The berserk guard dropped to all fours, a bestial growl rumbling in his throat. His crimson eyes locked onto Chen Changqing, his bulging muscles radiating a power far beyond that of a Qi Refining cultivator. He lunged forward, a thick, fishy wind preceding him, leaving faint afterimages in his wake.
"Be careful!" Lin Wanqing cried, her Azure Frost Sword already drawn, flashing as she prepared to meet the attack.
"Step back, he's not right!" Chen Changqing pulled Lin Wanqing behind him, instead advancing. His footwork was mysterious, narrowly avoiding the guard's powerful claw. The claw's wind produced a sharp whistle as it passed.
The guard was clearly completely controlled by the Siren's Shell, his sanity gone, leaving only primal killing instincts. Furthermore, his strength and speed had been unbelievably enhanced. Even more troublesome, Chen Changqing's Karma Eye sensed that the surrounding scenery was subtly distorting. A faint, cloying fragrance permeated the air, mixing with the low whispers emanating from the shell, eroding their minds and creating illusions.
"Senior Brother, I... I feel a little dizzy." Lin Wanqing frowned, shaking her head. Her eyes seemed slightly unfocused. Although she had the Azure Frost Sword protecting her, granting her high resistance to evil forces, the Siren's Shell's illusionary power was insidious and difficult to defend against. Chen Changqing's heart clenched. This Siren's Shell was more bizarre than he had anticipated. He secretly activated the Golden Merit Wheel within his dantian. A faint, almost imperceptible golden halo flashed from his brow, silently spreading outward.
The berserk guard's attacks became increasingly violent, each strike meant to kill, disregarding his own life. Chen Changqing, relying on his exquisite footwork and precise anticipation of danger, narrowly dodged several times, all the while observing. Though fierce, the guard's movements were somewhat stiff, relying solely on brute force. At the moment the faint golden halo rippled out, passing over the berserk guard's body, his movements abruptly froze. A fleeting moment of clarity and pain flashed in his crimson eyes.
"Ugh... I... kill..." He stammered out a few words, as if struggling against some force. However, this clarity lasted only an instant. The Siren's Shell on the altar glowed even brighter, and the clarity in the guard's eyes was quickly replaced by an even more intense madness. He roared and pounced again.
"It works!" Chen Changqing's heart settled slightly. The power of the Golden Merit Wheel naturally countered these kinds of mind-altering, evil forces, but the Siren's Shell's power was too strong. A mere trace of merit was insufficient to completely dispel it.
"Senior Brother, use this!" Lin Wanqing had also recovered from her brief daze. She handed Chen Changqing a jade pendant that felt warm to the touch, which was the Heart-Clearing Jade Talisman bestowed by the sect. Chen Changqing took the jade talisman, and a cool sensation permeated his soul, instantly alleviating the discomfort caused by the mirage.
He didn't hesitate any longer and said to Lin Wanqing, "I'll restrain him. You find a chance to knock him out, but be careful not to kill him!"
Before his words had even faded, Chen Changqing gestured with both hands, and the power of the Sea Stabilizing Pearl quietly activated. Several streams of water appeared out of thin air around the guard, swiftly coiling around him like spirit snakes, instantly binding his limbs and body tightly. The guard struggled frantically, and the ropes formed by the water strained with creaking sounds, but he couldn't break free.
"Now!" Lin Wanqing had been ready. Hearing this, she flickered like a breeze to the guard's side, with the back of the Azure Frost Sword facing down. She aimed at the back of his neck, exerted force from her wrist, and delivered a clean, decisive chop.
"Dong!" With a muffled sound, the enraged guard's body went limp, and he was completely unconscious. Chen Changqing breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand to disperse the water streams. He went forward to carefully examine the guard, confirming that he was only knocked out and not in mortal danger. Only then did he turn his gaze to the conch magic artifact at the top of the altar, which emitted a faint blue light.
This thing felt a bit sinister. He signaled Lin Wanqing to be on guard, and he cautiously walked onto the altar, reaching out to grasp the "Shell of Sea Speech." It was cold to the touch, with a delicate texture, like a naturally formed piece of jade. The instant he grasped the conch, a vast and chaotic torrent of thoughts, mixed with endless sorrow, anger, and unwillingness, surged into his mind like a breached dam!
"Ugh!" Chen Changqing groaned, feeling as if his head was about to explode. He quickly activated the Sea Stabilizing Pearl, and gentle water essence power swiftly protected his mind and sea of consciousness, barely withstanding the impact of those thoughts.
Countless fragmented images flashed through his mind, as if he were experiencing them firsthand. He saw a peculiar race—the "Siren Speakers." They had beautiful, spiral-shaped ears on their heads, and their limbs were covered in fine scales, somewhat similar to the legendary mermaids, but more elegant and peaceful. They lived in a vast, azure underwater world, harmoniously coexisting with various strange marine creatures, riding glowing jellyfish, and traversing through giant coral forests. They believed in and guarded a Mysterious Turtle as large as an island, regarding it as the sea's deity. Every breath of the turtle brought them abundant spiritual energy and vitality. The years were tranquil, peaceful, and serene.
However, disaster struck without warning. A group of "extraterrestrials," clad in strange metal armor and piloting bizarre, energy-glowing crafts, swarmed into the peaceful underwater world like locusts. These invaders possessed incredibly advanced technology. The style of their energy weapons bore a resemblance to certain constructs Chen Changqing had seen in the Seven Star Island intelligence, yet also contained traces of a cultivation civilization.
