Chapter 1 Despite Hearing Xiahou Aotian’s Description

Despite having heard Xiahou Aotian talk about the situation underwater, the sight still made everyone's scalp tingle.

They now understood why Xiahou Aotian had been so terrified. For professions other than Night Watchers, this scene was indeed too shocking.

"Damn, scared the hell out of me," Freedom Eagle's voice rang in everyone's ears.

Then came Hong Ji Ge's voice: "No wonder the Yin energy is so heavy, my hands and feet are stiff. There are so many Yin corpses. I wish I could burn them all to ashes, but I can't exert any force underwater."

"Hong Ji Ge's underwater combat ability is even worse than Yuan Shi Tianzun's Yin corpse," Yun Meng's voice then rang out.

Hong Ji Ge turned his head in shock to look at the Qing He tribe little girl. He didn't expect that this delicate-looking girl would think of him that way. Yun Meng's expression immediately became a little awkward.

At this moment, Xia Shu Zhi Lian's short, urgent reminder exploded in the ears of her teammates: "Be careful!"

As her voice fell, the tens of thousands of Yin corpses standing on the seabed and the bow of the ship floated up together, like a dense school of sardines, rushing upwards. Some of them were wearing cloth clothes, and some were draped in armor, but they were all tattered. Their hands didn't seem to move, and the water automatically pushed them upwards.

"These are Yin corpses with the ability to extract water; they're tricky to deal with." Xiahou Aotian bared his teeth and quickly floated upwards to create distance. "You guys hold them off. Although I'm the protagonist, I'm a Fang Shi who isn't good at fighting."

His voice rang in the earphones, and everyone couldn't tell whether it was an uncontrollable thought or blatant shamelessness.

Yin Ji plunged downwards, quickly diving down to meet the Yin corpses head-on. In the next second, boundless Yin energy surged out of her body. At this moment, her black hair fluttered, and she was like a queen of the underworld.

Yin Ji opened her red lips slightly, letting out a sharp whistle that only Zhang Yuanqing could hear.

A wave of irresistible Yin energy erupted, sweeping across all directions like ripples. Instantly, those Yin corpses that were driving the undercurrents suddenly froze, then fell like robots with disconnected circuits.

Tens of thousands of Yin corpses fell, a magnificent sight.

"What kind of skill is this?! Yin corpses aren't vengeful spirits. Even a Night Watcher has to rely on physical means to deal with Yin corpses..." Zhang Yuanqing couldn't understand it, but he was greatly shocked. "Did she solve it? That was simple?" Hong Ji Ge's happy voice rang out.

As if to slap him in the face, those armored Yin corpses that had fallen haphazardly on the seabed and deck suddenly "came alive" again and drove the water currents to swim upwards again. Seeing this, Yin Ji's brow furrowed.

"These Yin corpses are also part of the formation. They were nurtured by the great formation on the seabed. The seabed formation will continuously provide them with Yin energy." Xiahou Aotian, as a scholar, saw through the trick at a glance. "To get rid of the Yin corpse army, we must first break the formation."

"Then hurry up and break the formation," Hong Ji Ge said anxiously, looking at the approaching Yin corpse army.

Even if they were as strong as elephants, they would be torn to shreds by this massive Yin corpse army.

"Aren't I looking at it? This formation is very complicated. I need time..." Xiahou Aotian floated above everyone's heads, examining the entire formation with the help of the flashbang's light.

He didn't forget to deploy his troops. "You guys help me buy time. Yin Ji and Freedom Eagle are the main force, and Yuan Shi Tianzun, you provide support."

As he spoke, he took out a compass. At the same time, Xiahou Aotian's eyes bloomed with clear light, shining brightly. The flow of Qi within the entire formation entered his eyes, and the compass could help him find the formation's eye.

Zhang Yuanqing and the others could only helplessly respond. Freedom Eagle swooped down, spread her arms, and slashed fiercely.

