402: Chapter 42 Lord Black Whale!!

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

His eyes lingered on Qin Yan for a moment longer than the rest. "Killing the foreign race with such clean efficiency... you have truly displayed the elegance expected of our Human Prodigies."

"Especially you, Qin Yan; your true qi is pure, far surpassing your peers. Wangshu, the same goes for you."

"Your foundations are solid."

"Good, very good."

If these compliments had been given in a formal setting during the day, they might have been heartening.

But at this moment, in this place far from the safety zone, deep in the night, facing a high-ranking martial artist alone amidst a bizarre atmosphere...

It only made their spines tingle with cold.

Qin Yan forcibly suppressed the tremors in his heart, maintaining a calm facade as he cupped his hands. "Commander Canghai overpraises us. Killing the invading Sea Clan is merely the duty of our generation of martial artists; it is not worth mentioning."

He shifted the topic, his gaze seemingly sweeping casually over the empty depression as he asked, "Commander Canghai, I wonder where the other Classmates who came to support are currently?"

"Since this is a unified teaching of battlefield common sense, I assume it wouldn't be just the two of us, right? Why haven't we seen them?"

As he spoke, Qin Yan's right hand had quietly dropped to his side, his fingers slightly curled. The five elements seeds within him vibrated faintly, and his blood and true qi began to accelerate their flow silently.

Standing slightly behind him, Xiao Wangshu remained silent, but the cold aura around her body also quietly became several degrees more solid.

Canghai seemed not to notice the underlying tension between the two, still smiling as he said, "Them? Perhaps they were delayed on the road, or they took a different route."

"The terrain here is complex and difficult to navigate at night; it's normal for them to be a bit late."

"You can wait here for a moment. Once everyone is gathered, we will begin."

His voice, carried by the sea breeze, was not loud, yet it entered their ears with perfect clarity.

However, for some reason, there was a lingering sense of coldness within that voice.

The sense of unease in Qin Yan's heart grew stronger.

He no longer hesitated and spoke decisively, his tone carrying a trace of unquestionable firmness:

"Commander Canghai, I am truly sorry."

"Just before we left the position, Xiao Wangshu received a transmission from her grandfather, Grandmaster Xiao Shan."

"He told us to return to the city as soon as we finished our chores, as there seems to be an important matter to discuss. I'm afraid we cannot wait here for long."

He turned to look at Xiao Wangshu and said in a 'natural' tone, "Wangshu, Grandmaster Xiao is in a hurry, we should head back first."

Xiao Wangshu's cold eyes met Qin Yan's for a split second, and she then nodded slightly. "Mm."

After speaking, the two turned around almost simultaneously, intending to retreat the way they came.

Their movements were crisp and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.

However—

At the very moment they turned and lifted their feet!

"Crash—!!!"

The rhythmic sound of the waves crashing suddenly amplified and distorted!

It was as if countless massive currents were rushing and roaring in their ears at once!

That was not the natural sound of waves, but the terrifying noise of some massive power forcibly churning and controlling the seawater!

At the same time, an unimaginable pressure, like ten thousand tons of heavy water, came crashing down!

"Ngh?!"

Qin Yan groaned, feeling as if every inch of his muscle and every bone in his body was enduring an unspeakable, terrifying weight.

The air became as thick as glue, movement became incredibly difficult, and even his breathing was suddenly stifled!

Exerting all his strength, the veins in his neck bulging, he managed with extreme difficulty to turn his head inch by inch.

He looked toward the source of the pressure—the sea behind them, which was as black as ink and now churning frantically!

The sea surface, which had been relatively calm, was now like a giant boiling pot!

A wall of waves dozens of meters high rose out of nowhere, slamming violently against the reefs and shattering into a sky full of white foam!

"Wooo-ong—!!!"

A low, powerful, and long cry suddenly exploded!

The sound waves rolled out, spreading like a physical substance!

Everywhere it passed, the sea surface exploded, reefs shattered, and even space itself rippled with visible distortions!

Even though they were pinned down, Qin Yan and Xiao Wangshu felt their blood and qi churn from the roar's terrifying spiritual impact. Their ears rang, and their vision went dark!

Under their horrified gazes...

In the center of that black sea, a shadow so massive it exceeded imagination slowly broke the surface and rose upward!

What emerged first was a back as towering as a mountain, covered in thick black scales that shimmered with a cold, metallic luster!

Following that was an even more massive body outline.

Its body length... was estimated to be well over a hundred meters!

Its form was seventy to eighty percent similar to the legendary giant whales, but far more ferocious and filled with a sense of power!

The pitch-black skin was not smooth, but covered in thick bone plates and savage spikes that looked like natural battle armor.

The massive head was well-proportioned but possessed a terrifying mouth filled with sharp teeth, as if it could swallow heaven and earth.

Most frightening were those eyes—like two blood-red crescent moons suspended in the deep sea.

Cold, cruel, and disregarding all life; just being swept by its gaze made Qin Yan feel as if his soul was being frozen and torn apart!

Around this terrifying beast, countless deep blue runic water currents wound and circled like living things, forming a massive Domain of Water.

It radiated a despair-inducing, majestic pressure!

In the next moment, the massive body of the black Dragon Whale suddenly erupted with a blinding dark light!

The dark light rapidly contracted and condensed.

In the blink of an eye, the hundred-meter beast vanished.

In its place was a human figure about two meters tall, standing on the reef in front of where the beast had just appeared.

The dark light completely dissipated.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in long robes as black as night, with long hair flowing loosely and a face as cold and sharp as if carved by a knife and axe.

His skin was a pale shade that came from a long lack of sunlight, forming a sharp contrast with his black robes.

Most striking was a savage, bone-deep scar on his right cheek that slashed diagonally from his brow bone to his jaw!

The man stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly sweeping over Qin Yan and Xiao Wangshu.

That gaze no longer carried the primitive brutality of his beast form, but was deeper and colder still.

"Greetings, Lord Black Whale!"

Canghai's voice rang out, filled with an unprecedented level of respect.

Lord Black Whale!

Qin Yan's pupils shrank violently.

It was actually him!

The newly promoted third Eighth-Rank Grandmaster of the Dragon Whale Clan—Black Whale!

One of the culprits whose breakthrough had caused the pressure on the entire Zhenhai Battlefield to skyrocket, resulting in countless martial artists above the fourth rank being redeployed to the meat-grinder front lines!

He had actually appeared in person, so close to the human defensive line!

Black Whale's gaze lingered slightly on Qin Yan and Xiao Wangshu.

He took an extra look at Xiao Wangshu in particular, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of surprise and... satisfaction appearing in his deep blue eyes.

He spoke, his voice low and piercing through the soul, "Indeed, they are two seeds of peerless prodigies, with majestic blood and qi and solid foundations."

"To have such cultivation and presence at such a young age."

"Even within the younger generation of my Dragon Whale Clan, they would be as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns."