CHAPTER 141: CHAPTER 139: HELPLESS

Thanks to the communication arrays that the Yellow Sand Sect had previously set up in various oases during the demon chaos, the help request sent by Zhouyang was quickly relayed through Chen Family’s intermediate array to Zhou Minghan, who was visiting a cultivation clan.

Of course, for such help in relaying messages, the Chen Family charged a fee. Each use of the communication array required a fee of 20 low-grade Spirit Stones.

However, this fee was not entirely kept by the Chen Family but was split equally with the Yellow Sand Sect.

Upon receiving Zhouyang’s help request, Zhou Minghan quickly returned to Yuquan Lake Oasis, and then alongside Zhouyang embarked back to Haoyang Cave to probe the demon beast.

This time, not only were Zhouyang and Zhou Minghan present, but Zhou Xuan Yu, who had been initially hidden, was also called upon for assistance by Zhouyang.

Since the Blood Mo Luo had succumbed to Cao Wen’s Golden Sword, Zhou Xuan Yu had freed herself from the constraints of the "Soul-Burning Blood Curse" and returned to Yuquan Lake Oasis, hiding within Zhou Family’s mortal town for secluded cultivation.

She practiced the Demon Dao technique "Blood Evil Demon Technique," and to refine her cultivation, she had to absorb blood infused with Spiritual Qi or various types of evil Qi, without regard to being situated atop a Spirit Vein.

However, Zhouyang and Zhou Minghan had long warned her against killing humans to practice, so she could only venture into the desert to hunt demon beasts and refine their blood to advance her cultivation.

Yet, the blood of demon beasts is definitely less effective than that of human cultivators, so despite practicing the demon technique, Zhou Xuan Yu’s cultivation progress was not even faster than a typical Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Fortunately, Zhou Xuan Yu herself did not aspire to open the Purple Mansion in this lifetime; she was not very concerned whether her cultivation progressed quickly or slowly.

For her, successfully establishing a foundation and living an extra hundred years was already very satisfying.

Thus, Zhouyang specifically brought her along this time because her Demon Dao technique was not suppressed by underwater environments, and she could swiftly use "Blood Escape Technique" to flee, making it suitable for investigating underwater situations.

"Yu’Er, later, the old man and Xiao Jiu will distract that demon beast for a while; quickly seize the opportunity to go underground to observe the situation, but remember, do not delve too deep."

In the sky above the lake outside Haoyang Cave, Zhou Minghan, Zhouyang, and the three others soared with their Flying Swords, ready to test the strength of the water element demon beast again.

"Don’t worry, Grandpa, Yu’Er understands what to do."

Zhou Xuan Yu nodded gently and immediately descended with her Flying Sword, concealing her aura and hiding her form.

After she had hidden, Zhou Minghan and Zhouyang exchanged a glance and immediately deployed their Flying Swords attacking the demon beast occupying the cave’s Spirit Vein.

At this time, Haoyang Cave beneath had already transformed into an underground reservoir, drowning Zhouyang’s originally planted Spirit Elixirs, or becoming food for that water demon.

That water demon now hid in his former seclusion chamber, appearing to have made it a new lair.

As Zhou Minghan and Zhouyang controlled their Flying Swords through layers of mud appearing in the cave, the resting water demon awoke, swatting away the Flying Swords instantly.

But Flying Swords are controlled by the cultivator’s Divine Sense, almost an extension of the cultivator’s limbs; as the water demon swatted away the Flying Swords, they spun and stabbed back at it, repeating several times until the demon was entirely enraged.

Boom!

On the desert lake above Haoyang Cave, the lake water suddenly exploded, splashing water everywhere, finally unable to bear it anymore, the subterranean water demon appeared on the surface.

Zhouyang’s Divine Sense followed the water demon, and as the demon emerged in the lake, a gigantic Ancient Bronze Bell appeared above the lake.

Then the bell rang, releasing rings of bluish-black Spiritual Light, following the sound waves assaulting the water demon in the lake.

Simultaneously, Zhou Minghan also summoned the Tier Three high-grade Spiritual Artifact "Mountain Leveling Seal."

The originally palm-sized small seal, under Zhou Minghan’s infusion of Magical Power, transformed into a gigantic seal the size of a house pressing down on the water demon in the lake.

Squeak——

The water demon in the lake let out a screech, and a massive water column rose from the lake, blocking the giant seal; as for the blue-black Spiritual Light emitted by the Ancient Bronze Bell, it ignored them, presumably not considering such attacks capable of harming it.

Meanwhile, after blocking the giant seal that posed the most threat to it, the demon beast’s wide fish tail swung, and the blue Water Spear that scared Zhouyang off that day shot towards the two of them again.

But this time Zhouyang was prepared; as soon as the blue Water Spear approached, he first blocked it using the Poisonous Fire Flying Fork Artifact, then deployed the Soul Suppressing Bell in front of him to safeguard himself.

As for Zhou Minghan, being a Tier Three High-grade Refiner, he naturally had no shortage of Defensive Spiritual Artifacts on him.

While they fought fiercely, Zhou Xuan Yu, who had been hiding, quietly slipped into the underground Haoyang Cave, and into the subterranean Dark River where the water demon had originally come from.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xuan Yu had just entered the water for a short time when the water demon on the shore seemed to sense someone intruding, immediately moving to dive back underground to chase the intruder.

Seeing this, Zhouyang didn’t have time to think; he immediately cast the "Godslaying Needle" Secret Technique, and the Divine Sense Needle from his sea of consciousness pierced into the water demon’s head instantly.

