What Is Xiao Chen Doing This Time?

If everything ended here, it would be nothing more than a minor accident.

Surprisingly, Hai Hong became increasingly fiercer despite being surrounded and attacked by the crowd.

It has a sense of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

Especially after Xiao Chen activated the Azure Wave Piercing Bone Needle to pierce its body and injured it through an explosion.

Surprisingly, amidst its roars, it displayed even greater speed and power.

The pair of giant pincers swung around, resembling four small mountains charging and crashing about.

Let alone a person, even a spirit shield would tremble and shake upon being hit like that.

"Daoist Xiao, the previous clone was the same."

Crane Cry True Monarch added, "The more severe the injuries, the more ferocious the attack; it's simply unreasonable."

That's really unreasonable.

Normally, an injury should affect subsequent combat performance.

How can the more serious the injury, the worse it gets?

However, many ferocious beasts are bloodthirsty and have a certain probability of going berserk after being injured, attacking their enemies wildly without regard for anything else.

Meanwhile, in the Cultivation World, all Demon Beast with Bloodline Mutation have a chance to become ferocious beasts.

Could it be that Hai Hong has awakened the bloodline of some High Antiquity ferocious beast?

Xiao Chen was recalling the Ancient Books he had read before, trying to guess the truth of the matter.

Suddenly, someone shouted from behind, "The ship is here! Everyone, come closer!"

Um?

He looked back and saw six large spirit ships sailing almost side by side.

The simplified Fourth-tier Defensive Formation carried on each ship has been fully activated, transforming into oval-shaped protective shields that cover the outside of the spirit ship.

Well, they've even brought their spirit ships here to fight against Hai Hong.

That's a good idea.

Although the spirit ship is not flexible enough in battle, lacks offensive means, and has relatively limited defensive capabilities.

However, it does carry a fourth-tier Defensive Formation.

Even if it can help the Human True Lord save some of the True Essence that should have been used for defense, that would be quite good.

Even if it can play a small role, it's better than nothing.

The stalemate continued for another hour.

The weakest cultivator, the Hundred Apertures True Monarch, was the first to experience a severe deficiency of true essence.

Forced to withdraw from the battle midway, he hid on a separate spirit boat behind the others, meditating to recover his true energy.

Then came Rift Void True Monarch and Purple Sun True Monarch.

Even the Surging Wave True Monarch Nascent Soul stage several years ago, was forced to retreat due to a lack of true essence.

Fortunately, at this stage of the battle, the Sea Race are also having a tough time.

After realizing that Hai Hong's condition was clearly not right, Xiao Chen decisively changed his battle strategy.

While using the Four Symbols Suppressing Mountain Shield to assist the other True Lord in defense.

They prioritized attacking the weakest of the three, the Thousand-Eye Ray, and continuously harassed it from a distance with the Azure Wave Piercing Bone Needle.

Although the other party tried their best to dodge after realizing that something was wrong.

However, just moments later, a gap appeared under the high pressure, and Flying Needle pierced his abdomen, causing considerable injury.

The Thousand-Eye Ray doesn't have the ability of the Hai Hong to become more powerful the more severe its injuries.

The injury caused a significant decrease in its agility, and the same thing happened four more times in quick succession.

Immediately afterwards, the sixth Flying Needle pierced straight through the center of its head.

The seventh Flying Needle forced out its Demon Infant.

The eighth Flying Needle, launched simultaneously, was anticipated and waited outside its body beforehand, instantly delivering the finishing blow.

Following closely behind, the Gilded Overlord Crab, after putting up a stubborn resistance for half an hour, was also dealt with by Xiao Chen using the same method.

In other words, the Sea Race suffered further losses in the battle, leaving only five Great Demon.

However, they are also the five most powerful.

Needless to say, the Hai Hong is practically a ferocious beast incarnate.

The Six-fin Barracuda, relying on its three pairs of special fins, is as fast as lightning and as agile as an eel in a mud pit or a monkey in the mountains.

It can even dodge Flying Needle from a distance with a short burst of speed.

Yes, after dealing with the Gilded Overlord Crab, Xiao Chen also tried to attack it three times.

