Chapter 333: Without Any Backing

"Damn, that's not Adao xu, it's a sea turtle! Several Heavenly Gang Realm sea turtles!"

Ye Liuyun fixed his eyes and examined closely; his Golden Pupil saw the water's bottom and discovered that the so‑called Dao xu were actually sea beasts. It was only that these sea turtles' aura was well concealed. And Ye Liuyun had not expected sea turtles this huge.

"Heavenly Gang Realm ferocious beasts?" The others, upon hearing, all stopped immediately.

Five Heavenly Gang Realm sea turtles were slowly rising to the surface. Each one's size was colossal.

Ye Liuyun immediately released the Skeleton Puppet and simultaneously drew the alliance's Token.

But when he took out the Token, Ye Liuyun was also stunned. The Token surprisingly gave no response.

"That's not right! I remember it worked fine when it was given to me!" Ye Liuyun stared at the Token, his mind a bit fuzzy.

"Now it's dangerous; I don't know if the Skeleton Puppet can block so many Heavenly Gang Realm sea beasts."

"Could it be that the Token, being inside the Secret Realm, is being shielded by an alternate dimension?" Wu Qingcheng asked worriedly.

"Let's go out and try again! Anyway, it's useless now!"

Ye Liuyun said, and retrieved everyone's Storage Rings. Wu Qingcheng and Lei Ming, however, asked to stay. They each had some defensive treasures that could also aid in battle.

But when the sea turtles approached, Ye Liuyun noticed that there were no Sea Horses nearby, and he felt considerably relieved.

"Kill!" Ye Liuyun didn't have time to think further and directly ordered the Skeleton Puppet to attack.

Although those sea turtles were not of high realms, their shells' defense was unrivaled. The Skeleton Puppet swung an axe down, scattering shell fragments, yet the turtle was only pushed a bit deeper into the sea and suffered hardly any injury.

Ye Liuyun immediately launched his attack; he and Hell Mingshe each took on one.

Two sea turtles remained; Lei Ming dealt with one, smashing a Soul‑Stabilizing Tower onto it, then using Blood Thunder to paralyze it.

The last sea turtle spewed a spray of water toward Ye Liuyun; Wu Qingcheng used the Mitian Realm to reflect its attacks back. Yet Wu Qingcheng was also blasted away, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Ye Liuyun and Hell Mingshe quickly, using Spiritual Soul Attack, eliminated the two sea turtles, then turned to aid Wu Qingcheng and Lei Ming.

"I'll handle this myself!" Lei Ming shouted. Ye Liuyun hadn't expected that Lei Ming, using the Soul‑Stabilizing Tower, could hold his own against a first‑rank Heavenly Gang Realm sea beast.

So he hurriedly withdrew to tend to Wu Qingcheng.

Wu Qingcheng was only injured by the recoil, not severely; Ye Liuyun gave her a Healing Elixir to take, letting her return to the Xuan Kong Shi to recover.

On the other side, Hell Mingshe eliminated another sea turtle. The Skeleton Puppet, using internal force, battered its opposing sea turtle to near death, then the chased‑away Mingshe destroyed it.

Ye Liuyun recalled the Skeleton Puppet and began absorbing the four sea turtles' essence blood and core pills. Hell Mingshe also returned to his Sea of Consciousness, dividing the sea turtles' Soul, giving Ye Liuyun a portion.

Meanwhile, Lei Ming was still deadlocked with that sea turtle. The Hell Soul‑Stabilizing Tower could only hold the turtle, but couldn't destroy it for a while.

"Let me give you a hand, then? Otherwise it's a waste of time!" Ye Liuyun asked Lei Ming.

Lei Ming thought for a moment and agreed. "Alright! But don't kill it. It could serve as our mount!"

"I'll try, see if I can tame it."

Ye Liuyun said, pulling the sea turtle's Soul into his Thunder Fire Domain, first bombarding it with Blood Thunder, then while it was weakened, planting a Soul Imprint on it. At the same time, he scanned its memories and gleaned a lot of information.