In an instant, a water tornado with a diameter of dozens of meters formed and charged into the Yin corpse army, sweeping the Yin corpses into it and swirling them into the distance. As a Plague God in the sea, Freedom Eagle could exert influence comparable to a level 6 Yin Ji.

However, there were too many Yin corpses. Several groups of white-skinned Yin corpses avoided the water tornado's encirclement and successfully broke through to get close to the group. "Pa! Pa! Pa!"

Yun Meng danced nimbly in the water, using her thick snake tail to smash the Yin corpses to pieces.

"Get out of my way!"

Hong Ji Ge punched out, blasting a Yin corpse that pounced at him. The blazing fire flashed and extinguished, and the Yin corpse burst into pieces, exploding a mass of dark green liquid that quickly diffused in the sea water.

Xia Shu Zhi Lian held a short sword, and each stab pierced through a Yin corpse's head.

"Cough, cough."

Hong Ji Ge coughed violently, his face turning blue-black. He was poisoned. The Yin corpse contained terrible Gu poison. Multi-person instances were like this. At first glance, they seemed like supernatural instances, but they actually contained the characteristics of various professions.

"It's Gu poison!" Xiahou Aotian, maintaining his posture of surveying the great formation, grabbed a square wooden box. "I have an antidote pill here." Freedom Eagle swam over like a fish and snatched the wooden box, revealing more than a dozen quail egg-sized pills lying on the yellow silk-lined bottom.

She quickly took out one and swallowed it, transmitting her thought:

"Catch!"

With a flick of her finger, the quail egg-sized pill flexibly avoided a Yin corpse and was sent to her teammates.

Hong Ji Ge took the pill, and his discomfort immediately disappeared. Helplessly, he defended himself, cursing, "Damn it, I can't exert my combat power at all underwater." Fortunately, Xia Shu Zhi Lian and Yuan Shi Tianzun also performed mediocrely, which made him feel a little relieved.

On the other side, Yun Meng opened her bloody mouth and spewed out streams of turbid green liquid.

This turbid stream quickly spread in the seawater. Soon, clusters of seaweed grew. The seaweed seemed to have its own consciousness, actively drifting towards the Yin corpse army. Dozens of Yin corpses were entangled by the seaweed, struggling and falling to the seabed. Yun Meng's crisp and sweet voice rang through the earphones: "They can purify the water, reduce toxicity, and trap Yin corpses."

Having a group of high-quality teammates was indeed a comforting thing. Zhang Yuanqing swallowed the antidote pill, feeling emotional. At this moment, he saw the Yin corpses that had been swept away by Freedom Eagle kill their way back again. Freedom Eagle said in a deep voice:

"They're back. Xiahou Aotian, you'd better hurry up, or we won't be able to get rid of so many Yin corpses even if we fight to exhaustion."

Looking around, the dense Yin corpse army was like duckweed, countless, swimming at high speed.

Yin Ji and Freedom Eagle charged up at the same time. Suddenly, they both stopped because Yuan Shi Tianzun took the initiative to meet the Yin corpse army before them. What was he going to do?

Being surrounded by Yin corpses proficient in water was no joke.

"Yuan Shi Tianzun, come back!" Xiahou Aotian, as the backbone of the protagonist team, issued orders without hesitation.

Zhang Yuanqing ignored him, shaking his hand and throwing out the heavy Demon Subduing Pestle. Then, he used Spirit Travel, his powerful spirit attached to the Demon Subduing Pestle, driving it to shoot out.

Xue Qiangwei moved her limbs, guarding her master's body.

The Demon Subduing Pestle transformed into a pale golden streamer and shot out, bringing up dense bubbles, piercing through the head of the foremost Yin corpse, then two, three, four... Piercing through more than thirty Yin corpses in one breath, then changing direction and continuing to pierce through.

Yin corpses burning with pale golden flames fell into the seabed, never to rise again. This... Seeing this scene, Yun Meng, Freedom Eagle, and the others were stunned.

