Across the pitch-black night sky, a streak of light shot past like a meteor.
*Whoosh!*
Abruptly, as if running out of steam, the streak plummeted into a forest on a small island.
Wild beasts were roaring within the woods, but the moment they sensed the immense spiritual pressure radiating from the light, they tucked their tails between their legs and flattened themselves against the ground, shivering violently.
Beneath the moonlight, a figure clad in luxurious, aristocratic robes was revealed to the world.
With a tall, straight posture and handsome features, it was none other than the Eldest Senior Brother of Feiyun Ravine, Gu Shaoshang.
At this moment, his magic power was unsteady, and his expression was fraught with panic.
He glanced back toward the horizon. Seeing no trace of pursuit, he subconsciously let out a long sigh of relief.
"Phew..."
The protracted exhale betrayed the turmoil in his heart.
A lingering look of fear hung over his face.
"A Nascent Soul True Person!"
"If my senses didn't deceive me, that was unmistakably the aura only a Nascent Soul True Person can emit. Faint though it was, it was almost indistinguishable from my father's domain pressure."
"No wonder that person dared to snatch food from the tiger's jaws on Xuanyan Island and reap the fisherman's spoils. To think it was actually a hidden Nascent Soul old monster!"
"I tried to wait by the stump for a rabbit, only to nearly catch a tiger instead. I was truly mad."
Thoughts swirled wildly in his mind. Beneath the lingering terror, he felt more than a little fortunate.
Now that he saw no pursuers in sight, Gu Shaoshang relaxed slightly and checked his condition.
Fleeing at full throttle had consumed a great deal of his magic power. Traveling alone across the boundless ocean in such a state was far too dangerous.
Immediately, he swallowed a medicinal pill, sat down cross-legged where he was, and began meditating to replenish his magic power.
As his magic power gradually recovered and his mind settled, Gu Shaoshang felt that something was increasingly amiss.
"If it really was a Nascent Soul old monster, why would they need to hide their head and show their tail like that? A single person of that caliber could sweep across the entire Xuanyan Sea Domain."
"Hiding their tracks like that and lurking beneath the core of the Nine Palaces array clearly signaled a lack of strength."
"Could it be that my senses were mistaken?"
"No, that shouldn't be. Compared to the pressure Father occasionally lets slip, that was undoubtedly power of the exact same tier. Then..."
Amidst his bewilderment, a sudden possibility struck Gu Shaoshang.
A Soul Refining Banner!
Could that wisp of Nascent Soul aura have merely come from a Nascent Soul-grade soul inside a soul banner?
And the banner's wielder was merely in the Golden Core realm themselves?
Only that explanation made sense of why, despite possessing such power, they had refrained from initiating a clash with him and instead released a wisp of aura to scare him away.
It was just like himself: he carried a Nascent Soul-grade trump card bestowed by his father, yet he still acted with cautious prudence, never deploying that life-saving measure unless pushed to the absolute brink.
"A Soul Refining Banner possessing a Nascent Soul soul is no longer an ordinary Ten Thousand Soul Banner—it can already be called a Hundred Thousand Ferocious Soul Banner."
"Such a ferocious soul is definitely not something a Golden Core cultivator can easily control. Its master might have reached their limit just releasing that single wisp of aura."
"Looking at it this way, I was overly cautious."
The realization that his excessive prudence had cost him the Xuanyan Demon Emperor's remnant husk brought an expression of regret to Gu Shaoshang's face.
He could have fully relied on the measure given by his father to stake it all against that person.
If he had succeeded, the Demon Emperor's remnant husk would have been ten or a hundred times better than ordinary Ring-Headed Turtle materials, and his father's chances of crossing the Sunken Sea would have multiplied several times over.
Bringing it back would have surely delighted his father, earning him immense rewards.
Yet at the final step, he had chickened out.
Returning to the Xuanyan Sea Domain all on his own could certainly be considered adventurous, but backing down at the final juncture was a regret anyone would feel.
"Ah, forget it. In the vast Northern Sea, any cultivator capable of possessing a Soul Refining Banner on par with a Hundred Thousand Ferocious Soul Banner is certainly not someone to provoke. Nine times out of ten, they're a remnant of the Yuan Demon Sect."
"If I had clashed with them head-on, victory would have been far from certain. If the commotion grew too large and drew the five royal crab clans, it would have been even worse."
