Chapter 97 A Promising Start

Chapter 97: A Promising Start

Demon hunting was not like fishing, where casting a net guaranteed a catch. It required intelligence, luck, and patience. Sometimes, it was normal to wander the seas for months without encountering a single second-rank demon beast.

However, according to the rogue cultivators in the market district, such dry spells were rare. Second-rank demon beasts in the sea were quite plentiful, and first-rank demon beasts didn't even require intelligence to find—just wandering around randomly would lead to encounters with a few.

After Wang Hao treated a rogue cultivator to a pot of wine, the man had shared a secret: the simplest way to hunt low-rank demon beasts was to find an uninhabited small island and use Demon-Luring Grass. Combined with formations, one could attract specific types of beasts.

But this required resources and coordination. Once the scent of Demon-Luring Grass was activated, it could spread for dozens of miles, attracting every nearby predator. Without sufficient strength, one wouldn't dare attempt this, or else they would lure disaster instead of profit.

Moreover, Demon-Luring Grass wasn't cheap. One stalk of second-rank high-grade grass cost four hundred Spirit Stones. If one wanted to attract third-rank demon beasts, even higher-grade grass was needed, costing exponentially more.

Wang Hao considered that his farm could cultivate an acre of this grass. The output from one acre would last him a long time. Given the minimum condition of needing a hundred-year maturity to attract second-rank demon beasts, cultivating it for two years in his accelerated fields would make it usable.

But distant water couldn't quench immediate thirst. Wang Hao could only grit his teeth and buy five stalks of Demon-Luring Grass: two second-rank mid-grade and three second-rank low-grade.

After a brief rest, Wang Hao led everyone deeper into the sea. Standing on the deck of the flying boat, he addressed the group.

"We're about to start hunting demon beasts. Everyone stay alert."

"Yes!"

Hundreds of miles away from Canglan Market District, demon beasts began to appear. Wang Hao spotted a fish-type demon beast with first-rank high-grade strength.

"Wenhao, how about letting Nineteenth Uncle go kill it? We can start off with a promising beginning!" Wang Wenmei suggested.

Wang Hao laughed. "A mere first-rank high-grade demon beast doesn't require a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Nineteenth Uncle to take action."

He turned to look at the younger clan members. "Wenmei, you go."

Li Derong also assigned a clan member. "Dexin, go assist!"

The two nodded, each taking out their magical instruments. Wang Hao piloted the flying boat down toward the sea surface, chasing the fish demon at a low altitude.

Wang Wenmei took out a net-like magical instrument. This was a Spirit-binding Net, a tool specifically for hunting sea demons, purchased after gathering intelligence in the market. It was most effective against low-rank targets.

The fishing net expanded in the wind, and under Wang Wenmei's control, it steadily covered the fish demon. The beast tried to struggle, roaring and twisting, but it couldn't break free from the binding magic.

Whoosh!

Li Dexin's flying sword shot out, instantly striking the trapped beast.

The demon let out a mournful cry. Its struggles grew weaker until, moments later, it lay motionless, floating on the surface.

"Fifth Brother, mission accomplished successfully!" Wang Wenmei reported with a smile.

Hearing this, Wang Hao also smiled. "Good! I didn't expect it to be so simple. This way, even if the demon beast materials don't fetch high prices individually, with quantity alone, we can make a hefty profit!"

Everyone beamed, as if seeing large piles of Spirit Stones waving at them from the waves.

Li Derong watched as the fish demon's blood began to spread. "We should quickly clean up and leave! Otherwise, this blood will attract other demon beasts soon!"

"Elder, didn't we come out precisely to hunt demon beasts? Why not wait here?" asked one of the Li family cultivators.

Li Dedao nodded. "That makes sense. Since the demon beast's blood can attract others, it saves us trouble and avoids wasting Demon-Luring Grass!"

Wang Hao thought for a moment. "Hmm, since that's the case, we'll hunt demon beasts while traveling. But we can't stop here indefinitely. After all, we paid for intelligence saying there's a demon beast group to the northeast. If we're late, they might migrate!"

Everyone agreed. Wang Hao piloted the flying boat over, and they retrieved the corpse.

Several Qi Refining clan members brandished sharp blades and began dismembering the body. The skin, blood, limbs, scales, tail, and bones were all separated to be sold. As for the meat, only a portion was kept as provisions; the rest was discarded into the sea.

After all, the meat wasn't valuable and took up precious cargo space. Wang Hao's flying boat had limited capacity; it couldn't store too much and needed room for second-rank demon materials.

If they bought a large sea vessel, they wouldn't have to be so wasteful. Wang Hao resolved that after earning money this time, he'd definitely buy one. Otherwise, each trip would see them discarding thousands of Spirit Stones worth of meat.

After dismembering the fish demon, no other beasts appeared immediately. Wang Hao ordered the group to continue forward, but they stayed just tens of meters above sea level for easier detection.

Half an hour after Wang Hao left, several demon beasts arrived at the location, drawn by the lingering scent of blood, but the hunters were already far away.

The sea was truly teeming with life. Not long after flying further, they encountered two first-rank high-grade demon beasts—a pair of armored crabs.

Both Wang Hao and Li Derong intended to train their clan members, so they had the juniors take action while they provided support from the side.

Hunting demons at sea wasn't simpler than on land. The main difficulty was the ocean's depth; if things went wrong, a demon beast could dive into the abyss. Even with intent pursuit, the chances of catching up were slim.

Fortunately, Wang Hao's group had prepared thoroughly, purchasing several Spirit-binding Nets. Two clan members deployed the nets to block escape routes before the others attacked.

This hunt was slightly harder than the fish demon encounter. The crab-type demons had hard shells, keeping the clan members busy for quite some time. Neither Wang Hao nor Li Derong intervened, aiming to hone their combat skills.

Along the way, the group constantly encountered demons. Wang Hao rotated the members to ensure everyone gained experience. Some failed, but Wang Hao didn't blame them; he simply let them try again at the next encounter until they succeeded.

After everyone had participated in a hunt, Wang Hao decided to speed up. The current pace was too slow. First-rank demons were valuable to Qi Refining cultivators, but they were mere crumbs to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

He released Yaya, took out a spirit fruit, and fed her.

"Yaya, let me see your skills. Go catch that water snake and bring it back."

"Gah, gah!"

Yaya cried loudly, swallowed the spirit fruit, and flew into the distance. Moments later, she returned to the flying boat with a struggling water snake in her beak. She held her head high, basking in everyone's admiring gaze.

Wang Hao handed the water snake to the clan members to process, then patted Yaya's head. "Good. Continue."

...

This area was indeed the frontline between humans and demons. Having just left the market district not long ago, the density of first-rank demons was already high. Further out, they probably could hunt many low-rank demons without even needing Demon-Luring Grass.

Along the way, Wang Hao let the clan members and Yaya hunt freely to gain experience. Ten days later, the group finally reached the waters reported in the intelligence.

This place was already a hundred thousand miles from Canglan Market District. Demons here were even more abundant; flying for a short while would result in several encounters.

Wang Hao selected a small island to prepare for a major operation.

The island wasn't large, only five miles long and two miles wide, narrowing in the middle like a gourd. The purchased intelligence stated that second-rank saber-toothed sharks frequented this area, along with over ten types of first-rank demons.

Upon landing, Wang Hao addressed Li Derong. "Fellow Daoist Li, this is our first time hunting demons together. It is better not to separate. This formation happens to have two gates; each family will guard one."

Li Derong nodded and began instructing his clan members to set up the formation. Some clan members also threw the beast meat and blood from the journey onto the shore to help attract the predators.