Chapter Eleven: Joining Forces

Chapter Eleven: Joining Forces

One large and one small azure steel trident stood at an opposing angle within the colossal merman palace, their Golden Immortal pressures radiating outward like ripples, instantly producing a low, vibrating hum.

At this moment, the six humans and two beasts who had just entered found that the pale blue light barrier on the door behind them had reappeared, once again cutting off the corridor from the giant palace. It remained unknown whether there were other mechanisms for departure.

Ahead of the group, sea yakshas swarmed like a tide, each wielding a double-pronged fork gleaming with cold light. With ferocious expressions, they watched the battle between Zhou Hao and the sea yaksha general.

Their numbers were vast, roughly numbering over a thousand. In stark contrast, the merman tribe had suffered heavy casualties and were few in weak numbers. Whether outside the palace, in the corridor, or in the giant hall where everyone now stood, merman corpses were everywhere—and the dismembered kind at that.

Sea yakshas were naturally cruel, fond of murder and dismemberment, and addicted to bloodshed. In the ocean, they were synonymous with evil. They gathered in packs, worshipped strength and respected the mighty, and plundered treasures and beauties from the depths of the sea. Their notorious reputation preceded them.

"Kill!"

The sea yaksha general roared strangely. His entire body was encased in blue-gold armor, revealing only a pair of fierce eyes. In this ocean environment, his strength was astonishingly great, his physique as robust as an ox. He gripped his double-pronged fork with both hands and thrust forward fiercely, determined to pierce Zhou Hao's skull.

Yet Zhou Hao stood as firm as a green pine, completely motionless. Wielding a matching azure double-pronged fork, he effortlessly caught the general's oversized weapon with a relaxed expression. Regardless of how much force the latter exerted, Zhou Hao even held the fork with a single hand, the mockery in his demeanor self-evident.

"I thought you were quite imposing, but you're just a silver spearhead with a wax core—all show and no substance," Zhou Hao said with an upturned mouth, sneering.

"Wawa ya! Insolent brat, taste my fork!" The sea yaksha general was enraged. He pulled his double-pronged fork back, and then spun the weapon like a windmill, instantly whipping the surrounding seawater into a vortex.

The next moment, the sea yaksha general hoisted his double-pronged fork and flew airborne into the vortex, his body spinning rapidly alongside it. In the process of this rotation, the double-pronged fork erupted with astonishing azure sharpness, and a piercing sound echoed throughout the entire palace.

Seeing this, Zhou Hao narrowed his eyes, golden light flashing within his pupils. He gazed at the spinning sea yaksha general as if time had momentarily frozen.

Clang!

Just as the vortex stirred by the sea yaksha general rushed toward Zhou Hao, a fraction of a second before the azure sharpness of the oversized fork was about to pierce his head, Zhou Hao swiftly reversed his grip, turning the tail of his fork into the head, and hurled it out like a javelin. It struck the exact point of sharpness instantly, driving it—along with the wielder—heavily backward.

The sea yakshas in the rear bore the brunt of the disaster, dozens of them being shredded by the vortex. Even the sea yaksha general was wounded by his own weapon, the blue-gold armor on his right shoulder pierced through, spilling thick blood.

The sea yaksha clan turned pale with fright. Gazing at the white-robed youth who had suddenly broken in and the few youngsters behind him, they witnessed firsthand that even their general was no match for him. Even in their habitual cruelty, expressions of fear now surfaced on their faces, and their feet instinctively retreated.

Seeing the sea yakshas falling back, the six humans exchanged smiles and began stepping forward. Anyone who dared to obstruct them was executed on the spot!

Before long, the group reached Zhang Yue. The latter had carved out a formidable reputation; numerous sea yakshas trembled with fear and dared not approach again. At this moment, Zhang Yue was surrounded by mermans, though altogether they numbered less than a hundred. The once splendid and dreamlike merman palace had long been stained with blood, and a thick, pungent smell of carnage lingered heavily in the giant hall, refusing to disperse.

"Who are you?" Beside Zhang Yue asked a male merman with a full head of silver hair, his upper body bare and drenched in blood, clearly having just survived a fierce battle. He eyed the six humans and two beasts with utmost vigilance.

"We are here to help you. The sea yaksha clan slaughters the innocent; we're here to help you drive them out!" A petite red-figured figure stepped forward—it was Hanabi who replied.

"Really? Aren't you here for the Merman Pearl?" The silver-haired male merman looked at the exquisite and adorable young girl in front of him with half-belief.

"Merman Pearl? Does your merman palace really possess the Pearl of True Affection?" Hanabi asked without hesitation.

