What those three dragon-blooded great demons did not realize was that someone else was also watching the dragon carp's ascension from the battlefield, Jing Qian.
Even he hadn't expected that the dumpling he had carelessly tossed would stir up such a storm!
But as a bystander, the bigger the spectacle, the better.
The messier the waters, the easier it was to fish for profit. With his unique Void Realm, Jing Qian could slip into the very heart of the battlefield and quietly scoop up whatever spoils fell his way.
He didn't ask for much. If those great demons truly fought, perhaps a few scales, shells, or fragments would scatter. Even half a scale from a Seventh-Rank crocodile-dragon would be an invaluable treasure, a fortune in itself.
All eyes remained locked on the Red-Scaled Dragon Carp's ascension. This was the key turning point of the situation.
And the carp did not disappoint. To everyone's astonishment, in just three short days, it completed its breakthrough to the Azure Wing Realm.
The newborn Eighth-Rank Golden Dragon Carp doubled in size, reaching three feet three inches long. The purple scale on its back had transformed into a gleaming streak of true golden yellow.
The instant it completed its advancement, it turned into a thick pillar of golden light and sped off at nearly twice its former pace, trying to break free from the crocodile-dragon's encirclement.
Its underwater flight exceeded a thousand li per hour, yet it only left the faintest ripples behind.
The power of the Dragon Swimming Technique had grown even stronger!
Even so, it could not escape the blockade of the three great demons.
Before it could flee far, the white jade dragon lobster flicked its tail and shot forward in a streak of white light, cutting off its path.
The carp veered to the right, but a haze of rosy light barred its way once more.
Behind it, the crocodile-dragon's shadow surged like a storm, pressing down with overwhelming might.
The three great demons struck at the same time!
Blocking the carp was one thing, but more importantly, three beams of dazzling spell-light shot from their mouths, lashing at one another as they clashed!
A Seventh-Rank battle erupted instantly!
Inside the Void Realm, Jing Qian was already on his feet, fists clenched, his entire focus locked on the spectacle.
This was a clash between three Seventh-Rank monsters!
Its brilliance outshone every sport or contest of his previous life. He was utterly captivated.
The boundless Life Essence Mana of Blue-Blood dragon lines surged forth, stirring the sea into towering waves.
The raw power these demons unleashed so casually was a thousand times greater than Jing Qian's own. To be hidden here at the center of it all, witnessing such a battle, this was luck beyond measure.
Yet just when Jing Qian thought the fight had reached its climax, the battlefield shifted and delivered him an even greater shock.
Through the barrier of the dimension membrane, it seemed as if the scene before him desynced for a heartbeat, like a lagging signal.
But he instantly realized this was not an illusion. The distortion came from matter shifting so violently that it outpaced the speed of sound.
Then the roar arrived along with a cataclysm.
The three demons fought furiously for the dragon carp, waves shattering mountains, tearing the sea asunder.
And then, suddenly, a force of unimaginable terror descended from the heavens, like divine judgment itself, plunging straight into the battlefield's heart.
Light blazed. Mana stormed. A colossal explosion tore outward!
The sea within a li was vaporized in an instant, boiling into a blinding white mist that blotted out the sky.
Like a nuclear strike from above, the surging ocean was blasted into a hollowed-out vacuum.
Though the waters rushed back in to fill the gap, for that brief moment, the descending power had parted the sea, carving land out of the deep.
The three great demons, locked in their struggle, were caught unprepared. The force smashed them from the air, hurling them onto the exposed seabed, where they lay stunned, unable to rise.
Inside the Void Realm, Jing Qian stood dumbstruck, his heart thundering.
Could a single living being truly wield such power?
What kind of strength could achieve such a feat?
It turned out that even before the crocodile-dragon had arrived, another terrifying great demon had also been drawn by the Red-Scaled Dragon Carp; only, because of its nature, its pace was slow, unable to keep up with the crocodile-dragon.
Yet it did not abandon the hunt. Instead, it stopped five hundred li away in the depths of the sea and began brewing its magical art.
Terrifying waves of mana pulsed from its true body.
Vast quantities of seawater were sucked into it, as if it were a bottomless abyss, carving a massive whirlpool into the ocean's surface.
And it drank like this for three whole days.
Only when the Golden Dragon Carp completed its ascension did it finally stop.
In the very next instant, the demon surged upward, soaring straight into the sky!
It was only then that its true form was revealed as an enormous, resplendent giant clam, its shell gleaming with multicolored patterns.
Its twin shells spanned over a hundred meters, like a moving mountain.
Once aloft, the clam cracked its shell slightly, and a jet of water burst forth.
The recoil force slammed into its body, propelling it forward.
The clam demon accelerated again and again, each burst of water like a rocket stage, pushing it ever faster through the heavens.
The seawater it had consumed was all transformed into fuel for this terrifying propulsion. By its fourth burst, it had broken the sound barrier.
When it came crashing down like a falling meteor into the battlefield's heart, its speed had reached nearly four times the speed of sound!
The kinetic energy contained within was beyond reckoning.
The resplendent giant clam, like a mountain in motion, struck the center of the battle with world-shattering force.
The impact detonated into an unprecedented shockwave, spreading outward and tearing the seething sea into pure chaos.
Such power, such dominance, how could it not be called the Eastern Wind Lingqu?
While Jing Qian reeled in awe and the three demons were blasted apart, the clam, already prepared, snapped its massive shell open and swallowed the Eighth-Rank Golden Dragon Carp in one gulp.
Then it simply sat at the battlefield's center, quietly digesting its prize.
With the Golden Dragon Carp's purified dragon blood, this Seventh-Rank clam now had the chance to glimpse the Sixth-Rank Violet-Eyed Realm!
The path ahead beckoned, and nothing in the outside world could tempt it now.
Confident in the impenetrable defense of its shells, it sealed itself shut, unconcerned with the storm raging beyond.
Meanwhile, in one unnoticed corner of the battlefield, a small shadow flitted by, snatching up two massive crocodile-dragon fangs before vanishing once more.
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