"Wretched beast! How dare you run wild!"
County Lieutenant Gao Mingyuan struck first.
He brought two fingers together like a sword and abruptly jabbed at the enormous shadow surging toward them from across the water.
Scarlet radiance flared from his fingertips. The scorching, unyielding aura tore through the damp air, and a condensed crimson finger force shot forth with a piercing whistle!
It was his renowned ultimate technique, Blazing Sun Finger. Wherever the finger force passed, the dense fog scattered, while the seawater was actually vaporized by the searing aura into billowing white steam, revealing a fleeting vacuum trail.
The finger force struck the enormous shadow with pinpoint accuracy, producing a muffled boom like a blow against rotten leather.
The shadow jolted to a halt and let out a pained yet furious shriek. The sound waves pierced through the seawater, churning everyone's blood and qi. The weaker constables even staggered backward, blood seeping from their ears and noses.
The spot struck by the finger force was charred and rotten, giving off a scorched smell. The injury was clearly no light one.
However, the blow had completely aroused the giant demon's ferocity.
The dense fog churned violently. A thick, dark-purple tentacle covered in bowl-sized suckers and vicious bone spines surged through the surface like a gigantic battering ram, carrying terrifying force capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas as it smashed toward the bow where Gao Mingyuan stood.
Before the tentacle even arrived, the terrifying pressure of the wind had already forced the bow sharply downward. The planks groaned painfully, as though they would come apart the next moment.
"Hmph!"
Martial Hall Master Zhao Canghai snorted coldly and finally moved.
He stepped forward, his figure appearing at the very front of the bow as if he had teleported there. Facing the terrifying tentacle crashing down with force capable of destroying heaven and earth, his expression was as tranquil as an ancient, frozen abyss.
At the instant the tentacle containing tremendous force was about to strike his head, the aura around Zhao Canghai abruptly changed.
An incomparably cold and desolate intent, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, surged into the heavens.
A hazy illusion faintly emerged behind him. It was an immeasurably vast, frozen river, with a lone moon hanging in the sky and all sounds stilled. The phantom of the Cold River Dharma Form suddenly appeared!
Though it was merely an illusion, the extreme "Cold Silence" artistic conception originating from the visualization object had already spread outward. The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted, and thick white frost instantly formed along the ship's rails.
He slightly raised his wrist and used the sheathed saber as a blade, gently drawing it forward.
It was still the move Cold River Reflecting Moon.
But when this technique was unleashed by a Bone Forging Realm - Peak expert who had visualized a Dharma Form, its might had already transcended the ordinary.
Wherever the sheath passed, there was no ear-piercing sound of wind being torn apart. Only an absolute "stillness" and "cold" spread outward.
The enormous tentacle crashing down in fury suddenly froze in midair when it was still several yards above Zhao Canghai's head, as though it had struck an invisible yet absolutely freezing barrier. Time seemed to halt at that moment.
The revolting mucus coating the tentacle's surface instantly froze into a hard shell of ice. The surging demonic power within it was forcibly interrupted by the terrifying chill and sealed in ice.
Immediately afterward, crisp cracking sounds rang out without end like popping beans. Starting from its tip, the incomparably thick tentacle shattered inch by inch.
It had not been broken by overwhelming force. Rather, it seemed to have been completely "frozen to death" from within, every cell losing all vitality before turning into countless ice particles that rustled down into the sea.
With one light, casual slash, the seemingly invincible demonic tentacle—powerful enough to smash through a city gate—completely collapsed into ice, as though it had never existed.
Everyone aboard the ship, including County Lieutenant Gao Mingyuan, watched in stunned silence. Not a sound could be heard!
This was the terrifying strength of a Bone Forging Realm - Peak expert empowered by his own visualized Dharma Form. It was a world apart from Skin Grinding, Sinew Changing, and even ordinary Bone Forging.
"Roar!!!"
From beneath the deep sea came an even more painful and frenzied bellow from the giant demon, with even a trace of fear mixed within.
It clearly had not expected the human before it to be so terrifying. The level of his strength completely crushed it.
Its remaining tentacles thrashed wildly, churning the waves into towering swells as the dense fog rolled even more violently.
Its enormous body suddenly sank toward the depths. At the same time, it spewed out great gobs of thick black liquid, dense as ink and filled with a foul stench and auras that interfered with the spirit, rapidly contaminating a large expanse of the surrounding sea.
It not only completely blocked their vision but also severely disrupted martial artists' spiritual perception and blood-and-qi senses!
"Trying to escape?" Zhao Canghai's gaze turned cold. At last, he drew his saber for the first time.
Clang!
