Even though they had heard Xiahou Aotian describe the underwater situation earlier, seeing the spectacle with their own eyes still made everyone's scalp tingle with dread. They now understood why Xiahou Aotian had been so terrified before. For non-Night Walker classes, such a scene was indeed overwhelmingly shocking.
"Fuck, scared the life out of me..." Eagle of Freedom's voice sounded in everyone's ears.
Then came Brother Red Chicken's voice: "No wonder the yin aura is so heavy that my hands and feet are stiff. To think there are so many yin corpses! I'd love to burn them all to ashes in one go, but underwater, I can't exert any strength at all."
"Brother Red Chicken's underwater combat capability is inferior even to Yuanshi Tianzun's yin corpse," Yun Meng's voice immediately chimed in.
Brother Red Chicken turned his head in shock toward the young girl of the Qinghe tribe, never expecting that this delicate-featured girl actually thought of him that way.
Yun Meng's expression instantly turned somewhat awkward.
At that moment, Natsuki's Love's sharp, urgent warning exploded in the team's ears: "Watch out!"
As her voice fell, the tens of thousands of yin corpses standing on the seabed and ship bows all floated upward in unison, surging toward them in dense droves like a school of sardines.
Some wore coarse cloth clothes while others were clad in armor, but all were tattered and ruined. Their arms did not paddle, yet the water currents naturally propelled them upward.
"They're yin corpses proficient in water! This is going to be tough..." Xiahou Aotian grimaced, quickly floating upward to put some distance between them.
"You guys hold the front! Though I am the protagonist, I'm a Fangshi who doesn't specialize in combat."
His voice sounded through the earphones, leaving everyone unsure whether this was an uncontrollable stray thought or shameless words uttered in broad daylight.
Yin Ji took a sharp plunge downward, diving rapidly to meet the yin corpses head-on. The next second, a majestic, boundless yin aura surged from her body. In this moment, her black hair and black dress drifted and swayed in the water, making her look like a queen of the underworld.
Yin Ji parted her lips slightly, emitting a shriek that only Zhang Yuanqing could hear.
An irresistible burst of yin energy erupted, sweeping across the surroundings in ripples. Instantly, the yin corpses riding the undercurrents stiffened. Then, like robots whose connection had been severed, they plummeted down one after another.
Tens of thousands of yin corpses plunging downward was truly a magnificent sight.
What skill was that?! Yin corpses weren't vengeful spirits; even for a Night Walker, dealing with yin corpses required physical means... Zhang Yuanqing couldn't understand it, but was deeply shaken.
"Dealt with? That easily?" Brother Red Chicken's delighted voice sounded.
As if deliberately slapping him in the face, the armored yin corpses lying sprawled across the seabed and decks suddenly "came alive" again, riding the currents upward once more.
Seeing this, Yin Ji's brows furrowed tightly.
"These yin corpses are also part of the array. They were nurtured by the grand array on the seabed, which continuously supplies them with yin energy." Befitting a Scholar, Xiahou Aotian saw through the mechanism at a glance. "To get rid of the yin corpse army, we must break the array first."
"Then hurry up and break it!" Brother Red Chicken urged anxiously as he watched the army of yin corpses closing in.
Too many ants could bite an elephant to death; no matter how formidable they were, they would still be torn to shreds by this massive army of yin corpses.
"Can't you see I'm looking? This grand array is extremely complex. I need time..." Xiahou Aotian floated above everyone, scrutinizing the entire array by the light of the flash grenade.
He didn't forget to deploy his forces: "Buy me time! Yin Ji and Eagle of Freedom are the main force. Yuanshi Tianzun, the rest of you play support."
As he spoke, he took out a compass. At the same time, Xiahou Aotian's eyes shone with clear, dazzling light, taking in the full circulation of the array's energy.
The compass could aid him in locating the array eye.
Zhang Yuanqing and the others could only brace themselves to engage the enemy. Eagle of Freedom swooped down, spreading her arms and sweeping them violently outward.
