“Captain, you’re poisoned.” Xu Qing glanced at the captain.
“Poisoned? I’m not poisoned. I’m so strong, how could I be poisoned?” The captain raised his brows and answered in surprise.
“You are indeed poisoned, Captain.”
Xu Qing looked at the captain’s greenish-black face that looked similar to the pitch-black seawater and said seriously.
The captain’s expression turned solemn.
“Vice Captain Xu, don’t spout nonsense. You have to have evidence when you speak! I just saw a tasty-looking sea fruit, but after eating it some wind evil1 entered my body. Looks like you can’t eat sea fruits casually.”
As the captain spoke, he seemed to feel his face turning a little numb. He quickly took out a handful of antidotes and stuffed them into his mouth as though he was eating candy. He then chewed and swallowed them.
As for his heart, he was feeling rather depressed at this moment. He had hidden himself after falling into the water earlier because he wanted Xu Qing to scout the way first while he followed behind.
He didn’t expect this kid to release poison all the way!
Now that he saw that Xu Qing was about to speak, he hurriedly swept his gaze across the surroundings and suddenly pointed at Zhang San, who was disguised as a corpse in the distance.
“Eh, isn’t that Zhang San?”
The captain quickly left Xu Qing and ran toward Zhang San. When he reached Zhang San’s side, he kicked him. However, Zhang San, who was disguised as a corpse, quickly dodged. He lay on the ground and lifted his head to see the captain as well as Xu Qing walking over.
“Captain, are you poisoned?” Zhang San looked at the greenish-black color on his captain’s face in surprise.
“Shut up.” The captain coughed and quickly spoke.
“Don’t be a disgrace. What good stuff can you get by pretending to be a corpse here? Follow me. I know where the good stuff is.” The captain immediately checked his surroundings and rushed in a direction.
Zhang San didn’t hesitate. He jumped up from the ground and greeted Xu Qing before chasing after the captain.
“Vice Captain Xu, the place I’m going to has the Foundation Building Pill you want. Come quickly.” The captain waved at Xu Qing as he ran.
Xu Qing’s gaze was restrained as he swept his gaze across the chaos of the battle in the surroundings. He then looked in the direction the captain had left in. That place… was also the place guided by the Spirit Breath Lantern. He no longer hesitated and quickly followed the captain and Zhang San.
Just like that, the three of them left the merfolk race’s underwater battlefield. As they were strong, although they encountered some obstructions on the way, they were all easily dealt with.
The captain was clearly in a hurry. When he saw merfolk cultivators blocking the way, he would directly release cold air, turning them into ice sculptures.
As for Zhang San, his style was different from the captain’s. He had a lot of trinkets of all kinds. Moreover, they were all the kind that would explode upon contact and had high lethality.
As they moved forward, Zhang San threw them in all directions, preventing the merfolk from approaching.
What he used the most was a thread that was difficult to see with the naked eye. As his body moved, this extremely sharp thread moved in the surroundings, slicing the ice sculptures that the captain made.
Clearly, the two of them had cooperated more than once and were already very familiar with each other’s methods. Hence, their speed became faster and faster.
In fact, Xu Qing even saw Zhang San tying a thread to the captain’s body. This made it very easy for Zhang San to move forward.
As for Xu Qing, his attacks were different from the captain and Zhang San. To be precise, he didn’t attack at all. Instead, he used a colorless poison powder that he had developed specifically to target the merfolk race. It fused into the water and permeated his surroundings.
As he moved forward, the bodies of all the merfolk who neared him melted. Even though they retreated rapidly, they couldn’t stop the corrosion of their bodies. They let out mournful cries and their eyes were filled with extreme fear as they faced the unavoidable death.
Zhang San’s expression changed drastically. He quickly took out a large number of antidote pills and swallowed them. He then moved forward at full speed, wanting to keep a distance from Xu Qing who was behind him.
As for the captain, he had been eating the antidote pills one by one.
Just like that, the three of them sprinted wildly and slowly left the battlefield. Xu Qing could also see the direction the captain was heading in. It was the place where the divine priests had come from. This made him fall into deep thought.
An hour later, when the rumbling sounds from the battlefield were much weaker, a strange building complex appeared in front of them.
Although these buildings were also made with coral, they were pitch-black, forming towering circular halls. From the style, it was somewhat similar to the cluster of temples Xu Qing had seen in the scavenger campsite.
“Temple?” Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. The guiding fluctuation from the Spirit Breath Lantern seemed to be coming from here but it wasn’t convenient for him to take it out to confirm it.
“This is the place.” The captain’s excited voice rang out from ahead. He sped up and headed straight for the temple.
Their arrival aroused the vigilance of the merfolk guards in the temple. They rushed out one after another to kill them. However, there weren’t many guards.
If it was any other time, this place would definitely be heavily guarded. However, now that the merfolk race was facing a calamity, many places in the underwater world were in the middle of chaotic battles. As a result, most of the divine priests had left, so the number of guards here was clearly reduced.
With the captain’s strength, Zhang San’s many trinkets, and Xu Qing’s colorless poison, they were able to rush straight to the center of the temple cluster.
During this time, Foundation Building cultivators whose cultivation levels had been suppressed to the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm also appeared. However, wherever the captain passed, everything would be frozen. No matter what cultivation level the enemy had, their outcome was the same. They were all instantly turned into ice sculptures.
This scene caused Xu Qing’s heart to tremble. Not only was he wary of the captain’s combat strength, but he was also certain that the captain had a strong motive for coming here.
From the start, he seemed to be headed straight for this place.