The instant the Cold Ripple Blade truly left its sheath, a dazzling blade light rose into the sky, bright as moonlight and cold as ten-thousand-year-old dark ice. It seemed intent on cleaving apart and freezing the mist and ink that filled the heavens and earth.
The extreme chill swept in every direction. Everyone on deck felt their blood and qi become sluggish, as though they were about to freeze solid.
The phantom of the Cold River Dharma Form behind Zhao Canghai grew slightly more substantial, while cold moonlight seemed to gather upon the blade.
However, the giant demon was exceedingly cunning. Taking cover behind the ink and dense fog and relying on its powerful vitality, it was diving and fleeing at a speed wholly disproportionate to its size. It was about to vanish into the dark depths.
Its aura was rapidly becoming indistinct. Once it completely submerged into the deep sea, finding it again would be difficult.
Gao Mingyuan fired several Blazing Sun Fingers in succession. The crimson finger forces shot into the ink like red-hot iron rods, hissing as they vaporized large swaths of white steam. Yet most missed their mark, merely stirring up boiling sprays without striking anything vital.
Zhao Canghai had already raised his saber, his peerlessly fierce saber intent trying to lock onto the rapidly fleeing giant demon.
But the ink and dense fog severely disrupted his lock. This killing slash might heavily injure it again, yet it might not be enough to keep it from escaping.
At this critical juncture, Chen Yuan, who had remained submerged in the water and used his extraordinary perception and Mist Manipulation divine ability to resist the interference of the ink and fog, keenly seized the opportunity.
He could not see the giant demon, but he could clearly "feel" that enormous, cold aura fleeing rapidly into the distance. If it escaped, endless trouble would follow!
With no time to think, Chen Yuan reacted almost instinctively.
He circulated the Mist Manipulation divine ability he had only recently begun to master with all his strength. But this time, his target was not to create mist. Instead, he attempted to use Mist Barrier to "affect" the waters around the giant demon, which were saturated with its demonic power, ink, and dense fog.
He could not directly control the giant demon, but he could desperately amplify the "chaos" and "obscurity" of that stretch of water!
He mixed the power of his divine ability with his spiritual force. Like a drop of ice water falling into boiling oil, he did everything he could to disturb and distort the perception signals in that region.
He made the already chaotic waters even more blurred and directionless. This was not an attack, but something more like an extremely subtle form of "sensory confusion"!
It was an exceedingly dangerous operation that consumed tremendous mental energy.
Chen Yuan felt as though his head had been struck by a heavy hammer. A buzz rang out, his vision went black, and a warm liquid faintly trickled from the tip of his nose. He nearly fainted on the spot. He forcefully bit through the tip of his tongue, barely maintaining a trace of clarity under the stimulation of the pain.
The effect was immediate!
The giant demon, which had been frantically diving and fleeing, suddenly let out a suspicious, uncertain shriek that even contained a trace of panic.
Within its perception, the familiar directions of the surrounding currents suddenly became chaotic and inverted. Up, down, left, and right seemed to have become completely scrambled, while even the pursuers' positions turned elusive and shifting.
Its simple intelligence could not understand the change. Its enormous body abruptly stalled, even twisting in place in a daze, and its escape speed slowed for an instant.
That instant of hesitation and confusion was already enough against a powerhouse like Zhao Canghai.
"Hm?" A sharp gleam burst from Zhao Canghai's eyes. Although he did not understand why the giant demon had suddenly suffered such a fatal pause, he would never let this heaven-sent opportunity slip away.
"Sever!"
He exhaled and shouted, his voice like ice exploding. The phantom of the Cold River Dharma Form behind him suddenly became clear. Endless chill and saber intent fused perfectly together, and the Cold Ripple Blade in his hand transformed into a cold rainbow that tore apart heaven and earth and froze all things as it descended in a furious slash.
This slash was another highly lethal saber technique from the Cold River Spirit Blade Saber Canon: Cold River Severing Flow!
The blade light was like a bolt of silk, as though it could truly split the vast rivers and seas in two with a single slash!
Extreme sharpness and extreme cold combined perfectly. In an instant, the blade cleaved through the dense fog and parted the ink, striking with absolute precision into the stretch of water thrown into turmoil by the giant demon's own confusion.
Splurt! Crack!
A muffled sound like a blow against rotten leather, mixed with the strange boom of shattering ice crystals, came from beneath the water. It sounded as though something extraordinarily tough had been forcibly cleaved apart and then instantly frozen!
Immediately afterward, the seawater churned violently as though it had exploded.
A great quantity of dark-purple blood, frozen with shards of ice, surged to the surface like a fountain, rapidly dyeing a huge expanse of sea red.
The giant demon let out half a shriek, tragic and utterly despairing, before the sound abruptly ceased!
Its powerful demonic aura rapidly collapsed and vanished like air leaking from a punctured bladder.