"With my aptitude, I have great hope of forming a Nascent Soul in the future. There is no need at all to gamble my life in a place like this."
After consoling himself with this rationalization, Gu Shaoshang suppressed his lingering regret and devoted his full attention to regulating his breath.
***
Meanwhile, on Xuanyan Island.
In the wake of the cataclysmic battle, devastation lay everywhere.
Or rather, putting it that way was no longer accurate—Xuanyan Island had already sunk into the seabed. Beneath the drifting ocean currents, the savage scars of battle seemed somewhat less terrifying.
Even so, the wounds borne by the surviving demon crabs were staggering to behold.
Jin Hun lay inside a half-shattered five-colored clam shell, his expression listless.
He had weathered the heavenly tribulation primarily aimed at the five patriarchs, relying on this very five-colored clam shell to do so. But with the power of lightning having coursed through his body, he was still suffering greatly.
Beside him, another demon crab was steadily reporting their losses from the battle.
Listening to the staggering casualties, Jin Hun's heart sank deeper and deeper.
Suddenly, he cut off the report.
"Jin Jia, did I make the wrong choice?"
Jin Jia froze for a moment, then answered with understanding, "Naturally, the Patriarch was not wrong. Though our casualties were heavy, a pyrrhic victory is still a victory."
Jin Hun felt considerably better upon hearing this.
However...
"The Xuanyan Demon Emperor's remnant husk fell into someone else's hands. I..."
Jin Jia said in a heavy voice, "Why must the Patriarch dwell on that so much? The black turtle's shell is dispensable to our clan. What truly matters is this Tier 4 spiritual vein, along with the vast resources of this sea domain!"
Jin Hun's gaze sharpened as he looked toward Jin Jia.
Jin Jia raised his head and spoke slowly, "Though Xuanyan Island has sunk, the foundation of the spiritual vein remains intact. It is more than capable of supplying a Tier 3 peak demon beast with the energy to break through to the Transformation stage. Furthermore, the Azure Emperor Crab and Nine-Clawed Poison King Crab clans suffered even heavier losses than we did. If we seize this opportunity to swallow their domains, our Overlord Crab clan will not only recover our strength, but we can even take a step further."
Jin Hun fell into contemplation.
If things truly played out that way, even if they failed to achieve their original plan of unifying the five clans and dominating the Xuanyan Sea Domain, they could still rise above the rest and maintain the Overlord Crab clan's hegemony.
He had indeed been backing himself into a dead end.
"When do you think we should annex those two clans?"
"Sooner rather than later. We must strike while their patriarchs have fallen and their clans are leaderless, taking them down in a single stroke."
"Who should go?"
When he asked this, Jin Hun looked pointedly at Jin Jia.
Under normal circumstances, foreign campaigns for the Overlord Crab clan were always spearheaded by the battle-hardened Jin Ao.
Jin Ao was also his favored candidate for the next clan patriarch; Jin Hun had even intended to grant him the clan's core foundation resources so he could break through to the Transformation stage.
Subduing the two clans and expanding the Overlord Crab clan's territory before breaking through to the Transformation stage would have made awarding those resources all the more justifiable.
This time, however, a slight hitch had arisen.
Jin Jia stepped forward, pressing his two fully intact giant pincers together.
"Jin Jia is willing to take command!"
Jin Hun raised an eyebrow. "You excel at internal affairs, not external warfare."
Jin Jia stood unflinching. "None in the Overlord Crab clan are inept at war! What is more..."
He paused for a beat, then continued without the slightest concealment, "What is more, Jin Ao lost a pincer and his strength is greatly compromised. On top of that, he was grievously injured by that human cultivator's ambush and still finds it difficult to move. Under these circumstances, taking up the mantle in this crisis is only reasonable!"
Jin Hun remained silent for a long while.
Finally, he gave a slow nod.
"Then you shall go. Move quickly. Do not give Chi Yan and Zhu Xiang time to react."
"Understood."
Jin Jia exited the five-colored clam shell, rallied his forces, and set out immediately.
Left behind in the shell, the old patriarch Jin Hun let out a faint sigh.
A battle years in the making had gone so horribly awry at the final juncture.
First, Hailuo had refined the Xuanyan Armor. Then, Qihuan had acted with utter resolve, preferring to fail his tribulation just to drag them down with him. And in the end, an interloper had cut in halfway, allowing a human cultivator to reap the fisherman's spoils.
Especially that human cultivator!
