Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 185: Mysterious Ice Hiding, Cold Mist Locking the Abyss and Tentacles Dancing
Deep in the ice abyss,

The Cold Pond Giant Seal, which had lost half of its tentacle and had five large holes on its body, was briefly cleaning its wounds.

With the help of the icy power in the Eye of the Cold Pond, its pain was quickly dispelled and its wounds scabbed over quickly. Obviously, the five holes did not cause any damage to the root. It was just thinking about how to break through these closely positioned demon-hunting ships.

Putting aside the desire for revenge, it is actually more eager to devour humans. An inexplicable desire to devour is constantly driving it!
Outside the Eye of the Cold Pond, in a corner that the Cold Pond Giant Seal had not noticed, a coiled object that looked like a piece of ten-thousand-year-old black ice was greedily gazing at the Eye of the Cold Pond. It coveted this top-level place for cultivation and also coveted the Cold Pond Giant Seal.
But it knew clearly that it was no match for the Cold Pond Giant Seal. Once exposed, it would be chased away in a panic and even its life would be in danger. So it could only continue to lie dormant and wait for the opportunity.

Half a day later,
The regrouped fleet continued to search for the trace of the Giant Seal of the Cold Pond. The Still Water Ice Abyss was only this big, and the other party was not a true third-level creature, so its hiding ability should have a limit. Moreover, according to past practice, the other party would not hide forever. As long as the distance between the ships was slightly increased, it would definitely take the initiative to attack.

"It's foggy! Why is there Reitake Mist here? Shouldn't fog prevent entry?"

"This is obviously not the Reidra mist! It's a cold tide! It's the cold tide caused by the giant seal of the cold pond. It's coming!"

Before the large fleet could lock onto the trace of the Cold Pond Giant Seal, it took the initiative to attack. The overwhelming cold fog enveloped the entire fleet, as if it had already defeated the fleet.

"Oh no! There's something wrong with this cold tide. It's not only suppressing the five senses, it's also suppressing the reconnaissance formation. Even the divine sense detection is no longer effective. Fellow Taoists, be careful of sneak attacks!"

Crash~bang!

As soon as Qi Tianyu finished speaking, a loud crash was heard in the cold fog. Apparently, someone was ambushed by the giant seal of the cold pond. The attacked ship was killed before it could even fire a shot.

"This is the Ting Tao. Who was attacked? What's the current situation? All ships, report your status immediately!"

"The Jackdaw is safe!"

"The Jetway is safe!"

"…Safety!"

The Foundation Establishment monks communicated with great efficiency through their spiritual thoughts in the fleet's public communication channel, and completed the reporting and counting in a moment.

"Where's the Crescent? Is the Crescent here? Please answer immediately!"

“Ahem~
Fellow Daoist Qi, the Crescent Moon is gone, and I'm the only one who escaped...

I’m on the Jet Tour now, cough cough~ I can’t accept it! Those are all my brothers and sisters and friends…”

A weak and regretful voice was heard from someone who had escaped death.

The Crescent was a small ship with two Foundation Establishment captains and twenty or thirty Qi Refining monks on board. However, in the blink of an eye, only one injured Foundation Establishment monk was left. The captains of each ship fell silent upon hearing this. They didn't know whether the opponent had become stronger this time or the fleet was weaker than before. In any case, some ships were not stronger than the Crescent.

Obviously, this giant seal from the cold pond is not stupid. It did not choose to float to the surface of the sea to fight against the large fleet. Instead, it chose to make full use of its underwater home advantage, likes to launch sneak attacks, and only targets small ships with the weakest defense.

"Don't lose heart, everyone! Losses are inevitable. Almost every hunt for the Ice Abyss Lord involves losses. I'm sure you've all prepared yourself mentally before coming here. Now, follow my lead. We'll take it down while minimizing the losses!"

Tingtao was the first to break the silent atmosphere. Time and entry fees had been spent, so naturally, no one would give up easily, especially the Qi family, who were determined to get this opportunity.

"Each ship will form a team of two or three ships nearby. Coat your harpoons with paralyzing poison targeting the Kraken. Then, activate your respective detection arrays to maximum power. Our ship will also share detection information with you to minimize losses for everyone!"

There is no problem with Qi Tianyu's command. The purpose of forming a formation is to improve the strength of the formation. One ship becomes two or three ships, and the overall strength is more than doubled, which increases the opponent's attack cost.

Of course, that was all nonsense. The ultimate goal of the formation was to reduce the density of surface units and use their companions as bait, but the Qi family would never admit it.

The captains of all the small boats were praying that the Cold Pond Giant Seal wouldn't attack them next time. It wouldn't be a big deal with so many targets, right?

No one mentioned retreat. Now that we were here, there were dozens of ships gathered together. If we were easily defeated, there would be no point in playing. We had to kill it!

Even if they can't get the demon pill of the Cold Pond Giant Seal, they can still get a lot of demon corpses.

This special demon corpse, after being highly purified by the Linglong Secret Realm, is also a very valuable prey. It is an excellent material whether used to refine blood-replenishing pills or to assist in body refining. Excluding the core materials, the value of its flesh and blood is no less than that of the demon king.

