From this close, Gu Ningyun could feel through the pressure that this was a rank two early stage Blue Lake Scallop.
But for a Qi Refining cultivator like her, the difference between the early stage and the peak of rank two was merely a matter of how soon they would be caught.
Back then, hundreds of new disciples had worked together, preparing for several hours and using every trick in the book just to barely grind down a rank two early stage lynx.
Now there were only five of them. Although they were dozens of times stronger than before, they were still far from being a match for a rank two sea beast.
Run!
Gu Ningyun’s spirit energy had mostly recovered. She let go of Mu Chenze and grabbed Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao by their arms.
Mu Chenze immediately understood her intent and grabbed Jiang Yao and Jun Luo.
With Gu Ningyun and Mu Chenze leading the way and Wen Xuan, Jiang Yao, and Jun Luo following, the five of them exerted their strength simultaneously, increasing their speed further.
The Blue Lake Scallop needed the seawater to swim, and every time it sucked and sprayed, there was a momentary pause. It did not have an advantage in speed.
With all these factors combined, the speed of Gu Ningyun’s group was barely equal to that of the rank two Blue Lake Scallop.
As long as their spirit energy held out until they reached the surface, they had a great chance of escaping.
At this moment, Gu Ningyun was incredibly grateful that she had intentionally compressed her spirit energy during her previous cultivation. Despite catching dozens of nets of small scallops, she still had half of her spirit energy reserves in her dantian.
She was also fortunate to have a top-grade wind spirit root and to be practicing a divine-rank cultivation technique. This allowed her to absorb the spirit energy from the Spirit-Replenishing Pills in such a short time and fully restore her energy.
Even if she ascended at full speed now, her spirit energy was sufficient to reach the surface, release her spirit boat, and fly into the sky to safety.
Just as the five of them breathed a sigh of relief, Gu Ningyun’s divine sense, which was scouting ahead, suddenly detected a massive shadow at least twenty meters long and seven meters wide.
The shadow was flanked by four slightly smaller shadows, but even the smallest of those was four meters long.
No, it wasn't a black shadow!
It was a dark green so deep it appeared black in the dim light of the deep sea.
A dark green body, knob-like protrusions on its head, patterns of red and yellow interwoven across its torso, a laterally flattened tail, and four legs.
It was a Red-Spotted Sea Iguana!
Red-Spotted Sea Iguanas spent most of their time on rocky coasts or in swamps. They only entered the sea to hunt when prey on the shore was scarce.
This was a starving Red-Spotted Sea Iguana!
“Danger above! Go left!”
It was too late.
By the time Gu Ningyun discovered it—or rather, even before she had—the Red-Spotted Sea Iguana had already noticed them.
Cultivators with single spirit roots had pure spirit energy, which was a favorite of sea and demon beasts. The “love to eat” kind of favorite.
Just as they were about to turn, a pressure far greater than that of the Blue Lake Scallop hit them head-on, pinning them in place instantly and making them unable to move.
A powerful force pressed through the water film of the water-repelling pearl, acting directly on their bodies and making it difficult for them to breathe.
Gu Ningyun felt that if they hadn't refined their bodies and been tempered by the Shocking Thunder Platform, this casual display of pressure alone would have crushed their internal organs.
The Blue Lake Scallop, which had been chasing closely behind, gained a significant amount of ground before suddenly stopping and turning to flee.
The currents it sucked and sprayed collided in the water, causing the scallop to tumble twice from the force of its own movement.
It opened and closed its shell to stabilize itself and quickly swam toward the seabed.
It hadn't even traveled half a meter before it also froze in place.
Gu Ningyun had only felt such a powerful pressure once before, from Perfected Person Ye, the head of the New Disciple Training Department.
This was a starving, rank three middle stage Red-Spotted Sea Iguana!
Gu Ningyun felt the hair all over her body stand on end.
A thick, foul stench carrying a corrosive odor and the scent of blood wafted over. Bound by the pressure, Gu Ningyun couldn't even mobilize her spirit energy to block her sense of smell. She nearly vomited on the spot.
The only reason she didn't was that she was paralyzed.
Looking at the Blue Lake Scallop not far below, a string of suspicious white foam leaked from its shell.
Gu Ningyun felt her eyes rolling back. Her head throbbed with a splitting pain, and she could barely catch her breath as her entire body stung like it was being pricked by needles.
The four companions beside her also looked pale and sickly.
The Red-Spotted Sea Iguana was toxic from head to toe. It ate all sorts of filth and never brushed its teeth; its bad breath alone could kill all the fish in a section of the sea.
Gu Ningyun felt so overwhelmed by the stench that she was losing consciousness.
She only saw an abyssal maw descending. Four rows of teeth shimmered with an eerie green light, each tooth as large as a person.
The pressure vanished, but the current generated by the massive mouth swept over them, tossing them up, down, left, and right. They spun dozens of times—360 degrees, 720 degrees—without stopping.
Gu Ningyun tightened her grip on the warm wrists in her hands, while two powerful forces simultaneously tightened around her own wrists.
A sharp, tearing pain suddenly shot through her arms.
This wouldn't work. She was going to tear Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao’s arms off!
She couldn't fight the current head-on.
Gu Ningyun decisively let go.
Without her grip, the hands holding her wrists slid down to her fingertips.
The sound of sleeves tearing rang out, and Gu Ningyun heard Wen Xuan scream, “Gu Ningyun!”
Panic surged in Gu Ningyun’s heart. She reached out to grab something in the current, but she only gained several cuts from the chaotic water and failed to even touch a piece of clothing.
Even the current possessed the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage. If she didn't let the water carry her, her body would likely be torn to pieces.
Gu Ningyun quickly pulled her arms back.
The giant mouth descended hundreds of meters and slowly closed.
The chaotic current pushed them down into the deep, dark opening.
A three-meter-wide scallop was swept up and slammed into her.
The hairband flashed with spiritual light, automatically deploying a transparent protective shield that deflected the scallop’s impact.
It was the rank two early stage Blue Lake Scallop that had been chasing them. It had tumbled through the water, bypassed Jiang Yao and the others, and crashed into her, the first to enter the maw.
Now, the scallop was pressed against the shield by the current, its two shells opening and closing weakly in the churning water.
Through the open shells, Gu Ningyun’s divine sense could see the pinkish-blue soft meat inside, which had been sliced by hundreds of wounds, leaking blue blood.
If not for the fact that a part of the soft meat—which looked like a mouth—was still bubbling with white foam, Gu Ningyun would have thought the rank two early stage Blue Lake Scallop was dead.
Though its shell was hard, its internal body was fragile.
The scallop wasn't dead; it seemed to have been knocked unconscious by the Red-Spotted Sea Iguana’s breath.
Perhaps it wasn't just the smell; even the toxins in that breath were at play.
After the protective shield was raised, it began to sizzle and smoke. The spirit energy within Gu Ningyun’s body was guided by the 《Record of Primordial Stars》, circulating automatically and flowing through her body refining routes.
Purple threads crackled against her meridians and flesh. Every crackle cleared a bit of the dark green patches that were corroding her body.
Silver-white threads flickered and darted about, repairing her torn wounds.
This was the effect of her thunder tempering.
Heavenly thunder was the bane of all things toxic and evil, containing the most explosive aura and the supreme power of heaven and earth.
Although Gu Ningyun’s Qi Refining body could only utilize a tiny fraction of the thunder’s power, it was enough to deal with the bit of toxic gas in the creature's breath.
As for the silver-white threads repairing her wounds, that was the star power.
The needle-like pain in her body rapidly faded.
Rate on N.U.
