Chapter 55: Pyrrhic Victory
"How long can you keep it up?" The squid shouted as it continued its attack.
It glided forward, and eight spears rushed towards Jiang Yue.
As before, he swung his whip and eight knots formed to block the spears.
The spears hit the knots, and the knots tightened around the spear.
However, they only grasped an inch of each spear’s tip and the squid easily dragged the spears back.
’Forming slipknots that can trap the spears is harder than I expected.’ Jiang Yue lamented as he flew backwards.
He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and swallowed a rejuvenation pill.
As the pill dissolved in his body, he coated his whip with a layer of qi and swung it towards the squid.
The whip moved like a snake, and half a breath later, it appeared in front of the squid.
"Useless."
The squid moved its tentacles to block the whip, but Jiang Yue was waiting for this moment.
Just when the spears moved to intercept the whip, Jiang Yue controlled the whip, and it suddenly changed directions.
In the blink of an eye, the whip wrapped around one of the squid’s arms and pulled.
This was the first he succeeded in attacking the squid, and Jiang Yue didn’t want the chance to go to waste.
He poured more qi into the whip, and the other end pinched into the squid’s arm.
A moment later, the squid let out an angry roar, and half its tentacle flew in the air.
"Die for me."
It swung its remaining tentacles, and water rose from the sea.
The water formed arrows, and dozens of water arrows rained toward Jiang Yue.
The water arrows were incredibly fast, and they arrived faster than he expected.
"I can’t block them all."
After coming to that conclusion, Jiang Yue didn’t linger.
He swung his whip and used the momentum to fly backwards.
However, the squid was truly angered by the loss of its tentacle, and it didn’t allow Jiang Yue to catch his breath.
Soon after its first attack, it once again swung its tentacles in a circle, and a stream of water arrows pursued Jiang across the sea.
He blocked as he treated, but he couldn’t block them all, and several pierced into his body.
As he fled, Jiang Yue circulated his qi to close the wounds, but the damage was too much.
Although he managed to reduce blood loss, blood was still trickling down and dyeing his clothes red.
Thousands of thoughts flashed across his mind, and slowly, he realised that he couldn’t continue running.
At this time, he forced his mind to calm down and focus on the raining arrows.
At first, he didn’t notice anything, but as the attack continued, Jiang Yue realised that the water arrows were not random.
’If I can figure out the pattern, there will be a chance for a counterattack.’
He jumped to the side, and his whip slashed at the squid.
"Leave your life."
The squid rushed forward.
In the blink of an eye, it was only a metre in front of Jiang Yue.
He pulled back his whip to defend, but it was still too late.
Seven spears pierced forward, and Jiang Yue was impaled at the end of all seven.
The squid swung the spears, and Jiang Yue was flung several metres away.
Blood poured out of seven holes, and his head buzzed with dizziness.
However, he didn’t allow himself to faint.
He swallowed a rejuvenation pill and forced himself to fly backwards.
As he flew, his whip disappeared, and a pipa appeared in his arms.
He crudely plucked a few strings, and fog filled the surroundings.
The fog wasn’t so dense that one couldn’t see, but it was enough to buy him a few breaths.
In that time, he changed his position and swallowed a few more pills to replenish his blood and qi.
Although the pills were more effective when taken in a meditative state, they still had some effect even when he wasn’t cultivating.
As he moved, he forcibly circulated his qi to refine the pills and soon after, the holes in his body closed.
"You can’t hide." The squid shouted and a spear flew toward him.
Jiang Yue didn’t panic.
Instead, he changed his position once again and used the time to consider his situation.
He initially wanted to escape, but the more he fought the squid, the more he was determined to win.
In the end, he was competitive and couldn’t accept that he had to run every time he encountered the squid.
If he ran every time, he would develop a habit that may affect his cultivation.
When he thought of this, Jiang Yue felt his mind clear.
Although he wasn’t the squid’s opponent, it’s not that he didn’t have a way to win.
It’s just that the price he would pay was a little high.
After making his decision, Jiang Yue focused his mind and observed the squid’s movements.
Soon after, a spear flew towards him.
’There...’
The pipa disappeared, and a whip appeared.
When the spear was thirty centimetres in front of him, Jiang Yue stepped forward.
The spear pierced his left arm, and he used his right to swing his whip.
He couldn’t see the squid in the fog, but the spear revealed its position.
Soon after, his whip hit something, and a muffled roar was heard.
A moment later, Jiang Yue dragged his whip back and retreated a few metres.
As he moved, a pipa appeared, and pipa notes echoed around the sea.
’There is no choice but to go for a desperate victory.’ He gritted his teeth and continued to attack the squid while sustaining injuries all over his body.
After half an hour of this guerrilla warfare, Jiang Yue finally killed the squid.
He was covered in wounds, and blood was pouring out of his body like a fountain.
’I have to get back.’
He looked towards the array and prepared to head back.
However, he found he couldn’t move.
His vision swam, and his body fell out of the sky.
.....
After recovering from his fight with the three sea beasts, Yu Nianzhen planned to return to the battlefield.
However, he hadn’t seen Jiang Yue for many days, and his heart was a little uneasy.
Although there was no need to worry, he decided to detour and look at Jiang Yue before heading to another area.
However, he didn’t see Jiang Yue after coming out of the array.
Cultivators were fighting desperately and he was soon embroiled in fight after fight.
However, he didn’t forget his intention.
It was when he was fighting a sea lion that he heard the sound of a pipa.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t go right away, but his attacks were a little more aggressive.
After he killed the sea lion, he flew towards where the pipa sounded, and he was just in time to see Jiang Yue killing the squid.
"Did you have to go for a pyrrhic victory?" He complained, but his voice was filled with worry.
With a sigh, he caught Jiang Yue before he fell into the sea and retreated into the array.
He headed to the area behind the small hill and once again set up a defensive array
After that, he sat cross-legged and placed Jiang Yue on his lap.
He planned to feed him a healing elixir, but his hand paused in the process.
Yu Nianzhen frowned and placed his palm on Jiang Yue’s back.
A stream of clear qi entered the other’s body and followed along his meridians.
"So much unrefined elixir." After seeing Jiang Yue’s state, Yu Nianzhen didn’t feed him another elixir.
Instead, he increased the amount of qi that flowed into the other’s body.
Soon after, the qi flowed around the meridians, and the unrefined medicine began to break down.
As this continued, liquid medicine penetrated Jiang Yue’s body, and his injuries began to heal.
Time passed in this way, and an hour later, Jiang Yue finally regained consciousness.
"Nianzhen, why are you here?" He asked.
Yu Nianzhen frowned when he heard the question.
"You would be at the bottom of the sea if I didn’t find you in time."
Jiang Yue smiled wryly.
He knew that he had taken a big risk but, in the end, he felt that it was worth it.
He had not only defeated a class two beast, but he had also gained a lot from that battle.
Although not very useful at the moment, he had realised a whip art. In time, this art could not only be used for defence but also for attack.
Other than that, he had gained better control of his whip.
As he thought of these things, he suddenly remembered something and his eyes turned bright.
"I killed a class two beast." He said happily.
Yu Nianzhen frowned and helped him sit up.
"I wonder about my ranking."
"A class two beast is only ten points. It’s easier and less time-consuming to kill ten class one beasts."
Jiang Yue glared, but his enthusiasm didn’t diminish at all.
He used the method that Qin Junjun had taught him, and a golden list appeared in the air.
