ASER - Chapter 117
Chapter 117: Whale's Gulp
The effeminate man frowned and asked again, "Who is Zhao Ritian? From which Zhao family does he hail?"
"The Taihang Mountains... Zhao family."
The effeminate man's expression soured. He continued to ask, "If I kill you, will your family truly sense it?"
"False... it's false."
What!
A glint flashed in the effeminate man's eyes. Just as he was about to strike A'Diao dead with a palm, he heard her say again, "Not only will they sense it... my granduncles, my grandfather... great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, great-maternal-grandfather, they've all said that if anyone dares to kill me, they would, even at the cost of their hundreds of years of cultivation, instantly teleport here to avenge me."
So, what she meant was that her previous claim about them sensing it was a lie, but it was also a setup, concealing the truth that if he killed her, her family would instantly locate him, teleport, and kill him.
This was a trick within a trick, deliberately using a lie disguised as truth to further intimidate him.
Toilet: "..."
Impressive. This is a den of elderly bosses. Kill one young one, and a whole nest of old ones will show up.
Even it almost believed her.
Her bluff was so effective that the effeminate man's expression faltered slightly: "..."
"Hundreds of years?"
"Yes, hundreds of years. The Forbidden Masters from the first era, whose bodies were tempered, even if the spiritual energy vanished, their physical strength would remain. They could live for a very, very long time. I only learned this recently."
This was A'Diao's own speculation after learning a great deal about the first era, but she felt it was highly probable. After her own physique had been continuously tempered, she discovered her cellular cycles had infinitely lengthened. So, by the same logic, could those from the first era have survived for three hundred years, until the resurgence of spiritual energy?
Regardless of whether this was actually possible, the information would undoubtedly intimidate him. Moreover, using knowledge unfamiliar to him would only deepen the credibility of her identity.
The effeminate man's eyes flickered; he indeed believed a good part of it.
Just when A'Diao thought this scoundrel would let her go, he slowly asked, "I can choose not to kill you. But if I throw you to the sharks, what could your family possibly find out about me?"
Damn! You're so vicious!
A'Diao, inwardly cursing him, once again replied blankly, "Find out... probably not. But even if they can't, my sister-in-law's family manages aviation. They just need to check the satellites, lock onto all cultivators photographed in this area, and kill them all. Better to mistakenly kill ten thousand than to let a single one escape."
The effeminate man remained expressionless.
Toilet: "..."
Is this the sister-in-law you pine for but can't have?
Sister-in-law is so busy, being repeatedly used by you for your bluffs. Truly the most badass sister-in-law.
If not for his apprehension about this person, the effeminate man truly wanted to kill her. But he also knew that for someone so young to possess such strength, she must have a significant background. If she truly hailed from a Zhao family of the Taihang Mountains, one that ranked among the top even in Kyoto, and considering the Zhao family's rise through Daoism and their dominance in the first era, it wouldn't be surprising for them to possess secret arts. He couldn't afford to provoke them now.
"Is your agreement truly effective?"
"Yes... My grandmother taught me. She's from the Kunlun Mountains Daoist lineage..."
The effeminate man didn't want to hear any more. He sized up A'Diao's floral shirt and red shorts. No matter how he looked at her, she lacked the demeanor of a disciple from a top-tier influential clan. But perhaps it was precisely because she had such backing that she could afford to be so casual.
The effeminate man withdrew his hypnosis and had A'Diao draw up the agreement.
The agreement was real. Daoist arts, she had learned them; an old Daoist priest had taught her. Though it was the kind of agreement used for funeral rites, it was still orthodox.
It should be effective after the resurgence of spiritual energy, right?
A'Diao wasn't afraid of being exposed and formally made the agreement with the effeminate man. "Oh, right, we both have to use our real names. Don't try to fool me with a fake one, or you'll blame me for deceiving you later, and I'm not taking the fall for that."
The effeminate man glanced at her. "My name is Zhuo Wei."
A'Diao: "Really?"
The effeminate man: "Of course, it's real. As real as your name."
A'Diao: "What do you mean? You don't believe me? Fine, I'll swear an oath for you... Ancestral Masters of the Three Pure Ones above... if my name isn't Zhao Ritian, may I have no little JJ, and even if I do, may it rot into mush."
"Alright, your turn. Swear that if your name isn't Zhuo Wei, you'll have no little JJ."
The effeminate man: "..."
From Han Zhuo +188888!
A'Diao: "..."
He really is deceiving me.
So his name is Han Zhuo. That name isn't common. Once I get away, I'll investigate this scoundrel's identity and see if I can assassinate him later.
The two established the agreement, and A'Diao handed over the storage ring. Han Zhuo indeed seemed ready to let her leave. A'Diao cautiously mounted her flight device and took off...
Having flown just a kilometer, she noticed the shark pack beneath the sea surface was still in hot pursuit, and the blood poison within her body was stirring restlessly.
A'Diao understood perfectly: this scoundrel planned to wait until she was far away, then manipulate the blood poison to make it flare up. She would then fall into the sea and be slaughtered by the sharks. That way, the Zhao family couldn't pin it on him.
Let me think of a trick to handle this situation.
However... the shark pack behind her suddenly scattered, fleeing as if they had seen a ghost.
A'Diao: "???"
My trick isn't even ready, why are you all running?