“Could it be that the captain has the same goal as me?” Xu Qing was vigilant. As he silently followed, the vigilance in his heart grew even more intense.
A moment later, the three of them killed their way to the center of the temple cluster. In front of a blue temple, the captain quickly spoke.
“Zhang San, set up traps in the surroundings. Take out all your good things, I’ll compensate you when we get back.”
“Xu Qing, scatter more of your poison here. Don’t be stingy. I’ll compensate you too when we get back!”
Zhang San immediately set up a large number of mechanisms in the surroundings that would explode with a single touch. Moreover, all of them had disguises covering them, and were placed in confusing and tricky areas.
For example, he dug a pit to bury a trap. Moreover, this pit was only slightly deeper than other areas. It would trigger with a step.
“The first person who walks on it will be fine, but the second person who walks on it will trigger the explosion.” Noticing that Xu Qing was looking at him, Zhang San grinned honestly.
Xu Qing fell silent and recalled the location guided by the Spirit Breath Lantern’s fluctuations. He sensed that although it was also here, it didn’t seem to be in this direction. It should be further deeper.
He heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. After Zhang San finished setting up, he took out a lot of poison powder and scattered it, causing the danger in the surroundings of the temple to increase even more.
After that, Xu Qing looked at the captain.
The captain was very happy. He directly pushed open the temple’s gate and called Xu Qing and Zhang San in.
The interior of the temple was empty and didn’t seem to have any treasures. There was only a statue standing there.
“Captain, what exactly are you doing this time? There’s nothing here. The things I want aren’t here as well!” Seeing that the surroundings were empty, Zhang San was anxious.
Xu Qing didn’t say anything and also looked at the captain.
“Don’t be anxious.” The captain squatted and smiled.
“Wait a moment. I guarantee that you’ll be able to obtain what you want in a while.” As he spoke, he took out a withered eye. This eye didn’t look like a human’s. After the captain placed it to the side, he performed a series of hand seals and pointed.
Immediately, the withered eye opened, revealing a blurry scene in its pupils. It seemed to be the outside world of the island.
“Let’s watch the show first.” The captain’s expression was filled with excitement.
“Eye of Consonance, this thing is very expensive. How did you get it?!” Zhang San took a deep breath and quickly moved closer to take a look.
Xu Qing also carefully looked at the eye. He felt that it was very strange. He then swept his gaze across the captain and retreated a little. He surveyed his surroundings and began to observe the environment here.
There was indeed nothing else here other than the statue.
Even though the statue itself was only made from coral and didn’t have any divinity fluctuations, Xu Qing didn’t relax. He remembered that the stone statue holding the saber in the temple in the scavenger forbidden zone also didn’t look anything strange.
He didn’t plan to stay here for long and was prepared to find an opportunity to leave.
While Xu Qing was observing, the ground trembled. A loud explosion rang out from afar, like a storm sweeping in all directions.
As the ground trembled, a sharp sound rang out in the distance, as though it could penetrate all obstacles and spread throughout the entire underwater world.
The place where the explosion and sharp sound came from was the battlefield where Xu Qing’s group had left earlier. At that moment, corpses were everywhere and many people had died. As for the dozens of divine priests, all of them were in a sorry state.
Most of the strange beasts formed by their divine arts were also dead. All of them let out sharp cries in their madness. As this sound rang out, their bodies rapidly burned.
They seemed to be using the burning of life to cast an extremely powerful divine art.
As their sharp sound spread, although there weren’t many divine priests on the many battlefields in the underwater world, they also burned their bodies and let out sharp cries.
These sounds fused together and became stronger and stronger. The penetrative power also continued to grow.
As hundreds of divine priests on the entire Binding Island burned crazily, the sharp sound directly spread out of the Binding Island. It passed through the array formation outside and continued to travel into the depths of the sea.
It was like a summoning!
Very soon, a roar that came from the deep sea echoed.
This voice was like the sound of heaven and earth, containing indescribable intimidation.
The instant it spread out, it caused monstrous waves to surge in the sea for thousands of kilometers. As it continued to spread, the sky changed color and the wind and clouds churned.
In the depths of the sea… a huge figure vaguely appeared!
This figure was a hundred thousand feet tall and astonishingly huge, like a god.
Its every movement seemed quite strenuous. However, at the same time, every step it took would cause the bottom of the sea to rumble and form a tsunami.
A terrifying pressure erupted at this moment.
Regardless of the cultivation base of the countless sea beasts in the vicinity, they all trembled under this pressure. A pressure that caused the souls of all the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators to tremble spread out from the god-like figure at the bottom of the sea.
The rumbling sound continued to transmit. If one had eyes that could penetrate the sea and looked at it from a high altitude, they would see an old woman wearing a robe made of countless fish bones with a large number of tentacles on her body walking toward the merfolk island step by step.
Her face was covered in wrinkles and more than half of it had rotted away. Only her golden eyes revealed a deep look with no emotions. Her breath was filled with dense anomalous substances and contained intense divinity.
The tentacles on her body all had eyes and were also golden. At this moment, half of them opened and they looked at the distant merfolk island in unison.
Behind the old woman, amidst the fluttering of the fishbone robe, a gigantic scarlet tongue stretched out. Its tongue contained countless souls.
Upon closer inspection, these souls looked like divine priests of the merfolk race. They were all emitting sharp sounds, as though they were responding to the voice of Binding.
This scene caused the array formation fluctuations on the four islands of the merfolk race to dissipate a little and become transparent, allowing the cultivators on the island to finally see the outside world.
This figure was none other than the god the merfolk race believed in… Binding!