Within the dim space veiled by strands of moonlight, Iluxi felt a surge of exhilaration.
She was the youngest Myth in the entire organization!
While the ages of instructors Black Blade, physician Silver Bell, and master King Hammer were unknown, she was certain none of them were young. Old Xing and Qian Qiu beside her were already in the 'uncle' generation.
There were peers her age, like An Jianyou. Iluxi had asked about An Jianyou's birthday; he was even two years older than her.
Although An Jianyou was stronger and advanced to Myth faster, she had been younger when she reached Myth. Hadn't that person said age was crucial, and youth meant superiority?
Rounding up, wasn't she much more formidable than Youyou? Uh-huh!
Of course, Iluxi also knew that her advancement to Myth at seventeen, besides her 99% of sweat, was also thanks to the 1% guidance from her elder mentor.
But wasn't the 'young Myth' of the Shattered Sea also supported by their backing, allowing them to advance to Myth earlier?
Rounding up, she was indeed more powerful, truly the empress of the current era!
Iluxi nodded to herself, a pleased curve lifting the corner of her lips.
They were listening to the Shadow Island Master's introduction, but also paying attention to the battle outside.
In the dark depths, undercurrents surged. Countless eerie creatures emerged from the darkness beyond sight, only to be instantly torn apart by faint sword beams as fine as rain. Even the most terrifying seven-star eerie creatures were retreating, their demise a matter of time.
"This is the eerie creatures' home ground, let's finish this quickly."
A Myth from the Gu Yue Imperial Dynasty spoke.
Immediately, three more Myths volunteered. They stepped out from the protection of the Celestial Palace and simultaneously charged towards the seven-star eerie creature.
The 'Starlight Sword Saint' Chen Tianxuan had appeared to be fighting the colossal beast with ease. The myriad sword beams, like a curtain of rain, not only continuously sliced at the seven-star eerie creature but also enveloped Saint Chen, forming an impenetrable 'absolute defense rain curtain' against all eerie creatures and energy.
However, as the three Myths stepped out of the moonlight veil's protection, their expressions changed slightly as they felt the pressure of their surroundings.
The foul seawater squeezed in from all directions, forcing them to fully extend their divine essence and tightly envelop themselves with vast amounts of life energy to resist the erosion from the external environment.
Otherwise, this erosion would continuously seep into their bodies, marrow, and souls, gradually making them agitated, their consciousness blurred, their bodies mutated, until they blackened and fell, taking on the form of the Foul Sea.
The three Myths had to divert some of their attention to combat the troublesome foul seawater, and constantly guard against enemies breaking their 'protective aura,' their combat power reduced by at least ten to twenty percent.
In such an environment, it would be difficult for them to defeat a seven-star eerie creature one-on-one, let alone the Starlight Sword Saint Chen Tianxuan who was firmly suppressing it.
"This Starlight Sword Saint is indeed formidable."
The founder of a certain super-force had to admit.
They were, after all, Myths, and not newly promoted ones, possessing a certain foundation. After the three veteran Myths entered the fray, they quickly assisted the Starlight Sword Saint in obliterating the seven-star eerie creature.
The spoils of war included 'Polluted Divinity x1', 'Epic Eerie Item x1', and several other materials.
In fact, many eerie creatures left behind some materials and eerie items upon death. However, being in the Foul Sea, the surroundings were dark and dangerous, and the Myths wouldn't deliberately waste energy and effort to find and collect these remnants.
At most, they would casually pick up a few if they drifted towards them, and only those of higher quality. For low-grade materials like white or green, Myths often wouldn't even glance at them. After all, in public, each Myth was considered a distinguished individual; how could they engage in activities akin to scavenging?
Thus, even some impoverished Myths chose to ignore these less valuable materials. Moreover, many materials and eerie items that Myths couldn't see or reach, were swept away by the surging currents and sank to the dark seabed, disappearing completely.
These were merely ordinary materials.
Either they disdained to pick them up, or they were too lazy to exert the effort. However, the polluted divinity and high-grade materials extracted from seven-star eerie creatures received different treatment.
A Myth stepped forward, scanning every inch with their divine sense, extracting fragmented divinity and various materials from the seven-star eerie creature's remains. The Myth examined them with joy.
The fragmented divinity was heavily polluted and of little practical use, but it was worth half a legendary material. Coupled with the other materials, the total value of this battle's harvest was equivalent to one legendary material.