"Ha! So you really did come to the Merman Palace for the pearl after all; you're no good people either." The silver-haired male merman's expression changed instantly, and the trident in his hand immediately pointed at Hanabi.

Zhou Hao quickly pulled Hanabi behind him and, facing the merman's trident, said calmly, "My friend, I think our top priority is to expel the sea yakshas, rather than bicker over a pearl, wouldn't you say?"

"So you are willing to join forces with the merman tribe to deal with the sea yakshas?" At this moment, Zhang Yue spoke up. His peach-blossom-like eyes fixed on Zhou Hao, his voice cold and devoid of the slightest emotion.

Under that gaze, Zhou Hao couldn't help but shiver slightly; this person's eyes were truly cold, as if he possessed no heart.

"Correct. Right now, the merman tribe is facing a catastrophe, and since we cannot bear to watch, naturally we wish to lend a hand," Zhou Hao said.

"Very good. Then let us strike together and slaughter all these sea yakshas!" Zhang Yue nodded. Seeing that their benefactors had agreed, the dozens of mermans nearby secretly breathed a sigh of relief, their gazes toward Zhou Hao and his companions shifting from vigilance to reassurance.

"Wait, we'd like to know what the current situation is," suddenly said Lin辰 (Lin Chen), the handsome youth from the Meteor Pavilion.

Hearing this, a familiar figure swam forward from beside Zhang Yue. She had short orange hair, a green fish tail, pointed ears, and dense freckles on either side of her nose—it was Daina the merman. She spoke softly, her voice raspy: "The Sea Yaksha King pressured the King and Queen to reveal the whereabouts of the Pearl of True Affection. The King and Queen stated that the pearl is the supreme treasure of the Merman Palace and must never fall into the hands of evil beings. Seeing that they refused to speak no matter what, the Sea Yaksha King used the lives of the prince and princess as leverage. Yet the King and Queen steadfastly refused to disclose its location, and finally... finally..."

As she spoke, Daina began to cry, her tear-filled eyes weeping uncontrollably as her tears condensed into pale blue pearls that fell to the ground.

"I'll tell the rest. In the end, the Sea Yaksha King flew into a rage. The Merman King and Queen were brutally murdered, and even the prince could not escape his doom. Only the princess caught the eye of the Sea Yaksha King, who demanded she become the queen of the sea yaksha clan. The princess refused and attempted suicide, but the Sea Yaksha King froze her in place and seated her beside him upon the merman throne." The silver-haired male merman pointed toward the pink seashell on the main hall.

Everyone looked up and could now clearly discern the two figures within the giant pink seashell at the front of the hall.

One was tall, fierce, and grotesque, clad in cyan-gold armor and gripping a cyan-gold double-pronged fork. The other possessed waist-length pink hair, a slender and curvaceous figure, a bare upper body with ample breasts enveloped by rose-red seashells, and a lower body covered in shimmering purple-red fish scales.

Seated together, they formed a stark contrast. The moment everyone laid eyes on the latter, their breathing halted for a fraction of a second, as if they were beholding the most breathtaking scenery in the world!

"We were all marched into this hall by the sea yakshas to be executed, but thanks to our benefactors stepping in to save us, our lives were spared. There were five hundred mermans in the palace, but now fewer than a hundred remain," the silver-haired male merman continued.

"Is she really that good-looking? Have you stared enough yet?" Hanabi pinched Zhou Hao's waist, prompting him to tear his lingering gaze away from the merman princess's peerless beauty.

Zhou Hao looked at Hanabi, rubbed his nose, and gave an awkward laugh. "She certainly is quite pretty."

"As expected of a merman princess, truly a peerless beauty of exceptional appearance!" On Zhou Hao's shoulder, the turtle nodded repeatedly.

At that instant, both Zhou Hao and the turtle felt a bone-chilling killing intent pierce straight to their hearts. Their necks grew cold, and they hurriedly backed away. Four gazes locked onto them simultaneously, followed swiftly by a brutal beating administered by one woman and one snake to a man and a turtle!

"Men, I tell you, leave them unpunished for three days and they'll tear down the roof tiles; they simply need a woman's discipline! Sister Hanabi, the two of us must cooperate more often and beat the living daylights out of them every single meal!" After pummeling the turtle into a swollen mess, the green snake halted her savage assault and spoke to Hanabi.

"Sister Qingqing, you're entirely right. As long as we women are around, these men will never flip the sky. There's only one word for it: beat them until they submit!" Similarly, Zhou Hao's head had been pounded into a bruised sphere by Hanabi; he looked utterly wretched, yet Hanabi glowed with radiant health and a brilliant smile, bearing no resemblance to the rough-and-tumble woman who had nearly cracked open a skull barehanded just moments prior.

