Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 390 What exactly is Xiao Chen doing?

If everything ended here, it would be nothing more than a minor accident.

Surprisingly, Haihong became even more courageous in the face of the onslaught.

It has a sense of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

Especially after Xiao Chen activated the Azure Wave Penetrating Needle to pierce its body and injured it through an explosion.

Surprisingly, amidst its roars, it displayed even greater speed and power.

The pair of giant pincers swung around, resembling four small mountains charging and crashing about.

Let alone a person, even a spirit shield would tremble and shake upon being hit like that.

“Fellow Daoist Xiao, the previous clone was the same.”

Crane Cry True Lord added, "The more severe the injuries, the more fiercely they are attacked; it's simply unreasonable."

That's really unreasonable.

Normally, an injury should affect subsequent combat performance.

How can the more serious the injury, the worse it gets?
However, many ferocious beasts are bloodthirsty and have a certain probability of going berserk after being injured, attacking their enemies recklessly.

Meanwhile, in the cultivation world, all demonic beasts with mutated bloodlines have a chance to become ferocious beasts.

Could it be that Haihong has awakened the bloodline of some ancient ferocious beast?
Xiao Chen was recalling the ancient books he had read before, trying to guess the truth of the matter.

Suddenly, someone shouted from behind, "The ship is here! Everyone, come closer!"

Ok?
He looked back and saw six large spirit ships sailing towards him almost side by side.

The simplified fourth-order defense array carried on each ship has been fully activated, transforming into oval-shaped protective shields that cover the outside of the spirit ship.

Well, they've even brought their spirit ships here to fight against Haihong.

That's a good idea.

Although the spirit ship is not flexible enough in battle, lacks offensive means, and has relatively limited defensive capabilities.

However, it does carry a fourth-order defensive formation.

Even if it can help the human race's True Monarchs save some of the True Essence that should have been used for defense, that would be quite good.

Even if it can play a small role, it's better than nothing.

The stalemate continued for another hour.

The weakest cultivator, the Hundred Aperture True Monarch, was the first to experience a severe deficiency of true essence.

Forced to withdraw from the battle midway, he hid on a separate spirit boat behind the others, meditating to recover his true energy.

Then came True Lord Rift Sky and True Lord Purple Sun.

Even the True Lord Die Lang, who had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage several years ago, was forced to retreat due to a lack of true essence.

Fortunately, at this stage of the battle, the sea creatures are also having a tough time.

After realizing that Hai Hong's condition was clearly not right, Xiao Chen decisively changed his battle strategy.

While using the Four Symbols Mountain-Suppressing Cover to assist the other True Lords in defense.

They prioritized attacking the weakest of the three, the Thousand-Eyed Ray, and continuously harassed it from a distance with the Azure Wave Penetrating Needle.

Although the other party tried their best to dodge after realizing that something was wrong.

However, just moments later, a gap appeared under the high pressure, and a flying needle pierced his abdomen, causing considerable injury.

The Thousand-Eyed Ray doesn't have the ability to become more powerful the more severe the injury, like the Red Sea Crimson.

The injury caused a significant decrease in its agility, and the same thing happened four more times in a short period of time.

Immediately afterwards, the sixth flying needle pierced straight through the center of its head.

The seventh flying needle forced out its demonic infant.

The eighth flying needle, which was launched at the same time, was anticipated and was waiting outside its body in advance, instantly completing the finishing blow.

Immediately afterwards, the gilded king crab, after putting up a stubborn resistance for half an hour, was also dealt with by Xiao Chen using the same method.

In other words, the sea creatures suffered further losses in the battle, leaving only five great demons.

However, they are also the five most powerful.

Needless to say, the sea urchin is practically a ferocious beast incarnate.

The six-finned sailfish, relying on its three pairs of special fins, is as fast as lightning and as agile as an eel in a mud pit or a monkey in the mountains.

It can even dodge flying needles from a distance with a short burst of speed.

Yes, after dealing with the Golden King Crab, Xiao Chen also tried to attack it three times.

