"Captain Wang, who is this guy?" Li Mu asked Wang Deshan curiously, as the head of 'Immortal Master Zhou' faded into a pale, unfamiliar face after his death.
"He is Mystic Blood Divine Child, one of the Blood God Sect's nine Divine Children. I didn't expect him to die like this!" Wang Deshan exclaimed in surprise, looking at the head.
After speaking, Wang Deshan looked up at Li Mu and praised him respectfully, "Great Master Li, you are truly amazing! I didn't expect your Artifact Refining skills to be so excellent, and your cultivation and battle techniques are also extraordinary! This Mystic Blood Immortal Master cultivated a profound blood art, and even the True Disciples of the Five Sects were helpless against him. He was one of the hot contenders for the next Sect Master of the Blood God Sect, but I never imagined he would die by your hand!"
"Hehe! I just took advantage of my Magic Treasure and Spiritual Artifacts. Is the Blood God Sect that poor? He doesn't even have a decent high-grade Spiritual Artifact on him!" Li Mu replied with a laugh. After checking the storage bracelet he obtained as a spoil of war, he didn't find many valuable items, which was completely inconsistent with what a Golden Core cultivator should possess.
"Uh! The Blood God Sect has always focused on refining blood arts, using blood arts to fight enemies, which are mysterious and unpredictable. Additionally, blood artifacts are difficult to refine, so they don't use too many Spiritual Artifacts, and naturally, they wouldn't carry them," Wang Deshan quickly explained.
Li Mu nodded, no wonder he found a large amount of Materials related to Qi in his storage bracelet.
"Captain Wang, do you know where this place is? How far is it to the next city, and how do we get back?" Li Mu asked, looking at Wang Deshan who was lost in thought.
Hearing this, Wang Deshan snapped out of it, gave Li Mu a resentful look, and said faintly, "This place should be the Hongyun Ridge mountain range. It's about three thousand miles from the next major Immortal Cultivation city, Mojade City. At the speed of the Heavenly Spirit, it would take about an hour to get there!"
...
Li Mu turned to look at the crashed Heavenly Spirit, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.
If he hadn't made a move earlier, it seemed like there would have been no problem for the captain's cabin's defensive array to hold out for another hour.
"Great Master Li, please don't misunderstand, I'm not blaming you. If we had continued to hold out, that Mystic Blood Devil Head would definitely not have let anyone else on the ship go. This time, you saved everyone!" Wang Deshan realized he had misspoken and quickly explained.
"Help!"
No sooner had Wang Deshan finished speaking than a miserable cry came from afar. The passengers who had fled earlier were now flying back on their swords, being chased by a group of Apes, with giant rocks whistling towards them one after another.
Many of the passengers who had scattered earlier had already died or been injured, with less than half of those who fled returning.
...
Li Mu sighed, relieved to find they were being chased by a group of muscular second-order Apes, and quickly moved to help.
A fourth-order Spiritual Sword flashed under his feet, and he flew away on it.
At the same time, five third-order Flying Swords appeared one after another, a Geng Metal Shield followed closely behind, and a square seal also flew out, attacking the Ape group in a swarm.
With a loud "bang," a huge rock smashed into a suddenly appearing golden shield, successfully saving a pale female Qi Refining Cultivator.
With a loud "boom," the massive square seal, like a hundred-zhang mountain Peak, slammed heavily into the group of Apes. In an instant, many second-order Apes fell, spitting blood and seeing stars. The intense recoil severely injured them, bringing the relentless chase of the second-order Ape group to a halt.
"Roar!" A two-zhang tall Ape King roared, beating his chest, and with a grab in the Void Realm, condensed a huge rock, which he hurled whistling towards Li Mu, having already discovered the 'culprit.'
Li Mu quickly remotely controlled the Geng Metal Shield to fly back and meet it.
Unexpectedly, the rock, like a bolt of lightning, suddenly veered, avoiding the Geng Metal Shield, and continued to smash towards him!
It even curves!
That's a bit of a cheat!
