Chapter 2500: The New Frontier Team's Unexpected Discovery

In the northwest corner of the Profound Spirit Continent lay a boundless expanse of azure sea. The sea breeze blew in gusts, and the sky was perfectly clear for thousands of miles.

Ten thousand zhang beneath the ocean's surface, two enormous blue giant crabs moved across the seabed, where various demonic beasts, including starfish and sea urchins, were also visible.

A massive golden shark, a fifth-tier Sawtooth Shark, flew in from the distance. It had a sharp golden spike on its head and blue spiritual patterns on its back. It seemed interested in the two blue giant crabs and charged towards one of them.

One blue giant crab opened its mouth and spewed out a hazy blue glow, enveloping an area ten thousand zhang in radius. The seawater seemed to solidify, and as the Sawtooth Shark entered the blue glow's range, it slowed down as if trapped in quicksand. The other blue giant crab opened its mouth and unleashed a thick silver lightning bolt, striking the Sawtooth Shark, which let out a miserable shriek.

The Sawtooth Shark's body flared with golden light, shattering the blue glow. It broke free, its massive body slamming into one of the blue giant crabs with a resounding clang, like metal striking metal. The Sawtooth Shark opened its gaping maw, revealing a row of sharp teeth, and bit down on the blue giant crab's body, sending sparks flying.

The surrounding seawater rapidly receded, creating a vacuum zone hundreds of zhang wide, and the Sawtooth Shark landed on the seabed. A deafening thunderclap echoed from high above as a massive thundercloud suddenly appeared directly over the Sawtooth Shark. Accompanied by loud claps of thunder, thick silver lightning bolts struck down one after another, engulfing the Sawtooth Shark's form.

Simultaneously, a dazzling blue light shone from within the Sawtooth Shark's mouth, as thousands of blue sword lights pierced through its body. It let out a horrific scream as its massive body ripped apart, revealing Wang Huayue, who was already at the Mid-Spirit Transformation stage.

In recent years, the Wang family had been developing deserted islands. They dispatched high-tier cultivators to clear out high-tier demonic beasts, then leased islands without significant cultivation resources to rogue cultivators or minor factions. These groups would regularly offer tribute, providing spirit fish, spiritual wood, spiritual herbs, or talismans in exchange for the Wang family's protection.

The Wang family possessed a wide variety of puppet beasts, crafted differently based on the terrain for extensive uses. The blue giant crabs, being not very large, didn't attract the attention of high-tier demonic beasts. They were primarily used for exploring metal ore veins. As the Wang family developed deserted islands, they also explored the seabed, where ore veins could similarly exist. The Wang family had so far discovered a small spirit stone mine and three fourth-tier metal ore veins; the spirit stone mine had already been fully exploited. Enormous sea beast puppets were primarily used for hunting demonic beasts. This sea area was rarely visited by humans, though many fifth-tier demonic beasts roamed there. Wang Huayue was tasked with providing protection.

Wang Huayue performed a sword incantation, and thousands of blue sword lights flew back, transforming into four shimmering blue flying swords that returned to her sword caddy. A blue light gate appeared in the abdomen of one of the giant crab puppet beasts. Wang Huayue passed through it, appearing in a spacious and brightly lit hall where over twenty clan members were gathered.

"Ancestor Huayue, you're amazing!" a tall, slender young man in a green robe quickly approached, smiling as he said, "You single-handedly dealt with that fifth-tier demonic beast without needing our help. If we had assisted, it would have been easier for you."

"Yier, less flattery," Wang Huayue chided without ceremony. "It's a good thing we didn't let you out. Last time, when we sent you to deal with a third-tier Black-Gold Sea Ox, you actually chased it for hundreds of li and attracted a fifth-tier demonic beast."

The young man in the green robe was Wang Yier. He was currently at the Core Formation stage and, having failed to become an elite cultivated by the family, was already out performing tasks. Wang Yier heard this but remained all smiles, not taking it to heart.

The two crab puppet beasts continued forward. After a short while, they stopped as a massive black hole appeared ahead, leading to an unknown destination. One blue crab crawled into the black hole. The cave walls were uneven, and about ten minutes later, the crab puppet beast finally reached the bottom, which was an unremarkable, uneven stone bed. Its massive pincers struck hard on the stone bed, emitting a dull thud. The crab puppet beast opened its gaping maw and spewed out a thick blue light, striking the stone bed, which cracked apart, sending fragments flying. The crab puppet beast attacked either with its massive pincers or by spewing blue light, targeting the stone bed or the cave walls. The other crab puppet beast also came down to assist, and they began digging together.

More than two hours later, a hazy blue light barrier appeared out of nowhere, blocking their path.

"A formation?" Wang Huayue instructed. "Retreat for now; I will break it."

The two crab puppet beasts retreated from the black hole. Wang Huayue emerged from inside one of the crab puppet beasts, produced a pigeon-egg-sized blue orb, and lightly tapped it with her finger. The blue orb spun swiftly, emitting a dazzling blue light. The seawater rapidly receded, revealing a vacuum zone ten li in radius. Wang Huayue took out formation flags and a formation disk, setting up four sets of fifth-tier formations to prevent the sound of breaking the array from being too loud and attracting unnecessary trouble. She then produced a shimmering golden metal orb and imbued it with an incantation. The orb transformed into a yellow giant ape over a hundred zhang tall, shimmering with spiritual light. This was a fifth-tier puppet beast, specifically designed for breaking formations.

Wang Huayue performed an incantation, and the giant ape puppet jumped into the black hole, its two fists glowing brightly as it smashed towards the blue light barrier. Despite the loud thuds, the blue light barrier remained motionless. More than an hour passed, and despite Wang Huayue directing the fifth-tier puppet beast, she was still unable to break the restriction.

Wang Huayue performed a sword incantation, and four shimmering blue flying swords flew out from her sword caddy, instantly merging into a hazy blue sky-reaching giant sword. With overwhelming force, it slashed towards the blue light barrier. At the same time, the giant ape puppet opened its mouth and spewed a thick yellow light, striking the blue light barrier, while simultaneously smashing its right arm towards it.

After a loud bang, a thick blue light shot skyward, soaring directly into the heavens. The four sets of fifth-tier grand formations couldn't withstand it and were torn to shreds by the blue light. An incredibly thick blue light burst forth from the seabed, soaring directly into the clouds, and transforming into the illusion of a massive azure flood dragon.

On the seabed, Wang Huayue gazed at a pale azure light barrier, her brows furrowed. A miniature azure flood dragon moved ceaselessly on the barrier's surface, as if alive. Being able to instantly break through four sets of fifth-tier grand formations, this was at least a seventh-tier formation. Given that this place had existed for an unknown period and the formation's power might have weakened, it was unclear if it was a secret realm or an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling.

Wang Huayue performed a sword incantation, and the sky-reaching giant sword's spiritual light greatly increased as it slashed onto the azure light barrier. With a dull thud, the azure light barrier remained unharmed. She directed the fifth-tier puppet beast to break the restriction, but the result was the same.

"Go back immediately and report to the Old Ancestor," Wang Huayue declared. She made a decisive decision to return to Qinglian Island immediately. If she remained here, any other Void Refinement cultivators who arrived would surely silence witnesses. Wang Huayue re-entered the crab puppet beast. The two crab puppets glowed brightly and vanished into the deep sea.