Chapter 16: Sea Merfolk!

"Haha, coming out to spirit-fish in the rain in this weather — you must be a veteran spirit-fishing enthusiast just like me!"

The old man was named Huo Zhongjue; he had also noticed that focused figure not far away, and stroking his beard, he laughed heartily.

Only Huo Peiting sneered inwardly.

Grandpa, oh Grandpa, you're still too naive — he's purely a shallow man harboring an unrealistic get-rich-quick dream.

Li Qingran naturally noticed the arrival of this old man and girl.

Li Qingran glanced over casually, then discovered that the old man's every movement exuded a battle-hardened aura.

Moreover, just sitting there, the old man's body faintly emitted spiritual energy fluctuations that likewise carried a killing intent.

This is a spirit master, and most likely a soldier as well.

Across Huaxia, large and small secret realms number nearly a hundred, with new secret realms constantly emerging — the sudden appearance of each secret realm is accompanied by bloodshed and sacrifice.

It is precisely soldiers who guard the secret realm entrances, protecting the safety of ordinary commoners — they are the backbone of Huaxia!

Toward these selflessly dedicated soldiers, Li Qingran has always held respect.

Glancing again at the woman beside the old man — hmm, nice figure.

A fleeting look, no other thoughts; Li Qingran continued spirit-fishing.

The pitch-black sea surface stretched boundlessly; staring at it long made one's spirit seem to fall into a trance.

Currently, humanity has only discovered secret realm entrances on land.

Whether there are secret realms in the ocean has always been a subject of debate.

What is certain is that the ocean, covering over seventy percent of Earth Star's surface, once a large-scale alien spirit invasion erupts, it will be a catastrophe for all of Earth Star.

Ever since Huo Zhongjue and his companion arrived, Li Qingran's float had shown no reaction — seemingly the demon spirits in this stretch of sea had been startled away by them.

Until half an hour passed.

The float finally reacted again.

The white float sank into the water, descending slowly, then suddenly plummeting rapidly.

A sea demon spirit took the bait!

As a veteran, how could Li Qingran miss this signal.

Spiritual energy circulated, pouring into the spirit-fishing rod like vines winding downward.

To avoid startling the sea demon spirits beneath this stretch of sea, Li Qingran increased his spiritual energy input.

The spirit-fishing hook held firmer; with a pull and retrieve, the sea demon spirit underwater obediently drew near the shore under his control.

Only when it broke the sea surface and reached the shore did this sea demon spirit belatedly realize what had happened.

This was a pitch-black demon spirit covered in backward-facing spines, round and plump.

Li Qingran didn't recognize what sea demon spirit this was — that was normal; sea demon spirits are innumerable, and he isn't a professional angler.

He weighed it in his hand — roughly the level of five premium spirit stones.

Compared to the previous Red Silver Fish Spirit, it fell far short.

"Trash."

Li Qingran muttered, full of disdain — foul meat, ugly fish.

Huo Zhongjue's side noticed Li Qingran's movement.

The moment the black ugly fish spirit landed ashore, Huo Peiting exclaimed in surprise and doubt: "This kid's luck is really good — got a catch in just a short while, snatched away Grandpa's fish spirits."

Huo Zhongjue kept a straight face and said: "Little Pei, don't speak nonsense — what do you mean 'Grandpa's fish spirits'?

Judging by the size of this Spine Fish Spirit, it should have several premium spirit stones' worth of spiritual energy.

At the end, Huo Zhongjue added a comment, his words carrying a few notes of praise.

"To be able to hook a fishing companion of this caliber — they're all highly skilled.

Light flick, slow twist, wipe, pluck, lift — marvelous; I'd say this technique is absolutely that of a veteran fishing companion."

A kindred spirit, a kindred spirit indeed — my path is not lonely!

Huo Zhongjue watched Li Qingran's fluid hooking and casting motions, unable to hold back his praise in his heart; watching it was a kind of enjoyment.

