Chapter 462: A Wretched Landing

The gigantic mantis shrimp was terrifyingly enormous, so huge it looked just like a flood dragon stirring up trouble in the sea.

At a glance, it was at least fifty or sixty meters long.

The Rong tribe’s fast boats looked on with schadenfreude when they saw the gigantic mantis shrimp. They hurriedly steered away from that stretch of sea and headed for the shore of Fire Flood Dragon Island.

Zhao Zheng said nothing. He grabbed an oar and swung their fast boat around, trying to avoid the gigantic mantis shrimp.

The other fast boats followed suit. None of them dared go near it.

At a time like this, no one would bother with Zhao Yingying, Qin Kunlun, or the others.

Not even if one of them was the daughter of Prince Pinglan and another was a core disciple of the Divine Sect.

Working together, Yang Ling and Xu Qingnian joined Zhao Zheng in pushing their fast boat to its limits. Like a speedboat, it kicked up a trail of white waves as they circled around the gigantic mantis shrimp and raced toward Fire Flood Dragon Island.

“Damn, that gigantic mantis shrimp looks even more terrifying than Little White. Could it be a Fourth-Rank mystical beast...?”

Yang Ling couldn’t help wondering. He had seen firsthand what a Fourth-Rank Grandmaster could do.

He even suspected that this gigantic mantis shrimp might be connected to the old flood dragon Li Fengxian had mentioned.

The Fire Spirit Pearl was most likely something the old flood dragon had expelled from its body. Had this creature eaten it?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the gigantic mantis shrimp suddenly sank beneath the water.

At that moment, every Sixth-Rank martial artist who had yet to reach shore felt their scalps tingle and their skin crawl.

They drove their boats for all they were worth.

The next second, monstrous waves surged across the sea once more.

In just a few surging passes, the gigantic mantis shrimp capsized every fast boat within several miles!

That included the fast boat Yang Ling and the others were on.

“Swim!”

Zhao Zheng said nothing else. He simply swam with all his strength toward Fire Flood Dragon Island.

The instant Yang Ling entered the water, a sharp pain spread across his skin. The seawater was scalding hot.

Still, this temperature wasn’t enough to seriously harm a Sixth-Rank martial artist.

Martial artists at this level had long since gained bodies beyond the ordinary.

Yang Ling immediately spread out his Transcendent perception and swam underwater with all his might, like an arrow loosed from a bow, rapidly closing in on Fire Flood Dragon Island.

He quickly outpaced Zhao Zheng and Xu Qingnian.

The two of them froze for a moment, then gave it everything they had, swimming as fast as they could!

The gigantic mantis shrimp didn’t seem to have any particular target. It went off to wreak havoc on the other Sixth-Rank martial artists.

Just as Yang Ling began to relax, a tremendous pressure swept through the sea. The gigantic mantis shrimp was charging toward them at a terrifying speed.

Yang Ling immediately panicked.

“Damn it!”

He instantly used Ethereal Steps and leaped out of the water.

Then he ran across the surface of the sea, sparks and flashes of lightning trailing behind him as he raced toward Fire Flood Dragon Island.

Quite a few Sixth-Rank martial artists nearly dropped their jaws when they saw this.

Hua Zhuo was already close to the shore of Fire Flood Dragon Island. He glanced back, looking rather composed.

“I told you Yang Ling’s movement technique was extraordinary!”

Zhao Zheng and Xu Qingnian also witnessed Yang Ling’s graceful movement technique. They couldn’t manage anything like it, so all they could do was swim for their lives.

Fortunately, the gigantic mantis shrimp wasn’t targeting them. It simply charged past them.

The enormous waves it kicked up crashed into the Sixth-Rank martial artists, churning their vital qi and making some of them feel as though they might throw up blood.

A few breaths later, the wind and waves abruptly died down.

The gigantic mantis shrimp seemed to have vanished into the depths of the sea.

At some point, Xie Jinjia had taken up a silver longbow aboard the Water Transport Guild’s great ship. He drew it to a full moon and stared coldly straight ahead.

Only after seeing the gigantic mantis shrimp dive beneath the water and disappear did he slowly ease the tension in his arms.

