Fierce Battle with the Giant-Toothed Shark

The roars grew clearer and clearer as the demonic beasts drew closer to the harbor.

Zhao Yi finally made out the two beasts. The one in front was an Ink-Armored Sea Turtle over ten feet across, while the one behind was a Giant-Toothed Shark over twenty feet long.

The two beasts rolled and fought in the sea. The turtle was clearly losing, its body covered in wounds from the Giant-Toothed Shark's bites as it wailed incessantly.

Suddenly, the Giant-Toothed Shark leaped out of the sea and slammed its colossal body into the turtle, driving it underwater. Then it bit down on the turtle's tail and gave a savage wrench.

"Roar!"

With an enormous howl of agony, the turtle surfaced again. Its tail was gone, apparently bitten off by the Giant-Toothed Shark.

The turtle turned to look at the Giant-Toothed Shark, then swam madly toward the harbor. Seeing this, the Giant-Toothed Shark pursued it furiously.

As the harbor drew closer, excitement actually appeared in the turtle's eyes, as though it had found a lifesaving straw to clutch.

Hidden behind the harbor lighthouse, Zhao Yi swallowed at the sight. Excitement actually stirred in him too, his heartbeat quickening and his hands and feet growing slightly sweaty.

Though demonic beasts could leave the water briefly, their fighting strength dropped drastically on land.

Sea turtles were naturally amphibious. If this one successfully escaped ashore, it would certainly be stronger there than the Giant-Toothed Shark.

If they both come ashore and fight another round, perhaps I can be the fisherman who profits while the snipe and clam grapple?

Master, Grandmaster, bless me! Today is the first of January, the beginning of a new year. Let me open the door to a double blessing!

Thinking this to himself, Zhao Yi ducked his head even lower and held his breath, afraid the two beasts would discover him.

Crack! Crack!

A clatter of breaking wood rang out, followed by hoarse roars. Zhao Yi tilted his head slightly to look.

The turtle had reached shore. Its enormous body smashed through the harbor's pier as it struggled up onto land!

Turning its head, the turtle looked back at the Giant-Toothed Shark in the sea and roared, seemingly rejoicing that it had survived, then continued crawling farther ashore.

The Giant-Toothed Shark swam back and forth in the harbor, occasionally leaping from the water to look in the direction the turtle had crawled. Furious roars rang out over the sea.

After circling a few times, the Giant-Toothed Shark finally could not restrain itself. With a violent lash of its tail, it leaped straight onto the ice.

The thick ice creaked beneath the Giant-Toothed Shark's massive body, with occasional cracks ringing out. Fortunately, it did not break, and the Giant-Toothed Shark finally steadied itself.

The turtle at the harbor seemed stunned to see the Giant-Toothed Shark lying on the ice. Only after several breaths did it begin scrambling madly inland, but by then it was too late.

Heavy snow had fallen on the island for two days straight, leaving deep drifts around the harbor. Pressing its enormous body into the snow, the Giant-Toothed Shark swung its tail and slapped its fins, sliding through the snow like a sled. It was actually faster than the crawling turtle!

As the turtle kept crawling, Zhao Yi finally noticed that it was missing not only its tail but also a hind leg. No wonder it was slow both swimming and crawling.

Sure enough, a dozen or so breaths later, the two clashed again.

The Giant-Toothed Shark clamped its great jaws around the turtle's shell and went into a death roll, while the turtle stretched its neck back and bit desperately at the Giant-Toothed Shark. The two beasts began a fierce battle at the harbor.

As time passed, the turtle's movements grew slower and slower, its bites feeble. Finally, its neck drooped and it stopped resisting, all three legs hanging limp.

The Giant-Toothed Shark stopped rolling and opened its jaws to put the turtle down, ready to enjoy its feast.

Squish! Squish!

The sounds came from behind, followed by a sharp pain in its tail. The Giant-Toothed Shark turned to look and saw a human cultivator hacking madly at its tail!

"Roar!"

The Giant-Toothed Shark lashed its tail and spun its body around like a top, opening its jaws to bite Zhao Yi.

A fierce gust struck, carrying a foul stench. His face icy, Zhao Yi darted aside to avoid the gaping jaws, then continued swinging the Long Ji at the Giant-Toothed Shark's face, its blade cutting bloody gashes across it.

The Giant-Toothed Shark snapped frantically at Zhao Yi, while he constantly shifted his position to evade its attacks.

Suddenly, seizing an opening, Zhao Yi leaped onto a boulder, twisted around, and delivered a backward thrust that struck the Giant-Toothed Shark squarely in its left eye.

The slightest touch burst it like a waterskin, releasing a stream of mucus mixed with blood.

Zhao Yi then rolled to the ground and, without stopping, rolled frantically aside.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

As though driven mad, the Giant-Toothed Shark roared wildly, repeatedly smashing its huge head against the surrounding rocks and sending stones and snow flying.

After rolling seventy or eighty feet away, Zhao Yi sprang to his feet with a kip-up. Watching the crazed Giant-Toothed Shark, he circled to the side of its injured left eye.

Seizing his chance, he leaped onto the Giant-Toothed Shark's back, ready to kill it with a single strike.

Unexpectedly, the Giant-Toothed Shark whipped its head around and spat a water arrow from its throat, as thick as a waist, straight at Zhao Yi.

At such close range, there was no time to dodge. Zhao Yi crushed a Golden Light Talisman, and a golden barrier appeared around him. With another roar, his body swelled as though inflated.

It was not the Boiling Blood Art, but the body-refining technique Zhao Yi practiced. The water arrow was too thick for the Golden Light Talisman alone to stop!