"Damn it, is he trying to steal my thunder?" Xiahou Aotian's thoughts turned into voice and echoed in everyone's ears. "Damn it, I've completely become a burden. Is Yuan Shi Tianzun so strong? He clearly only just advanced to the Saint realm." Hong Ji Ge's shocked remarks followed closely.

Yuan Shi Tianzun's powerful and effective lethality shocked several Saints. These Yin corpses had bodies that could be described as bronze skin and iron bones. Don't look at how easily Yun Meng and Hong Ji Ge blasted the Yin corpses, but in fact, they used all their strength with each strike, which was why Freedom Eagle said that even if they fought to exhaustion, they wouldn't be able to get rid of the Yin corpse army.

But at this moment, the lethality displayed by Yuan Shi Tianzun allowed them to see the hope of a protracted war.

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't hear Hong Ji Ge and Xiahou Aotian's complaints. He drove the Demon Subduing Pestle, piercing through the Yin corpses, the killing aura gradually increasing the tyranny in his heart. With his attack of piercing and dancing through the Yin corpse army, the pressure on Yin Ji and the others was greatly reduced, and they dealt with the Yin corpses that rushed up to them.

Time quietly passed. Just as Hong Ji Ge was about to run out of strength, Xiahou Aotian shouted:

"Found it, found it! The eye of the formation is on the ship with the broken mast at three o'clock!"

Everyone looked over in unison. There were many ships with broken masts, but there weren't many ships that met the criteria at three o'clock. Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred, and he drove the Demon Subduing Pestle back, his spirit returning to his body. Then, he took out a scarlet longbow and shot an arrow of essence blood at a large ship a hundred meters away. The pale red arrow accurately hit the ship's hull. This bow was a trophy he obtained in the Killing Instance.

"Is that it?" Zhang Yuanqing turned his thoughts into voice.

"Yes, that's the one!" Xiahou Aotian responded.

Immediately, everyone unhesitatingly moved their limbs and swam towards the large ship. The Yin corpse army surged from all directions to intercept them, but they were all swept away by Zhang Yuanqing and Freedom Eagle manipulating the water currents.

The six of them successfully landed on the deck and all turned their gazes towards the dark cabin.

Zhang Yuanqing and Yin Ji were Night Watchers and could see through the darkness. The two of them saw an old man sitting in a grand, ancient armchair in the silt-filled cabin. He had a goatee, a pale face, and closed eyes, as if he were a fresh corpse, completely different from the Yin corpses outside that had been soaked and swollen by the seawater.

The official robe on his body was tattered, and the pattern embroidered on his chest was vaguely indistinguishable, making it difficult to determine the specific rank.

The Yin energy emanating from his body was so substantial that it made Zhang Yuanqing, as a Star Official, feel a chill in his heart.

On his knees was a round plate the size of a washbasin, half of the plate was white and half was black, with a red pointer in the center.

Who is this? Lu Xiufu? Zhang Shijie? Or other officials... Zhang Yuanqing guessed in his heart, and then his thoughts were converted into voice through the earphones and rang in his teammates' ears.

At the same time, Yin Ji's thoughts rang out:

"Barely at level 6. It shouldn't be my main quest, it's the boss of the previous team. It's not difficult to deal with it."

"Yin Yang Wheel? This is mine... this is mine..." Freedom Eagle stared straight at the wheel, unable to control her thoughts.

"Damn it, kill him!" "What did you see? Is there a Yin corpse inside? Be careful, he's either the eye of the formation or guarding the eye of the formation. Get rid of him quickly." Xiahou Aotian babbled in the earphones. "Ah..." The babbling suddenly turned into a scream. Everyone was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see Xiahou Aotian's chest pierced by a pale, white-fleshed, black-nailed ghost claw.

