Chapter 154: Slaying the Sea Monsters
"What?!"
Seeing his elite troops being massacred by the green energy spheres launched from the formation, Jin Shijian was horrified—not because his forces were being decimated, but because of the power behind those green spheres. Each one carried the might of a late-stage or even peak Tier 2 attack.
He was confident that he could block such an attack with ease—after all, his armored carapace wasn't just for show—but at that density, even he would have to be cautious.
"Retreat!"
Realizing that the plan to breach the enemy's formation with his crab army had failed, Jin Shijian decisively ordered a retreat. Pushing forward now would only result in needless casualties.
He wasn't willing to lose his elite troops here—they were his future foundation.
"Uncle Snake, I ask for your help!"
He turned to the giant sea serpent beside him. At this point, only their strongest combatant could forcefully break through the enemy's formation.
"Very well."
The massive sea serpent fixed its gaze on the formation. Though a sea beast and not well-versed in formations, as a Tier 3 monster with years of experience battling human cultivators, it had picked up some understanding.
From what it could tell, this formation wasn't particularly powerful.
With a casual strike, it could easily destroy it. The attacks fired from the formation wouldn't even scratch a Tier 3 sea beast like him.
As it spoke, the sea serpent opened its mouth and unleashed a torrential stream of water. Like most sea monsters, it was naturally adept with water-based spells. Lacking a powerful physical body, the serpent had devoted all its energy to mastering poison and innate water magic.
The torrent it unleashed was terrifying, instantly ripping apart the outermost Concealment Array.
"As expected of Uncle Snake…"
Jin Shijian had just opened his mouth to praise the serpent when, to his shock, the previously aggressive sea beast suddenly coiled around him and fled at full speed.
The reason? The moment the serpent breached the Concealment Array, it sensed more than a dozen Tier 3 auras emanating from within the lake. Its heart skipped a beat.
This wasn't some easy prey—this was a deadly trap! While those auras didn't feel like those of human cultivators, they were definitely at Tier 3. That much was undeniable.
"How decisive."
Gu Mo watched calmly as the sea serpent and the giant crab fled into the distance. As expected of a veteran sea beast—its danger sense was impressively sharp.
But just because you came doesn't mean you can leave.
Gu Mo ordered the Peashooters to finish off the scattered crab army while he vanished into a breeze, reappearing moments later on the beach outside the island.
A few miles ahead, the fleeing serpent and crab had been completely ensnared by aquatic vines.
Splash!
As Gu Mo appeared, a golden koi leapt joyfully out of the water and swam up to him. Back when the two intruders entered the island, Gu Mo had ordered the little koi to plant two Tier 3 Entangling Waterweeds along their escape route.
Sure enough, the two sea beasts had passed right through that area during their retreat—and were promptly captured.
"Honored cultivator, I apologize for my earlier offense. Please accept my apology."
Realizing it couldn't break free of the bizarre waterweed, the serpent was visibly nervous. It chose to yield in hopes of saving its life. The dozen Tier 3 auras it had sensed earlier had completely shattered any thought of resistance.
Gu Mo's gaze was calm as he looked at the serpent. His supreme-grade flying sword gleamed coldly in his hand. At this point, there was no reason to let the enemy go.
"Heaven-Cleaving Slash!"
With his Gold Core cultivation powering the flying sword, Gu Mo unleashed a sword light that seemed to rip the world apart. The serpent roared in desperation and began to struggle violently, but the entangling vines still held it firmly.
Even a peak Tier 3 monster would be restrained for a moment by those vines—let alone a mere early-stage Tier 3 serpent.
Even worse, its deadliest poison was sealed—it couldn't open its mouth due to the vines. And so, it could only scream in frustration as the sword light cleaved it in two.
"Human! My father is General Golden Claw! If you kill me, he'll hunt you down!" Jin Shijian cried, watching the serpent's massive head fall. Panic filled his heart. How had what seemed like a sure victory turned into this?
Desperately, he invoked his backer, hoping the cultivator before him might hesitate.
"General Golden Claw? Never heard of him."
Gu Mo shook his head and followed with another sword slash.
