OBS Chapter 1390 Hunting Monsters in the Alien Sea
Chapter 1390 Hunting Monsters in the Alien Sea
Chapter 1390 Hunting Monsters in the Alien Sea
The ink dragon boat was extremely fast, and Qin Hao quickly returned to his cave at Tianzhu Peak.
Yanli and Yuanyao were cultivating in their cave when they sensed Qin Hao's return and hurriedly went out to greet him.
"Senior." The two women bowed gracefully.
Qin Hao nodded slightly, took out two jade bottles from his storage bag, and handed them to Yanli: "These are two Foundation Establishment Pills. You are now at the peak of Qi Refining. When the time is right, you can try to establish your foundation."
Then he took out some pills and distributed them to the two women: "These are 'Condensing Essence Pills' and 'Nourishing Essence Pills,' which will greatly benefit your Foundation Establishment stage cultivation. Cultivate diligently and do not slack off."
The two women accepted the pills, their faces filled with gratitude and joy: "Thank you so much for the pills, Senior! We will definitely cultivate diligently and live up to your expectations!"
Qin Hao said no more and turned to walk straight to his private weapon-refining stone chamber.
After piling the materials he had just bought from Miaoyinfang on the ground, Qin Hao began to make the puppet.
The heavy stone door slowly closed, shutting out all outside sounds.
In the center of the weapon-refining room is a weapon-refining furnace engraved with intricate array patterns, and various weapon-refining tools and materials are displayed on the shelves on the surrounding walls.
With a wave of his hand, Qin Hao piled up a large amount of materials he had purchased from Miaoyin Workshop on the open ground in the center of the stone chamber.
The deep brown "Three-Hundred-Year-Old Ironwood Heart" exudes a cold, hard metallic luster and is incredibly heavy; the bluish-black "Deep Sea Cold Iron" has fine frost condensed on its surface and is icy cold to the touch; the crimson "Fire-Melting Crystal" emits a scorching aura, as if magma is flowing inside; there is also the extremely resilient "Golden Silk Nanmu," "Mithril Silk" which serves as an energy conduction medium, and so on... A dazzling array, full of spiritual energy.
Qin Hao sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment to adjust his state to the best.
When he opened his eyes again, they gleamed with a sharp light. This time, he was going to create a level four combat puppet, equivalent to the combat power of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. The difficulty of its creation and the rarity of the materials required far surpassed that of ordinary puppets. The value of the materials alone required to create a level four puppet was enough to forge a top-tier, exquisite magic weapon, something that ordinary cultivators could not afford.
He first picked up a piece of "three-hundred-year-old ironwood heart," about the size of a human head. This wood was harder than iron and was the core material for making the puppet's torso and skeleton. Qin Hao held his fingers together like a sword, his fingertips emitting pale golden flames, and carefully began to shape it.
The temperature of the alchemical fire was extremely high, yet Qin Hao controlled it precisely. The hard ironwood core was molded into the required shape like soft mud under the alchemical fire—pieces of skeletal components with distinct edges and exquisite structures.
The joint connections are crucial, requiring both strength and flexibility. Qin Hao selected a mixture of "deep-sea cold iron" and "fire-melted crystal" for the smelting process.
He first threw the cold iron into the refining furnace, calcining it with alchemical fire until it turned red-hot and softened, then added an appropriate amount of fire-melting crystal powder. The two began to fuse under high temperature, and Qin Hao continuously infused them with stable and resilient incantations, while meticulously controlling the fusion process with his divine sense.
The final product was a liquid alloy with a dark golden color and strange energy fluctuations. He poured this liquid alloy into a pre-prepared mold, and after cooling, he obtained a series of complex joint connectors that shimmered with a cold metallic light.
Next came the inscription of runes and energy circuits. Qin Hao took out a "mithril wire" as thin as a hair, and using his divine sense as a guide and the alchemical fire as a brush, he began to inscribe densely packed, incredibly profound micro-runes on the puppet's skeletal components and joint connectors.
These runes are the core of the puppet's actions and the driving force of spells, requiring extremely high levels of spiritual control and mastery of rune techniques. Qin Hao was completely focused, the flames at his fingertips remained steady without the slightest tremor, and the mithril threads moved with his will, leaving behind energy pathways that shimmered with faint light on the surface of the material.