The ghost claw was clutching a bright red heart. Its owner was a white-clothed, disheveled female corpse. This was a female corpse with extremely high intelligence. She had never appeared in the previous battle, waiting until everyone went to the cabin before attacking the most vulnerable Xiahou Aotian who was alone. As the ghost hand was pulled out, large amounts of blood spurted from his chest, dyeing the water like ink.

Xiahou Aotian fell powerlessly to the seabed, and was immediately submerged by the surrounding Yin corpses. "Don't mind me, I'm the protagonist, I'm the protagonist..." The voice in the earphones gradually faded and then stopped abruptly.

At this time, the purple-robed official sitting on the high-backed chair opened his terrifying white eyes. He didn't attack the six-person team immediately, but raised his pale, stiff arm and moved the pointer on the wheel. The pointer spun rapidly, and a formation covering a radius of forty meters instantly formed, like an inverted bowl, trapping Zhang Yuanqing and the others inside.

Crap! Everyone's hearts sank. At this time, they couldn't care about Xiahou Aotian's life or death.

"Kill it immediately!" Yin Ji's voice rarely revealed urgency.

Her body disintegrated into dreamlike starlight and appeared in front of the purple-robed official. Her delicate jade hand gripped a black dagger shrouded in Yin energy and stabbed towards the Yin corpse's brow.

The purple-robed official sat motionless in the armchair. The moment the dagger pierced, his body leaned back, and currents of dark energy pushed him backward. The Yin Yang Wheel fell to the ground with a "clatter," and the pointer spun at high speed.

Yin Ji leaned over to pick up the wheel, but was knocked away by a force. She frowned and had to give up controlling the prop and concentrate on dealing with the purple-robed Yin corpse.

Beneath the black veil, Yin Ji's lips parted slightly, and strands of Taiyin power howled out, turning into gusts of Yin wind. More than a dozen spirit servants flitted towards the purple-robed Yin corpse.

The Yin Ji muttered something, and her two Yin corpses walked towards the enemy with slightly shaky steps.

The purple-robed Yin corpse roared deeply, and the surrounding seawater suddenly exploded. The violent undercurrents were like the shockwaves from a missile explosion, destroying everything around them in a devastating manner. The decaying ship's hull collapsed inch by inch, and wooden blocks flew everywhere. Yin Ji's two Yin corpses bore the brunt of the attack and were blown away by the layers of undercurrents.

Xia Shu Zhi Lian and the others felt a severe pain in their chests as the water waves pushed against them, and they were all "thrown" out.

Even Freedom Eagle, the Plague God, could only barely resist the terrible impact of the undercurrents.

Zhang Yuanqing and Yin Ji's bodies disintegrated into dreamlike starlight and moved away to avoid this "explosion" and were not injured. But Zhang Yuanqing sensed that Xue Qiangwei's chest bone and ribs were broken.

Just one blow caused no small losses to a level 4 Yin corpse.

Many props couldn't be used underwater, such as the Earth Walking Boots that couldn't jump, the Mountain God Scepter that couldn't use grass and trees and terrain, and the swordsman's sliding shoes.

With super water control, the seabed was its home ground. The odds were against them, and it was extremely difficult to deal with.

I must find an opportunity to use the Demon Subduing Pestle to kill it with one blow... Zhang Yuanqing quickly pressed the earpiece, "Yin Ji, think of a way to control it once, and I'll find a way to kill it." As soon as he finished speaking, the purple-robed Yin corpse standing on the bare deck suddenly bulged in the abdomen, and spurted out large amounts of "ink" from its mouth, which quickly spread around.

In a few breaths, the seawater within a radius of dozens of meters was dyed pitch black.

The vision was immediately obscured, and the visibility was less than two meters. In addition, the ink seemed to be a highly corrosive poison, and even if it was diluted with seawater, it still made everyone's skin burn with pain. "Be careful of attacks!" Yin Ji warned, and added, "Xia Shu, Hong Ji, you two get closer to me..."

As soon as she finished speaking, they heard a painful groan, and then a violent disturbance of the water came from somewhere. Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank, and he pressed the earpiece: "Who? Who was attacked?"

