Chapter Eighty-Two: A Promotion by Two Ranks

Whether it was due to the intensifying sunlight, the effectiveness of the Clear Mind Incantation, or simply her gradual acclimation to the icy waters, after half an hour, Feng Ke’er no longer felt the bone-chilling cold of the pool. She flexed her stiff fingers and slowly paddled toward the center of the pond—if she could hunt a Money Carp while enjoying her soak, that would be perfection.

The Money Carps, after licking the gray stones clean, dove beneath the surface. Except for brief moments when they surfaced for air, they spent nearly all their time submerged. Their greenish-blue backs occasionally broke the surface, barely visible. Their breathing intervals were about ten minutes. When surfacing, they would raise their heads just above the water, yawning, half-opening their eyes, and opening their enormous mouths.

Their eyes were fascinating, bulging like a frog’s, yet not exposed. Instead, they were covered with thick, pale-green eyelids that opened and closed freely. These eyelids were as tough as any other part of their bodies.

From her days of observation, Feng Ke’er noted that aside from “breathing” times, the Money Carps kept their eyes half-open, only fully opening them when hunting. At all other times, their eyelids remained shut.

During hunts, the Money Carps divided their roles—some hunted, while others stood guard. Feng Ke’er had experienced firsthand that one could not approach a hunting school of Money Carps.

Thus, the only chance to hunt them was during their brief surfacing for air. At that moment, their eyes were half-open. These creatures had large eyes—even half-open, they were twice the size of the Fire Ants’ ink-black pupils, more than sufficient for Feng Ke’er. More importantly, they seemed never to suspect that in those five seconds, from surfacing to submerging again, someone might lurk nearby like a green-haired turtle, waiting to strike. Breathing was a solitary affair; no companions stood guard.

Feng Ke’er gritted her teeth—she could not hesitate any longer. This was her only opportunity to hunt them!

Her cultivation was far inferior to the Money Carps; she could not compete with brute force. So, she had to rely on cunning and stealth.

She practiced her moves stealthily several times. Finally, as her three-hour soak drew to its end, she swallowed a Restoration Pill and, after adjusting her breath, made her move—thanks to her training in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants, she had grown ever more like a seasoned hunter. Each battle with the monsters was a life-or-death struggle; she would rather miss her chance than act rashly.

This time, the carp surfacing was a smaller one, which Feng Ke’er had been eyeing for some time. In the past three hours, it had surfaced nearly twenty times, and she knew every detail of its movements.

The poor creature never suspected that the routine action would be its last.

As usual, it poked its head out, lazily half-opened its eyes, opened its mouth, exhaled, inhaled, and completed its breath. Next, it would close its eyes and submerge.

In that instant, Feng Ke’er raised her right hand—or rather, her right forepaw. Though the shape was different, it didn’t affect her accuracy or power with the Ice Spike spell. With a flash of cold light, two ice spikes, as large as embroidery needles, skimmed the water’s surface and pierced straight into the Money Carp’s eyes.

A chill surged through Feng Ke’er’s abdomen. Success! She shivered violently—the Money Carp’s spiritual energy was icy cold.

Yet her hands didn’t falter. With a flick of her left hand, the Eight-Clawed Hook shot straight into the carp’s gaping mouth.

“Rise!” Using Wind Riding and Swift Step simultaneously, she exploded forth, left hand gripping the long rope, shooting out of the water like a fired rocket.

Water splashed everywhere.

“Ice Freeze!” Before the green-haired turtles in the pool could extend their tongues, she darted toward the top of the waterfall, forming a spell with her right hand and launching her attack. The splashing water instantly froze into ice chunks of varying sizes, plummeting down in free fall, severely disrupting the turtles’ senses.

Their long tongues caught many chunks. The remaining ice either splashed into the water or struck their shells with a noisy clatter.

The green-haired turtles hit by the ice were terrified, retreating into their shells.

Under the gray stone, the submerged party was also alarmed, but it was too late! They surfaced, raising their tails in a flash, but Feng Ke’er had already escaped into the air twenty meters above the pond, out of their range.

She tossed another rope, anchoring the Eight-Clawed Hook firmly to a banyan branch at the top of the waterfall, leapt, and retreated with her heavy prize.

Without bothering to drag the Money Carp’s corpse ashore, Feng Ke’er tied the rope to a nearby banyan branch and slumped among its branches, gasping for breath—Mother of God, this job nearly killed her.

Yet seeing her spoils swinging like a pendulum just two meters below, she still felt a sense of accomplishment.

