Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 256: Chapter 230: Beast Tide, Nascent Soul Great Demon

"No reply?"

Chen Che wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and glanced at Hu Haiqing’s fallen body. It had caved in, crushed to a pulp—bones and all—by the immense water pressure.

"I’ll be raiding your home next."

Without the support of True Essence, the body of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was completely unable to withstand the water pressure at these depths. At least it saved him the trouble of destroying the corpse to cover his tracks.

The business rivalry over the auction house should come to an end here. The Hu Family had lost over half of its Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and it was doubtful if the remaining members could even defend their original territory.

’Time to go!’

Snapping out of it, his Divine Sense detected several auras rapidly approaching. Chen Che turned and fled.

After all, fighting amongst themselves right under the noses of the Golden Core True Masters was an extremely dangerous affair. If word got out, it would spell disaster.

But then he turned and slipped back again. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved the thirteen Storage Rings from the seabed. Only then did Chen Che hurry away from the battlefield.

Almost as soon as he was gone, several Great Cultivators from the Primordial Sect with powerful auras arrived on the seabed.

The battle moments ago had been too intense. They had been too far away to discern the details, so they had come down to investigate personally. They had barely landed when they saw that cultivators from the Star-Picking Sect had also arrived. The two groups clashed the moment they laid eyes on each other.

Hu Haiqing’s shattered corpse was carried away by the undercurrents, completely dissipating into the sea.

...

After searching in the water for a while, Chen Che found Zhou Jing.

However, Zhou Jing was with dozens of other Major Cultivators from the Primordial Sect. They were in a tight formation, fending off a charge from the Star-Picking Sect cultivators.

One glance was enough to know there was no opportunity to strike, so he turned and left.

He moved through the water for a moment before breaking the surface.

From a distance, he saw his furious father-in-law, along with Lu Qinglian, Rong Zhongxuan, and the others. Meng Changtu was covered in blood, a testament to the countless fierce battles he must have endured. His Black Blade was notched, his Inner Armor was shattered, and blood gushed from his wounds.

The Meng Family had a total of seventeen Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but only eleven remained.

Meng Changyuan’s great serpent had been sliced in half. Meng Changhong had taken a sword slash to the right side of his face, leaving his eye socket filled with nothing but shattered crystal.

Many Major Cultivators from Yunzhou had banded together with them, forming a group three to four hundred strong. Even people from the Lu Family were among them. But no one was in good condition; all of them were wounded.

"Valley Master Chen!"

Someone shouted.

"Che... Che’er..."

Seeing the drenched Chen Che, Meng Changtu finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Where are the others?"

Chen Che stepped forward to ask. When the other man’s expression darkened and he didn’t answer, Chen Che knew.

"The Hu Family members are gone. Did you take them out?"

Meng Changtu glanced around and lowered his voice.

Chen Che nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of the Star-Picking Sect cultivators rapidly gathering nearby. In a situation like this, fighting alone was suicide. Their only hope of survival was to stick together.

"There’s no escaping it!"

With a RRRIP, Meng Changtu tore a strip from his robe and used it to bind the Black Blade to his palm. The webbing of his hand was torn open and three of his fingers were broken—he couldn’t even hold the blade. "When it starts, stay close to me..."

Chen Che nodded, tightening his grip on his Pure Jun Sword, which was heavily notched and covered in cracks.

The others also clutched their weapons.

In that moment, even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

However, just as the two sides were on the verge of clashing, a sudden commotion broke out in the distance.

"AHH!"

Countless screams echoed from across the sea, sounds filled with terror—the desperate cries of the dying.

Chen Che turned his head to look.

Meng Changtu turned as well, as did Lu Qinglian, Rong Zhongxuan, and Lu Yuntian. Even the Star-Picking Sect cultivators all turned to look in the direction of the screams.

Everyone could feel it—countless surges of Demon Qi were approaching at a frantic pace.

As far as the eye could see, the distant sea surface seemed to be boiling. It flashed with endless cold gleams, sharp as a thousand blades, slicing through the water as they rapidly approached.

"A beast tide?"

Lu Qinglian was taken aback.

