kvmb Chapter 552
Chapter 552
Dongfang Wan'er unfastened the "Heartbeat Bell" from her wrist—a spiritual artifact crafted from mermaid tears and cicada shells. As the bell's clasp trembled slightly, she heard subtle vibrations resonate in her sea of consciousness, like the sound of countless seashells opening simultaneously. The largest jellyfish's bell suddenly revealed pale golden patterns, its tentacles tipped with a pearl-like orb of light. The vibrations transformed into a clear stream of information: "The deep-sea palace has been invaded by the Black-Scaled Demon Whale. We beg the immortals to protect our people..." The scene flashed with images of shattered coral ruins, the weeping eyes of mermaids, and ancient totem poles shrouded in black mist.
Suddenly, Xiao Bai barked at the sea surface, ice crystals appearing on its fur—it keenly sensed the malice from a thousand meters below. Ye Jiuchen plunged the Dragon Roar Sword into the water, its blade reflecting a pyramid-shaped structure hanging upside down on the seabed—the legendary sunken "Mirage City." When the sword tip touched the seabed silt, the entire ruin suddenly trembled, and countless bubbles surged from the cracks, each bubble sealing a terrified human face.
"Hold your breath!" Dongfang Wan'er lashed out her Frost Whip, which wrapped around the two men's waists. The whip suddenly expanded into a transparent gas bladder, enveloping the three of them. Guided by the blue light emitted by the jellyfish swarm, they passed through an archway made of glowing seaweed. The sight before them was breathtaking: a black-scaled demon whale, hundreds of feet in diameter, was coiled around the underwater temple. Giant coffin-like shells grew on its dorsal fin, and tentacles that sucked spiritual energy extended from the gaps in each shell. The star map relief on the temple's dome had been gnawed beyond recognition. Even more horrifying was the fact that countless fine iron chains were embedded in the demon whale's belly, the ends of which were connected to the densely packed corpses on the seabed—the remains of cultivators from past generations who had attempted to exorcise the demon.
"It was refined into a living sacrifice furnace." Ye Jiuchen's voice was low as he saw the blood array on the altar reflected in the demonic whale's murky eyes. When the Frost Whip severed the first tentacle, the black blood splashed onto the coral reef ignited with ghostly blue flames. The corpses suddenly opened their eyes, and serpentine vengeful spirits formed from black mist surged from their empty eye sockets. Xiao Bai leaped into the horde of vengeful spirits, the jade pendant around her neck bursting forth with intense light. Any skeleton touched by the light turned into fluorescent light and vanished, revealing the keepsakes they had clutched tightly in life: a broken jade hairpin, half a breastplate, a waist tag engraved with the character "Mirage"...
The Dragon's Roar Sword's slash grazed the demonic whale's scales, sparks flying. Only then did Ye Jiuchen realize that the black scales were formed from countless vengeful spirits. Dongfang Wan'er noticed the jellyfish swarm weaving a net of light with their tentacles, attempting to trap the demonic whale's movements. "Look at its brow!" She flung out an ice shard to repel the attacking vengeful spirits, revealing a blood-stained pearl embedded in the whale's forehead—the core of the evil entity controlling it. Just then, a distant conch shell sounded from the deep sea, and countless mermaids emerged from the cracks in the ruins. The pearl powder scattered by their flapping tails temporarily purified the black energy.
Suddenly, Xiao Bai grabbed Ye Jiuchen's trouser leg and dragged him towards the altar, where the blood array was oozing black mist of the same origin as the demonic whale. As the three leaped onto the altar, the ground suddenly cracked open, revealing an ancient jade slip suppressed beneath layers of bones. Dongfang Wan'er traced the patterns on the jade slip with her fingertips, and a massive amount of information instantly flooded her mind: Three hundred years ago, the elders of Mirage City, to protect their people, voluntarily sacrificed their souls to the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, but the incantation was altered by an evil cultivator, causing the pearl to become corrupted...
"What we need to purify is not the Demon Whale, but the Sea-Suppressing Pearl!" Ye Jiuchen swung his sword, severing the last chain. The Mermaid Princess suddenly thrust her scepter into the altar, causing thousands of pearls to explode simultaneously, forming a purification barrier that enveloped the Demon Whale. Dongfang Wan'er inserted the Spirit Heart Grass into the crack of the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, while Xiaobai lay on the pearl's surface, channeling the bloodline of the Spirit Wolf. Ye Jiuchen used himself as a conduit, using the Dragon Roar Sword to connect the power of the tribulation lightning between the sea and the sky. When the first bolt of lightning struck the Demon Whale's brow, it suddenly let out a long, liberating cry. The shells on its dorsal fin opened, spitting out hundreds of warm spirit pearls—the primordial spirits of the cultivators it had devoured.
As the battle ended, two moons rose above the sea. The demonic whale had transformed into a gentle blue whale, and the Sea-Suppressing Pearl once again floated above the temple dome, emitting a bright light. The merfolk elders wove flower baskets from coral branches, filling them with "Star Tear Grass," which could heal hidden wounds. Dongfang Wan'er stroked Xiao Bai's newly grown aquamarine fur and discovered that its ear tips had sprouted translucent, fin-like structures—traces of resonance with the spirits of the sea race. Ye Jiuchen noticed that the dragon patterns on his sword scabbard now possessed a gentler quality, no longer the sharp and menacing design of before.