He'd already researched the Tier 4 sea kings of this region, and none were named General Golden Claw. As long as the enemy wasn't Tier 4, Gu Mo had nothing to fear.
Besides, letting them live would only allow them to bring more powerful reinforcements.
Of course, killing the child of some so-called General Golden Claw would likely provoke revenge. But Gu Mo glanced at the Tier 3 Cherry Bombs and Tier 3 Potato Mines strapped to himself and felt utterly at ease.
He harvested the Tier 3 serpent's monster core and venom sac—its most valuable parts. Though other materials on the beast were useful too, the giant crab's golden claws in particular caught Gu Mo's eye—they could make fine components for magical weapons.
Too bad Gu Mo didn't know how to craft weapons himself. He'd have to sell them as raw materials.
He also found a storage bracelet on the giant crab—likely taken from a human cultivator—further suggesting the crab's unusual identity.
After all, even the Tier 3 sea serpent didn't have any storage tools. Sea monsters typically didn't use them, though some opened specialized stomach pouches for storage.
Still, most wouldn't risk storing unknown items in their bodies. If something went wrong… it could be catastrophic.
Gu Mo found no such storage sac on the serpent—unfortunately, no additional spoils there. But the crab's bracelet held promise.
Then there was the rest of the crab horde. Gu Mo didn't plan to eat them all. He'd see if the cultivators of the Crimson Coral Archipelago were interested.
After all, sea monster meat was a prized resource for cultivators—it enhanced training and tempered the body.
Having slain both sea monsters, Gu Mo returned the two Tier 3 Entangling Waterweeds to the lake to regenerate using the spirit power of the Tier 3 water vein.
The Concealment Array also needed repair.
The Illusion Array had been kept safe inside the Nut Barrier Formation, but the Concealment Array couldn't be—its job was to obscure the presence of the Nut Barrier itself.
"Yuwei, clean this up."
Back at the center of the lake, Gu Mo turned to Shi Yuwei, who was still dazed.
The island was now littered with crabs. Gu Mo had no interest in personally cleaning up all the Tier 1 and Tier 2 crabs—he left that task to Shi Yuwei.
"Yes!"
Snapped out of her stupor by Gu Mo's voice, Shi Yuwei quickly replied. That earlier scene had completely stunned her. An imposing sea monster army had been wiped out so easily. Even the terrifying Tier 3 serpent hadn't escaped in the end.
---
"What happened here?!"
Shi Yunjie arrived by spirit boat, delivering spirit herbs. While he could've delegated the task, he preferred to handle such things personally—it was a good chance to make an impression.
But upon arrival, he was greeted by a battlefield strewn with crab corpses, many of which were late-stage or peak Tier 2 sea monsters.
And on the beach, he spotted the massive corpse of a sea serpent. Though it was dead, the lingering pressure confirmed it had been a Tier 3 monster.
A petite figure was busily working atop the serpent's corpse, peeling away its flesh, skin, and bones.
"Miss Yuwei, what happened here?"
Shi Yunjie hurried over and greeted Shi Yuwei with a cupped fist.
"Some sea monsters attacked earlier. Senior dealt with them. These are the spoils," Shi Yuwei replied, rubbing her sore arms. As a Qi Refining cultivator, handling a Tier 3 corpse was no small task.
Thankfully, more help had arrived.
"Alliance Leader Shi, would you be interested in these materials? We can trade them for spirit herbs or precious ores." She pointed at the serpent and the pile of crab corpses.
There was no way she and Gu Mo could finish this much food. While they could store it in their spatial tools, it wasn't worth using up the space for low-tier monsters. Trading with the Crimson Coral Archipelago cultivators was the best option.
"Yes! Absolutely!"
Shi Yunjie nodded eagerly. Sea monster meat was incredibly nourishing—especially that of a Tier 3 beast. It could even boost one's chances of forming a Gold Core.
The crabs would also help accelerate cultivation when consumed regularly. Though not as potent as pills, they were safer. Pills couldn't be consumed frequently, and with alchemical resources scarce, few cultivators could afford to waste them.
"By the way, Alliance Leader Shi—senior asked me to inform you that these sea monsters likely came from a powerful force. Taking their meat might bring karmic entanglements."