However, due to the distance between the two sides exceeding three thousand feet, there was a certain amount of time required for the Law Technique to travel, causing all Nine Flying Needles to miss their target.

"This can't go on."

Iron Fan True Monarch was the first to consider the next steps and secretly asked via telepathy, "We have already achieved considerable results today, so how about we fight and retreat?"

"If we keep fighting, even if we win in the end, we'll inevitably be exhausted."

"If any unexpected events or unforeseen circumstances arise later, there could be unpredictable dangers."

His concern is not without merit.

Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any other Nascent Soul True Lord or Fourth-Order great demon here.

But there's always a chance of something going wrong.

No one knows whether a rogue Nascent Soul like Zhang Shouquan, or some reclusive old immortals from Hidden Dao Heritage, might happen to pass by as the battle nears its end.

Furthermore, given Hai Hong's strong will to fight.

We must consider whether the Sea Race have reinforcements on their way.

In short, to avoid all sorts of uncontrollable risks.

Wise cultivators should try their best to maintain a certain level of combat capability, rather than exhausting their last bit of true energy in a fierce battle and then entering a dangerous period of weakness.

In particular, sometimes even your comrades-in-arms may not be reliable.

In the Cultivation World, there are many precedents of people who, while exploring Secret Realm together, become weakened in their efforts to break restrictions or defeat guardian puppets, only to be ambushed by their own allies and die with resentment.

"I only have a quarter of my true energy left."

Qian Shu True Monarch did not give a direct answer, but replied, "At the current intensity of the battle, even with the effects of the Essence Returning Pill, we can only hold out for another half an hour at most."

Logically speaking, as Veteran True Lord, he shouldn't have expended so much energy.

However, he couldn't control several puppets all by himself.

Although the puppet itself can use Spirit Stone to share some of the true essence consumption, it will ultimately cause it to bear at least three times the true essence loss of an ordinary Nascent Soul.

This has a very serious impact.

Qian Shu True Monarch is not only a person, but also related to the four remaining Fourth-Order Puppet in his hands.

If he exhausts his true essence and withdraws from the battle, the Human Race will immediately lose four Nascent Soul Stage combatants.

Especially when facing Sea Race, thick-skinned puppets can often withstand more risky attacks, avoiding the huge disadvantage that cultivators would suffer in hand-to-hand combat with Great Demon.

"Then why don't we stop here?"

Upon hearing this Gang Yuan True Monarch also considered retreating. "Shall we retreat and recuperate first, and then discuss this further?"

Actually, his true energy was quite sufficient.

However, as Body Cultivator, he and Han Chuan True Monarch are now in a very awkward situation.

When facing Hai Hong, being weaker than its opponent puts it at a significant disadvantage.

When facing Six-fin Barracuda, it is not as fast as the opponent and can hardly hit it.

The remaining three Thousand-Year Sea Turtle were relatively bulky and not particularly strong.

The problem is that they all have a thick shell and are covered with sturdy scales.

It's equivalent to wearing a full set of armor, with a shield strapped to the chest and back.

If you punch or kick it, almost none of the force will actually penetrate.

Originally, even a tenth of the explosive power of Body Cultivator would be enough to easily shatter the internal organs of a magic Cultivator of Magic.

The problem is, these three sea turtles are all Demon Beast.

They are naturally full of vitality and strong, and can withstand this weakened attack.

In short, each of these five Great Demon is more difficult for Body Cultivator to deal with than the last.

Gang Yuan True Monarch and Han Chuan True Monarch were completely hampered and unable to effectively unleash their full power, making their fight extremely frustrating.

Therefore, he was already feeling extremely frustrated, but he just didn't voice his complaints.

Seeing that everyone seemed to be thinking of quitting while they were ahead, Xiao Chen couldn't help but frown slightly.

Naturally, he was unwilling to stop there and let Hai Hong and the other Great Demon go.

Firstly, these are all top-quality natural spiritual materials, especially the three Thousand-Year Sea Turtle, which are extremely suitable for refining defensive Spirit Artifact.

Secondly, the cost of using the Reinforced Formation Breaking Cone is not low, so stopping now would actually be a slight loss.