The earlier surprises, though unexpected, were still within reason—when facing total annihilation, a clan was bound to fight back.
One could say that as long as that human cultivator hadn't appeared, their Overlord Crab clan would still have emerged as the greatest victor.
Yet that person had materialized out of nowhere, not only snatching away the Demon Emperor's remnant husk, but also killing three and wounding four with a single palm strike.
Remembering that palm strike during the daytime rainstorm, gleaming like a blazing green sun, made Jin Hun's heart tremble.
It had undoubtedly been a blow gathered over a long time and unleashed at the perfect moment.
Leave aside Jin Ao and the others who were barely clinging to life after the heavenly tribulation; even at peak condition, taking that strike head-on would have meant grave injury if not death.
In a single breath, three died and three were gravely wounded. Only Jin Jia, relying on his incomparable defensive capability, had escaped with minor injuries.
"Do not let me find out who that person was. Otherwise, I will make them pay tenfold!"
A vicious glint flickered across his aged eyes.
Then, as if recalling something, he sent out a voice transmission.
Moments later, a demon crab crawled inside.
"Patriarch, what are your orders?"
"How are the other four clans moving right now?"
The demon crab seemed to have anticipated the question and replied at once, "The Azure Emperor Crab clan is in mourning over their patriarch's demise. Chaos has erupted among the Nine-Clawed Poison King Crabs as they vie for the patriarch's seat. The Red Rock Crabs are acting somewhat strangely; according to my inquiries, they seem to be gathering members from their territory to set up camp at the former site of Xuanyan Island."
All of this was within expectations, so Jin Hun was not surprised.
The first two were prime targets for Jin Jia to strike, while the latter could be negotiated with old Chi Yan.
"However, what about the Demon Spider Crabs?"
Regarding this question, the subordinate was equally baffled.
"It is very strange. They left only a small number of crabs at the former site of Xuanyan Island, while the main force followed Patriarch Zhu Xiang and hurriedly departed the island."
"Hmm?" Jin Hun was full of confusion.
At a time like this, instead of staying behind to carve up the spoils of war, he had rushed away? What was the meaning of this?
What kind of plot was Zhu Xiang hatching?
***
Inside the Coral Trench, a red glow suffused the water.
Time slipped by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Over these three days, Luo Chen spent his time recovering his condition while working intensely to process the batch of Demon King materials he had acquired.
The supplementary ingredients he carried for concocting Black Emperor Paste had long since been exhausted.
Therefore, this batch of materials could only be pre-processed for now, to be refined into paste after his return.
While working through them, Luo Chen also took the opportunity to tally his gains and losses from this battle.
His handy magic treasure, the Profound Fire Sword, had been destroyed. Two of the Three Soul Breaking Nails were gone, leaving only the final Soul Breaking Nail, and he had suffered some light injuries.
Those were his losses.
His gains, on the other hand, were immense.
He had acquired Demon King crab materials sufficient to support his late-stage Desolate Ancient Tier 3 cultivation, the Xuanyan Armor, the Cliff Snake's remains, and tens of thousands of demon beast souls inside his soul banner.
Tallying it up like this, his gains vastly outweighed his losses!
"Truly, great risks are accompanied by great rewards. I certainly made a fortune this time."
"Moreover, practical combat revealed several deficiencies in my fighting repertoire. Once things settle down and I remedy them one by one, my combat capabilities will surely climb to another level. That, too, counts as a tremendous harvest!"
Having finished his inventory, Luo Chen packed up his belongings in the cave abode.
He stowed the miscellaneous items into his high-capacity storage ring.
By now, it was time to leave.
Though the Coral Trench was secluded, it remained within the demon crabs' domain of control; it would be discovered sooner or later.
*Buzz!*
Before he had even stepped out of the cave abode, Luo Chen heard a rumble like thunder.
Yet he knew full well that it wasn't thunder at all—it was a burp.
Once he stored away the Fengshen Compass, the red array light instantly dispersed, leaving only wisps of natural crimson radiance cast by the blood coral drifting through the trench.
Within that winding trench, an extraordinarily fat, black-scaled flood dragon lay curled up.
Its eyelids drooped, its belly was swollen, and its gaping maw occasionally popped open, droning softly as drool dripped down.
That thunderous sound had come from Black King.
Ever since he swallowed the entire Cliff Snake, he had remained in this state, as if suffering from acute indigestion.