In an instant, a water tornado tens of meters in diameter formed, tearing into the yin corpse army, sweeping bodies into its vortex, and flinging them into the distance.
Underwater, a Plague God was invincible; the utility Eagle of Freedom could exert was even on par with the Level 6 Yin Ji.
Yet the yin corpses were simply too numerous. Several clusters of white-eyed yin corpses evaded the water tornado's pull and successfully broke through to reach the group.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Yun Meng danced gracefully through the seawater, whipping her thick serpentine tail to shatter one yin corpse after another.
"Get the fuck away from me!"
Brother Red Chicken blew apart a pouncing yin corpse with a punch, a blaze of fiery light flashing and extinguishing in the water.
The yin corpse shattered to pieces, bursting with a blob of dark-green fluid that quickly diffused into the seawater.
Holding a short sword, Natsuki's Love pierced the skull of a yin corpse with every thrust.
"Cough, cough..."
Brother Red Chicken coughed violently, his face turning a dusky blue-black. He was poisoned; the yin corpses contained terrifying gu poison within them.
Multiplayer dungeons were like this: at first glance, they might seem like supernatural ghost trials, but they secretly incorporated the characteristics of various classes.
"It's gu poison!" Xiahou Aotian, still looking down upon the array from above, grabbed a square wooden box. "I have Detoxification Pills here!"
Eagle of Freedom darted over like a fish, snatched the wooden box, and opened it. At the bottom of the box, lined with yellow silk, lay over a dozen pills the size of quail eggs.
She quickly took one and swallowed it, transmitting her thoughts:
"Catch!"
With a flick of her fingers, the quail-egg-sized pills were propelled by the seawater, nimbly dodging yin corpses to land right before her teammates.
Taking the pill, Brother Red Chicken felt his bodily discomfort vanish instantly, and he cursed in helpless self-justification: "Damn it, I can't exert any combat power underwater at all."
Fortunately, Natsuki's Love and Yuanshi Tianzun were also performing moderately, which gave him a bit of comfort.
On the other side, Yun Meng opened her wide maw and spat out torrents of misty green turbid water.
The turbid stream diffused rapidly through the seawater. In moments, clumps of seaweed grew profusely, drifting toward the yin corpse army as if sentient. Dozens of yin corpses were entangled by seaweed, struggling as they sank to the ocean floor.
Yun Meng's crisp, melodious voice sounded through the earphones: "They can purify the water, weaken the poison, and trap the yin corpses."
Having a group of high-caliber teammates really is a reassuring thing... Zhang Yuanqing swallowed the Detoxification Pill and thought with appreciation. Just then, he saw the yin corpses swept away by Eagle of Freedom charging back again.
Eagle of Freedom said heavily:
"They're back! Xiahou Aotian, you'd better hurry, or even if we fight until exhaustion, we won't be able to finish off this many yin corpses."
Looking across the dark waters, the densely packed yin corpse army swarmed like duckweed, countless and swimming at high speed.
Yin Ji and Eagle of Freedom moved forward together to intercept them, but both suddenly halted, because Yuanshi Tianzun beat them to it, charging toward the yin corpse army of his own accord.
What was he trying to do?
Getting surrounded by water-proficient yin corpses was no joke.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, get back here!" As the protagonist and backbone of the team, Xiahou Aotian took it upon himself to issue commands.
Zhang Yuanqing paid him no heed. With a flick of his hand, he tossed out the heavy Demon-Subduing Pestle. Immediately after, he used Astral Travel, his formidable spirit body attaching to the pestle and driving it forward like a lightning bolt.
Blood Rose paddled her limbs, guarding her master's physical body.
The Demon-Subduing Pestle turned into a streak of pale-gold flowing light, trailing dense bubbles as it pierced through the foremost yin corpse, followed by a second, a third, a fourth... In one breath, it pierced over thirty armored corpses, before pivoting and continuing to impale more.
Yin corpses burning with pale-golden flames plunged to the seabed, never to rise again.
This... Seeing this, Yun Meng, Eagle of Freedom, and the others looked on in a daze.