He did not inscribe a single rune, but a complex array composed of hundreds of basic runes, involving multiple aspects such as power transmission, command reception, energy buffering, and basic defense.
Once all the parts were carved, Qin Hao began assembly. He precisely pieced together the ironwood core skeleton with the cold iron fire-melted crystal joints.
The entire assembly process was like building a precision instrument, allowing no room for error. As the last component was fitted in perfectly, a puppet skeleton, shaped like a human warrior and composed entirely of dark brown bones, stood in the center of the stone chamber.
Although it has not yet been activated, its smooth lines, solid structure, and the faint glow of runes covering its entire body already subtly reveal its extraordinary aura.
But this only completed the outer shell. Qin Hao took out several pieces of cut "golden nanmu" wood. This spiritual wood has excellent toughness and is the ideal material to cover the skeleton, forming "muscles" and "skin".
He once again used his inner fire and divine sense to soften and shape the golden nanmu wood, covering and inlaying it piece by piece onto the puppet's skeleton like armor, forming smooth muscle lines and a sturdy protective shell.
Finally, he left a fist-sized indentation on the puppet's chest, where the driving core—the spirit stone—would be placed.
Thus, the physical structure of a level four puppet was initially completed. It stood quietly, with sharp lines and a precise structure, its entire body radiating a cold, hard luster that blended metal and spirit wood. The runes covering its body appeared and disappeared in the dim stone chamber, like a sleeping steel behemoth, waiting only for a soul to be infused into it to awaken.
……
Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
The once spacious stone chamber for refining weapons was now filled with countless figures. Hundreds of level-four puppets of various shapes and sizes, radiating a cold metallic luster, were neatly arranged. Some were humanoid warriors wielding swords, some were beast-like puppets resembling tigers and cheetahs, and others were complex, multi-armed, multi-legged alien puppets.
Each one possessed sleek lines, intricate structure, and faintly visible runes, standing silently like an iron legion awaiting inspection. The cave was filled with the aura of spirit wood, metal, and lingering alchemical fire.
The sheer scale and material consumption of crafting over a hundred level-four puppets would be prohibitive for most Core Formation cultivators. It was only thanks to Qin Hao's substantial wealth and the assistance of an AI that his success rate was so high that he avoided bankruptcy.
Moreover, creating puppets and shaping their bodies is only the first step. The real difficulty lies in giving these bodies a soul. It must be admitted that the Great Evolution God is simply a genius of all time, actually creating such a mysterious and unpredictable secret technique as the "Soul Splitting Technique".
The "Soul Splitting Technique," as the name suggests, involves forcibly splitting off a wisp of one's own divine soul essence, as if severing the soul itself. This wisp of soul is permanently bound to the puppet's core, becoming a "soul imprint" that allows for complete control over the puppet. The process is extremely painful, striking directly at the depths of the soul.
Qin Hao sat cross-legged in the center of the stone chamber, his expression solemn. He took a deep breath, activating the powerful divine sense of the peak third level of the Great Evolution Technique, concentrating his mind intensely. The next moment, a resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and the powerful divine sense, like an invisible blade, pierced fiercely towards the very essence of his soul!
"Ugh—!"
Even with Qin Hao's unwavering will, he couldn't help but let out a suppressed groan. An indescribable, soul-deep pain instantly swept through his body, as if his entire consciousness was being torn apart. Cold sweat soaked his clothes instantly, and his face turned as pale as paper. He endured this inhuman pain, carefully guiding the forcibly separated wisp of his soul, as weak as a candle in the wind, slowly into the control core in the chest of the humanoid puppet before him.
hum!
The moment the wisp of soul successfully merged into the core magic array, two faint red lights suddenly lit up in the puppet's empty eye sockets, and its entire body trembled almost imperceptibly, as if it had been given the most basic life.
Qin Hao felt a mysterious connection established between himself and the puppet, as if he had gained an extra "limb" that he could control at will.
Once the branding was complete, Qin Hao immediately stopped casting the spell, feeling utterly exhausted, his aura weakened. The lingering pain of his soul being torn apart still echoed in his mind, giving him a splitting headache.
