Barbare shook its massive body and charged straight ahead. Although it wasn't fast, its determination was unwavering.
The dragon roared in fury, and the shaking of its tail gradually increased, slowly forming layers of water walls.
Zhang Yaqi sighed deeply. If possible, she would not want to have any conflict with this sea patrol envoy. However, the spirit of the artifact was still one step away from truly absorbing divine power. If it was disturbed at this time, although it would not be a complete failure, it would still be severely damaged. Without a thousand years of recovery and replenishment, it would be impossible to take it back to its original form.
Therefore, under no circumstances should we let this giant fish go over and disturb us.
The atmosphere in the arena became tense again, and the distance between Da Yu and Zhang Yaqi was constantly shrinking.
Suddenly, Zhang Yaqi reached out and touched the Qiankun Ring. In an instant, a beautiful seven-colored light emanated from her jade hand.
The water rippled gently, and the light undulated continuously, creating a fairyland that captivated the heart.
Volume 23, Chapter 22: The Sea Creatures
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"Sea God..." Barbare roared loudly, its voice carrying far through the water like a thunderclap, causing countless small fish and shrimp to sink to the bottom.
"You, how dare you steal the favor of the Sea God, you deserve to die..."
With boundless rage, Barbare's body seemed to grow even larger, becoming even more terrifying.
Twenty-four gazes turned to the front at the same time, converging on Barbare's head, and suddenly shot out an extremely thick beam of light.
A tremendous energy emanated from the light, and neither Zhang Yaqi nor Long Ming dared to make a move. They both sensed that if these twenty-four energy beams were combined into one, their power would be no less than that of the two broken swords from before.
Zhang Yaqi and Long Ming exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with astonishment.
Isn't it said that the sea god's favor is a sacred object for all sea creatures? Why did Barbare become so furious upon seeing this large seashell?
“Senior Barbare, we don’t know what we have done to offend you so much that you are so angry,” Zhang Yaqi asked softly.
Even amidst this tense and volatile atmosphere, she remained as serene as ever.
Seemingly sensing the extraordinary nature of this beautiful girl, Barbare stopped, though its voice was still filled with rage: "Release my clan's sacred object, or even if you return to the realm of gods, my clan will grind you to dust and condemn you to eternal damnation."
"Crushed to dust, never to be redeemed, hehe... What a boastful tone."
Xiao Wenbing laughed loudly. He stood up, holding a small, glittering ring in his hand. Although it was not as conspicuous as the Qiankun Ring, the divine power surging on the ring indicated that this divine artifact had been tempered and was now complete.
The Dark God trapped within had already been absorbed into the source of divine power and completely dissipated into the underworld.
Barbare's twenty-four gazes slowly dispersed, and only then could it truly see the enemy before it.
Although Long Ming was powerful, it was still confident it could eliminate him. However, the origins of these individuals were unknown. Each of them seemed to possess cultivation levels no less than Long Ming's.
If they all rush in, then forget about winning; even escaping unscathed will be a pipe dream.
Strands of energy fluctuations silently emanated from Barbare. Although Xiao Wenbing and the others noticed its movements, no one stopped it because they couldn't figure out what Barbare was trying to do.
After a long while, Long Ming suddenly shouted, "Not good. This old guy is calling for reinforcements."
Sure enough, similar fluctuations came from afar, and judging from their energy intensity, they seemed to be no less than those of Barbare.
Zhang Yaqi frowned slightly and said, "Senior, we meant no harm. Why don't you believe us?"
"If you have no ill intentions, then release the favor of the sea god."
"Okay." Without another word, Zhang Yaqi gently placed the large seashell on the seabed. Returning to Xiao Wenbing's side, the two exchanged a smile, a faint hint of amusement in their eyes.
After seeing Zhang Yaqi's actions, Barbare indeed stopped putting on a fierce look and instead cautiously stepped forward, extending his long fins to scoop up the large seashell.
However, to its utter surprise, the giant clam suddenly exerted its strength the instant it left the seabed, detached itself from its massive fin, and returned to Zhang Yaqi's hand once more with the ripples.
Barbare was stunned. No matter how rich its imagination was, it could never understand why the Favor of the Sea God would reject the sea creatures and instead befriend those gods.
However, Xiao Wenbing and his companion were not surprised by this result at all.
While the waters of the underworld are good, in comparison, there exists a water spirit within the Qiankun Circle. This water spirit is a fusion of the five elements, and the water it produces contains the most concentrated celestial energy in the world.
