Cultivation Starting from Full Talent-Chapter 559 - 557: Bone-eating Fish

Two days later.

The Demon Spirit Treasure Boat had not yet left the near-sea region of the Returning Ruins Immortal Land, when the nearby sea suddenly became pitch black. Beneath the water surface, masses of demon creatures gathered, their dense demonic aura stirring Ning Daoran from his meditation, instantly sharpening his senses.

"Enemies encountered."

Ning Daoran rose gracefully, standing at the bow of the ship, and said in a deep voice, "Prepare to slay demons!"

"Ao ao~~"

Big Stupid Deer lifted its head high, standing majestically like a Great General.

"Hiss hiss~~~"

At that moment, wisps of dark mist emerged from the sea. Beneath the surface as thin as cicada wings, demon beasts began breaching the water, revealing ferocious heads covered in dense scales, lined with poisonous fangs, and flickering sinister forked tongues.

Sea serpents!

Ning Daoran raised his brows slightly. He had encountered these sea creatures before, but the sea serpents in the Endless Demon Sea were considerably larger and venomous. Being bitten or having their venom sprayed onto skin would cause grievous trouble; if the venom entered the heart veins, even an immortal would struggle to save the victim.

Right before him, most of these sea serpents were second-stage late-stage demon beasts, a communal species. Countless heads stared ravenously at the boat, surging forward like a tide. Some bashed their heads against the ship, while others sprayed venom directly.

"Buzz——"

A streak of golden light rose, enveloping the entire Demon Spirit Treasure Boat in protection.

Before heading out to sea, Ning Daoran had already installed a Nine Revolutions Ruyi Formation inside the ship’s structure. With this fourth-tier middle grade defensive array guarding them, there was naturally little to worry about.

"Slay the demons!"

As soon as he gave the order, Ning Daoran unleashed twenty-four Golden Silk Swords. Instantly, the golden swords transformed into streaks of chilling golden light, blasting through the formation toward the serpents in a frenzied onslaught. Meanwhile, he wielded the Azure Dragon Spear, sweeping it horizontally in a massive strike that pulverized a whole swath of sea serpents into powder.

"Ao ao~~"

Big Stupid Deer raised its head high, directly activating the Five-Colored Deer Chanting Technique. Immediately, sonic waves spread violently within the sea serpent swarm, each with a radius of about two zhang, displaying remarkable power.

Little Bai, Little Blackie, and Ning Xiaogui also joined the battle. Given their strength, eliminating these second-stage late-stage demon beasts was mere child’s play.

Soon enough, a dense layer of sea serpent corpses floated atop the surface of the water.

Ning Daoran gently stomped the deck beneath his feet, sending forth golden mana that rippled outward from the point of contact, sweeping across the area. Instantly, strands of demon beast divine souls were extracted and drawn toward the demon-slaying token hanging at his waist.

In no time, the demon-slaying token flared repeatedly, consolidating the battle merits from the slaying of these second-stage late-stage demon beasts under Ning Daoran’s name.

The sea serpent swarm screeched and wailed, their numbers somehow growing larger the more he killed. Ning Daoran, however, took pleasure in farming battle merits here. With the demon-slaying token flashing incessantly, he slipped a strand of divine sense into the token moments later. To his delight, his demon-slaying ranking had updated!

No longer over 100,000—it was now over 70,000. Somehow, he had just entered the top hundred thousand within such a brief period!

It seemed farming sea serpents, a strategy of small but consistent profits, was unusually effective.

"Keep slaying—wipe them all out!"

Ning Daoran, consumed by the thrill of combat, leapt from the Demon Spirit Treasure Boat and landed on the sea surface. He activated Nascent Soul spiritual pressure and unleashed devastating power against the sea serpents. Those serpents that ventured too close didn’t even perceive the impending danger before their divine souls were shattered by the terrifying Nascent Soul spiritual pressure!

Like this, he continued slaying sea serpents for two consecutive days.

Two days later, the sea serpents ceased their assault, seemingly realizing that using swarm tactics against this cultivator was futile. They withdrew swiftly, leaving the sea calm once more.

"Hmm?"

Ning Daoran frowned. As the sea serpents receded like a tide, an even stronger, denser demonic aura abruptly surfaced, rapidly approaching the Demon Spirit Treasure Boat.

Using his Nascent Soul divine sense, Ning Daoran swiftly locked onto the entity. It was colossal—a late-stage Golden Core demon king, manifesting as a giant whale!

At this moment, a linear wave rose from the sea, hurtling directly toward the Demon Spirit Treasure Boat.

"Roar——"

The giant whale opened its bloody maw wide, as though intent on swallowing the treasure boat whole!

Ning Daoran furrowed his brows. If it had been back during his Golden Core stage in the Tianluo Sea, he indeed would have been wary of such a late-stage Golden Core demon beast. But now, it was no reason for concern.

"You dream of swallowing my little boat? Absurd!"

He launched himself onto the sea, creating a massive basin-like depression in the water as his foot landed. In his right hand, he gripped a large azure spear. Infused with Nascent Soul power, the spear resonated with an intense hum and extended to a length of several hundred zhang in an instant, gleaming brilliantly with golden light!

"Thud!"

The Azure Dragon Spear thrust forward forcefully, perfectly bracing against the giant whale’s gaping maw.

"Just you? And you think you can devour my boat?"

Ning Daoran dove into the giant whale’s mouth, gripping the Qiushui Sword as he deployed the Thunder Sword, Blood-drinking Sword, and Evil Dragon Fang. A series of "splat-splat-splat" sounds ensued as he sliced through the whale’s interior, tearing through gills, blood, mucus, and other tissues...

It was reminiscent of chopping spicy fish heads!