Sure enough, the Golden Light Talisman flickered only twice before shattering. The water arrow slammed straight into Zhao Yi, sending him flying seventy or eighty feet like a torn sack.

Blood scattered through the air, falling into the snow like plum blossoms.

Thud!

He hit the ground, his life or death unknown!

Twisting its body and beating its tail, the Giant-Toothed Shark slid unsteadily toward Zhao Yi. With its left eye gone, it collided with boulders twice over that seventy- or eighty-foot stretch.

As it looked at Zhao Yi lying on the ground, intense hatred flashed through its remaining eye.

"Roar!"

Then it opened its enormous jaws and bit down at Zhao Yi, its gaping maw just about to reach him.

At that critical instant, Zhao Yi suddenly opened his eyes and glared furiously at the Giant-Toothed Shark.

"Kill!"

Slapping his palm against the ground, he launched himself into the air. Both hands gripped the Long Ji, its blade raised high and flashing coldly as he thrust it swiftly into the Giant-Toothed Shark's wide-open, fang-lined maw.

Squish!

Passing through the tender, succulent flesh, the Long Ji easily pierced the Giant-Toothed Shark's enormous mouth and emerged through its skull.

Crack!

The fang-lined jaws finally snapped shut.

A moment later, at one side of the Giant-Toothed Shark's belly-

Rip!

The blade thrust out and sliced open a gash, and Zhao Yi crawled out, drenched in blood.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!"

Leaning on the Long Ji, Zhao Yi panted heavily. This time, he had truly come close to dying.

Had he not curled forward and hugged his knees before those enormous jaws closed, Zhao Yi would probably have been bitten clean in two.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The Giant-Toothed Shark's enormous tail thrashed wildly against the ground in its death throes.

Still shaken, Zhao Yi felt his chest and pulled out the Inner Armor worn beneath his clothes. Sure enough, its front had been smashed to pieces.

He felt his chest again and pressed lightly with a finger. A sharp pain shot through him. His breastbone was probably broken again, along with several ribs.

"Haha, well broken! Worth breaking!"

Zhao Yi grinned, then began laughing louder and louder.

"Cough! Cough!"

He coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood and wiped his mouth, unconcerned.

Picking up a nearby stone, he stood and looked at the Giant-Toothed Shark. It was no longer moving.

Zhao Yi padded his chest with the back piece of his Inner Armor, then staggered toward the Giant-Toothed Shark. After kicking it a few times, he raised the sharp stone and drove it viciously into its right eye.

Squish!

A jet of cloudy fluid spurted out!

There was no reaction. It seemed thoroughly dead.

Zhao Yi jabbed several other spots hard, then leaned on the Long Ji and headed toward the harbor to inspect his other prize.

After a dozen or so steps, he felt something was wrong. Something was missing. Where did my enormous turtle go?

Dazed, Zhao Yi turned his head and looked all around, but still found nothing.

Hmm?

As though something had occurred to him, Zhao Yi's expression changed drastically.

"Damn it! Softshell turtles live a thousand years, turtles ten thousand. Don't tell me that old bastard played dead and escaped back to the sea while I was fighting the Giant-Toothed Shark."

"No, in the state that old bastard was in, it couldn't have gotten far even if it escaped!"

At that thought, Zhao Yi ran madly toward the harbor, using the Long Ji for support. After rounding the stone house at the harbor, he found the turtle slowly crawling across the ice toward the sea, just as expected.

It rested after every step, leaving a bloodstained trail behind it.

"Heh! Think I'd let a turtle already at my lips fly away?"

Disregarding his injuries, Zhao Yi pounded himself several times, spitting out three large mouthfuls of blood in succession. His chest felt much easier.

Dropping the Long Ji, Zhao Yi began running slowly. A dozen or so breaths later, he finally caught up with the turtle.

With a bounding step, Zhao Yi leaped onto its back and raised his longsword. Ignoring the turtle's pleading expression, he hacked viciously at its bucket-sized head. Once, twice, three times.

"Roar!"

The turtle gave a howl of agony, and its head finally drooped. Zhao Yi delivered a fourth blow.

Crack!

The bucket-sized head rolled onto the ground.

Zhao Yi jumped off the shell, looked at the turtle's ten-foot body, and grinned!

He had truly struck it rich this time. This turtle was not at the Spirit Awakening Stage, but the Spirit Attraction Stage.

"Haha! Cough, cough!"

Before he could celebrate, Zhao Yi looked at the blood gushing from the severed neck. Something seemed to occur to him, his expression shifting and his throat moving slightly.

"Ah! This will have to do! There's no time!"

"Gulp! Gulp!"

Zhao Yi lay over the turtle's neck, noisily gulping down its blood!

The blood of a Spirit Attraction Stage demonic beast was good stuff, and Zhao Yi could not bear to waste it. First he lay on the ground to drink, then drank directly from the turtle's neck.

He had no idea how much he drank. He became so full that he could not walk, so he simply stayed put and began sitting in meditation to circulate his qi.

Once he finished cultivating, he continued drinking. The blood of a Spirit Attraction Stage demonic beast would not freeze; it would remain fresh for seven days, at least!

As for the Giant-Toothed Shark's blood, Zhao Yi had already checked it earlier. It had merely been a Spirit Awakening Stage demonic beast, nowhere near comparable to this Spirit Attraction Stage turtle. Their values differed tenfold.

This continued until the next day, by which time Zhao Yi's injuries had mostly healed.

And snow had fallen on the island all day long!