The Fishing Rod

Chen Xiaosan once again expressed his gratitude for the worthwhile trip abroad.

They really did see all sorts of things that Heavenly Gate had never seen before: Private Dragon, Nanyang devils, modified cultivators, fragments of Evil God, Jiangtou, and now this.

A giant walking on the sea!

The giant walked on the sea, each step leaving a splash of water tens of feet high.

It was over thirty feet tall, like a moving mountain, its body made of yellowish-brown muscles, and its skin was covered with crisscrossing cracks.

Its head resembled a towering mountain peak, with rugged and indistinct features, deep-set eyes, and two large, millstone-sized pupils that gleamed with a murky, dark yellow light, like two setting suns about to sink below the horizon.

The People of Longbo, in High Antiquity times, used to enjoy fishing for giant turtles. Their bodies were so large that they could flatten mountains and fill oceans. The giant before us, though not as large as in the legends, still carries that ancient and savage aura, as if it were a relic that has traveled from High Antiquity times.

Of course, Chen Xiaosan knew nothing about High Antiquity legends.

He simply couldn't understand how such a heavy thing could walk on water and run faster than the warships at Heavenly Gate.

Even if the ghost ship in the deep sea could teleport dozens of miles forward in a short time, the enemy would still relentlessly pursue it, and seemed to always be able to find the direction of the ghost ship.

Could this be some kind of High Antiquity Divine Ability?

This wasn't Chen Xiaosan's idea, but Hu Mang's.

At this time, Hu Mang was still playing the role of "Devil Dragon".

"Watch out, he's here again!"

Upon hearing the warning from the "Devil Dragon," Chen Xiaosan's expression changed drastically, and he used both hands and feet to cling tightly to the mast.

On the sea

As five fingers, as thick as five pillars, plunged into the water, a huge whirlpool began to form around its arm.

As he stirred, the sea surface resembled a pot of boiling soup.

If the surface of the sea is like this, the seabed is even more incredible.

The undercurrents that were originally moving in different directions were stirred up and shattered by that force, as if they had been kneaded into a tangled mess by an invisible hand.

Hundreds and thousands of undercurrents, carrying mud, sand and gravel, surged and crashed through the deep sea like a herd of awakened giants, roaring and colliding in the darkness.

Shipwrecks, reefs, and coral reefs were all scattered and destroyed.

The seabed sediment was stirred up, and the turbid mud spread through the clear seawater, turning the entire area into a murky dark yellow.

If it's just some undercurrents, it won't have much impact on the ghost ship.

Even more outrageous, as the giant stirred up the seawater, the terrifying amount of Spiritual Qi at the bottom of the sea was also stirred out by the giant.

Spiritual Qi surged from the seabed, rising like boiling steam, enveloping the entire sea area in a hazy halo.

These underwater Spiritual Qi quickly condensed into substance, clinging to the seawater like mist and flowing with the surging waves.

The color of the seawater began to change under the influence of Spiritual Qi, gradually transforming from a murky hue into a deep blue.

The seawater, imbued with Spiritual Qi, began to glow with a faint luminescence, like countless tiny fireflies swimming in the water, striking heavy objects and making crackling sounds.

The ghost ship's hull also creaked and groaned, as if an icebreaker were crushing ice.

"Has it crystallized again?"

"Hu Mang murmured, ghostly fire flickering in his eyes."

"Crystallization? What crystallization?"

The Old Third came over in a disheveled state, his face bruised and swollen, and he had a big bump on his head.

"The Spiritual Qi was too concentrated, causing it to transform from a gaseous state to a solid state."

Hu Mang only said half of what he wanted to say.

This situation typically only occurs in areas where the Spiritual Qi concentration is above 90.

Moreover, it can only be born when a violent Spiritual Qi reaction occurs.

Such an operation, in the Azure Mysterious Realm, is an evolution that only forbidden techniques can achieve, and in the Heavenly Gate, it is probably only possible to see this phenomenon inside certain large spiritual power stations.

The other party's cultivation level shouldn't have reached that point yet.

So, is it a bloodline Divine Ability, and not just any ordinary demonic Divine Ability, but at least at the level of a High Antiquity species?

I initially thought Earth Star was shallow in its understanding, but now it seems that it was the Hu Mang who was ignorant.

It's another mysterious Buddhist practitioner from the Saha Continent, and yet another person with the bloodline of High Antiquity giants.

This is incredible!

"Stand firm, I'm about to forcefully open Yin-Yang Passage."

As an employee of the Underworld Bureau, the Old Third naturally knew what this meant. He yelled "Damn it!" and this time he stopped clinging to the mast and was ready to "Mysterious Transformation" at any moment.

As Hu Mang spoke, swarms of water ghosts surged forward again, and those water ghosts that had absorbed more than a dozen fragments of the Evil God were now in a different state.

They were much larger than ordinary water ghosts, with faint dark red lines visible beneath their skin, spreading out like blood vessels; their eyes were no longer empty white, but glowed with a dark red light, shimmering in the darkness.

The water ghost's movements were strangely agile, like a cheetah unfurling the sails, taking anchor, and steering the ship.

