Chapter 542: Extinguishing the Ten-Thousand Span

The sea, after an earth-shattering battle, was torn to shreds, and nearby islands had long been flattened by the aftermath.

High above, the Sacred Sons caught their breath. They looked down at the sea, where a significant portion of the thousand-zhang water beast's massive body had been sliced away, and four of its six colossal arms had been severed, with only two still flailing.

The origin energy fluctuations emanating from its body were now noticeably weaker.

Clearly, after a fierce battle with the Sacred Sons, the thousand-zhang water beast had ultimately lost. Though it was still roaring in fury, its defeat was evident.

Seeing this, all the Sacred Sons felt a sense of relief. Even without the Dragon Saliva True Water, the thousand-zhang water beast's resilience was astonishing.

It had taken so many of them a long time of intense bombardment to achieve this result, largely due to the water beast's limited intelligence. Had it truly gone berserk and fought desperately, they might not have escaped without casualties.

But thankfully, it was finally coming to an end.

Yet, the moment everyone relaxed, the thousand-zhang water beast’s tattered body, which had been roaring as if to break free, suddenly exploded. Immediately, extremely violent origin energy fluctuations swept outwards.

The sea surface was ripped apart, and even the Sacred Sons were affected, their figures sent flying backward in disarray.

From the shattered body of the thousand-zhang water beast, everyone saw a phantom image, roughly several hundred zhang in size, burst out. It immediately dove into the sea, then, like lightning, fled toward the depths of the Origin Pool.

"Damn it, it's escaping!"

Li Qingchan's beautiful face changed, and she cried out urgently.

The other Sacred Sons' expressions also changed instantly. They hadn't expected the thousand-zhang water beast, seeing it couldn't win, would directly abandon its body and try to flee to the depths of the Origin Pool.

And if it truly managed to escape to the depths, even the Sacred Sons wouldn't be able to retrieve it.

In that case, the Origin Marrow would be out of the question, and their half-day of arduous battle would have been in vain.

"Damn it! The cunning beast!" the Sacred Sons cursed aloud. The shockwave from the water beast's body explosion was still raging, making it difficult for them to intervene and stop it immediately.

Thus, they could only watch helplessly as the phantom image rapidly darted towards the depths of the Origin Pool. For a moment, they were so anxious their eyes seemed to spit fire.

After all, if it escaped this time, there was no telling when they would encounter another thousand-zhang water beast!

Li Qingchan also sighed softly. This was truly bad luck. Despite all their calculations, they hadn't anticipated the thousand-zhang water beast would employ such a 'cicada shedding its shell' tactic.

It seemed they had no destiny with this thousand-zhang water beast's Origin Marrow this time.

"Huh?"

However, just as Li Qingchan was about to resign herself to bad luck, her beautiful eyes suddenly narrowed. She saw that in the seawater, a somewhat ethereal figure suddenly shot out, following closely behind the light-form of the thousand-zhang water beast, like a shadow.

"Zhou Yuan!" she exclaimed.

The other Sacred Sons' hearts trembled slightly, and their gazes shot over, spotting the figure closely pursuing the thousand-zhang water beast.

They had forgotten that Zhou Yuan had been hiding in the water all along!

However, even though the thousand-zhang water beast was heavily wounded, it was still not to be underestimated. Could he truly stop it by himself?

Under their gazes, tinged with surprise and worry,

In the depths of the Origin Pool, Zhou Yuan's slightly ethereal figure suddenly accelerated. In a flash, he directly surpassed the water beast's light-form, appearing in front of it.

"Hey, beast, if you just run off like that, what about my Origin Marrow?" Zhou Yuan looked at the phantom image in front of him. Though the thousand-zhang water beast no longer possessed its initial ferocity, it still exuded a terrifying sense of oppression.

However, there was no fear on Zhou Yuan's face; instead, he looked eager to try. He gripped his hand, and the Heavenly Yuan Brush appeared, its sharp tip pointed directly at the water beast's light-form.

The thousand-zhang water beast, seeing the ant blocking its way, let out an enraged roar. In its perception, the Zhou Yuan before it posed no threat, entirely incomparable to the Sacred Sons it had just fought.