"Damn it, is he trying to steal my limelight?" Xiahou Aotian's thoughts turned into speech, echoing in everyone's ears.
"Damn it, I've completely become dead weight! Is Yuanshi Tianzun really this strong? He just advanced to Saint..." Brother Red Chicken's shocked remarks closely followed.
Yuanshi Tianzun's powerful, efficient lethality astonished all the Saints.
These yin corpses possessed bodies of copper and iron. Although Yun Meng and Brother Red Chicken seemed to shatter them easily, every strike actually required their full strength.
That was why Eagle of Freedom had said that even fighting until exhaustion wouldn't finish them off.
Yet right now, the destructive power displayed by Yuanshi Tianzun showed them hope in a prolonged battle.
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't hear Brother Red Chicken and Xiahou Aotian's grumbling. Guiding the Demon-Subduing Pestle, he pierced the chests of yin corpses one after another. Under the influence of the slaughterous aura, the violence and ruthlessness in his heart grew deeper and deeper.
With his darting, butterfly-like offensive weaving through the ranks of the yin corpse army, the pressure on Yin Ji and the others lightened noticeably as they dealt with the scattered corpses reaching them.
Time slipped by quietly. Just as Brother Red Chicken was nearing exhaustion, Xiahou Aotian yelled:
"Found it! Found it! The array eye is at our three o'clock direction, aboard that ship with the broken mast!"
Everyone looked over in unison. While there were many ships with broken masts, at the three o'clock direction, few fit the description.
A thought crossed Zhang Yuanqing's mind. Guiding the Demon-Subduing Pestle back, his spirit returned to his physical body. Then, taking out a crimson longbow, he used his vital blood as an arrow and shot toward a certain large ship a hundred meters away.
The pale-red arrow struck the hull accurately. This bow was a spoil of war he had acquired during the killing trial.
"Is it this one?" Zhang Yuanqing's thought converted into speech.
"Yes, that's the one!" Xiahou Aotian replied.
Immediately, everyone paddled their limbs without hesitation, swimming toward the massive vessel.
The army of yin corpses surged from all directions to intercept them, but they were swept away by currents controlled by Zhang Yuanqing and Eagle of Freedom.
The six of them landed smoothly on the deck, turning their gazes together toward the pitch-black cabin.
Being Night Walkers who could see through darkness, Zhang Yuanqing and Yin Ji saw an old man in official robes seated on an antique armchair inside the silt-covered cabin.
He had a goatee, a pale complexion, and closed eyes, looking like a fresh corpse—starkly different from the waterlogged, bloated yin corpses outside.
The official robe he wore was tattered and frayed, faintly purple, its embroidered patterns faded beyond recognition.
A nearly tangible yin aura radiated from his body, causing palpitations in Zhang Yuanqing, who was a Star Officer.
On his knees rested a basin-sized disc, half-white and half-black, with a red pointer in the center.
Who was this? Lu Xiufu? Zhang Shijie? Or another court official? Zhang Yuanqing speculated internally.
Promptly, his thoughts were converted by the earphones into speech, ringing in his teammates' ears.
At the same time, Yin Ji's thoughts sounded:
"It's barely at Level 6. It shouldn't be my main quest target. It's the previous team's boss; dealing with it won't be difficult."
"The Yin-Yang Dial? Mine, that's mine..." Eagle of Freedom stared fixedly at the dial, unable to control her thoughts.
"Fuck it, take him down."
"What did you guys see? Is there a yin corpse inside? Be careful! He's either the array eye or guarding it. Kill him quickly!" Xiahou Aotian babbled over the earphones.
"Ahhh—!"
The rambling abruptly turned into a bloodcurdling scream. Shocked, everyone whipped around, only to see Xiahou Aotian's chest pierced through by a ghostly claw with pale, bloodless flesh and pitch-black nails.
The ghostly claw clutched a bright-red heart. Its owner was a disheveled female corpse clad in white robes.
This was a female corpse endowed with remarkably high intelligence. During the earlier battle, she had remained hidden, striking only when the party moved toward the cabin to ambush Xiahou Aotian—who had lagged behind alone and possessed the weakest combat capability.
