A fierce battle was raging within the Demon Sea!
Towering waves surged skyward as Ma Lian surfaced, locked in combat with a colossal leviathan.
*Boom!* A violent collision suddenly erupted, forcing Ma Lian and the leviathan apart. Wu Tianjun, struck by the shockwave of the clash, plummeted into the depths of the sea, his fate uncertain.
"Young Master!" Ma Lian cried out in panic, diving headfirst into the sea to search for Wu Tianjun. No matter how heaven-defying his young master's talents were, there was no way he could withstand a direct strike from a Saint Ancestor, even if his opponent was only at the first step of the Saint Ancestor Realm!
"Cough!" Ma Lian dragged Wu Tianjun back to the surface. The young master coughed up a thick mouthful of blood; his mask was shattered, his demonic body fractured, and his injuries were severe. He was forced to use his remaining demonic energy just to shroud his face from view.
"Oh? Still alive? How intriguing. Since when did the Demon Race produce such a monstrous genius?" The speaker, a middle-aged man, was actually a human. He spoke with a touch of surprise. The youth before him was at most a Divine Lord, and though his exact age was hard to discern, he was undoubtedly very young.
"You court death!" Seeing Wu Tianjun so gravely wounded, Ma Lian was consumed by a towering rage. Incensed by the human Saint Ancestor's words, he launched a furious, reckless assault, shattering the very void around them!
"Haha! Brother Whale, let us slay this demon together!" Showing no fear, the human charged forward to meet Ma Lian's fists head-on.
"This fellow is no ordinary opponent! Let's finish him quickly and make our departure!" the leviathan rumbled, its voice vibrating through the trembling void.
"Haha! You two think you can defeat me? You dared to harm my Young Master—neither of you will leave this place alive today!" Ma Lian could see that both opponents were only at the mid-stage of the first step of the Saint Ancestor Realm, the same cultivation level as his own. However, he was confident that his soul foundation far surpassed theirs.
"We shall see about that!" the human Saint Ancestor sneered, completely unfazed.
"All of you, leave immediately!" Wu Tianjun called out to the merchant ship. "They are blocking this passage, which means the path ahead is bound to be treacherous!"
"Thank you for the warning, Young Master! We shall depart at once!" Xuan Yun was now fully aware of Wu Tianjun's extraordinary background. To have a Saint Ancestor Realm powerhouse as a personal guard was one thing, but to survive a direct strike from a Saint Ancestor at such a tender age was truly terrifying. His hidden trump cards had to be immense!
"Haha! None of you are escaping!" The human laughed wildly, diverting a portion of his power to unleash a devastating strike toward the merchant ship.
"Hmph! If my Young Master commands them to leave, who are you to stop them?" Ma Lian snorted coldly, shifting his position to intercept the attack.
"How dare you distract yourself in battle..." Seizing the opening, the leviathan Saint Ancestor launched a sneak attack, sweeping its massive tail forward.
"Hmph! You think you can match me?" Ma Lian snorted coldly, throwing a left hook to clash directly with the giant tail.
*Boom!* The shockwave forced them apart once more.
"The Tai Cang Heavenly Art?!" Ma Lian glared coldly at the human, his voice dropping.
"..." The human Saint Ancestor's pupils constricted, his expression turning grim.
"..." The leviathan remained silent. Even working together, the two of them could not suppress Ma Lian!
"The Tai Cang Family?" Wu Tianjun gave a strange smile. They've met quite a few times now. Last time, on Yan Family Planet, he also ruined the Tai Cang Family's plans. He suddenly looked towards the merchant ship that had already gone far away; on board was the Third Young Miss, whose identity was not simple.
"People on the Xuan Ming Merchant Ship, listen up! The sudden attack by the demonic beast horde was instigated by a Tai Cang Family Saint Ancestor!" He suddenly shouted loudly, transmitting his voice to the merchant ship.
"..." That Human Saint Ancestor's face twisted into an extremely grim expression.
"Tai Cang Family's Saint Ancestor?! Good! My Xuanming Merchant Guild will remember this!" Xuan Yun said coldly. After returning, she would immediately investigate.
"You dare to frame my Tai Cang Family?" That Saint Ancestor glared darkly at Wu Tianjun and said.
"Haha! You colluded with demonic beasts, yet you dare to say this has nothing to do with you? Only a ghost would believe you!" Ma Lian also said coldly.
"Heh heh! Just a reckless act! This palm strike, I will repay it sooner or later. I want to see if your Tai Cang Family can protect you!" Wu Tianjun said coldly. If he hadn't timely unleashed a layer of Samsara power to envelop his body just now, he would have been in a much worse state.
"Hmph! As if I'd be afraid of a junior like you!" that person said coldly.
"Haha! For Young Master to take an interest in you, your life will certainly be very eventful!" Ma Lian said with a cold laugh.