He immediately closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, circulating the Great Evolution Technique to slowly repair his damaged soul. At the same time, he swallowed the nourishing pills he had prepared beforehand. This process usually took one or two hours to barely recover before he could proceed with the next soul-splitting imprint.
This cycle repeated itself, branding one body, resting for an hour or two, and then branding the next body... It was this long and painful process that consumed most of Qin Hao's time for half a year.
After Qin Hao finished his meditation, he opened his eyes. Although his face was still somewhat pale, his eyes had regained their clarity. He walked to a tiger-shaped puppet that had just been branded, took out a mid-grade spirit stone, and precisely embedded it into the groove at the core of its chest.
hum!
The moment the spirit stone was embedded, the rune array at the core of the puppet suddenly lit up, and a surge of spiritual power flowed rapidly through the energy circuits throughout its body. The metal tiger abruptly raised its head, its limbs making slight "clicking" sounds, and began to move around, shaking its head and swaying its body.
Qin Hao carefully observed the tiger-shaped puppet's movements, frowning slightly: "The movements are still somewhat sluggish and lack spirit. Compared to those puppets that have sealed the spirits of demonic beasts, it is indeed much worse in terms of flexibility and combat instinct."
"However, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we're about to set off for the outer sea to hunt monsters. We can seal the cores of these puppets with suitable spirits, and they will naturally be reborn."
With this in mind, Qin Hao no longer hesitated. He waved his hand, and his powerful divine sense enveloped the entire stone chamber. Hundreds of level-four puppets of various shapes transformed into streaks of light and were all stored in a specially made, enormous storage bag. The stone chamber instantly became spacious.
Qin Hao straightened his robes, pushed open the heavy stone door, and walked out.
The cave hall was quiet. A sweep of his divine sense revealed that Yuan Yao and Yan Li were both in seclusion in their respective quiet chambers, their breathing steady. Qin Hao didn't disturb them, but simply left a communication talisman on the jade table in the hall, briefly explaining that he would be going to the outer star sea to hunt demons, with no return date certain, and instructing them to cultivate diligently.
After leaving the cave, Qin Hao once again piloted the Ink Dragon Boat, heading straight for the core area of Tianxing City—the inner city.
The inner city was heavily guarded. Qin Hao showed his Core Formation cultivator identity token and paid a considerable amount of spirit stones as a teleportation fee before he was allowed to enter a massive teleportation hall with extremely tight security.
In the center of the main hall, a giant teleportation array with a diameter of over ten zhang, engraved with countless complex spatial runes and exuding an ancient and weathered aura, was emitting a hazy white light.
The cultivator presiding over the magic array handed Qin Hao and his group a "teleportation talisman" each. It was probably used to resist the spatial pressure during long-distance teleportation, similar to the "Great Teleportation Order," though its effect was far inferior.
Qin Hao and his group stepped into the teleportation array's range. At the command of the cultivator presiding over the array, a blinding white beam of light erupted from it, violently distorting space. After a period of intense dizziness, Qin Hao's figure vanished within the beam of light.
When Qin Hao's vision cleared again, the scene before him was completely different.
The air was filled with a spiritual aura mixed with the salty smell of the sea. Underfoot was a simple stone temple built on a huge reef, and outside the temple was the boundless, surging deep blue ocean.
The sky seemed exceptionally high and distant, and the sea breeze howled, carrying a wild, primitive, and dangerous feel.
This is the Outer Star Sea! Legend has it that in the distant ancient times, the entire Chaotic Star Sea was a paradise for powerful demonic beasts, and human cultivators could only struggle to survive in the cracks. After countless generations of powerful human beings fought bloody battles, they finally opened up a relatively safe territory in the Inner Star Sea and almost wiped out the high-level demonic beasts in the surrounding seas.
However, the outer sea is still a kingdom of monsters! It is far from human settlements, with islands scattered like stars and the sea vast and boundless. Every sea and every island may be inhabited by powerful and dangerous monsters.
They are the true masters of this wild land, and they harbor an instinctive hatred and aggression towards human cultivators who intrude upon it.
