Chapter 817: Epic Duel Between Heaven and Sea

Lu Ran flashed several times and arrived atop a mountain peak closer to the sea.

The view from here was excellent, with trees densely packed, ideal for Lu Ran to hide.

He crouched behind a large tree, his face flushed with excitement, straining his vision to observe closely.

"Roar!!"

Far out across the sea, the Roaring Flame Serpent's bellow shook the heavens.

It spat thick columns of fire, wildly blasting them onto the ocean's surface!

Those ferocious fire columns carried immense force—even when striking the sea, they pierced through the water and incinerated any life hiding within.

Evil Art: Piercing Sea Flame!

"Damn."

Lu Ran muttered under his breath.

He watched as countless ink carp souls drifted up from the sea.

No wonder the Roaring Flame Serpent was so enraged and making such a commotion—it had encountered a school of ink carp?

Lu Ran locked onto several ink carp souls already floating skyward and immediately cast his spell.

As a floor-length mirror appeared beside him, another floor-length mirror hung suspended in midair between the distant sky and sea.

Without hesitation, Lu Ran thrust his upper body into it!

In the vision of the Soul-Eye, the ink carp souls thrashed wildly, their tails flailing, tiny mouths opening and closing, each refusing to cooperate.

"Fortune! Fortune!"

Lu Ran murmured, drawing five ink carp souls into his pupils.

"Roar!!"

Across the sky and sea, another deafening roar echoed.

Lu Ran's face froze.

"Sss!" He sucked in a sharp breath, yanking his upper body back into the mirror and dispersing the floor-length mirror on instinct.

Damn!

Why the hell did you roar so loud?

Lu Ran's face twisted with grievance as he rubbed his ears.

Fortunately, the Roaring Flame Serpent clan had no sound-based techniques—Heaven had granted a rare mercy.

If such a colossal creature combined its roar with evil arts, what would happen?

Hmm. Lu Ran felt he'd been emotionally manipulated by this cruel world.

He didn't curse the demonic invasion and its suffering upon humanity—instead, he was grateful the demon lacked sound-based evil arts?

"I'm truly sick."

Lu Ran cursed inwardly, watching the Roaring Flame Serpent's movements.

He locked onto several souls farther from the battlefield and summoned the ancient bronze mirror again.

Roaring Flame Serpent: "Roar!!"

Lu Ran's vision went black: "I fucking—%$#@!!"

I'm standing on the mountain, you don't roar.

The moment I stick my head into the mirror, you start screaming your lungs out, right?

"Boom!!"

Dark clouds churned in the sky, thunder roaring.

Lu Ran: "..."

Poor dog.

The serpent torments me, and now heaven joins in?

Are you upset I'm getting something for nothing, gorging myself?

Thinking of this, Lu Ran felt slightly better.

He quickly pulled his head back and dispersed the ancient bronze mirror, acting with extreme caution.

"Come on, debt doesn't crush you when it piles up!"

Lu Ran gritted his teeth and activated Evil Sculpture: Ink Carp.

His head had been buzzing nonstop anyway; compared to the dragon's roar and thunderclaps, the tremors of the Evil Sculpture were child's play.

"Hum!!"

The Ink Carp Evil Sculpture immediately began to vibrate.

Mist Realm: Stage One. Stage Three. Stage Five!

Brook Realm: Stage One. Stage Two. Stage Three!

In a daze, Lu Ran saw countless black carp surging out of the sea.

A dense swarm of ink carp formed a massive school, charging diagonally skyward and slamming into the Roaring Flame Serpent.

Each tiny carp was pitch-black, mysterious and exquisitely detailed.

Like the Dragon Carp, the Ink Carp had long, slender fins that fluttered gracefully, resembling luxurious black wedding gowns.

"Sea-grade evil art."

On another peak behind them, Yu Changsheng suddenly spoke.

The Dragon Carp sect and the Ink Carp clan were mortal enemies; their techniques shared certain similarities.

Yu Changsheng easily judged the grade of the evil art by the scale of the fish swarm, deducing the Ink Carp's cultivation level in the sea.

So, a Sea Realm Ink Carp had arrived?

Had it grown angry seeing its kin so brutally abused and slaughtered?

Remember, the demons within the Sacred Spirit Mountain Realm differ from those invading the human world.

Never mind their intelligence—these demons' goals were pure: to collect Sacred Spirit Qi!

Now, a Sea Realm Ink Carp had appeared to protect its kin.

Thus, this battle might end without resolution.

After all, all demonic actions stemmed from the goal of collecting Sacred Spirit Qi.

Mutual destruction would benefit no one!

Yet, this battle might still turn unpredictable.

After all, one side was the demon—Roaring Flame Serpent—whose emotions were wildly unstable; if it truly flew into a rage, it wouldn't care about the bigger picture.

This should be exploited.

Yu Changsheng weighed his options, murmuring: "No, the battle can't end too soon."

The fiercer the fighting and the wider its scope, the greater the benefit for the Sect Master.

"Jing Hong!"

"Lord Longlong?" Jing Hong had just climbed the mountain and immediately responded.

Yu Changsheng said at once: "We're moving to the front peak, closer to the battlefield. Blow your horn toward the sea—stoke the fire. Don't let the battle stop."

Jing Hong: "Yes!"

Yu Changsheng turned to Deng Yuxiang: "Dream Eater Guardian, please ask the Sect Master to come and pick us up?"

Deng Yuxiang nodded lightly.

"Roar!!"

As they spoke, the dragon's roar pierced through clouds and shattered stone!