"..." Ju Jing and that Human Race Saint Ancestor didn't understand.
"Haha! Let's go!" Seeing that the two of them had no intention of keeping them any longer, Wu Tianjun signaled Ma Lian to leave. Staying here no longer had any meaning.
"Alright!" Ma Lian responded with a single word, then approached, swept up Wu Tianjun, and vanished.
"Why didn't you go all out?" the Human Race Saint Ancestor said angrily.
"Hmph! Do you think that guy went all out? Making a ruckus would let others sense that you incurred the wrath of the Phoenix Saint and your ancestor?" Ju Jing transformed into a dark-skinned middle-aged man nearly ten feet tall and said. "Fortunately, they haven't discovered anything!" He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hmph! What if my Tai Cang Family makes an enemy of the Xuanming Merchant Guild?"
"It's because of you! You even used the Tai Cang Family's secret technique!"
"Hmph!"
"I think you should be more careful about those two who just left. That brat survived your strike, and he has a Saint Ancestor realm guard by his side. His identity is definitely not simple!" Ju Jing said.
"Hmph! My Tai Cang Family isn't afraid of them!" he snorted coldly, extremely domineering.
"..." Ju Jing said nothing more.
"Let's go back to that place," the Human Race Saint Ancestor said, seeing this.
"Hmph! Let's go!" Ju Jing also said. The two of them quickly vanished.
Not long after they vanished, two figures reappeared in the void. It was none other than Wu Tianjun and his companion, who had left earlier.
"Young Master! Why are we back here?" Ma Lian asked, a little confused.
"Haha, they're blocking people from passing through here, so there must be something ahead that they don't want anyone to know about! Hmph hmph! How could this Young Master let them have their way?!" Wu Tianjun said with a wicked smile. "Consider it collecting a bit of interest."
"Oh?" Ma Lian's eyes lit up. "Then we..."
"No rush. I need to see what it is first, then we'll figure out our next move. After all, we are unfamiliar with this place," Wu Tianjun said nonchalantly. "Let me heal my injuries first." He sat cross-legged in the void, regulating his breathing. He had indeed sustained significant injuries from that earlier palm strike.
Two hours later, Wu Tianjun finally opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of white mist. Having fully recovered, he activated his Heaven-Piercing Eyes to scan the seabed.
More than six hours passed before Wu Tianjun opened his eyes, a strange expression on his face. Could he have guessed wrong? He hadn't found anything suspicious at all.
"Strange. Why is there nothing?" he muttered. "No, that's not right. Something is definitely off." Wu Tianjun fell into deep thought.
He continued to employ his Heaven-Piercing Eyes and his Primeval Soul, searching for any concentration of energy or treasures. Two hours later, he looked toward the distant west and smiled.
"Haha! A restriction! Another restriction! No wonder I couldn't find it earlier!" he chuckled. In that direction, he perceived two immense concentrations of energy, with another cluster of auras nearby. From what he could discern, there were two incredibly powerful, top-tier experts, four others who were likely even stronger than Ma Lian, and six more who were probably at the First Step of the Saint Ancestor Realm, just like Ma Lian. Twelve Saint Ancestors in total!
"They are breaking the restriction!" Wu Tianjun immediately deduced. "Heh, did you really think you could hide?"
Meanwhile, at the location Wu Tianjun was observing, two elderly men were continuously forming hand seals when they suddenly looked toward the void at the exact same time.
"Brother Feng..." one of them said, looking at the other.
"Hmph! Someone might have discovered us. Hurry up! The sooner we break through, the more benefits we'll reap," the other replied.
"Indeed. For someone to spy on us without revealing themselves, they must be quite formidable. Besides, we only sensed the faint aura of a divine ability just now; that person is likely very far away. It would take them quite some time to get here."
They didn't dwell on it further and accelerated their efforts to dissolve the restriction. Aside from the two of them, there were nearly a hundred other cultivators present, all of whom were at the Divine Realm or higher—and most of them were young! It was a truly terrifying lineup.
"Hmph, impressive. They might have sensed me," Wu Tianjun muttered, his pupils contracting. "Oh? They aren't going to bother with me?"
"Second Protector, I need you to make a trip..." He turned to Ma Lian and gave him instructions.
"This..." Ma Lian hesitated, slightly startled.
"Go on," Wu Tianjun chuckled.
"But, Young Master..."
"Haha, don't worry! I'm not that easy to kill. Go quickly! Those people are about to succeed." He was referring to them breaking the restriction.
Ma Lian hesitated for a brief moment. "Understood! I shall return within ten days." He quickly departed.
"Haha, I really want to see what lies beyond that restriction. For it to be able to block my Heaven-Piercing Eyes, it must be something extraordinary," Wu Tianjun chuckled to himself. "I wonder what realm those two old men have reached?"