Chapter 97: Frenzy of the Fish Shoal

After refining the Sea Snake Eel, Mo Lin opened his eyes.

He lifted his head and tail above the river’s surface, and a small electric orb appeared above his tail.

Mo Lin placed the electric orb into the river, and with a thought, the orb immediately exploded within the water.

Several river fish were blasted right out of the water by the orb and soon floated belly-up on the surface.

“Humph, humph.”

Mo Lin let out two rather proud hums.

Success!

After devouring that Sea Snake Eel, Mo Lin indeed gained its demonic art—“Electric Orb.”

If used properly, this thing could prove even more useful in the river than “Spatial Imprisonment.”

After all, while “Spatial Imprisonment” was good, during underwater battles it often trapped the river water as well, requiring resistance against the surrounding current, consuming more energy than on land.

But “Electric Orb,” once released, simply needed to be thrown, and in terms of stunning fish, it was a master’s tool.

One could imagine, had the Sea Snake Eel not encountered the Earth Anaconda Mo Lin, then with this demonic art alone, it could have roamed freely through the Ning River.

“So, opportunities that the younger generation cannot grasp are better left for me to handle properly.”

After refining the Sea Snake Eel, Mo Lin continued downstream along the Ning River, swimming in the direction of the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce, killing demonic beasts in the river along the way.

With the two demonic arts, “Spatial Imprisonment” and “Electric Orb,” Mo Lin was practically invincible in the Ning River.

If he didn’t like the look of something, he simply tossed an “Electric Orb” to blast the fish.

“Boom!”

The “Electric Orb” struck a figure as intended, but it did not directly blast it down into the river.

Mo Lin grew curious.

Who could withstand a strike from his demonic art?

Looking closely, he saw it was a three-meter-long, green-faced, tusked fish.

Because it had just been struck by his “Electric Orb,” it was now staring straight at Mo Lin, tail thrashing violently.

“Hm~”

Mo Lin recognized the fish before him.

He had read about this type in Gong Yang’s books.

A Nether-Tailed Profound Fish.

Violent in temperament, prone to attack humans, strong in power, with a deep thirst for vengeance.

Once it fixed its gaze on someone, it would pursue them endlessly, never resting until one of them died.

It could well be called the “Flat-Headed Brother of the River.”

But more importantly, unlike the lone Flat-Headed Brother, the Nether-Tailed Profound Fish acted in groups—ferocious, vengeful, and never alone.

In other words, if one Nether-Tailed Profound Fish had marked you, you’d better check behind you, for there might be an entire shoal.

“......”

Mo Lin turned his head, and his scalp immediately went numb.

Behind him, a hundred or more Nether-Tailed Profound Fish were thrashing their tails, glaring murderously at him, just like the one he had struck.

“Would it be too late if I apologized now?”

Among the hundred or so Nether-Tailed Profound Fish, most were Yellow Rank demonic beasts, but a small portion were Profound Rank, radiating formidable auras.

One among them even emitted an Earth Rank presence identical to Mo Lin’s own!

Mo Lin wasted no time.

He turned and fled.

When a hundred Nether-Tailed Profound Fish whipped their tails in unison, not even an Earth Rank demonic beast would choose to fight them underwater—

Because they would launch a suicidal charge against you, and you would run out of demonic power, only to be bitten apart alive.

“Hisshhrrruuuhhh!”

A hundred Nether-Tailed Profound Fish chased after Mo Lin with all their might.

Some had even cut ahead, opening their bloody maws toward him.

If he were blocked and the shoal behind caught up, even Mo Lin could not guarantee escaping unscathed.

Mo Lin felt bitter.

He had only eaten a few demonic beasts in the river, so why was his luck so bad to run into a shoal of Nether-Tailed Profound Fish?

And among them was even a Lower Earth Rank existence!

He recalled: back in the mountains, within a thousand li radius, there had only been the Mountain Lord as the sole Earth Rank tiger.

Yet here, after only a short time in the river, he had already run into an Earth Rank fish!

But the reason was simple.

River demonic beasts had almost no fixed territories.

The law of the jungle was harsher underwater than on land, naturally leading to more powerful beings being born.

Moreover, Mo Lin had swum more than a hundred li downstream, constantly hunting demonic beasts.

Encountering an Earth Rank beast wasn’t strange at all.

“You wretches, get... lost!”

A massive golden orb exploded before Mo Lin, dazzling the Nether-Tailed Profound Fish—this was a mutated application of “Electric Orb,” used as a flash bomb.

Even the Earth Rank Nether-Tailed Profound Fish lost its sense of direction in the blast.

Taking advantage of this trick, Mo Lin shut his eyes and slipped through the shoal.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a childish voice from above the river:

“Daddy, look! There’s light on the water!”

Mo Lin’s heart stirred.

He flicked his tail, not fleeing elsewhere but instead swimming toward the childish voice, with the shoal of Nether-Tailed Profound Fish still chasing him after recovering from the flash.

Reaching the surface, Mo Lin saw a large cargo ship above him on the river.

A little girl with twin horn braids leaned curiously over the rail, peering at the spot where Mo Lin had released the flash bomb.

Beside her, a burly middle-aged man carefully steadied her, afraid she might fall into the river.

Mo Lin circled once, then used his long body to coil around the ship’s side.

With ease, he slipped aboard.

Then, using his “Shrink” ability, he reduced his form to a small grass snake, hiding among the cargo.

On the cargo ship, the father and daughter remained unaware that a python demon had silently boarded.

They happily chatted together:

“Hehe, Ruirui, what did you see? Daddy didn’t notice anything.”

The little girl Ruirui pointed to the spot she had seen earlier:

“There! Just now, it went ‘shua’—so bright.”

The man chuckled, unconcerned.

This was the Ning River—what bright things could there be?

Most likely something tossed from another ship had reflected the sunlight, catching his daughter’s eye.

Still, he humored her and glanced in the direction she pointed.

With just that one glance, his face instantly changed.

“Nether-Tailed Profound Fish!”

Right where Ruirui was pointing, countless Nether-Tailed Profound Fish surfaced silently, glaring murderously at the cargo ship.

From their appearance, they looked ready to attack at any moment.

The man quickly pulled Ruirui away from the rail, then rang the bell at his side and shouted hoarsely:

“Alert! A shoal of Nether-Tailed Profound Fish below the ship!!”

“All hands to positions! Prepare to fight off the Nether-Tailed Profound Fish!”