Far across the sky and sea, after dodging several attacks, the Roaring Flame Serpent opened its monstrous maw and unleashed another Piercing Sea Flame.

The hyper-penetrating fire column shot toward the fish swarm.

Simultaneously, the Roaring Flame Serpent summoned five small flame serpents.

Evil Art: Serpent Flame Twist!

【Sect Master!】

【Huh?】 On the mountain peak near the sea, Lu Ran stared blankly at the battlefield.

Though he'd prepared himself, seeing five small flame serpents still made him uneasy.

Five—meaning this was a Sea-grade evil art: Serpent Flame Twist!

The monstrous creature rampaging between sea and sky was at least a Sea Realm demon.

【We're still on the previous peak. Open Mirror Flower Moon and pick us up.】

【Mm.】 Lu Ran reached sideways with one hand.

"Sss!"

"Sss!" On the battlefield, the five small flame serpents coiled around the fire column, spiraling downward before diving into the sea like tigers among sheep!

Any creature caught by the small flame serpents would be mercilessly strangled, twisted, and incinerated.

Instantly, more ink carp souls floated to the surface.

Lu Ran's eyes gleamed again!

So many fish!

So many, many fish... more, more!

As Deng Yuxiang and the others stepped out of the floor-length mirror, they heard a strange sound.

"Pop~"

She nearly thought she was hallucinating!

At this moment, lightning cracked across the sky, thunder roared, and the ocean churned with towering waves and deafening fury.

This battlefield was utterly chaotic, filled with a cacophony of loud, clashing sounds that shook the ears.

Yet in such an environment, that "fish blowing bubbles" sound was so clear?!

This.?

Deng Yu's gaze stretched far out, and suddenly she saw a massive black carp surging from the sea—its size must have reached eight hundred meters!

Such a sight, blotting out sky and sun, left observers stunned.

It could rival the Sea Realm Divine Art: Dragon Carp Sky Vessel that Yu Changsheng had unleashed earlier.

Evil Art: Black Carp Sinking Vessel!

The astonishing black carp raised colossal waves, its posture fiercely dominant!

It charged upward through the ferocious Sea- Piercing Flame, striking straight at the Furious Sea Flame Dragon.

Yet compared to the Dragon Carp Sky Vessel of the Dragon Carp sect, the Black Carp Sinking Vessel's flight speed was noticeably slower.

The fundamental reason was that the two techniques emphasized different aspects.

Though the Sky Vessel had some defensive capability, it was fundamentally an offensive technique.

The Sky Vessel flew faster, and its momentum of impact was naturally fiercer.

The Black Carp Sinking Vessel, however, was a defensive technique.

The Sinking Vessel moved slower, heavier, but its defense was astonishingly strong!

"The Black Carp is using a defensive art, not a River Realm grand technique—that's a signal of truce," Yu Changsheng ordered immediately. "Jing Hong, Charge Horn! Full power!"

"Yes!"

Jing Hong stepped forward several paces and summoned once more an ancient, weathered beast-tooth horn.

"Wuuu~~~"

Jing Hong stood tall, her messy short hair whipping in the sea wind.

This time, the horn's sound was no longer low and dull—it rose high and piercing!

The sound, fiercely penetrating, drifted toward the sea.

Battle Horn Divine Art: Charge Horn!

When the Charge Horn was blown, its effect rivaled the charge horns blown by the Great Xia military during their counteroffensive against the Japanese invaders last century.

In this unique sound, the soldiers' battle will soared to infinite heights!

Fierce and surging, they charged forward with reckless courage.

They would tread through fire, wade through boiling water!

"Wuuu~~~"

Amid the stirring horn blast, a dragon's roar shook heaven and earth!

"Roar!!!"

The Furious Sea Flame Dragon bellowed wildly, its entire body engulfed in flames.

Deng Yu's voice rang strong and clear as she struggled to suppress her battle lust: "Master Cong Long, brilliant strategy!"

The flames burning on the Furious Sea Flame Dragon were no ordinary fire.

Among the Furious Sea Flame Dragon's evil arts, many bore the character "dragon" ( Jiao ).

Only one technique bore the character "dragon" ( Long ).

Evil Art: Dragon Flame Body!

Once activated, the Furious Sea Flame Dragon's output of all techniques would increase dramatically.

Like the Heaven's Flame Divine Art: Flame Sky Tyrant, its flaw was equally deadly: once activated, it could not be interrupted.

Only when strength was utterly spent would it cease.

This meant that no matter the outcome of this epic battle...

Lu Ran was guaranteed to obtain the soul of the Sea Realm: Furious Sea Flame Dragon.

The question was: would the Furious Sea Flame Dragon simply stand still, waiting for its energy to drain and its strength to collapse?

Before that, wouldn't it slaughter every living thing in this realm?

"Roar!!"

The dragon's roar shook heaven and earth.

Beneath rolling black clouds, the colossal dragon burned fiercely, its aura overwhelming!

As if determined to burn away every cloud shrouding heaven and earth.

"Pop~"

The Black Carp Sinking Vessel was still ascending, its relatively slow speed making it easy for the Sea Realm demon to dodge.

Yet the Furious Sea Flame Dragon chose to charge head-on!

It plunged downward, straight toward the Black Carp Sinking Vessel—completely losing all restraint.

And its charging speed was astonishingly fast, far exceeding normal flight speed.

For this was a terrifying evil art of high-speed movement and assault—Dragon Flame Chariot!

Between sea and sky,

the dragon and the carp drew impossibly close.

(End of Chapter)