Chapter 4514 — Into the Wolf's Den Again
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
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.