Chapter 63: The Companion Water Beast

These six beasts bore a striking resemblance to grizzly bears in shape, yet their bodies were much smaller, while their limbs were unusually long and powerfully built. Their fur was grayish-white, and they stood upright, balanced solely on their hind legs.

“The companion beasts of the Jellyfish Creature have finally arrived.”

“Three possess cultivation roughly equivalent to the eleventh level of the Qi Refining stage, two have reached the peak of the first rank, equal to my own strength, and the last has attained the early stage of the second rank... If I encountered any single one alone, killing it would not be difficult. But to face all six at once—danger looms.”

With his divine sense, Qiuhan compared his own cultivation to that of the six water beasts, silently calculating how best to respond to their impending attack.

Man and beast stood facing each other, separated by dozens of yards. Qiuhan, calm and composed, slowly edged leftward, drawing nearer to the water beast whose cultivation was the weakest. Noticing Qiuhan’s movement, the three lowest-ranked water beasts let out a roar and charged towards him.

Qiuhan lifted his right hand, conjuring a ball of fire that burst forth, transforming into a sea of flames under his control, surging toward the beasts. Yet he did not direct his fire manipulation at the three weakest beasts barreling toward him, but instead bypassed them, enveloping the other three.

Those three had now entered within ten yards of Qiuhan. His eyes flashed with a cold light; his right hand gripped the Ice Feather Ring tightly, channeling spiritual energy into it. In an instant, the attack was unleashed.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Hundreds of ice needles shot out from the spinning Ice Feather Ring, and within a single breath, the three charging water beasts were pierced through, their flesh torn asunder. Blood gushed forth, staining the surrounding waters crimson.

The remaining three water beasts, not far away, broke through the fiery encirclement. Fire spells cast underwater were already weakened, and as Qiuhan relinquished his control, the flames quickly flickered out.

The three surviving water beasts, enraged by the death of their comrades, watched as the highest-ranked second-tier beast raised its massive arm and struck out at Qiuhan. At once, powerful currents surged from all sides, pressing in upon him.

Qiuhan reacted swiftly, employing the Water Escape technique to retreat at speed. The other two beasts flanked him, joining the second-tier beast in a relentless pursuit from left and right.

Man and beast chased and fled for the time it took to steep tea. Qiuhan realized his speed lagged behind the three water beasts, especially the second-tier one, which had, in this brief span, closed the gap between them to within thirty yards.

As he fled, seeing that the second-tier beast was about to overtake him, Qiuhan cast Fire Manipulation once more. This time, he compressed the flames into three distinct streams, each hurtling toward the pursuing beasts behind him.

Each column of fire, about ten yards long, shot underwater toward the three water beasts, causing the surrounding currents to boil and churn with dazzling brilliance.

The nearest, the second-tier beast, simply raised its arm and swept it before itself. The water in front of it surged, forming a formidable wave to block the incoming fire column. Its advance paused only for a few heartbeats before it resumed the chase.

The other two beasts, trailing fifty yards behind, lacked the cultivation to so easily repel the attack. As the fire columns neared, each stopped, raised its arms, and struck its abdomen, then opened its mouth to unleash a jet of water as thick as the fiery column.

Water and fire collided with a thunderous boom, exploding into waves that pushed debris dozens of yards outward.

After a time, the fire columns and the water jets dissipated, the underwater realm returned to calm, and the two beasts resumed pursuit. Their aura, however, was noticeably weakened; clearly, unleashing such jets of water had cost them dearly.

Meanwhile, Qiuhan, still pursued by the second-tier beast, gradually fled back toward the territory where the Jellyfish Creatures and the Unicorn resided. He observed that the once-numerous Jellyfish Creature herd had dwindled to fewer than a dozen. The Unicorn, having devoured the essence contained within so many jellyfish bodies, now began shedding its original snow-white fur from its limbs, replaced by new, sky-blue hairs.

The remaining jellyfish, upon seeing the second-tier water beast behind Qiuhan, seemed to spot a savior and swam hurriedly in his direction. The Unicorn, seeing them flee, gave chase with swift strides.

Soon, the Unicorn caught up to the last jellyfish, drove its horn sharply into the creature, and the jellyfish quickly weakened, dying moments later.

The Unicorn continued its pursuit of the jellyfish herd, but its actions were witnessed by the second-tier beast trailing Qiuhan. Seeing the Unicorn about to attack again, it let out a furious roar, ignored Qiuhan, and mimicked the actions previously performed by the other two water beasts.

Qiuhan sensed trouble. Though he had been fleeing, his divine sense had remained vigilant, observing every move the three pursuing water beasts made. The water jets unleashed by the two earlier had not struck him directly, but judging by their explosive power, he could surmise their strength.

Now, seeing the second-tier beast prepare the same move, he swiftly slapped his storage pouch at his waist, retrieving a palm-sized, antique-looking circular shield.

The shield was jet-black and glossy, engraved with a beast resembling a mysterious turtle. It was a supreme defensive spiritual artifact. Its origins were unknown even to Qiuhan, for it had been given to him by his master, Gu Sui Feng, who himself confessed ignorance of its provenance, having acquired it by chance.

As Qiuhan infused the shield with spiritual energy and fled rapidly toward the Unicorn, the second-tier water beast opened its mouth and spat forth a water jet even larger than those produced by its companions, aiming it at the Unicorn. In mere moments, it reached Qiuhan’s side.

Seeing the jet about to pass him and strike the Unicorn, Qiuhan, in desperation, summoned the supreme spiritual shield, placing it directly in the path of the water jet, his own body bracing the shield against the oncoming force.

A crashing impact.

Qiuhan felt as if struck by an immense force; the defensive layers he had established collapsed one after another under the impact.