However, due to the distance between the two sides exceeding three thousand feet, there was a certain amount of time required for the spells to travel, causing all nine flying needles to miss their target.

"This is not the way to go."

Iron Fan True Lord was the first to consider the next steps and secretly asked via telepathy, "We have already achieved considerable results today, so how about we fight and retreat as we go?"

"If we keep fighting, even if we win in the end, we will inevitably be exhausted."

"If any unexpected events or changes occur later, there may be unpredictable dangers."

His concern is not without merit.

Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any other Nascent Soul True Monarchs or Fourth-Order Great Demons here.

But there's always a chance of something going wrong.

No one knows whether a rogue cultivator like Zhang Shouquan, or some reclusive old immortals from hidden sects, might happen to pass by as the battle nears its end.

At the same time, given Haihong's strong will to fight.

We must consider whether the sea creatures have reinforcements on their way.

In short, to avoid all sorts of uncontrollable risks.

Wise cultivators should try their best to maintain a certain level of combat capability, rather than exhausting their last bit of true energy in a fierce battle and then entering a dangerous period of weakness.

In particular, sometimes even your comrades-in-arms may not be reliable.

In the cultivation world, there are many precedents of people who, while exploring secret realms together, become weakened in order to break the restrictions or defeat the guardian puppets, only to be ambushed by their own comrades and die with resentment.

"I only have a quarter of my true energy left."

True Monarch Qian Shu did not express his opinion directly, but responded, "At the current intensity of the battle, even with the effects of the Rejuvenation Pill, we can only hold out for another half an hour at most."

Logically speaking, as a veteran True Lord, he shouldn't have expended so much energy.

However, he couldn't control several puppets all by himself.

Although the puppet itself can use spirit stones to share some of the true essence consumption, it will ultimately cause it to bear at least three times the true essence consumption of an ordinary nascent soul.

This has a very serious impact.

Qian Shu Zhenjun is not only a person, but also related to the four remaining fourth-order puppets in his hands.

If he exhausts his true essence and withdraws from the battle, the human race will immediately lose four Nascent Soul level combatants.

Especially when facing sea creatures, thick-skinned puppets can often withstand more risky attacks, avoiding the huge disadvantage that cultivators would suffer when fighting powerful demons hand-to-hand.

"Then why don't we stop here?"

Upon hearing this, True Lord Gangyuan also considered retreating: "Shall we retreat and recuperate first, and then discuss this further?"

Actually, his true energy was quite sufficient.

However, as body cultivators, he and True Monarch Hanchuan are now in a very awkward situation.

When facing a sea harbinger, one is not as strong as the opponent and is at a great disadvantage.

When facing a sixfin sailfish, it is not as fast as the opponent and can hardly hit it.

The remaining three thousand-year-old sea turtles were relatively bulky and not very strong.

The problem is that they all have a thick shell and are covered with sturdy scales.

It's like wearing a full suit of armor, with a shield strapped to the chest and back.

If you punch or kick it, almost none of the force will actually penetrate.

Originally, even a tenth of the explosive power of a physical cultivator would be enough to easily shatter the internal organs of a magic cultivator.

The problem is, these three sea turtles are all demonic beasts.

They are naturally full of vitality and strong, and can withstand this weakened attack.

In short, each of these five great demons is more difficult for a body cultivator to deal with than the last.

Gangyuan Zhenjun and Hanchuan Zhenjun were completely hampered and unable to effectively unleash their strength, making their fight extremely frustrating.

Therefore, he was already feeling extremely frustrated, but he just didn't complain.

Seeing that everyone seemed to be thinking of quitting while they were ahead, Xiao Chen couldn't help but frown slightly.

For him, it was naturally unacceptable to stop there and let Haihong and the other great demons go.

Firstly, these are all top-quality natural spiritual materials, especially the three thousand-year-old sea turtles, which are extremely suitable for refining defensive spiritual artifacts.

Secondly, the cost of using the enhanced formation-breaking cone is not low, so stopping now would actually be a small loss.