As the ghostly claw pulled free, gouts of fresh blood gushed from his chest cavity, blooming outward like ink.
Xiahou Aotian fell weakly toward the seabed, swallowed up in seconds by the surrounding yin corpses as they swarmed over him.
"Don't worry about me... I'm the protagonist... the protagonist..." Through the earphones, his voice gradually faded, then cut off completely.
At that moment, the purple-robed official seated on the high-backed armchair opened horrifying, dead white pupils. Instead of attacking the six-member team immediately, he raised a pale, stiff arm and flicked the pointer on the dial.
The pointer spun rapidly, instantly forming an array that spanned a radius of forty meters. Like an inverted bowl, it trapped Zhang Yuanqing and the others inside.
Oh no! Everyone's hearts sank. At this point, they had no time to worry about whether Xiahou Aotian was alive or dead.
"Kill it immediately!" Yin Ji's voice betrayed a rare urgency.
Her body dissolved into dreamy starlight and reappeared right in front of the purple-robed official. Her delicate, jade-like hand gripped a pitch-black dagger wreathed in yin aura, thrusting it toward the center of the yin corpse's brows.
The purple-robed official remained motionless on the armchair, but the moment the dagger stabbed forward, his body fell backward as undercurrents pushed him drifting away.
The Yin-Yang Dial fell to the ground with a clatter, its pointer spinning at high speed.
Yin Ji leaned down to pick up the dial, but a force repelled her. Furrowing her brow slightly, she had no choice but to give up on securing the item and focus on fighting the purple-robed yin corpse.
Beneath her black veil, Yin Ji parted her lips, and strands of lunar energy whistled out, transforming into gusts of yin wind as over a dozen graceful spirit servants glided toward the purple-robed yin corpse.
Amid shrill ghostly wails, they drilled into its body to contest control over the corpse.
Yin Ji's two yin corpses charged toward the enemy with slightly unsteady steps.
The purple-robed yin corpse gave a deep, guttural roar. The surrounding seawater abruptly blasted apart, violent undercurrents acting like the shockwaves of a missile detonation, destroying everything in the vicinity with unstoppable force.
The rotting hull crumbled inch by inch, wooden planks flying. Yin Ji's two yin corpses bore the brunt, flung away by the cascading undercurrents.
Natsuki's Love and the others felt their chests constrict. The surging waves slammed into their bodies with excruciating pain, tossing them back one by one.
Even Eagle of Freedom, a Plague God, could only barely withstand the terrible impact of this undercurrent.
Zhang Yuanqing and Yin Ji dissolved into dreamy starlight, escaping into the distance and avoiding the blast unharmed.
However, Zhang Yuanqing sensed that Blood Rose's sternum and ribs were broken.
A single blow had inflicted considerable damage on a Level 4 yin corpse.
Many items couldn't be used underwater—for instance, the Houtu Boots, which couldn't leap; the Mountain God Scepter, which couldn't draw upon vegetation or terrain; and equipment like Swordsmanship Master and the sliding shoes couldn't be used either.
Presumably, the others were facing similar restrictions, whereas the purple-robed yin corpse possessed supreme control over water. The seabed was its home ground; with one side hindered and the other empowered, it was exceptionally difficult to deal with.
I must find an opportunity to use the Demon-Subduing Pestle for an instant kill... Zhang Yuanqing quickly pressed his earphone. "Deacon Yin Ji, find a way to restrain it once, and I'll find a way to kill it."
Just as he finished speaking, the abdomen of the purple-robed yin corpse standing on the bare deck bulged violently. It spewed large streams of "ink" from its mouth, which spread out rapidly.
In just a few breaths, the seawater within several dozen meters was dyed pitch-black.
Visibility was obscured instantly, dropping to less than two meters. Moreover, the ink seemed to be a highly corrosive, virulent poison; even diluted by seawater, it caused a searing, burning pain on everyone's skin.
"Watch out for an ambush!" Yin Ji warned, then added, "Natsuki, Red Chicken, close in on me..."
