Chapter 974: Black Murky Seawater; Void-Scorching Wind; Where’s My Shark? (I)
Through the dim, murky waters, a lone figure sped forward. A muddled demonic aura clung to it; anyone with a weaker divine soul might mistake it for a low-tier demonic beast. That figure was none other than Luo Chen.
Relying on the concealment techniques he had mastered, he mimicked the aura of a demonic beast as a disguise. Only by doing so could he slip past the watch of the outer-region demonic beasts and enter the Sunken Sea. The moment he crossed into it, he sensed something was off. The mana barrier shielding him from the seawater was dissolving far faster than normal. The deeper he went, the quicker it eroded, forcing him to continuously channel mana just to hold it together.
The situation was strange, yet not beyond his expectations. Rumours of the Sunken Sea's many hidden dangers had long since spread far and wide, and it was one of the most notorious perilous zones in the Northern Sea. Of these, the most infamous and deadly to cultivators was the black and murky seawater itself, which gnawed through a cultivator's body. A protective mana barrier could hold the water at bay, but even that could not last indefinitely. Any cultivator moving through the Sunken Sea had to keep their barrier active at all times while carefully managing their mana reserves, lest they run dry midway and perish.
Such potent seawater would naturally be of great value, and over the years, many had tried to take some away. Yet no matter what techniques or storage artifacts they used, the moment this black seawater left the bounds of the Sunken Sea, it would mysteriously lose its corrosive nature and revert to ordinary seawater. Some speculated the corrosiveness was not an inherent property of the water but a result of the sea's unique environment. Others believed it was the result of a man-made grand formation hidden on the seabed. There were even some who claimed that the Sunken Sea originated from the primordial Weak Water that had appeared at the dawn of heaven and earth.
Luo Chen did not bother himself with these theories. He had not come for answers, only for the Overtide Devil Flood Dragon. He pressed on through the dark waters, occasionally looking at the sky above. If the sea itself was so perilous, why not simply travel through the air? If anything, what lurked overhead was far more dangerous than whatever the sea had to offer. Cultivators knew this well enough. The sea, for all its perils, was actually the safer gamble. As for what exactly haunted the skies...
Just then, he stared up at the sky as his eyes shone with spirit light. A clueless seabird, devoid of any demonic aura, happened to fly across the Sunken Sea. It flew on for several li as if the waters below were not the dreaded Sunken Sea but an ordinary stretch of ocean. Then suddenly, it dropped straight down from the sky and fell into the water. In an instant, its feathers and flesh were completely corroded, reduced to nothing more than nourishment for the sea creatures. Throughout the entire process, there was no visible attack, nor any unusual phenomenon. Yet he knew exactly what had killed it.
"Void-Scorching Wind!" Luo Chen's brows drew together as he murmured the name. This was precisely why countless cultivators of the Northern Sea dared not take to the air when crossing the Sunken Sea. They could be struck down by something they could not even name! Luo Chen himself had not been aware that this thing existed before meeting Ding Yi, who told him that a strange and lethal wind haunted these skies.
It took no form, had no substance, and made no sound. It came without any immediately discernible pattern, and its power was wildly unpredictable—sometimes weak enough to brush past mortals, sometimes capable of threatening even Ascendants. Once caught in it, a being's soul would flare as if set ablaze and fall into chaos. It would thus lose control of its body, and before long, it would plunge into the sea, never to surface again.
This knowledge had come from Ding Yi, who in turn had learned it from an Adept of the devil sect. The sect had paid a heavy price to uncover these traits, pouring in vast manpower and resources before gradually discerning certain patterns of the Void-Scorching Wind.
This wind was at its most terrifying in the open sky; within the seawater, its power was greatly diminished. It rarely appeared along the outer regions and only emerged more frequently the farther one ventured into the Sunken Sea. There was also a way to resist it, and that lay in enchanted treasures containing the blood of a Black Tortoise! According to the devil sect's research, this wind likely originated from the remains of countless Black Tortoises that had perished within the Sunken Sea. For that reason, treasures carrying the Black Tortoise bloodline could effectively counter it, especially once its power had been weakened by the seawater.
