Chapter 9: The Desperate Pursuit (Part 2)

Countless virtual talismans surged from the altar, transforming into clusters of talismanic flames that surrounded it. The extreme cold air was instantly burned with sizzling sounds, and large amounts of water vapor rose into the air. Ao Kuang twisted his face in rage and snarled, “Useless! I’ll turn you into a spirit beast! I’ll skin you! Pull out your tendons… I’ll…”

Suddenly, Ao Kuang shuddered—the cold air had penetrated the altar. With a wave of his hand, the entire virtual altar ignited, quickly dispelling the icy blast. With the help of the talismanic flames, Ao Kuang still had an advantage, but the Master Saints struggling on the sea surface did not. Although they had activated their talismanic armor, the seawater quickly froze under the influence of the cold air, locking them in place. Though they wouldn’t die, being unable to move was terrifying.

Ao Kuang brandished his crescent-shaped blade and roared again, “Slice!” This time, he commanded two altar weapons—the virtual axe struck directly at the Tail of the Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle, while the crescent-shaped blade descended fiercely, aiming at its neck.

The Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle couldn’t dodge in time; its body was too massive. But it was clever enough to pull its huge head back into its shell, using its hard shell to resist the attacks of the virtual blades. The crescent-shaped blade pierced through the shell, emitting a grating screech as a large gap appeared in its tough shell. Yet the shell was too thick—after cutting ten meters in, it still hadn’t reached the internal organs. Doubtful, Ao Kuang waved his hand, sending the virtual axe and crescent-shaped blade back into the air.

“Is your shell that amazing?” he cursed. “I’ll… chop it to pieces!” He moved his hands like a pianist, causing the two virtual blades to slash repeatedly, as if chopping meat.

The Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle suffered greatly—its black rock-like shell was covered in countless deep cracks from the attacks of the two blades. It dared not stay put and frantically stirred the seawater, fleeing into the deep sea. Moments later, it disappeared beneath the waves, leaving only trails of blood on the surface.

As the Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle struggled desperately, the Master Saints frozen on the sea surface also met misfortune, each being knocked until they spat blood. Some smarter ones took advantage of the turtle’s injury and the breaking ice to fly into the air, fleeing desperately toward the shore.

After driving away the Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle, Ao Kuang gathered his troops and realized they had lost sixty to seventy people. Of the remaining three hundred, over a hundred were seriously injured, and almost everyone else was hurt. Only a few lucky ones remained unharmed.

As for those four Great Saints, there was no problem at all—after all, they were far stronger and had excellent self-protection abilities. Ao Kuang stood on the beach, looking at his subordinates lying all over the ground, his expression growing increasingly dark. Suppressing his anger, he said, “Bring out the large detection rune disc!” One of the Great Saints called out, “Xiao Xie! Xie Rong!” Another Saint said, “Xiao Xie… I saw him get swept into the sea… and then he disappeared!” Soon, someone reported, “Xiao Xie is missing, and his body can’t be found. The pouch containing the large detection rune disc was on him.” Ao Kuang was so angry that he started hiccups. Large detection rune discs were extremely difficult to make, and there were only a few in the entire Star Sect—now one was lost. There was no substitute for now, and small detection rune discs couldn’t track Guo Shier and the others; at best, they could only indicate a general direction, and they were prone to errors. After thinking for a moment, Ao Kuang said to one of the Great Saints, “Take the injured disciples back. Leave ten people for me, and everyone else, go back!” He then flew along the coastline with three other Great Saints and ten unharmed Saints, ignoring the wounded lying on the ground. He held all his resentment toward Guo Shier and the other three for this loss. … Guo Shier and the others still didn’t know that Ao Kuang was pursuing them, nor did they know that the Heavenly Snake Calamity Turtle would go berserk and attack their pursuers. During this time, Guo Shier had been living comfortably, spending his days laughing and chatting with the crew, and catching seafood to eat in various ways. One day, Captain Xiao Cheng approached Qi Nanshan and said, “Master Qi, we’ll soon reach the entrance to the secret realm. This sea route is quite dangerous. Although there are disciples from the Sea Gate patrolling the sea, if we encounter mutated sea beasts, we still need your help to fend them off.” In the Xinxiji Continent, ordinary people usually addressed professionals by adding “Master” after their names. Qi Nanshan smiled and said, “No problem. Leave it to us.” Xiao Cheng was very satisfied. He added, “Although this sea area is dangerous, the mutated sea beasts that appear here are mostly low-level; high-level ones are rare.” Qi Nanshan nodded and said, “Don’t worry. Since we’re on the ship, let us handle it.” Xiao Cheng crossed his arms over his chest and bowed, saying, “Thank you, Master Qi.” Qi Nanshan waved his hand, turned around, and went onto the deck, where he saw Guo Shier, Monier, and Eagle Demon happily roasting fish slices in a grill. Each fish slice was as big as an adult’s palm, cut from fish over a meter long. A group of crew members gathered around the grill.

