Chapter 76 – Formless Slaying of the Beast
by spirapiraChapter 76 – Formless Slaying of the Beast
A dragon whale worth 2,000 contribution points had not only appeared before Li Fan of its own accord, but had even stolen his task reward.
How could Li Fan possibly tolerate that?
A Foundation Establishment cultivator might be helpless against this dragon whale, but Li Fan wasn’t necessarily incapable of killing it!
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, and Formless Killing Intent instantly locked firmly onto the dragon whale.
The murmuring in his ears and the hallucinatory visions returned once more.
However, this time the side effects were considerably milder compared to when he had locked onto Protector Wan.
Li Fan quickly recovered, and seeing the dragon whale’s figure about to vanish ahead, he swiftly gave chase.
The beast dragon whale had no inkling whatsoever that it had been marked by a killing intent.
At this moment, it was hunting freely through the deep sea.
The pulsing from the protrusion atop its head told it — soon.
If it just kept hunting like this, it wouldn’t be long before its body underwent an earth-shattering transformation.
It would finally shed this hideous form and take on the sacred shape that appeared in its mind.
The dragon whale cruised through the deep sea, as leisurely as if strolling through its own garden.
Before long, it spotted more prey ahead — one of its own kind.
Another dragon whale.
A female.
The female dragon whale, drawn by the powerful masculine aura, swam forward in a fawning manner.
The beast dragon whale looked at this creature that would certainly be considered “beautiful” among their kind, yet felt nothing but a wave of nausea and disgust.
This was its own kind?
How absurd.
A dangerous gleam flickered in the beast dragon whale’s eyes.
When the female drew close enough, it opened its cavernous maw and swallowed her whole without an ounce of mercy.
Pitiful creature!
Quietly digesting the flesh and blood in its belly, the beast dragon whale couldn’t help but recall its own past.
Once, it too had been like that wretched thing — drifting aimlessly through the ocean depths in a daze.
Living by instinct alone — eating, mating, surviving.
But starting from a certain day, everything had suddenly become different.
As though awakening from a long nightmare, it had begun to develop self-awareness.
It had found its own purpose.
It wanted to grow stronger — as strong as those creatures that soared above the surface of the sea all day long.
Knowledge had appeared in its mind from nowhere.
And so it learned which things to devour and digest for the fastest growth.
Its instincts grew increasingly accurate.
There were several places on the ocean floor that, whenever it drew near, filled it with overwhelming dread.
So it always fed while giving those places a wide berth.
It grew faster and faster, becoming cleverer and cleverer.
Gradually, it could even sense things on the surface that would be beneficial to it, all the way from the ocean floor.
And so, for the first time in its life, it burst out of the sea and feasted freely on the island above.
And fled swiftly before danger could arrive.
From that point on, a ridge of swelling had appeared on its forehead.
And in its mind, the image of an incomparably powerful beast had materialized.
Some deep, instinctive sense told it that this was a power buried deep within its bloodline.
As long as it kept devouring, it too could become as mighty as its ancestor!
Yes! Merciless devouring! Nothing could stand in its way!
A surge of dangerous aura yanked the beast dragon whale from its memories back to the present.
It suddenly realized that an enormous sea serpent had blocked its path.
In its memory, this sea serpent had been alive for a very long time.
When it had first been born, the serpent was already the ruler of these waters.
In the past, for safety’s sake, it had always given the serpent a wide berth.
But now — times had changed.
A glint of greed flashed in the beast dragon whale’s eyes as it lunged at the sea serpent.
After a fierce battle, blood stained the ocean floor crimson.
The beast dragon whale swallowed the most precious parts of the sea serpent.
Gentle energy surged continuously from its stomach, mending its wounds.
The dragon whale felt a thrill of excitement.
Though it had taken some injuries, it was absolutely worth it.
Once it fully absorbed the sea serpent’s energy…
Before it could even finish the thought, another dangerous aura rapidly closed in from not far away.
The giant octopus?
Why was everything showing up at once today?
Fine then — it would devour them all.
The dragon whale let out a roar and clashed with the giant octopus in a tangled melee.
A long while later, the octopus’s massive body had been torn to shreds.
But the beast dragon whale was also covered in wounds.
There was no time to devour and absorb the octopus — the dragon whale sensed three or four more dangerous presences closing in from nearby.
What rotten luck today!
It accelerated, trying to put distance between itself and these wretched creatures.
But…
It never ended.
No matter where it went, it encountered enemies launching attacks against it.
Even those that were clearly no match for it came charging in like madmen, throwing themselves at death.
At first it had thought to teach these fools a lesson, but before long, all it could do was flee for its life.
Because there were simply too many of them, and it hadn’t rested in ages — exhaustion was mounting with every passing moment.
The dragon whale sensed that something was terribly wrong.
But it couldn’t figure out where the problem lay.
The relentless pursuit from every other creature on the ocean floor seemed as though it would never stop.
The dragon whale’s consciousness began to blur.
In its final moment before death, it dimly saw a glowing blue phantom appear before it.
Then its consciousness plunged into eternal frost.
…
Having unleashed Blue Flame’s phantom spirit to deliver the final blow to the beast dragon whale, Li Fan finally let out a long breath of relief.
The lock of Formless Killing Intent dissipated, and the surrounding sea creatures that had been eyeing the area with predatory intent milled about in confusion for a moment before dispersing.
The hunt had taken far longer than Li Fan had imagined.
This beast was simply too formidable.
Recalling the several massive battles between deep-sea predators he had witnessed while tailing it, Li Fan still felt a lingering chill.
Fortunately, no matter how powerful it was, nothing could withstand endless attrition.
It had taken a full twenty-odd days for this beast dragon whale to finally be ground to death.
A testament to its extraordinary vitality.
“Only someone like me could pull this off. An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator really wouldn’t have had any way to deal with it.”
“Formless Killing Intent — worthy of something I comprehended from the killing intent of heaven and earth. Truly impressive.”
Having slain the beast dragon whale without spilling a single drop of his own blood, with 2,000 contribution points now secured, Li Fan couldn’t help but feel elated.
“The dragon whale is too large — it won’t fit in the storage ring. I’ll just have to cut off the parts with distinctive features and the valuable sections…”
Li Fan looked at the dragon whale’s corpse before him, pondering silently.
After considerable effort, Li Fan finished carving it up.
Just as he was about to leave, something else suddenly came to mind.
“I’ve heard that these dragon whales often have indigestible remnants accumulated in their stomachs. Over the years, these compress into a solid mass. It can serve as a rare material for artifact refinement, and it’s worth quite a few contribution points too.”
Following the principle of never passing up an opportunity, Li Fan began rummaging through the beast dragon whale’s stomach.
“This dragon whale’s stomach is quite the mess — there’s everything in here…”
“Hm? What’s this…”
Li Fan picked up a half-digested, spherical object and immediately felt a sense of familiarity.
It clicked almost instantly.
“Isn’t this a glazed pearl?”