The cultivators who could appear in this outer star sea teleportation point stone hall mostly possessed a fierce aura, with sharp eyes or a hint of ruthlessness from desperate criminals. They could be roughly divided into two categories: one was like Qin Hao, with a calm and powerful aura, and a calm and confident gaze, clearly strong individuals who had absolute confidence in their own strength; the other was a mixed aura, with eyes filled with a desperate madness, clearly desperate criminals who had nowhere else to turn in the inner star sea and were forced to come here to risk their lives for resources.
Qin Hao didn't linger in the stone hall, ignoring the awe-inspiring or inquisitive gazes around him. With a swift movement, he appeared outside the stone hall, raising his hand to summon the Ink Dragon Boat. A flash of dark light, and he stood steadily at the bow.
"go!"
The Ink Dragon Boat emitted a deep hum, transforming into a streak of dark lightning. In an instant, it shook off the several divine senses that were trying to follow or strike up a conversation with it. Facing the howling sea wind, it shot towards the vast, boundless, and perilous depths of the ocean! Soon, it disappeared into the boundless sea and sky.
Three months later.
The seawater at the edge of the island surged, and a metal puppet, over two zhang long and resembling a crocodile, struggled to climb ashore. It was made entirely of dark metal, with runes shimmering at its joints. It was one of the level four puppets that Qin Hao had sent out to scout the nearby waters.
However, at this moment, the crocodile puppet looked extremely disheveled. Its sturdy metal body was covered with deep claw marks and teeth marks. The most serious damage was to its left hind leg, which had been bitten off and torn apart at the joint by some terrifying force, leaving only a few twisted metal cables hanging down. This caused it to stagger and barely maintain its balance when crawling.
Before Qin Hao could put the crocodile puppet into his storage bag, a roar shook the entire volcanic island.
Qin Hao frowned slightly, about to wave his hand to retrieve the damaged puppet. Just then—
"Roar--!!!"
A deafening roar, filled with savagery and rage, exploded from the depths of the sea near the island, like a thunderclap from a clear sky!
A terrifying roar swept in, causing the entire volcanic island to tremble violently. Rocks tumbled down the mountainside, and the black smoke billowing from the crater momentarily stopped! The sea was also churned up with towering waves!
The next second, a level 5 demonic beast leaped up and crushed the crocodile puppet to pieces.
With a roar, an enormous black shadow tore through the sea and soared into the sky!
It was a terrifying monster resembling a giant ape, but covered in deep blue scales, with a ferocious head, exposed fangs, and sharp bone spurs growing from its back! It was over five zhang tall, with bulging muscles, exuding a suffocating ferocity! A level five monster—the Deep Sea Demon Ape!
The demonic ape was clearly enraged by the crocodile puppet's probing. Its crimson eyes were fixed on the struggling metal crocodile on the shore, filled with a furious rage of offense. With a nimble twist in the air, its massive body slammed down like a meteorite, its enormous feet carrying immense force!
Boom! ! !
With a deafening roar, debris flew everywhere! The already severely damaged level four crocodile puppet was crushed into a pile of twisted and broken metal parts like paper under the absolute force, completely destroyed!
However, just as the level-five demonic beast finished venting its anger and was about to return the way it came, it heard a cold voice: "Invert the Five Elements Formation! Activate!"
As Qin Hao's icy voice fell, the space within a hundred feet radius of the Deep Sea Demon Ape suddenly distorted! Five colors of light—red, yellow, gold, blue, and cyan—emerged out of thin air, like five enormous bands of light, instantly intertwining and forming a huge and complex three-dimensional light shield, firmly trapping the unsuspecting Deep Sea Demon Ape within!
The Reversed Five Elements Formation! Qin Hao had already quietly set up this signature trapping formation before the puppet even sank in!
"Roar!!!"
The deep-sea demon ape was completely enraged by this sudden change. It felt as if it had been trapped in a sticky swamp, its movements became sluggish, and even the circulation of its demonic power was greatly disturbed.
It let out a deafening roar, its enormous fists enveloped in a dense, deep blue demonic light, like two giant hammers, slamming wildly against the surrounding light walls!
boom! boom! boom!