Chen Che’s gaze sharpened. Those weren’t blades, but schools of fish. The cold, shimmering light was sunlight reflecting off the dorsal fins of Demon Fish. In the distance, the school of fish was practically endless, covering the sea’s surface as if it were the tide itself.

And below the surface, their numbers were even greater.

"Quick, run!"

"AHH!"

Wherever the tide of fish passed, countless Major Cultivators burst from the water in a panic.

But those who were even a little too slow were swarmed and devoured before they could even surface.

Naturally, this was no ordinary school of fish, but the Aquatic Race.

The number of creatures in the sea was hundreds of times greater than on land. Nourished by Spiritual Qi, the population of Demon Fish in the ocean was simply astronomical.

Even among the schools of fish, Chen Che spotted several colossal turtles with high, ridged backs that rose dozens of feet, like floating islands, hunting the fish tide. The back of the largest one was over a hundred feet high; from a distance, it looked like an entire island rapidly approaching.

"AHH!"

Amid the screams, the schools of fish drew closer. The Major Cultivators who had been fighting in the distance also stopped, staring in horror at the scene unfolding.

Chen Che spread his Divine Sense, and his eye immediately began to twitch. He could feel several more immense auras on the seabed.

"These auras... they have to be Golden Core, if not Nascent Soul..."

Chen Che hurriedly called out a warning.

The Yunzhou cultivators all looked over. Seeing Chen Che’s grim expression, they knew he wasn’t joking, and their own faces grew solemn.

"Retreat!"

At the same time, someone on the Star-Picking Sect’s side must have sensed it too. Following a cry of alarm, their Major Cultivators retreated to the island without a moment’s hesitation.

"We’re retreating too!"

Chen Che shouted, and with a swirl of his robes, he flew toward the island.

The others followed close behind.

SPLASH!

Shortly after they left, the sea grew even more turbulent. The tide of fish seemed to encounter something terrifying, and it abruptly scattered in all directions. Even the old turtles with their mountain-like backs sensed the danger and scrambled to flee.

Just then, a Great Demon—scaleless, with wing-like fins—burst from the water.

Its massive maw, filled with blade-like teeth, clamped down on the largest of the turtles.

"CRUNCH!"

It was a horrifyingly gruesome sound!

Before everyone’s shocked eyes, the turtle’s mountain-like shell was crushed. Then, the scaleless Great Demon slammed its massive body down.

SPLASH!

As a towering wall of water rose into the air, the old turtle vanished beneath the waves without even a chance to struggle. Before their very eyes, all that remained on the turbulent surface was a furiously spinning whirlpool.

"A Nascent Soul Great Demon..."

"Why are there so many Demon Beasts in this part of the sea?"

"That old turtle was at the Golden Core level... and it was eaten in a single bite, just like that?"

For a time, cries of alarm rose one after another.

Everyone, whether they were Major Cultivators from the Star-Picking Sect or Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Primordial Sect, was utterly shaken by the scene.

’It’s the blood! The flesh and blood of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators...’

A flicker of understanding crossed Chen Che’s eyes.

Beast tides rarely happened without a reason.

Aside from being man-made or part of a natural migration, they were usually in pursuit of food. Nearly ten thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators had been frantically fighting in this part of the sea, and the stench of blood had long since filled the waters.

For cultivators, consuming Demon Beasts could enhance their Qi and Blood and advance their Cultivation.

But for Demon Beasts, the flesh and blood of cultivators was an equally nourishing delicacy.

And the appearance of the fish tide had, in turn, drawn even more powerful Demon Beasts to the hunt.

"BOOM!"

At that moment, the Golden Core True Masters in the sky seemed to notice the situation in the sea. They exchanged a look, and with a tacit understanding, they ceased their fighting, transforming into streaks of Escape Light and descending back onto the island.

The world fell quiet, and both sides returned to their original standoff.

Chen Che felt a stir in his heart as he looked up at the Golden Core masters hovering in the air.

’Are they going to keep fighting?’

With a Nascent Soul Great Demon lurking nearby, if these Golden Core masters didn’t call a truce, he was going to bolt.