196: Chapter 196 South China Sea Monster

"I heard that there are two teams from the Bureau salvaging a shipwreck by the sea, and inside the ship are two artifacts possessed by deities from the Ancient Heavenly Court."

"They seem to have encountered quite a bit of trouble over there; there are some tricky Rising Beings in the sea. Moreover, because those two artifacts have been submerged for many years, they have formed an isolation Formation at the bottom, and the higher-ups are having a headache over it."

"I took this opportunity to submit an application to the higher-ups."

Gu Xiao arrived at Yunfeng Mountain, found Li Xiuyuan, and informed him of the location of those two artifacts.

Ever since they learned that some deities of the Ancient Heavenly Court would possess artifacts, the Jiantian Bureau had been secretly arranging personnel to search for those items. The reason they were so active was to prevent those artifacts from flowing overseas as much as possible.

What the higher-ups feared was that if these artifacts flowed to other countries overseas and were studied, it might cause disadvantages to the cultivation world of the Xia Kingdom.

Although this concern might not necessarily come true, it is always right to plan ahead and take precautions.

The Xia Kingdom has always been conservative on many issues, and has always strived for the ultimate in fault tolerance.

Those two artifacts possessed by deities were located on the southernmost island of the Xia Kingdom. Strictly speaking, it was not an island because it remained submerged beneath the sea surface all year round; it was an underwater shoal.

Only a few reefs rose more than ten meters above the water surface at low tide.

Gu Xiao had already obtained permission to go to that southern reef, so Li Xiuyuan did not hesitate to take him along to the south.

The sea area in the south of the Xia Kingdom had always been in friction with several nearby small countries. The most thrilling time was back in 2016; it was said that they almost started fighting, but the ordinary people in the country did not know about this matter at that time.

The one they almost fought with back then was another world hegemon country.

Decades have passed in a flash, and the Xia Kingdom has caught up in all aspects.

It did not rely on magic tricks, but on the painstaking efforts, accumulation, and hard work of countless people day and night.

Today, in this South Sea, provocateurs are almost nowhere to be seen. Those small countries that once liked to stick their necks out have all shrunk back, as quiet as quails.

Wrapped in clouds and mist, Li Xiuyuan arrived at the airspace above the southernmost reef very smoothly.

The moment the clouds and mist dissipated, his gaze sank downwards.

The reef below looked like a grey-white stone left alone on the sea surface, shimmering with a wet, cold light.

The reef was not large; the part exposed above water at low tide was only the size of a palm. Yet, there were a few buildings standing on it. At this moment, seven or eight figures were huddled on it, surrounding in a circle back-to-back, their weapons flickering intermittently under the impact of the Yao Beast.

More than a dozen Ocean Monsters were wandering on the surrounding water surface.

The largest one was a shark-like Yao Beast, nearly twenty meters long. Its head looked like a shark, but its body was covered with visible, huge scales.

A row of sharp bone spurs bulged along its spine, and several thick tentacles hung from both sides of its head, like a deep-sea monster spliced together.

It swam slowly underwater. Occasionally, when it surfaced, its giant mouth opened and closed, revealing a mouthful of interlocking fangs, and the mist it sprayed carried a strong, fishy, salty scent.

The other few Yao Beasts were slightly smaller, but far exceeded the category of ordinary sea beasts. Some had several pairs of compound eyes, and some had dense tentacles growing on their torsos; they were clearly seabed creatures that had mutated after the agitation of Spiritual Qi.

On the reef, the personnel arranged by the Jiantian Bureau were struggling to hold on.

The light of the Talisman flickered in the gaps of the Yao Beast's attacks. Some were quickly casting spells to set up temporary Formations, while others were waving their weapons to fend off the tentacles and claws reaching onto the reef.

According to Li Xiuyuan's Spiritual Sense, the strength of those Ocean Monsters was mostly around the Fourth Realm, only that shark-like Ocean Monster had reached the Fifth Realm.

Moreover, the cultivation of these Ocean Monsters was clearly forcibly raised by the agitation of Spiritual Qi.

Because for several Yao Beasts, their use and control of power still appeared very unfamiliar.

However, the coordination of these Ocean Monsters was unexpectedly tacit. They did not swarm up at once, but took turns attacking and retreating alternately, gradually exhausting the stamina of those Jiantian Bureau personnel on the reef bit by bit.

On the reef, the personnel of the two Jiantian Bureau teams had already shown signs of fatigue.

The light of the Talisman was obviously much dimmer than before, the speed of casting spells had slowed down, and the arms wielding the blades began to tremble slightly.

One of the team members was knocked back two steps while blocking a surprise attack from a tentacle Yao Beast, bumping into a colleague behind him. The two staggered back a few steps together and were finally supported by others before they managed to steady themselves.

A capable-looking team leader, under the cover of his companions, took out a communicator from his bosom, quickly cast a few spells, and injected Spiritual Qi into it.

He waited for a few breaths, but there was only a noisy crackle of static in the communicator, as if it had been interfered with by something.

He tried again, but it still did not connect.

"Damn, the communicator is malfunctioning!"

The team leader cursed angrily, then looked at the surrounding Yao Beasts with a grave expression: "It's probably their doing."

"Captain, then... can we hold on until reinforcements arrive?"

An injured team member asked aloud.

The team leader saw fear and terror on the other person's face.

People are afraid of death; this is human nature, and even if they are employees of the Jiantian Bureau, they are no exception.

The team leader did not say what was in his heart, but everyone present knew clearly that if there were no accidents, they probably wouldn't be able to hold on until reinforcements arrived.

The atmosphere on the reef was turning from tension to a silent stillness.

No one said they gave up, but that kind of exhaustion and silence itself was already a form of resignation.

Just at that moment, a figure suddenly fell from the sky.

The figure fell from the clouds, moving as fast as a spear thrown straight out, with even the sound of breaking wind firmly pressed behind it, until the very moment it touched the water, when it exploded with a roar!

"Boom!!"

The moment it hit the water, the sea surface exploded with water sprays several zhang high. The waves surged outwards, pushing those wandering Yao Beasts back several feet. The water waves surged, and even the reef shook slightly.

The people on the reef raised their heads at the same time, their gazes falling on the center of the spreading water sprays.

They saw a figure wearing a nuo mask stepping on the water, with a phantom of an ape gradually manifesting behind him.

"Old Gu?!" The team leader's pupils shrank suddenly, his voice filled with unbelievable astonishment.

The other team members also looked at Gu Xiao with disbelief. They were all employees of the Jiantian Bureau and were well aware of Gu Xiao's situation.

Shouldn't Gu Xiao be lying in the sanatorium at this time?

Gu Xiao nodded slightly towards everyone on the reef: "It seems no colleagues have sacrificed yet. You protect yourselves for now, and the rest of those Ocean Monsters..."

Before Gu Xiao could finish his sentence,

A thin golden line fell from the sky again, with the posture of almost golden light, piercing through the head of that Fifth Realm Ocean Monster.

The team leader had not yet recovered from the shock, and his gaze followed that wisp of golden light to look up at the sky.

He was shocked to find that, at some point, a behemoth blocking the sky and sun was hanging in the sky.

The silver-white scales shimmered with a cold luster under the sunlight; each scale was as large as a millstone, layered and overlapping, airtight.

The golden vertical pupils looked down at the sea below indifferently, like a god looking down on ants.

The white Dragon coiled above the Nine Heavens, causing heaven and earth to lose their color.