Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
Inside the lair, the Vortex Beast had just devoured a Thousand Needle Fish and was contentedly closing its eyes to sleep when its nose twitched, catching a scent but not paying it much attention. Before long, however, the creature abruptly lifted its head and looked outside, its eyes revealing a wariness.
As time passed, its eyes slowly reddened, its expression growing agitated as if it wanted to burst out, yet it hesitated. …The Sea Serpent, hiding in a nearby crevice, watched the Vortex Beast intently.
***
Above the sea, Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
His biggest concern had been that the seawater would block the scent of the beast lure, which is why he went to great lengths to carry the lure's mist in a black glove to the vicinity of the Vortex Beast's lair before releasing it. Now it seemed he had worried unnecessarily; at most, the seawater only affected the spread of the scent, not its effectiveness.
Yuan Ming used a Soul Crow to control another hunted sea beast, lurking near the seabed lair with a second glove, releasing the white mist of the lure in the same manner. Gradually, the Vortex Beast's eyes turned even redder, as if blood would drip from them, and its lower abdomen swelled with a bloody hue, its scales opening and closing. Moments later, unable to endure any longer, the Vortex Beast shot out of its lair.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming quickly took out an incense burner and lit the beast lure incense, releasing plumes of white mist.
He then took out a homemade poison incense, a Seven-Step Down Dizziness Incense, and inserted it into the burner to light it.
After doing all this, Yuan Ming affixed a blue talisman to his body, donned a Cloak of Invisibility, and submerged into the sea.
This blue talisman, called the "Water Avoidance Talisman," could isolate currents, allowing the caster to lurk underwater for a long time. With the Cloak of Invisibility on, even the magical fluctuations of the Water Avoidance Talisman were completely blocked.
Above the sea, only an incense burner floated quietly, the white mist of the lure rapidly spreading.
Amid the "Whooshing" sound of water, a lizard sea beast with red eyes swam over quickly. It was a first-grade lower-tier ferocious beast that suddenly leaped from the water, pouncing towards the incense burner.
However, just as the beast was about to reach it, the green incense burner "whooshed" up into the sky, hovering several yards away. The lizard sea beast swam anxiously below, unable to reach the incense burner as it could not fly.
The sound of water continued to echo as more sea beasts were attracted. Soon, over a dozen had gathered, all low-tier, with two reaching first-grade upper-tier.
Yuan Ming, hiding in the nearby sea, was secretly pleased with the effect of the lure incense from the burner. In the future, if he wanted to hunt ferocious beasts, there was no need to search hard; just light the incense, and they would come on their own.
At that moment, with a "Splash" on the water near the Coral Island, the Vortex Beast emerged, its eyes completely blood-red, drooling thick saliva, excitedly pouncing towards the floating incense burner.
The sea beasts below sensed the Vortex Beast's presence and showed signs of fear, moving away, but due to the scent of the lure incense, they were reluctant to leave too far.
The Vortex Beast paid no attention to the other sea beasts and swam over quickly. But just as it was about to enter the range of the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array, it suddenly stopped, its blood-red eyes looking towards the seabed, seemingly aware of the magical fluctuations of the array.
Yuan Ming thought to himself that this Vortex Beast was indeed cunning, so he took out the main array flag and quietly activated the large array.
A blue light flashed near the Vortex Beast, and thick water ropes materialized out of thin air, wrapping around its body with a violent pull, dragging it into the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array.
More water ropes quickly condensed, sweeping in from all directions.
Even though the Vortex Beast was driven mad by the lure incense, it had not completely lost its reason. Its front paws waved, and thick blue arcs of electricity burst from its body, tearing nearly half of the water ropes on its body.
The beast, with the strength of a second-grade peak, had an exceptionally robust demonic power. The Thousand Knot Water Rope had not fully formed, and the restraining power could not significantly affect it. Yuan Ming narrowed his eyes and, after a brief contemplation, made a gesture in the air.
Behind the Vortex Beast, a flash of spiritual light appeared, and two magical weapons, the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Knife, shot out, slashing towards the Vortex Beast's back.
With a low growl, the Vortex Beast caused the surrounding seawater to surge up, rapidly spinning around its body, instantly forming a fast-spinning vortex water column. The Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Knife struck it and were immediately repelled by the spinning water, not even touching the Vortex Beast. The Vortex Beast continued to unleash blue lightning to tear the water ropes, stomping fiercely, causing the nearby water surface to surge violently and forming several vortices with a thunderous rumble from the depths.
With a loud bang, several thick water columns rose from the depths of the vortices, each as thick as a millstone, swirling in mid-air like swimming dragons, agile as if alive, all striking towards the place where the three magical weapons broke through the water. The sea surface exploded with a roar, and the water columns struck the seabed, easily blasting a hole ten yards deep, scattering mud and sand, and turning the nearby seawater murky.
Yuan Ming, hiding on the other side, was not affected by the water columns and continued to control the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Knife to attack the Vortex Beast, drawing its attention.
