Chapter 943: Ingratitude |
Just as Chen Huaian was stabilizing the Phoenix and Vermilion Bird primordial spirits.
The ship cleaved through the ink-black waves, continuing forward.
However, the celestial phenomena grew increasingly bizarre.
Torrential rain hammered down, fierce winds howled, and the sea surged like an angry beast.
This was originally a common type of foul weather at sea. Especially since the Sea Emperor Clan and Sea World Beasts had already appeared, everyone had gradually adapted to the ship's rocking.
But at some unknown point, the wind and waves grew larger and larger, the sky grew darker and darker, and the surrounding air became so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
Until—
The rain stopped, the wind ceased.
The sea calmed, becoming mirror-smooth.
One moment it was a raging storm, the next, the world was so quiet it seemed dead.
No sound of wind.
No sound of waves.
Even the *swoosh* of the ship cutting through the water became barely audible.
The entire sea area instantly fell into a deathly silence.
"Wha… what's going on?"
Someone asked in a trembling voice, the sound jarringly sharp in the silence.
No one answered him.
Everyone's gaze was fixed intently on the sky—
Lead-gray clouds pressed down extremely low, as if they were about to crash directly onto everyone's heads.
No sunlight, no wind, the air was so thick it was suffocating.
Unease, like creeping vines, climbed into everyone's heart.
Right at this moment—
"What is that?"
Someone suddenly pointed at the sea, voice trembling.
Everyone looked in the direction of the person's finger.
Ahead of the ship, in the pitch-black deep sea, a massive shadow was rapidly expanding.
At first, it was just a blurry black dot.
In an instant, it had already become a shadow large enough to swallow the whole ship.
But this wasn't the limit.
It grew larger and larger, like an eye opening from the abyss, slowly approaching the sea surface.
"Quick! Get us out of here!" The Captain roared hoarsely, frantically turning the ship's wheel.
But the ship didn't budge an inch, as if something was holding it fast from below.
*Whoosh—!*
The sea surface suddenly exploded!
Countless tentacles shot up from the deep sea, soaring into the sky.
Li Qingran looked at those tentacles, each as thick as the gate pillars of the Battle Soul Academy, and couldn't help but shiver.
The tentacles were pitch-black like ink, their surfaces densely covered with suckers. The edges of the suckers even grew hook-like sharp teeth, gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the dim sky.
The tentacles danced wildly in the sky, blotting out half of it.
The ship rocked violently, people stumbled and fell left and right, cries of alarm rising one after another.
The next moment—
The sea surface split open.
A head the size of a hill slowly rose from the deep sea.
The head was shaped like a flood dragon, but without dragon horns. Instead, clusters of bud-like fleshy lumps hung behind it. Its face was covered with countless eyes, densely packed on both sides of the head. Those eyes glowed with a cold, green light, all currently fixed on the people on the deck.
Below the head were countless writhing tentacles. The shortest one visible was hundreds of zhang long, completely encircling the entire sea area.
And its body…
Everyone could no longer see its body.
Because the part that had already surfaced was already towering into the clouds, blocking half the sky.
An ancient, decaying aura carrying a heavy pressure of divinity washed over them.
That spiritual weight and the heart-palpitating feeling reminded everyone.
This was absolutely not a monster that should exist in the mortal world.
"Xin… Xindra…"
The Captain's voice sounded as if someone had grabbed his throat, "It's the sea monster Xindra…"
He collapsed in front of the wheel, his face as pale as paper, eyes filled with despair:
"It's over… all over… the Sea Emperor Clan… the Sea Emperor Clan actually released it…"
"What is Xindra?" someone asked, voice trembling.
"Xindra, it's…" The Captain had no time to answer.
Because the sky-filling tentacles had already moved.
A red World Ring lit up on a tentacle.
*Boom—!*
The tentacle swept horizontally, instantly smashing the ship's mast into dust.
Splinters of wood flew everywhere. Several Peak Battle Masters who couldn't dodge in time were directly smashed into bloody mist.
These Peak Battle Masters, revered by tens of thousands on the continent, capable of holding positions as court offerings within empires, couldn't even withstand a single blow from the sea monster's attack.
"Fight! Fight back! We can't just wait for death!"
The two severely injured Legendary Battle Masters struggled to their feet, World Rings lighting up, Battle Techniques crashing down towards Xindra.
But their attacks landing on Xindra were like stones thrown into the deep sea, not even raising a single ripple.
