Surrounded

"Azure Jade Ghost Carp? How did we run into these things?"

Azure Jade Ghost Carp were ferocious by nature and liked feeding on creatures with spiritual or demonic power, such as human cultivators and other low-level demon fish.

Most importantly, they possessed intelligence. They were also social demon fish that knew how to cooperate and hunt in packs.

Once they fixed their sights on prey, they would not give up easily.

They were among the most dangerous demon fish in the waters near Rosy Cloud Island.

Without anyone directing them, the more than thirty sampan spirit boats were frantically driven almost at the same instant.

All fled north.

Spiritual power surged wildly from every cultivator's body, each of them wanting only to be faster than the others.

No one wanted to be the one left behind.

Because everyone knew that being last meant death.

Wang Mengde did not flee at once.

He activated the Spirit Eye Technique and swept his gaze over the roiling waters to the south.

More than thirty third-layer minor demon Azure Jade Ghost Carp, spaced more than ten meters apart, were charging north in a fan-shaped formation.

Their speed was astonishingly fast.

Wang Mengde's pupils contracted slightly.

He had seen schools of demon fish before, but never one in such an orderly formation.

These things truly possessed no small amount of intelligence.

The more than thirty Azure Jade Ghost Carp were incredibly swift.

They streaked through the seawater at high speed, each flick of their tails carrying them several zhang. Like more than thirty azure arrows, they split the water as they pursued everyone.

In moments, they were less than ten zhang from the nearest sampan.

A second-layer Qi Refinement cultivator desperately drove his spiritual power. The spray blasting from the stern of his sampan stretched three zhang long, but the boat had already reached its limit.

He glanced back, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

The more than thirty Azure Jade Ghost Carp had already closed within thirty zhang.

Six of them were charging straight toward him.

In a panic, he pulled a talisman from his robes and crazily poured spiritual power into it.

Lightbody Radiance Talisman.

The talisman instantly flared with blinding spiritual light, becoming a streak of radiance that enveloped his body.

Just as the six Azure Jade Ghost Carp were about to ram the sampan, he leaped from the spirit boat. Running atop the sea, he fled at top speed like a streak of light.

The next instant.

"Boom."

Six water arrows shot up from beneath the surface, astonishingly fast, striking that streak of light with pinpoint accuracy.

The protective talisman the cultivator had just activated lasted only an instant before shattering with a bang.

"Aah..."

With a shrill scream, the cultivator was badly injured and fell into the sea.

Blood instantly dyed a stretch of ocean red.

The six Azure Jade Ghost Carp swarmed forward, their sharp teeth biting down viciously.

Before the cultivator could even struggle, he was torn to pieces.

Only a shocking pool of bloody water and several scraps of torn clothing remained on the surface.

After devouring him, the six Azure Jade Ghost Carp scattered, returned to formation, and continued charging north.

Wang Mengde saw everything clearly.

His pupils narrowed slightly, and a chill ran through his heart.

But he did not panic.

The more it was a time like this, the less he could afford to lose his head.

He took a deep breath, forcibly calming himself, then mobilized even more spiritual power and poured it wildly into his eyes.

The Spirit Eye Technique operated at full power.

At its peak, the Spirit Eye Technique allowed his gaze to penetrate deeper seawater and see farther into the distance.

His eyes swept across the surrounding waters.

Then his expression changed.

To the east, more than forty Azure Jade Ghost Carp lay hidden in the deep sea, utterly motionless.

To the west, there were likewise more than forty, quietly waiting.

To the north, at the farthest reach of his vision, he could vaguely see even more azure figures—at least seventy or eighty of them.

They did not move. They simply hovered quietly in the deep sea, as though waiting for something.

An encirclement.

A massive encirclement.

They had surrounded all of them in the center.

Over a hundred third-layer minor demon Azure Jade Ghost Carp.

On their side, there were only a little over thirty cultivators.

More than ten were at the second layer of Qi Refinement, while only fourteen were at the third layer.

If a hundred Azure Jade Ghost Carp swarmed them, the number of people who could escape could be counted on one hand.

Yet the Azure Jade Ghost Carp before them numbered only a little over thirty.

They were chasing, herding, driving them onward.

Like sheep being driven, they were forcing them north.

And to the north was where the encirclement was thickest.

This school of Azure Jade Ghost Carp was not simply pursuing them to kill.

They were hunting them in an organized encirclement.

They wanted to catch everyone in a single net.

So clever.

So vicious.

Wang Mengde shouted, "Don't flee north! We've already been surrounded by the Azure Jade Ghost Carp!"

At his words, everyone's movements stalled in unison.

Wang Mengde continued in a booming voice, "There are the most Azure Jade Ghost Carp directly north! Everyone, break through to the east or west!"

In that instant, most of the cultivators recalled Wang Mengde's Spirit Eye Technique.

His Spirit Eye Technique was the strongest among them.

What he said should not have been false.

Still, some did not believe him—or rather, they were more willing to trust their own judgment—and continued fleeing madly north.

Wang Mengde ignored them.

As he drove his sampan, he turned toward Qin Xiangnan nearby and shouted:

"Qin Xiangnan, come with me!"

Over the past few years, Qin Xiangnan had often sought him out for guidance in spells, and they had the best relationship.

Qin Xiangnan froze for a moment, then saw Wang Mengde steering his sampan in a streak toward the west.

He immediately changed direction and followed.

Zhao Youming had originally been fleeing east.

But upon hearing Wang Mengde's words, his eyes shifted.

That guy's Spirit Eye Technique was so powerful. Following him gave him a better chance of surviving.

Gritting his teeth, he abruptly turned the bow and chased after Wang Mengde.

Zhou Lie had been following beside Zhao Youming the entire time. Seeing him suddenly change direction,

he immediately followed as well.

They shot toward the west.

A few breaths later.

Shrill screams came from the north.

"Aah..."

The sound was heart-rending, utterly miserable.

Everyone looked back and saw only the northern sea.

The seven or eight cultivators who had fled north had already fallen into the Azure Jade Ghost Carp's encirclement.

Seventy or eighty Azure Jade Ghost Carp rushed up from the deep sea and instantly engulfed those cultivators.

The screams lasted only a moment before abruptly cutting off.

All that remained on the sea were patches of horrifying crimson.

Everyone's faces turned pale as they crazily drove their spiritual power and fled madly east and west.

Wang Mengde drove his sampan at the very front.

He had bought his sampan only recently, spending over eighty spirit stones on it. Its power was strong, and it was extremely fast.

Qin Xiangnan, Zhao Youming, Zhou Lie, and two other third-layer Qi Refinement cultivators followed close behind him.

The others fled madly eastward.

The cultivators with slower spirit boats were terrified. Three activated Lightbody Radiance Talismans, abandoned their boats, and sprinted across the sea at top speed.

But it was already too late.

At the instant they abandoned their boats and fled.

Dozens of water arrows shot up from beneath the sea.

They streaked toward the three men.

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The three were badly injured and fell into the sea.

The Azure Jade Ghost Carp swarmed over them.

Three more clouds of blood spread across the water.