"Damn, how could there be a Level 5 Yin Worm Beast here? Xiao Lin, take Miss Ye and keep running back, don't stop," Sikong Zhan instructed, then his figure swiftly darted out, charging towards the hideous demon beast.

The Yin Worm Beast, having been blocked twice already, was furious. Initially, it wanted to devour Sikong Zhuo first, but seeing Sikong Zhan attacking, it immediately turned and met him head-on.

Its huge demon body twisted and rushed across the surface of the sea with a speed akin to a swimming fish. As it opened its gaping mouth, a cluster of purple-black poison mist gathered in the depths of its throat, flashing with strands of electricity, gathering its strength with great effort.

Seeing this, how could Sikong Zhan not realize it was about to unleash its Innate Divine Ability? Yet at that moment, he could not dodge, and could only brace himself to meet it head-on.

He feared that if he dodged, the other three children would become the beast's new targets.

With a push of his left hand forward and muttering a few quick words, the bronze ring on his middle finger immediately shone brightly. A large amount of green light surged out and converged in front of him, forming a bronze giant shield with a beast head pattern, blocking in front of him.

"Roar..."

A wild beast's roar sounded.

From the gaping mouth of the Yin Worm Beast, a cluster of purple mist erupted like a nebula, entwined with white thunder, emitting a series of oppressive booming noises.

The thunder-laden purple mist roared past the sea surface, lifting two hundred-meter-high giant waves, crashing against the bronze giant shield.

"Bang" sounded loudly!

A lot of purple mist dispersed and filled the air, and although the bronze shield blocked this furious assault, a "hissing" noise came from the shield surface, emitting a large amount of white smoke, visibly corroding it at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Crackle"

A white arc of electricity broke through the already corroded bronze giant shield and struck Sikong Zhan's shoulder.

He immediately felt a strange power seeping in. Just as he was about to use his Mana to resist, he heard a "bang," and blood splattered from his shoulder, as the white thunder exploded open a ghastly wound exposing the bone.

Sikong Zhan showed a pained expression, feeling a numbing sensation like an electric shock through his body, and then he frantically saw more white thunder tearing through the shield, slashing towards him.

The difference in strength was too great; there was hardly any chance left to survive.

Just as he was losing all hope, suddenly, a majestic yet slightly ethereal voice sounded from the void:

"Thunder, dissipate."

This voice, like an irresistible divine decree, caused the white thunder, which was already within reach, to incredibly "poof" and disappear, returning to nothingness.

The scene was as though the white thunder had never appeared.

Sikong Zhan looked at the magical and bizarre scene, his mind profoundly shaken, momentarily forgetting his situation as he searched for the source of the voice.

It was then that he suddenly saw a figure, standing atop the water waves, speeding towards him in a pose akin to sword flying, and carrying a person under his arm, who was none other than the unconscious Sikong Zhuo.

"It's him!"

Upon seeing Sikong Zhuo, Sikong Zhan's heart slightly relaxed, yet when he saw that the figure was Yuan Ming, whom he had recently cut out of a Sword-toothed Shark, his eyes widened.

"Catch." At that moment, Yuan Ming shouted abruptly.

He maneuvered the water waves, sharply turning back towards the Yin Worm Beast and hurled Sikong Zhuo out while charging at the beast.

With no time to ponder, Sikong Zhan quickly leaped up to catch his son, looking at Yuan Ming with complex eyes.

At this moment, Yuan Ming had already charged straight towards the Yin Worm Beast.

The beast seemed to sense the hostile aura of the newcomer, stopping its forward rush early, its body breathing in and out, lighting up with rings of purple patterns, its gaping mouth gushing with purple mist and thunder roaring intensely, emitting a strong wave from within.

Yuan Ming, fearless against such a charging attack from the Yin Worm Beast, did not intend to stop at all, circulating the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill within his body, channeling the Qi Blood Power throughout his body.

In an instant, the Body of Wanxiang was activated, and a huge blood-colored giant elephant took shape swiftly outside his body, his aura dramatically increased.

Since advancing to the Returning Void Realm, although his Body of Wanxiang had not visibly changed, his Mana was much denser than before, and the Qi Blood Power was also replenished, making the circulation quicker.

The instant the blood-colored giant elephant took shape, the Yin Worm Beast's accumulated power also reached its peak, and it expelled a massive cluster of purple mist filled with crisscrossing lightning, smashing towards Yuan Ming.

The purple mist turned the seawater entirely dark purple where it passed, the potent poison quickly spreading in the water, while the white thunder that struck evaporated the splashed water vapor instantly, pressing a hundred-meter-deep water mark on the sea surface.

Yuan Ming rushed forward with the waves, the blood-colored giant elephant above his head also charging full force, crashing into the massive purple mist of lightning, and was immediately swallowed up and disappeared.

Watching this scene unfold before him, Sikong Zhan was completely stunned.

He had never seen such a brave and formidable person, able to withstand the full-force strike of a Level 5 demon beast's Innate Divine Ability.

But soon he realized he was shocked too soon.

A series of booming noises erupted in succession!