For sea creatures, the better the water quality, the more they yearn for it. And the Water Spirit is undoubtedly the essence of the water, every drop of water splitting from its body beckoning desperately towards that large seashell.
Therefore, this sacred object of the sea race would rather return to the Qiankun Circle than stay in the underworld any longer.
Zhang Yaqi sighed softly, placed the large seashell back on the seabed, and pulled Xiao Wenbing back a few steps to create some distance.
Barbare, unconvinced, tried again, and the result was exactly the same as before. Moreover, the large shell seemed somewhat annoyed, pinching the offered fin hard, causing Barbare to cry out in pain twice.
Watching from the side, Xiao Wenbing sighed inwardly, thinking, "Truly, there's always someone who can subdue another."
The giant clam's clamping force wasn't very strong; even if it clamped onto Xiao Wenbing's divine body, it wouldn't cause him any harm. However, for the aquatic creatures, the clam's clamping force felt like it had clamped their lives, causing them to display expressions of unbearable pain.
If it wasn't because this big fish was such a good actor, then the giant seashell must have something special about it.
Once clamped by the giant seashell, Barbare immediately became much more obedient. Moreover, it could now see that the giant seashell was following Xiao Wenbing and the others willingly, without any sense of being forced.
And it seemed as if the giant seashell had taken a liking to Zhang Yaqi, a discovery that nearly made the sea patrol messenger faint.
Three powerful auras emanated from the water once more, each one no less powerful than Babarei and Longming.
Xiao Wenbing was slightly startled; the underworld was indeed teeming with experts.
The three new sea monsters are all unique: there's a shrimp, a crab, and a giant octopus.
Although their appearance was somewhat comical, their cultivation was in no way inferior to that of Barbare. The four sea monsters whispered and discussed for a long time, then bowed deeply to the giant seashell and respectfully said, "Our clan's sacred object has appeared, and we dare not be negligent. We would like to invite you, our distinguished guests, to meet with the Sea King. Please do not refuse."
Xiao Wenbing was not surprised by their invitation. Ever since he learned about the origins of the Great Shell Land, he had known that this day would come. Moreover, Xiao Wenbing had another purpose: to take this opportunity to explore whether there were any treasures left behind by the first generation of gods in the Underworld.
"Wait a minute."
Just as Xiao Wenbing was about to agree, Long Ming, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
"Dragon Cry, our sea race and your dragon race have always lived in peace. We've even helped each other. Please don't interfere!" Barbarey roared angrily. Fearing that Xiao Wenbing and the others would use this as an excuse not to go, he quickly spoke up.
Long Ming shook his head slightly. He said, "It's not that I don't want them to go, but that you're a step too late."
"What?"
"They had already promised me that they would accompany me to meet the Dragon King, so even if the Sea King invited them, they should be ranked after our dragon clan."
The sea monsters looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long while, Barbare turned around and asked, "Excuse me, gentlemen, is this true?"
Xiao Wenbing chuckled and said, "I did indeed agree to Long Ming's request."
His words had a somewhat opportunistic flavor.
In fact, Long Ming had not extended an invitation beforehand, so Xiao Wenbing naturally did not accept. However, since the old dragon had said those words, Xiao Wenbing naturally had to go to the Dragon King's place to accept the invitation first. So he gave an ambiguous answer, which successfully shut up Baba Leidi.
Upon hearing this, Barbare could only say with disappointment, "Then when you two leave the Dragon King's residence, would you be willing to come and meet me, the Sea King?"
"Since you have extended such a warm invitation, we certainly dare not refuse. After returning from the Dragon King's place, we will definitely visit the Sea King."
"Alright, thank you very much." Barbare nodded to them, and suddenly a fish scale sprang from his body and flew into Zhang Yaqi's hand: "After you visit the Dragon King, you only need to rub this scale with your divine power, and we will know and come to greet you."
After saying that, it looked longingly at the large seashell in Zhang Yaqi's hand. If it didn't know it couldn't take it with it, it probably would have even resorted to robbery.
Xiao Wenbing smiled slightly, then his expression suddenly changed, and he said, "This is not good."
After saying that, he waved his hand, and more than five thousand rays of light appeared around him, quickly condensing into a single point, transforming into a divine sword, which he then slashed into the void.
A spatial rift suddenly appeared in the air, and Xiao Wenbing's body trembled as he flew out.
