Monster

Xu Qi'an waved his hand, and the female merman corpse, which had been floating in the blue waves and white foam, rose into the air and hovered in front of the two of them.

"There were no obvious, clear teeth marks; the assailant must have been a very large body to have bitten it off in one go."

Xu Qi'an examined the merman's "waist-cut" wound and made a judgment:

"They encountered a large predator."

After he finished speaking, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox calmly took over the conversation:

"As far as I know, there are no large predators inhabiting or living near this sea area. If this merman is not a personal guard of the merman queen, but an ordinary merman, then he may have encountered a predator that accidentally wandered into the merman sea area."

"As for now, Mermaid Island is most likely in trouble. Because the Queen's personal guards will never leave the Mermaid Queen's side."

Xu Qi'an nodded:

"Therefore, when the royal guards encounter predators, it's the same as when the queen encounters predators. And even though the merfolk queen is an extraordinary powerhouse, her royal guards still get killed."

The conclusion is self-evident—the enemy is also extraordinary.

"So many extraordinary experts overseas? I ran into two as soon as I set sail?" Xu Qi'an was full of surprise.

A place like Mermaid Island, where a race has lived for generations, is similar to a small power. It's understandable that a power composed of descendants of Gods and Devils would have extraordinary experts in charge. Another example is Silkworm Island, where the Netherworld Silkworms live.

But encountering extraordinary individuals so easily is still somewhat exaggerated.

The silver-haired enchantress pouted:

"On my last voyage, aside from the powerful beings who resided in their fixed habitats, I encountered almost no transcendent gods Gods and Devils along the way."

The implication is that this situation is a low-probability event.

Perhaps the merfolk have provoked some powerful enemy, or perhaps there are descendants of Gods and Devils from elsewhere wandering here.

Xu Qi'an continued examining the corpse, then suddenly frowned and said:

"Perhaps we're the ones in trouble!"

The nine-tailed celestial fox looked at him and hummed in a questioning tone.

"This merman's corpse has been submerged in the water for over ten hours, but the merfolk have not found their companion's body, and there are no signs of it being eaten by fish or shrimp," Xu Qi'an said with a smile.

What does this mean?

The silver-haired enchantress was incredibly intelligent; with just a little guidance, she immediately understood.

She frowned and said:

That powerful predator is still roaming the nearby waters!

Therefore, the merfolk dared not leave the island, and the creatures in the nearby waters were either eaten or scared away. As a result, the corpse was relatively well preserved and was not eaten by the fish and shrimp in the sea.

The boat moved at a steady pace on the rippling blue waves, rising and falling gently with the waves.

For the rest of the journey, Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox waited silently for something.

The sun was shining brightly, the sky was azure, and the salty sea breeze ruffled his hair and clothes. Suddenly, Xu Qi'an's ears twitched as he heard a sudden surge of currents on the seabed not far away, with a huge monster swimming in the water.

At the same time, the martial artists' sense of impending crisis began to warn them.

Naked killing intent and malice, undisguised. Xu Qi'an glanced at the silver-haired enchantress. The fox spirit walked to the ship's side, her two long, slender, and powerful legs swaying.

With a gentle twist of her waist, a fluffy fox tail suddenly shot up and plunged into the sea.

The other eight tails rose up, swaying slowly like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, poised to pounce.

Xu Qi'an listened intently, his ears filled with the sound of rushing water; the undercurrents beneath the surface of the sea had suddenly become many times more violent.

He was entangled. He thought to himself.

At that moment, the nine-tailed fox beside her suddenly tensed her long, shapely legs, her knees dipped slightly, and her eight tails straightened instantly.

With a twist and pull of her waist, she exerted force like a fisherman.

The next moment, the sea surface swelled up, and water sprayed out.

"Whoosh!"

White foam and blue waves surged dozens of feet high. Amidst the torrential rain, a colossal shadow leaped out of the sea and came into the view of Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Fox.

This is a dragon, its entire body covered in jet-black scales, its head ferocious and ugly, with a row of bone spikes growing on its back and a spear-like horn on its forehead.