He had fished this long yet still came up empty-handed, but he didn't envy Li Qingran at all — instead he felt happy for Li Qingran, as if he himself had hooked the demon spirit.

Another half hour passed like this.

Huo Zhongjue, who had been keeping his eyes closed sensing the float's fluctuations, suddenly opened his eyes.

The ink-black sea surface abruptly surged, waves rising high and crashing toward the shore.

Boom!

Spray splashed in all directions, reaching over ten meters high.

Huo Zhongjue circulated spiritual energy, flung his spirit-fishing rod — it flew back from the waves with only the bare rod left, the bait and hook long gone without a trace.

It happened too suddenly; Huo Peiting was completely unprepared and instantly drenched to the bone by the waves.

Once the sky-full of seawater fell, looking toward the sea surface, they discovered a two-meter-plus long humanoid fish-shaped monster, now diving deep, now surfacing shallow in the water.

That demon spirit resembled a mermaid, but its face was a huge mouth full of jagged teeth, split all the way to its ears, with two antler-like growths on its head, and its whole body covered in hard scales.

It looked incomparably ferocious; Huo Peiting felt goosebumps rise all over just from one glance.

Roar!

That mermaid demon spirit's massive tail violently whipped, spawning waves several meters high that instantly surged toward Huo Zhongjue and his companion on the shore.

Huo Peiting turned pale with fright, her legs giving out.

"Huo Family Military Body Fist!"

Facing the giant wave, Huo Zhongjue's expression turned grave; he poured all his spiritual energy into action, and in a mere instant, unleashed a rapid succession of punches.

Crash!

Water sprayed in all directions; the remaining force slammed into reefs, sending rocks flying in all directions.

"This, this is a Sea Shark Person!" Huo Zhongjue blocked in front of Huo Peiting, bearing the full brunt of the waves' impact.

Sea Shark People are a type of evil yao spirit; adult Sea Shark People can even transform into a complete form twenty to thirty meters long, with strength comparable to a Nine-Star Spirit Master.

The ocean is the Sea Shark People's main battlefield; in water, they possess boundless strength, as if having inexhaustible power.

Toward humans, Sea Shark People harbor an innate hostility.

They love to eat humans; fishing boats that encounter Sea Shark People at sea are nine times out of ten destroyed with all hands lost.

But on land, the Sea Shark People's strength is greatly reduced, though that doesn't mean they cannot come ashore.

Sea Shark People use gills underwater, lungs above water.

In history, there have been occasional incidents of Sea Shark People ascending coastal cities to prey on humans.

If this Sea Shark Person is allowed to come ashore here, the nearby residents will likely all become its food.

Huo Zhongjue glanced back at the high-rise buildings visible in his field of vision, already realizing the severity of the situation in his heart.

Huo Peiting looked at her grandfather's unsightly expression, only then understanding the situation was very bad, and cried out in alarm: "Sea Shark Person? Aren't they only found in the deep ocean?"

Huo Zhongjue's expression changed unpredictably: "Yes, Sea Shark People usually only appear in deep sea areas.

Unexpectedly, this immature Sea Shark Person actually appeared on the coastline; it's truly too abnormal."

Huo Zhongjue once served in the Huaxia South Sea Navy, responsible for escorting Huaxia's commercial fleets.

A lifetime of military service, experiencing many dangers, encountering pirate groups, witnessing great storms at sea...

But the most terrifying and harrowing time was encountering a Sea Shark Person attack!

That time the entire legion suffered heavy losses, he also nearly lost his life, the old cold poison ailment in his body was left from that time.

After retirement, he returned to his hometown in glory, originally wanting to properly enjoy life, never expecting to encounter his old nightmare here.

Although this Sea Shark Person is immature, its strength has also reached First-Rank Spirit Master.

If not for the old ailment plaguing him, he could still fight it out.

Unfortunately, these years, affected by his injuries, Huo Zhongjue's strength has dropped again and again; looking at the Sea Shark Person, he feels immense pressure.