Shi Yuwei passed along Gu Mo's warning.
Shi Yunjie hesitated for a moment, but soon made his decision. Karmic consequences were vague and intangible—strengthening the Crimson Coral Archipelago was what truly mattered.
If the archipelago became powerful enough, it wouldn't fear karmic retribution. If it remained weak, even if it hadn't taken anything, someone would eventually force "karma" upon them anyway.
"Then Alliance Leader Shi, you all can pick for yourselves."
Seeing Shi Yunjie make a decision, Shi Yuwei happily handed over the cleaning duties to Shi Yunjie and his group.
---
Crab Archipelago
The once peaceful archipelago was suddenly rocked by a violent earthquake and raging waves, as if the apocalypse had arrived. The sea monsters on the islands all looked toward the center of the archipelago in fear.
This chaos was caused by the eruption of General Golden Claw's power, though the sea monsters had no idea what had provoked such wrath.
"Looks like they failed."
Master Xuan Shui watched the turmoil on the distant Crab Archipelago and immediately deduced that Jin Shijian had likely been slain by that human cultivator at the Core Formation stage. Since Jin Shijian never acted alone, he would have brought along a third-rank sea demon, who was probably dead too.
Otherwise, General Golden Claw wouldn't be this furious.
"Good thing I didn't act rashly—otherwise, I'd be the one dead right now."
Master Xuan Shui secretly felt fortunate. Now that the human cultivator had killed General Golden Claw's precious heir, it was over for that human.
However, Master Xuan Shui was worried about the sea monsters' poor intelligence network. He had no idea when General Golden Claw would uncover who had killed his son. If it dragged on for a year, the congratulatory gift he had prepared for Lord Chisha's millennial birthday would go to waste.
After all, to keep things secret, Jin Shijian hadn't leaked any information about the third-rank water vein that had been occupied by the human cultivator. If other sea demons had found out, they would've competed for it.
After some thought, Master Xuan Shui decided to give General Golden Claw a "friendly reminder," so the general could quickly identify the real culprit and take action to eliminate the human cultivator.
---
Golden Claw Hall
"Greetings, General Golden Claw!"
Master Xuan Shui saluted the burly man before him. This was the renowned General Golden Claw. Judging by his form, it was clear he had consumed a Transformation Pill—and a fairly high-grade one at that.
However, the pill hadn't eliminated the general's iconic golden pincers. So, even in his humanoid form, the towering man still had a pair of massive golden claws in place of hands.
"I hear you know who killed my son?"
General Golden Claw stared at Master Xuan Shui with cold, indifferent eyes. He looked down on this half-demon from the bottom of his heart—after all, wasn't he just a mutt?
"I do!"
Master Xuan Shui quickly shared all the information he knew.
"I see."
General Golden Claw nodded. He already knew what Jin Shijian had set out to do. After all, Jin Shijian had borrowed one of his top subordinates, claiming it was to seize a spiritual land. General Golden Claw hadn't asked for the exact location or whose hands it was in.
He hadn't thought it necessary. After all, in this region, his reputation carried considerable weight. Even if his son failed to take the land, no sea demon would dare kill him. But it turned out that the target this time was a spiritual land occupied by a human cultivator.
His influence might work among sea demons—but clearly meant nothing to human cultivators, especially one who came from elsewhere and probably hadn't even heard his name.
"Hmph~~"
As Master Xuan Shui successfully redirected General Golden Claw's hatred toward Gu Mo, he let out a long breath of relief. Just as he was about to leave, a massive golden pincer suddenly clamped down on him.
"I'm curious—how do you know all of this so clearly? That area is extremely remote. Where did my son even get the information?"
General Golden Claw lifted Master Xuan Shui into the air, his gaze chillingly sharp.
Sea monsters might not excel at gathering intelligence—but that didn't mean they were stupid. Especially not General Golden Claw, a veteran monster who had lived for countless years. Any sea demon who was truly dumb wouldn't have survived this long.
"G-General… that region just happens to fall within my territory. I saw it by chance."
Master Xuan Shui quickly explained.
He knew that showing up here was a risky move—but he had no choice. If he didn't take this risk, he'd miss Lord Chisha's millennial birthday celebration.
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