Yang Zhai woke up after several hours of deep rest and immediately entered the inheritance space to carefully examine the Heaven's Container once more. He checked every bit of detail with a sharp gaze, making sure nothing seemed unusual or amiss. Only after confirming everything was intact did he finally leave the inheritance space and step back into the endless stretch of the ocean.
After looking at the undercurrent, he considered.
"So, if I decide to go around it, the journey will turn into a long detour, wasting far too much time. But if I don't, then I'll be forced to enter this current…and that's something I cannot allow myself to do. I also don't know how truly massive this undercurrent is," Yang Zhai thought to himself as he continued examining his surroundings with caution.
He hadn't originally planned on using Ina Ya and Yah Yan for this kind of scouting task. If they were to exhaust themselves now, they would not be of much help later on. He needed them to survey the surroundings properly and also be there to distract enemies should he fall into a sudden underwater battle.
Still, he had no choice. With a thought, he summoned them and gave his order.
"Ina Ya, head toward the left side and find out how far this water current stretches. Yah Yan, you go toward the right."
Time passed in silence. The sea remained calm, yet beneath that calmness lurked danger. Before long, Ina Ya returned first.
"Master, the undercurrent on the left side ends after about eight miles. However…" her voice dropped slightly, "a rank 8 beast is resting there."
Yang Zhai's eyes narrowed, though his face remained calm as stone. He waited silently for Yah Yan's report.
After a little while, Yah Yan returned as well and spoke, "Master, the undercurrent on the right side ends after roughly sixteen miles. But over there is a rank 7 beast surrounded by about six hundred rank 6 beasts."
Yang Zhai frowned slightly, weighing his options. "What about moving further around all of them, beyond their territory?"
Yah Yan shook his head at once. "That's impossible, Master. The moment you leave that area, another enormous undercurrent blocks the path. I didn't go further to measure its full size, but I am certain it isn't smaller than this one. In fact, it might even be larger."
Yang Zhai let out a quiet sigh. "So…on the left lies a rank 8, and on the right, a rank 7 leading hundreds of rank 6s. The left is impossible. Facing a rank 8 beast is suicide at my current strength. A single careless move, and I'd be torn apart without resistance. At the very least, I'd rather face this undercurrent itself than such a creature."
His decision came without hesitation. "That leaves only the right side."
Without hesitation, Yang Zhai swam toward the right.
When he arrived, his eyes fell upon countless beasts slithering through the waters like shadows. They resembled snakes but were different—two large fins jutted near the front of their bodies, while two smaller ones rested near the back. Each beast stretched seventeen to twenty feet in length, their bodies thick as stone pillars, close to two feet across.
Amidst them swam a much larger creature, nearly thirty-six feet long. It looked almost identical to the rest, yet its presence was heavier, and the oppressive aura of a rank 7 spread out from it. Without that aura, it would have been nearly impossible to tell it apart from the others if its slightly larger size was excluded. Their skins shimmered in various colors.
"Aren't these…Somaculas?" Yang Zhai asked inwardly.
"Yes, Master," Yah Yan responded immediately. "They are indeed Somaculas—water beasts with the ability to soar through the skies as well."
Yang Zhai observed them quietly, not rushing in. Instead, he moved away from the spot and opened the inheritance gate, then slipped away into the inheritance space, shutting it behind him. Water gushed in, but he paid no mind to it and closed it. Without pause, he opened the passage to the inheritance ground and began transferring everything stored in the inheritance space over.
"What are you doing?" Ying Xue asked from the side, but Yang Zhai did not bother to answer her.
He continued until every last item had been moved to the inheritance ground. He then closed the gate. The night was still young, and there was no reason to waste any more time. Once more, he opened the inheritance gate and returned outside, swimming silently as the gate behind him expanded. He moved a little away from the gate.
The gate grew larger and larger until it reached a towering twenty meters wide and twenty meters high. Endless torrents of ocean water were pulled inside, rushing like a flood into the gate.
Hours slipped by before movement finally stirred within. He came and stood in front of the gate. When he did that, from the gate, countless shadows began emerging—hundred upon hundreds of Water Hounds.
"As beasts born for the water, they suffer no weakness here. In fact, the water strengthens them, sharpening their instincts and ferocity. They are more fearsome in the water than on land—that is why they are called Water Hounds. Let's see whether these Somaculas can withstand an army of rank 4 and below. Two hundred thousand should be enough for now. If not, I'll release more. After all, I have over a million in my arsenal," Yang Zhai said softly, a faint smile touching his lips.
At the bottom of the gate stood the rank 5 Water Hound he had tamed with Ophio Unila, leading the army proudly into the vast ocean.
"It's not that high-ranked beasts or cultivators are truly invincible. It's that their strength and aura commands respect, tricking others into believing they cannot be overwhelmed. Even so-called false immortals at rank 6 remain mortal ranks at the core, this is the reason they are called false immortals. Even I have decided to that my advancement to rank 6 will be the mortal rank, not the false immortal one. But nature doesn't lie, these Somaculas are still only mortal beasts unilike false immortals."
He contemplated as the hounds kept on coming out in large numbers. "I can't waste Eleca carelessly. It might come in handy in a true life-and-death moment. Besides, it's not as though there's no way across without using it."
Wave after wave of hounds flooded out, their numbers climbing without end. Yang Zhai stood calmly in the center, unmoving, as the tide of beasts poured past him from every direction.
Hundreds emerged every passing second, swelling into tens of thousands in mere moments.
One Somacula, straying too far from its group, spotted the oncoming flood. Startled, it turned sharply and swam back, alerting the others.
Soon, Yang Zhai noticed a formation of Somaculas cutting swiftly through the waters toward him, their massive bodies slicing the waters with alarming speed.
"They've realized…but it's far too late. My army is already gathered. I can strike whenever I please, and the reinforcements will only keep pouring out."
With a flick of his hand, Yang Zhai gave the order.
The hounds surged forward in unison, launching themselves at the approaching Somaculas in a merciless and organized assault.
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