When Chen Qing said it had begun, Yuchi Feihong felt it very clearly. The instant the spatial array shattered, he sensed something opening its eyes in the dark, bottomless depths of the sea!
He had never experienced this feeling before. In the boundless darkness, he could clearly sense that something extremely terrifying was awakening. You didn't know where it was, you didn't even know how many terrifying things had awakened in this darkness. Every step he took was like holding his breath, and there was no end in sight.
"Weren't we supposed to collect these Baiyu?" Yuchi Feihong asked cautiously inside the seashell.
Through the cracks in the seashell, what can be seen most clearly is the Baiyu fragments falling like snowflakes in the dark seawater, which looks exceptionally beautiful.
But Yuchi Feihong was very curious. Chen Qing's previous intention seemed to be to use the mother-of-pearl to collect these Baiyu, but how could they be used?
"Shh," Chen Qing whispered, "Don't rush."
In the darkness, there was no sound, but even Murong Yunji, who was still recovering, knew that there must be a terrifying number of hunters lurking in the shadows!
Sure enough, they saw it very soon.
With its enormous jaws wide open, its densely packed teeth resembled a sky full of stars. It was a colossal shark, immensely large, tens of thousands of feet in size. Its sharp, blade-like teeth, as numerous as the stars, made Yuchi feel that this thing could probably crush anything in the world into dust.
But that idea quickly faded away.
In almost the blink of an eye, the enormous shark began to visibly shrink, and the once ferocious creature began to wail incessantly. In less than a moment, it became a gigantic, desiccated corpse.
Only after that did Yuchi see clearly that there were dozens of eel-like monsters on the giant shark's body, with human heads and eel bodies. However, when those people opened their mouths, they had terrifying suckers just like eels. The ten-thousand-foot-long shark, with its terrifying and powerful blood and energy, instantly became its prey!
What is that?
Murong Yunji felt a chill run down her spine, and Yuchi Feihong also felt a shiver run through his body for no apparent reason. Although they were far apart, he could clearly sense that the group of creatures was thirsting for blood and qi. It seemed that even someone with strong blood and qi like himself was a target for those monsters.
" Blood Guard," Chen Qing whispered, "One of the lower-level guards of the Dragon Palace. They are monsters transformed from ancient blood sorcerers who pledged allegiance to the dragon race. Their task is to collect essence blood to refine Blood Essence Stone, which are then used to pay the upper-level guards of the Dragon Palace!"
Yuchi and Murong were both stunned. This thing that could drain such a large monster dry in an instant sounded like a lackey.
"Are these... people?" Murong asked in a low voice.
"Yes, they are people." Chen Qing nodded. "Blood sorcery is a secret art passed down from ancient times, designed to lure people who want to live forever. Every ancient era had its Blood Guard, and the Dragon Palace is skilled in biological grafting. Those lured Blood Sorcerers who combine with Blood Eel can more easily unleash their abilities."
"Can this thing transform into a dragon?"
"Cannot."
"Then what are they after?" Yuchi's eyes widened.
"Transforming into a dragon is extremely risky; not everyone is willing to gamble with their life," Chen Qing sneered. "Although the Blood Guard do lowly work, their income is stable. The nobles they serve in the Dragon Palace all possess extremely high levels of dragon blood. After receiving their Blood Crystal Stone, they are rewarded with some dragon blood in return. These Blood Guard then refine the dragon blood into Dragon Crystal using secret techniques. One crystal can keep one ten years younger. Isn't this a more stable deal than gambling on Dragon Transformation?"
"But what's the use of increasing lifespan if you look like that, neither human nor ghost?" Murong retorted directly, but then realized something and looked at Yuchi: "I wasn't talking about you."
Yuchi: "."
"Who knows?" Chen Qing chuckled. "These things, once they come ashore, can transform into humans, wear noble clothes, and become no different from ordinary people. They still live the life of the elite, even though most of the time it's hard work, there are always a few days when they're in the public eye, aren't there?"
Actually, when you think about it, isn't the world just like that? Most of those people who struggled in first-tier cities in their past lives lived just like these monsters, serving the real nobles, getting some rewards, showing off for a few days during the New Year, and then going back to continue that endless life of exploitation.
Where aren't they the same?
Ugh.
Just then, a familiar and terrifying roar came from afar again. Murong immediately recognized it as the giant octopus.
"Will that thing also get drained?" Murong asked curiously.