The light barrier trembled violently, its five-colored radiance shifting erratically. Though teetering on the brink of collapse, it stubbornly refused to shatter. The power of the array was steadily wearing down the demonic ape's attacks.
Qin Hao appeared in mid-air at the edge of the formation, standing on the Black Dragon Boat, his eyes as cold as knives. Facing this level-five demonic beast, equivalent to an early-stage Core Formation cultivator, he was not careless in the slightest.
Instead of launching an attack immediately, he formed hand seals and chanted incantations.
The ancient book floating in front of him, the "Treasury of Myriad Symbols," began to turn its pages with a rustling sound, even without wind. On the pages, countless mysterious runes flowed and leaped as if they were alive.
Qin Hao's divine sense surged into the Myriad Talisman Record like a tidal wave, instantly locking onto one page. On that page was drawn an extremely complex and mysterious talisman, seemingly composed of countless tiny golden blades—the Sky-Piercing Golden Blade Slash Talisman!
"disease!"
Qin Hao let out a low shout and poured a drop of pure Core Formation mana into the Myriad Talisman Record.
hum!
The Myriad Talismans Treasure Record shone brightly! The Golden Blaze Slash Talisman on the page suddenly blazed with dazzling golden light! The next moment, the talisman seemed to come alive, "breaking free" from the page and transforming into a giant golden halberd, condensed to its extreme, though only a foot long!
The moment the golden halberd appeared, a terrifyingly sharp aura capable of cleaving the sky spread out!
The surrounding air seemed to be cut apart, emitting a faint hissing sound.
Inside the giant halberd, countless tiny golden runes flowed like stars.
This is the mid-to-high-level talisman that Qin Hao painstakingly drew and included in the Myriad Talismans Treasure Record during his seclusion—the Sky-Piercing Golden Radiance Slash Talisman! Its power is enough to threaten even Core Formation cultivators!
Although trapped in the formation, the deep-sea demon ape possessed an extremely keen sense of danger. The moment the golden giant halberd appeared, its scales stood on end, and a deadly sense of crisis drove it into a frenzy!
"Roar-!"
The demonic ape abandoned its attack on the formation, pounding its chest with both fists, producing a deafening roar like a drumbeat. It opened its blood-red maw, and a deep blue beam of light, imbued with terrifying icy power, shot out like an enraged dragon, hurtling straight towards Qin Hao outside the formation!
At the same time, its massive body was filled with demonic energy, and mysterious patterns appeared on its deep blue scales, clearly indicating that it was fully activating some kind of defensive talent!
Qin Hao's eyes narrowed. Facing the icy pillar of light capable of freezing souls, the black dragon boat beneath his feet flashed with spiritual light, instantly shifting dozens of feet to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The pillar of light grazed past him, striking the distant sea and instantly freezing a large area!
At the same time, Qin Hao's divine sense firmly locked onto the demonic ape, and with a thought, he said, "Go!"
The giant golden halberd that was floating above the Myriad Talismans Treasure Record emitted a clear and melodious hum and disappeared instantly!
It's not flying! It's a speed that's almost like jumping through space!
The light barrier of the Inverted Five Elements Formation was useless against it! The golden giant halberd appeared directly inside the formation, in front of the deep-sea demon ape's chest covered with thick scales!
The demonic ape's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints! It sensed it! The sharpness contained within that giant halberd was enough to tear through its defenses!
It tried to dodge, but the giant halberd was too fast! It tried to block, but its arms couldn't reach back in time to defend!
laugh--!
A soft sound.
The golden halberd pierced through the deep blue scales on the demonic ape's body—scales strong enough to withstand the bombardment of top-tier magical artifacts—without any resistance. It pierced through its bulging, iron-like muscles and its tough bones... penetrating its chest and emerging from its back!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The massive body of the deep-sea demon ape stiffened abruptly, its furious roar abruptly ceasing. It looked down in disbelief at the bowl-sized, translucent, bloody hole in its chest. The edges of the wound were smooth as a mirror, not a drop of blood flowing out, for all flesh and tissue had been instantly annihilated by that extremely sharp energy!
Immediately afterwards, countless tiny golden runes burst forth from the pierced blood hole!
boom! ! !
