Chapter 858: Goddess of the Sea Race
The saint artifact trembled violently in Ling Yuanzi’s hand. It wanted to break free but no matter how it tried, it failed. Ling Yuanzi’s hand seemed like a steel claw that grasped the artifact tightly.
Disheveled, Ling Yuanzi stared viciously at the saint artifact in his hand. He laughed aloud. “I never thought that this would be a treasure that can store living people. From today onward, this belongs to me. Jian Chen, you injured my origin soul. I’ll take your treasure as compensation.”
Hum!
The trembling of the artifact became even more violent. It began to radiate brightly with golden light but it was all to no avail. Although the artifact spirit possessed the strength of a Saint Emperor within the artifact space, its external abilities were too weak due to innate limitations. Even Saint Rulers would be able to restrain it, let alone supreme Saint Kings.
“Jian Chen, give up. I want to see how you’re able to escape from me. When I take you back to the clan, I have all the methods in the world to deal with you.” sneered Ling Yuanzi. Enveloped with a layer of powerful Saint Force, he trapped the saint artifact in his palm before he swung out with his other hand. He directly cut open the space and created a Space Gate, about to leave.
At this very moment, a vast, boundless energy appeared abruptly. It shot toward Ling Yuanzi viciously with an aura of destruction.
The appearance of this energy was too sudden. It traveled too quickly, preventing Ling Yuanzi from reacting at all. It had also locked onto Ling Yuanzi’s presence; he was unable to dodge at all.
Meanwhile, a terrifying energy from the soul permeated the sky and forcefully collapsed the Space Gate ripped open by Ling Yuanzi.
Ling Yuanzi roared out. He no longer suppressed his injuries and struck out with all he had toward the powerful energy that surged in his direction.
His Saint Weapon exploded with light and great energy rippled mightily in the surroundings. Afterward, he swung down with it; this terrifying attack caused the space to be annihilated and revealed a patch of darkness.
Boom!
Ling Yuanzi was not a match for it when the two attacks collided. He was wounded greatly once again, sent flying backward as he vomited blood. His complexion became ghastly, now extremely weak.
The saint artifact took advantage of this opportunity to break free from Ling Yuanzi’s grasp, turning into a streak of golden light and disappearing into the vast ocean below.
Ling Yuanzi was astounded. The person who had attacked secretly was just too terrifying. Their strength completely exceeded his, which caused him a substantial shock.
Ling Yuanzi struggled as he stayed afloat in the sky. He quickly pulled out a piece of jade from his Space Ring before he crushed it without any hesitation. Only then did he greatly relax.
“I wonder who is it that struck out secretly and has something against us ten protector clans, to ruin what we’re doing.” Ling Yuanzi immediately became confident and called out with difficulty.
Bi Yifei also arrived before Ling Yuanzi with Bi Jian. He looked around cautiously; the person who had attacked secretly was just too powerful. Even at his peak, Bi Yifei had no confidence in absolute victory, much less now.
At this very moment, a vague figure suddenly appeared a hundred meters away from the three of them. She was a tall, slender woman in a blue dress and seemed to be in her twenties. Her blue hair fell like a waterfall to her feet, while her face was illusionary, blurry and unable to be seen properly. All over, she radiated naturally with a unique aura. It was filled with holiness and nobility as if she could not be offended. It disinclined people from being disrespectful from the bottom of their hearts.
Bi Yifei and Ling Yuanzi were both surprised even though they were Fifth Heavenly Layer Saint Kings. This was because the blurry, mysterious woman caused them to be filled with an urge to prostrate themselves.
It shocked both of them very much to feel this. Even when they faced up against Saint Emperors such as the path lord of carnal desires or the tiger emperor Lankyros, they would not feel something like this.
“Who are you!?” Ling Yuanzi cried out. His confidence had already begun to slip away. He could feel the strength and terror of this mysterious woman.
“Human, you’ve intruded into the territory of us, the Sea race. Leave immediately.” The illusionary woman’s pearl-like teeth moved slightly. Her voice was calm and cold, without any emotions.
Ling Yuanzi was astonished. He asked with a gruff voice, “Are you a Saint Emperor from the Sea race?”
“I am the goddess of the Sea race.” The woman’s voice was as calm as ever.
“What! The sea goddess!?”
Bi Yifei and Ling Yuanzi paled in fright. They staggered backward, while waves of emotion roared through their hearts.
“Leave the territory of my Sea race in three seconds.” The woman threw down a final sentence before she disappeared. She was now nowhere to be seen.
However, her appearance had brought tremendous shock to both Bi Yifei and Ling Yuanzi. It stunned them on the spot, their minds ceasing thought. When they had returned to their senses, they no longer dared to stay any longer. What Jian Chen? What Winged Tiger God? Thoughts such as those were all cast aside by them. They left as if they were fleeing for their lives.
The sea goddess was a supreme champion that had surpassed Saint Emperor. In the current age, who could be her enemy?
Not long afterward, Ling Yuanzi united with the people who had rushed over from the Yiyuan sect. He described everything that had happened in detail to the other great elders.
“What? The sea goddess’s not dead?”
