Having navigated the seabed for a while, Ye Chen suddenly felt the surrounding seawater turn strangely cold. His eyes flickered, and he looked around without moving, as the refracted light made the ocean floor surprisingly bright, with many corals and rocks emitting a soft glow.
A dark silhouette swam slowly toward them from ahead.
Ye Chen focused his gaze, quickly realizing that as the silhouette expanded, the sea before him darkened. His expression shifted slightly, and he turned to look at the Black Armored Man, finding him calm, though his eyes were narrowed almost imperceptibly.
“The big one is coming.”
The Black Armored Man moved to intercept Ye Chen, a cruel, cold smile touching his lips. He watched the slow-approaching shadow without fear, instead, a chilling killing intent surfaced in his eyes.
Ye Chen called out worriedly, “Be careful!”
The Black Armored Man laughed heartily. Although he inwardly scoffed at the sentiment, he was still satisfied. He said to Ye Chen, “You watch from the side.” Ye Chen hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned, and retreated. This expression pleased the Black Armored Man immensely.
Ye Chen moved to the side, found a piece of coral, and settled upon it, looking on with deep concern. In his heart, however, he secretly pondered whether that monster could slay the Black Armored Man.
As he was thinking, the dark shadow drew closer and materialized in Ye Chen’s line of sight. It was a mutated White Whale Dragon, tens of thousands of feet long. Standing upright, it surpassed Mount Everest. Moving through the sea, it resembled a mountain range; the airflow generated by a single breath could kill many thousand-level Flood Dragons.
The Black Armored Man’s imposing height of two zhang seemed as minuscule as an ant before this White Whale Dragon.
The White Whale Dragon was covered in layers of dark scales, with a pair of curved black horns on its head. Below, four dragon claws had evolved. Due to its massive bulk, its claws were even thicker than those of ordinary dragon beasts!
The White Whale Dragon swam closer, looking down upon the small figure before it.
The Black Armored Man spoke with arrogant disdain, “Little fellow, tell me, have you seen a man at the seventh layer of the Ghost God Realm?” The White Whale Dragon’s icy eyes, shimmering with a metallic luster, looked down at the Black Armored Man and suddenly exhaled a powerful blast of air toward him. As the stream shot out, it condensed into the shape of a roaring blue water dragon.
The Black Armored Man snorted coldly, “You little thing, quite arrogant temper!” He slowly opened his palm, and a dark mist billowed out, enveloping his entire body. Suddenly, he let out a long roar toward the sky, the fierce sound waves vibrating the surrounding seawater clear, creating a vacuum channel. Even Ye Chen, perched on the distant coral, felt his eardrums ache from the sheer volume. He quickly retreated thousands of feet before the sound began to diminish significantly.
Ye Chen looked up, his expression changing drastically. He saw that the Black Armored Man’s body suddenly began to swell, growing slowly from its original two zhang to ten zhang, then twenty, one hundred zhang…
It kept growing!
Endless black mist permeated from his body as his size rapidly increased to thousands of zhang, yet it did not stop. After a few minutes, he reached a height of ten thousand zhang!
Like an ancient giant!
Rumble—
The Black Armored Man took a step, and the entire ocean shook. The corals on the seabed snapped, causing currents to surge violently.
Ye Chen watched, his heart pounding. He hadn't expected the Black Armored Man, in his true form, to be so immense!
The White Whale Dragon seemed greatly alarmed but did not retreat. Instead, it charged toward the Black Armored Man, opening its massive jaws to bite at the giant’s thigh.
At this moment, a single strand of hair on the Black Armored Man’s thigh was thicker than Ye Chen himself!
Seeing the two colossal monsters engaging in battle, Ye Chen quickly retreated backward, lest he be caught in the crossfire.
“Roar…” The Black Armored Man’s features were somewhat ferocious in his true form, his face covered in stiff, dense spines. He looked down at the White Whale Dragon, roaring, and brought his fist down, striking the beast’s back.
The White Whale Dragon’s body suddenly dimmed, becoming ethereal, having reached the Ghost God Realm!
Given this White Whale Dragon’s physique, it likely possessed a ten-thousand-level potential, but its higher Life Gene level made reaching the Ghost God Realm difficult, similar to Lord Ziyun of the Xuanyuan Clan and others.
Arrogance flared in the Black Armored Man’s eyes as a golden arc of light shot from his fist.
Bang!
The fist struck the illusory White Whale Dragon, hitting it as if it were solid flesh, landing a solid blow!
“Aoo…” The White Whale Dragon shrieked, the sound wave penetrating the water and echoing throughout the seabed, terrifying nearby creatures into staying away.
The Black Armored Man grinned menacingly, channeling the divine power within his body, relentlessly smashing down. His fists descended like mountains, pounding the White Whale Dragon’s head. The beast struggled fiercely but was pinned against the rocky seabed by the Black Armored Man, unable to break free.
After a few minutes, the White Whale Dragon’s skull was bashed in, and it died from cerebral hemorrhage.
Ye Chen was shocked. He hadn't expected an overlord of the deep sea to be slaughtered so easily; even in later stages, monsters like the White Whale Dragon were considered top-tier sea beasts!