As they operated, wave after wave of Ghost Qi swept outwards from the ghost ship, causing the crystal clusters on the ship's surface to disintegrate into crystal powder, which then flowed into the viscous seawater.

As the Ghost Qi grew stronger, it gradually formed a part of the Ghost Haunt, and the seawater was also pushed aside, actually forming a black vacuum the size of a football field.

"Trying to escape again? And this Evil Qi... there's no mistaking it for the aura of the Ship God. It really was you who ruined that fatso's plans."

Zhao Longbo, on the sea, also realized that the other party was trying to escape.

The previous two times, they only managed to suppress their opponent because the opponent was unfamiliar with Longbo's power.

But as time went by, he felt that the other party was becoming more and more proficient in controlling the "Ship God". This time, relying solely on Longbo's ability to control the sea, he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand it.

Thinking of this, Zhao Longbo carefully pulled a... fishing rod from his waist.

This giant fishing rod is as thick as a dragon bone and as long as the main mast of a seagoing vessel. Its surface is covered with lightning strike patterns and knots, without the slightest trace of carving.

Even more importantly, it doesn't have fishing line.

Zhao Longbo slowly raised the giant fishing rod, pointing the tip towards the seabed, as if aiming at something.

He took a deep breath, and the power of the Longbo surged around him like a tide, flowing down his arm and into the dark brown pole; the lightning-struck patterns on the pole began to glow with a dark golden light.

Then he swung it violently.

The next moment, the entire sea area began to tremble violently, and a muffled rumbling sound came from the depths of the seabed, as if something was struggling deep underground.

That giant fishing rod without a line now seemed to be connected to some invisible thread, which penetrated the seawater, the mud and sand, and the rock layers, reaching the deepest current in the ocean.

His arms were bulging with muscles and veins, as if bearing immense weight.

The seabed began to churn, and the mud and sand surged upwards as if boiling, turning the entire sea area a dark yellow color with turbid mud.

The stalemate lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, until the dark yellow color was gradually replaced by the black color formed by the Ghost Qi.

Zhao Longbo roared, pressed his legs down, and lifted his hands up sharply.

"Rise!!"

The next moment, he forcefully pulled out a black, dragon-shaped phantom.

Wow, what a huge dragon!

The Ghost Dragon, suspended in mid-air, had no fixed form, constantly changing like flowing ink. Sometimes it would condense into a winding dragon shape, and sometimes it would disperse into a cloud of pervasive black mist.

Its dragon head was blurry and distorted, without specific facial features, only two dark, ghostly flames slowly burning in the eye sockets, like two lamps flickering in the darkness.

Its dragon body resembled a black river, flowing slowly through the air. Wherever it passed, the seawater was stained with a thick layer of black, as if it were soaked in Ghost Qi.

Only the Old Third, located at the neck, was clutching a dragon scale, his face contorted in a "Holy crap" expression.

The Dragon Vein crashed violently into the sea, creating terrifying waves, and in the next instant, it transformed back into a ghost ship.

Zhao Longbo grinned, revealing his thick, bony teeth.

"I finally managed to catch you."

The Hu Mang, which had re-emerged from the Ghost Qi, was also filled with astonishment.

Holy crap, even after we were trapped in the Yin-Yang Passage, you still managed to pull us up.

Is your fishing rod the ultimate tool that every angler dreams of – a 100% hook-catching rod?

"You're the little thief who stole the Ship God, and what's this giant snake of yours? Is it some kind of high-quality stuff you brought from the Saha Continent?"

Zhao Longbo didn't seem to have any immediate intention of making a move. Instead, he watched the Hu Mang —no, the Devil Dragon —with great interest.

"Besides Ghost Qi, there's even Demonic Qi energy. You're from the demonic path? But the top-ranked Holy Sons rarely seem to be active in the Nanyang Seas. After all, this place is too close to the Heavenly Gate. Oh, that Illusory Devil Holy Son often came here, but he got captured. Which demonic faction are you from?"

Seeing that the other party did not make a move immediately, Hu Mang did not intend to run away immediately either; although he did not have a physical body now, he controlled the dragon Dragon Vein.

He hasn't tried fighting with Dragon Vein yet.

Previously, at the Turbid Dragon Vein, Heavenly Gate three Sea-Pacifying Divine Warships. According to Heavenly Gate military enthusiasts, each Sea-Pacifying Divine Warship is equivalent to a Nascent Spirit Transformation.

Based on Hu Mang's personal experience, it seems that it is indeed quite similar.

Turbid Dragon Vein could withstand three Nascent Spirit Transformation, then the Xiao Long that separated from it should be roughly equivalent to a Nascent Soul Nascent Soul.

He felt that if he were to make a move, he could try to plunder the opponent's equipment.

He was very interested in the other person's bloodline and the fishing rod in his hand.

"Who are you, one of Master Bao's men?" Hu Mang retorted.

"Who are that fatso's men? If you really want to know, we were crew members on the same ship. You should have heard of that ship, the Wanshun, which was the predecessor of the Wanshun Sea Hall."

"Since you're not his subordinate, why are you still working for him?"

"Well, there's no way around it. He's beholden to those who feed him. That fatso gives me a huge amount of Spirit Stone every year, so he has to step up when it matters."

The giant before Hu Mang said casually.