Although I don't lack spirit stones, I can earn them back by reselling items a few more times.

The key issue is that there isn't a stable channel for acquiring that thing yet, and even if you want to buy another one, you might not be able to find a suitable seller.

If we let the sea harbingers escape today, and they then set up some strange defensive formation, that would be really troublesome.

"Fellow Daoists, I think we should hold on for a little longer."

Quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Xiao Chen took the initiative to persuade, "Although everyone's true essence has been severely depleted, I believe that the pressure faced by the sea race will only be greater."

"Perhaps Haihong is already on the verge of death."

"It's just that I'm forcing myself to stay awake and hold on."

"It would be such a pity if we just let it go like this."

After stating his views, Xiao Chen also put forward his next action plan: "Considering the current situation, I think Fellow Daoist Qian Shu can step back and rest for a while."

“Fellow Daoist Gangyuan, Fellow Daoist Hanchuan, Fellow Daoist Yunwo, and Fellow Daoist Yinhao, go and hold back those three thousand-year-old sea turtles.”

"Iron Fan True Lord and Crane Cry True Lord, deal with Hai Hong for now."

"I'll take care of that sixfin sailfish, and then take them down one by one."

To boost everyone's confidence, Xiao Chen added, "Give me two quarters of an hour first. If we still can't handle it, we can retreat in time."

Normally, he might not be able to defeat a fourth-tier demon that is no less powerful than a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator within two quarters of an hour.

However, the sixfin sailfish has been fighting for half a day now, and its overall condition has fallen into a slump.

Meanwhile, its main feature is speed, and it has not yet demonstrated any additional special abilities.

In this way, Xiao Chen felt he could test just how high the maximum output capability of the Azure Wave Bone-Penetrating Needle really was.

Unfortunately, his custom-made spear was not yet finished.

Otherwise, there would be no need to think about all this nonsense; we could just kill them outright.

"What Fellow Daoist Xiao said makes sense. As the old saying goes, releasing a tiger back into the mountains will bring endless trouble."

Crane Cry True Lord nodded slightly: "In my opinion, we should hold on for a little longer, and perhaps we will achieve a great victory."

True Monarch Yunwo was also filled with fighting spirit: "That's right, I also agree with Fellow Daoist Xiao's statement."

As a sword cultivator, although he didn't have Haihong's abilities, he became more and more excited as the fight went on, and even somewhat reluctant to retreat.

Besides swordsmanship, almost all that's left in my mind is three words—fighting, awesome!
"If it's only for a quarter of an hour, then there's no need to rest."

Upon hearing this, True Monarch Qian Shu also volunteered, "I will personally restrain Hai Hong to reduce the risk of injury." Even he, who had suffered the most severe depletion of his true essence, had spoken up.

The other True Lords naturally had no objections and took action to implement the new battle strategy.

However, after the formal confrontation...

Xiao Chen was surprised to find that the speed at which the six-finned sailfish burst through the water was comparable to his own speed when he used Water Release.

There are three reasons why this situation occurs.

Firstly, his opponent was essentially two minor realms ahead of him.

With higher cultivation levels, one can naturally possess greater abilities.

Secondly, sailfish are among the fastest sea fish in the ocean.

In terms of speed alone, they have always been among the best in their class.

Thirdly, this six-finned sailfish has a mutated bloodline, and coincidentally, its mutation is also in the direction of speed.

It can be said that it was like a fish in water, or a tiger with wings, further enhancing its greatest advantage.

On the contrary, with multiple enhancements, Xiao Chen was actually able to keep up with its speed.

This was something the sixfin sailfish found incredible and hard to accept.

It kept turning back to look at Xiao Chen, who was following closely behind it, and it almost wanted to curse him out.

Is this even reasonable?

The key issue remains that Xiao Chen's previous deduction was correct; the sea monsters were indeed under greater pressure.

After all, from the very beginning, they were at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers, and each of them had to fight against many opponents.

As a result, both the depletion of demonic energy and the mental energy expended during battle remained consistently high.

