Vessel of Worlds

"All ten islands of the Outer Star Sea have markets like this one," Fairy Hongchen explained to Andy. "The entire Outer Star Sea's markets are controlled by the Outer Sea Merchant Alliance, one of the Star Sea's four great merchant alliances. Everything—the security of these ten islands, the teleportation formations, the market shops—was developed and is monopolized by them."

"The market may be small, but it's remarkably convenient. It mainly has shops that buy and sell beast materials and beast cores, jade slips with charts of the nearby waters and beast information, plus artifacts, formations, talismans, and the like. Small as a sparrow, but complete in all its organs. Many cultivators sell their unwanted beast materials directly to the Alliance shops here for convenience. The Alliance then resells those materials in the Inner Star Sea at slightly higher prices and pockets a tidy margin."

Even as Fairy Hongchen spoke, Xi Feng walked into a shop and addressed an attendant: "I need a chart of the nearby waters and detailed beast information."

The attendant—remarkably, a Foundation Establishment cultivator himself—answered briskly: "A basic sea chart is fifty spirit stones, a detailed one two hundred. Beast information is one hundred."

Not cheap at all, Andy thought.

Xi Feng didn't bat an eye. He produced three hundred low-grade spirit stones without hesitation and purchased two jade slips—one bearing a fine-detailed sea chart, the other the beast information.

Once they reached a quiet spot, he took out several blank jade slips, copied the information onto them, and handed one set to each person.

The five then sank their spiritual sense into the slips and studied the charts and text within.

A short while later, every face had turned grave.

Xi Feng spoke first. "It seems the rumored beast tide is looking more and more real. According to this information, beast numbers in the nearby waters have risen considerably over the past two or three years."

"A beast tide? What does that mean?" Andy asked, puzzled.

"Beasts breed far faster than humans. However many are hunted down each year, more are born and grow to maturity—they can never be culled completely. They say that roughly every thousand years, a so-called tide of beasts erupts. When it does, staggering numbers of high-ranked beasts appear in swarms throughout the Outer Star Sea. According to the records of past tides, packs of rank-seven beasts appear around Island Five and beyond, actively attacking the islands held by human cultivators. All waters beyond Island Five are closed, and the cultivators are forced back to Island Four. During one particularly savage tide, the beasts pushed all the way to Island Three, and the cultivators slaughtered along the way numbered in the tens of thousands. Lately there's been talk that the next millennial tide will erupt within a few decades at the soonest, a century or so at the latest. When that time comes, the cultivators of the Outer Star Sea will be praying just to protect themselves—no one will dare go out hunting. Even a Core Formation senior, surrounded by several hundred rank-three and rank-four beasts, could only perish. Nothing to do but wait patiently for forty or fifty years until the tide gradually subsides." Fairy Hongchen's expression was somber as she explained.

"Whether the prediction is accurate, who can say—but it's beyond dispute that beast numbers and density have clearly risen these past years. That actually makes finding prey easier for us. As for the chance of running into a high-ranked beast—we stay alert and give them a wide berth," Xi Feng said.

"Right! Big Brother has it exactly. We've come all this way—are we supposed to go home empty-handed?" Xun San chimed in.

"Kill!" Di Er said—one word, position perfectly clear.

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Hongchen showed a flicker of hesitation, but after a moment she too agreed to press on.

Andy naturally raised no objection, though privately his guard rose another notch.

"Let's move," Xi Feng said. "We head northwest first—rank-five beasts are scarce there. Once the five of us have our coordination down, we'll work our way east and hunt a rank-five."

Xi Feng produced a curved rectangular shield, shaped like half a bamboo tube split lengthwise, and deployed it horizontally in the air, where it expanded to three or four zhang across.

From the spiritual power the artifact gave off, Andy judged it a peak-grade defensive artifact.

Xi Feng leapt aboard first. "Everyone up. Flying on this defensive artifact isn't fast, but it will keep the beasts in these waters from catching us with a sneak attack."

