A vast and majestic aura erupted forth!
Everyone's gaze was drawn to it.
Tides surged in response to the violent fluctuations of the aura.
Countless ocean currents spawned, like enormous dragon-serpents slithering in packs across the seabed.
Dark undercurrents and whirlpools formed simultaneously, growing ever more numerous, their numbers exploding!
In the blink of an eye, hundreds upon hundreds of sinister whirlpools had spread across the surrounding sea.
"What is that?" Tai Bai Yun Sheng blurted in astonishment.
"An Ancient Desolate Beast!" A sharp gleam flashed through Fang Yuan's eyes as he spoke the truth.
Ordinary wild beasts, Hundred Beast Kings, Thousand Beast Kings, Ten Thousand Beast Kings, Beast Emperors, Desolate Beasts, Antiquity Desolate Beasts, Ancient Desolate Beasts…
Among them, Ancient Desolate Beasts were existences comparable to Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals!
Shark Demon and Su Bai Man, the married couple, stared with burning eyes, their gazes fixed upon the center of the aura — there, the silhouette of the Ancient Desolate Beast was gradually materializing.
With the enemy situation unclear, even the Burning Sky Demoness paused her offensive. With a thought, she recalled the fire birds back to her side.
Tides rose and fell, waves crashed violently.
Above the sea surface, fierce winds whipped up fearsome waves, while beneath it, powerful undercurrents roared.
Several breaths later, the mysterious Ancient Desolate Beast finally revealed its true form.
This powerful Ancient Desolate Beast was, unexpectedly, remarkably small.
So small, in fact, that it was the size of an ordinary person's finger.
It was a shark.
Incredibly tiny and rather cute.
Roughly the size of an adult's index finger.
Its entire body shimmered with a silver radiance. The glow was not blinding, but gentle and warm as water, wrapping around the little shark's body as softly as silk.
"Such a powerful aura, yet the actual body is so…" Tai Bai Yun Sheng sighed, his expression peculiar.
But across from him, the Burning Sky Demoness wore a look of solemnity.
The little shark ignored Fang Yuan, Shark Demon, and the others behind it. The moment it appeared, it fixed its eyes upon the Burning Sky Demoness, radiating intense hostility.
Shark Demon finally let out a long breath and transmitted his voice to Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng: "My plan succeeded by a stroke of luck… You two must not underestimate this little shark. It is the One-Finger Flow Shark!"
"This is the One-Finger Flow Shark?" Tai Bai Yun Sheng exclaimed, his face changing as undisguised astonishment showed in his eyes.
Ordinary Gu Immortals might not know about the One-Finger Flow Shark, but as a Time Path Gu Immortal, Tai Bai Yun Sheng had long heard of its reputation.
In fact, virtually all Time Path Gu Immortals knew a certain mnemonic — "One-Finger Flow Shark, a fleeting bloom. Clear notes of passing water, the will of Heaven shows no sentiment."
The One-Finger Flow Shark held the very first place in that mnemonic — to say it was famous would be no exaggeration.
It was an Eighth Transformation Time Path Desolate Beast. It bore an incredibly rich accumulation of Time Path Dao Marks, allowing it to traverse the River of Time with its physical body!
"This One-Finger Flow Shark normally conceals itself within the River of Time and does not reveal its true form. My wife and I discovered its traces by sheer chance, due to an accident. Later, we specifically requested this stretch of sea from the Zombie Alliance headquarters, and ultimately created Shark Sea," Shark Demon continued explaining to Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
The Burning Sky Demoness suddenly let out a soft laugh: "So that's how it is. No wonder the two of you once went to great lengths to exchange for the Immortal Killer Move of the Slavery Path Grandmaster Bai Ba Shi Nu — 'The Low Overthrows the High.' It was so you could use this Slavery Path method to subdue the One-Finger Flow Shark."
The Slavery Path had always been about those above controlling those below.
For instance, when Fang Yuan was in the Northern Plains under the identity of Wolf King Chang Shan Yin, participating in the Battle of the Royal Court, he had used Ten Thousand Beast Kings, Thousand Beast Kings, and the like to indirectly command the wolf army.
After all, a soul's foundation was limited. A Slavery Path Gu Master could not possibly bring every wild beast under their direct command.
The larger the beast horde, the weaker the Slavery Path Gu Master's control became, the heavier the burden on their soul, and the harder it was to achieve precise manipulation.
But this was not absolute.
Gu are the true essence of Heaven and Earth; humans are the most spiritual of all creation.
Human intellect was, without question or dispute, the foremost among all things.
In the long annals of Gu cultivation history, there had once appeared a Slavery Path Grandmaster whose early years had been fraught with hardship — born into slavery, of the lowest station. Through chance after chance, risking his life again and again, he grew continuously until he finally climbed to the very pinnacle of life.
That was Bai Ba Shi Nu.
A ghostly genius of his generation.
Ordinary Slavery Path practitioners followed the principle of those above controlling those below. But he had done precisely the reverse — those below commanding those above.
This was not without logic.
Consider an example: the Emperor is the lord of all under heaven, holding the power of life and death, lofty and supreme. Yet sometimes, when the people are of one mind, even the Emperor can be swept along by the tide of public sentiment, forced to act against his own will.
Facing the Burning Sky Demoness's conjecture, Shark Demon nodded and admitted frankly: "Your guess is correct, it is exactly as you said. I have been cultivating the shark horde in this sea, hoping to use the school of sharks to subdue the One-Finger Flow Shark. Unfortunately, my attainment in the Slavery Path is insufficient, and I lack the Immortal Gu needed to assemble the 'The Low Overthrows the High' killer move. So I have yet to succeed."
Hearing this, Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng exchanged a glance.
Shark Demon's ambition was truly vast.
He was merely a Seventh Transformation Zombie — yet he sought to subdue an Ancient Desolate Beast.
Those who could become Gu Immortals were never simple.
If he truly succeeded, then with such a fighter at his side, Shark Demon would effectively be half an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal. His status and prestige would soar, and fame and fortune would come rolling in.
At this stage, though he had not succeeded, he had already reaped some results.