mortal world, wild beasts marked their territory with scent. It was just like Wangcai back then, who, relying on the powerful physique Chu Mu had cultivated for him with medicine, had practically pissed all over Jingmen City. He had become the undisputed king there, gathering a large following of underlings.

Demon Beasts, on the other hand, marked their territory with their aura.

This was something he had learned firsthand long ago in the East Lake Secret Realm.

Driven by instinct, a Demon Beast would designate a safe zone for itself, commonly known as its territory.

The method for marking this territory was to leave behind its own powerful aura in various locations to intimidate nearby Demon Beasts.

Any intruders would be met with a fight to the death.

Even social Demon Beasts had their own territories. However, due to their communal nature, their sense of danger was much weaker. Unlike solitary Demon Beasts, they wouldn't mark out vast territories, instead merely treating their nests as forbidden ground.

And the scene before him was, without a doubt, the territory of a Demon Beast.

As for this Demon Beast's Cultivation...

"Tier Two... Late Stage."

Chu Mu murmured, his earlier absent-mindedness vanishing in an instant.

He stared intently at the projection screen. With a single thought, the Flying Boat, which had been slowly advancing through the sky, came to a halt.

Using his connection to the Hunting Falcon Puppets, he sent out a series of commands. All the deployed puppets, except for a few patrolling the hundred-mile perimeter, began heading toward this dead sea region.

Plan before you act. He had prepared numerous measures for this trip to sea and had no need to take excessive risks.

Several Hunting Falcon Puppets, in Concealment mode, locked onto the dead sea region from every possible angle.

Before long, a massive shadow appeared among the coral reefs in the puppets' reconnaissance feed.

"A Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile!"

Chu Mu's expression grew solemn. Among Cultivators, even those at the same realm could have vastly different levels of strength and techniques.

For Demon Beasts, however, this gap was even more pronounced due to the influence of their bloodlines.

According to the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World's classification system, bloodlines were divided into four tiers: Celestial, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Each tier was further subdivided into Upper, Middle, and Lower grades.

These four tiers of bloodlines corresponded to the four major cultivation realms, from Qi Cultivation to Nascent Soul.

Yellow Tier was the lowest, and Celestial Tier was the highest.

For example, Wangcai's Vajra Wolf Bloodline was classified as Earth Tier Lower Grade, which meant it had the potential to reach the Golden Core Realm.

The Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile before him also belonged to the Earth Tier Lower Grade classification.

This classification system was somewhat unreasonable. After all, by its logic, the Flood Dragon Bloodline was classified as Celestial Tier Upper Grade.

But clearly, a Flood Dragon was still just a Flood Dragon.

According to the legends of the Cultivation Immortal Realm, Flood Dragons were merely the lowest class of dragon-kind.

However, this system of classification did fit the current state of the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

After all, those other beings had vanished for countless years, becoming legends even among legends.

As for the power of an Earth Tier Lower Grade Bloodline, Wangcai was undoubtedly the best point of reference.

Its physique was so powerful that even Chu Mu himself couldn't hope to compare.

Furthermore, bloodlines that reached the Earth Tier would inevitably possess a bloodline inheritance.

Although Wangcai had yet to reveal any such inheritance, ever since the Vajra Wolf Bloodline was transplanted into him, his combat awareness had taken a quantum leap.

It was like a killing instinct honed through countless battles; Chu Mu also couldn't hope to match Wangcai's grasp of opportune moments in a fight.

And from the details he had learned about bloodlines in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, these inheritances were bizarre and varied.

Some were Divine Techniques, while others were unique talents like Wangcai's. But according to the Demon Beast Atlas, the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile's was even more formidable.

A Tier Two Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile's body was like solid metal, no less durable than an ordinary defensive Spiritual Artifact. Moreover, when faced with a life-or-death threat, it would enter a special berserk state.

In this state, the crocodile's physical strength would multiply exponentially.

The atlas recorded that even an ordinary Top Grade defensive Spiritual Artifact would struggle to withstand a berserk Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile.

Most importantly, the source of a Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile's power in its berserk state was its bloodline and its Demon Pill.

By burning its bloodline and Demon Pill, it achieved a temporary leap in power.

After this berserk state ended, the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile would inevitably drop in realm, its bloodline and Demon Pill would be severely damaged, and its body would degenerate.

In other words, unless one could kill the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile instantly or prevent it from going berserk, hunting it was a completely thankless task.

After all, the most precious parts of a Demon Beast were its bloodline and Demon Pill, followed by its physical body.

Since this Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile went berserk by destroying its own foundation, even if one went to great lengths to kill it, the effort would be for naught.

Chu Mu pondered for a moment, his eyes scanning the surrounding sea before settling on a nearby island. After another moment of contemplation, the hovering Flying Boat suddenly accelerated and landed on it.

Though it appeared to be an island, it was actually just a few coral reefs breaking the surface. He had already thoroughly surveyed this reef, inside and out, through the Hunting Falcon's reconnaissance system.

He wasn't certain he could kill a Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile in a single blow, but he was fairly confident he could hunt it down quickly.

The only problem was how to prevent the crocodile from going berserk during that short window of time.

Chu Mu strolled around the coral reef, lost in thought. With a wave of his hand, a Flaming Blade materialized. The blade was wreathed in True Flame, and a faint metallic luster mingling with the fire gave it a tangible quality.

Then, with another wave of his hand, twelve Human-shaped Puppets landed on the reef. The moment they touched down, they seemed to receive a command and instantly moved to their designated positions.

With a faint shimmer of light, the twelve puppets standing on the reef seemed to melt into it, disappearing from sight.

All twelve puppets were Tier Two Lower Grade.

To be precise, all twelve puppets were of the Water Attribute.

The Spiritual Materials used in their construction were all of the Water Attribute, making them feel right at home in the boundless Vast Sea.

Furthermore, the Small Celestial Array he had acquired back in Jingmen was linked to these twelve puppets.

Although using puppets for Array Formation would weaken its Mighty Power considerably, it offered an advantage that a fixed Grand Array could never match.

The array could move with the puppets, effectively creating a mobile Small Celestial Array!

With the power of this array, once the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile was caught within it, it would undoubtedly be completely restrained in an instant.

After setting up the Grand Array, Chu Mu inspected it carefully one more time. Then, with a flicker of his thoughts, the reconnaissance projection from the Hunting Falcon Puppet reappeared.

In the depths of the sea, the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile was still sleeping. Its massive body, nearly a hundred feet long, lay sprawled among the coral reefs like an undersea mountain range.

He leaped into the air, standing tall in the sky, and personally scanned the surrounding several hundred miles one more time. After confirming there were no anomalies, one of the Hunting Falcon Puppets still observing the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile in Concealment mode suddenly revealed itself.

With a flash of Spiritual Qi, the Hunting Falcon Puppet shot through the water. Its speed and Power, enough to pulp an ordinary fish, only left a faint white mark upon impact with the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile.

Though the damage was negligible, to the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile, it was clearly an unforgivable provocation.

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