They were also hindered by the spirit ship along the way, which caused them to waste a lot of demon energy again.

As a result, although they are not completely exhausted yet, they are at their wits' end.

More importantly, the sea creatures knew perfectly well that they had no reinforcements and would not receive any.

At the same time, they cannot rely on the extremely rare special case of a rogue cultivator causing trouble.

Therefore, from the perspective of the remaining five great demons, they are also facing a dead end.

Continuing to fight will only lead to death, and escaping only to be caught by the Venerable One will also lead to death. Either way, there's no way to survive. What should we do?

"Wait a minute!"

One of the thousand-year-old sea turtles had a sudden inspiration: "I am willing to surrender, I am willing to serve as a spirit beast!"

"I still have several thousand years of life left to live, so I can help you guard the mountain gate and take care of future generations."

"I did make some minor mistakes before because I was ignorant, but I have realized them now."

"I am willing to abandon darkness and embrace light, and atone for my sins. Please give me a chance to reform."

Ok?
Its sudden defection surprised all the human lords present.

No, why didn't you say you were surrendering sooner? You've wasted so much of everyone's time.

To be honest, surrendering halfway through a fight will definitely not bring as many benefits as surrendering from the beginning.

Moreover, as a fourth-order great demon, he had already chosen to resist, but then changed his mind at the last minute.

This kind of thing is actually quite rare; most of the time it only happens to a few despicable people.

Generally speaking, powerful demons are usually honest and simple, and they shouldn't change their minds halfway through.

"I knew it, there would definitely be traitors!"

Haihong, however, seemed to have anticipated this, and shouted, "Now's the time! Let's do it!"

The six-finned sailfish in the distance paused slightly, then took out the last two Sea God Talismans from its body as planned, activated them with its demonic energy, and threw them out with force.

One of them rushed towards the traitorous thousand-year-old sea turtle.

The other one went straight for Haihong.

Judging from this, it's clear they want to use the power of the Sea God Talisman to force that thousand-year-old sea turtle to change its mind.

At the same time, Haihong was prepared to repel the human race's offensive at the cost of her own life.

In comparison, it was clearly more loyal than that thousand-year-old sea turtle.

"Oh no, the situation has changed!"

Upon seeing the overall situation, True Monarch Qian Shu was immediately taken aback, never expecting that the sea race could endure for so long before launching a sudden attack.

"what?"

When Gangyuan Zhenjun turned around, he immediately recognized that it was the Sea God Talisman that he had seen once before.

You know, that giant octopus alone caused a lot of trouble back then.

Although there are no giant sea monsters now, two have suddenly appeared, which will soon strengthen two great demons.

Unfortunately, everyone is starting to feel exhausted these days.

When the sea creatures used such a trump card at this moment, it was clear that their intentions went beyond simply winning.

More likely, Haihong had already planned to use this opportunity to exchange her life for another.

Through its sacrifice and that of another unfortunate soul, they managed to take away two to four Human True Lords, thereby disrupting the Human race's subsequent offensive rhythm.

Thinking of this, True Lord Gangyuan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe.

The plan itself wasn't particularly ingenious, but what was most remarkable was the spirit of getting involved wholeheartedly.

Even a great demon like him deserves respect and remembrance for having such a belief.

If he has the opportunity in the future, he will record this scene in the sect's biography so that future generations can remember it.

But the next moment.

Gangyuan Zhenjun saw a hook rope rush ahead of the Sea God Talisman, grabbing Haihong first and pulling her away directly.

As a result, the talisman, which was half a step too late, missed its target and fell into the vast ocean, eventually hitting a small deep-sea fish with only Qi Refining cultivation.

Ah, could it be that...?
Everyone turned and looked in the direction of the grappling hook.

As expected, it was Xiao Chen who activated the 'family heirloom talisman' to grab Hai Hong and took the opportunity to dodge the Sea God Talisman.

Not only that!

He even took the initiative to stand between the six-finned marlin and the traitorous thousand-year-old sea turtle.

He used his own body to receive another Sea God Talisman.