The cluster of purple mist and thunder exploded amidst the booming sounds, the mist dispersed, and the lightning faded away.

Above the sea, a blood rain began to fall, countless broken limbs and blood were thrown into the high sky and then fell back down, dyeing the entire Crescent Bay area a blood-red color, spreading a pungent bloody smell.

Sikong Zhan's eyes widened in horror as he saw the figure of the young man step out from the blood rain and the thin purple mist, holding a thoroughly dark purple Demon Core in one hand and a wildly struggling, twisting phantom in the palm of his other hand.

That phantom closely resembled the Yin Worm Beast but was many times smaller; it was indeed its Demon Soul.

Being able to slay that demon beast was already no small feat, let alone easily plucking its Demon Core and capturing its Demon Soul; it was truly incredible.

After all, the Yin Worm Beast was a cunning and ferocious demon beast that would usually choose to self-destruct its Demon Core and Demon Soul rather than face defeat, and it was rare for anyone to seize its Demon Core and Demon Soul.

Yet this young man seemed to have done it effortlessly, which unquestionably indicated that his Cultivation was superior to that of the Yin Worm Beast.

Yuan Ming casually stowed away the Yin Worm Beast's Demon Core and Demon Soul, then flew towards Sikong Zhan.

"Thank you, Elder, for your assistance. I have no way to repay the debt of saving my life," the latter swallowed, handing Sikong Zhuo who had just rushed back to Sikong Lin and Ye Xinyao, and directly knelt down to show his gratitude to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming lifted his hand to emit a force, helping Sikong Zhan up, and said,

"Fellow Daoist Sikong, there's no need for such formalities. That beast was also drawn here sensing the trace of energy I left inside the Sword-toothed Shark, making you victims of an undeserved disaster."

Hearing him say this, Sikong Zhan's thoughts did not change. He still bowed and said, "Regardless, Elder, you saved our lives. I hope you will allow me to show a bit of the host's duty and invite you to Huayun Island for some modest compensation."

Sikong Lin and Ye Xinyao also looked towards Yuan Ming with both fear and anticipation in their eyes. Being able to get acquainted with such a powerful elder was a rare opportunity for them.

"Then I shall accept gratefully."

Yuan Ming thought about it, keeping in mind his unfamiliarity with the area, and didn't refuse.

"Elder, if you do not want those remnants of the Yin Worm Beast, may I..." Sikong Zhan hesitated to ask.

"Just take them," Yuan Ming replied.

Sikong Zhan was overjoyed, quickly excused himself, personally gathered the large amount of remains floating on the sea and also retrieved the Sword-toothed Shark's Demon Core, Beast Eye, and spine, before joyfully returning.

On the way back, Yuan Ming sat on Sikong Zhan's Sea Crossing Flying Boat, finally asking the questions he hadn't had the chance to ask earlier. Due to the previous life-saving aid, Sikong Zhan answered everything without reserve, even proactively providing a lot of information.

After an exchange, as Yuan Ming was quite easy-going, Sikong Zhan and others' nervousness somewhat relaxed, and the atmosphere on the flying boat became much more lively.

"Fellow Daoist Sikong, what is the situation with the Cultivation forces in this Dongji Sea?" Yuan Ming asked.

"Elder, the Dongji Sea spans a million miles with numerous islands, and the multitude of Cultivation forces are like hairs on an ox; however, all are governed by Dongji Palace and are considered vassal forces under its rule. Our Huayun Island is one of them," Sikong Zhan explained after a bit of thought.

After speaking, he frowned slightly as if he had something on his mind but hesitated to speak.

"Daoist brother, feel free to speak," Yuan Ming said with a smile upon seeing this.

"Elder, earlier you said you were a cultivator from Overseas, that wasn't true, was it?" Sikong Zhan hesitated to ask.

"Oh, what makes you say that?" Yuan Ming responded, his expression unchanged. Spot an error? Visit the original post on M&VLEMPY&R.

"To my knowledge, there isn't a passage to the Overseas World from this side of the Dongji Sea," Sikong Zhan explained.

Yuan Ming thought to himself with a chuckle, "You, a Nascent Soul cultivator, wouldn't know, there's nothing strange about that."

"But I indeed came from over there in the Dongji Sea," Yuan Ming pointed in a direction and said.

"Haha, if Elder doesn't want to tell, it's fine," Sikong Zhan laughed upon hearing this, not taking it seriously.

The young girl Ye Xinyao blinked her large eyes and interjected with a smile, "Elder, you're not good at lying; that deep part of the Dongji Sea is a dead land, it's impossible for anyone to come from there."

"Dead land? What do you mean by that?" Yuan Ming asked, intrigued.

"Elder truly doesn't know? We call it the Abyss, it is a place where even Returning Void Great Powers enter with a high chance of falling, full of immense dangers, no different from a land of death," Sikong Zhan said with a bit of surprise.

Yuan Ming thought for a moment, feeling that it was very likely he had indeed come from that Abyss.

However, these people's knowledge about the Abyss was limited, so Yuan Ming didn't ask more about it, instead, he inquired,

"I wonder how many Returning to Void Cultivators are there within this Dongji Sea Area?"