"Not me!" Hong Ji Ge replied immediately.

Yin Ji's tone was solemn: "Xia Shu, Xia Shu."

She called several times in a row without getting a response. Xia Shu's life and death were unknown, and everyone's heart was extremely heavy. "I can purify the water quality, but it takes time," Freedom Eagle said in a deep voice.

"It's too late." Yun Meng's voice came through the earpiece: "It's using the venom to separate us and then defeat us one by one. I can feel a fast-moving body nearby, but I can't see it. If we don't find a way to solve it as soon as possible, Hong Ji Ge will be the next to die."

She assumed that Xia Shu had returned to the spirit realm.

It's my fault. I shouldn't have used Star Evasion to escape just now. Xia Shu was always by my side. I abandoned her. Zhang Yuanqing's emotions exploded, but then calmed down in the next second. He calmly conveyed his thoughts to his teammates: "Yun Meng, do you still have those vines you spat out before?"

"Yes, but there's too much Yin energy. It can't trap it, and it's even more impossible to purify the water quality. It will take a long time," Yun Meng responded.

"Don't worry about how much there is, just spit out as much as you can!"

Hearing this, Yun Meng immediately opened her bloody mouth and spewed out streams of turbid green liquid, scattering thousands of seeds into the sea.

Under the Gardener's catalysis, the seeds quickly grew, turning into clusters of tough seaweed, slowly wriggling their tentacles. Zhang Yuanqing immediately took out the Mountain God Scepter and lit up the green gemstone at the top to activate the prop's catalysis and mutation functions.

The green halo spread out in circles, and as the light waves swept across the seaweed, it rapidly multiplied, split, and gained certain mutations. The tentacles became stronger and darker in color, while Yun Meng felt that she had lost control of the seaweed.

In less than a dozen seconds, this sea area sealed by the Yin Yang Wheel was filled with thick, dark black seaweed.

Using the feedback from the plants, Zhang Yuanqing sensed the enemy swimming at high speed in the "ink" and unhesitatingly manipulated the seaweed to entangle it.

The ubiquitous seaweed successfully entangled the enemy, but snapped in the next second. But more seaweed followed one after another.

Zhang Yuanqing shouted in his mind, "Yin Ji!"

Yin Ji understood his meaning in seconds, and pointed her slender jade finger in the direction where the water was disturbed.

The spirit servants around her shrieked and rushed out, passing through the dark water and arriving in front of the purple-robed Yin corpse, which was struggling to swim in the seaweed. The spirit servants rammed themselves into the purple-robed Yin corpse one by one.

In the next second, Zhang Yuanqing's spirit left his body, attached to the Demon Subduing Pestle, and shot out.

The pale golden streamer pierced through the ink-like seawater and pierced into the forehead of the purple-robed Yin corpse. A blazing golden light erupted on the seabed, like a black sun under the cover of black water.

The purple-robed Yin corpse burned with pale golden flames, and its white eyes quickly dimmed, turning into a floating corpse entangled in seaweed. "Did we kill it? Did we kill it? Yuan Shi Tianzun, you're really awesome!" Hong Ji Ge shouted in surprise. "Yuan Shi Tianzun is quite reassuring," Yun Meng said in a small voice.

Then came Freedom Eagle's relieved sigh, "If we could dig him out to join Heavenly Retribution..."

Her thoughts quickly stopped.

Yin Ji's light noise drowned out her teammates' mutterings: "Yuan Shi Tianzun, check on Xia Shu Zhi Lian."

Zhang Yuanqing's spirit brought the Demon Subduing Pestle back to his body. Relying on the feedback from the seaweed, he sensed Xia Shu Zhi Lian's position and came to her side driven by the undercurrents.

The cold and beautiful female instructor floated quietly on the seabed, her eyes wide open, her expression frozen on her face, her delicate red lips already pale, with dense bubbles attached to the corners of her mouth and nostrils.