Soon, the large fleet completed the re-formation according to the command of Tingtao. The large and medium-sized ships took a small boat nearby, usually with their own people, and the extra small boats huddled together in groups of three for warmth, and the numbers provided a sense of security.

Half an hour later,
The giant seal of the cold pond, which had eaten and drunk its fill but was once again controlled by the desire to devour, approached the water surface again.

"Look out! It's coming up, the Jackdaw is escaping from Kan's position!"

Even the reconnaissance formation that Tingtao bought at a high price from the Thousand Star City was severely suppressed by the opponent's endless cold fog. By the time it locked onto the opponent, the opponent was already right at the stern of the Jackdaw.

puff~
The other two small ships close to the Jackdaw saw with their own eyes two huge ice tentacles breaking out of the water on both sides of the Jackdaw's hull and instantly shattering the Jackdaw's protective formation.

"Fight back!"

bang bang bang
The two adjacent small ships, ready to go, opened fire at full power, and the two psychic cannons were fired at the maximum power and frequency. It seemed that only the sound of the gunfire could bring them a sense of security. The two harpoons of the two ships were also fired at the right time. This was the real killer move of the monster hunting ship.
The attacked Jackdaw also activated all its weapons, but the three ships' attacks seemed too weak in front of the Cold Pond Giant Seal. It simply ignored the three ships' counterattacks and continued to do its own thing.

Click~click~
Two giant tentacles violently wrapped around and dragged the Jackdaw from the front and back, locking it tightly and starting to pull it down.

Captain Jackdaw also wanted to abandon ship and escape, but the giant tentacles, which had already had the experience of letting their prey escape once, immediately froze the entire captain's cabin, leaving him with no way to escape.

"Damn it! Open it for me!"

Captain Jackdaw blew up the entire captain's room and looked for a way out, but the sky outside was not an ice crystal dome but a huge pale tentacles wrapped around it. One could even see layers of ice debris covering the tentacles.

Boom~boom~boom~
Captain Jackdaw did not try to cut off the giant tentacle that kept sliding. He knew that he did not have the strength to do so. Captain Jackdaw tried to escape from the bottom of the ship, but the components of the bottom of the ship were not made of first-level materials like the captain's room, but unified second-level refining components. Even without the support of the formation, it was still very resistant to attack.

"not good…"

By the time he finally managed to open the passage from the inside, the swift-moving Cold Pond Giant Seal had already successfully dived with the monster-hunting ship.

Once underwater, it is its absolute home turf. The moving water and ice blocks seem to be part of its body's external tentacles, constantly pouring in/blocking the exits of the monster hunting ship. Ordinary foundation-building monks have no ability to resist, and the sturdy and durable monster hunting ship becomes its tomb of the living dead.

"Jackdaw reports! Jackdaw..."

"Fellow Daoist Qi, the Jackdaw is gone, and so is Brother Hu..."

"How's that thing's condition?" "We fired two full-charged primary psychic cannon rounds, but they only shattered its ice armor, not causing much effective damage. I don't think its defense is strong, though its HP is somewhat strong. Both harpoons successfully hit it, but we couldn't hold it back, and we didn't dare to wrestle. To avoid being dragged into the water, we proactively cut off the harpoons..."

The other two ships in the same formation as the Jackdaw reported the battle situation separately, but their opinions were generally consistent.
Although they lost another ship, they did manage to injure the enemy. Although these injuries seemed insignificant considering the enemy's vitality, their weaknesses were obvious! This gave everyone confidence!
"You did your best, don't blame yourself!"

"The ships will regroup in groups of three or four."

"Fellow Daoist Qi, do we really not need to tighten our formation? If everyone is so far apart..."

From the initial single-ship formation to the current three- or four-ship formation, the distance between formations has become wider and wider. It is extremely difficult to provide support to the formation nearby, and some people have raised questions.

"If you tighten it too much, it won't come up. As long as you don't stay in the captain's room, you can always leave a way out for yourself!
Don't you want to kill it to avenge yourself?
A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step!

Are you planning to abandon your wounded prey? Perhaps the paralysis poison has taken effect!"

Qi Tianyu doesn't want these people to back down, he still needs their help to attract the target.

"Kill it! It must be killed!"

"Right! We destroyed our ship and lost lives. Can you reimburse us for the losses? If you had told us you didn't want to fight, we wouldn't have come in at all!"

The forces that have suffered losses have already paid a lot of sunk costs, so they are naturally unwilling to give up or see others give up.

Most of the others also have a mentality of taking chances. Their long life of hunting monsters at sea has made them believe that disasters are always one step behind them. The very few who really want to retreat can only be swept away by public opinion.

Soon, the large fleet changed its formation according to the command of Tingtao.

One large ship with two small ships, one medium ship with three small ships, or two medium ships with two small ships, forming more than a dozen new formations.

It seems that a formation has only added one ship, but the actual output capacity has been greatly improved. This will greatly increase the difficulty of hunting the Cold Pond Giant. If it chooses to attack any small ship, it will be fiercely besieged by the surrounding ships. If it fails to escape from the battle in the first time, it will be surrounded and suppressed by other surrounding formations.

