76: Chapter 76 Dragons, Elephants, and Demons

The devil's roar tore through the sea and sky, the sound waves carrying a tangible aura of filth, piercing toward the hovering Xu Zhaoyang like ten thousand ice needles.

Xu Zhaoyang's expression was cold and stern as iron, his dark golden pupils devoid of any fear.

The moment the devilish sound was about to reach him, a layer of solid, crimson-gold Protective Aura suddenly surged around him, with faint, coiling dragon-shaped phantoms circling outside it, completely sealing off the devilish sound and filth.

"You wicked creature, you dare to act so violently!"

Xu Zhaoyang roared, his voice like the clashing of metal, actually forcing the devil's roar down by half.

He gripped the Dragon Binding Rope tightly in his right hand and yanked it backward violently!

"Riiip!"

The golden hook sank deep into the scales, tearing away a large chunk of dark cyan flesh and filthy blood!

The devil, feeling the pain, writhed its hundred-zhang-long body frantically, its appendages dancing wildly, kicking up giant waves that crashed against the surrounding warships like a landslide or tsunami.

"Hold the Formation!" On the ship's tower, the purple-robed elder of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau shouted sharply, pointing his jade ruyi toward the sky.

The pale golden light net, which had been shrouding the sea area, suddenly brightened several times over. Dense, illusory runic symbols appeared between the grids, and like a vast net covering heaven and earth, it began to shrink and squeeze inward!

As the light net touched the devil's body, it emitted a "sizzling" sound of burning. The filthy mucus on the devil's surface was rapidly evaporated, and billowing black smoke rose from its scales!

"Roar—!"

The devil's six compound eyes simultaneously shot out scarlet blood-light. Wherever the blood-light passed, ripples of corrosion appeared on the light net!

Its massive body suddenly sank, as if it intended to force its way into the deep sea to escape!

"You want to leave?!" Li Chongshan's red hair danced wildly as he stepped out of the ship's tower, his figure cutting through the air like a crimson meteor!

While still in mid-air, he had already thrown out both fists!

"Crimson Flame Burns the Mountain!"

At the tips of his fists, crimson Protective Aura condensed into two house-sized giant flaming fists. The surfaces of these giant fists flowed with a luster like magma, carrying a terrifying heat capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, as they smashed fiercely toward the devil's head, which was protruding from the water!

Before the giant flaming fists even arrived, the high temperature had already caused the surrounding seawater to boil and vaporize, sending white mist shooting into the sky.

The devil seemed to sense the threat; it swung its head violently, and those terrifying giant horns smashed fiercely into the giant flaming fists!

"Boom—!"

The crimson flames collided with the dark purple devil horns, exploding into a sky full of flowing fire and dark purple Devilish Qi!

Flames splashed into the sea, causing large swathes of seawater to churn and boil; as the Devilish Qi dissipated, the armor of any warships it touched emitted a "hissing" sound of corrosion!

Li Chongshan let out a muffled groan, his body drifting backward for over ten zhang, his fists faintly blackened, clearly injured by the backlash of the Devilish Qi.

But the devil did not fare well either; one of its giant horns had been scorched by the flames, leaving a charred crack from which dark green, foul-smelling blood flowed.

"Brother Li, I have come to assist you!"

The gentle smile of the Zhou family head, Zhou Wenyuan, had long since vanished, replaced by a grave expression. His figure drifted up like a willow catkin, his hands forming seals rapidly in front of his chest as he chanted incantations.

"Four Seas Tide Rising · Suppress!"

As his incantation was completed, four azure water tornadoes, each exceeding three zhang in diameter, suddenly surged up from the sea surface below.

These water tornadoes were not ordinary seawater, but were condensed from pure water-attributed Protective Aura and the power of a Formation. They spiraled into the sky like four giant pillars reaching the heavens, crashing fiercely from four directions into the midsection of the devil's body!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The four water tornadoes struck in succession, and the devil's mountain-like body was actually knocked to one side, its appendages flailing wildly in an attempt to tear the water tornadoes apart.

The water tornadoes, however, were extremely resilient; torn apart, they would rapidly close again, tightly binding the devil's body and constantly tightening. The friction between the scales and the aura-infused water produced a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound.

"Now is the time!" The Wang family head, Wang Duanyue, shouted coldly, and the long sword at his waist was already unsheathed!

The sword body was ancient and simple, without much luster, but the moment it was unsheathed, a sharp Sword Intent that could sever everything and pierce anything soared into the sky, even piercing a hole through the dark clouds pressing down from above with its invisible force!

Wang Duanyue's figure flashed, man and sword becoming one, transforming into a pale gray beam of sword light. Its speed was so fast that it almost exceeded the limits of visual perception!

The sword light pointed directly at the single vertical eye on the devil's forehead!

That was the core where the Devilish Qi of the devil's entire body converged, and it was also the hub of its perception and Mental Energy.

The devil sensed the mortal danger; its six compound eyes flashed with violent blood-light. Ignoring the water tornadoes binding its body and Xu Zhaoyang and Li Chongshan in mid-air, all of its Mental Energy surged frantically toward the single eye on its forehead!

The twisted black blood vessels on the eyelid of the single eye suddenly bulged and writhed. Deep within the pupil, a bottomless dark vortex spun rapidly, and a mental shockwave—chaotic, insane, and capable of causing the Divine Soul of any Martial Artist below the Dragon Elephant Realm to collapse on the spot—erupted like an invisible tsunami!

"Watch out for the Soul Devour!" The elder of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's expression changed, and he hurriedly activated his jade ruyi. A layer of pale purple light shield rapidly expanded, attempting to protect the ordinary soldiers on the surrounding warships.

However, Wang Duanyue's sword had already struck.

The pale gray sword light collided head-on with that invisible Soul Devour shockwave!

There was no loud noise, no shockwave.

There was only a heart-palpitating "sizzling" sound, as if Souls were being torn apart, that resonated directly within everyone's Sea of Consciousness.

The weaker naval soldiers, even with the weakening effect of the purple light shield, still bled from their seven orifices on the spot, collapsing to the ground while clutching their heads and screaming in agony!

The physicians on the rear tower ships were even more miserable; nearly half of them fainted outright, and the rest were pale-faced, their Divine Souls shaken, having almost lost the ability to think!

Jiang Hanzhou only felt as if his brain had been struck hard by a heavy hammer; his vision blackened, his ears were filled with ringing, and his Qi and blood surged wildly in reverse!

He let out a muffled groan and bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. Stimulated by the intense pain, the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill operated spontaneously. Deep within his dao bone, seven-colored clouds of light swirled, and the blood pill in his Dantian spun rapidly, only then barely managing to suppress that terrifying mental aftershock, preventing him from embarrassing himself on the spot.

Even so, he felt his temples throbbing wildly, and waves of stinging pain shot through his Divine Sense.

This was a clash at the Dragon Elephant Realm level!

Even just the aftershocks were this terrifying.