Zhang Che didn’t know whether he had arrived at another dimension in the secret plane, or he had triggered some forbidden mechanism and was transferred to the other end of the same secret plane.
Since he couldn’t clarify any of that, he decided to not think about it. Shaking his head, he directed the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon to descend to the sea below.
The sea seemed to be without end, with big and small islands scattered all over. Not only that, Zhang Che could see many huge birds flying freely over the sea.
The dimension seemed to finally be something more… normal?
As the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon quickly descended, Zhang Che saw a big bird with a two-meter-plus wingspan streaking across the surface of the sea like lightning. When it rose back up in the air, its talons were holding onto a fish about half a meter long.
The big fish, covered in azure scales all over, kept struggling. Blood kept dripping from the area the big bird’s talons pierced through.
No black gale swept down from the sky!
This seemed to prove that this place was no longer the secret plane he was in before?
If that was true, there was a problem.
If this place wasn’t the secret plane, then could he return where he came from?
Zhang Che’s mood immediately sank.
Even though he didn’t have to worry about food in here, there was no meaning in living here alone.
What about his mother, or Miss Tienan, back on Mercury?
“No, no, no, there should be a way!”
Zhang Che’s brain spun at maximum capacity. In the end, he thought of the layer of light that sucked him in earlier.
It would be impossible to return by flying upwards.
In that case, he could try digging to the end of the earth in this dimension, to see if there was something similar to that membrane.
As long as it existed, he could keep digging, going through layer by layer. He didn’t believe he couldn’t get out!
Even if this was the eighteen levels of Hell, Zhang Che believed that as long as he had the Purple Crystal Tortoise, he could dig himself out of this place!
The surface of the sea was getting closer and closer, and the scattered islands gradually became clearer, too.
Those islands were separated into two extremes. One was an overabundance of vegetation, dense and rich everywhere; the other was bald as an eagle, with only craggy rocks. The two formed an incredibly stark contrast when compared with one another.
Naturally Zhang Che wouldn’t go to those bald islands. As such, he directed the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon to fly towards one of the larger islands with lush vegetation.
A faint fishy smell was on the wind sweeping over the waves below. This was the smell of the sea!
If it wasn’t for the fact that he didn’t know whether it was safe in the sea, Zhang Che really wanted to take a good bath in it, despite being a non-swimmer.
As they quickly approached the big island ahead, a human silhouette suddenly appeared in the forest.
-There are actually other beastmasters here!?- Zhang Che’s eyebrow rose slightly, instantly feeling calmer.
If he could find other beastmasters here, it meant that he was still in the secret plane. It wouldn’t be much of a deal even if it wasn’t the same dimension as before; he could return to Mercury in the end, anyway.
What he worried the most about was being the only one in this dimension. That would be really unsettling.
Just as he was celebrating inside, he saw that beastmaster at the edge of the island in the distance suddenly waving at him, their arms pushing upwards.
-What does that mean?- Zhang Che was confused. Even if they were welcoming him, it shouldn’t be such a gesture, right?
While he was confused, a huge wave suddenly rose from the surface of the sea. A gigantic sea beast’s savage head broke out of the water, opened its ferocious mouth and sucked at the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon above.
It was like the suction originated from a Kun-peng.¹ A massive wind swept their way, and the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon nearly lost control of his body. He had to struggle with all his strength to not get drawn down.
-Heck! Luckily I didn’t think of taking a swim in the water earlier!-
Zhang Che was astonished. The opened mouth of the sea beast looked like a gigantic pit. When that vacuum reached him, he could only hold onto the long beard on the back of Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon, stopping himself from being pulled down.
A five-colored ray shot out from between his brow. The Scarlet Flame Drake made its appearance.
Whoosh! The Scarlet Flame Drake directly opened its mouth and shot out a column of flames.
Originally, the flames’ reach was only limited to fifty meters or so. Affected by the suction, the column of flames directly separated from the Scarlet Flame Drake’s mouth and swept down.
Alas, without the amplification from the Scarlet Flame Drake’s vital energy, the flames instantly dimmed down and were quickly extinguished.
“It’s not working?” Zhang Che furrowed his brow. At present, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon could only manage to resist the suction from the gigantic beast’s mouth, and was unable to escape at all. If he didn’t use some other methods, he might not survive this ordeal.
Zhang Che looked back at the island ahead. The beastmaster who waved at him to warn him of the danger was nowhere to be seen, probably worried about getting themselves dragged into this mess and hiding in the dense forest.
That worked, too. Zhang Che decided to have the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon hold back a little of his strength, allowing them to get sucked down.
The distance between the two parties closed rapidly. As they fell further and further down, the suction grew increasingly harder to resist. In the end, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon tried his best to resist once more, but it was already too late to break free.
However, Zhang Che didn’t show any fear.
At his command, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon opened his mouth. The Darkfiend Energy Wave skill was activated. A gush of extremely cold frozen air poured down like a waterfall, all of it sucked into the savage sea beast’s mouth.
At the same time, a scarlet streak of light was hidden within the frozen air, thrusting down at lightning speed.
After suddenly sucking in the entirety of the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon’s breath into its mouth, the extreme cold immediately caused the sea beast to stiffen, unable to react in time.
Amidt the extreme cold, a fierce wave of heat suddenly erupted.
The scarlet sword pierced through the skin in the sea beast’s mouth without any resistance. Afterwards, it sliced along the blood vessels, heading straight for its heart.
Ao….! A pained cry rang out, carrying a few dozen kilometers away, the sound forcing the surrounding sea water to flow away from the beast.
Under the excruciating pain, the sea beast closed its enormous mouth. A massive figure over a hundred meters long suddenly rose from the water, rolling violently on the surface.
Zhang Che sat on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon’s back, his eyes shut tight, his mental energy fully focused on the golden vortex in his spiritual sea. He directed the scarlet sword, directly cutting its way into the heart of the savage sea beast below them.
A wave of violent vibrations ensued. The scarlet sword turned into a blur, shredding the sea beast’s several-meters-wide heart into pieces from the inside out.
Ao…! Another miserable cry that seemed to drain all its energy rang out. The sea beast’s body shot up, then plunged down towards the sea, raising wave upon wave that measured up to a hundred meters tall.
A faint smile rose at the corners of Zhang Che’s lips. A scarlet streak of light suddenly emerged from the water, directly flying toward the center of his brow, returning to his spiritual sea.
The water below gradually returned to the calm state it was before. Afterwards, a massive silhouette floated up to the surface; just like that, the savage sea beast’s corpse swayed back and forth, bobbing up and down on the water’s surface.
“As expected, it’s not an exotic beast, either…” Zhang Che sighed. In the end, he looked at the water surface, which was gradually being dyed red, and prepared to have the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon fly to the island he saw someone was at.
Suddenly, a half-transparent ethereal form flew out from the sea beast’s body, rapidly approaching Zhang Che.
“What the heck is it now?!” Zhang Che’s expression changed greatly. He hurriedly summoned the scarlet sword to slash at it.
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Translator’s Note
1: A Kun-Peng is a beast from Chinese mythology, truly massive in size (like, city-sized or bigger), and looks like a hybrid of fish and bird. It can alternate between fish and bird form, and is considered a master of the sea and sky.