Right after she spoke, they heard a muffled grunt of agony, followed by a violent disturbance in the water from somewhere nearby.
Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank. Pressing his earphone, he asked, "Who? Who was attacked?"
"Not me!" Brother Red Chicken responded at once.
Yin Ji said with a grave tone, "Natsuki, Natsuki..."
She called out several times without getting a response. With Natsuki's fate unknown, a heavy weight pressed upon everyone's hearts.
"I can purify the water, but I need time," Eagle of Freedom said heavily.
"There's no time," Yun Meng's voice came through the earphones. "It's using the poison to separate us so it can pick us off one by one. I can sense a rapidly moving body nearby, but I can't see it. If we don't figure out a way to deal with it fast, Brother Red Chicken will be the next to die."
She assumed Natsuki had already returned to the Spirit Realm.
It's my fault. I shouldn't have used Star Escape to flee. Natsuki was staying right next to me just now, and I abandoned her... Zhang Yuanqing's emotions flared up, only to settle into grim calm the next second.
Calmly transmitting his thoughts to his teammates, he asked, "Yun Meng, do you have any more of that seaweed you spat out earlier?"
"Yes, but the seaweed isn't tough enough. It can't hold it, and purifying the water is even more impossible—it would take far too long," Yun Meng replied.
"Never mind that. Spit out as much as you can!"
Hearing this, Yun Meng opened her wide maw at once, vomiting plumes of misty green turbid water and scattering myriad seeds into the sea.
Under the Gardener's cultivation, the seeds grew rapidly, turning into clumps of tough seaweed that slowly wriggled their tentacles.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately took out the Mountain God Scepter, causing the emerald gemstone at its tip to glow as he activated the item's nurturing and mutation abilities.
Ripples of emerald light spread out in waves. As the light passed over them, the seaweed rapidly multiplied, divided, and underwent mutation, their tentacles growing sturdier and turning a deep black color.
Meanwhile, Yun Meng felt that she had lost control of the seaweed.
In under twenty seconds, this stretch of sea sealed off by the Yin-Yang Dial was filled with drifting, thick, deep-black seaweed.
Relying on the feedback from the flora, Zhang Yuanqing sensed the enemy swimming at high speed through the "ink," and steered the seaweed to bind it without hesitation.
The pervasive seaweed successfully snared the enemy, snapping the very next second, but even more seaweed surged forward relentlessly.
Zhang Yuanqing roared in thought: "Yin Ji!"
Yin Ji grasped his intention in an instant, pointing her slender jade finger toward the disturbance in the water.
The spirit servants circling around her charged forward with shrill screams, traversing the pitch-black seawater to reach the purple-robed yin corpse struggling to swim through the entangled seaweed.
One by one, the spirit servants threw themselves into the purple-robed yin corpse's body.
The next second, Zhang Yuanqing's spirit left his body, attaching to the Demon-Subduing Pestle and shooting out like an arrow.
*Pfft!*
The pale-gold flowing light traversed the inky seawater and pierced into the purple-robed yin corpse's forehead. A dazzling golden light erupted on the ocean floor, resembling a black sun against the backdrop of dark water.
The purple-robed yin corpse burned with pale-gold flames, its white eyes dimming swiftly as it turned into a floating corpse entangled in seaweed.
"Is it dead? Is it dead? Holy shit, Yuanshi Tianzun, you're awesome..." Brother Red Chicken shouted in delight.
"Yuanshi Tianzun actually gives such a sense of security..." Yun Meng's quiet murmur sounded.
Then came Eagle of Freedom's relieved sigh: "If only we could poach him to Heaven's Punishment..."
The thought stopped abruptly.
Yin Ji's gentle voice cut through her teammates' chatter: "Yuanshi Tianzun, check on Natsuki's Love."
Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body returned to his flesh along with the Demon-Subduing Pestle. Relying on the feedback from the seaweed, he located Natsuki's Love and, propelled by the undercurrent, swam to her side.
