He Yiming and the appearance of the White Horse Lightning were immediately discovered by the Black Shark King and the two Starfish Kings.

Unlike those two Starfish Kings, the Black Shark King was acutely aware of the formidable power held by this combination of man and horse, and it certainly knew the enmity between them, thus it held no illusion that they had come to offer aid.

Its massive form glided with agility as the Black Shark King slowly retreated backward, simultaneously emitting a peculiar wave that radiated outward through the seawater in all directions.

Instantly, countless schools of sharks began to gather slowly behind it; having received their sovereign's command, they executed it flawlessly and without hesitation.

In comparison, the discipline displayed by the shark schools was far superior to that of human armies.

Were it not for the sheer, staggering number of starfish arrayed against them, they would have achieved ultimate victory long ago.

The Black Shark King cautiously maintained a significant distance between itself, the Starfish Kings, and the suddenly arrived He Yiming. It stared fixedly at He Yiming in particular, terrified that he might produce that mysterious and potent sphere of lightning again.

It was prepared: the moment He Yiming brought out that object, it would immediately flee far away.

The strategy of sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight was not a tactic exclusive to humans.

He Yiming turned his head and flashed a grin at the Black Shark King. However, the King could never have imagined that this gesture, intended as a sign of goodwill, appeared so sinister, ghastly, and bizarre in its eyes.

Then, He Yiming lightly tapped the lightning, and the White Horse immediately understood his intent, transforming into a silver streak that flashed past the two Starfish Kings in the water. Meanwhile, the Five Elements Ring in He Yiming’s hand blazed with a magnificent light, and leveraging the White Horse’s incredible speed, it similarly swept across the bodies of the two Starfish Kings.

In just that instant, the bodies of the two Starfish Kings violently convulsed.

However, as their bodies shrank, their tentacles suddenly elongated, all ten tips aiming directly at He Yiming and the White Horse. Ten surging currents of power, strong enough to make even He Yiming feel a prickle of fear, shot out and hurtled toward them through the water.

Yet, while the speed of their attack was rapid, it could not compare to that of the White Horse. By the time their attacks arrived, the White Horse was long gone.

He Yiming’s True Qi surged frantically into the Five Elements Ring. Although humans were inferior to Spirit Beasts in terms of raw power, speed, and the total volume of True Qi, in the application of True Qi, Spirit Beasts could never rival the peak experts among humans.

A colossal radiance erupted from the Five Elements Ring, instantly transforming this stretch of water into a breathtaking spectacle of color.

Every ray of light acted like a massive blade-light, furiously churning the surrounding sea.

The shark schools, having received orders, had already retreated in an orderly fashion, and the starfish quickly filled the void they left. Thus, as the brilliance of He Yiming’s Five Elements Ring raged everywhere, countless starfish were instantly sliced into fragments.

Although among the myriad starfish existed beings as powerful as human Innate Masters, how could such Spirit Beasts compare to Venerable He Yiming, who held a counterfeit artifact and rode the Sacred Beast, White Horse Lightning?

Under the ceaseless flood of light, more and more starfish were shredded, filling the entire sea area with the stench of blood.

The Black Shark King kept its distance, utterly baffled as to why He Yiming and the horse were not seeking revenge against it but were instead engaging the most powerful adversaries of the shark schools in this region.

Suddenly, a black beam flashed through the water, resembling a gigantic drill, and drove straight into the heart of the battle.

Where that endless radiance met this black beam, it dissipated immediately, allowing the light to penetrate unimpeded.

The black beam suddenly exploded, revealing a monstrous, humanoid figure holding a perfectly straight, scaled whip. Immense True Qi was channeled into it, causing the whip to snap out with the rigidity of a spear.

Clad in three-colored armor, this figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow.

The body of one of the Starfish Kings convulsed once more, and immense blossoms of blood erupted from its form.

This person’s strike was lightning-fast and utterly vicious; it pierced straight through the Starfish King’s body, from front to back, in an instant.

A purple light suddenly flared on the White Horse’s body, and its horn condensed a near-tangible purple glow, which then flew into the Five Elements Ring.

Simultaneously, He Yiming poured his entire True Qi into the Five Elements Ring without reservation, utilizing the ring’s unique spatial properties to fuse three equally potent forces into one.

An incredibly thick column of light burst forth from the Five Elements Ring.

This ray, having integrated the strengths of the three powers, arrived at the wound of the injured Starfish King the very moment it was unleashed.

Even though they were beneath the surface, the colossal boom of the explosion resonated far and wide.

The irresistible shockwave spread outward in undulating waves, physically blasting to death the starfish that had fearlessly rushed forward.

Chu Haozhou’s single strike had shattered the Starfish King’s defensive power; He Yiming seized the advantage, driving the collective might equivalent to three Venerables combined directly into the unclosed wound.