Although I don't lack Spirit Stone, I can always earn them back by reselling items a few more times.

The key issue is that there isn't a stable channel for acquiring that item yet, and even if you wanted to buy another one, you might not be able to find a suitable seller.

If we let the Hai Hong escape today, and they then set up some strange Defensive Formation, that would be a real problem.

"Fellow Daoists, I think we should hold on a little longer."

Quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Xiao Chen took the initiative to persuade them, "Although everyone's true essence has been severely depleted, I believe the pressure on the Sea Race will only increase."

"Perhaps the Hai Hong is already on the verge of extinction."

"He's just putting on a brave face and barely hanging on."

"It would be such a pity if we just let it go like this."

Having stated his views, Xiao Chen then proposed the next course of action. "Considering the current situation, I think Daoist Qian Shu can step back and rest for a while."

"Daoist Gang Yuan, Daoist Han Chuan, Cloud Vortex Fellow Daoist, and Silver Bristle Fellow Daoist, go and hold off those three Thousand-Year Sea Turtle."

"Iron Fan True Monarch and Crane Cry True Monarch, please deal with Hai Hong for now."

"I'll take care of that Six-fin Barracuda, and then we'll take them down one by one."

To boost everyone's morale, Xiao Chen added, "Give me a quarter of an hour first. If we still can't handle it, we can retreat in time."

Normally, he might not be able to defeat a Fourth-Order great demon that is no less powerful than Nascent Soul Late Stage within two quarters of an hour.

However, the Six-fin Barracuda has been fighting for half a day now, and its overall condition has fallen into a slump.

Meanwhile, its main strength lies in speed, and so far it has not demonstrated any additional special abilities.

In this way, Xiao Chen felt he could test just how high the maximum output capability of the Azure Wave Piercing Bone Needle really was.

Unfortunately, his Custom Spear was not yet finished.

Otherwise, there's no need to think about all this nonsense; we could just go straight for the kill.

"Daoist Xiao is right. As the old saying goes, releasing a tiger back into the mountains will bring endless trouble."

Crane Cry True Monarch nodded slightly. "In my opinion, we should hold on a little longer; perhaps we will achieve a great victory."

Cloud Vortex True Monarch also spoke with renewed Battle Intent: "Indeed, I agree with Daoist Xiao's statement."

As Sword Cultivator, although he didn't have Hai Hong's abilities, he became more and more excited as the fight went on, and even somewhat reluctant to retreat.

Besides swordsmanship, almost all that's left in my mind is three words: battle, awesome!

"If it's only for a quarter of an hour, then there's no need to rest."

Upon hearing this, Qian Shu True Monarch also volunteered, "I'll handle Hai Hong head-on; that way, we can reduce the risk of injury."

Even he, who suffered the most severe depletion of his true essence, has spoken out.

The other True Lord naturally had no objections and took action, beginning to implement the new battle strategy.

However, after the formal confrontation...

Xiao Chen was surprised to discover that the speed at which the Six-fin Barracuda burst through the water was actually comparable to his own speed after using Water Escape.

There are three reasons why this situation occurs.

Firstly, his opponent was essentially two minor realms ahead of him.

With higher cultivation levels, one naturally gains greater abilities.

Secondly, Barracuda Clan are among the fastest Sea Fish in the ocean.

In terms of speed alone, they have always been among the best in their class.

Thirdly, this Six-fin Barracuda has Mutated Bloodline, and coincidentally, its mutation is also in the speed category.

It can be said that this is like a fish in water, or a tiger with wings, further enhancing its greatest advantage.

On the contrary, with multiple enhancements, Xiao Chen was actually able to keep up with its speed.

This was something the Six-fin Barracuda found incredible and hard to accept.

It kept turning back to look at Xiao Chen, who was following closely behind it, and it almost wanted to curse him out.

Is this even reasonable?

The key issue remains: Xiao Chen's previous deduction was correct; the Sea Race Demons were indeed under greater pressure.

After all, from the very beginning, they were at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers, and each of them had to fight against many opponents.

As a result, both the depletion of Demonic Essence and the mental energy expended during battle remained consistently high.

They were also hindered by the spirit ship midway, wasting a lot of Demonic Essence again.

