Chapter 11

The cold seawater constantly stripped away her body heat, making her limbs stiff.

"Father..."

Huang Rong bit her lower lip, a hint of stubbornness flashing in her eyes, yet also a trace of grievance.

Though she was as bright as ice and snow, known as the "Little Eastern Heretic," and boasted of a hundred clever schemes, she still felt a deep sense of powerlessness before this pure, mighty force of heaven and earth.

Human strength has its limits; this saying is no lie.

She forced herself to calm down.

The more critical the moment, the less one can panic.

Father often said that only by remaining calm in the face of events can one find a sliver of hope.

She took a deep breath; the cold seawater choked her into a fit of coughing, yet her gaze gradually grew clear.

Must find a way to break free!

She cannot die here!

Taohuadao, Father... and so, so many things she could not let go of.

She began to carefully observe the surrounding waves.

Though the giant waves were fierce, they were not entirely without pattern.

Between wave and wave, there was always a brief, fleeting interval.

A flash of inspiration struck her mind, recalling Taohuadao's supreme art—the Spirit Turtle Step.

This footwork was originally modeled after the swimming posture of the Spirit Turtle in the sea, emphasizing moving with the flow and using borrowed force to strike force.

Perhaps she could try borrowing the power of the waves to go against the current, seeking the path back to Taohuadao.

Though difficult, it was far better than sitting and waiting for death.

Huang Rong hesitated no more; with a sharp cry, she slapped her palms together in the water, using the force to lift her body.

Her toes lightly tapped the churning spray like a dragonfly skimming the water, and her figure truly slid forward a short distance, riding the rise and fall of the waves.

It worked!

A slight joy rose in Huang Rong's heart.

She immediately focused her spirit and gathered her Qi, pushing the essence of the Spirit Turtle Step to its utmost.

Step after step on the waves, borrowing force again and again.

Her figure appeared and disappeared amidst the billows, like a small boat in a storm, tenaciously drifting toward the direction of Taohuadao in her memory.

Though the speed was slow, there was at least hope.

As long as she could persist, perhaps she truly could...

Just as a flame of hope rekindled in her heart, an indescribably foul, fishy stench, and a chilling sense of crisis, suddenly surged from not far behind her!

Huang Rong's heart chilled; she whirled around.

She saw that beneath the churning turbid waves, a massive gray shadow was approaching her at a terrifying speed!

It was a huge gray shark!

Its blood-filled maw was half-open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth; its cold, dark eyes stared fixedly at her, filled with greed and bloodthirsty light.

Huang Rong's face turned deathly pale in an instant, "Shua!"

Gray shark!

And such a huge one!

Amidst this gale and towering waves, movement was already difficult; now encountering such a monarch of the ocean...

She could almost foresee her own fate.

On an ordinary day, she might have been able to use Taohuadao's exquisite martial arts to Zhou Xuan a bit, seeking a chance to escape.

But now, the impact of the giant waves and the ferocity of the gray shark, combined, were simply adding frost to snow!

She simply could not escape!

"Could it be... that Heaven intends to destroy me?"

A thread of despair quietly climbed onto her heart.

She could not accept it! There were still so many things she had not done, so many delicacies she had not tasted, and there were...

The gray shark drew closer; that thick, bloody scent almost drowned her.

She could even make out the rough texture on the shark's skin.

The shadow of death instantly enveloped her.

At the critical moment!

Just as Huang Rong was about to close her eyes and await death—

"Splash!"

A tremendous sound of breaking water suddenly exploded between her and the gray shark!

A colossal black figure, like a ghost from the deep, shot up from the ocean depths, raising towering waves!

It was a snake!

A giant snake, six meters long, its body pitch-black as ink, its scales shimmering with a cold, dark luster!

Its head was imposing, its eyes blood-red, carrying an indescribable majesty and ferocity!

The instant this black snake appeared, the gray shark that had been fiercely lunging forward seemed to sense something; its massive body suddenly froze!

But it was already too late!

The black giant snake's speed was at its extreme; like a black lightning bolt, it instantly coiled around the gray shark!

"Sss—!"

A sharp, power-filled hiss pierced through the roar of wind and waves.

Only then did she see the black giant snake's thick body, like the toughest chain, coiling around the gray shark again and again, holding it fast.

Muscles knotted; power erupted!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The bone-crushing sound, grating on the teeth, clearly entered Huang Rong's ears; even amidst the howling wind and towering waves, it remained so piercing.

That gray shark, originally ferocious beyond measure, under the black giant snake's deathly constriction, could not even mount a proper resistance.

It thrashed its body wildly, trying to break free, but the black giant snake's coils grew tighter and tighter!

Blood surged continuously from the gray shark's mouth, nose, and the gaps between its scales, staining the surrounding seawater a dark red.

In just a few breaths, that massive gray shark which had made Huang Rong feel despair, under the black giant snake's terrifying strangulation, gradually ceased struggling; its enormous body floated lifelessly on the sea surface, already dead.

Huang Rong stared dumbfounded at this shocking scene before her, almost forgetting to breathe.

Her small mouth hung slightly open, her beautiful eyes wide, her face filled with disbelief.

This... what kind of monster is this?!

A snake so huge actually exists?

And it strangled a fierce gray shark so easily?

That was one of the sea's overlords!

After the shock, an even stronger chill rose from the depths of Huang Rong's heart.

This black giant snake was more terrifying than that gray shark by at least tenfold!

The primitive, ferocious aura it emitted made her feel waves of heart-pounding fear.

She instinctively wanted to flee, but her limbs would not obey, trembling slightly in the cold seawater.

It's over; just out of the shark's mouth, into the snake's jaws?

Her small face turned even paler than before.

However, just as Huang Rong thought she was surely doomed, the black giant snake released the already dead gray shark, and its huge head slowly turned toward her.

Those crimson-red snake pupils gazed quietly at her.

There was no greed or bloodlust as she had imagined.

Instead... it carried a trace of indescribable... calm? Even a hint of... curiosity?

Huang Rong froze.

She felt somewhat bewildered.

This black giant snake did not attack her immediately.

Just now... it seemed to have appeared deliberately to strangle that gray shark which was preparing to attack her?

Could it be...

An absurd yet hopeful thought arose in her mind.