Andy and the others flew up onto the shield. The curved artifact projected a pale golden barrier that enclosed the whole group.

Used for flight, the defensive artifact was indeed slow. A Foundation Establishment cultivator flying unaided would have been somewhat faster; if Andy pushed the Wind-Treader Dragon to full speed, he could have left it far behind with ease.

And so the party drifted northwest. The five took turns feeding spiritual power into the shield to maintain the pale golden barrier, and whenever they spotted a deserted island, they stopped to meditate and replenish what they'd spent.

Half a month later, on a reef island several hundred zhang across, the five discovered a clam beast about a zhang in size, contentedly gnawing on rocks covered in red moss.

Judging by the spiritual power it radiated, it was a rank-three clam beast. With its two great crimson shells—like a pair of massive shields—the creature would give what looked like a casual open-and-snap, grinding a chi-wide block of stone to powder, then extend a pair of fleshy feet, two chi long and white as jade, to sweep the crumbs into its mouth.

"That's the Blood Mist Clam, a rank-three beast. Aside from spraying a poisonous red fog, its offense and agility are unremarkable. But those two shells are extraordinarily tough—even peak-grade artifacts can barely damage them. Di Er, Fourth Sister—circle quietly behind it and make sure it doesn't bolt when it's losing. Xun San—when the opening comes, wedge the Wave-Rolling Halberd between its shells so it can't close. The halberd's材质 will hold; the clam can't damage it. Zhao Five—the moment it shows a gap, drive your flying needles into the soft body inside. Take care not to pierce the pearl-like core. I'll strike it head-on and force it to give us that opening." Xi Feng clearly knew this beast inside and out, assigning each role with practiced fluency.

The others nodded. Di Er and Hongchen peeled off left and right, slowly encircling the clam.

A rank-three beast's intelligence was scarcely higher than that of ordinary birds and fish. The Blood Mist Clam's two fist-sized eyes had already spotted the human cultivators a hundred zhang off, but it sensed no danger and went on enjoying its meal.

Only when the five closed in slowly to form a ring some twenty zhang across did it stop feeding, its two great eyes darting warily about.

"Now!" Xi Feng called softly. Both hands swept out, and a gleaming golden meteor hammer, roughly a zhang long and bristling with spikes a chi in length, hurtled toward the clam trailing a cutting wind.

Xun San's blue halberd was hardly slower, slashing down as a streak of blue light.

A red paper fan appeared in Di Er's hand, waving gently. Hongchen deployed two earthen-yellow flying blades to cut off the clam's retreat.

Andy shook both sleeves, and seven or eight points of red light shot toward the clam at blinding speed—launched last, arriving first.

The clam took fright, bellowing out a sound like a lowing ox, and sprayed a cloud of bright red blood-fog that swallowed its form. In the same instant its two shells clamped shut, sealing its whole body inside without the slightest gap.

Two crisp clinks rang out—the flying needles indeed failed to pierce the shells' defense, leaving only impressions half a cun deep.

Close behind, the meteor hammer, the blue halberd, and the two yellow flying blades all crashed against the shells without breaking through—though the hammer's sheer power drew another anguished bovine bellow from the creature.

The group's barriers meant they had nothing to fear from the sprayed blood-fog, but the fog had hidden the clam's body from view.

Di Er snapped his paper fan at the beast several times. A great wind gusted forth, scattering the blood-fog in an instant and exposing the clam once more.

Xi Feng drove the meteor hammer down in another savage blow—this one actually crushed a shallow, chi-wide dent into the shell. The clam, in pain, parted its shells a crack. Xun San had been waiting for exactly that: quick as thought, he rammed the Wave-Rolling Halberd between the two shells, jamming them open.

Andy was not about to waste such an opening. Several points of red light streamed through the gap in single file and stabbed wildly into the clam's soft body.

The beast let out a few last ox-like wails and died on the spot.