Temporary Team-Up

Seeing this,

Chen Xianhe grew tense as well.

The Tiger-eyed Fish carcass was only about ten feet long. Given the size of this Rank 1 demonic beast, devouring it would take no more than a few moments.

They had thought they would merely follow behind the Zhou Family, waving flags and shouting encouragement. They had never expected to encounter such a crisis.

Thinking of this, Chen Xianhe cautioned, "This demonic beast probably cannot fly. If we cannot defeat it later, abandon the ship and flee for your lives!"

At this moment, Chen Daoxuan would not try to act tough either. After all, his cultivation had only just reached the third layer of Qi Refining.

Even though he had experienced three bouts of Enlightenment on the way to Guang'an Prefecture, bringing his Chasing Wind Sword Art beyond the Great Accomplishment stage, it was likely still far from enough to deal with such an enormous demonic beast.

Unless...

He was willing to use the Flying Snow Sword, his trump card.

But using the Flying Snow Sword consumed far too much true qi. If it failed to achieve anything, he might exhaust his true qi and lose even the ability to flee. That would be a tragedy.

Just as he hesitated,

A familiar voice reached the ears of Chen Daoxuan and the others.

"Everyone, this is a late-stage Rank 1 demonic beast, a Bloodspot Sea Serpent. Its cultivation is equivalent to that of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. If we do not stop it in time, then given this beast's destructive power, the ships in our area will likely soon be destroyed by it!"

As he spoke, a black-robed old man floated in midair.

Chen Daoxuan recognized him at once. He was the black-robed elder who had sold him the Water Spirit Pearl at the Rogue Cultivator Market.

What a coincidence. His Cargo Ship was actually nearby as well.

After hearing the black-robed elder's explanation, everyone understood that if they wanted to save their own ships, they had no choice but to kill this Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

Very quickly,

The seven nearby Qi Refining cultivators, including the black-robed elder, reached a consensus: they would slay this demonic beast together!

However,

Among these seven Qi Refining cultivators, only the black-robed elder had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining. As for the rest, the highest cultivation belonged to Chen Xianhe, a mid Qi Refining stage cultivator at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Whether such a hastily assembled team could kill this demonic beast was truly hard to say.

But for the sake of their own Cargo Ships, these Rogue Cultivators, whose pockets were drier than their faces, had no other choice.

Sweeping his gaze over the crowd, the black-robed elder seemed to recognize Chen Daoxuan. He gave him a slight nod before arranging the tactics for killing the Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

"Everyone, not only is the Bloodspot Sea Serpent enormous, it is also a venomous sea snake commonly found in the ocean. When we slay the beast later, remember to take a Detox Pill beforehand."

Hearing this, a cultivator at only the second layer of Qi Refining said awkwardly, "Senior, I... I do not have a Detox Pill."

The black-robed elder took out a jade bottle, removed a transparent emerald-green pill from within, and flicked it into the second-layer Qi Refining cultivator's hand.

"Thank you for your gift, Senior!"

The black-robed elder nodded, then swept his gaze over the crowd. "Who else does not have a Detox Pill?"

"Me, I don't!"

"And me!"

"..."

Everyone spoke up in turn.

In the end, apart from Chen uncle and nephew, this hastily assembled team did not have a single person with something like a Detox Pill.

Of course,

It was not necessarily true that none of them had one. Perhaps some merely wanted to take advantage of the black-robed elder.

The black-robed elder understood the thoughts of such people, but in order to protect his costly Cargo Ship, he had no choice but to pay such a price.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for him alone to kill this Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

After a pause, the black-robed elder continued, "In a moment, this old man will use the Ice Binding Technique with all his strength. I can trap this beast for at least three breaths. Take advantage of that opening and join forces to kill the demonic beast. No objections?"

Seeing that someone was willing to take the lead, naturally no one disagreed. They all nodded in assent.

Once they had reached an agreement,

The black-robed elder wasted no words and immediately cast the Ice Binding Technique.

As the spell took shape, everyone saw a gigantic icy vine nearly a thousand feet long shoot from the black-robed elder's hand, directly freezing the Bloodspot Sea Serpent that was feeding in the sea.

The Ice Binding Technique was astonishingly powerful. It not only froze the demonic beast, but turned the surrounding seawater into ice as well.

"Why haven't you attacked yet?!"

The black-robed elder's face flushed red as he shouted.

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Daoxuan took the lead and unleashed the Crimson Shadow Flying Sword, slashing toward the frozen demonic beast.

