Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

"I see it, it should be a deep-sea serpent."

Hai Ruyue suddenly spoke, pointing to a certain spot in the sea. The sea rippled slightly, and a huge, long black tail emerged from the surface of the water before disappearing back into the water in an instant.

"Mingming, bring those guys back. Going for a night swim at this hour is just asking for trouble. Don't let it interfere with our work."

Yan pointed to Qi Yue, Shen Yun, and Xu Qing, who were preparing to go into the water at the beach. Ji Mingming quickly ran over. A moment later, Qi Yue and Shen Yun returned. Shen Yun was still holding the unconscious Xu Qing in his arms. Their subtle actions showed great intimacy.

"Hey! You guys found out..."

Qi Yue ran over and was about to ask a question when his expression suddenly changed. He looked at the sea behind him and an incredibly powerful aura suddenly appeared, as if it were blotting out the sky. Then the waves of the sea suddenly became stronger, and almost instantly, the sea level rose by more than ten meters.

"Let's go check out this material."

Yan called out to Hai Ruyue, and the two stepped into the sea against the rising waves. Beside Qi Yue, the shadowy figure of the Xie Zhi twisted and appeared.

"Qi Yue, you should leave too. This ferocious beast is beyond your current capabilities. With Yan Xiaoyi here, everything will be alright."

The voice of the Xie Zhi echoed in Qi Yue's heart. Hearing this, his pride flared up, and he wanted to refute but was powerless. He clenched his fist but then let it go. He knew very well that what the Xie Zhi said was true. At present, he really had no right to talk to Yan.

"This deep-sea serpent has a cultivation of nine thousand years; it's about to transform into a dragon."

After Hai Ruyue and Yan arrived in the sea, they hovered motionless, gazing at the creature stirring up the ocean ahead. It was a huge sea serpent with a bluish-black body, faintly emitting a bluish-green light, which could be vaguely discerned in the sea.

Its body is at least a hundred meters long, and its huge scales gleam with an eerie light. From a human perspective, snakes, due to genetic mutations, may have two heads, or even three heads.

But the strange snake in front of us, which is a hundred meters long, has a body diameter of more than two meters, and has nine large heads, looks very much like the legendary nine-headed serpent.

The giant snake has nine identical heads, all of which are bluish-black in color, just like its body. Each head has a bluish fleshy growth on top, which adds to its ferocious appearance.

Nine large heads and eighteen enormous, lantern-like eyes stared intently at Hai Ruyue and Yan, who had just appeared. Its gaze was utterly cold and expressionless. Snakes are, by nature, cold-blooded animals.

This is a deep-sea serpent, an ancient and ferocious beast, known as the strongest creature in the ocean and the ultimate being among all water-attribute ferocious beasts. Even a Qilin would never dare to provoke it lightly in the sea.

The Deep Sea Serpent is one of the kings among the ancient ferocious beasts. At the height of the Qilin clan's power, they led ancient divine beasts in a large-scale siege against the ancient ferocious beasts.

Although they achieved good results each time, they were unable to harm the ancient ferocious beasts' vital energy, largely due to the existence of the Deep Sea Nether Serpent clan.

Once the ancient ferocious beasts could no longer contend with the ancient divine beasts, they would flee to the sea. In the sea, no divine beast possessed the ability to rival the deep-sea serpent.

The Deep Sea Serpent is not only incredibly powerful, but it can also manipulate ocean waves and harness the power of heaven and earth for its own use. Even when facing the Qilin Clan's supreme Qilin Arm in the vast ocean, it remains fearless.

Of course, everything has two sides. Although the Deep Sea Serpent is powerful, it has a fatal flaw: it cannot leave the sea.

Once out of the sea, no matter how many years the Deep Sea Serpent has cultivated, its strength can only be one-tenth or even less of what it possesses in the ocean. Therefore, it can only wreak havoc in the sea and will not easily descend to land to cause trouble.

"The Eastern tsunami a few years ago must have been caused by this guy. It seems that he is preparing to devour energy and transform into a dragon. He is very close to having ten thousand years of cultivation."