Luo Chen weighed the risks in silence. Though he possessed the Profound Dust Armor, he was far from confident in facing that formless wind. In the end, he decided not to venture further toward the center of the sea, choosing instead to circle only along its outer reaches. He kept his mana flowing and continued moving through the water.
***
Despite the unfamiliar environment, Luo Chen did not slow down. After roughly an hour, he reached a dim and shadowy region more than a thousand zhang beneath the surface. The immense water pressure was enough to crush an ordinary person into dust, but with his physique, Luo Chen barely even felt it. Only the steady drain on his mana reminded him that he had to be careful. If he were to return to the Sunken Sea again in the future with Ding Yi and Devil's Cloud, he would first need to refine a large number of pills that could replenish his mana. Otherwise, this constant drain alone would be enough to exhaust even him.
Setting that thought aside, Luo Chen spread out his divine consciousness, searching for traces of the Overtide Devil Flood Dragon. According to the distribution map of the demon forces, ordinary first- and second-tier demonic beasts guarded the outer regions of the Sunken Sea, while standard Demon Kings remained along the boundaries. Only a handful of especially powerful late-stage Demon Kings ventured alone toward the center. Such a scattered arrangement was a bit weird. If they truly intended to hold the Sunken Sea and block human interference, they should have gathered their forces to maximize their strength along the directions humans came from, rather than dispersing them all over. Many rogue cultivators within the Society could not make sense of it, but Luo Chen had his own speculation.
What if this abyssal ridge is one of the entrances to that pocket world?
By his reasoning, the demon clans had stationed their forces here for a single purpose: to seize that ancient pocket world. There was no need to guard the entire sea; controlling the entrances would be enough. The demon clans trapped inside the Heaven of Northern Yama had acquired the devil sect's research on the Sunken Sea, so they had knowledge of those entrances. Placing powerful Demon Kings at each one to stand guard was the most logical move
But even with his powerful divine consciousness, he found nothing unusual below the abyssal ridge. The only anomaly was that his divine consciousness seemed to be restrained by some unseen force, shrinking its reach from what would normally span hundreds of li to just a few. And that reduced range was still far beyond what an ordinary Adept could achieve.
"So the Overtide Devil Flood Dragon isn't here?" Luo Chen murmured to himself as he sped through the water. But just a moment later, he slowed down, then came to a halt above an oceanic basin. At its center, a massive figure lay coiled in silence.
"Wait, you were here all along!"
Luo Chen smiled faintly and deactivated his concealment technique. His aura spread outward, and the flood dragon slowly opened its eyes. Two vertical blue pupils locked onto him.
It began to shift, revealing a long and sinuous body. Four-clawed massive limbs braced against the seabed, while a horn jutted toward the surface. As it exhaled, the currents churned, sending fragments of stone and scattered bones drifting across. "Human... are you trying to provoke me?"
Luo Chen drew in a deep breath and did not reply. Instead, he formed a hand seal and tapped his lower abdomen, stimulating his sea of qi. The moment it took effect, it was as though some unseen restraint had been lifted. In an instant, a surge of overwhelming mana erupted from his body, like a volcano exploding on the bottom of the Sunken Sea.
"You are courting death!"
The Overtide Devil Flood Dragon let out a low roar; it coiled down its massive body, then instantly charged toward Luo Chen. At the same time, the surrounding black murky seawater surged with it as it surged in from all directions.
At the sight of this, Luo Chen's eyes narrowed. He produced the Flowing Fire Hammer and advanced straight toward the flood dragon. Within a hundred-zhang radius, crimson mana surged like rising flames, forming a blazing cage.
In the next instant, the two clashed.