Of course, this harvest was not entirely his; it was distributed among the four Myths who participated in the battle according to their contributions.
Naturally, the Starlight Sword Saint received the largest share.
But after this battle, the veteran Myth estimated his gains to be several million eerie crystals, and the entire process was effortless, with little risk or expenditure.
After eliminating the seven-star eerie creature that blocked their path and reaping valuable rewards, some of the poorer Myths watching the dark, foul seabed cast increasingly fervent glances, as if the darkness hid not a deadly eerie creature, but a magnificent treasure chest waiting for them to open.
Subsequently, whenever a seven-star eerie creature appeared, several Myths would volunteer to powerfully obliterate it.
Iluxi also felt a stir of restlessness, but seeing the veteran Myths eagerly stepping forward, she snorted, "This Empress disdains to snatch their prey, hmph!"
…
Within the dark Foul Sea, time seemed to lose meaning. All that met the eye was an endless abyss of darkness, and eerie creatures continuously emerging from the depths.
The palace simply continued to explore in its intended direction, descending, as if sinking into an infinite hellish abyss.
"It's been half an hour."
Xing Jinglei glanced at his watch. They had been descending, descending, descending. He wasn't sure how far they had gone, but along the way, they had encountered four seven-star eerie creatures.
A total of four seven-star world-ending eerie creatures!
Upon reflection, this was a terrifying frequency, highlighting the dangers of the Foul Sea's depths. Of course, due to the large number of Myths present, the seven-star eerie creatures that emerged to block their path were easily slain, turning into valuable materials and eerie items, filling the Myths' storage eerie artifacts.
During this time, the Shadow Island Master had made one move, gaining one share of the profit.
Xing Jinglei and the other two had not yet made a move, not having had the chance. And...
Xing Jinglei glanced at the Myths with eager expressions. He felt that this trip would not be so simple. Otherwise, why would the four major overlord factions gather so many Myths, and why would the action to eradicate the source of disaster be delayed until today?
Had the Myths become careless? He didn't think so. It was more likely that they knew the journey ahead would become increasingly difficult, so they were making extra money while the environment was still not too dangerous. After all, if the battle became fierce, or if they fell into a predicament, they might not have the energy to dissect the eerie creature's remains and extract its fragmented divinity.
…
The palace continued to descend, steadily advancing towards its destination. The Myths in the group successively took action, tearing apart the eerie creatures that blocked their path, carving a bloody trail.
Somewhat unexpectedly... there were no incidents along the way. The team directly reached the seabed.
Xing Jinglei stood at the edge of the moonlight veil, scanning his surroundings, constantly observing.
They were at an unfathomable depth, but they were already stepping on the uneven seabed. There were no magnificent coral reefs or seaweeds to be found, nor any fish or other aquatic life. All they saw were eerie creatures.
However, Xing Jinglei made an interesting discovery: the seabed was not as dark as before. It seemed that unique ores hidden beneath the seabed emitted a faint, ghostly blue glow in the pitch darkness, giving the entire dark seabed the appearance of scattered blue light particles.
It wasn't beautiful, it just made the surrounding, disgusting, foul water clearer.
—It would have been better if it wasn't there at all!
This was not the destination. Where the "Source of Disaster" was located, or if it had a tangible form, still seemed unknown. However, the four major overlord factions had prepared means to find the Source of Disaster.
This was also one of the reasons they participated in the 'Disaster Eradication Operation'.
Iluxi might have forgotten, but Xing Jinglei would not forget the mission his mentor had assigned him. He immediately walked forward, his eyes wide open, scanning.
This action was not unusual; there were more than one or two Myths just as curious as he was, watching from a distance.
At this moment, figures emerged from within the palace and from the warships on both sides. Protected by several Myths, these people stepped out of the veil's protective light, seemingly searching and exploring the surroundings.
Xing Jinglei could see that their strength varied. The strongest were only at the Six Senses, while the weaker ones seemed to be at Three or Four Senses. However, they appeared very professional, constantly manipulating instruments and eerie artifacts in their hands.
But Xing Jinglei couldn't figure out what exactly these people were doing.
"They are detecting the power of disaster and inferring the location of the Source of Disaster from it."
Xing Jinglei was startled. He looked towards the source of the voice and found it was a man in green robes, carrying a large sword case. It was the 'Starlight Sword Saint' Chen Tianxuan.
"Then who are those people?"