Empowered by the Great Accomplishment Chasing Wind Sword Art, Sword Light surged and flickered from the Crimson Shadow Flying Sword, radiating terrifying might and drawing a sidelong glance from Chen Xianhe.

"This is... the Chasing Wind Sword Art at the Great Accomplishment stage!"

Chen Xianhe was shaken to the core.

Chen Daoxuan's mastery of the Chasing Wind Sword Art even appeared greater than his own. But... how was that possible?!

He clearly remembered that his nephew had only received the Chasing Wind Sword Art from him before they set out for Guang'an Prefecture. Even counting every last day, Chen Daoxuan had only been in contact with this Sword Art for a month.

In merely one month, he had cultivated this Sword Art to the Great Accomplishment stage? And it was no ordinary Great Accomplishment stage at that.

Impossible!

That was the only thought in Chen Xianhe's mind. Distracted, even the speed of his sword strike slowed by a fraction.

The others did not know what Chen Xianhe was thinking.

All of them used every trick they possessed, bringing out their greatest abilities as they launched a frantic assault upon the Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

For a time,

Sword light flashed through the air, fireballs danced, and lightning raced.

The spectacle was quite imposing.

But in reality,

Aside from the few people such as Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe, who could inflict a little damage upon the Bloodspot Sea Serpent,

The other cultivators' cultivation was too low, and the quality of their Magic Artifacts too poor. They could hardly inflict any meaningful harm upon this late-stage Rank 1 Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

The most outrageous one was the cultivator with the lowest cultivation in the group, the one at the second layer of Qi Refining.

His spellcasting seemed limited, while the "Magic Artifact" he used was actually a Dark Iron Flying Sword that he had crudely refined himself.

When Chen Daoxuan saw that Flying Sword, he was nearly dumbfounded.

All this time, he had regarded Rogue Cultivators casually refining Dark Iron into Magic Artifacts as a joke. He had never expected someone to actually do it in reality.

When the second-layer Qi Refining cultivator controlled his Dark Iron Flying Sword and struck the Bloodspot Sea Serpent's body, it did not even cut through its skin. It merely scattered a shower of sparks, utterly stunning everyone.

Seeing this,

The black-robed elder was both anxious and furious.

He cursed the crowd as useless trash again and again in his heart, yet had no good solution. He needed to continuously pour true qi into the Ice Sealing Technique to keep this ferocious sea serpent trapped.

Otherwise, once the Bloodspot Sea Serpent broke free of the ice, even if everyone could fly away and save their lives, their ships would surely be smashed to pieces by the enraged Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

This was something the black-robed elder absolutely could not tolerate.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Perhaps because he was too concerned about the battle, the black-robed elder's infusion of true qi slowed by the slightest beat.

Cracks actually appeared in the ice that had frozen the Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

"Not good! This beast is about to break free! Everyone, attack with all your strength, or none of our ships will be saved!"

No sooner had he spoken than

The ice around the Bloodspot Sea Serpent's tail shattered first.

A cylindrical black shadow burst through the ice on the sea's surface. Chen Daoxuan could even see the blood-red markings, each as large as a human head, on that tail.

Boom!

The Bloodspot Sea Serpent's massive tail smashed into a Cargo Ship beside the Azure Dragon.

At once, the Cargo Ship was struck in half by the demonic beast, breaking into two pieces.

Countless wood chips and severed limbs floated upon the sea.

"Ah! My ship! Die, you beast! Die!"

Seeing this, one of the cultivators in the group nearly went mad. He frantically controlled his Flying Sword and launched a wild assault on the Bloodspot Sea Serpent.

But his cultivation was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, and the Flying Sword's power was insufficient. No matter how furious he was, how much damage could he possibly inflict upon this demonic beast?

Seeing this,

Chen Daoxuan's face darkened.

Chen Xianhe, meanwhile, began to contemplate retreat. In his eyes, the Azure Dragon was important, but it was nowhere near as important as his nephew's safety.

If anything happened to Chen Daoxuan, it would be a thunderbolt from a clear sky for the Chen Family of Twin Lakes Island.

With this thought, Chen Xianhe gave Chen Daoxuan a slight shake of the head and a meaningful look, signaling him to withdraw at once.

Chen Daoxuan understood Chen Xianhe's look.

But thinking that they still needed the Azure Dragon to transport supplies on this journey, and that without it, setting aside the loss of Spirit Stones, the trip home would become extremely troublesome,

After weighing it for a moment, Chen Daoxuan's gaze hardened. "Thirteenth Uncle, I want to give it a try!"