The next moment, the enormous shadow slowly floated up from beneath the water. It was a terrifying sea demon of astonishing size, shaped like an octopus but with a single horn growing from its head—the Unicorn Evil Squid.
At that moment, its incomparably tough head, strong enough to withstand blades and sabers, had practically been split cleanly in two from front to back. Thick ice covered the wound, and not the slightest sound came from it.
Bone Forging Realm sea demon, Unicorn Evil Squid—dead!
There was silence aboard the ship at first, so quiet that one could hear a needle drop. Then thunderous cheers erupted.
"Martial Hall Master's Divine Might!"
"It's dead! Hahaha!"
"Wonderful! Martial Hall Master, that saber was too powerful!"
Everyone cheered and jumped for joy. County Lieutenant Gao Mingyuan also let out a long breath, the gaze he directed at Zhao Canghai filled with admiration and a trace of undisguisable wariness.
He reckoned that even if he went all out, he might be able to defeat the giant demon, but it would be extremely difficult for him to kill it in a single blow with such overwhelming ease.
Zhao Canghai's strength had probably reached the absolute peak of the Bone Forging Realm.
Zhao Canghai slowly sheathed his saber. The phantom of the Dharma Form behind him quietly dispersed, while his expression remained as calm and placid as ever.
But his sea-deep gaze imperceptibly swept across the place where the giant demon had emerged from the water, and the depths of his eyes flashed with the faintest trace of thought.
The giant demon's inexplicable confusion just now had occurred at far too convenient a moment... But this was not the time to investigate it closely.
"Clear out the remaining demon fish, inspect the damage to the ships, and treat the wounded!" Gao Mingyuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and swiftly issued his orders.
Everyone immediately sprang into action. Without the giant demon's control and with most of the fog's concealment gone, the remaining Iron Tooth Ghost Head Fish fell into chaos and were soon completely wiped out.
Chen Yuan and Li Wei also leaped back onto the deck from the water.
Chen Yuan's face was as pale as paper, and his temples throbbed violently. His spiritual energy had been consumed enormously, but he forced himself to stand steady and silently circulated his blood and qi to regulate his breathing, concealing the abnormality.
Li Wei heavily slapped him on the shoulder and praised him. "Little Junior Brother, well done! You're quite skilled underwater. You cleaned them out thoroughly!"
Chen Yuan forced a smile. His voice was slightly hoarse. "Senior Disciple Brother, you flatter me."
No one connected the giant demon's final abnormality with this Skin Grinding Realm junior disciple who had just dived into the water and seemed to have merely been responsible for clearing out the miscellaneous fish.
Everyone believed that Martial Hall Master Zhao Canghai's astonishing saber had seized upon the subtle opening created by the giant demon's injuries and settled the entire battle with one decisive strike.
Liu Qing handed over a warm, lustrous Warm Blood Pill. "Little Junior Brother, your complexion looks awful. You must be exhausted. Take this—it'll help you feel better."
Wang Meng remained immersed in the shock of his master's heaven-shaking saber. He excitedly gestured as he spoke. "Master was incredible just now! Once his Dharma Form appeared, that giant Unicorn Squid couldn't even move. Good grief, when will I be able to reach that level..."
Sun Yun said nothing, but silently handed over a dry cloth.
Chen Yuan accepted the pill and cloth, feeling a little warmth in his heart as he lowered his voice to offer his thanks.
He quietly swallowed the pill. As he felt its gentle medicinal power dissolve and nourish his body, the pallor of his face finally receded slightly.
With the crisis resolved, the dense fog also gradually thinned somewhat following the giant demon's death, and sunlight once more struggled to filter down in faint beams.
The four fast ships drew together again and exchanged reports.
The County yamen had lost two capable men, and the ship itself had suffered considerable damage.
On the martial hall's side, thanks to Zhao Canghai holding the line and the disciples' strength, no one had died. After emergency repairs, the ship was still seaworthy.
County Lieutenant Gao Mingyuan and Martial Hall Master Zhao Canghai discussed matters for a while before deciding that the fleet would temporarily retreat some distance to find a relatively safe stretch of water to rest. At the same time, they would find a way to tow back the priceless corpse of the giant demon.
Chen Yuan stood by the ship's rail, watching everyone busily use thick chains to tow the enormous demon corpse. The turmoil in his heart gradually settled.
He had successfully concealed himself and played an unexpected role at the crucial moment. This experience had also given him a new understanding of how to use the Mist Manipulation divine ability.
More importantly, he had personally experienced the terrifying strength of a Bone Forging Realm expert after visualizing a Dharma Form. It was an overwhelming suppression at the level of life itself, filling him with infinite yearning and desire for the higher realms.
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