Unlike ordinary dragons, its limbs are extremely thick, and its claws have thick webbed feet.

Its overall appearance is more like a lizard.

In addition, its body is covered with twisted and disordered patterns that can make people dizzy, feel chest tightness and vomit at a glance.

He appeared to be at the mid-stage of the third rank, possessing abundant Qi and Blood, and considerable strength. Xu Qi'an glanced at him and immediately estimated his cultivation level.

It wasn't that he had particularly sharp eyes, but rather that the dragon hadn't concealed its aura, freely displaying its ferocious and arrogant spirit.

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with violence, and lacked sufficient rationality.

The dragon's body was entangled by a fluffy fox tail. Seeing that it could not break free, it let out a deep roar and charged headlong at the fox.

"Snort!"

The silver-haired enchantress curled her beautiful red lips, and eight tails, poised to pounce, shot out like iron chains from behind her, hooking onto the dragon's neck, limbs, tail, and waist.

"Pfft."

Amidst the horrifying sounds of flesh being torn apart, the dragon's body was severed inch by inch, and crimson blood splattered everywhere.

Before the blood could spill onto the sea, Xu Qi'an collected it and held it in his palm.

The dragon, though torn into pieces, was not dead; its severed flesh writhed, attempting to regenerate.

But it failed. The nine-tailed fox knew exactly how to deal with a third-grade descendant of a Gods and Devils (a martial artist): slice him up, the more shredded the better.

Then control the remaining limbs to prevent them from piling up together.

In this way, although the extraordinary will not die immediately due to their strong vitality, the vitality of the severed limbs is not enough to regenerate a completely new body.

Just like now, every segment of the dragon's body is trying to "regenerate," but their Essence Blood are limited, making it impossible for them to grow into a completely new individual.

"It seems to have a problem with its intelligence; it's unable to communicate."

The nine-tailed fox scrutinized the dragon for a moment before making a judgment.

"What caused a transcendent dragon to lose its mind?"

Xu Qi'an spoke, he flicked his finger.

With a loud 'plop', the dragon's skull was ripped off, sending bone fragments and brain tissue flying everywhere.

At the same time, an illusory dragon separated from the physical body; this was its Primordial Spirit.

The dragon's Primordial Spirit was intact, but its ferocity and savagery did not improve due to the ordeal it suffered in its physical body. After circling once, it swooped down towards the two people at the bow of the ship.

He's completely lost his mind. In that case, even the Daoist art of "spirit inquiry" wouldn't yield any useful information. Oh, I forgot, I'm just a crude martial artist; I don't know any Daoist arts. Xu Qi'an opened his mouth and inhaled deeply.

Like the gaping maw of an abyss, it sucked the dragon's Primordial Spirit into its mouth.

On the back of Xu Qi'an's neck, the Seven Absolute Gu stretched up the skin, revealing a clear outline, and its head moved slightly, as if it were chewing something.

A moment later, Xu Qi'an said:

"Put it back together."

The nine-tailed celestial fox released its restraints, piecing together the segments of its body and limbs. They then wriggled and reconnected on their own, quickly transforming into a ferocious and powerful dragon.

The dragon hovered silently in the air, motionless.

Xu Qi'an opened his mouth and spat out the dragon soul. The dragon soul was no longer as ferocious as before, but its expression was dull, and its form became increasingly illusory. Moreover, its head was no longer a ferocious dragon head, but a triangular worm head.

Its consciousness was erased, and its Heavenly Soul, one of its three souls, was also devoured by the Seven Deadly Gu.

This is the ability of the 'Corpse Gu' after it enters the transcendent realm: it devours part of the puppet's soul and then merges the remaining remnant soul with the offspring Gu.

In other words, the dragon soul at this point is the offspring of the Gu.

The dragon soul returned to the dragon's body, and its eyes regained some of their liveliness, but compared to normal living beings, they were still somewhat dull.

Seeing this, the nine-tailed celestial fox retracted its tail, letting the dragon fall into the water.

The dragon obediently circled the ship, like a loyal guard.

"Tsk tsk, Gu techniques are indeed effective! This is how you subdue a descendant of a god Gods and Devils at the Transcendent Realm."

