Ye Qin's wry smile vanished instantly. He surveyed the situation before him, his expression quickly hardening.

Aside from the Golden Core Skeleton Demon locked in a fierce battle with one of the Golden Core demonic shrimp, five other demonic shrimp were rapidly closing in on him from all directions. Although he couldn't immediately ascertain their exact power tiers or whether they all possessed Golden Core strength, their sheer number alone signaled a difficult confrontation.

Ye Qin initially entertained the thought of immediate escape, but after a second consideration, he firmly dismissed the notion. He was not proficient in water evasion techniques, and in this deep-sea environment, his swimming speed simply couldn't match these demonic shrimp, which were naturally masters of water-based spells.

Flight would only lead to a dead end, resulting in him being pursued until death. "I have to attack first, eliminate that Golden Core demonic shrimp as quickly as possible, and then turn back to face the other five!

Killing one will reduce the pressure." Ye Qin's face was impassive, a chilling killing intent burning in his eyes. The Golden Core demonic shrimp entangled with the Golden Core Skeleton Demon had already lost a tentacle and sustained moderate injuries.

Furthermore, the infiltration of Corpse Qi into its body had noticeably slowed its movements. Ye Qin keenly understood the principle of striking while the iron is hot, daring not to delay.

He slapped his waist storage pouch, unleashing a Vine Binding Immortal Rope and a low-grade Azure Flying Sword artifact, which shot out as two streaks of light. He himself did not strike.

The true attackers were the phantoms manifested by his Dharma Appearance. The Dharma Body swiftly manipulated those two low-grade artifacts, plunging into the fray to join the Golden Core Skeleton Demon in launching a coordinated siege against the struggling Golden Core demonic shrimp.

"Golden Crow Radiance Sword!" "Bamboo Silk Sound Sword!" Meanwhile, Ye Qin's true body unleashed a thin, elongated golden ray and an azure ray from his mouth. He then pivoted, pushing off the ground, and shot forward, charging headlong toward one of the encircling demonic shrimp.

These five shrimp had initially been invisible, but upon entering the area of black water contaminated with Corpse Fluid, their invisibility immediately dissolved. Tainted by the Corpse Qi, faint black traces emerged on their bodies.

Ye Qin needed to eliminate one before being completely surrounded and subjected to their combined attack, striving to avoid a total encirclement. He deployed two Nascent Soul artifacts in quick succession, coupled with the Earth element Nascent Soul artifact already active—effectively using his strongest artifact offensive methods, short of the Southern Bright Flame Sword which was ill-suited for aquatic combat.

Finding himself in peril, Ye Qin could afford no restraint. "A sixth-tier demonic shrimp!" Ye Qin's divine sense swept over the creature, immediately discerning the approximate rank and strength of the shrimp before him.

A white pillar of light shot from his hand, striking the Bamboo Silk Sound Sword, causing the blade to resonate with an enchanting celestial melody. The demonic shrimp directly in front of Ye Qin paused involuntarily, its enraged eyes momentarily stunned by the sudden sound.

"Speed matters little! A moment of confusion is enough to cost you your life." Ye Qin sneered inwardly, waving his hand, and a flash of golden light cut through the air.

Thwack, the Golden Crow Radiance Sword pierced through the creature's body, leaving a gaping bloody hole in its chest. By this point, the other four shrimp had not yet arrived, and their encircling synergy had not fully formed—the attack was broken.

Ye Qin struck true and immediately spun around, flashing rapidly to meet the charge of the remaining approaching shrimp. Outside the hundred-foot radius of black water surrounding Ye Qin.

The other Golden Core cultivators in the squad had yet to regain their bearings. The battlefield had shifted too rapidly.

Though they had seen ripples in the water and witnessed Ye Qin and his Golden Core Skeleton Demon fiercely fighting the mysterious sea beasts, they could not grasp the evolving situation. "Have all these sea beasts gone?

Are we safe now?" Jin Zhongshan nervously manipulated his Fire Gourd, lingering in place for a long moment, intently watching the movements in the turbulent water, afraid to act rashly. Noticing no further pursuit by sea beasts after some time, he finally asked in alarm.

"I don't know; divine sense cannot penetrate. But it seems many sea beasts rushed toward Brother Ye...

Brother Jin, Sister Zhou, should we go and help?" Liao Xiaozhi parted her lips slightly. As she spoke, she remained standing motionless in the water, like a piece of dead wood.

Until she was certain no other hidden sea beasts lurked nearby, she dared not drop her camouflage spell; otherwise, attracting an attack from those terrifying beasts would likely overwhelm her current strength. Zhou Yao stood frozen, somewhat bewildered.

She could only see a large expanse of ink-black sea in the distance, from which sounds of intense fighting between artifacts and sea beasts emanated. As for how many beasts Ye Qin was fighting, the status of the battle, or who held the upper hand, she remained completely unclear.

She was incapable of managing this situation and glanced toward the other cultivators. The Golden Core cultivators exchanged glances, all displaying looks of uncertainty and surprise.

They had effectively become spectators. They wished to aid Ye Qin, yet they were hesitant to charge rashly into that patch of black water.

This small, several-hundred-foot area of darkness was entirely covered by concentrated Corpse Fluid—a density that few dared to enter. Spiritual Eye Technique could not pierce through this ink-like water either.

