Chapter 835: An Empty Place; Leaving Profound Rock (I)

Whoosh!

In the pitch-black night sky, a streak of light cut across like a meteor. Suddenly, the light faltered and dropped into a forest on a small island. Beasts roared within the woods, but when they sensed the immense spirit pressure, they immediately tucked their tails and trembled on the ground.

Under the moonlight, a figure in luxurious robes appeared among the trees. His posture was tall and straight, and his face handsome. It was Gu Shaoshang of Flying Cloud Ravine!

At this moment, his mana was unstable, and his normally confident expression was replaced by panic. He turned to look toward the horizon, and only when he saw no signs of a pursuer did he subconsciously let out a long breath. "

Huuuuuu...

"

This sigh of relief revealed the unease in his heart. A trace of lingering fear appeared on his face. "A Sage... That aura could only come from a Sage. It was faint, but the pressure felt almost like my father's. No wonder he dared to snatch the prey from the tiger's jaws on Profound Rock Island. I never imagined he was a Sage.... I thought I was hunting a rabbit, but I nearly ran into a tiger instead. I must have been completely out of my mind."

He was not in the best mental state, stuck between fear and relief. Finally, seeing that no pursuers seemed to be approaching even after a long while, he relaxed slightly and checked his condition.

Just fleeing at full speed had consumed a large amount of mana. In such a state, it was not suitable for flying alone across the sea. He immediately swallowed a pill and sat cross-legged to recover. As his mana gradually recovered and his mind steadied, he began to feel that something was wrong.

If that person was truly a Sage, why would he hide like that? He could sweep through the entire Profound Rock Sea Region alone. The fact that he used the structure of the Nine Palace Eight Trigram Formation to hide clearly suggests that he is not really as strong as he seemed. Could I have sensed it wrong? But that's not possible. The aura was definitely the same level as my father's... What exactly is going on here?

While pondering in puzzlement, Gu Shaoshang suddenly thought of a possibility: a Soul-Refining Banner.

Could the Nascent Soul aura have come from a Sage-level soul within the banner? And maybe the person controlling it was only an Adept?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like this explanation made sense. With such power in hand, that person did not need to fight him directly. He only needed to release the aura to scare him away. Gu Shaoshang understood this perfectly—he also had a certain something that his father had given him. At the same time, however, he was a cautious person by nature, and he would not use that thing unless it was to save his own life.

"In any case, a Soul-Refining Banner that holds a Sage-level soul is definitely not ordinary. It might even be a Myriad Fierce Souls Banner. That thing is not something easily controlled... If anything, the one holding it was probably already strained just releasing a trace of its aura. If that's the case... I may have been a bit too cautious."

When he thought of how his caution had cost him the Demon Emperor's remains, a trace of regret rose in his heart. He could have used his father's gift and fought that person. If he had succeeded, the reward would have undoubtedly been ten or even a hundred times better than whatever Ring-Head Turtle body. Then, his father's chances would have also increased severalfold. In other words, if he had fought for that Demon Emperor shell, he would have surely received a great reward himself. Sadly, at the final moment, he had faltered. Although returning to the region alone had proved his resolve, he had still backed down at the last step. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it.

"No, forget it. In the Northern Sea, anyone who owns a Myriad Fierce Souls Banner isn't someone to provoke lightly. Most likely, he's from the Primordial Devil Sect. If I'd faced him head-on, it's hard to say whether I would've won. And if the fight caused too much of a stir and drew the attention of the crabs, that would have been the end of me. No way. With my talent, Nascent Soul is well within reach. There's no need for me to risk my life in a place like this."

Thus consoling himself, he suppressed the lingering regrets and focused on recovery.

***

Meanwhile, the great battle on Profound Rock Island had devastated the area. Well... that was not entirely an accurate description, since there was no devastated area in sight. The island had been literally pushed underwater. As the seawater flowed over it, the traces of the battle no longer seemed so terrifying. Yet the injuries of the surviving demonic crabs were still shocking to behold.

Golden Mud lay inside the half-broken Five-Colored Clam with a weary expression. This very clamshell was the reason he had survived the lightning tribulation he had been dragged into. Even so, the lightning power that poured into his body still left him in terrible condition.

Beside him, another demonic crab calmly reported the losses from the battle. Golden Mud listened, equally calm, but as the casualty report kept going on and on, his heart sank deeper and deeper. Suddenly, he cut the crab short and turned toward someone else. "Golden Armor, I didn't do anything wrong... did I?"

Golden Armor thought for a moment, then replied in understanding, "Patriarch, you did nothing wrong. The losses may have been heavy, but a hard-fought victory is still a victory."

Golden Mud felt somewhat better at those words. Yet one thought still troubled him. "But the remains of Demon Emperor Profound Rock fell into someone else's hands. I..."

Golden Armor cut him off firmly, "Why worry about that? The shell of that Black Tortoise is not really important to our clan. What truly matters is this fourth-tier spirit vein land and the resources of this sea region."

Golden Mud narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

Golden Armor raised his head and said slowly, "Profound Rock Island may have sunk, but I have already investigated and I found that the spirit vein's foundation is still there. It can still support Demon Kings to break through to the Transformation Stage. Besides, the Green Emperor Crab and Nine-Legged Poison King Crab clans suffered even heavier losses than we did. If we seize the chance to swallow up their forces, our Overlord Crab clan won't just recover its strength; we might even grow stronger than before."

Golden Mud fell into thought. If that was true, then even if they failed to unite the five clans and rule the Profound Rock Sea Region, the Overlord Crab clan could still rise above the rest and keep its dominant position.

"Then, when do you think we should move against those two clans?"

"The sooner the better. We have to strike while their new patriarchs haven't been elected and the clans are leaderless."

"And who exactly will be the one to strike?"

When Golden Mud asked this, he cast a meaningful glance at Golden Armor. Normally, it was the battle-hardened Golden Pincer who took over the command of the clan when waging war. In truth, Golden Pincer was also his preferred successor as the next patriarch, and Golden Mud had even planned to grant him the clan's accumulated resources to break through to the Transformation Stage. If Golden Pincer could subdue the two clans before that breakthrough and expand the territory of the Overlord Crab clan, then rewarding him with those resources would be even more justified.

Unfortunately, just a little while back, a small accident had occurred.

Golden Armor stepped forward and clasped his two intact massive pincers together. "I'm willing to take the mission."

Golden Mud raised an eyebrow. "You're good at managing internal affairs, not fighting outsiders."

Golden Armor showed no fear. "There's no one in the Overlord Crab clan who can't fight. Besides..."

He paused for a moment, then said bluntly, "Golden Pincer has lost a pincer. His strength has dropped a lot. And after that human cultivator's surprise attack, he's still badly injured and he can barely move. I may not be as strong as he was at his peak, but right now, it's only natural for me to step forward."

Golden Mud remained silent for a long moment. Then he slowly nodded. "Very well. Then you go. Move quickly, and don't give Crimson Flame and Red Face time to react."

"Understood."