This left all the human True Monarchs and sea demons dumbfounded.

What are you doing?
Putting aside the fact that using such a precious talisman just to save Haihong from being strengthened by the talisman seems like a waste of resources.

This incident can be loosely interpreted as a way to weaken the enemy's combat power at all costs in order to prevent Haihong from going berserk after being strengthened.

That's somewhat acceptable.

But what are you planning to do by accepting another Sea God Talisman?

Are you really courting death?

Even a fool could guess that such a talisman would inevitably have extremely serious side effects.

Moreover, it often comes at the cost of life to gain a brief burst of power.

No one could figure out what Xiao Chen was doing.

"This...this...how?"

Gangyuan Zhenjun wanted to say something or ask something, but for a moment he didn't know how to start.

Crane Cry True Lord stared with his eyes wide open, as big as copper bells.

It was as if they had seen something earth-shattering.

"what?"

The sixfin sailfish stood there, its mind a bit confused, unsure whether its attack had missed or hit.

This should be considered a lucky hit, right?
Compared to sacrificing their comrades, it seems more worthwhile to directly kill Xiao Chen?
Even the thousand-year-old sea turtle that was trying to rebel was dumbfounded.

However, it was the first to realize what was happening and hurriedly shouted, "Your Excellency Haihong, please understand that I was actually feigning surrender just now to confuse the human race's judgment."

"I have always been loyal to His Excellency and Your Excellency, and have never had any disloyal intentions."

In that split second, it realized something.

Without Xiao Chen, the human race seems to be at a disadvantage again.

If we can survive today, what follows is the great counterattack and reckoning of the sea creatures, so we definitely can't get on the wrong ship at this time.

Upon hearing this, Haihong laughed in anger: "Hahaha, well done!"

However, for the sake of the bigger picture, it did not directly turn against the turtle, but instead made a double entendre to it.

"Oh, there's no need to praise me like that."

Xiao Chen readily accepted the question: "I was just improvising."

"After all, we were almost tricked by the Sea God Talisman last time, so we are naturally more cautious this time."

One of the reasons he specifically chose the six-finned sailfish when he was setting up the plan was that the fish had used the Sea God's Talisman last time, so he needed to keep a close watch on it this time.

Therefore, they prepared mechanical grappling hooks well in advance and kept a close eye on the locations of the other great demons.

The only pity is that, in Xiao Chen's original plan...

If he can seize the enhancement of the Sea God's Rune, he can use the Edge of Night to offset the cost.

Then, during the strengthening process, using the super combat power brought by the talisman, they directly killed the remaining five great demons.

This is not because he is arrogant; if he could double his current strength, he could easily crush his opponents.

Therefore, Xiao Chen stood still at first, waiting for the talisman to take effect.

The problem is that several breaths have passed since the Sea God Talisman was applied to his body, but he has not felt any change or improvement.

This thing didn't work.

Could it be that it just happened to break?

The reason is that for the Sea God Talisman to take effect, it needs to burn its lifespan as a price from the very beginning before it can unleash its amazing power.

However, when it comes to Xiao Chen, the Divine Protection Veil will not allow it to deduct from his lifespan.

Without a price to pay, power cannot be created out of thin air.

During this time, the entire battlefield was eerily quiet for half an hour.

Whether it was the human race or the sea race, including Xiao Chen himself, everyone was waiting for the Sea God Talisman to take effect.

However, in the end, everyone watched helplessly as the talisman turned into ashes on its own, without seeing anything unusual.

"This is impossible!"

Haihong was truly unable to accept this: "Why weren't you affected?"

It was almost powerless to fight anymore, and now that it had lost the Sea God's Talisman, even the plan to trade its life for another had become a pipe dream.

“Xiao Zhenjun, I was actually joking just now.”

The thousand-year-old sea turtle sensed something was wrong again and tried to salvage the situation: "Hahaha, I've actually wanted to be your mount for a long time."

"Or perhaps you're missing a mascot to guard the gate?"

(End of this chapter)