Hai Ruyue stared at the Deep Sea Serpent and said in a deep voice, "The Deep Sea Serpent race has the potential to transform into dragons, and their strength is determined by the number of snake heads they have."

The Deep Sea Serpent initially had only one head. It only gained a second head after two thousand years of continuous cultivation, and then grew an additional head every thousand years thereafter. With each additional head, the Deep Sea Serpent's strength increased dramatically.

The nine-headed deep-sea serpent undoubtedly possesses nine thousand years of cultivation, and its next step is to advance to the level of a ten-thousand-year-old ferocious beast and undergo a complete transformation. Once it reaches the level of a ten-thousand-year-old ferocious beast, it will no longer be restricted by the seawater and can move on land, becoming a truly powerful king of ferocious beasts.

Of course, if a deep-sea dragon that has lived for tens of thousands of years were to come ashore, it would lose the protection of the ocean and its strength would be greatly diminished. However, compared to the deep-sea serpent stage, which is only about one-tenth the size, the situation is much better, and that level of ferocious beast is far more terrifying.

"Roar~~~"

As Hai Ruyue and Yan were talking, the deep-sea serpent also attacked quickly. Its nine huge heads opened their mouths, and the cold gaze in their eyes carried a sinister aura.

An extremely powerful and terrifying aura emanated from the deep-sea serpent, and the seawater below gradually changed, becoming boiling.

The seawater, which should have been blue, turned a ghostly green, shimmering with a faint fluorescence, and rose continuously as if boiling. Under the influence of the nine giants of the Deep Sea Serpent, the sea level gradually rose.

"You little rascal, are you going to shrink yourself, or do you want me to help you shrink?"

As Yan spoke, a red light appeared in his palm, and the scorching heat could be felt even a thousand meters away. A surge of flames shot into the sky, as if the seawater was about to burst into flames.

The eerie green liquid, upon encountering the scorching red light, emitted a piercing hissing sound, and a foul odor dissipated and evaporated, enraging the deep-sea serpent, which roared incessantly.

The nine heads of the Deep Sea Serpent roared angrily at the same time, and all nine heads slammed towards Hai Ruyue and Yan. Nine streams of seawater shot out in the shape of arrows, attacking their positions at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

"Roar……"

Hai Ruyue let out a dragon's roar, and a strong white light transformed into shields of light, which met the nine water arrows from the side.

She was no match for the Deep Sea Serpent, so she simply used the side of her light shield to deflect the water arrows that were bound to hit her, rendering them ineffective.

The deep-sea serpent became even more enraged upon seeing this, and with a roar it unleashed a terrifying purple light, instantly turning the sea purple, and the seawater strangely continued to rise.

In the seawater, whirlpools with a diameter of ten meters spun rapidly, spreading outwards. The entire surrounding sea area had turned purple, and as the whirlpools spread, they carried seawater up from the surface, their number countless.

These whirlpools were connected to the sea surface by only a faint purple line, but as soon as they left the water, their speed increased instantly, turning the entire sky purple and spreading in all directions.

"Oh no, this is the calamity-level divine power of the Deep Sea Nether Serpent!"

Hai Ruyue looked anxiously at Yan, "This is the Purple Ocean Hell, the most powerful divine power of the Deep Sea Nether Serpent. Once it launches a large-scale attack, everything within a radius of tens of kilometers will be affected. Even a Qilin of the same level cannot withstand this move in the ocean."

"Just because the Qilin can't stop it doesn't mean I can't. Purple Ocean Hell? Invincible in the sea? Then just make this ocean disappear, and everything will be solved!"

Yan smiled indifferently, and then an even more intense red light surged from his body. In an instant, the seawater became extremely hot, and with continuous hissing sounds, a large amount of seawater was evaporated instantly.

The Deep Sea Serpent seemed to be frightened by Yan's attack, roaring as it unleashed an even more powerful offensive, its dark blue scales turning purple. A purple vortex rose from the seawater, hurtling towards Yan like a madman.

"An ant trying to shake a tree."