It was as if a golden sun had exploded inside the demonic ape! Dazzling golden light burst forth from every crevice of its body! A violent, sharp golden aura raged from within, tearing, cutting, and annihilating its massive form!
"Ouch...ow..."
The deep-sea demon ape let out a short, desperate wail. Its proud and powerful body was as fragile as tofu in the face of the golden storm that emanated from within.
Just a breath!
As the golden light faded, the massive body of the Deep Sea Demon Ape crashed to the ground, causing the entire volcanic island to tremble as if an earthquake had struck, with waves several feet high crashing against the island's rocks.
With a blank expression, Qin Hao waved his hand, and a demon core, shimmering with a deep blue luster and containing immense water-attribute demonic power, flew into his hand.
"Losing a level 4 puppet in exchange for a level 5 demon core, this deal isn't a bad one."
Qin Hao swiftly retrieved a specially made jade box from his storage bag. He placed the demon core inside, and then, a flash of spiritual light appeared at his fingertips, conjuring a talisman with intricate golden patterns. He chanted an incantation and firmly affixed the talisman to the opening of the jade box.
"seal up!"
With a soft shout, the talisman shone brightly, instantly transforming into a resilient golden membrane that completely sealed the jade box, isolating it from both internal and external energies. The demonic power within the demon core, which had been somewhat restless and attempting to dissipate, was immediately locked in place, and its radiance became much more subdued.
Qin Hao nodded in satisfaction before putting the sealed jade box into his storage bag.
After completing this step, Qin Hao's gaze returned to the enormous corpse of the Deep Sea Demon Ape. However, he did not rush to dismantle the materials. Instead, he took a deep breath and quickly formed a profound hand seal in front of his chest.
"Soul-binding Technique, swiftly!"
A deep incantation rang out, and Qin Hao brought his right index and middle fingers together, a blinding white light suddenly illuminating the tip. Immediately afterward, a slender yet incredibly refined white line shot out from the fingertip, precisely piercing into the ferocious head of the deep-sea demon ape.
The white thread entered his body, like an invisible fishing rod probing into the sea of his soul. Qin Hao frowned slightly, concentrating intently on controlling this special soul power thread driven by the Great Evolution Technique.
A moment later, the white line suddenly tightened, as if it had caught something heavy.
Qin Hao's eyes narrowed, and he continuously poured magical power into his fingertips, shouting again, "Rise!"
The white line that had disappeared into the head slowly retracted, and with its pull, a dark blue, fist-sized ball of light was forcibly pulled out from between the eyebrows of the demonic ape's corpse!
Inside the sphere of light, a miniature version of the soul of a deep-sea demon ape was clearly visible. Its face was ferocious, and it was struggling and roaring madly, trying to break free from the sphere of light and return to the world.
However, the Soul-Binding Light Sphere, condensed from the Great Evolution Technique, was exceptionally resilient. No matter how the miniature demonic ape charged and tore at it, the light sphere only trembled slightly and remained completely undamaged.
"Hmph, you beast, your physical body is destroyed, yet your soul still dares to cause trouble?" Qin Hao sneered, his golden core power surging within him, and the white light at his fingertips intensified.
With the support of powerful magic, the deep blue orb struggled less and less, and the miniature demon ape's movements gradually became sluggish and powerless. In the end, it could only curl up in the center of the orb, emitting a silent wail, and completely gave up resisting.
The ball of light obediently flew to Qin Hao's fingertip, hovering above it, emitting a faint blue light and cold soul power fluctuations.
"This Great Evolution Technique is truly full of wonders. Once I advance to the Nascent Soul stage and return to Tiannan, I must make a trip to the far west to obtain the complete inheritance of the Great Evolution Divine Lord."
Thoughts raced through Qin Hao's mind, but his hands never faltered. With a flick of his left hand, a small, dark jade bottle, specially designed to seal souls and inscribed with soul-suppressing runes, appeared in his palm. With his right hand, he formed a hand seal and pointed it at the deep blue orb of light at his fingertips.
"receive!"