"Black King, time to go!"
Black King struggled to open his eyes. "Are we going home, Master?"
Luo Chen frowned. "Can you shrink your size?"
"I'm afraid it might be a bit difficult. Let me try..."
Black King rolled his body, demonic qi billowing as he attempted to reduce his size.
Yet after a bout of struggling, he had only shrunk from three hundred feet down to a hundred-odd feet.
Still far too large!
Such a colossal body was hardly suitable for slipping away unnoticed.
Luo Chen shook his head. "You gluttonous beast. Get in here!"
With that, a small cauldron spun out into the air. Under the control of Luo Chen's magic power, it rapidly swelled into a gigantic vessel, directly pushing aside the surrounding seawater.
Seeing this, Black King shrank back timidly.
"Master, I won't be able to digest the Cliff Snake's remains in there, and it's far too cramped."
The Hunyuan Cauldron contained its own miniature world within.
The source of that space had been forged through the spatial laws wielded by the supreme late-stage Nascent Soul expert Qingluan, combined with Tianyezi's artifact-crafting techniques.
However, with Luo Chen's current magic power and talismanic restriction arts, he was not yet capable of fully expanding the interior space.
That was why Black King complained of it being "too cramped."
"When I tell you to get in, you get in. Stop babbling. Once we're back, I'll find you a place to sleep your fill."
Luo Chen snapped, looking displeased.
Relying on having rendered numerous meritorious services, this fellow had been growing increasingly pampered.
At Luo Chen's anger, Black King shuddered and hurriedly flew inside the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Forming an incantation gesture, Luo Chen watched the Hunyuan Cauldron spin and shrink before slipping into his sleeve.
"Let's go!"
With a low shout, Luo Chen shot upward toward the sky.
Once he breached the sea's surface, he sent out a divine sense transmission.
Moments later, a gull tore through the air and obediently circled before Luo Chen.
"My magic power has barely recovered, so you'll serve as my mount."
Luo Chen gave the instruction and stepped onto the back of the Tianxuan Battle Gull. Pointing in a direction, Tianxuan flapped its wings and took flight toward the horizon.
Not long after their departure...
A group of uninvited guests arrived at the Coral Trench.
"*Cough, cough...*"
Emitting strange coughing sounds, Zhu Xiang stood outside the trench, looking utterly perplexed.
"Is that person inside?"
A rounded ball of light flew out from the crab swarm, speaking in a respectful voice.
"Reporting to My Lord, that person should be inside."
Zhu Xiang shook his head. "Yet aside from some residual aura, I detect no trace of anyone here."
Within a certain range, his perceptual capability was already on par with a Transformation-stage Demon Emperor.
He didn't even need to send his clansmen inside to investigate.
Even so, to be safe, he had dispatched his subordinates to conduct a sweep.
The final result was no different from what he had sensed.
"Is this the answer your Hidden Dust Sand clan gives me?" Zhu Xiang asked coldly, his aura erupting fiercely.
Though he was somewhat weak despite his fierce exterior, the display still made the light fall silent in terror.
The rounded light trembled and hurriedly answered, "According to Lord Yuan Yin, that person was supposed to be right here! To make sure, we even confirmed the roosting place of that Tianxuan Battle Gull."
"Is that battle gull still there?" Zhu Xiang asked abruptly.
The Hidden Dust Sand, which had only just reached Tier 3, blanked for a moment and blurted out, "It occasionally goes out to forage. Right now, it doesn't appear to be on that small island."
"Damn it!"
A wave of vexation welled up in Zhu Xiang's heart.
This place was plainly deserted; the birds had flown and the nest was empty.
The gull's disappearance only corroborated that suspicion.
Yet this meant that all his scheming—rushing here without even tending to his injuries—had amounted to drawing water with a wicker basket.
"I want Yuan Yin to give me an explanation!"
"Otherwise, vast though the Xuanyan Sea Domain may be, there will be no room for your Hidden Dust Sand clan to survive in the future!"
With that, he led the surviving elites of the Demon Spider Crab clan away in fury.
Left behind in place, the rounded light felt utterly at a loss.
Demand an explanation from Lord Yuan Yin?
He didn't even know how to contact the man!
Gazing upon the deserted Coral Trench, the Hidden Dust Sand could only offer a bitter smile.
"My Lord, where on earth did you run off to? If you don't return soon, us little ones are going to have to relocate all over again."
Chapter 558