Apart from the wind that carried the scent of the sea, it was completely silent where the group of cultivators were recuperating. The party of cultivators became increasingly relaxed, gathering the courage to close their eyes.

Time quickly passed by. After two hours, the party had recovered most of their magic power and their complexions had mostly returned to normal.

The middle-aged man opened his eyes. After examining how the other four were doing, he immediately commanded, “We’re going. We can’t stay here stay longer! Those things are already in quick pursuit of us.” With that said, he stood up and led the way.

Although the Qi Condensation cultivators were somewhat reluctant, they didn’t dare to tarry and stood up, quickly flying off on their magic tools. But at that moment, loud cries could suddenly be heard from around the island. They seemed to be coming from within the dense mist.

“Not good!” The middle-aged cultivator yelled with a ghastly expression. The other four’s complexions paled in an instant.

A flock of over a dozen huge grey birds emerged from the dense fog above them. These monstrous birds were three-meters-long, had red combs on their head, sharp claws and beaks, and emitted a faint azure light from their body. They made for a vicious and ugly sight.

After they appeared, they didn’t immediately descend down to the island. Instead, they quickly circled around the island before dispersing, blocking the cultivator’s paths of escape. The birds appeared quite familiar with the maneuver.

When the middle-aged cultivator saw this, his heart dropped.

“Run! Quickly go into the forest. Wait until there is a chance to escape!” Experienced in dealing with bird-type demon beasts, the middle-aged man hastily ordered the others to flee into the forest. As the four were scared out of their wits, they quickly followed his orders without question.

Their speed reached new levels with their increasing panic. In the blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the forest.

However, a shocking scene suddenly appeared.

Just as the five flew down to ten meters above the forest, green light suddenly flashed before their eyes. Once they recovered their sight from the dazzling flash, they were amazed to discover that the forest had disappeared without a trace, only to be replaced by an unfamiliar mountain range emitting an astonishing intensity of spiritual Qi.

“It was an illusion formation!” The blue-clothed woman shouted out in alarm.

“Could it be that there is a Fellow Daoist here?” The burly youth said in pleasant surprise.

Greatly surprised, the middle-aged cultivator muttered, “It’s possible! But in any case, this is our chance at survival. Hopefully we can use to formation to evade the Hawk Kite Beasts!”

With that said, the party couldn’t help but sweep their gazes around within the illusion formation.

At that moment, the vicious birds suddenly lost sight of them, causing them to become restless. They cried out to each other several times before deciding to slowly fly downward.

The middle-aged cultivator’s expression sank. “Not good! It seems the Hawk Kite Beasts will soon be unaffected by the illusion formation’s influence. Quickly climb the mountains! There is an aura of spell formations there. Perhaps that is where the Fellow Daoist is.” He then flew off toward the mountains in a streak of light.

After the remaining cultivators mutually glanced at once another, they chased after the middle-aged man with nervous expressions.

After they flew a short distance, a layer of white light suddenly revealed itself, blocking their way.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he rejoiced. He immediately waved his hand and summoned a sound transmission talisman. After muttering a few words into it, he tossed the talisman before it transformed into a streak of fire, disappearing into the light barrier in the blink of an eye. The others gazed at the scene with panicked eyes, not daring to interrupt him.

A short moment later, the many monstrous birds flew into the illusion formation. They quickly discovered the party of cultivators and flew towards them in a mad rush. Their wings carried a faint trace of bright azure light.

The middle-aged cultivator grimaced and glanced at the white light barrier behind them. He gritted his teeth and muttered orders to the Qi Condensation cultivators.

The other cultivator’s expression were also unsightly. But they still brandished their glowing magic tools in preparation to receive the demon beasts’ attack.

But just as the Hawk Kite Beasts were about to sweep down onto the party of cultivators, something unexpected occurred.

Over a hundred beams of various colored light suddenly shot out from the white light barrier. Although the beams were as thick as a finger, each of them were incomparably sharp. In the next instant, the descending Hawk Kite Beasts were left filled with countless holes, accompanied by the sounds of their flesh being ripped apart.

The demon beasts breathed their last as they fell to the ground without even a scream.

“This is...”

The group of cultivators were elated by the developments and couldn’t help but turn around towards the light barrier.

They were left shocked for a long while when they saw over ten huge apes on the other side of the light barrier. At first glance, they had mistaken them to be demon beasts and were left frightened, but they soon noticed something odd about them. After further inspection, they noticed that the huge apes all glowed with black light, before eventually figuring them out to be mechanical puppets. The puppets each had raised arms. It appeared the beam of lights from a moment ago should’ve all came from their hands.

These realizations left the party completely relieved.

Soon after, the huge apes silently lowered their arms and flickered with white light before disappearing from sight.

As their expressions continued to change in surprise, the white barrier flashed several times before parting to create a three meter wide path.

When the five saw this, they looked at each other in dismay.

A man’s voice unhurriedly said, “I am currently in seclusion, and it is inconvenient for me to meet with you. You Fellow Daoists may rest for a moment within the barrier before leaving!” From his words, it seemed the formation spell master didn’t possess the slightest intention to meet them.

“Many thanks for Senior’s kindness. But since the demon beasts have died, it will be fine if we rested outside. We don’t dare to further interrupt Senior’s cultivation!” Although the middle-aged cultivator felt no malice from the voice, he didn’t dare to enter the formation of a stranger. As such, he could only summon his courage to refuse the offer and risk upsetting the other party.

“Hehe, it seems you’re quite careful! But since this is the case, how about you tell me about your situation. Why was there a group of grade two demon beasts in pursuit of you?” The voice spoke without the slightest care, but his later words carried a trace of curiosity.

The middle-aged man’s face finally relaxed. He hastily replied with a respectful tone, “I am a disciple of the Azure Spirit Sect. We went out to sea in order to pick a few spiritual herbs. During a moment of carelessness, we caught the eye of those demon beasts and they have pursued us ever since. Were it not for Senior’s rescue, us Juniors would’ve faced calamity.”

The voice merely gunted in response before turning silent. This left the cultivators uneasy.

The middle-aged cultivator grew apprehensive. However, he didn’t dare to leave yet and managed to keep his calm.

After a moment of silence, the man’s voice indifferently said, “Your Azure Spirit Sect only sent out you five? Why aren’t there any sect elders leading you? Don’t you know you’d only be seeking death by going out to sea with your meager cultivations? Even if a sect has no Core Formation cultivators, grade two demon beasts shouldn’t pose much of a threat against a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

After that was said, the middle-aged cultivator paused for a moment. With some hesitation, he then bitterly smiled, “Seniors? Our Azure Spirit Sect is but a small sect. Although we once had a Core Formation elder, he perished in the Beast Torrent over twenty years ago. There are only Foundation Establishment cultivators in our sect now, and their numbers aren’t many.”

As the middle-aged man thought about his response, he was worried whether or not this Senior would form evil intentions after hearing about their sect’s details. But after some further thought, he realized that if this person wanted to kill them, he could’ve done so easily with his puppets. After all, his cultivation was vastly superior to their own. There would be no need for him to waste the effort with such long ploys. And if he were to conceal any information from this senior, he would risk him, damning all of them to death. As such, the middle-aged cultivator came to a resolution and took the risk of honestly answering. He didn’t believe that anybody would harbor any designs towards a ruined sect such as his own.

“Beast Torrent? How long ago did this occur? Does it have something to do with those demon beasts?” The man’s voice seemed to carry a trace of alarm.

When the middle-aged man heard this, he grew shocked. The youths in his party also revealed amazement.