"Brother, I think I'm about to be beaten to death..." The turtle lay on the ground at its last gasp, its head swollen to three times its normal size. Not far away, Zhou Hao likewise sprawled motionless, his head red and swollen like a pig's head.

"Who... who could... have imagined... that just taking a look at... a bea... beauty could... result in such a beating?" Zhou Hao's tongue failed to cooperate, his speech disjointed, and now he felt as though only his mouth could still move while every other part of his body ached fiercely at the slightest twitch.

"Serves you right!" The green snake and Hanabi spat in unison at the fallen man and beast.

"So, what we need to do now is rescue the princess and drive out the sea yakshas, correct?" Lin Chen asked with a smile.

"That's right, but the princess is in the hands of the Sea Yaksha King. He will use her life to threaten us, and we must never let her come to harm." The silver-haired male merman looked with profound worry at the graceful figure within the pink seashell on the main hall. With his chiseled and strikingly handsome features, he was originally one of the seven knights of the merman palace charged with protecting the princess. Now, out of the seven, only he remained.

"I am the last knight responsible for protecting the princess. Even if I die, I will snatch her back from the hands of the demon!" vowed the silver-haired merman, Dia, clenching his fists.

"Snatch back the princess!"

"Snatch back the princess!"

...

Following Dia's declaration, the dozens of mermans with fish tails of various colors surged with hot-blooded fervor, shouting in unison.

High upon the main hall, within the giant pink seashell, the tall sea yaksha figure looked down upon the gathered mermans and outsiders, speaking coldly: "This king gives you one final chance: hand over the Pearl of True Affection, or this entire merman palace will be buried along with you!"

"Kill!"

From below, the crowd answered the Sea Yaksha King with a single word.

Dozens of mermans surged forward in a charge, their tridents pointing directly at the main hall to attack. However, waiting ahead of them was a dense throng of sea yakshas; outnumbering the mermans heavily, they could easily crush the vanguard.

Swish! Swish! Swish...

Eight thumb-length flying swords burst forth from Zhang Cheng's sleeves. In an instant, sword light flashed like lightning, striking down the frontline sea yakshas.

Eight sea yakshas were instantly killed by a sword through the throat!

Yet the flying swords did not return; instead, they pressed forward at meteor-like speed, one sword per life, continuously piercing through more than thirty sea yakshas before Zhang Cheng recalled them.

"Allow me to aid you in slaying the enemy!" Zhang Cheng flicked his sleeves once more, dispatching his swords, which drew gasps of envy from the numerous mermans who valiantly charged forward in his wake.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhen from the Golden Light Cave had no wish to fall behind. He summoned his horsetail whisk, and threads of golden light finer than hair immediately shot forth from it. Though they appeared to be whisker-filaments, they were as hard as gold and iron.

The golden light transformed by those threads rained down upon the sea yakshas. The latter proved entirely incapable of blocking them, being pierced straight through the skull. Just like Zhang Cheng's flying swords, only a tiny red dot remained between their eyebrows, leaving the rest of their bodies intact.

At this moment, Lin Chen of the Meteor Pavilion drew an eight-diagram mirror from his bosom. One side was engraved with stellar trajectories, while the other was pitch-black and glossy.

He activated the mirror, aiming the dark side forward while chanting an incantation to channel immortal energy. Countless black light beams then erupted from the mirror; any sea yaksha struck by these beams melted into a puddle of foul pus, making one's blood run cold.

Turning to Li Qinglu and Hanabi in the rear, the former practiced medicine as her Dao, her most frequently used weapon being flying needles. With a slight flick of her delicate hand, a pale-gold-tinted silver needle shot forth directly, piercing a sea yaksha's throat. As for Hanabi, she struck out repeatedly with her palms, crimson flames incinerating the sea yakshas in a chain reaction akin to a wildfire sweeping through a camp, leaving the enemy with devastating casualties.

As for Zhang Yue and Zhou Hao, the two of them joined forces to attack the main hall above. Against an Sea Yaksha King at the late stage of Upper Immortality, even the most talented young Golden Immortals fell short.

Before Zhou Hao and the others arrived, Zhang Yue had intended to unleash his ultimate trump card to fight a duel to the death with the Sea Yaksha King. However, the Sea Yaksha King deemed such a small fry unworthy of fighting him and had instead dispatched his four Golden Immortal generals—though Zhang Yue had managed to slay three of them single-handedly.