The cold, glamorous female instructor floated quietly in the underwater depths, her eyes wide open and her expression frozen. Her delicate red lips had turned pale, and tiny bubbles clung to the corners of her mouth and nostrils.
She had stopped breathing.
There was a bloody hole in her chest cavity, and the remaining half of her heart was no longer beating.
I'm sorry... Zhang Yuanqing supported her body, his eyes dimming with sorrow.
Suddenly, Natsuki's Love's lifeless pupils flickered slightly, a spark of spiritual light rapidly spreading across them. Right after, her voice came through the earphones:
"Instead of apologizing, why don't you figure out a way to save me first? A Wood Demon's 'Resurgence' doesn't seem able to bring me back from the dead. Save me, hurry..."
She's still alive?! Zhang Yuanqing was startled at first, then felt a mix of pleasant surprise and bewilderment. With no time to ask questions, he pressed Natsuki's Love's body against his abdomen with one arm, while his other hand turned the Mountain God Scepter and pressed its gemstone against her chest, activating the item's healing function.
A soft green light shone, awakening vitality within the body and mending the wound.
Yet it wasn't enough. The fatal injury Natsuki's Love suffered exceeded the limits of the Mountain God Scepter, and a Swordsman was a class with low defense and thin health.
Fortunately, in Zhang Yuanqing's inventory, a vial of life fluid left over from the killing trial remained.
After the Mountain God Scepter revived Natsuki's vitality, he immediately took out the syringe, pierced the pale vein in Natsuki's Love's neck, and injected half the vial.
Stowing the remaining half-vial of life fluid, he continued activating the Mountain God Scepter's healing function, coordinating it with the life fluid's effects.
The half-heart inside her chest rapidly grew, flesh regenerating, expelling seawater and covering the heart. Tender red muscle sprouted, followed by a layer of fat, and finally fair, delicate skin.
Natsuki's Love's tight vest was tattered, unable to cover the regenerated flesh, exposing a fair, shapely, and full breast bare before Zhang Yuanqing.
Having just escaped death, she didn't notice such minor details at first. Only when she caught Yuanshi Tianzun sneaking a peek did she suddenly realize. Covering her chest with one hand, she broke away from his embrace.
Zhang Yuanqing silently took off his short-sleeved shirt, turned his face aside, and handed it over.
Their voices sounded through the earphones almost simultaneously:
"So awkward..."
"What's awkward?" Brother Red Chicken swam over and asked cheerfully, "You're actually not dead! How did you pull that off?"
Natsuki's Love followed the topic: "I was holding a Wood Demon class's Resurgence Orb in my mouth beforehand. As you know, a Wood Demon gets one chance at Resurgence when on the brink of death. But my injury was too severe; a Transcendent stage item couldn't truly bring someone back from the dead. It was all thanks to Yuanshi Tianzun."
"I see..."
"You're really lucky."
"Quite clever."
"..."
Her teammates' inner thoughts voiced one after another.
Natsuki's Love suddenly glanced down at the high tent pitched in Yuanshi Tianzun's shorts. Her expression turned a bit strange and surprised.
She hadn't expected her charm to be so powerful.
"So my charm is actually this great?" The earphones converted her thought into speech.
No, this has nothing to do with you, it's the item's drawback... The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched, and his thought was promptly betrayed by the earphones as well.
"What secret code are those two talking about?" Brother Red Chicken's confused voice came through.
Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to brush it off, he heard Yin Ji say urgently, "The Yin-Yang Dial..."
Fuck, there's still the Yin-Yang Dial! I almost forgot about that... Zhang Yuanqing's expression changed. Kicking his legs, he swam toward the stripped warship.
Yun Meng, Natsuki's Love, Eagle of Freedom, and Brother Red Chicken followed close behind, swimming swiftly toward the warship.
The group landed on the deck and found that the Yin-Yang Dial was still in its original position, not swept away by the exaggerated blast earlier.
By now, the pointer was turning extremely slowly, on the verge of stopping.
Everyone stared fixedly at the pointer.
Soon, the pointer stopped—resting on the black half.
Chapter 351