Starlight Sword Saint did not approach. He still carried his large sword case, standing alone to the side of the moonlight veil, as if he hadn't heard Xing Jinglei's question.
But after a few seconds, Xing Jinglei heard the man's voice again.
"Some of them are master relic explorers, some are scholars of eerie creatures, some are experts in ritual formations. Don't underestimate these people; their combat strength is not high, but in terms of knowledge, they might be more profound than many Myths."
"Especially the masters of relic exploration; some of them have excavated relics of the ancient Kandra Empire and witnessed many astonishing scenes, as well as technological methods that remain undeciphered to this day."
Relics, Xing Jinglei had heard of many times.
His own organization had discovered relics in the Fallen Star Cave, but they were mostly ordinary remnants of civilization or belongings of powerful individuals. Excavating them was more like scavenging, nothing like the relics of the Kandra Empire that Starlight Sword Saint spoke of.
He truly found it hard to imagine.
"Putting aside the strength of the Kandra Empire, their rune technology is recognized as the strongest in all history. The Kandra Empire invented many miraculous devices, and some of their relics are still operational today."
"Of course, besides Kandra relics, there are also treasure grounds left behind by high-level existences, which possess unfathomable power. However, in comparison, Kandra relics are more numerous and safer."
"A hundred years ago, our Gu Yue Imperial Dynasty discovered a large Kandra Empire relic in the outer regions. The entire relic was no less than a Level 6 oasis, and it was still operating on its own. Unfortunately, I hadn't been born yet at that time and missed the awe-inspiring scene of its development."
Of course, Chen Tianxuan had visited that relic later.
Even though most of the high-value items inside had been taken, the remaining traces still filled him with awe.
Moreover, in those days, the older generation of their Gu Yue Imperial Dynasty had followed the rules of the relic during its conquest, proceeding in an orderly manner. He heard that it wasn't that they didn't want to be faster, but they couldn't and dared not.
This was because the relic was still operational, even though no living beings existed within it.
To Xing Jinglei, a young Myth whose 'record was similar to his' and 'worthy of his attention', Chen Tianxuan was generous with his words.
As he was about to say more, a woman with an elegant and noble demeanor, wearing a white fur coat and standing in front of the palace, spoke.
"A large number of eerie creatures are attacking us, including at least several high-energy light clusters of seven-star level. Everyone, be on guard! Protect the exploration personnel!"
Chen Tianxuan immediately stepped out of the moonlight veil and, in a few strides, landed outside the panicked exploration experts and scholars. He held his breath and gazed into the dimness, where only faint blue light could be seen.
The other Myths also became vigilant.
At this moment, after the introduction by the Shadow Island Master, Xing Jinglei had largely recognized the Myths present.
The speaker was 'Frost Controller Lady Silver, Bathing in Moonlight' Madam Gong, a direct descendant Myth of the Gu Yue Imperial Dynasty. This Madam held a high position in the team, second only to the demigod 'Your Excellency Dawnlight' and similar to another Gu Yue Myth.
Since Madam Gong had ordered them to be ready, Xing Jinglei, an old hunter by profession, naturally did not dare to be careless.
He called Iluxi, Qian Qiu, and the Shadow Island Master, who had joined them, and the four of them stepped out of the veil's coverage, truly entering the Foul Sea to face the approaching eerie creatures.
As soon as they stepped in, pressure squeezed in from all sides.
Water pressure, foulness, and darkness – the multiple environmental influences meant that even a Six Senses expert could not exert much power. Xing Jinglei could now judge that if he were still at Six Senses, he would definitely not be a match for a seven-star eerie creature here.
The Six Senses experts were too greatly affected, but Myths were no longer ordinary mortals; they inherently possessed the ability to survive in all sorts of harsh conditions. They only needed to be careful to avoid the infiltration of foulness.
Perhaps due to his physique far surpassing others, Xing Jinglei found resisting this foul seawater quite easy. The Unflinching Forge Body automatically operated and was enough. His combat power here had hardly diminished.
However, he wanted to try something.
Before the eerie creatures rushed towards them, Xing Jinglei quietly suppressed the automatic defense of his Unflinching Forge Body and allowed a little foulness to seep in, to corrode himself.
Immediately, he furrowed his brow as if a cold water snake had entered his body, slithering around, showing signs of wanting to grow.
This pollution and erosion were not entirely injuries.
