This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

With the final hiss of the Water Demon, its remaining body exploded with a "bang," turning into a cloud of black mist that dissipated into the air.

The stench of fish mixed with the acrid smell of thunder and fire permeated the dim moonlight.

A great battle has finally come to an end.

The golden light on Wang Xiaoer's body slowly receded into his body, like the receding tide.

He gasped for breath, his legs buckled, and he almost collapsed to his knees.

Immediately afterwards, a feeling of being completely drained surged up from the depths of every cell in his body, leaving him feeling weak and sore all over.

"Waiter!"

Are you alright?

Two figures burst out from behind the boulder, rushing towards them from the left and right.

Zhang Chen grabbed Wang Xiaoer's arm, his face flushed with excitement, his lips trembling, and he could barely speak.

"Good lad! You...you...you've got some skills!"

He looked Wang Xiaoer up and down as if he were a monster, and excitedly patted him on the shoulder.

"My goodness! That attack just now was even more powerful than my Five Thunderbolts Technique! What... what kind of technique is that?"

A Yue didn't speak. She simply walked quickly to Wang Xiaoer and began another round of holy light probing on him.

But after looking around, I still couldn't see anything.

"So... this is the legendary 'final reckoning' for the 'Retribution Paladins'?"

Her voice was soft, with a hint of realization.

"Paladins are still too strong! They're basically just face-rolling keyboard warriors, they need a nerf!"

Wang Xiaoer twitched the corners of his mouth, trying to smile, but found that he barely had the strength to move his facial muscles.

"What do you mean by riding... I'm just a little strong."

He waved his hand, about to say something to ease the tension.

At that moment, the golden silkworm gu that had been quietly resting on his shoulder suddenly began to vibrate violently without warning.

"Buzz buzz buzz—!!!"

It wasn't the joy of victory, nor the comfort of relaxation.

It was a cry that was a thousand times more terrifying than when facing the Water Demon!

The sound was like an ice needle, instantly piercing Wang Xiaoer's eardrum.

His heart sank suddenly, and his nerves, which had just relaxed, instantly tightened to the extreme.

wrong!

Wang Xiaoer forcibly suppressed the feeling of exhaustion in his body, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he activated his Qi perception again, looking at the pool of water that had just returned to calm.

With just one glance, his blood seemed to freeze.

In the center of the pool, the vortex of black energy did not dissipate despite the death of the water demon.

Instead, it's like an activated black hole, spinning even faster and becoming even larger!

Round and round it went, frantically churning the entire body of water.

A chilling aura, ten times more terrifying than the water demon from before—no, a hundred times more so—was slowly rising from the deepest part of the pool.

The feeling was like a god who had been asleep for thousands of years being suddenly awakened.

"Glug... Glug glug..."

The mutations occurred simultaneously.

The surface of Moon Bay began to bubble up like boiling water, with countless tiny bubbles rising to the surface.

Instead of rising, the water temperature dropped sharply, and the biting cold caused a layer of frost to condense in the air near the shore.

"What happened?"

Zhang Chen also sensed something was wrong, and the excitement and agitation on his face instantly faded.

"Wasn't that thing supposed to have vanished into nothingness? This is...?"

A-Yue's expression was equally solemn. She stared intently at the water, her voice icy cold, as if squeezed out from between her teeth.

"You've forgotten, Anubarak warned us that there's more than one water elemental below; that resentment hasn't dissipated!"

"Not only did it not disperse, but it was actually absorbed by something..."

Wang Xiaoer's Adam's apple bobbed up and down; he could "see" things that others couldn't.

At the source of that terrifying aura, he sensed a bottomless malice.

The malice was so immense that the ferocious, century-old water fiend from before seemed as insignificant as a firefly compared to it.

"Brother Chen."

Wang Xiaoer's voice was somewhat hoarse, with a tremor he himself was unaware of.

"That thing... made a sound before it died."

"It seems it's not screaming in agony, it's sending a message."

"To deliver a message?"

Zhang Chen was taken aback at first, then, as if he had thought of something extremely terrifying, he suddenly looked at the violently boiling pool of water. "Something's wrong! Something's completely wrong!"

"A hundred-year-old water affliction is already an extremely malevolent entity; how could it possibly obey anyone? Unless..."

His lips trembled as a guess that made even his Dao heart tremble surfaced in his mind.

"That one just now... was just a gatekeeper!"

"Its dying cry awakened its true master below!"

"BOOM—!!!"

As if to prove his words.

The entire surface of Moon Bay suddenly dipped downwards, then surged upwards wildly!

The water is boiling!

The earth is trembling!

At this moment, the chilling aura rising from the bottom of the water erupted completely without reservation!

The terrifying pressure, like a tangible mountain, weighed heavily on the hearts of the three.

Wang Xiaoer felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart, making it difficult to even breathe.

Zhang Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood with a "poof." He was already greatly exhausted, and under this pressure, even his Dao foundation began to become unstable.

A Yue groaned, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. All the Gu sacs at her waist were vibrating wildly, and the Gu worms inside were emitting terrified cries.

Of the three, only Wang Xiaoer, who had just unleashed his pure Yang energy, was in slightly better condition.

But his expression at that moment was worse than anyone else's.

Because he knew he no longer had the strength to throw a punch like the one he had just delivered.

They used up all their cards on that "gatekeeper" from earlier.

"Splash—!!!"

A deafening roar came from the center of the pool.

The water surface there suddenly arched upwards in a huge arc, as if some mountain-like behemoth was about to emerge from the bottom of the water.

The three of them stared in horror at that spot.

next second.

A huge claw, about the size of a small boat, covered with layers of thick black scales and with vicious barbs at its joints, suddenly emerged from the water!

That's not a human hand.

It resembled the claws of some legendary dragon, brimming with a sense of destructive power.

The sharp claws cleaved through the water's surface without pausing for a moment.

With a whistling sound that tore through the air, and carrying immense force, it slammed down heavily onto the shore where they were!

"Get out of the way!"

With his last ounce of strength, Wang Xiaoer roared and shoved Zhang Chen and A Yue aside.

The three of them tumbled backward in a sorry state.

"boom--!!!"

The giant claw descended.

The earth trembled violently.

The spot where they had just been standing had been smashed into a huge crater!

Dirt flew everywhere, and stones scattered in all directions!

The smoke and dust cleared.

The giant claw rested quietly on the shore, its black scales gleaming with a cold metallic sheen in the moonlight.

Just a single claw could bring such a terrifying sense of oppression.

It's unimaginable what kind of enormous monster it is underwater!

The air was deathly silent.

Zhang Chen and A Yue got up from the ground, staring at the huge claw mark and the giant claw that was as big as a mountain rock, their faces drained of color.

It’s over.

This time, they really messed up.