Li Mu's Five Elements Spiritual Power flashed all over his body, and his figure transformed into a cloud of dust, disappearing. He used the Five Elements Escape Technique to emerge from an ancient tree, forming a sword art with his hand. Five Five Elements Spirit Swords flew over, quickly merging into a ten-zhang long Five Elements Giant Sword, which he slashed down at the second-order Ape King.
A hint of despair flashed in the second-order Ape King's eyes. Unable to avoid it, he raised both hands, his fur stood on end, and golden light converged.
The Five Elements Giant Sword slashed down fiercely.
With a loud "boom," the massive impact shockwave instantly destroyed countless ancient trees in the vicinity, clearing the world.
However, the Golden Ape still stood, its arms dripping with blood. But its figure had become incomparably majestic, the golden light condensed on its body had deepened by a few points, exuding a fierce and monstrous Demonic Qi, and its Aura was several times stronger than before.
The Ape King's bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at him, filled with killing intent.
"No way! It can still advance in this situation!"
Meeting the Ape King's gaze, Li Mu's face twisted in bitterness, murmuring in disbelief.
Under desperate circumstances, the Peak second-order Ape King, defying adversity, successfully broke through the barrier and advanced to a third-order Yao Beast.
After the five Spiritual Swords merged into one and delivered a single strike, their spirituality was greatly damaged, and after disintegrating, they flew back one after another.
"It's over! The Ape King has advanced, we're finished!"
"My heavens! How can we be so unlucky!"
"Where's that Golden Core Immortal Master! Did he escape?"
...
The hastily returned personnel cried out in despair.
Wang Deshan's face became incredibly grim. Having just escaped from the Mystic Blood Immortal Master's hands, he didn't expect to immediately encounter a third-order Demon King. Could Great Master Li still create a miracle?
The strength of an ordinary third-order Yao Beast is almost the same as that of a Golden Core cultivator, not to mention that this Ape Demon is also a Demon King. Its Aptitude and strength are several points stronger than ordinary Yao Beasts. Although it broke through during the battle, this further indicates its extremely outstanding Aptitude.
Only young, exceptionally talented Demon Kings can break through during battle, using the battle to promote their growth.
"Roar!" The third-order Ape King roared to the sky, beating its chest, its Battle Intent soaring, its gaze at Li Mu filled with provocation.
Li Mu silently waved his hand, putting the five third-order Five Elements Spirit Swords into the nine storage spiritual pearl. There was no other way! Even third-order Spiritual Swords couldn't take it down, so he could only use fourth-order ones!
Li Mu released the fourth-order Spiritual Sword under his feet, and then summoned another four fourth-order Spiritual Swords from his storage compartment. Li Mu had specially prepared replacement fourth-order Five Elements Spiritual Swords using the high-grade Materials from Wanbao Pavilion's commission.
Although he had already reached Foundation Establishment, controlling five fourth-order Spiritual Swords at once was still a bit strenuous, so when fighting 'Immortal Master Zhou,' Li Mu mainly used third-order Spiritual Swords to fight the enemy.
This Ape King had thick skin and flesh. Even with five third-order Spiritual Swords combined, he couldn't take it down, and it even advanced during the battle. Without fourth-order Spiritual Swords, he definitely wouldn't be able to defeat it.
Five fourth-order Spiritual Swords appeared one after another, emitting a strong spiritual light and an astonishing killing intent.
The third-order Ape King stopped beating its chest and roaring, staring at the five fourth-order Spiritual Swords, its expression gradually becoming solemn.
Seeing the five fourth-order Spiritual Swords appear, Wang Deshan finally understood Great Master Li's earlier remark about 'taking advantage of Magic Treasure and Spiritual Artifacts.'
How is this taking advantage! This is clearly bullying people with wealth! No, bullying Yao Beasts!
The desperate crowd's pessimistic cries abruptly ceased, and they looked at the five fourth-order Spiritual Swords appearing simultaneously with pleasant surprise.
"Haha! We're saved, we're saved! So many fourth-order Spiritual Swords!"
"Captain Wang, who is that person! His wealth is extraordinary!"
"Shopkeeper Huang kept pestering him, calling him Great Master Li!"
"So that's it! He's an Artifact Refining Grandmaster! No wonder!"