At least, the Unflinching Forge Body could not reduce his pollution level to 0%, because pollution was not an injury, but a part of his own existence.
But at this moment, Xing Jinglei discovered that as his Unflinching Forge Body operated at high speed, this wisp of foul water was treated as energy and burned fiercely, undergoing a new transformation.
He was still polluted, but through the 'effect' produced by this 'pollution,' he gained the ability to eradicate pollution.
In other words,
Previously, he couldn't remove the pollution erosion, but now, the 'polluted poison' from the outside, after he consumed it, could be converted into an 'antidote'. He felt this was in line with the conservation law of poison and antidote.
After the trial, Xing Jinglei was at ease. He could fight without restraint.
Beside him, Iluxi's expression was rather grim.
Her most skilled fire abilities were greatly suppressed here... this was clearly targeting her, Empress Iluxi!
And this dirty, foul water...
She hurriedly wrapped herself in an invisible force field, layer after layer, binding herself like a zongzi.
When they finished preparing, an immeasurable number of eerie creatures surged from the dimness several kilometers away.
"Cannon Fist!"
"A hundred and eighty consecutive Cannon Fist strikes!"
Without worrying about defense, Xing Jinglei struck first.
He spared almost no effort, unleashing his most accustomed and skilled low-level skill, 'Cannon Fist'. He had long surpassed the Grandmaster of Cannon Fist. As his sandbag-sized fists rapidly expanded and contracted, faint fist shadows shot out, stirring up almost no seawater.
The seawater rippled slightly, and several kilometers away, the massive heads of eerie creatures exploded.
The battle had begun!
With the powerful AoE sweeps of the Myths, ordinary eerie creatures could hardly get close, until the appearance of seven-star eerie creatures.
Two appeared in the east first!
One, like a giant octopus, with tentacles possibly thousands of meters long, shot out from the darkness and struck towards the scholars and experts who were exploring, forcing the Myths on the periphery to confront the eerie creature's powerful blow.
In terms of strength, humans had always been inferior to eerie creatures of the same level, a disparity caused by their size.
With one strike, the Myth who intercepted was embedded dozens of meters into the seabed. Fortunately, with so many Myths present, someone immediately stepped in to cover, and a powerful individual even severed one of the giant octopus eerie creature's tentacles.
"It's Madam Gong!"
The Madam wielded a divine sword radiating frost. She looked like an envoy from the Moon Palace, with ice and snow surrounding her. Her sword beams sounded like icy flutes, piercing the soul.
The severed octopus tentacle, which had been wriggling stubbornly on the seabed, gradually lost its vitality as the cold spread from the broken end.
This was an extremely powerful Myth!
However, the eerie creatures that seemed to have agreed to appear together were no longer coming one by one like before. Six appeared simultaneously, and they seemed to have a clear objective: to attack the extremely fragile experts and scholars who had scattered for exploration and had not yet had time to escape back to the palace.
Moreover, some of the detection equipment had already been deployed; if they were retrieved now, it would be a complete failure.
They could only endure! Da Feng Novel Network
"Damn it! Another giant octopus tentacle! How many tentacles do these octopuses have, or how many seven-star Abyssal Devil Octopus Kings are there?"
"I remember Abyssal Devil Octopus Kings usually have twelve tentacles, but Madam Gong has already severed eight."
"There's more than one Abyssal Devil Octopus King, and..."
An old Myth looked around. Besides the Abyssal Devil Octopus Kings still hidden in the deepest darkness and not fully revealed, there were currently six seven-star eerie creatures assaulting their team.
Six, the number was not very large. Normally, three or four Myths attacking together would obliterate a seven-star eerie creature in less than ten seconds.
But at this moment, the Myths discovered that the seven-star eerie creature, with half its body blown away, was healing at a visible rate, growing new flesh and blood.
This scene was not unfamiliar to them; it was the same as the catastrophe not long ago!
"As expected, the remnants of the calamity still have an effect! But I didn't expect the healing speed to be so fast!"
"Since there are remnants of the calamity, it means we are indeed not far from the Source of Disaster. This is also good news."
"Surviving the current challenge is what truly counts as good news!"
"Abyssal Devil Octopus Kings already have considerable regenerative abilities. With the boost of the calamity's power, no wonder the tentacles seem endless!"
"And they are a bit clever, hiding in the deep darkness and not revealing themselves, otherwise, we wouldn't be so passive!"