However, demon beasts below Tier Four have low spiritual wisdom, with their animal instincts stronger than their spiritual wisdom, making this Divine Sense Attack less effective on low-tier demon beasts compared to those high-tier demon beasts that have condensed a Beast Soul.

Zhouyang’s "Godslaying Needle" attack would inevitably cause Divine Sense damage, even to cultivators like Zhou Minghan at the Eighth-Layer Foundation Establishment. However, when the Water Demon was hit by the "Godslaying Needle," it merely let out a painful cry and continued to dive unimpeded.

But at this time, a red ring spiritual artifact suddenly descended from the sky, perfectly wrapping around the Water Demon’s fish tail.

Chzzzzzz.

Fiery flames burned fiercely from the "Vermilion Bird Ring" wrapped around the Water Demon’s fish tail. Under the high temperature, large areas of water vapor instantly rose from the lake surface.

Water and fire are incompatible, just as Zhouyang and his companions dared not dive to fight the Water Demon; the Water Demon also had poor resistance to attacks from Fire Magic.

Although the "Vermilion Bird Ring" was only a Tier Three Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, it accomplished what the "Mountain Leveling Seal," a Tier Three Top Grade Spiritual Artifact, could not— burning the majority of the Water Demon’s tail down to scorched meat, emitting a barbecue aroma.

This infuriated the Water Demon completely.

It turned back, opened its mouth wide, and spewed a pure Water Element Spiritual Power to extinguish the flames on its tail, then stretched its claws to grab the ring on its tail and forcefully pulled it off, throwing it aside.

After finishing these actions, the Water Demon looked back with those deeply degenerated pale fish eyes, residing underground in Dark River, which suddenly had a hint of faint red.

Without a doubt, the Water Demon was angry.

Looking at Zhouyang flying in the sky, the "light bulbs" on top of its head emitted a blue Spiritual Light that suddenly intensified tens and dozens of times.

A few breaths later, a blue beam filled with terrifying energy fluctuations burst from below the lake, heading straight for Zhouyang in the sky.

But it seemed to have forgotten, Zhouyang was not fighting alone.

As the blue beam just broke out from the lake surface, it was blocked halfway by a golden Heart-Protecting Mirror Spiritual Artifact released by Zhou Minghan, and the remaining power that fell onto the Soul Suppressing Bell was inadequate to pose any threat to Zhouyang.

Thus, Zhouyang and Zhou Minghan cooperated, assaulting with various spiritual artifacts and magic, regardless of how fierce the Water Demon’s offensive was, they could not affect the two in the sky.

A Tier Three Demon Beast can’t fly in the sky, as long as the two don’t dive into the water, the Water Demon’s close-range attack methods cannot reach them, thus crippling half of the Water Demon’s strength.

However, if they don’t dive into the water, the duo cannot see any hope of killing the Water Demon.

After being injured by the "Vermilion Bird Ring," the Water Demon soon grew a layer of blue water film, which not only had strong resilience but also helped it quickly recover from injuries.

After nearly half an hour of intense battle, Zhouyang finally couldn’t resist releasing his most treasured "Qianyang True Flame."

The pale golden "Qianyang True Flame" fell, and the Water Demon indeed sensed danger. However, its reaction exceeded Zhouyang’s expectations; instead of dodging, it suddenly opened its mouth and spewed a large mass of blue water towards the pale golden flame.

Then, something happened that shocked both Zhouyang and Zhou Minghan.

The extremely pure and intense "Qianyang True Flame," after being drenched by the mass of blue water, was actually extinguished by more than half.

The reason it was said as more than half was because Zhouyang, upon sensing something wrong, hastily increased the Magical Power infusion, preventing the flame from being completely extinguished.

However, the Water Demon again spewed another mass of blue water, thoroughly extinguishing the "Qianyang True Flame" he released.

"What’s going on? What exactly is the substance of this blue water spewed by the Water Demon? Why can it even extinguish the Qianyang True Flame!"

Zhouyang looked dumbfoundedly at the Water Demon in the lake, feeling a severe blow to his confidence.

His previously unstoppable "Qianyang True Flame" was extinguished by water spewed by a demon beast, it was simply a joke!

"Xiao Jiu, don’t be discouraged. If my guess is correct, this blue water spewed by the Water Demon should be some kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water. We Fire Element cultivators can train to manifest various True Flames, and it’s said that Water Element cultivators can train powerful True Water as well. Either this Water Demon has a grand origin or it has encountered a certain fortuitous event, that’s why it managed to condense True Water at Tier Three level!"

Zhou Minghan regained his composure and hurriedly comforted Zhouyang.

His words were actually just speculation.

After all, the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm rarely sees high-tier Water Element cultivators within a thousand years, the legendary "True Water" is only known through hearsay, and few people have actually witnessed it.

However, hearing this, Zhouyang relaxed considerably.

If it was "True Water," then it made sense. His "Qianyang True Flame" was potent, but his cultivation was much lower than the Water Demon.

If the blue water spewed by the Water Demon was some kind of "True Water," it wouldn’t be surprising for it to extinguish his "Qianyang True Flame."

But since even the "Qianyang True Flame" couldn’t succeed, relying on themselves to kill the Water Demon was utterly hopeless. Therefore, Zhou Minghan decisively said at once, "Let’s withdraw temporarily and wait for Yu’Er to return and see if she has any findings."