Chapter 77: Ancient Ferocious Beast

"No... objections."

What could Bai Yu'an say? She could only state that she had no objections. If she had voiced any, she would likely have been killed by Xu Yang in the next second.

Xu Yang nodded and punched the ground.

With a resounding boom, the ground instantly shattered, sending clods of earth flying. As the dust and debris settled, everyone saw a massive pit where Xu Yang's fist had struck.

The Sea Soul Sect's scripture pavilion, though not yet collapsed, now resembled ruins.

Upon witnessing this scene, Bai Yu'an nearly choked and passed out on the spot.

"Ahem, settle down," Xu Yang coughed lightly, feeling that his actions were somewhat unseemly, and then spoke.

He approached the pit and looked inside.

The pit was deep, and at its bottom, silver-gleaming waves could be seen rising and falling!

Directly beneath the pavilion, instead of solid ground, there was a confined body of water resembling a pond.

From the depths of this water, a beam of blue light emanated, piercing through the dark, murky surface.

"An ancient fierce beast! A Honey Cloud Jellyfish?!" Xu Yang exclaimed in surprise.

He hadn't expected to find such a creature in this location.

The Honey Cloud Jellyfish was a formidable ancient beast, ranked 396th among its kind.

Of course, that ranking applied to others...

What puzzled Xu Yang was why such an abnormal ancient beast as the Honey Cloud Jellyfish would be here.

"Boom..." Just then, a sharp cry suddenly echoed.

A jet of water shot out from the pit, accompanied by a sweet, honey-like scent.

Xu Yang quickly dodged.

The Honey Cloud Jellyfish possessed extreme toxicity. A single drop of its venom could incapacitate an entire city's population.

Its venom was sweet-smelling, and merely inhaling it could cause one to lose their mind.

Naturally, these toxins were harmless to Xu Yang.

He simply didn't want his clothes to get wet from the spray, which would make him look disheveled.

"That's a Honey Cloud Jellyfish!" At that very moment, Bai Yu'an also cried out loudly.

Xu Yang looked at her in surprise.

"You recognize it too?" Xu Yang asked.

"Yes, because it's recorded in our Sea Soul Sect's secret texts, so I know about it," Bai Yu'an replied, her face filled with fear.

"The sect's secret texts state that an ancient fierce beast named Honey Cloud Jellyfish has always existed within our Sea Soul Sect. It must not be released; it awaits someone named Xu Yang to arrive..."

As she spoke, Bai Yu'an suddenly froze.

She then turned, looking at Xu Yang blankly, and asked, "Senior, what is your name?"

"My name is Xu Yang," he replied.

Bai Yu'an was stunned, unsure what to say.

Immediately, her gaze met Xu Yang's, full of disbelief.

"Senior, you..."

Bai Yu'an was speechless, only able to stare foolishly at Xu Yang.

Just moments ago, she had been contemplating arm-wrestling with a senior who had lived for at least twenty thousand years? She felt it was truly a miracle she was still alive.

Xu Yang didn't dwell on the matter with her. Instead, he asked directly:

"What do your secret texts say will happen when I arrive?"

Bai Yu'an considered this, then respectfully replied, "Senior Xu, they say that when you arrive, you are to have it killed by a spirit, the Honey Cloud Jellyfish."

Xu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that so?" he murmured.

As he finished speaking, countless streams of spiritual energy, like transparent white threads, shot into the water. With a soft splash, the threads wrapped around the Honey Cloud Jellyfish layer by layer.

The Honey Cloud Jellyfish was instantly ensnared, resembling a wrapped dumpling. As Xu Yang retracted his spiritual energy, the creature was pulled ashore.

"Roar!!!" A sharp roar erupted from the Honey Cloud Jellyfish, followed by an explosion of dark purple light from its body. The next second, the entire sky was filled with a deep, vibrant hue.

A faint lavender scent wafted through the air, and a gentle whiff made one feel refreshed and relaxed.

"It's poisonous. Don't breathe," Xu Yang calmly warned Ling Qingshu, who was beside him.

"Then why are you talking, Ancestor?" Ling Qingshu asked, bewildered.

The next moment, Ling Qingshu's eyes glazed over, and her body swayed unsteadily, as if she might collapse at any moment.

Xu Yang shook his head. A wisp of pure white spiritual energy separated from him and enveloped Ling Qingshu.

With Ling Qingshu's experience as a warning, Bai Yu'an and Xu Mengyao both held their breath, daring not to inhale.

Xu Yang then turned his attention to the Honey Cloud Jellyfish.

The Honey Cloud Jellyfish floated in mid-air, its pink body resembling a mass of foam.

"Right!" Xu Yang drew his spiritual sword and thrust it violently towards the Honey Cloud Jellyfish.

"Azure Thunder Slash!"

His spiritual sword crackled with faint electric currents, producing a terrifying, heart-stopping sound.

Boom...

As Xu Yang thrust his sword, the Honey Cloud Jellyfish recoiled sharply, crying out loudly, "Human, we have no grievances, why do you seek to kill me?!"

Xu Yang did not reply. His spiritual sword plunged into the Honey Cloud Jellyfish's foam-like body, and a bolt of lightning, like a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day, struck down from the sky.

Wreaths of blue smoke rose from the Honey Cloud Jellyfish's body.

Boom...

The Honey Cloud Jellyfish abruptly exploded, dissipating into pink gas that drifted into the air.

However, beneath the dispersing gas, a light blue, hard object fell vertically to the ground, catching Xu Yang's attention.

"What is this! A map?!" Xu Yang picked it up and was immediately surprised.

Upon closer inspection, he realized it was no ordinary map.

Judging by its contours, it appeared to be an underwater map of the Eastern Mountain Sea.

"What in the world?"

Xu Yang felt somewhat bewildered. Looking closely again, he noticed a blue area in the center of the map, and some red and blue circles elsewhere.

This marked location indicated the "Deep Sea Blue Heart growth area."

"Deep Sea Blue Heart!?"

Xu Yang studied it carefully and suddenly considered a possibility.

The Deep Sea Blue Heart had a unique ability to contain a person's divine consciousness.

A person's divine consciousness, if parasitic within the Deep Sea Blue Heart, would not dissipate or perish.

Could it be that after Bai Lianxue's physical body died, a fragmented wisp of her divine consciousness managed to escape and became parasitic within a Deep Sea Blue Heart?

The Deep Sea Blue Heart had another characteristic: if a human's divine consciousness took refuge inside it, it could not escape on its own...

The Deep Sea Blue Heart, in essence, was a cage—one that offered safety but simultaneously deprived a person of their freedom.