Guo Shier said, “Don’t rush, don’t rush—everything’s here… Hehe, this is the Guo family’s grilled fish! Unrivaled in taste! Haha, here you go!” He handed the grilled fish skewer to a crew member.
Qi Nanshan walked over. Guo Shier smiled and said, “Grandpa Nanshan, here’s a skewer for you.”
The crew members smiled and bowed, saying, “Greetings, Master Qi.”
Qi Nanshan looked at the fish skewer in his hand; a strong aroma filled the air. The snow-white fish was lightly browned from grilling, steaming and looking extremely tempting. He smiled and said, “Good. Everyone, keep going… Shier, your skills are getting better and better. I’m really lucky to enjoy this…” He took a bite, chewed slowly, and sighed, “It’s really good. I didn’t expect fish to taste even better than the meat of mutated beast symbols.”
The crew members were also deeply moved. They were people who made a living on the ship, eating fresh fish until they were full, but what Guo Shier cooked made them realize what true delicacy was. They only knew one way to eat fish—boiling it in plain water with a little salt. Although that was delicious too, eating it every day lost its appeal.
Qi Nanshan said, “We’re about to enter the deep sea area. We need to help drive away the mutated sea beasts.”
Guo Shier grinned and said, “With a master like you around, I don’t need to worry.”
Monier said, “Baby, keep grilling, don’t stop… I’m done eating…”
Qi Nanshan smiled helplessly and said, “It’s not appropriate for me to intervene. You guys take care of it.”
Only then did Guo Shier realize that Qi Nanshan had inherited the legacy of the Black Symbol people. Though his strength was formidable, he couldn’t use his skills in front of others—it would be too terrifying. If discovered, would he have to eliminate everyone on the ship? He said, “Okay, leave it to us… Sigh, what a tough fate…”
Eagle Demon said, “Let me do it. Shier, just watch on the ship. When I can’t handle it anymore, you can step in.”
Guo Shier rejoiced, “I knew Uncle Eagle Demon was a good person!” A “good person card” was immediately issued.
Monier giggled and said, “Little slacker.” Her indulgent expression was unmistakable.
The next day, the sea ship entered the deep sea area, with the silhouettes of the islands behind it. Guo Shier, Monier, Eagle Demon, and Qi Nanshan stood at the bow, quietly gazing at the sea. Around them, sails were scattered—all sea ships heading toward the entrance to the secret realm.
Xiao Cheng guided the ship forward. Every time he passed through thissea area, he felt anxious, but this time he felt relaxed.
Qi Nanshan suddenly looked up to the side. A white line appeared on the horizon. He said, “Is that their patrol flying vehicle? A hunting vehicle? Doesn’t seem like it… What is it?”

A crew member happened to pass by and said, “That’s a patrol vehicle belonging to the Sea Gate disciples. If any sea ship is in danger, just send a signal, and they’ll come to rescue it.” With that, he picked up a bucket left at the bow and left.

Guo Shier whispered, “Grandpa Qinan, I wonder if we need to go through inspection to enter the Core Continent. Let’s be careful. If something seems off, we should leave immediately.”

Monier said, “There’s no need to worry. As long as it’s a professional at the Saint level, the Advanced Continent won’t stop us… But they’ll register us. We can use fake names and addresses. Don’t mention our sect or continent. Just say we’re professionals exiled by our sect. Everyone, hide your identity badges and don’t show them.” She had some experience in this regard.

For five full days, not a single low-level mutated sea beast, let alone any advanced ones, was seen. Not only Guo Shier and the others were puzzled, but Captain Xiao Cheng and the crew were too. Could it be that the mutated sea beasts in the sea also knew this ship had experts on guard?

Xiao Cheng was secretly pleased. In just one more day, they would reach the entrance to the secret realm.

Guo Shier sighed, “I had planned to collect some blood and flesh from mutated sea beasts to create some soul beads from them. Damn it… These mutated sea beasts aren’t giving me any chance at all—none of them show up… What a shame.”

Qinan Qinan laughed and said, “What’s there to be sorry about? You’ve already recorded the coordinates of this place. You can come back anytime. What’s there to regret?”

Guo Shier scratched his head and said with a smile, “I’m just greedy… I’ve never eaten meat from mutated sea beasts before.”

Whoosh!

There was a sound of water. The four of them looked over. One crew member shouted, “Sea Emperor Crab! Mutated Sea Emperor Crab!”

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Captain Xiao Cheng shook the bronze bell vigorously—it was the alarm on the sea ship. Immediately, chaos ensued on board.

Guo Shier perked up and said with a smile, “Hey, I didn’t expect we’d be arriving so soon… Finally, it’s here. I wonder what level this mutated sea beast is… Wait, what are they called? Sea Emperor Crab? Mutated Sea Emperor Crab… Hehe, it’s a crab. I love eating crabs the most.” He was extremely excited.

Two giant crab claws emerged from the water, each two meters long. Their dark green hard shells were covered with fist-sized spines, looking extremely ferocious. The claws just skimmed across the surface before diving back into the water, giving people chills.

Guo Shier was also amazed and said, “What huge crab claws!” Then he added something that left everyone who heard him speechless: “I wonder how much meat there is inside!”