At the same time, he released a White Ape, controlled by a Soul Crow after removing the sealing nail from its head. The aura of the White Ape surged, causing a disturbance in the nearby spiritual energy.
The Vortex Beast looked over sharply, its expression grave. The White Ape's large figure burst out of the water with a splash, gliding across the surface and pouncing towards the Vortex Beast, cutting a long white wave through the sea.
The Vortex Beast, greatly alarmed, saw its arms glow with intense blue light, and the surrounding vortex water columns suddenly thickened, with several rising from nearby vortices to strike at the White Ape. The White Ape let out a long howl and swung a punch.
Within a range of ten yards, the air exploded with a series of booms, and an overwhelming force pressed down. The body of the Heavenly Serpent, having absorbed yin energy and transformed into something akin to a human specter, had an astonishing cultivation level before death. Although its combat power had fallen out of the Foundation Establishment stage, ever since donning the White Ape's skin, the Heavenly Serpent's body had gained strength, surpassing the strongest physical cultivator Yuan Ming had ever seen, Long Hao, and returning to the Foundation Establishment realm. The water columns hadn't even approached the White Ape when they were crushed by the overwhelming punch.
The White Ape's figure turned into a white shadow, instantly reaching the Vortex Beast, its massive fist turning into a white blur, striking the vortex water column. With a sizzling sound of shattering, the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Knife, which had been unable to affect the water columns, were smashed by its punch. The White Ape's fists were as fast as lightning, solidly hitting the Vortex Beast's shoulder.
The Vortex Beast's shoulder burst open, its right arm flying off, and its huge body was sent flying. Yuan Ming was overjoyed and controlled the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Knife, which had been waiting behind, to strike with full force on the Vortex Beast's back. Two half-foot-long wounds were slashed into the Vortex Beast's back, but the flesh wounds were not deep.
Yuan Ming's eyes darkened, knowing that his current cultivation was far too inferior to the Vortex Beast, and that any further attacks would be futile. He focused most of his energy on controlling the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array and the White Ape.
Thick water ropes shot out from the sea surface, once again entangling the Vortex Beast, firmly restraining it, while the White Ape turned into a white shadow, relentlessly pursuing.
The pain from the Vortex Beast's severed limb was unbearable, suppressing the influence of the lure incense. The blood in its eyes dissipated significantly, and it seemed to regain its senses, with only its left arm emitting a bright blue light, waving in the void. Suddenly, several waves, each several yards high, rose from the nearby sea surface, like giant palms covering the sky, slapping towards the White Ape.
The White Ape's arms blurred, striking out in a chain, shattering the incoming waves, but its figure was also blocked. The Vortex Beast growled lowly, its left arm suddenly bursting with blinding blue lightning, an aura of destruction erupting.
Yuan Ming, feeling the hairs on his skin stand from a distance, sounded the alarm in his heart and decisively abandoned his hiding spot, summoning a white jade shuttle to shoot up into the sky, taking the incense burner, the Cold Star Sword, and the Nine Rings Golden Knife with him.
With a "Sizzle," all the water ropes were easily cut.
The lightning blade then exploded, turning into dense blue lightning that engulfed the area for several yards around, each arc of electricity as powerful as a strike from a Lightning Talisman.
The sea surface boiled instantly, the water ropes of the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array were shattered, and the array laid on the seabed was damaged, unable to continue operating.
The White Ape was also affected by the blue lightning. The body of the Heavenly Serpent, wrapped in ape skin and belonging to the dead, was vulnerable to the power of lightning, which was its nemesis. Yuan Ming quickly controlled it to retreat. …The Vortex Beast continued to exert its divine powers, its aura weakening considerably,
Turning into a black shadow, it dived towards the deep sea, as if drunk. Yuan Ming's eyes lit up, knowing that the poison incense and the Seven-Step Down were finally taking effect. He quickly surfaced, waved his hand, and threw a round bronze ball, hitting the Vortex Beast in front, which was a Heart-Splitting Thunder.
A dazzling streak of light, the Heart-Splitting Thunder suddenly split open, a burst of brilliant silver-white lightning erupting, instantly forming a striking column of lightning, heavily striking the Vortex Beast's chest. The Vortex Beast's chest was split open with a huge wound, staggering backward.
The White Ape shot from the side, a fan-shaped golden sword light appearing out of thin air.
In a flash, it stood behind the Vortex Beast, holding a golden long sword, the very Golden Serpent Sword. A flash of golden light, and the Vortex Beast's head tilted and fell, a fountain of blood spraying out, its large body swaying twice before collapsing into the water.
Yuan Ming relaxed, quickly waved his hand to collect the Vortex Beast's corpse, even retrieving the severed limb, and took out the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array buried on the seabed. After the Soul Crow returned with the two gloves, he put away the Soul Crow, summoned the jade shuttle magical tool, and shot away into the distance.