She had stopped breathing.

There was a bloody hole in her chest, and the remaining half of her heart was no longer beating. "I'm sorry." Zhang Yuanqing supported her body, his eyes somewhat dim.

Suddenly, Xia Shu Zhi Lian's dead pupils moved slightly, and a touch of spiritual light quickly spread out. Then, her voice came through the earphones:

"Instead of apologizing, you should think of a way to save me first. The Wood Demon's 'resurrection' doesn't seem to be able to bring me back to life. Save me quickly..."

She's still alive?! Zhang Yuanqing was stunned at first, then surprised and at a loss. Without time to ask more questions, he pressed Xia Shu Zhi Lian's body against his abdomen with one hand, and with the other hand, he turned the Mountain God Scepter and pressed the gemstone against her chest, activating the prop's healing function.

Soft green light lit up, awakening the vitality in this body and repairing the wound. But it wasn't enough. The fatal wound Xia Shu Zhi Lian had suffered had exceeded the limit of the Mountain God Scepter. The Swordsman was a low-defense, low-blood profession.

Fortunately, Zhang Yuanqing still had a tube of Life Essence left over from the Killing Instance in his inventory. After the Mountain God Scepter awakened Xia Shu's vitality, he immediately took out the syringe, pierced it into Xia Shu Zhi Lian's snow-white neck vein, and injected half a tube. He put away the other half of the tube of Life Essence and continued to activate the Mountain God Scepter's healing function, using it in conjunction with the Life Essence to heal her injuries.

The half of the heart in her chest quickly grew, flesh regenerated, the sea water was expelled, and it covered the heart. Then, tender red muscle grew out, which was covered by a layer of fat. Finally, there was the white and delicate skin. Xia Shu Zhi Lian's tight vest was torn and couldn't cover the regenerated flesh. A graceful and plump meatball was nakedly displayed in front of Zhang Yuanqing.

Having escaped death, she didn't notice these details at first, until she caught a glimpse of Yuan Shi Tianzun's happy gaze, then she suddenly reacted. She raised her hand to cover her chest and struggled out of his arms. Zhang Yuanqing silently took off his short sleeves, turned his face, and handed them over.

The two's voices rang out in the earphones almost at the same time: "How embarrassing..."

"What's embarrassing?" Hong Ji Ge swam over and said happily, "You didn't die? How did you do it?"

Xia Shu Zhi Lian followed the topic: "I had the Wood Demon profession's Resurrection Orb in my mouth beforehand. As you know, Wood Demons have a chance to resurrect when they are near death, but my injuries were too severe, and the extraordinary prop couldn't truly bring me back to life. Thanks to Yuan Shi Tianzun."

"I see..."

"You're so lucky..."

"Very clever..." The teammates' voices rang out one by one.

Xia Shu Zhi Lian suddenly glanced at Yuan Shi Tianzun's raised tent, her expression a bit strange and a bit resentful. She didn't expect that she would have so much charm. "So I'm so attractive?" The earpiece converted her thoughts into speech.

"No, this has nothing to do with you, it's the price of the prop." Zhang Yuanqing twitched at the corner of his mouth, and was then betrayed by the earpiece. "What are they talking about in code?" Hong Ji Ge's curious voice came. Zhang Yuanqing was about to perfunctorily reply when he heard Yin Ji's urgent voice: "Yin Yang Wheel!"

"Damn, there's still the Yin Yang Wheel. I almost forgot about it!" Zhang Yuanqing's face changed, and he kicked his legs and swam towards the bare warship.

Yun Meng, Xia Shu Zhi Lian, Freedom Eagle, and Hong Ji Ge followed closely behind, swimming quickly towards the warship.

The group came to the deck and found that the Yin Yang Wheel was still in its original position, not washed away by the exaggerated "explosion" just now.

At this time, the pointer was spinning extremely slowly and was about to stop.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the pointer. Soon, the pointer stopped, stopping on the black half.