A beam of spiritual light struck the sphere of light, which instantly shrank, transforming into a blue ray that "whooshed" into the small jade bottle. Qin Hao quickly sealed the bottle and then affixed a soul-suppressing talisman to the bottle opening to ensure everything was safe before carefully putting away the jade bottle that sealed the spirit of a level-five demon beast.
After dealing with the two most precious spoils, the demon core and the spirit, Qin Hao then turned his attention to the enormous corpse of the deep-sea demon ape.
Monsters are treasures from head to toe, especially level five monsters, where every inch of flesh and bone contains value.
He unleashed the Crimson Soul Blade, its blade flashing like a ribbon across the sea. The first thing he collected was essence blood. Qin Hao carefully guided the still-uncongealed, deep blue blood remaining in the demonic ape's heart into several specially crafted jade bottles using his magic.
These essences contain powerful water-attribute energy and vitality, making them excellent materials for refining certain special elixirs or drawing high-level talismans.
Next came the skeleton. Qin Hao skillfully removed the demonic ape's thick and tough bones one by one, especially the main bones supporting its massive body and the arm and leg bones containing icy power, which he carefully collected. These bones were extremely hard, far exceeding ordinary refined iron, making them excellent materials for crafting magical artifacts.
Finally, and this was something Qin Hao valued highly—the scales on the demonic ape's body that shimmered with a ghostly blue light. Each of these scales was the size of a palm, with sharp edges and a surface covered with natural frost patterns. Not only did they possess astonishing defensive capabilities, but they also exuded an aura of icy coldness.
Qin Hao manipulated the Crimson Soul Blade like the most precise carving knife, peeling off the scales one by one from the tough skin of the demonic ape, collecting hundreds of them.
"These scales, whether directly refined into protective inner armor or inlaid into defensive magic artifacts, can greatly enhance defense and even add ice attribute resistance and counterattack effects. They are excellent materials for making protective magic artifacts and should not be wasted."
Qin Hao looked at the mountain of dark blue scales and nodded in satisfaction.
After doing all this, only scattered pieces of flesh and blood and huge, worthless membranes remained on the surface of the sea. Qin Hao ignored them, letting them sink to the seabed to become food for other marine life.
However, he did not immediately steer the Black Dragon Boat away from this sea area. His gaze fell upon the deep, dark waters below. Based on experience, high-level demonic beasts often nest in places where spiritual energy gathers, and precious spiritual creatures are likely to live near their lairs.
"The Deep Sea Demon Ape dwells here; there might be unexpected gains in its lair," Qin Hao pondered. "While using puppets for exploration is generally inefficient and their reactions are somewhat sluggish, their advantage lies in safety. If we encounter an overly powerful demon beast, we can escape beforehand, losing only one puppet at most. If we're lucky enough to encounter a demon beast that we can kill, we can not only take its materials but also the resources within its cave."
Demonic beasts naturally prefer to build their lairs near spiritual creatures. On one hand, places where spiritual creatures can be born are invariably treasure troves of spiritual energy, extremely suitable for demonic beasts to cultivate and grow. On the other hand, demonic beasts possess intuition far exceeding that of humans; they patiently guard and wait for the spiritual creatures to mature before devouring them to enhance their cultivation or break through bottlenecks. As a level-five demonic beast, the Deep Sea Demon Ape's lair is worth exploring.
Without further hesitation, Qin Hao patted his storage bag, and a puppet made entirely of dark metal, resembling a pangolin, appeared before him. This was one of the level four exploration-type puppets he had crafted; its defensive capabilities were decent, and it was particularly adept at traversing complex terrain. He attached a wisp of his divine sense to it, controlling the puppet to plunge headfirst into the icy seawater.
The puppet led the way, with Qin Hao close behind. He took out a deep blue "water-repelling talisman" and activated it. The talisman transformed into a transparent bubble that enveloped him, isolating him from the seawater and its immense pressure, allowing him to move freely in the deep sea as if on land. The bubble emitted a soft light, illuminating an area of several feet around it.
As they descended, the light grew dimmer, the surrounding seawater became icy cold, and the pressure increased sharply. The bubbles formed by the water-repelling talisman contracted slightly inward, but remained stable.
The puppet descended deeper into the steep underwater cliffs.