As the spirit ship set sail again, a swarm of jellyfish lined up like a silver river to see it off. The luminous seaweed supported by their tentacles formed a ribbon of light stretching to the horizon at the stern. Dongfang Wan'er gazed at the "Eye of the Heart" mark given to her by the Sea-Suppressing Pearl in her palm; she could see a young dragon swimming in the deep sea, heading towards the direction of the dragon they had encountered last time. Suddenly, the jade slip in Ye Jiuchen's sleeve heated up, and the island lord's handwriting appeared on the first page: "When the stars return to their places, don't forget the third ancient formation sleeping at the bottom of the sea..."
The spirit boat cleaved through the silvery waves on the shimmering, diamond-like sea. Mermaid lanterns hanging from the gunwales swayed gently, reflecting the shimmering pearl hairpin in Dongfang Wan'er's hair. Ye Jiuchen stood with his hands behind his back at the bow, a corner of his dark robe billowing in the sea breeze. The Taotie pattern on the scabbard of his "Dragon's Roar" sword seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. Little White perched atop the mast, its bushy tail sweeping across the sails. Suddenly, it pricked up its ears and let out a low growl like a cub—the fierce battle with the Black-Scaled Demon Whale hadn't made this spirited snow wolf lower its guard.
A sudden change occurred! The keel of the spirit boat groaned under the strain, and the hull tilted sharply at a thirty-degree angle. The sound of shattering porcelain echoed from the cabin floor. Dongfang Wan'er staggered, grabbing for support by the carved wooden railing. Looking up, she saw the sea churning as if boiling, and a shadow slowly emerging from the inky water made her pupils shrink. What a colossal creature it was! Its greyish-blue back was the first to break the surface, its carapace thicker than city wall bricks, with millennia-old seaweed clinging to its crevices. Each scale lifted sent up a wave ten feet high. As the sea monster raised its massive head, the crescent moon disappeared into its jagged brow, its gaping maw large enough to swallow the entire spirit boat. Black venom dripped from its throat, corroding the seawater and causing it to hiss and emit white smoke.
"Watch out!" Ye Jiuchen's Dragon Roar Sword was already three inches from its sheath, its cold light reflecting in his eyes like icy snow. Little White leaped down from the mast, its claws scraping five white marks on the deck, its fur standing on end like a forest of silver spears, its roar shaking the sails. Dongfang Wan'er untied the Frost Whip from her waist; ice crystals condensed into sharp blades at the tip, but shattered instantly upon contact with the sea monster's aura—the black mist surrounding this monster carried an ancient demonic aura, making it more sinister than ordinary demons.
Black venom poured down like a torrential downpour. Ye Jiuchen's sword fingers flew, his sword technique drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to condense a semi-transparent shield of light at the bow of the ship. The Dragon Roar Sword slashed out with the sound of wind and thunder, its sword energy cleaving through the venom like a bolt of lightning. The black venom, however, dispersed upon contact with water, splitting into hundreds of thin streams that continued to seep into the shield. Dongfang Wan'er's fingertips formed a hand seal, and the "Heart Sound Bell" in her sleeve suddenly heated up. Nine silver bells vibrated simultaneously, emitting a uniquely ethereal voice characteristic of merfolk, carrying an urgent pressure like that of the ocean floor: "That is the Netherworld Beast sealed by the First Sea God with the Three Sea-Suppressing Pearls! Just now, when purifying the Black Scale Demon Whale, the fluctuations in the spiritual energy of the spirit boat triggered the remaining sealing array..." The bell's sound suddenly distorted, like giant waves crashing against a conch shell, "We must gather the other two scattered Sea-Suppressing Pearls and use the Three Talents Array to draw upon the power of the sea and sky to suppress it again!"
The sea was now shrouded in dark clouds, and the massive tail of the Netherworld Beast slammed into the water, unleashing a tsunami that pressed down like a towering wall. Suddenly, Xiao Bai leaped into the sea, her snow-white figure appearing and disappearing amidst the turbid waves, her body entwining the tentacles on the sea monster's arms. Ye Jiuchen swung his sword at the monster's eyes, only to see the murky eyeball suddenly split open, revealing eerie green runes flowing within—it was a ferocious creature refined by ancient evil magic! Dongfang Wan'er removed the Mermaid's Weeping Pearl from her neck, and the pearl suddenly emitted a shimmering blue light, illuminating the ancient curse marks appearing on the sea monster's body: remnants of the seal left by the Three Sea Pearls.
"To port!" She flung out the Demon-Binding Rope, its whip wrapping around the monster's forehead spikes. "The fragment of the Sea-Suppressing Pearl has sensed a similar aura!" The spirit ship rocked violently in the storm, and the eyes of the dragon head statue at the bow suddenly glowed red—the half of the Sea-Suppressing Pearl stored in a hidden compartment at the bottom of the ship was resonating. Ye Jiuchen leaped onto the monster's head, his Dragon Roar Sword piercing the weakest point of the curse seal. As black blood gushed out, the Netherworld Beast let out a deafening roar, and a chain reaction of tremors came from the seabed, as if more ancient seals were about to loosen.
Dongfang Wan'er gripped the blood-stained whip handle, gazing at the gathering dark clouds on the horizon. The merman's final words echoed in her ears: "The second Zhenhai Pearl is in the pile of bones in the coral graveyard, the third... in the tears of the South Sea Merman King." Xiao Bai, soaking wet, leaped back onto the ship, a fragment of the Zhenhai Pearl, stained with sea monster slime, dangling from his mouth. His amber eyes reflected the faintly visible coral reefs in the distance. As the spirit boat broke through the rain and continued its journey, the figures of the three men and the wolf appeared exceptionally resolute in the lightning—more than the unknown dangers, they knew: beneath this sea coveted by evil spirits slumbered the weeping pearls of millions of mermen, a purity more precious than any weapon to be protected.