Rushing in blindly, they risked causing friendly fire before they could even slay the sea beasts. Moreover, they still had not definitively identified what kind of sea beasts were attacking them.

Judging by the various colored lights occasionally flashing from the black water and the sounds of ferocious fighting and tearing, the battle seemed incredibly fierce. The number of sea beasts was likely no less than three or four.

"Should we charge in to help? With so many sea beasts, if we don't act soon, Brother Ye might not hold on." Liao Xiaozhi turned to the group and asked.

"If Brother Ye couldn't fight them, he would surely call for our assistance or burst out of the black water. But he hasn't called for us, nor has he emerged..." Pan Lin hesitated, unwilling to plunge into that murky darkness.

The four Golden Core cultivators circled the area of black water once, realizing the danger of entering, and ultimately refrained from charging in. Ye Qin, alone with his beast, battled several sea beasts within that black zone, churning the dark water violently.

The four Golden Core cultivators did not wait long. In less time than it takes an incense stick to burn, Ye Qin emerged from the black water, his expression unchanged.

He ignored the four of them, directly found a cleaner patch of water, sat cross-legged, drank deeply from a flask of spiritual wine, and rapidly replenished his nearly exhausted spiritual power. Following him out was the Golden Core Skeleton Demon.

At least ten of its skeletal limbs were broken, but its spirit was extraordinarily high. It opened its massive maw and inhaled fiercely; a wave of black seawater turned into a giant surge that was sucked into its belly.

The large amount of Corpse Fluid it had previously expelled was now reabsorbed into its core. Vast stretches of black water quickly cleared, leaving only a faint, lingering stench of decay that was difficult to remove.

This small section of the water body returned to complete calm. The four Golden Core cultivators could finally see the situation within that water zone, and looks of shock spread across their faces.

The coral trees within that area were riddled with deep knife marks and impact traces from artifacts; many coral trees had even toppled, testifying to the terrible violence and intensity of the battle. Lying scattered on the ground were six dead demonic shrimp.

Two of them were actually seventh-tier Golden Core demonic shrimp, their bodies covered in wounds. One was bitten to death by the Golden Core Skeleton Demon, and the other perished beneath a flying sword.

There were also three sixth-tier Ghostly Demonic Shrimp. And one fifth-tier Ghostly Demonic Shrimp, cleanly severed in two by a sharp artifact blade.

Without their water-based invisibility and evasion techniques, their true forms were revealed: a faint, transparent reddish hue. The two seventh-tier Golden Core demonic shrimp were almost entirely transparent, though both were stained with black Corpse Fluid.

After the fierce battle, the Golden Core Skeleton Demon lay atop the corpses of the shrimp, greedily absorbing the escaping Corpse Qi—enjoying its "feast." Its broken skeletal pieces were enveloped in black light, slowly mending themselves. "This...

this is the Ghostly Demonic Shrimp." "This is one of the most difficult aquatic beasts in the deep waters of the Eastern Sea, naturally proficient in water-based invisibility and evasion techniques—no wonder they were untraceable." Jin Zhongshan stared at the dead giant shrimp, suddenly recalling something. His eyeballs nearly popped out in terror as he looked in disbelief at Ye Qin, who was meditating.

Ye Qin had single-handedly slain two Golden Core-level Ghostly Demonic Shrimp and four slightly weaker ones. This level of strength was certainly beyond that of a first-layer Golden Core cultivator.

Perhaps even a mid-stage cultivator above the fourth layer of Golden Core would struggle to accomplish this with ease. Only a high-stage Golden Core cultivator might possess enough confidence to dispatch them effortlessly.

Thinking this, Jin Zhongshan swallowed hard. He truly could not fathom how Ye Qin, at his current cultivation level, managed to kill these six demonic shrimp.

At the same time, he felt secretly fortunate that in the past, he had only held him in slight disregard, and no irreconcilable enmity had formed between them. Otherwise, incurring the wrath of this cultivator, who appeared weak but was immensely powerful, would surely lead to a disastrous outcome.

Zhou Yao's phoenix eyes swept over the dead shrimp, then settled on Ye Qin, her expression exceedingly complex. Having known Ye Qin for so long, she was finally beginning to discern a pattern.

Ye Qin had been deliberately hiding his strength, doing so skillfully to the point where even she could not detect it. Had it not been for the sudden attack by the Ghostly Demonic Shrimp, she would have continued to believe her own strength surpassed Ye Qin's slightly.

But now, the reality was completely different from what she had imagined. If she had faced the siege of these six shrimp, self-preservation would have been extremely difficult; the only outcome would likely have been defeat and death.

Yet, Ye Qin sat before her, unharmed, after a bloody battle that concluded in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, having killed all six. It was impossible to even gauge how much power he had truly exerted while killing them.

During the earlier engagement, the water had been obscured by dense Corpse Fluid, rendering Spiritual Eye Technique useless for penetration. Divine sense could not discern anything either, only registering the flashing of numerous artifact lights.

For the first time, Zhou Yao realized she had gravely underestimated the strength of the main captain of the Purple Sword Palace. There was a reason why the Palace Master appointed him as the primary captain and only assigned her, a core disciple of the Zhou family, as the deputy.