Su Mingyuan stood where he was, watching Wei Ziming's departing figure, and let out a soft sigh.
Just the anomaly triggered by a Foundation Establishment Pill was enough to make the various sects restless.
If breaking through to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm caused an even greater disturbance in the future, who knew how many ill-intentioned people it would attract?
He had just planned to tell Xue Mingzhao to behave herself recently and not run around to avoid being targeted.
But when he turned around, where was there any sign of his two disciples?
Su Mingyuan: “...”
Great. They had slipped away again.
On the other side, Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye were already riding a spirit boat, leisurely flying over the sea behind the Grand Primordium Sect.
Xue Mingzhao closed her eyes and conversed with the Chaos Spiritual Root in her mind. “Are you sure the toxic gas is heaviest deep on the seabed? Make absolutely sure you didn't find the wrong spot.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root's tone was incredibly certain. “Absolutely. The source of the toxic gas is deep on the seabed.”
She fished two pills out of her storage ring and handed one to Su Ye. “Water-Repelling Pills.”
Su Ye took it and swallowed it without a second thought. Since his junior sister gave it to him, he just had to eat it.
With two loud splashes, the two of them dived into the sea and swam toward the deep ocean in the direction the Chaos Spiritual Root pointed.
As they swam, Xue Mingzhao's eyes lit up.
Swarms of shrimp and crabs wandered about, each one plump and mouth-watering.
Xue Mingzhao could barely hold back her drool.
Eating Fasting Pills every single day at the Grand Primordium Sect had left her mouth so tasteless she could scream.
Now that ingredients were practically delivering themselves to her door, there was no way she would let them go!
Without another word, she reached out to grab a plump, large crab nearby.
Before the crab could even react, she grabbed its shell and stuffed it directly into her storage bag.
One, two, three...
Xue Mingzhao grabbed them with great delight, looking like she was browsing a seafood market, snatching whatever looked plump.
Following behind her, Su Ye watched his junior sister grab things all along the way and pondered secretly.
Something was off.
His junior sister was definitely not a gluttonous person. There had to be a deeper meaning behind her catching so many low-tier demon beasts!
Could it be... these shrimp and crabs carried traces of the seabed's toxic gas? Were they important clues?
Yes! That had to be it!
Su Ye suddenly realized, and he also reached out to start catching them.
If his junior sister grabbed crabs, he grabbed crabs. If she scooped up shrimp, he scooped up shrimp. He caught them even more seriously than Xue Mingzhao.
Xue Mingzhao glanced back. Seeing Su Ye catching them too, she felt quite gratified. Not bad, Senior Brother. He caught on quick, knowing to help hoard ingredients.
The two of them collected seafood as they dove deeper. Suddenly, a long, slender antenna wiggled gently in a rock crevice.
Xue Mingzhao's eyes went completely straight.
Oh my god! That antenna! That length!
That had to be a giant rock lobster!
It had to weigh at least twenty jin!
She excitedly nudged Su Ye next to her, pointing at the antenna, and lowered her voice. “Senior Brother! We're in for a treat today!”
With that, she swam over, grabbed the antenna, and yanked hard.
However, with the first pull—it didn't budge.
???
Xue Mingzhao refused to back down. She gestured to Su Ye. “Senior Brother, quick, give me a hand!”
Su Ye quickly swam over. The two of them each grabbed an antenna and pulled with all their might.
“One, two, three—pull!”
Along with churning mud and sand, a thick, pitch-black claw emerged. Its size was larger than Xue Mingzhao's entire body.
Xue Mingzhao: “...”
Not a rock lobster?
Could it be a Boston lobster?
The commotion they made was too big, stirring up mud and sand, instantly turning the surrounding seawater into a muddy soup.
Only when the mud and sand slowly settled did the two of them finally see the true face of this “lobster.”
Its entire shell was pitch-black, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster.
Most ridiculous of all were its asymmetrical claws.
The left one was thick and heavy, like a natural iron hammer. It looked like it could crush a person into a meat patty.
The right one was relatively slender but sharp as a blade, its edges lined with dense, terrifying serrations.
The two antennae on its head were even more exaggerated, easily over ten zhang long. What they had grabbed earlier was merely a tiny section at the very tip.
This was no twenty-jin lobster.
It had to weigh at least two thousand jin!
Su Ye was dumbfounded, his voice trembling. “Junior Sister... th-this is a fifth-tier Black-Armored Ao! Its strength is comparable to the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm!”
Xue Mingzhao: “...”
Great.
They had kicked a steel plate.
They were too close. Talismans might not necessarily harm the opponent, but the blast waves would definitely severely injure the two of them.
The loss outweighed the gain.
If you can't beat them, run!
Xue Mingzhao quickly took out two speed talismans, slapped them onto herself and Su Ye, and barked in a low voice, “Run!”
The two of them turned around and swam for their lives.
Behind them, the Black-Armored Ao, whose antenna had been yanked, was already furious. Seeing these two little brats dare to run, it flew into a rage and brandished its giant claws to give chase.
It churned the seawater into a turbulent mess, chasing them in a chaotic frenzy.
As they ran, a bottomless, pitch-black abyss appeared ahead.
Not a single sea beast could be seen around the abyss. Although the Black-Armored Ao behind them was screeching fiercely, it deliberately kept its distance from the edge, not daring to get too close.
There was definitely something down there.
She stared at the Black-Armored Ao behind her, then looked at the abyss before her, her brows furrowing.
Su Ye also noticed the anomaly and said in a heavy voice, “Junior Sister, there are very strong spiritual energy fluctuations down in this abyss.”
At the same time, the Chaos Spiritual Root's voice rang out in Xue Mingzhao's mind, carrying a hint of excitement. “Down there! The spiritual energy below is packed with poison! It's ten times denser than up here! The poison is spreading from down there!”
Xue Mingzhao understood.
As expected.
There must be some high-tier toxic demon beast or a source of poison down in this abyss, which was why the surrounding demon beasts didn't dare to approach.
The Black-Armored Ao stalled across from the abyss for a long time. At first, it was quite wary and didn't dare to cross the line.
But as they remained at a standstill, it gradually grew impatient.
The Black-Armored Ao let out a low roar. Finally unable to contain its temper, it swung its hammer-like giant claw and smashed it fiercely toward the two of them.
A powerful gale wrapped in seawater rushed at them. The sheer momentum looked as if it could instantly crush them into meat paste.
Xue Mingzhao closed her eyes and steeled her heart.
She didn't know if she would live or die down there, but if she stayed up here, she would definitely be pinched into a meat patty by this giant crab.
Time to gamble!
She grabbed Su Ye's arm, leaped forward, and plunged straight down into the pitch-black abyss.
Rate on N.U.