Once her breath was steady, she dragged the heavy carp’s corpse to the shore and skinned it for its demon crystal.

She was certain, just like the Fire Ants, that the Money Carp was another species never before recorded in history. They were not egg-laying, their teeth were blunt, but their four claws had sharp, backward-facing barbs. Feng Ke’er considered herself lucky that neither the dead Money Carp nor its companions had managed to teach her the pain of those claws.

The demon crystal was in the skull, much larger than the Fire Ants’, a translucent, irregular four-sided shape of clear lake-blue, beautiful as crystal. Cool to the touch, it was nearly identical to a crystal stone.

Perhaps because it was a second-tier demon beast, the skin was far tougher than the Fire Ant shell, though not as hard. The skin from the carp’s belly was especially fine-textured, durable, and soft—perfect material for leather armor. Feng Ke’er rolled up the skin and stowed it all in her storage bag, planning to craft new armor when she had time. Drawing talismans with second-tier demon beast blood had a much higher chance of producing high-grade charms than using first-tier blood, so she couldn’t waste it. She filled two gourds—back in the Forest of Ten Thousand Ants, she’d had only one storage bag, so she often had to discard things for lack of space. Later, after pilfering equipment at the Outer Sect’s steward hall, she’d learned her lesson and “acquired” several storage bags, plus hundreds of gourds, jade bottles, and boxes.

As for the Money Carp’s flesh, it was cold, hard, lacking elasticity, all fat, and smelled terribly fishy. Feng Ke’er wrinkled her nose, judging it poor as food. But seeing her oily hands, she guessed it could make excellent fuel—her experience told her that every part of a demon beast was valuable. The Money Carp’s fat made up over eighty percent of its mass—hundreds of pounds—so she couldn’t just throw it away.

Her guess proved correct. The meat was extremely oily—perfect for candle-making: cut into strips as thick as a baby’s arm, light them directly, and they served as excellent candles. Once lit, they lost all fishy odor and produced no smoke. The only downside was the flame was blue and oddly cold—cold light, not hot, unsuitable for cooking, only for illumination. Alone, at night, in the wilderness, holding such a candle, one might feel a chill down their back.

Still, it was better than nothing, so Feng Ke’er selected the best pieces, cut them into strips, and stored them away.

Having achieved her breakthrough, in the following three days, Feng Ke’er used the same method to successfully hunt three more Money Carps, finally gathering the four demon crystals needed for the guardian array. With all materials ready, she began constructing her new cave’s first defensive formation.

Once finished, the cave entrance was like a magical stone door. From outside, one saw nothing; it was as if the cave never existed in the cliff face. From inside, the entrance was veiled in a faint blue halo.

She finally understood why water-attribute second-tier demon crystals were required. Aside from serving as array stones and supplying spiritual energy, hanging the four water crystals at the cardinal points caused four human-sized crystal mirrors to appear within the array, forming something like four pillars of light. Through these, she could clearly observe everything within a dozen miles of the cave. Thus, she could stay inside and be fully aware of her surroundings.

That night, with nothing to do, Feng Ke’er tried adding four fire-attribute second-tier demon crystals to the array. Unexpectedly, the array’s power increased by nearly fifty percent, and the eight crystals shone together, lighting the cave as bright as day.

Excited, Feng Ke’er pondered: if there were fire and water demon beasts, surely there must be metal, wood, and earth demon beasts. If different attribute crystals could be stacked, what would the Four-Quadrant Array become with all five attributes? How powerful would it be?

Unfortunately, she lacked the information to answer these questions. Shaking her head, she dismissed her thoughts, sat cross-legged, and began practicing the Clear Mind Incantation again. A great cultivator couldn’t be achieved by mere wishing; she was more diligent than ever.

The next day at noon, Feng Ke’er went to the pond as usual for her bath, when a green-haired turtle foolishly stretched its long tongue toward her.

Damn! That was bold. With a swift Cloud Sleeve technique, she decisively severed the glutton’s tongue—compared to Ice Spike, Cloud Sleeve was more effective against these creatures.

Unexpectedly, this triggered her advancement.

In an instant, multicolored auspicious light shot like arrows across every corner of the pond. The green-haired turtles and Money Carps all perished on sight, not a single one spared.

Money Carp was a second-tier demon beast, and absorbing their spiritual energy had miraculous effects. Afterward, she immediately leveled up again.

Foundation Establishment, fifth level! Feng Ke’er pressed her forehead—these multicolored upgrade lights were powerful, but there was one downside: wherever the light touched, the demon beasts vaporized, leaving not even their demon crystals, which was a terrible waste.

(To be continued.)