After killing the White Whale Dragon, the Black Armored Man’s form flickered and rapidly shrank. Moments later, he returned to his original size, standing atop the dead creature’s head. Fatigue lined his eyes; this seemingly simple feat had clearly cost him considerable energy.
Ye Chen rushed forward immediately, killing intent churning in his heart, ready to strike while the man was spent.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed in the distance, silent against the calm currents.
The flash was fleeting but noticed by both Ye Chen and the Black Armored Man, causing them both to startle.
The Black Armored Man’s expression turned grave. He called out to Ye Chen and then sped toward the location of the golden light. Ye Chen hesitated, glanced back at the White Whale Dragon, then gritted his teeth and followed the Black Armored Man.
What a waste!
All the nutrition and energy contained within that White Whale Dragon could have helped Ye Chen reach the Ghost God Realm, boosting his physique by 2,000 levels directly!
Ye Chen caught up to the Black Armored Man at the spot where the golden light had vanished and stopped.
The Black Armored Man looked around, somewhat puzzled. “Strange, I felt a trace of divine power pass through here just now, but it’s gone?” He took a few steps forward, his figure shimmered, and then he vanished abruptly.
Ye Chen was surprised that the Black Armored Man had disappeared into thin air. The scene looked remarkably like stepping into some ancient ruin.
Is there a ruin here?
Ye Chen frowned, pondered for a moment, but did not follow immediately. Instead, he turned back toward the carcass of the White Whale Dragon. He hadn't gone more than a few steps when his face suddenly changed. Looking into the distance, he saw a dark silhouette slowly swimming through a torrent of fast-moving water…
Ye Chen’s heart sank. Could there be two White Whale Dragons here?
He shrank his body, quickly retreating, positioning himself where the Black Armored Man had disappeared, waiting to get a clearer view. Not long after, a slightly smaller White Whale Dragon emerged from the dark depths and swam to the side of the corpse, letting out a mournful cry…
Ye Chen gave a wry smile. Just as he was about to turn and follow the path the Black Armored Man had taken, he happened to glimpse the smaller White Whale Dragon suddenly opening its immense jaws and beginning to devour the dead one.
Ye Chen’s brow furrowed. Daring not to linger, he quickly stepped into the space where the Black Armored Man had vanished. As soon as he entered, a weak electric current swept over him, causing his body to tingle slightly, and his consciousness paused briefly. After a moment, he returned to normal.
Ye Chen opened his eyes and was astonished to find himself in a vast desert. A scorching sun seemed to hang in the sky, radiating intense heat, and the gravity was vastly different—it was 100 times that of the outside world!
“Why did it take you so long?” As Ye Chen was dazed, a cold voice sounded beside him. Ye Chen turned his head and saw it was the Black Armored Man. He quickly composed himself. “I thought my adoptive father would be out soon, so I waited a while. When you still hadn’t emerged, I came in, so I was a little late.”
The Black Armored Man glanced at him, his expression softening somewhat. “It’s nothing. After I entered, I tried to leave, but the way back vanished. If you hadn't followed, we would never have met again.”
Ye Chen was startled and stepped back a few paces, only to find he couldn't leave. The spatial connection point seemed gone?
The Black Armored Man waved his hand. “No need to check. Let’s go. We’ll explore here first; this should be a treasure left by some prehistoric civilization. We’ll see what’s inside.” Ye Chen glanced around, frowned slightly, said nothing, and quietly followed the Black Armored Man.
The two flew across the desert…
Because the gravity here was 100 times the outside world, their speed was extremely slow. Even the Black Armored Man could only maintain a speed of 1,000 jin at best, barely a thousand meters per second. Ye Chen was weaker still, managing only about level 70 speed, around one hundred meters per second.
The Black Armored Man led Ye Chen, flying for only a short while before he suddenly stopped, raising his hand to block Ye Chen. His expression turned grave as he stared at the sand below and growled, “Get out!”
Whoosh!
As the voice fell, a black shadow suddenly shot out from the desert, kicking up clouds of yellow sand and lunging toward the Black Armored Man with lightning speed.
The Black Armored Man’s eyes turned cold. Two beams of golden light shot from his pupils, striking the black shadow. The shadow trembled slightly, then dropped, landing on the sand, twitching faintly before becoming still.
Ye Chen focused his sight and saw that the monster was a small scorpion, entirely purple-brown, with three small tails behind it. It was now smoking faintly, charred on the outside and tender within.
The Black Armored Man spoke gravely, “This place is a bit strange. I don't know what that golden light was that drew us here. You need to be careful; I might not be able to look after you.” Ye Chen nodded firmly.
From the very beginning, he hadn't relied on the Black Armored Man to protect him.
They advanced rapidly. Before long, the scorching sun in the sky suddenly dimmed. The surrounding light and temperature rapidly declined, giving the distinct impression of sunset giving way to night.
This time, Ye Chen looked up toward the sky, which was no longer blinding, and discovered a massive blue sphere suspended in the middle of the air—it was clearly an artificial sun!
It could generate both cooling and heat…