The invaders discovered the secret guarded by the Siren Speakers – a core location on the back of the Mysterious Turtle, brimming with immense life energy, as well as the terrifying power of the turtle itself.
Greed and desire drove them to launch a brutal raid and massacre. The Siren Speakers fought back, but their strength seemed insignificant against the invaders. Blood stained the azure sea, and countless Siren Speakers fell in despair, their homes consumed by flames. The invaders established cold metal bases on the seabed, conducting all sorts of inhumane experiments. They attempted to dissect the turtle's power and control the life codes they called "Sequences."
In the end, the glorious underwater civilization was destroyed, and the peace-loving Siren Speakers were exterminated. This "Shell of Sea Speech" was the last of their clan. Before dying, the last chieftain sealed the entire race's memories, unwillingness, and endless resentment, along with a crucial secret, within the shell. It sank into this forgotten island, awaiting a destined individual.
Amidst those chaotic and sorrowful memory fragments, Chen Changqing keenly captured a few fleeting but crucial scenes: a massive metal fortress, deeply buried at the bottom of the sea, whose internal structure was somewhat similar to the Seven Star Island laboratory he saw in the Blood Shark Pirates' intelligence! The invaders' leader, in a frenzied roar, mentioned the "Heart of the Dragon" and a terrifying plan called "Sequence Fusion"!
"Heart of the Dragon... Sequence Fusion..." Chen Changqing's heart trembled. These clues subtly aligned with Zhang Tao's previous revelation about the radical faction's "God-Devil Creation Plan"!
So, the origin of the technology researched by the radical faction was actually connected to these "extraterrestrial invaders" who had exterminated the Siren Speakers! After a long while, Chen Changqing emerged from that tragic and brutal ancient memory, his eyes filled with complex emotions. He slowly circulated the Great Purity Water Essence Scripture. The gentle and flowing water essence true energy seeped into the "Shell of Sea Speech" like a trickle, attempting to purify the resentment and malice accumulated over thousands of years.
As the resentment dissipated, the shell's faint blue glow gradually softened, becoming less aggressive. Chen Changqing felt a faint spiritual connection established between himself and the shell. He discovered that this shell could not only record information, but also amplify the holder's spiritual power within a certain range, creating quite realistic illusions. It could even communicate simply with certain, not-so-intelligent marine creatures. It was a decent auxiliary magic tool. Chen Changqing thought to himself, putting it into his storage bag.
Just then, footsteps approached. Zhang Tao, supported by Lin Wanqing, walked over, his face pale. He had clearly heard the earlier commotion. When he saw the altar and the scattered fragments of the murals, his expression instantly became grave.
"This is... a Siren Speakers' ruin?" Zhang Tao's voice was hoarse with disbelief. Chen Changqing briefly informed Zhang Tao of his previous findings and the information he had obtained from the Shell of Sea Speech (omitting details about the Heart of the Dragon and the similarities between the radical faction's technology and that of the invaders).
After listening, Zhang Tao was silent for a long time, a bitter self-mockery on his face. "So that's how it is... so that's how it is... Those lunatics in the merchant guild's radical faction have always boasted about their mastery of some 'transcendent' ancient relic technology... That spiral mark was indeed the codename for one of their early projects, related to the core theory of the 'Sequence Fusion' plan... I never expected that this so-called 'advanced technology' would be built on such a bloody history of extermination!"
His gaze towards Chen Changqing became more complex. This seemingly ordinary young man always unveiled stunning truths when he least expected it. The ship's repair work was nearing completion. With the aid of the simplified array diagrams provided by Chen Changqing, the sailors' efficiency had improved significantly. Although it was only a temporary fix, it should be enough to reach Seven Star Island.
However, just as everyone was preparing to pack up and leave the island as quickly as possible, Chen Changqing suddenly frowned, his gaze fixed on the depths of the island. He felt that as the resentment of the Shell of Sea Speech was purified, something even more powerful, a lingering thought, or rather, a sleeping guardian, had been awakened in the depths of the island. A faint, heart-palpitating aura was slowly awakening.
"We shouldn't stay here long; let's leave immediately!" Chen Changqing made a decisive decision. Everyone dared not delay and quickly boarded the ship and set sail. The cargo ship slowly departed from this nameless island, filled with mystery and sorrow. As the ship sailed a distance away, Chen Changqing looked back and saw the entire island, appearing and disappearing in the thick fog, as if it would disappear completely from the sea charts at any moment. And in the direction of the ruins they had explored earlier, amidst the swirling fog, two huge, lantern-like, ghostly blue lights could be vaguely seen, flashing and disappearing, like a pair of cold and sorrowful eyes, silently watching them leave.
The Canghai sliced through the waves, speeding towards the east.
Several days later, after experiencing several perilous storms and avoiding a few small groups of short-sighted pirates, a blurry outline of an island finally appeared on the distant horizon.
Seven Star Island was now visible in the distance.
However, everyone's hearts sank the moment they saw the island.
What enveloped Seven Star Island wasn't ordinary sea fog, but a visible, massive dome-like energy storm barrier! The barrier flickered with blinding arcs of electricity and ominous dark red light, emitting violent and chaotic energy fluctuations. Even from afar, one could sense the terrifying pressure it contained. This was no safe haven; it was clearly a cage of despair!
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