Xindra didn't even glance at them.
There was no anger in its countless eyes, only a chaotic void,
As if it didn't consider these human Battle Masters before it as living beings at all.
And it was precisely this kind of gaze that was the most bone-chilling.
"Damn it!"
A Peak Battle Master roared, soaring into the sky. The World Rings beneath him fully lit up, a shield appearing in his left hand, a large spear held in his right.
The next second, the spear in his hand transformed into a stream of light, stabbing directly at Xindra's head.
A black shadow flashed.
One of Xindra's tentacles flashed through the air.
*Thump—!*
That Peak Battle Master didn't even have time to scream. The shield formed by his Battle Soul shattered instantly, and his entire body exploded into bloody mist mid-air.
Even with defense activated, it was useless.
Not a single bone remained.
Death was certain.
This scene instantly shattered the fighting spirit of the Battle Masters who still wanted to resist.
A monster where every tentacle has a World Ring? With hundreds of tentacles, doesn't that mean hundreds of World Rings?
How do you fight that?
"Run! Run!"
Someone shouted, and the deck instantly descended into chaos.
But where to run?
Tentacles were everywhere, all around. Under the sea surface was Xindra's entire body.
The entire sea area had been sealed off by this monster.
*Boom—!*
Another wave of tentacles smashed down.
The ship finally couldn't withstand it. The hull split from the middle, planks flew horizontally, and seawater poured in.
Countless people screamed as they fell into the sea, only to be immediately scooped up by tentacles and delivered into Xindra's massive maw filled with fangs.
Blood dyed the entire sea red.
Despair, like a cold tide, drowned everyone's heart.
"Young lady!"
That severely injured Legendary Battle Master collapsed on the shattered deck, covered in blood, but still stared intently at Li Qingran, shouting hoarsely:
"Young lady! We beg you, take action! Only you can save us now!"
The other survivors also looked at Li Qingran.
Their eyes were filled with fear, filled with pleading.
Li Qingran stood at the broken prow, her sleeves fluttering in the sea breeze, the Su Xian Sword still hanging at her waist.
She looked at the sky-blotting monster, at the tentacles dancing across the sky, at the sea dyed red with blood—
And let out a soft sigh.
"I didn't even want to fight…"
She muttered quietly, her hand gripping the sword hilt.
"But you insist on fighting, insist on blocking my Husband's and my path!
Since that's the case—"
Before her words even finished, her figure had already vanished from the spot.
The next instant, dazzling Sword Light shot into the sky!
Nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings erupted at her feet, majestic Battle Power erupting like a volcano, blasting away all the bloody mist and seawater around her.
Li Qingran hovered in mid-air, the Su Xian Sword pointing diagonally at Xindra. The laziness and helplessness in her eyes were completely gone, replaced only by sharp Sword Intent.
"Come on."
She said softly, Sword Qi crisscrossing around her.
Meanwhile.
"Quick! Lower the lifeboats!"
"While she's holding back that monster, let's get out of here!"
"Right! Let's go!"
On the sea surface, several surviving Battle Masters found the small wooden rafts kept as backups on the large ship and were desperately pushing them away into the distance.
The two Legendary Battle Masters' expressions shifted, but in the end, they gritted their teeth and jumped onto a small raft.
"You all—" The woman with the elven-like appearance stood on the shattered deck, looking at these people with disbelief:
"That young lady is still fighting for you! How can you—"
"Shut up!" A Battle Master viciously cut her off, "She's so strong, she won't die! We'll just be in the way if we stay here!"
"Exactly!"
Another Battle Master said while frantically paddling, "Besides, that monster came for her anyway!
If she hadn't deliberately let the Sea Emperor Clan off earlier, how would we have ended up in this situation? It's only right and proper that she deals with the sea monster!"
Hearing this, the woman trembled with anger, closing her mouth and saying nothing more.
She looked at Li Qingran who was fighting, then at the roaring sea monster, her eyes shifting uncertainly, lost in thought.
"Let's go, let's go!" someone urged.
If Li Qingran died, they would have one less competitor.
If she didn't die, she could hold back Xindra for them.
It was said the Xindra sea monster recognized no one, not even kin. Since the Sea Emperor Clan had released Xindra, they wouldn't appear in this sea area again.
They could take advantage of this time to head for the Sea God Temple.
Each person had their own thoughts. The small raft slowly sailed away from the shattered ship, fleeing towards a direction not yet covered by Xindra's tentacles.