"Fellow Daoist Qi, can I transfer some of the crew members to your Ting Tao? They are all my nephews and nephews. I hope you can help me."

Some people had concerns. Although they all wanted to reap rewards, they were unwilling to let the entire ship be buried with them as a lesson. Even if the probability of being attacked among dozens of ships was extremely low, they still had to be prepared.

"Can!"

A small boat near Tingtao transferred most of the non-combat crew members to this large ship. The large ship has a strong aura and the probability of being attacked is much lower.

Seeing him do this, other formations around him followed suit and wanted to transfer those who were not in the weapon operation sequence to larger ships. However, the capacity of medium-sized ships was limited and they could not accommodate many people. Too many people would affect the operation, so they could only take in a small number of people to give them some psychological comfort.

Deep in the ice abyss, the giant scorpion of the cold pond, after having devoured the delicious food, began to heal its wounds. It violently pulled out two second-level primary harpoons, leaving two more holes in its body.

But it seemed as if its sense of pain was numbed by the extreme deliciousness of the Foundation Establishment Monk, and it did not care about these seemingly non-fatal wounds. It even soon felt the urge of devouring again.

Eat, eat, eat~
The voice of the nightmare echoed in the depths of its consciousness.

"Be careful! It's coming again! Short-tailed Leopard, pay attention to Kun's position, and other ships attack with all your strength! Keep it!"

With the support of the shared detection system, the Tingtao finally locked onto the target a little ahead of time and immediately shared the detection information with the four ships in the formation where the Short-tailed Leopard was located.

Captain Short-tailed Leopard cursed his bad luck in his heart that he was chosen among dozens of ships, but he did not give up resistance. He handed the ship's weapons to the boatman to operate, and immediately activated the spiritual weapons and all the talismans on his body to buy time for the three surrounding ships to attack.

bang~
The two ice crystal tentacles worked together to pierce through the short-tailed leopard's defensive formation and rushed towards the short-tailed leopard captain on the deck.

"Don't look down on me! Cut it off for me!"

The flaming golden sword cut out a mighty leopard shadow, and three second-level attack talismans and two second-level defense talismans were released at the same time. The four attacks landed at the same position. Captain Short-tailed Leopard tried to cut off the huge tentacle that wrapped around the Short-tailed Leopard. As long as he cut it off, he could delay more time, make a great contribution, and the sacrifice was worth it.

However, the result of the attack disappointed him. Although he easily broke through the outer layer of ice armor wrapped around the tentacles and successfully injured the tentacles, its huge blood volume and rapid sliding and contraction shared a lot of damage. Although it was a bit slow, there was still a long way to go before it was cut off.

hiss~
The Cold Pond Giant Seal, which had already injured one of its tentacle, was even more sensitive to this and immediately roared in anger.

"escape!"

The prepared attack had no apparent effect and even angered the other party. Captain Short-tailed Leopard could only flee in embarrassment.

But what greeted him were several other tentacles of the Cold Pond Giant Seal that had never appeared before. They jumped out of the water together and surrounded Captain Short-Tailed Leopard, forming an encirclement on the water surface with tentacles flying through the air. The shields created by the two second-level defense talismans could not withstand the huge force of the tentacles.

"Fellow Daoists, please save me~"

Boom boom boom~
The foundation-building cultivators on the other three boats did not dare to leave the boats at all. Even if they did, they could not really save her. They could only hide in the boats and attack with all their strength the part of the body of the Cold Pond Giant Seal that had finally been revealed, trying to kill it and seek psychological comfort.

"It hit me!"

"I got stabbed too!"

"Hold! Don't let it get away! Support is coming soon!"

The harpoons of two of the three boats hit the vital parts of the demon-driver, but they ignored the fact that the Cold Pond Giant Seal was not unable to defeat them, but was just unwilling to pay too much. Once it got angry, three or four boats were no match for it.

The giant seal in the cold pond that was hit by the harpoon did not dive immediately but followed the chain to attack the monster hunting ship next to it. Since it was already here, it might as well catch one more prey.

"No! Let go of the harpoon! We can't pull it!"

The medium-sized ship that was dragged in the opposite direction by the chain immediately cut itself off and abandoned the harpoon, but the other small ship that reacted more slowly was obviously not so lucky.
It was directly crushed into countless pieces of driftwood by the Cold Pond Giant Seal's eight-clawed embrace during its close attack, and naturally no cultivators among them survived.

"Gulu~ This... is too strong! What kind of monster are we hunting? Our small monster-hunting ship is powerless against it..."

"It mutated from an ordinary second-level peak Moyuan Demon Seal's biological template to develop ice-attribute abilities and a massive size far exceeding what a second-level demonic beast should have. It's the strongest second-level creature I've ever seen!"

The survivors on the other two boats stared at the driftwood on the water in a daze. If the giant beast changed its target to them, they seemed to have no power to resist. Fortunately, the other party gave up when they saw that the nearest four-ship formation had arrived to support.

(End of this chapter)