AZI Volume 5 Chapter 24

"Hmm, where is this?"

Stepping out of a rift, and landing his feet down onto the edge of the island covered in brown sand, Qing Ming Yang looks around with evident confusion.

"This place, it seems like a remnant of the old Leng Bing Realm?"

Towards Xia Ri'er's guess, Lin Yu Heng narrows his eyes, and uses his divine senses to look into the far distance.

"I do not detect any life."

Turning to the right, Lin Yu Heng sees a vast number of footprints piled on top of each other, and adds—

"The fact that these haven't been washed away yet… They've headed out to sea very recently. Maybe an hour or so ago?"

With a hand to his chin, Lin Yu Heng approaches the waters, and slaps his storage pouch open, causing a sphere of light to emerge from within.

As the sphere of light drops into the waters—

*Pah!* it expands into the form of a junk ship with three masts.

Other than the ship's keel, the entirety of its body is crafted from wood, and measures at around 70 meters in length.

As Lin Yu Heng hops onto the ship, and stands near its bow, Qing Ming Yang shrugs his shoulders, and remarks—

"Might as well see what these weapon spirits are up to."

As Qing Ming Yang leaps onto the ship, Xia Ri'er raises a sigh, and does the same.

Momentarily, the ship begins to move.

...…

Due to the dark clouds, there is no moon in sight.

However, according to the clock, it should be nighttime.

"…"

Feeling the winds brushing against his hair, Long Hua leans his head back against the fully reclined beach chair with an expression of leisure on his face.

The entirety of this excavation so far has been rather uneventful.

...…

Within the ship's bridge—

"Admiral, the sonars aren't detecting anything."

The naval officer in charge of this vessel is an admiral named Dān Hóng, who possesses red hair and grey-colored eyes. His attire is a dark blue set of military uniforms with a black mantle.

Ever since the Immortals' invasion of this world, ranks in the military and navy had been unified—that is, other than generals and admirals.

"…"

Narrowing his eyes, Dan Hong can't help but feel off about this sea, as he looks at the table in front of him.

The surface of the table is a monitor that displays the ship's status from how much fuel it has—to where potential water leaks may have occurred. To the side of the table hangs a microphone.

"Hmm."

Although the sonar proves otherwise, Dan Hong believes there to be something active beneath these waters—making the air on the bridge awfully eerie.

Eventually, Dan Hong says—

"Starboard, first battery, prepare for firing."

"Ah?"

"Just do it!"

Towards the fierce expression on Dan Hong's face, all the officers on the bridge begin preparations for firing.

As the sound of heavy machinery begins to go off, many of those who were asleep are rudely awakened from their rest.

"Hm?"

"What's happening?"

Rather quickly, one shell is loaded into the starboard's first battery, and upon doing so, the cannon turns and aims downwards.

"Fire!"

*Boom!!!* if the previous sound made by the heavy machinery's movement hadn't been enough to awaken those in deep slumber, then the thunderous roar of the cannon has—as a pillar of water rises into the air!

"Maintain watch on the sonar for 60 seconds."

As the officer watches the sonar display, Dan Hong narrows his eyes with a solemn expression on his face.

And momentarily—

"Unknown mass incoming!"

"Sound the alarms! Report on its current location!"

"Beside our starboard! It's probably coming from be-!"

*Boom!!!!!!* before the officer can finish his report, another pillar of water erupts into the air!

And the impact of whatever that has just surfaced causes the entirety of the ship's starboard to tilt upwards!

...…

"…"

With his arms folded behind his head, Long Hua looks at the object that has just surfaced in front of Tian Cheng and himself.

Due to how close they are to the eruption, both of them are currently drenched in sea water.

The shape of this object is roughly that of an isosceles triangle with a rounded tip; and its surface seems to be decorated with numerous spikes, but it's difficult to tell clearly due to how dark its body is.

(Even now, there are fully Apotheosized weapon spirits inside of those ruins. Some of them could have originated from a reset, which occurred more than 100,000 years ago—making them much more powerful than your average Apotheosized weapon spirit.)

Recalling Bai Wen's words, Long Hua chuckles.

Spewing out of this monstrous existence's unknown body part—akin to flames, is red mist, the common trait of all fully Apotheosized weapon spirits.

(Hmm, fighting this thing head-on… It doesn't seem possible with my current cultivation base.)

*Guuguuguuguu!!!* just as Long Hua is thinking of this, the ship continues to rock itself violently, causing discomforting creaks to come from various parts of its body.

Amidst this violent rocking, the screams of the weapon spirits resound in a ceaseless manner, as they hold onto whatever they can—to keep themselves from falling off the ship.

And eventually—

*Boom!!!* the monstrous existence falls backwards, throwing sea water into the air.

*Guuguuguuu…!!!* following the monster's disappearance, the ship is given a chance to stabilize itself, and with it, a crowd is quickly formed on the ship's deck.

...…

Back in the ship's bridge—

"Report! Where is that thing?!"

"It seems to be circling around beneath us!"

"Get us moving!"

Picking up the microphone that is beside the table, Dan Hong shouts—

[All hands prepare for combat! That creature is still beneath us!]

Just as this message comes through the ship's speakers, Long Hua's fishing rod—

"Tch."

Before the fishing rod can get dragged off into the seas, Long Hua grabs its handle.

However, considering the weight of the opponent—

"Uh!"

It goes without saying that Long Hua wouldn't be capable of fishing it up, so his only choice is to sever the line.