Long Ming had witnessed Xiao Wenbing's abilities before, and while he admired them, he wasn't surprised. However, the four sea monsters who saw Xiao Wenbing's strength for the first time were terrified.
In the underworld, a mysterious power permeates everything. Except for a few isolated places, the magical power required to break through space and leave is far beyond what ordinary beings can bear.
Even with the power of the sea race, there are only a handful of people with such strength. And those super strong individuals at the very top of the sea race are not people that these few lowly sea patrol envoys can afford to offend.
Once he remembered that he had just planned to rob someone by force, Barbaredi felt a little uneasy.
"Hey, Brother Barbare, are you not leaving? Is there anything else you need me to do?" Long Ming asked deliberately.
Barbare shuddered, casually gave a word of advice, and quickly fled far away. He made up his mind to report this matter as soon as possible so that a truly qualified sea king could speak with Xiao Wenbing and the others.
Long Ming smiled smugly as he gazed in the direction where Barbare and the other sea monsters had disappeared. During his battle with the giant serpent, the moment he saw Xiao Wenbing emerge from the void, he knew he was no match for him. That's why he had acted so warmly towards Xiao Wenbing after he produced the Dragon King's Reverse Scale. Now, having scared Barbare away with Xiao Wenbing's imposing presence, he felt even better and burst into laughter.
He had just finished laughing when the space flashed, and Xiao Wenbing arrived with one person, looking extremely disheveled. Behind them, a hundred or so millstone-sized monsters were still chasing after them.
Long Ming took a closer look and immediately shouted, "Not good! Quickly close the spatial rift!" With that, he unleashed a breath of dragon fire. The powerful energy flowed through, and more than ten monsters instantly vanished into nothingness. It was clear that the power of this breath of dragon fire was immense and truly chilling.
Xiao Wenbing was already prepared. With a wave of his hand, the divine sword that had been supporting the spatial rift immediately dimmed. Deprived of its energy support, the spatial rift rapidly collapsed.
Through the crack, the view on the other side was still visible: countless monsters of all sizes crammed together, desperately trying to rush through the crack. But the power of space was immense; once the support of the divine sword's radiance was lost, the protective force within the space instantly overwhelmed everything, easily shattering the countless monsters' desire to widen the opening.
"Smack..."
With a soft sound, the spatial rift finally closed and disappeared, and the terrifying monsters on the other side vanished from everyone's sight.
Of the countless monsters, only a few managed to survive the spatial rift—less than three hundred. These creatures, who had seemed incredibly lucky just moments before, were now the unlucky ones.
With a long cry, the roc charged into the monster horde at lightning speed. It pecked here and there, and the millstone-like monsters seemed to have met their nemesis before the golden roc, scattering in all directions without daring to gather and surround it.
These monsters were incredibly fast; even with the roc's high speed, it was impossible to eliminate them all in an instant.
Once they burrow into the seabed mud, the roc will never be able to catch them again unless it is willing to dig through the sand and mud.
However, Xiao Wenbing, Long Ming, and the Great Serpent, who were watching from the sidelines, were not mere figureheads. They spontaneously separated and set up a massive earth barrier. Inside the barrier, the monsters scurried around like headless flies, unable to find a way down.
After a long while, the roc let out another long cry, its voice filled with indescribable satisfaction.
This time, it entered the underworld with its master. Not only did it absorb a lot of evil energy, but it also ate quite a few monsters. The Roc was already very satisfied.
Long Ming watched cautiously until the last monster was devoured by the Roc before he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Lord Xiao, who was that person, and why did they provoke the Death Bees?"
The one who came out with Xiao Wenbing was the Food King. At this moment, he was dressed in rags, panting heavily, and had almost no divine power left.
If someone who doesn't know him saw this, they would never be able to associate him with a supreme deity.
"It wasn't me who provoked those ghostly things," the Food King said irritably. "They just kept bothering me." He suddenly grabbed Xiao Wenbing and asked, "Brother Xiao, do you remember that place from just now?"
“Got it? What? You want to get revenge?” Xiao Wenbing chuckled.
"No, there's treasure there, there are divine artifacts, I can sense it..." The Food King became so excited that he became somewhat incoherent.
The snake's eyes lit up; these were undoubtedly the words it most wanted to hear.
"Food King, is there really a treasure there?"
"That's right. I was teleported to an unknown place. I searched for a long time but couldn't find a single living being. Just when I was about to give up, I unknowingly walked into a strange formation."