Chapter 4514 — Into the Wolf's Den Again

Still, if seawater could not thwart Wei Zhao, then it could hardly thwart the Xishan Old Sect, that monstrous figure among the crooked cultivators. To think that hiding in the sea alone could shake off the Xishan Old Sect was no different from a fool's dream—and even self-deception must have its limits.

What was more, the sea was not like the land. Even if one could cope with the seawater with ease, one still had to face all manner of unforeseen perils—sea beasts, for instance.

Because these waters lay close to Nanzhou, the vast majority of sea beasts, who kept to their own affairs and did not trespass upon the spirit-beast clan's domain, would not linger in the Nanzhou sea. But every rule had its exceptions, and there were always some sea beasts that prowled and swam about these waters. And since they dared come to the spirit-beast clan's exclusive territory, they naturally shared one trait in common: their strength was bound to be formidable.

Wei Zhao's luck today could truly be called foul. First thing in the morning he had been hunted by a monstrous crook on the Opening-Mountain stage like the Xishan Old Sect, and now, having fled into the sea, he had with wretched timing roused an exceptionally vicious being—a Ghost Electric Ray, lurking on the seabed waiting for prey to come to it.

Compared with other giant sea beasts that were a hundred zhang long and more, the Ghost Electric Ray was rather dainty. From head to tail it measured less than five zhang—quite the miniature, quite the pocket-sized.

Of course, giant sea beasts made for overly conspicuous targets, and the Nanzhou sea, especially the coastal waters, was not particularly deep. Had they dared approach, the spirit-beast clan and human cultivators would have sensed them at once. So the sea beasts that truly roamed the Nanzhou sea were mostly small in stature, like the Ghost Electric Ray.

Yet small of body was all it was. A fearsome being like the Ghost Electric Ray, which could not be judged by common sense, would, in a true battle beneath the sea, make short work of any Golden Core expert—nay, even a Nascent Soul expert would be sending himself to his death. At the very least, only an Arcane Ascension expert would have what it took to give it a fight.

A deep purple arc of lightning flashed through the seawater. The Ghost Electric Ray, which had been half-dormant, buried in the sand and gravel, woke with a start the instant Wei Zhao leaped into the water, then, like a phantom, soundlessly gave chase.

The Ghost Electric Ray was a purely carnivorous sea beast. Constrained by its size, its appetite was nothing like as fearsome as other sea beasts that would devour several tons of flesh at a go, but it was exceedingly particular about the quality of its prey—the mightier the creature, the more it relished it.

Best of all were powerful human cultivators: their flesh was tender, and every one it ate would raise its own strength by a measure. To the Ghost Electric Ray they were simply food made by heaven and earth. And to hunt human cultivators, the Nanzhou sea was plainly a superb choice—as at this very moment, when prey would always come knocking at its door.

The Ghost Electric Ray was silent but exceedingly swift. Wei Zhao had only just entered a wholly unfamiliar environment and was at the same time on his guard against the Xishan Old Sect, utterly unaware of the danger rising from below. Fortunately, the jade pendant's warning function had not failed.

The pendant's urgent alarm rang out in his mind, and Wei Zhao's already taut nerves pulled tighter still. He assumed the Xishan Old Sect had caught up and at once made to quicken his pace and flee.

Unfortunately, this was underwater, where the Super Butterfly Microstep was useless; to move, he could only swim, and that speed was truly nothing to boast of. Wei Zhao's swimming was passable, but only a little better than an ordinary man's. Without dedicated training, there was no chance of moving as freely as he did on land.

Yet if Wei Zhao was slow, the Ghost Electric Ray rising in a killing rush from beneath him was not. As those deep purple arcs of extreme danger kept slicing past him, Wei Zhao finally became aware of that enormous ghostly face closing in fast from below, and his scalp prickled with numbness.

It was called the Ghost Electric Ray precisely because, seen from above, its back resembled a huge, hideous ghost face. It was like a death notice, for the moment a human cultivator made out that ghostly face clearly, it meant his end was near.

Wei Zhao's heart was a tangle of every feeling at once, plunging to the bottom in an instant. Today he had truly left the house without consulting the almanac—when a man's luck turns sour, even cold water gets stuck between his teeth. What lay before him was that saying come to life...

He had never seen a Ghost Electric Ray, but judging purely by the dangerous aura it radiated, this creature of grotesque and wicked appearance was absolutely no easy opponent. Never mind that he was now being hunted by the Xishan Old Sect—even in ordinary times, Wei Zhao might not have been confident of handling a Ghost Electric Ray, for this was, after all, in the water.

The Ghost Electric Ray had none of the Xishan Old Sect's patience. Once it had fixed its eyes on Wei Zhao, it struck at once. Countless arcs of deep purple current, horrifying to behold, scattered outward from the ghost face on its back. At first glance they seemed wholly disordered, yet a closer look revealed that these currents had formed a three-dimensional cage, trapping Wei Zhao alive within it.

At the same time, the Ghost Electric Ray's long, slender, pitch-black tail thrust suddenly at Wei Zhao's back from an angle of extreme cunning. This was a true master of the surprise attack; its speed even Wei Zhao's Super Butterfly Microstep could not rival—and especially in the water, such speed was well-nigh invincible.

The jade pendant's alarm clanged wildly, and Wei Zhao finally reacted in the split second before disaster. At any cost he poured out his true qi with all his strength, shifting his body a small step sideways in an instant. The Ghost Electric Ray's spine-chilling tail skewered past almost grazing his ear; though it did not touch him, the violent current of water it dragged in its wake left a long, narrow gash of blood across Wei Zhao's cheek—a shocking sight.

Its strike missed, and the Ghost Electric Ray gave an eerie cry. The purple lightning cage entrapping Wei Zhao tightened swiftly in response, as though it meant to electrocute him alive.

The Ghost Electric Ray's mightiest weapon was, naturally, the terrifying current it emitted. Measured in the units of the mortal world, its intensity reached at least a hundred million volts—more than enough to electrocute any Nascent Soul expert alive.

Unless absolutely necessary, the Ghost Electric Ray generally would not kill directly with electricity, for that would ruin the quality of the prey's flesh. So its first strike was usually to trap the prey in the purple lightning cage and then kill it with its long tail. Only, Wei Zhao had just dodged that strike, leaving it no choice but this lesser resort.

Even if the flesh were a little scorched and ruined, that was still better than letting the prey escape. Such was the Ghost Electric Ray's hunting strategy.

The purple lightning cage tightened swiftly from every direction. This time, even true qi could not save Wei Zhao. Before he had even come into direct contact with the purple lightning, his whole body had already fallen into a state of paralysis; no matter how he goaded it with true qi, the numbness would not ease.

Wei Zhao could not help but smile bitterly. Before he had escaped the tiger's den, he had fallen into the wolf's lair—this time he was surely done for! R1152