A'Diao's nerves twitched. She suddenly thought of something, and her expression changed drastically. She sensed she was locked onto by a strange strand of qi. This qi felt peculiar, like a towline, firmly binding her. Looking down, she saw a large, dark patch on the sea surface. Is this a reef cluster? I don't remember seeing it when I came this way.
A'Diao's nerves throbbed violently. She tried to fly upwards but found a terrifying gravitational force dragging her down. Skill 303 still had ten minutes left on its cooldown!
I'm doomed!
A glint flashed in A'Diao's eyes. She abruptly changed direction and frantically flew back the way she came.
On the island, the effeminate man was using the blood poison to monitor Zhao Ritian's movements, preparing to strike secretly once she was far enough away. However, he then sensed the sharks below scattering in panic and immediately realized something. Just as he was about to react, he saw the person who had been fleeing faster than a rabbit turn around and head straight for him.
"Brother Zhuo Wei, save me!" A'Diao deliberately shouted loudly.
This time, she truly intended to drag him down with her.
Han Zhuo realized her scheme. His pale, handsome face filled with a frosty aura. He, too, tried to flee, but it was too late.
From the sea below, a shadow resembling a layer of coral reef floated upwards. Its speed was not slow; in fact, it was extremely fast. As its enormous body rose and fell, the water surged like terrifying waves.
Whether it was A'Diao flying towards the island or Han Zhuo on the island preparing to take flight, they both saw the behemoth that had appeared in the sea behind them.
A giant whale, two hundred meters long, its back covered in densely packed reefs, truly looked like a reef cluster at first glance. It opened its enormous mouth—voom... a terrifying suction pulled in large swathes of vegetation, fruits, and dust from the island. Han Zhuo swiped his palm, and a beam of blood-red light blasted towards the whale's mouth!
It didn't even break its skin.
A'Diao: A level seven Demonic Spirit?
Han Zhuo's face also turned pale. He quickly darted into the dense forest on the island, but soon discovered a towline attached to him.
It's over.
Swoosh!
A'Diao and Han Zhuo were both effortlessly dragged and sucked into the whale's massive mouth.
Its mouth snapped shut, the turbulent vortex ceased, and it quickly sank into the sea. The ocean surface gradually returned to calm, leaving behind only the devastated island.
Beneath the deep sea, the enormous whale, having succeeded, roamed its vast territory. Soon, it let out a low cry... On a distant island, a humanoid Demonic Spirit transmitted the information it had sensed.
Not long after, Mysterious Person A received the message: "Reef Whale has succeeded. This will not be a precedent."
Inside the Reef Whale, A'Diao and Han Zhuo were both swept into its stomach.
Plop!
The two of them tumbled into the stomach's pool together.
It was filled with corpses and all sorts of miscellaneous items. The acrid, putrid stench was so overwhelming one almost wanted to vomit to death instantly. But even more terrifying... their armor was making sizzling sounds.
The gastric juices were corroding the armor!
A'Diao was terrified. She struggled to climb out of the pool of gastric juices but found her body being firmly dragged by that towline, as if it intended to dissolve her in the pool.
This was a life-and-death crisis. A'Diao suddenly calmed down, realizing this towline was a death line; to remain entangled by it meant death.
She began to direct her Mental Threads to the location of the towline, intending to forcefully sever it from within her body.
Actually, A'Diao was still only at the stage of splitting Mental Threads, not yet at the stage of controlling them. Fortunately, she had previously learned to use them to accelerate the absorption of large spirit sources, so she possessed some application skills. Although this current operation was much more difficult, causing her mental body immense pain, she gritted her teeth and persisted...
Soon, she severed the towline and leaped out of the stomach pool, landing on a nearby pile of sand. A spell from her fingertips condensed water vapor, washing the acid off her armor. Afterwards, she was left panting heavily. However, when she took a closer look, Han Zhuo, still struggling in the gastric pool, clearly lacked such methods.
He seems to be on the verge of death?
A glint flashed in A'Diao's eyes. She feigned concern and asked, "Brother Zhuo, need any help?"
Even as she spoke, she threw a handful of talismans, which crackled and slammed into Han Zhuo. He was already struggling against the acid, his armor's resistance greatly diminished. Caught off guard by the explosion, he was instantly severely injured, and the splashed acid completely engulfed him.
"Zhao Ritian!!!"
A'Diao feigned panic. "Ah, Brother Zhuo, I was trying to blast the acid! I didn't expect it to grow legs and jump onto you. How frustrating! When one's luck is bad, even talismans disobey. I've hurt you, my conscience aches so much!"
Han Zhuo shot her a cold glare. Suddenly, a ball of flame emerged from between his eyebrows. Like a small serpent, the flame darted around his body, quickly forming fiery secret patterns. Before long, the towline on him was also burned through.
He leaped out of the gastric pool, spat out a mouthful of bloody fluid, and with a ferocious expression, lunged towards A'Diao.
Holy crap, he has a trick like that too?
A'Diao was shocked.
But the next second... he lunged at empty air. A'Diao had vanished.
Skill 303's cooldown had ended; she had hidden in her Dimensional Space.
Han Zhuo likely sensed it too. He frowned, staring at the empty space before him. If he were at his peak, he might have had a way to breach this space, but not in his current state.
He was almost as weak as she was, but he possessed no Dimensional Space to hide in.
The situation was dire, exceptionally so.
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