“Vice Minister Xie, that mystical beast just now must have had abilities approaching the Fourth-Rank...”

Li Zhong mused, “The last time we came here, it was only half its current size and could barely manage Fifth-Rank abilities.”

Xu Wenjun and the other directors saw the Sixth-Rank martial artists gradually reach shore safely. They breathed a sigh of relief, but a trace of concern appeared in their eyes.

The Ironclad Department had last operated here only five or six years ago.

In a mere five or six years, had a mystical beast that could barely manage Fifth-Rank abilities nearly reached the Fourth-Rank?

Xie Jinjia narrowed his eyes slightly.

“The Fire Spirit Pearl has already proven that, just after emerging, it is deadly poison to martial artists like us, but a rare delicacy to mystical beasts. Consuming one can greatly increase their cultivation level.”

“After some time, however, the Fire Spirit Pearl’s effects on mystical beasts diminish greatly, while its effects on martial artists like us become excellent.”

“This beast’s strength has risen so quickly because it must have eaten quite a few Fire Spirit Pearls.”

“Eaten quite a few Fire Spirit Pearls?”

Everyone exchanged glances. The strange phenomena on Fire Flood Dragon Island had only begun recently.

The Ironclad Department had been keeping watch the entire time. Could a Fire Spirit Pearl have emerged without them noticing?

“Even I can’t yet make sense of the exact reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the one beneath it.”

Xie Jinjia’s gaze drifted toward Fire Flood Dragon Island.

The one beneath it? Everyone’s hearts trembled faintly.

“That old flood dragon hasn’t emerged in many years. Unfortunately, none of the factions dare test whether it has entered its twilight years, or whether it still has the strength to fight.”

Xie Jinjia narrowed his eyes slightly.

“A being like that is a treasure from head to toe. Perhaps eating even a single piece of its flesh could help us achieve immortality.”

The scene fell completely silent for a moment.

Achieving immortality meant a Third-Rank Grandmaster Supreme advancing into the Second-Rank Human Immortal Realm!

They couldn’t imagine how terrifying a Second-Rank Human Immortal would be, and none of them had ever seen one fight with their own eyes.

After hearing Xie Jinjia’s words, they felt even more reverence for the old flood dragon.

“Now we’ll see how these juniors perform.”

“If they can bring back a few more Fire Spirit Pearls, this trip won’t have been in vain.”

After speaking, Xie Jinjia turned and left.

“I’m going into closed-door cultivation. You continue keeping watch.”

……

Yang Ling had already landed on Fire Flood Dragon Island and was searching in every direction for Zhao Zheng and Xu Qingnian.

Fire Flood Dragon Island was enormous. After the gigantic mantis shrimp had just rampaged through the area, many Sixth-Rank martial artists had landed in different places, making it difficult to find their companions right away.

A few breaths later, he spotted Zhao Zheng and Xu Qingnian, more than three hundred meters away.

The two of them came ashore one after the other, scrambling along on their hands and feet and looking rather bedraggled.

Yang Ling was just about to join them when he suddenly noticed a group of unfamiliar martial artists sneaking in from another direction, apparently preparing to attack the pair.

The Star-Sea Fishing Alliance? Yang Ling immediately shouted:

“Look out!”

A gust of force struck without warning. Someone had attacked him too.

Zhao Zheng and Xu Qingnian reacted in time. The group of martial artists failed to ambush them, so they could only try to kill them by force.

At the same time, all the Sixth-Rank martial artists who had just landed, including those from the Rong tribe, encountered similar situations.

Only a tiny handful were lucky enough to avoid an ambush. But when they saw that the other side outnumbered them and were all Sixth-Rank martial artists as well, they had no choice but to rush into the island, conceal themselves, and consider their next move later.

……

Yang Ling casually raised a hand, and the Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers returned from the bodies of more than a dozen Sixth-Rank martial artists.

The daggers floated around him, their blades pointing outward, ready to shoot out at any moment.

The sole survivor saw this display and stared in disbelief.

Yang Ling smiled. “Brother, could you tell me why you ambushed us?”