"The Sea Tribe sent in many experts this time! Lots of Heavenly Gang Realm monster beasts have arrived. Fortunately these sea beasts guarding the Secret Realm entrance didn't have Sea Horses with them, or we'd be doomed!"

Ye Liuyun couldn't help but worry silently.

"It seems we can only act according to the situation. If that fails, we'll hide in the void and flee."

Thinking that, Ye Liuyun still decided to continue exploring. But he had already told Lei Ming that if danger arose, Lei Ming should retreat into his Storage Ring. He currently lacked the ability to take Lei Ming into the void.

Later, Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil also gazed into the distance. With no obstruction on the sea surface, his Golden Pupil could see far.

He saw, several hundred li away, some sea beasts patrolling, and on some islands, some members of the Human Race confronting sea beasts. However, the strongest of those sea beasts were only first‑rank Heavenly Gang Realm.

It seemed that more powerful sea beasts had already penetrated deep into the Secret Realm.

Lei Ming lifted his nose and sniffed, saying, "There's the aura of the Dragon Clan in here!"

"Oh? Let's go check! You point the way." Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming, riding the sea turtles, sailed toward the depths of the Secret Realm.

Don't be fooled by the sea turtles' usual sluggishness; these Heavenly Gang Realm sea turtles move in water with no slowness at all—when they sprint, they're not slower than Ye Liuyun's speed traversing space.

"Whoa!"

Lei Ming cheered excitedly on the sea turtle's back, clearly delighted with its speed, having great fun.

Ye Liuyun, however, remained constantly vigilant. Deprived of any support now, and facing Sea Horses—arch‑enemies that can shield Divine Sense attacks in the sea—he had to proceed cautiously.

From afar he watched those Human Race fighting the sea beasts. He spotted several groups, all wearing uniform attire, led by Elders of Heavenly Gang Realm. They were probably members of some eastern great family, who after exploring here became trapped on the various Dao xu.

Ye Liuyun kept his distance from those Dao xu to avoid causing trouble; he didn't want to offend those eastern families again.

He could evade the Dao xu, but not the Sea Tribe patrolling the sea. The sheer number of sea beasts and the dense defenses were overwhelming. Soon, Ye Liuyun encountered a school of sharks and engaged them.

These sharks varied in realms, lacked a Heavenly Gang Realm leader, and had no Sea Horses to shield Divine Sense attacks, so Ye Liuyun released everyone and they fought together for training.

The group fought with great relish, also gathering many sharks for food. Yet before they could finish clearing the sharks, a swarm of electric eels surrounded them and began attacking.

"Little snakes! Let's see whose thunder‑and‑lightning is stronger!" Lei Ming, enraged by the small electric eels, unleashed a barrage of Blood Thunder across that side of the sea, and the surface instantly filled with floating electric eel carcasses.

"Quick, gather those little snakes, skewer them and roast them; they'll be delicious!" Lei Ming, while collecting the electric eel corpses, also ordered them to help.

Their commotion finally attracted a squad of Black Flood Dragons!

The pair of Black Flood Dragons surged forward, splashing water, their massive presence encircling Ye Liuyun and his companions.

The leading Black Flood Dragon could even speak human words.

"Humans, you dare slaughter members of my Sea Tribe throughout my domain; you are courting death! Kill them for me!"

With a single command, a horde of Black Flood Dragons surrounded Ye Liuyun and his group.

Both sides were of comparable realms, so each sought opponents to fight. Ye Liuyun also lunged at the talking Black Flood Dragon.

"Seeking death!" The Black Flood Dragon, seeing that Ye Liuyun was only at a third‑tier Core Pill realm, didn't take it seriously, opening its mouth to spew a jet of water toward Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun brandished his blade, forming a True Essence sword shape thirty zhang long in the air, slashing down fiercely; it not only cleaved the water jet but also struck the Black Flood Dragon's head in one blow, cutting the dragon straight into the water.

Immediately, Ye Liuyun surged into the water, punching toward the Black Flood Dragon's head again.