"No." Chen Qing shook his head. "The tentacles of the Heavenly Ghost Octopus are incredibly flexible, specifically designed to subdue these Blood Guard. Getting caught by one would be like getting a top-quality tonic, so they wouldn't dare get close to that thing."
"Then what about us?"
"Wait for them to take us away."
"Take us? We're going to deal with them?" Both of them stared wide-eyed. Wasn't this guy afraid of being drained of his life force?
"You don't need to deal with them. Just close the fritillaria bulb; they won't dare to touch it."
Why?
Before he could get a reply, he saw the human-headed Blood Eel monsters rapidly approaching, Yuchi quickly closed his shell.
But subconsciously, I still felt something was wrong. What was the difference between this and sitting idly by and waiting to die?
Feeling the fritillaria bulb being noticeably pushed, Yuchi looked at Chen Qing with a puzzled expression.
Chen Qing said in a low voice, "Don't be nervous. Fritillaria is the substance used to cultivate top-grade Baiyu Essence. These low-ranking Blood Guard are not qualified to open it. Even nobles will not easily open the Fritillaria before they are certain of the age of the jade Jade Essence inside, as there is a risk of losing their vital energy."
"But won't they take us to those high-ranking dragons you mentioned?"
"That's natural." Chen Qing nodded. "Fritillaria is extremely precious. If the Blood Guard encountered it, they would naturally take it and present it to the higher-ups!"
"Then..." Yuchi choked, "Isn't that just waiting to die?"
If these so-called low-level Blood Guard are this powerful, what kind of abilities must the higher-level dragons possess? Are we just going to be captured and sent to our deaths?
Murong stared at Chen Qing in astonishment, wondering if he had gone mad, and even suspecting that since Chen Qing knew so much about the Dragon Palace, he might actually be one of the Dragon Palace people?
The idea sounds absurd, but the more you think about it, the more reasonable it becomes.
Chen Qing's so-called Divine Path Style methods were abnormal to begin with. In just a few years, he created a powerful army in Jiangnan that could resist the imperial court. In addition, there were the Qigu and unusual inheritances in the academy, plus the opponent's originally mediocre background.
Now that I think about it, what if the other side was actually sent from ancient times?
Murong looked at Chen Qing, her eyes unconsciously becoming wary.
"What are you thinking about?" Chen Qing rolled her eyes and shook her head. "How can you get out without getting close to the higher-ups of the Dragon Palace?"
"Does the Lord intend to use those monsters to smuggle them out?" Yuchi Feihong was clearly more astute, quickly realizing something. " The Dragon Palace nobles the Lord mentioned will be the first to evacuate?"
"Of course we'll evacuate!" Chen Qing laughed. " That Heavenly Ghost Octopus was out of control. If we don't evacuate, are we just waiting to die?"
"Was that Heavenly Ghost Octopus so terrifying that even the nobles of the Dragon Palace couldn't handle it?" Murong asked curiously.
"Biological weapons are originally designed to deal with ancient beings, and once they get out of control, they are naturally difficult to deal with," Chen Qing patiently explained. "But it's not that there's no way to deal with them. When the Dragon Palace designed these things, they certainly had backup plans, but now it seems there's no way to resolve the situation."
"Why?" Yuchi and Murong asked almost simultaneously.
"Because the top-tier dragons can't awaken for the time being," Chen Qing laughed. "The more powerful the monster, the more resources it needs to fully recover its vitality—abundant water vapor and high-quality Blood Essence Stone are indispensable. Originally, these biological weapons could have served as nourishment, but the appearance of the Heavenly Ghost Octopus has made the situation tense. If I'm not mistaken, these Blood Guard will be risking their lives to quickly collect the creatures that haven't yet been absorbed by the Heavenly Ghost Octopus to refine blood crystals, while simultaneously being ordered by their superiors to quickly relocate to a safe place!"
"I see!" Yuchi instantly understood; it turned out he had hitched a ride on someone else's coattails.
"What about the white jade here?" Murong asked doubtfully, "Isn't it that you wanted these white jade that you had been thinking about before? Now that you have moved away, what is the point of choosing this place before?"
" Baiyu?" Chen Qing laughed immediately, "Who do you think broke this great formation? Why did they break it? Do you think the Dragon Palace nobles would abandon their treasures when they retreated?"
Murong Yunji: "."
At that moment, she realized that Chen Qing wasn't just planning to hitch a ride; he also wanted to reap the benefits!