The Wave-Breaker limped along the fog's edge at full speed, trying to escape the death sea that had just swallowed the Dragon Palace ruins. Sea Uncle personally steered the helm while Old Fish Eagle stood on the highest mast, his sharp gaze like a hawk's, scanning the surrounding waters and sky vigilantly.
Xiao Qi kept vigil beside the unconscious Liu Yun. He continued using gentle spiritual energy to comb through her meridians while also splitting off a thread of divine consciousness to monitor the outside world. He dared not relax in the slightest. That silver mask twisted by rage on Elder Youquan's face haunted his mind like a nightmare. He absolutely did not believe that a Golden Core mid-stage cultivator would die so easily in the ruins collapse.
Indeed, just about two hours after the Wave-Breaker sailed out of the fog zone, Old Fish Eagle on the mast suddenly let out an urgent alarm.
Movement behind. Something is chasing us. Very fast.
Everyone's heart seized. They rushed to the stern in unison to look.
In the rear horizon, several rapidly moving black dots had appeared, closing in at terrifying speed. Those were not ships, but people. Several cultivators clad in black robes, with black fleshy wings formed from demonic energy stretching from their backs, flew low across the sea surface like hunting owls.
And beneath them in the sea, several enormous, ominous shadows were cutting through the waves, following close behind. Those were several massive, grotesque sea beasts. Their eyes were blood-red, and their bodies were wrapped in chains of demonic energy similar to those of the dragon-man guards. They had clearly been controlled and demonicized by Shadow Serpent Pavilion through evil methods. One resembled a giant manta ray with a wingspan of over a dozen zhang, churning the seawater. Another looked like a fish scaled up countless times and covered in bone spurs, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Those are Shadow Serpent Pavilion's Black-Wing Guards and their demonicized sea beasts. Sea Uncle's expression turned ugly. Damned ghosts that won't stay dead.
These Black-Wing Guards had cultivation levels generally ranging from early to mid Foundation Establishment. Individual strength might not be top-tier, but they excelled in combined attacks and tracking. Working with demonicized sea beasts, they were extremely troublesome at sea. Their appearance meant that even if Elder Youquan had not personally pursued, he had definitely escaped the ruins and immediately mobilized forces for pursuit.
Full speed ahead. Hard to port. Use that reef area ahead to shake them off. Sea Uncle roared, desperately spinning the wheel. The Wave-Breaker groaned, the bow violently veering left, charging toward a distant cluster of black reefs visible above water.
However, the enemy's pursuit speed far exceeded their imagination.
The several Black-Wing Guards sharply accelerated, their fleshy wings thrashing, creating sonic booms, instantly closing the distance. They did not directly attack the ship. Instead, they formed seals with both hands, striking streams of jet-black talismanic patterns into the seawater.
Suddenly, the water around the ship seemed to come alive, forming swirling black currents like invisible shackles, wrapping around the Wave-Breaker's hull and rudder, causing the ship speed to plummet and turning to become extremely difficult.
It is the Binding Water Flow Shadow Curse. They are disrupting our navigation. Scarred Liu anxiously shouted.
At the same time, those demonicized sea beasts caught up too. That giant manta ray violently leapt out of the water. Its massive shadow nearly covered half the deck, bringing foul winds as it fiercely slapped down toward the deck. Meanwhile, that bone-spur fish swept past the ship's side, its spine covered in bone spurs like a massive mace, slashing horizontally at the hull.
Die.
Cold light flashed in Xiao Qi's eyes. He gently placed Liu Yun in a relatively safe corner of the cabin, setting up a simple protective formation, then his form turned electric, appearing at the stern.
Facing that slapping giant manta ray, he did not even draw the Flame Sword. He merely pointed like a sword, slashing through the air.
A condensed, cyan-jade water blade appeared out of thin air. Thin as a cicada's wing, yet carrying the sharpness to tear through everything. The water blade silently cut through the air, precisely chopping at the root of that manta ray's slapping massive fleshy wing.
Sssh.
Like a hot knife through butter, that resilient fleshy wing wrapped in demonic energy was cleanly severed at the root by this seemingly delicate water blade. Black blood sprayed like a waterfall. That manta ray let out a pained wail. Its massive body lost balance and crashed heavily into the sea beside the ship, sending up a tower of spray.
And facing that sweeping bone-spur tail, Xiao Qi remained motionless. His left hand pressed down on the sea surface.
Freeze.
With his low shout, the sea on the left side of the ship instantly froze. Not like Liu Yun's extreme cold, but carrying a verdant wood-water spiritual force of endless regeneration and total constriction. That bone-spur tail fiercely whipped against the suddenly hardened-steel sea ice wall, emitting a dull boom. The ice wall shattered, but the tail was also bounced back by the rebound force, several bone spurs broken.
With a wave of his hand, two demonicized sea beasts were severely wounded.
This was the powerful control over water elemental force brought by the Dragon Soul Crystal. On this vast sea, his strength had been greatly enhanced.
The crew on board were all stunned. They had never expected that this young employer, after a trip to the ruins, would have become so terrifyingly powerful.
Those Black-Wing Guards were also greatly shocked. They had clearly not expected the target to possess such strange and powerful water-controlling ability.
Concentrate attacks. Kill the water controller first. A Black-Wing Guard who looked like a leader shouted sharply. Together with the others, he opened his mouth to emit a sharp, ear-piercing sound wave attack that penetrated directly into the soul. At the same time, black short spears appeared in their hands. The spear tips flickered with corrosive ghastly light, raining down toward Xiao Qi like a volley of arrows.
Sound waves mixed with physical attacks instantly engulfed Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi's brow slightly furrowed. This sound wave attack truly disturbed the mind. He activated his will. The jade pendant at his chest emanated cool aura, protecting his consciousness sea, while a layer of cyan-misty water wave shield automatically manifested around him.
Clang, clang, clang.
Those corrosive short spears shot onto the water wave shield, creating dense impacts. They could not penetrate. Instead, they were deflected by the flowing water waves, all falling into the sea.
And Xiao Qi's counterattack was even more fierce. He pointed with his fingers continuously. Streams of cyan-jade water arrows shot toward the Black-Wing Guards like rapid-fire cannons, extremely fast, with tricky angles.
One Black-Wing Guard failed to dodge in time. A water arrow pierced through his fleshy wing. He let out a miserable cry, falling toward the sea like a bird with broken wings, instantly devoured by the waiting demonicized sea beasts below.
The other Black-Wing Guards, seeing this, were both startled and furious. They dared not approach easily anymore, only continuously casting remote curses to interfere, and commanding the remaining demonicized sea beasts to continue attacking the hull.
On the sea, a fierce pursuit and attack-defense battle unfolded. The Wave-Breaker, under Sea Uncle's control, was like a slippery loach, shuttling through the reef zone trying to escape the pursuit. Xiao Qi alone resisted the dual attacks from sky and sea, cyan-jade water light continuously colliding and annihilating with black demonic energy.
However, Shadow Serpent Pavilion's pursuit was like a bone-deep ulcer, biting down and refusing to let go. What was even more worrying was that no one knew when that Golden Core stage Elder Youquan would personally arrive.
This sea pursuit battle was fraught with perils and far from over.