As a result, although they are not completely exhausted yet, they are at their wits' end.

More importantly, the Sea Race knew perfectly well that they had no reinforcements and would not receive any.

At the same time, they cannot rely on the extremely rare special case of a rogue cultivator interfering.

Therefore, from the perspective of the remaining five Great Demon, they are also facing a dead end.

Continuing to fight will only lead to death, and escaping only to be caught by the Venerable One will also result in death. Either way, survival is impossible. What should we do?

"Wait a minute!"

One of the Thousand-Year Sea Turtle had a sudden inspiration. "I am willing to surrender! I am willing to serve as a Spirit Beast!"

"I still have several thousand years Lifespan to live, so I can help you guard the mountain gate and take care of future generations."

"I did make some minor mistakes before because I was immature, but I've realized them now."

"I am willing to abandon darkness and embrace the light, to atone for my sins through good deeds. Please give me a chance to reform."

Um?

Its sudden defection surprised all the Human True Lord present.

No, why didn't you say you were going to surrender sooner? You've wasted so much of everyone's time.

Logically speaking, surrendering halfway through a battle will definitely not yield as many benefits as surrendering from the beginning.

Moreover, as Fourth-Order great demon, he had clearly chosen to resist, yet he suddenly changed his mind and reneged on his decision.

This kind of thing is actually quite rare; most of the time it only happens to a few despicable people.

Generally speaking, Great Demon are usually honest and simple-minded, and they shouldn't change their minds halfway through.

"I knew it! There would definitely be traitors!"

Hai Hong, however, seemed to have anticipated this, and shouted, "Now's the time! Let's do it!"

The Six-fin Barracuda in the distance paused slightly, then took out the last two Sea God Talisman from its body as planned, activated them with its Demonic Essence, and threw them out with force.

One of them rushed towards the traitorous Thousand-Year Sea Turtle.

The other one went straight for Hai Hong.

Judging from this, it's clear they want to use the power of the Sea God Talisman to force that Thousand-Year Sea Turtle to change its mind.

At the same time, Hai Hong was prepared to sacrifice herself to repel the Human Race's offensive.

In comparison, it was clearly more loyal than that Thousand-Year Sea Turtle.

"Oh no, the situation has changed!"

Upon seeing the overall situation, Qian Shu True Monarch was immediately taken aback, never expecting that the Sea Race could endure for so long before launching such a fierce attack.

"What?"

When Gang Yuan True Monarch turned around, he immediately recognized it as the Sea God Talisman he had seen once before.

You should know that the Giant Octopus alone caused a lot of trouble back then.

Although there are no Giant Sea Beast now, two have suddenly appeared, which will soon strengthen two Great Demon.

Unfortunately, everyone is starting to feel exhausted these days.

The fact that the Sea Race used such a trump card at this point clearly indicates that their intentions went beyond simply winning.

More likely, Hai Hong had already planned to use this opportunity to trade her life for another.

Through its sacrifice and that of another unfortunate soul, they managed to take away two to four Human True Lord, thereby disrupting the Human Race's subsequent offensive rhythm.

Thinking of this, Gang Yuan True Monarch couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe.

The plan itself wasn't particularly ingenious, but its most valuable aspect lay in the spirit of getting involved wholeheartedly.

Even a Great Demon like him deserves respect and remembrance for having such a belief.

If he has the opportunity in the future, he will record this scene truthfully in the sect's biography so that future generations can remember it.

However, the next moment...

Gang Yuan True Monarch saw a Grappling Hook rush ahead of the Sea God Talisman, grabbing Hai Hong first and pulling her away directly.

As a result, the Talisman, which was half a step too late, missed its target and fell into the vast ocean, ultimately hitting a small deep-sea fish with only Qi Refining cultivation.

Ah, could it be...?

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the Grappling Hook.

As expected, it was Xiao Chen who activated the ' Family Heirloom Talisman Treasure ' to grab Hai Hong and evade the Sea God Talisman.

Not only that!

He even took the initiative to stand between the Six-fin Barracuda and the traitorous Thousand-Year Sea Turtle.

He used his own body to catch another Sea God Talisman.