No matter how immense the Starfish King’s vitality, it could not withstand such a fatal blow.

Countless scraps of flesh drifted in the sea; the giant body of the Starfish King had already broken apart by nearly half, and even of its five tentacles, only three remained.

Although He Yiming and Chu Haozhou had never coordinated in actual combat before, the moment they struck, their synchronicity was uncanny, as if they were one entity.

The instant Chu Haozhou attacked forcefully with the Dragon Whip, He Yiming had already begun gathering the strength of the three.

Just as the Dragon Whip created a through-and-through wound, the Five Elements Ring delivered its most powerful strike precisely onto that damaged area.

Given the Starfish King's regenerative capability, a single breath would have allowed it to retract its body and conceal the injury.

By then, even if the Five Elements Ring’s light beam struck it, it would not have caused such catastrophic damage.

But the cooperation between the two was executed with flawless subtlety and perfect timing; from Chu Haozhou’s appearance to the killing of the Starfish King, mere moments had passed.

Their actions were swift and without hesitation; only after the Starfish King was slain did a vast aura of killing intent finally saturate every corner of that sea domain.

The Black Shark King watched, trembling with terror, and a glimmer of fear finally surfaced in its eyes.

By this point, the true strength of both sides had been revealed.

If the three seemingly weak creatures before it fought it one-on-one, the outcome might be evenly matched. But if the opponents joined forces, it would have no choice but to flee in disarray.

Of course, given the White Horse’s terrifying speed, escaping was another matter entirely.

A strange energy fluctuation spread rapidly through the ocean. Unexpectedly for He Yiming and the others, the intact Starfish King—the one that had suffered no injury—suddenly spun around and fled toward the distance with a speed entirely unsuited to its body.

Behind it, countless starfish formed interception lines, seemingly sacrificing their lives to defend their sovereign.

He Yiming and Chu Haozhou exchanged glances, recognizing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

This Starfish King, the moment its companion perished, abandoned the fight and chose flight, and in its retreat, it did not hesitate to use its progeny’s lives to cover its withdrawal.

Such tactics and resolve were rare even among humans.

However, for He Yiming and his companions, their goal was not the extermination of the starfish race; inflicting a heavy blow sufficient to stop their invasion of the shark schools was enough.

Keeping a certain level of pressure on the shark schools was sometimes even beneficial. Therefore, they did not pursue with the intention of killing the fleeing Starfish King.

Nevertheless, a cluster of starfish seemed momentarily confused, surging forward from the flank with claws and mouths bared.

He Yiming waved a hand casually, and with a sweep of light, he sliced that group of starfish into several pieces.

The pervasive bloodiness in the sea seemed to serve as a reminder to these deep-sea monsters that the strength of He Yiming and his party was beyond their reach. Following this, the starfish formed a wall of flesh in the direction the king had fled, but they dared not advance to attack again.

He Yiming and Chu Haozhou ignored the fleeing Starfish King, instead descending to the seabed. Chu Haozhou produced the Dragon Whip, and with a few swift swings, completely dismembered the dead Starfish King.

Of course, his primary objective was the Sacred Beast Inner Core within the Starfish King’s body.

Perhaps due to sheer mass, the Starfish King’s Inner Core was far larger than that of the Black Vulture King, being nearly the size of a human head.

Gazing at this massive core, He Yiming and Chu Haozhou were momentarily speechless.

Sensing the power contained within the Sacred Beast Inner Core, He Yiming shook his head slightly.

While this core was indeed large, the power it contained was inferior by more than a notch compared to the five Sacred Beast Inner Cores left behind by Zhou Minghua.

This demonstrated that a larger size in a Spirit Beast did not necessarily equate to greater might.

This point was also evident in the fact that the White Horse Lightning's power was in no way inferior to that of the Black Shark King.

The life-and-death battle between the two races in the ocean halted in this bizarre manner. Both the starfish and the sharks kept a wide berth from He Yiming and his companions. Even watching them dissect the Starfish King's corpse and extract the primary Sacred Beast Inner Core, no creature dared to approach.

Chu Haozhou made a gesture to He Yiming, who nodded slightly and opened the necklace space underwater, storing the entire corpse of the Starfish King inside.

Having acquired this massive spatial necklace, once worn by a former Divine Daoist, He Yiming would not have to worry about spatial constraints for the immediate future.

Another wave of strange power fluctuations traveled from afar through the water. To the surprise of He Yiming and the others, the starfish, as if granted a general amnesty, turned and fled, vanishing completely from the vast sea domain in an instant; only countless corpses remained, not a single starfish in sight.

P.S.: It seems there are still four days left; White Crane guarantees completion of Chapter 133, requesting monthly votes...

Also, I have an engagement out of town tonight, so the update will be scheduled, ugh!