Chapter 50: Lullaby and Whip Shadows
"It’s finally starting." Jiang Yue spoke and opened his eyes.
His eyes were covered in frost, and his body exuded a sense of detachment that was different from usual.
Without another word, he waved his hand, and a talisman appeared in his right hand.
This was the oculus talisman purchased with one low-grade spirit stone.
He placed it on the ground and pointed at it with his right index finger.
Soon after, a strand of clear qi dripped out of the finger and landed on the talisman.
The qi traced the lines of the eye drawn on the talisman, and a golden light projected out. This light rushed to Jiang Yue’s forehead and formed a third eye between his eyebrows.
A few moments later, the eye sank beneath his skin, and the talisman broke apart.
"Let’s go." Yu Nianzhen called.
"Okay."
The two left their tent and rushed towards the defence array that surrounded the island.
As they rushed, they could hear the sound of fighting.
Weapons clanged against each other, and waves crashed against the protective array.
However, the array was a half-step class six five elements array.
When the waves landed on it, the force would be distributed causing nothing but ripples on the array.
A few moments later, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen arrived at the boundary.
"So many..." Jiang Yue intoned.
From where they stood, the sea looked black as far as their eye could see.
Millions of sea beasts occupied every inch of the sea, and cultivators were shuttling around, attacking and defending against them.
Although the two were prepared, seeing so many sea beasts was a little daunting.
However, they felt no fear.
"Let’s go." Yu Nianzhen said.
The two flew outside and headed to an open area close to the array.
As they flew, a wave rushed toward them, and the two dodged to avoid it.
"I will guard this place." Jiang Yue said.
Although the area was full of sea beasts, all were class one beasts.
He didn’t know whether higher-ranked sea beasts would appear later, but for the time being, he could handle the class one beasts.
"Take care of yourself."
"You too."
Yu Nianzhen flew away, and Jiang Yue swung his whip to clear an area in front of the array.
After that, he sat cross-legged five metres above the sea surface, and a pipa appeared in his right hand.
He cradled the pipa on his left side and used his right hand to pluck a string.
As soon as his finger plucked the string, a pleasant sound flew outwards like a wave.
The sound struck the surrounding beasts, and their aggression faded right away.
Jiang Yue plucked another string, and with every note, a pleasant sound lingered in the air, lulling the sea beasts into lethargy.
Their eyes grew a little heavy, and their bodies became listless.
While the sea beasts were lethargic, whip shadows shuttled around them, and a hundred sea beasts were split into two.
The sea in front of Jiang Yue turned a bright red, and beast corpses floated aimlessly.
"Kill that human."
"Kill."
"Human, this day next year will be your one-year death anniversary."
Jiang Yue sneered and plucked a string.
As before, the rushing sea beasts stopped in their steps.
Soon after, whip shadows appeared, and another hundred sea beasts were slaughtered.
"Unfortunately, I can’t keep using lullaby and the whip shadow art." Jiang Yue lamented.
After he broke through to the origin forging realm, he redeemed a whip art called the whip shadow art.
It had nine levels, and each stage was more powerful than the previous.
However, the art had a major drawback.
To unleash the whip shadows, he needed at least two breaths to accumulate enough momentum.
However, two breaths were too long in a life or death battle.
In such a battle, half a breath was enough time to die several times.
Because of this, Jiang Yue needed a way to delay time while he accumulated momentum for the whip shadows.
Luckily, he came across an illusion art called lullaby.
At the first level, lullaby could affect a same realm opponent for three breaths.
Although the opponent could break out of the illusion after three breaths, three breaths were enough time for Jiang Yue.
Theoretically, the combination of lullaby and the whip art could create an infinite loop.
However, this was only a theory.
In reality, playing lullaby and using the whip art consumed a lot of Jiang Yue’s origin qi.
If he played lullaby without using the whip art, he could use it ten times.
If it was only the whip art, he could use it a dozen times.
When used together, his qi would run out after five times.
Because of this, Jiang Yue did not plan to use lullaby and the whip shadows art after the first two strikes.
Now that the sea area in front of him was a little empty, he stood up and put his pipa away.
"Die." He shouted and rushed towards a sea lion to his left.
He swung his whip, and every swing split open a sea beast.
This continued for a long time, but the more he fought, the more he depleted his qi.
After fighting for three hours, his qi ran out, and he couldn’t continue.
Without hesitation, he looked for a chance and retreated within the array.
Inside the array, Jiang Yue sat cross-legged and took a qi replenishing pill.
Soon after, heaven and earth qi rushed into his dantian.
The qi was quickly converted into origin qi, and an hour later, all his qi was replenished.
After that, he once again stepped out of the array and continued to fight the sea beasts.
He had just returned to the battlefield after his fourth rest when the sea around him began to boil.
"Human, this day next year will be your death day." A voice said from beneath the sea.
Jiang Yue narrowed his eyes and jumped backwards.
"I have heard this many times before. None of the others had the ability to force me to leave my life behind."
A laugh came from the sea, and a huge head broke the surface.
The head was red, and the attached body was ten metres tall.
"Spear-wielding squid, a mid-rank class two sea beast."
Jiang Yue saw the beast and immediately recognised it.
This was not because the squid was especially powerful but because it used human weapons.
Normally, sea beasts did not use weapons, but squids and octopuses liked human weapons.
"Come."
Until now, Jiang Yue had only faced class one sea beasts.
At the ninth level of the origin forging realm, he could kill low-rank and mid-rank class one sea beasts in one strike.
If he faced a high-rank class one beast, he would need at least a dozen whip swings.
For a peak rank class one beast, he couldn’t defeat it without a hundred moves.
Although he was not afraid of a low-rank class two sea beast, a mid-rank was more than he could handle.
However, he was not afraid.
Cultivation was going against the heavens, and facing a class two beast would challenge his limits.
After thinking this, Jiang Yue cleared his mind.
He tightened his hold on the whip and swung it towards the squid.
However, the squid was not weak.
It swung its arms, and the eight spear tips came together to block the whip.
The whip hit the wall of spears, and Jiang Yue was pushed backwards by the backlash.
"Are you impatient to die?"
The squid waved its arms, and eight water spears rushed towards Jiang Yue.
"Fast..."
In one moment, the spears were three metres away, and in the next, they were in front of Jiang Yue.
He dodged to the side and prepared to counterattack, but the squid was even faster.
When it threw the water spears, it also rushed forward to block Jiang Yue’s way.
Although he saw it, it was too late to dodge again or change the direction of his jump.
Instead, he swung his whip to block the squid’s spears, but he only blocked five. The remaining three rushed towards him, and metallic tips pierced his body.
However, he did not have time to care about his injuries.
He jumped backwards to avoid another blow, and blood flew out of three holes causing the surrounding sea to be dyed a bright red.
"Human, you will leave your life today."
The squid moved again, and Jiang Yue lashed out with his whip.
His whip blocked three spears, deviated three, but two still struck Jiang Yue in the stomach.
Blood poured out of his body, but his mind was clear.
’I am not its opponent, I have to escape.’
He had realised that as early as the first strike.
However, realising was one thing and escaping was another.
When he decided to test his limits, he thought he could escape if he discovered that he couldn’t deal with the squid.
However, his thinking was too simple.
Because of losing too much blood, his body was sluggish and much slower than the squid.
If he tried to escape, the squid would be able to catch up.
However, he had no choice but to escape.
"Human, stop your useless resistance." The squid rushed forward again, and Jiang Yue jumped to the side.
In desperation, a ruthless idea crossed his mind, and his eyes hardened.