It was precisely because he sensed something was wrong that His Excellency Dawnlight, the Pillar of Cold, did not make a move.
He stood on the palace, gripping his spear, his eyes slightly narrowed as he gazed into the deep darkness.
Madam Gong, and another Gu Yue Imperial Dynasty expert, Old Man Nanli, continuously severed the Devil Octopus King's tentacles. Only these two had the ability to sever a tentacle with a single strike; even the Starlight Sword Saint Chen Tianxuan could not.
Chen Tianxuan's Starlight Sword Rain pierced holes in the Devil Octopus King's tentacles, making them pitted, but it couldn't sever them, at least not in a short time. The tentacles immediately retracted, hiding in the darkness to await an opportunity.
But even Madam Gong and Old Man Nanli needed other Myths to block the tentacles' attacks before they could seize the opportunity to sever them with a single sword strike.
Whoosh—
Two more tentacles shot out from the deep darkness, like two black heavenly whips, falling from above.
A Myth flew forward to meet the attack head-on, but another Myth, seeing the others injured before him, suddenly hesitated.
He hesitated for only a moment, realizing it was not the time for indecision. But this moment of hesitation caused him to be a step slower.
A figure charged out from the side.
"Let this lord weigh the strength of the Abyssal Devil Octopus King!"
Boom—
The newcomer threw a series of punches, unleashing over a dozen fist shadows in an instant, but still could not offset the terrifying force of the Devil Octopus King's accumulated power.
He was sent flying into the seabed, completely unable to fight back.
"It's that young Flame-burning Myth!"
"Even a genius like him charges forward without hesitation, how can this president be timid!"
Seeing the questioning and indifferent glances from the surrounding Myths, the founder of the super merchant guild dared not make any more mistakes. When another tentacle from the Devil Octopus King appeared, he did not hesitate. Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward.
But another figure still beat him to it.
"Again!"
"This lord will never admit defeat!"
It was the Flame-burning Myth again!
Originally, those who had blocked an attack and were injured would have retreated as much as possible. This merchant guild founder had also decided to rest for dozens of rounds after blocking this tentacle.
But there was still a fool rushing forward?
The sturdy figure was once again embedded in the ground. The old Myth considered himself not yet fulfilling his duty and prepared to strike again, but the familiar figure reappeared before the terrifying tentacle and struck resolutely.
Again?
"Come on!"
"Screw you!"
Time and again, although his body was injured and foul water had seeped in, this Ripping Fist Martial Saint Xing Jinglei showed no fear. Rather, his momentum grew stronger!
Even the Starlight Sword Saint, who wanted to take over, was pushed aside by him.
"True men should face danger head-on!"
"You fall where you stand!"
Was it worth it! Was it really worth such a desperate effort!
Watching the Ripping Fist Martial Saint being knocked into the ground repeatedly, only to rise again and again, the surrounding Myths fell into silence. Was he foolish? Perhaps. But for some reason, seeing this scene, the blood of many Myths, which had been somewhat dormant, began to boil.
But the Abyssal Devil Octopus King also seemed enraged. After one tentacle was severed, three tentacles simultaneously shot out from the deep darkness, and their target was precisely the Ripping Fist Martial Saint who had just climbed out of the seabed fissure!
The Martial Saint, with blood on his lips, still showed no fear. He even stopped punching and charged directly towards the tentacles.
Hit by three whips in succession, he was sent flying back, but he once again stomped on the seabed and charged up.
His body seemed to swell, growing larger and larger, from about two meters tall to three meters, five meters, ten meters!
He was like a small giant, a human-shaped comet, launching a fierce attack on the seabed.
Boom—!!!
The seawater trembled continuously, creating rings of violent currents.
This time, the Ripping Fist Martial Saint did not fly backward. His body merely trembled before stabilizing. He stomped on the seabed, wrapped his arms around a thick tentacle, and bit down.
"Screw you!"
"It's your turn!"
The towering figure, bathed in blood, stood at the forefront of the eerie tide, hugging a thick, terrifying tentacle, his face devoid of fear.
As he had said, where he fell, he would...
Eliminate the enemy!
He let out a low roar. His bare muscles danced like dragons and pythons. His body was like a solar forge, causing the surrounding foul seawater to boil.
With a sudden burst of strength, he managed to yank out the Abyssal Devil Octopus King, which had been hidden in the deep darkness and whose strength far surpassed that of a Myth...
And pull it out!