Screech, screech, screech!

Zhang Yue leaped onto the dais, his lightning-shrouded sword thrusting directly toward the Sea Yaksha King's head. The latter's cold eyes swept aside as his double-pronged fork slashed diagonally, instantly deflecting the lightning sword.

Seeing how formidable the Sea Yaksha King was, Zhou Hao immediately executed a miniature Great Sun Palm, striking toward the king's face.

"Roar!"

The Sea Yaksha King spat, and a torrent of azure water spewed forth. The Great Sun Palm collided with it and was instantly corroded, unable to display its might.

Immediately afterward, the sea yaksha continued to spout azure water, forming a waterfall that cascaded down toward Zhou Hao and Zhang Yue.

"We mustn't let that corrosive water touch us. Dodge it!" Zhou Hao warned Zhang Yue while evading.

Zhang Yue nodded, retreating rapidly. As he fell back, a lightning spear materialized in his hand, which he hurled with a whoosh straight into the open mouth of the Sea Yaksha King.

Underestimating his foes, the Sea Yaksha King harbored no fear of the lightning spear. He caught it squarely between his teeth and rolled his tongue, swallowing it straight into his belly.

"What on earth did you throw into his mouth?" Zhou Hao asked curiously as he reached Zhang Yue's side.

"A Heavenly Thunder Spear, forged from natural lightning channeled down from the Heavenly Thunder Platform on Absolute Emotion Mountain. It can injure Upper Immortals!" Zhang Yue replied.

"Brilliant!" Zhou Hao gave a thumbs-up.

Boom!

True to form, the moment Zhou Hao's words fell, an explosion echoed from within the belly of the Sea Yaksha King. Blood stained his armor, and clutching his stomach, he staggered down from the seashell, cursing angrily: "Brat, using underhanded tricks to wound me! Today, this king will dismember you!"

Next, the towering and fierce Sea Yaksha King hoisted his double-pronged fork and flew down from the main hall. His Upper Immortal aura erupted, causing the entire merman palace to tremble as if struck by an earthquake.

Mermans and sea yakshas alike were blown away by this formless pressure, their bodies slamming into the surrounding walls. In a single instant, bones shattered across the board, resulting in massive casualties.

The only ones left standing were the young Golden Immortals—Zhou Hao, Zhang Yue, and their companions!

"An Upper Immortal truly lives up to his name. Even after being blasted like that, he's completely fine; his skin really is thick," Zhou Hao sighed softly.

"I just wonder if your skin is thick enough to withstand our full-force combined strike!" Several young Golden Immortals gathered together. They all understood that facing an opponent of the Sea Yaksha King's caliber, solo combat without relying on one's ultimate foundations to fight to the death offered zero chance of victory.

"A Golden Immortal and an Upper Immortal are separated by an unbridgeable chasm. Moreover, you are all merely at the initial stage of Golden Immortality; sheer numbers are meaningless, and you couldn't even withstand a single blow of mine," the Sea Yaksha King sneered, pointing his double-pronged fork diagonally at the group.

"Whether it's meaningless, we'll only know after trying!"

Behind Zhou Hao, a wheel of golden brilliance rose. The six companions beside him all displayed unusual expressions, clearly recognizing what it was.

The Great Sun!

Concurrently, a full moon likewise rose behind Zhang Yue. That moon was pitch-black, sharing the exact same color as the dark cosmos, and filled with terrifying destructive power.

Seeing this, Zhou Hao's expression shifted in shock. Zhang Yue actually possessed the Great Yin Moon, which stood in direct opposition and complement to his own Great Sun!

As the saying goes, isolated yin cannot grow, and isolated yang cannot be born; where there is yang, there must be yin, and where there is the sun, there must be the moon. The Great Sun symbolized mastery over the solar path, while the Great Yin symbolized mastery over the lunar path.

Legend had it that the ten suns and twelve moons hanging high above the Sun-Moon Celestial Firmament were formed from the Great Sun Ten Suns and Great Yin Twelve Moons of the Sun Lord and Moon Lord respectively, containing endless laws and serving as the ultimate manifestation of the Dao of Yin and Yang.

For a youth of roughly his own age before him to actually possess the Great Yin Moon implied that he undoubtedly possessed peerless talent in the lunar path. Such celestial talents were renowned as invincible among their peers!

"Meow-meow-meow! The Great Yin Moon? The Great Sun? Never thought I'd get to witness such a glorious sight!" the turtle shrieked in wonder. At that moment, one of its eyes reflected the golden-brilliant Great Sun, while the other reflected the pitch-black Great Yin Moon.