Yan raised his right hand slightly, and the endless surging red light became even more intense, easily blocking all the attacks. As the red light churned, the rising seawater quickly evaporated, and even the sea level dropped by a hundred meters.

The seawater around the deep-sea serpent evaporated rapidly, and the terrifying high temperature made it extremely uncomfortable. However, what terrified it even more was that its body was exposed to the air after being separated from the seawater. Just as it was about to rush down to the surface of the sea, a large red cloud suddenly rolled in and enveloped it.

"I surrender! I surrender! Zodiac Warrior, seal me in the sea!"

The Deep Sea Serpent cowered quite quickly. Once it left the seawater, its strength decreased significantly. It was no match for Yan and Hai Ruyue at all. They could even evaporate a large area of ​​seawater, which was far beyond its ability to fight. If it didn't surrender now, wouldn't it be incredibly stupid?

"Ha ha……"

The crimson light instantly engulfed the enormous deep-sea serpent, and with a sneer, everything returned to calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

Side Story: Zodiac Guardian Deities (10) - Dark Creatures

In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the windows of the villa in Beijing, filling the entire room with warmth and light, making the air feel much fresher.

When Yan woke up from his sweet dream, he saw Ji Mingming's beautiful face right in front of him, and the way she looked at him was completely different from usual.

"Mingming, is something wrong?"

Yan quietly got out of bed, walked to the window, opened his arms, and let his body be fully bathed in the sunlight. He then opened the window, and a fresh breeze rushed in.

The villa was filled with a large number of plants, resulting in extremely high oxygen levels in the air, and his level of strength prevented him from experiencing oxygen intoxication. Breathing in this fresh air was a pleasure, instantly giving him a refreshing feeling and invigorating his spirit.

Ji Mingming quickly moved closer to Yan and whispered, "Yan Xiaoyi, something big has happened in the capital. This matter can even be said to concern the safety and dignity of Yanhuang. It has alarmed the highest levels of Yanhuang, and the entire Yanhuang Soul Capital has been mobilized."

Yan didn't respond, so Ji Mingming continued, "Do you know? Just yesterday afternoon, several tragic incidents occurred in the capital. Some things that shouldn't be in our Yanhuang suddenly appeared in the capital. They are vampires. Some Yanhuang people in the capital have been infected and turned into vampires."

Moreover, these suddenly infected vampires seem to have lost their consciousness and reason, attacking ordinary people like zombies. Anyone bitten by them will immediately turn into the same monster.

Although the Yanhuang Soul and the troops have quickly mobilized, the capital city is simply too large, with a population of nearly thirty million. If the vampire virus really spreads, I'm afraid…

"Your father sent you."

Yan glanced at Ji Mingming, and his subtle mental fluctuations instantly spread out, enveloping the entire city. The fluctuations of more than 30 million living beings immediately appeared in his senses.

Ji Mingming playfully stuck out her tongue, "And your dad too, he's one of the main people in charge this time."

"I understand, I'll help you resolve it."

Yan also knew that although Yan Xiaoyi's father was an ordinary person, he couldn't avoid such major public security incidents. Since he had used the identity of the man's son as a cover, it was no big deal to help him out. Moreover, this incident reminded him of some bad memories.

When he first arrived in the Douluo Continent, he encountered a guy with a vampire-like martial soul committing evil deeds. That was a long time ago.

"let's go!"

Yan quickly turned around and beckoned Ji Mingming to leave. Ji Mingming was still a little confused about the situation, wondering why Yan had a target so quickly.

But she didn't ask any more questions and left the room with Yan. Shuiyue was making breakfast in the kitchen and living room. When she saw Yan come out, her pretty face flushed slightly.

After Yan ate a little breakfast, Hai Ruyue, who looked exhausted, also appeared. The group ate their meal one after another, and then Yan told Shuiyue not to wander around during this time. Afterwards, they left the villa together and headed towards the city.

……

Jingnan Soy Sauce Factory, a long-established brand located in the southwest of Beijing, was driven out of business by its competitors. The factory, situated in the southwest of Beijing, covered an area of ​​over 10,000 square meters, and at the westernmost part of the factory was a large, sealed warehouse.