Hearing Ling Yuanzi’s report, the great elders all paled in fright. They were shocked. This piece of news was just like a crack of thunder to them. It was unbelievable.
“Let’s head back immediately and quickly call on the other protector clans and Mercenary City to discuss this matter.” The people from the sect quickly left the ocean along with Bi Yifei.
…
Currently, the saint artifact hung in the air as it radiated with a faint golden light in a dark cave. When it had escaped from Ling Yuanzi, the saint artifact had descended into the depths of the ocean, before finally passing through a powerful barrier and entering another world. Afterward, it hid in a cave.
Although the world was located under the sea, it was enveloped by a very powerful barrier that kept all the seawater out. It created an independent space for the world under the sea.
Within the saint artifact, Jian Chen and Nubis accepted the origin energy of Radiant Saint Force from the artifact spirit and were recovering. The two of them were enveloped by a milky white light as their injuries healed quickly.
This time, the attacks they had received were from Saint Kings. The injuries were extremely heavy and it took Nubis an entire day to recover. As for Jian Chen, his body still contained some residual energy from the Saint Tier Battle Skill as he was injured by it. His condition was even worse and he struggled to heal himself.
“That Saint Tier Battle Skill really is powerful. If you want to completely heal the wounds left behind by it, you need several strands of origin energy. Just one will not be enough.” The artifact spirit stood before Jian Chen, pouring several strands of origin energy consecutively into his body. It slowly healed the wounds left behind by the Saint Tier Battle Skill.
The origin energy controlled by the artifact spirit was much more powerful that Jian Chen’s origin energy. With him helping out, the effects would be greater.
After consuming several strands, Jian Chen finally recovered completely. However, his loss of a five hundred years of life from casting the forbidden Radiant Arte could not be recovered no matter what he tried.
As a result, Jian Chen recovered from his injuries but he clearly still felt weak.
“Artifact spirit, how is the situation outside?” As soon as he recovered, Jian Chen asked the artifact spirit immediately.
“Master, we’re completely safe now. We’ve reached the Sea race,” said the artifact spirit.
With that, Jian Chen finally relaxed slightly. He gave out a soft sigh. “What a pity. Even with five hundred years of my life as the price, the God’s Descent was unable to kill the two of them.”
“Jian Chen, you should know where to draw the line. They were both Fifth Heavenly Layer Saint Kings and were heavily injured by you. Additionally, they’ve received wounds to their origin souls where it's extremely difficult to recover from. They’ve paid an extremely heavy price and in the end, you even forced that old man to cast his Saint Tier Battle Skill,” said Nubis.
“If it weren’t for the battle skill destroying my God’s Descent, I had the confidence of killing the two of them. If I used a millennia of my life as the price, I’m confident I could’ve forcefully taken on his Saint Tier Battle Skill and then killed them afterward,” said Jian Chen expressionlessly. He felt rather regretful; he was so close to killing two great Saint Kings this time.
“A thousand years of life!” Nubis immediately leaped up and stared at Jian Chen wide-eyed. “Kiddo Jian Chen, do you think your life is too long? Five hundred years is already terrifying enough and yet you still want to pay a thousand years of your life to kill two Saint Kings. Why would you even do such an unworthwhile thing? With your talent, you’ll probably reach Saint Emperor in another thousand years. At that time, you’ll have the power to kill your way through the protector clans. Why must you be so wrapped up in the moment?”
Jian Chen stood up and said, “Nubis, let’s not talk about this for now. I plan on going into seclusion for some time after this.”
“Alright, I’ll go into seclusion too. When I absorb all the hidden essence left in that old snake, I’ll be able to reach Saint King successfully,” said Nubis.
At that very moment, the artifact spirit’s expression changed slightly. He said, “The senses of the Sea race is just too powerful. Master, a few people have already discovered our existence and are currently hurrying over.”
With that, Jian Chen’s face darkened slightly. “Looks like it’s not the time to go into seclusion right now.”
“Jian Chen, let’s go out first. The secret of the saint artifact cannot become widespread. We definitely can’t let the people of the Sea race discover its existence. Once any news of it is leaked, it’ll cause quite some trouble,” said Nubis.
Afterwards, Nubis and Jian Chen appeared outside with a flash of white light in the gloomy cave. Jian Chen stored the artifact away, before they concealed their presences and walked outside.
Arriving outside the cave, Jian Chen unconsciously looked upward. The sky was a deep blue, consisting of seawater that was forcefully blocked by the barrier. The barrier shone with a gentle blue light that illuminated the entire world. The territory of the Sea race was dyed blue by the light from the barrier.
Where the Sea race thrived, the temperature was rather low. The outside sun could not be seen at all, while some energy of the six attributes were lacking. The water attribute was extremely powerful, several times denser than on the Tian Yuan Continent, while the other attributes were much weaker. The fire attribute was not present at all.
“Is this the world of the Sea race?” murmured Jian Chen as he gazed at the unfamiliar world.
Although Nubis knew that the Sea race existed from his inherited memories, it was the first time he had come here. Naturally, he was extremely curious too, constantly moving his head to look around.
Far away, over ten figures appeared suddenly. They radiated with a water-blue light as they sped toward Jian Chen and Nubis in the air with the assistance of water-attributed energy.