...
Everyone was overjoyed and discussed it heatedly as if celebrating.
"Roar!" The third-order Ape King roared at Li Mu, then suddenly turned and ran, 'whoosh!' The other Apes, seeing this, quickly followed suit and ran away in a swarm!
Li Mu was stunned. He had taken out all his trump card Spiritual Swords, but his opponent ran away!
"Haha! This Demon King is very smart! It knows it can't win!"
"It ran away! It actually ran away!"
"Alas! If Great Master Li had appeared earlier, Wang Yi wouldn't have had to die!"
"What are you thinking! Great Master Li was fighting that Golden Core just now! How could he have had time to save anyone!"
...
The crowd talked back and forth, sometimes happy, sometimes sad.
...
Li Mu heard their discussion but ignored it, putting the five fourth-order Spiritual Swords, the Geng Metal Shield, and the Ruyi Seal back into the nine storage spiritual pearl.
"Oh!" Li Mu flew forward and found a cub lying on the ground, left behind by the Ape group. It seemed to be alive, probably knocked unconscious by the impact just now, and didn't seem to have suffered any injuries.
Looking at the Ape cub lying on the ground, Li Mu couldn't help but remember something he had kept at the bottom of his box. His Divine Sense immediately found the target in his storage compartment.
A Golden Ape beast hide recording two spiritual wine recipes.
【Golden Ape Belly Skin】
【Grade: Third-order Spiritual Item】
【Special Effects: Demonic Script Concealed, Impervious to Water and Fire】
【The Golden Ape Belly Skin, etched with Demonic Blood, has carried for a thousand years the Legacy of the Golden Ape clan - the Hundred Fruits Spirit Monkey Wine - brewing spiritual formula. Infusing it with Ape Demonic Qi can reveal the Legacy of this spiritual wine's creation.】
【Yellow Ginseng Spirit Wine】
【Grade: First-order Low Grade】
【Special Effects: Strengthens Spirit and Awakens Soul, Removes Blood and Moistens Lungs】
【First-order Yellow Ginseng Spirit Wine recipe, a Legacy of three hundred years, created by the Sun Family in imitation of the Hundred Fruits Monkey Spirit Wine. Main ingredients: Yellow Ganoderma, Hundred Flower Ginseng, brewed with secret methods. Long-term consumption has a weak effect of Body Tempering and strengthening the spirit.】
Li Mu immediately formed the Spirit Control Contract Seal, imprinted a Spirit Control Seal Contract into the Ape cub's Divine Soul, and casually put it into his Spirit Beast Pouch.
Li Mu then cleaned up the battlefield. The fourth-order Ruyi Square Seal's smash into the Ape group earlier had yielded remarkable results; many second-order Apes were either dead or injured.
For the injured ones, Li Mu delivered a sword strike to end their suffering, easing their pain.
These second-order Golden Apes were excellent Materials for refining second-order Golden Sword Talismans and Golden Armor Talismans, so Li Mu couldn't miss them. He peeled them, taking the Ape corpses into the newly acquired storage bracelet.
The others, under Wang Deshan's command, began to move useful spiritual items from the treasure ship, and collect the bodies of their dead and injured companions. The scene was bustling.
"Captain Wang, can I have the head of this 'Mystic Blood Divine Child'? I plan to join the Qingxuan Sect, and the Qingxuan Sect has a bounty on this 'Mystic Blood Divine Child's' head, which I can exchange for a good amount of contribution points," Li Mu walked up to Wang Deshan and asked somewhat awkwardly.
"Of course, it should be yours. This is your spoil of war. However, this person robbed our Wanbao Pavilion ship, Great Master Li, could I borrow this head first? I need to use it as proof with a few managers in the Pavilion. Would it be alright if I have someone return the head to Great Master Li later?" Wang Deshan explained awkwardly to Li Mu.
"Alright! When will your sect's reinforcement ship arrive?" Li Mu nodded understandingly and asked with concern.
Wang Deshan was about to answer when, at that moment, a faint rumble of thunder came from the sky, growing louder and closer.
Li Mu, Wang Deshan, and the surviving group all looked up.