The Blood-drinking Sword, in particular, became more lethal as it drank large amounts of the whale’s blood. Every slash it delivered inflicted unbearable agony upon the whale.

"Spare me, senior! Junior admits wrong!"

The whale condensed a feminine human voice, revealing its true form as a demon spirit.

"Too late!"

Ning Daoran had already made up his mind to kill. He prepared to strike, intending to pierce through the whale’s brain.

But suddenly, he paused, his gaze drawn deeper toward the whale’s intestines. There, two golden light dots appeared. His Nascent Soul divine sense identified the presence of human clan cultivators.

"Ah, something’s off..."

He quickly surged forward, only to discover bubble-like structures clinging to the whale’s stomach wall. These structures encased the figures of two Golden Core human cultivators. Though surprisingly undigested, they were clearly being stored—for eventual consumption fresh?

Good heavens, this whale had built-in refrigeration capacity!

Inside the whale’s stomach, the two captives—a man and a woman who looked strikingly similar—showed signs of life. When they saw Ning Daoran charging in with a glowing sword in hand, relief lit up their faces. They struggled desperately but could only move faintly, as their vital meridians remained suppressed by the whale, rendering their cultivation useless.

’What sin...’

Ning Daoran swung his sword, rescuing the pair. Wrapping them in a protective mana barrier, he flew back out. Then, with one final strike, he decapitated the giant whale, killing it on the spot.

He extracted its divine soul and deposited it into the demon-slaying token. The soul of a late-stage Golden Core demon was exceedingly precious—a treasure not to be wasted.

...

On the deck.

"Thump~~~"

Ning Daoran deposited the rescued pair onto the deck, then casually stored the whale’s corpse in his Storage Ring.

"Explain yourselves—who are you, and how did you end up consumed by the whale?"

"Thank you, senior, for saving our lives!"

The man bowed repeatedly, trembling as the aura of Golden Core early stage cultivation began gradually returning to him. He seemed incoherent, likely still shaken from being swallowed.

The woman, however, knelt on the deck, tears of survival flowing. She choked out:

"Honored senior, I am Pang Yue, and this is my twin brother, Pang Yang. We are native cultivators of the Returning Ruins Immortal Land. Originally, we planned to hunt nearby second-tier demon beasts for battle merits on the demon-slaying list. Unexpectedly, we encountered this late-stage Golden Core whale. Our boat was destroyed, and we were swallowed whole..."

"I see."

Ning Daoran nodded, finding their explanation reasonable.

"Senior..."

Pang Yang clasped his fists respectfully and asked, "We haven’t yet learned of senior’s esteemed name..."

"I am Jianjia True Monarch," Ning Daoran replied casually. "I arrived in the Returning Ruins Immortal Land only a few years ago—you likely wouldn’t have heard of me. My current trip is to slay demons, and saving you two was merely incidental."

"..."

Pang Yue was visibly stunned. The mention of "Jianjia True Monarch" involuntarily brought to mind "Independent Practitioner Jianjia," a notorious scourge who’d instilled fear across Sangyu Country.

But the benevolent Nascent Soul senior who had saved them showed no signs of resembling Jianjia Old Demon.

She firmly believed he couldn’t be that sort of person.

"Senior Jianjia..." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Pang Yue straightened up and cast a Clothes Cleaning Spell on herself, instantly restoring her elegance to match that of a Golden Core stage fairy. She bowed respectfully and said, "Senior saved our lives. Pang Yue and brother shall never forget. Should an opportunity arise...we are willing to serve as your aides, bound by gratitude. We only ask that senior allow us this chance!"

She glanced at her brother.

Pang Yang, rather slow-witted, immediately clasped his fists. "Me too!"

Ning Daoran chuckled.

"To tell the truth, I don’t require your service. Saving you two was merely on a whim; you don’t need to be overly concerned."

He smiled faintly and continued, "Moreover, I cannot take you along to hunt demons. Your cultivation levels are too low; traveling with me would significantly increase your mortality risk. Besides, I prefer solitude and wouldn’t want company, so..."

He retrieved a refining-level treasure boat from his Storage Bag, placing it in his palm. "This is a second-stage top-grade Qi Refining Treasure Boat. Its size is modest, but it should suffice to shelter you two, enabling your safe return to the Returning Ruins City. However, since there’s no relation between us, I can’t simply give this boat as a gift. It costs 5,000 spirit stones—do you have that many on you?"

"Yes, yes we do..."

Pang Yue hurriedly removed a Storage Bag from her waist. "Senior, this bag contains 10,000 spirit stones—all offered to you!"

Ning Daoran gladly accepted the bag. In truth, the refining treasure boat’s actual value was only 3,000 spirit stones, meaning he was turning a solid profit of 7,000 spirit stones.

Of course, these were trifling matters that he did casually. At his Nascent Soul stage, such amounts no longer mattered—he treated it as a small amusement along his cultivation path. After all, being a Great Cultivator meant the rules were his to set; enjoyment was merely a matter of choice.

Soon after, Pang Yue refined the treasure boat and released a small ship.

"Senior, we shall meet again in the Returning Ruins Immortal Land!"

"Hmm."

Ning Daoran nodded. "Safe travels."

...

Two days later, the Demon Spirit Treasure Boat entered another sea region where large groups of sword-like fish appeared underwater. These were a species known as bone-eating fish, infamous for their razor-sharp teeth, said to bite through bones easily.

Also called human-devouring fish, it was said that any human who slipped and fell into the sea would be stripped clean of flesh and bone within moments. Such bone-eating fish were intensely loathed by human clan cultivators.

Ning Daoran furrowed his brows, already formulating his next plan for demon slaying.