Therefore, it didn't hesitate for a moment. With a roar, its sole remaining colossal arm slammed down like a mountain.

Violent origin energy gathered under its fist. With a single punch, even the surrounding seawater exploded, creating a terrifying vacuum zone.

The massive fist, accompanied by whistling gales, rushed towards him. Zhou Yuan also let out a long cry, surprisingly choosing not to dodge. Instead, a mysterious light-phantom rose behind him, exuding powerful fluctuations.

This was precisely the Grand Mysterious Sacred Spirit Art.

He actually intended to clash head-on with the thousand-zhang water beast.

High above, Li Qingchan and the others watched this scene, their expressions instantly changing.

"Reckless!" Li Qingchan couldn't help but exclaim. "Although the thousand-zhang water beast was heavily wounded and at its last gasp, its combat power was still terrifying. Even they would have to be cautious facing such an attack alone. For Zhou Yuan to think he could withstand it head-on with his nascent Grand Mysterious Sacred Spirit Art was simply too reckless!"

In the distance, countless disciples from the Seven Peaks also fixed their gazes on this scene in the sea, immediately letting out countless gasps of surprise.

However, Zhou Yuan paid no attention to the myriad exclamations and gazes from outside. He looked at the whistling colossal fist, and the next moment, the Sacred Spirit phantom behind him surged down, merging with the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

"Boom!"

The massive fist, carrying terrifying power, descended. However, to everyone's shock, Zhou Yuan actually allowed the colossal fist to smash into his body.

But at the same time, the Heavenly Yuan Brush, enveloped by the Sacred Spirit phantom, shot out as a brilliant rainbow, directly targeting the thousand-zhang water beast's light-form.

It was clearly a desperate, all-or-nothing tactic!

As the massive fist heavily struck Zhou Yuan's body, the Heavenly Yuan Brush, wrapped in the Sacred Spirit phantom, also transformed into a long rainbow and pierced directly into the head of the thousand-zhang water beast's light-form.

Zhou Yuan's figure was sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy blow, directly plummeting into the depths of the Origin Pool. Along the way, underwater hills exploded one after another.

The water beast's light-form immediately let out a mournful cry. Already at its last gasp, it could finally no longer withstand this final blow, and the light on its body immediately burst apart.

As the light scattered, everyone saw a crystalline light body, about a zhang in size, quietly suspended in the seawater.

It was precisely the thousand-zhang water beast's Origin Marrow!

Countless fervent gazes from across the area fixed on the gem-like light body, then complexly shifted towards the depths of the Origin Pool.

No one had expected Zhou Yuan would be willing to pay such a price just to keep the thousand-zhang water beast from escaping.

At this moment, many disciples were so moved by Zhou Yuan's noble, selfless act that tears welled up in their eyes.

High above, the Sacred Sons also watched this scene with some astonishment.

"Junior Brother Zhou Yuan is truly a good person," Chu Qing said, scratching his head and sighing.

Shang Chunqiu also nodded, saying, "Although Junior Brother Zhou Yuan has been eliminated, the Origin Marrow should rightfully be his."

Li Qingchan's red lips moved, and she gave a wry smile. Fortunately, he had a protective mark, so at most, Zhou Yuan would just be eliminated. But if not for this mark, Zhou Yuan's reckless act would surely have come at an extremely heavy, even life-threatening, cost.

"Let's retrieve the Origin Marrow first," Li Qingchan said.

The Sacred Sons nodded and prepared to collect this greatest spoils of war. However, just as they moved, they suddenly sensed something and their gazes sharply turned to the depths of the Origin Pool.

There, a streak of light suddenly rose. Then, to their astonishment, they saw a somewhat dishevelled figure slowly ascending from the depths of the Origin Pool. It approached the thousand-zhang water beast's Origin Marrow, grabbed it, and finally broke through the water, standing on the sea surface.

"Zhou Yuan?!"

Looking at the figure standing on the sea surface, a bit dishevelled but with a brilliant smile on his face, everyone present, from the Sacred Sons to the distant Seven Peaks disciples, slowly gaped.

This guy actually withstood the thousand-zhang water beast's dying blow?!

How was that possible?!