In the autumn, the factory area was overgrown with weeds, all of which had turned yellow and withered, making it look rather desolate.

The warehouse's corrugated iron building originally had many windows, but now, for some reason, all the windows are completely sealed off with black cloth.

The old man who used to guard the factory was huddled in the gatehouse. Even the windows of the gatehouse were covered with black cloth. His eyes were filled with a dull and cold gaze, and there was a clear purplish-black teeth mark on his neck.

"The real target is inside; don't alert them."

Behind Yan, Hai Ruyue, and Ji Mingming were Xu Dong and several newly joined Zodiac Warriors, all of whom Hai Ruyue had recruited recently. They were eager to try their skills and were about to make a move when they saw the situation at the gate, but they were stopped.

The group sneaked into the factory warehouse and peered through a small crack in the door to get a clear view of what was inside. Inside the western warehouse, there were more than twenty coffins, mostly black. The cold blue lights on the surrounding walls made the warehouse, originally used for storing raw materials, even more gloomy, like a giant tomb.

In the center of the warehouse, a coffin stood out because it was different from the other coffins; the entire coffin shimmered with an eerie red light.

A young man who looked to be in his early twenties was leaning against the coffin, holding a crystal wine glass in his hand and gently swirling it. His other hand was rhythmically tapping the coffin, and he looked quite relaxed.

The wine glass contained a dark red liquid that, under the cool light, shimmered with a faint luster like a ruby.

The young man took a small sip of the liquid in his cup and said with some delight, "Mmm, it's really delicious! I never imagined that the blood of Easterners was so much sweeter than that of us Westerners. If I had known, we should have come to this beautiful and prosperous country sooner."

The young man had short, neatly combed blond hair and wore a sharp tailcoat, clearly someone who paid great attention to his appearance.

His handsome face appeared somewhat too pale, and his eyes constantly flashed red light. Although his voice was filled with ecstasy, his gaze remained unchanged.

Opposite the young man stood two other people. One of them was about 1.9 meters tall, with strange gray hair and eyes that were yellowish-brown, unlike those of ordinary humans. Although his physique did not look very strong, he was full of power.

The other person looked rather terrifying, standing over 2.3 meters tall. His brown trousers were stretched taut by his strong leg muscles, and his leather boots were unbelievably large, making it difficult to judge their size by sight.

His bare upper body was full of exaggerated muscles. Because the muscles were so developed, some parts looked somewhat deformed. The muscle texture was clearly visible, and thick blue veins were densely packed under the skin like electrical wires.

At this moment, he was holding a huge plate in his left hand, and with his right hand he was grabbing bloody things from it and stuffing them into his mouth, eating them with great relish. They were actually hearts, but they didn't look like human ones.

The burly monster, his mouth dripping with blood, groaned upon hearing the young man's words, the entire warehouse seemingly trembling in response. "Good my ass. Damn it, you get to drink blood, while I'm stuck here eating beef heart."

Tonight I'm going to team up with you vampires. You drink my blood, and I'll eat your hearts. This time, I'm going to feast to my heart's content.

The young man smiled slightly. "Strong Bear King Baslu, I think it's better for you to stay here. Although you bear people are the strongest, you are not as agile as us noble vampires when you encounter the people of Yanhuang."

"This place is quite good; it's far from the city center and spacious enough. It would be better if you stayed here with Garnett, the Wolf King, to guard the city. Once we've stirred up trouble in the capital, we can begin our real operation."

Baslu muttered in dissatisfaction, "Klinsmann, we bear people have never known what running is. If we encounter people from Yanhuang, we just kill them."

Prince Klinsmann of the vampire clan elegantly swirled his wine glass. "Is it really that simple? As far as I know, their Eastern Guardians once made the entire West tremble. I think you'd better not be too arrogant."

We are all members of the Dark Council; I have no reason to deceive you. Human hearts may be tempting, but if we truly anger the people of Yan and Huang, we'll be in deep trouble.

"Since you know that angering us will cause you big trouble, why do you still come looking for death? Do you think we can't find you rats in the gutter?"