This left Human True Lord and Sea Race Great Demon dumbfounded.

What are you doing?

Putting aside the fact that using such a precious talisman just to save Hai Hong from being strengthened by the Talisman seems like a waste of resources.

This incident can be loosely interpreted as a way to weaken the enemy's combat power at all costs in order to prevent Hai Hong from going berserk after its enhancement.

That's somewhat acceptable.

But what are you planning to do by accepting another Sea God Talisman?

Are you really courting death?

Even a fool could guess that such Talisman would inevitably have extremely serious side effects.

Moreover, it often comes at the cost of life to gain a brief burst of power.

No one could figure out what Xiao Chen was doing.

"This... this... how?"

Gang Yuan True Monarch wanted to say something or ask something, but for a moment he didn't know how to start.

Crane Cry True Monarch stared with his eyes wide open, like copper bells.

It was as if they had seen something truly astonishing.

"Ah?"

The Six-fin Barracuda stood there, stunned. Its mind was a bit confused; it didn't know if its attack had missed or hit.

This should be considered a lucky hit, right?

Compared to sacrificing comrades, wouldn't it be more worthwhile to directly kill Xiao Chen?

Even the Thousand-Year Sea Turtle that had attempted to rebel was bewildered.

However, it was the first to realize what was happening and hurriedly shouted, "Your Excellency Hai Hong, please understand! I was only feigning surrender to mislead the Human Race."

"I have always been loyal to His Venerable One and to Your Excellency, and have never had any disloyal intentions."

In that split second, it realized something.

Without Xiao Chen, the Human Race seems to be at a disadvantage once again.

If we can just get through today, what follows is the great counterattack and reckoning by the Sea Race, so we definitely can't afford to get on the wrong ship at this time.

Upon hearing this, Hai Hong laughed in fury, "Hahaha, well done!"

However, for the sake of the bigger picture, it did not directly turn against the turtle, but instead made a double entendre to it, subtly mocking the Thousand-Year Sea Turtle.

"Oh, there's no need to praise me like that."

Xiao Chen readily accepted the question, "I was just improvising."

"After all, we were almost tricked by the Sea God Talisman last time, so we're naturally more cautious this time."

One of the reasons he specifically chose the Six-fin Barracuda when he was setting up his plan was that the fish had used the Sea God Talisman last time, so he needed to keep a close watch on it this time.

Therefore, they prepared Mechanical Grappling Claw well in advance and kept a close eye on the locations of the other Great Demon.

The only pity is that, in Xiao Chen's original plan...

If he can seize the enhancement of the Sea God Talisman, he can use the Night's Edge to offset the cost.

Then, during the enhancement period, using the super combat power brought by the Talisman, they directly killed the remaining five Great Demon.

This wasn't arrogance on his part; if he could double his current power, he could easily crush his opponents.

Therefore, Xiao Chen stood still at first, waiting for the Talisman to take effect.

The problem is that several breaths have passed since the Sea God Talisman was applied to his body, but he hasn't felt any change or improvement.

This thing didn't work.

Could it be that it just happened to break?

The reason is that for the Sea God Talisman to take effect, it needs to burn its Lifespan as a price from the very beginning before it can unleash its amazing power.

However, when it comes to Xiao Chen, the Divinity Veil will not allow it to deduct from his Lifespan.

Without a price to pay, power cannot be created out of thin air.

During this time, the entire battlefield was eerily quiet for half an hour.

Whether Human Race or Sea Race, including Xiao Chen himself, everyone was waiting for the Sea God Talisman to take effect.

However, in the end, everyone watched helplessly as the Talisman turned to ashes on its own, without noticing anything unusual.

"That's impossible!"

Hai Hong was truly unable to accept this. "Why weren't you affected?"

It was almost powerless to fight anymore, and now that it had lost the Sea God Talisman, even the plan to trade its life for another had become a pipe dream.

"True Monarch Xiao, I was actually joking just now."

The Thousand-Year Sea Turtle sensed something was wrong again and tried to salvage the situation. "Hahaha, I've actually wanted to be your mount for a long time."

"Or perhaps you're missing a mascot to guard the gate?"