52: Chapter 52 Ocean World

Deep Blue Realm.

The moment Su Bai stepped out of the passage, he was surrounded by a face-full of water vapor.

This was a world of pure ocean.

There was no land, no islands, only endless deep blue seawater. The sky was a murky gray, with heavy clouds hanging low, and lightning could be seen faintly flickering through them. The sea surface was turbulent, with giant waves over ten meters high crashing one after another against the empty air.

The air was thick with a heavy saltiness, mixed with the scent of sulfur and decay.

Su Bai hovered in mid-air, with the churning seawater beneath his feet.

His Underworld units hovered behind him as well.

The Ghost King hovered at the very front, his golden vertical pupils staring at the seawater below. He could sense at least thirty to forty thousand powerful auras swimming beneath the surface.

But the problem was, how would his units go down?

The Underworld Soldiers couldn't swim. They wore tattered armor and held rusted spears; once they fell into the water, they would only sink to the bottom.

The Soul-Hooking Ghosts couldn't swim either. They wouldn't be able to swing their chains in the water at all.

The Mushroom People were even worse off. They were fungi; they would rot if soaked in water.

Shadow Demons could survive in the dark, but darkness wasn't water. They could stay in the water for a short time, but fighting for long periods would severely affect their combat power.

Ice Crystals could indeed fight in the water, but there were only twenty-three thousand of them, and their Extreme Cold Domain would be significantly weakened in seawater.

Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the Ghost Bride, Sadako, and the Slit-Mouthed Woman—these Hero Units were also unsuitable for underwater combat.

The only ones who could move freely in the water were the Frost King and his Ice Crystal Legion.

Su Bai frowned.

The Ghost King seemed to have read his mind and slightly tilted his head.

"Master, let me go try first."

Su Bai glanced at him and nodded.

The Ghost King raised his hand, and the ghost king sword was unsheathed.

He took a deep breath, his form turning into a streak of black light as he dove directly into the sea.

The seawater parted automatically around him; wherever the light of the ghost king sword passed, the water was forcibly split open, creating a passage several meters wide.

The Ghost King's speed in the water was not a bit slower than on land.

But Su Bai could see clearly that it was because the Ghost King was using his own energy to counter the pressure of the seawater. This consumption was more than ten times greater than on land.

Beneath the surface of the sea, the battle had already begun.

The Ghost King's Ghost Domain expanded in the water. All the Nagas within a thousand-meter radius simultaneously felt their bodies grow heavy, their speed and reactions slowing by thirty percent.

But those Nagas were the overlords of the water.

They swam frantically, besieging the Ghost King from all directions. Some held tridents, some grasped coral staves, and some simply used their own claws and fangs.

The Ghost King's Nether Slash remained lethal in the water, each strike shattering a Naga. However, the Nagas were too numerous and agile, swimming faster than the Ghost King in the water.

Thirty seconds later, the Ghost King burst out of the sea and hovered in mid-air.

There were three shallow scratches on his battle armor.

His expression remained calm, but Su Bai saw a flash of solemnity in his eyes.

"Master, fighting underwater consumes too much," the Ghost King said in a deep voice. "My strength is suppressed by more than thirty percent. Meanwhile, those Nagas can exert a hundred and twenty percent of their strength in the water."

Su Bai nodded.

He looked toward the Frost King.

The Frost King knelt on one knee.

"Master, the Ice Crystal race can fight in the water. But my clansmen only number twenty-three thousand, while the enemy has thirty to forty thousand."

Su Bai was silent for a few seconds.

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the sea surface to land beneath that deep blue water.

Thirty to forty thousand Deep Sea Nagas.

A Rank 5 leader.

A record of twelve invasions, all ending in defeat.

Six Creators had fallen.

But he, Su Bai, was not those six.

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

"Ghost King, Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face—the four of you stay on the sea surface with all the Underworld Soldiers, Soul-Hooking Ghosts, Mushroom People, and Shadow Demons."

"Frost King, take your Ice Crystals and follow me into the water."

"Ghost Bride, Sadako, and Slit-Mouthed Woman—the three of you provide support from the air."

"Shadow Blade, you use Space Folding to create chaos underwater."

The Ghost King looked up: "Master, you are going into the water yourself?"

Su Bai looked at him, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

"I can't swim."

"But my consciousness can follow you."

He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the Frost King's body.

A second later, the Frost King opened his eyes.

In those silver eyes, there was now a bit of Su Bai's calmness and composure.

The Frost King spoke, but his voice had taken on Su Bai's tone:

"Let's go."

He leaped and fell into the sea.

Behind him, twenty-three thousand Ice Crystals leaped into the sea at the same time.

Beneath the sea surface was another world.

Su Bai opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him.

The seawater was deep blue, and visibility was very low, only a few dozen meters. In the distance, giant undersea mountain ranges and canyons could be faintly seen. An undersea volcano was erupting, dark red magma gushing from the cracks, erupting into a massive amount of steam and bubbles the moment it touched the seawater.

Countless carcasses of marine life floated in the seawater, some already decomposed, others still being gnawed on by other creatures.

And further away, a massive undersea city stood within the canyon.

The city was built of coral and rock, standing hundreds of meters high and covering dozens of square kilometers. The architectural style of the city was peculiar, with towers, palaces, squares, and streets. But at this moment, most of the buildings had collapsed, and the ruins were covered with rotting seaweed.

Within the city, countless Nagas were swimming.

Some were fighting, some were devouring the corpses of their own kind, and some were frantically destroying buildings.

Su Bai's gaze fell upon the palace in the deepest part of the city.

There, a extremely powerful aura resided.

The Rank 5 Naga King.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at the twenty-three thousand Ice Crystals around him.

The Ice Crystals were equally agile in the water. Their bodies were made of Ice Crystals, denser than water, but their swimming speed in the water was not a bit slower than the Nagas.

Moreover, they could release the Extreme Cold Domain in the water.

Su Bai raised his hand, and the Frost King's arm followed suit.

"Kill our way in."

Twenty-three thousand Ice Crystals moved simultaneously.

They were like streaks of ice-blue lightning, charging toward that undersea city.

The Extreme Cold Domain expanded simultaneously.

The seawater began to freeze.

With the Ice Crystals as the center, the seawater froze into ice at a speed visible to the naked eye, spreading in all directions. The Nagas who were fighting suddenly felt their bodies stiffen; their speed slowed, their reactions slowed, and even their thoughts slowed.

The Ice Crystals charged into the city and began to slaughter them.

This was a war of ice and water.

Every attack from an Ice Crystal carried an extremely cold aura. When a Naga was hit, the wound would quickly freeze and spread to its entire body.

Every counterattack from a Naga carried the power of seawater. When an Ice Crystal was hit, cracks would appear on its body, but they could be quickly repaired with cold air.

But the Nagas were too numerous.

Thirty to forty thousand Nagas poured out from every corner of the city, frantically besieging the Ice Crystals.

There were only twenty-three thousand Ice Crystals.

A one-to-two disadvantage.

Furthermore, the Nagas began to adapt to the Ice Crystals' fighting style. They no longer fought head-on but instead maneuvered, surrounded, and wore them down.

The battle fell into a stalemate.

Su Bai stood in the center of the city, watching it all.

His consciousness was inside the Frost King, but he did not participate directly in the battle. He was observing, analyzing, and searching for a breakthrough point.

Finally, he found it.