The nine-tailed celestial fox's words were full of envy.

Well, even though it's just a drop in the ocean, the life essence of a third-grade being is still a great tonic for me. If I don't manage to hunt down any second-grade or even first-grade descendants of Gods and Devils on this voyage, collecting some third-grade ones is still pretty good. It's better than returning empty-handed. Xu Qi'an was quite satisfied.

When there's something to gain, I feel more at ease.

The nine-tailed celestial fox seized the opportunity to gain some advantage, and said in a coquettish voice:

"Xu Yinluo, everyone who sees this gets a share!"

At this moment, the dragon's head emerged from the sea, and it spoke in human language, complaining:

"Are you kidding me, officer? Keeping such a slutty woman around? Sleep with her, then kick her into the sea, you bastard!"

The silver-haired enchantress's face was ashen as she glared angrily at Xu Qi'an.

What it says has nothing to do with me. Xu Qi'an smiled broadly.

Ignoring the fox spirit's displeasure, Xu Qi'an focused his attention on sensing the dragon's talent. His brows furrowed immediately, and he opened his eyes in surprise, saying:

There's something wrong with this dragon!

The silver-haired enchantress sneered:

Is the problem with it or with you?

Xu Qi'an was not joking. The dragon's innate supernatural Divine Ability were extremely chaotic, including elemental Divine Ability such as water, Fire Element, lightning, and earth, as well as other miscellaneous Divine Ability.

This is clearly problematic.

He stopped the boat and told the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox about his discovery.

The silver-haired enchantress frowned repeatedly upon hearing this, and said:

"Impossible!"

She seemed to remember something, and her two fox tails emerged from the water, grabbing the dragon amidst the crashing waves, and it floated in mid-air.

"The innate supernatural Divine Ability of the Demon Race are usually condensed in their inner core. As for the descendants of gods Gods and Devils, it depends on the purity of their bloodline. Those with a high purity of Gods and Devils bloodline will have it imprinted on their flesh and skin. Those with a low purity of bloodline will have it imprinted in their inner core."

"That's what the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox said."

Xu Qi'an said:

"The markings on this dragon's body must be its innate supernatural Divine Ability."

Her bright, beautiful eyes stared at the distorted patterns. The silver-haired enchantress nodded and spoke:

"I think I know why now. These patterns can confuse the Primordial Spirit, which is why I didn't observe them carefully earlier. You see, they're disordered."

Xu Qi'an nodded.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox continued:

"Not only that, the innate Divine Ability represented by these patterns are all different. Moreover, each pattern is incomplete. It is like an aggregate of incomplete innate Divine Ability."

"I think that's why you perceive your innate Divine Ability as a mess."

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment, gazing at the enchantress's beautiful face, and said:

What's going on?

For professional issues, consult a professional.

How should I know?

She rolled her eyes coquettishly, then her expression turned serious:

"Innate Divine Ability are something one is born with, existing in one's bloodline. Some possess a single element, some a dual element, but this situation is impossible. The mere fact that the innate Divine Ability is incomplete is enough to explain the problem."

Xu Qi'an said after careful consideration:

"It went berserk and lost its mind. Could it be related to the strange markings on its body? It's because of these bizarre supernatural Divine Ability that it went mad."

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox hummed in agreement. "I have the same suspicion, but it has lost its senses. We have no way of knowing where it went or what it encountered."

She looked regretful!

Xu Qi'an laughed and said:

"We don't know, but the Mermaid Queen might. Let's visit Mermaid Island first, scout out the situation. We helped her get rid of a powerful enemy, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for us to gather some intelligence."

In addition, there is information on various settlements of the descendants of Gods and Devils, and habitats of powerful creatures.

Hmm, and while I'm at it, I'll also meet the mermaid queen, who is known for her beauty.

At that moment, a head emerged from the sea not far away. It was a strikingly beautiful woman with dark green hair, golden pupils, and pointed ears.

They looked at Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Fox at the bow of the boat with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.

Just in time! Xu Qi'an thought to himself as he reached out his palm and gripped the object tightly with his five fingers.