Pummeling

Albion had always been a weak swimmer in his previous life.

Not only could he not float like other people, but there was also a nine out of ten chances of him getting a foot cramp while treading water. As such, he had always been afraid of deep water.

He was the kind of person who loves to sit on the sandy shores of the beach and enjoy the fresh breezes of the wind but hated actual swimming. God knows how many uncultured people like him also leak in the salty seawater while they swim.

Catching wet sands with one's underwear was inevitable. Still, the fear of shark attacks and getting swept away were the most prevalent reasons that steered him from swimming despite an infinitesimal chance of these things happening.

Albion never thought there would be a day he could swim so fast. It had already exceeded the boundaries of ordinary people.

It felt like he had webs between his fingers and feet, but none of the water resistance that came with it. It was quite a mysterious feeling.

The information from Goldfinger did not lie. He truly felt like a fish in the water. The degree of freedom of movements in the water was... exhilarating!

'The Yaksha's Blessings was well worth every unit of Divine Energy spent on it. Strangely, the Dark Emperor did not scour the ocean floor for precious resources often with such a talent. Apparently, the Dark Emperor was also not a fan of the open sea like me.'

Swoosh—!

Albion kicked against the water and shot up explosively through the water. However, he was not alone in deep waters. Giant terrifying creatures swam alongside him in the distance.

The ancient sea serpent was not the only one of its kind. There were many fearsome lurkers in the deep dark abyss that the world had yet to learn about.

Yaksha's Blessings did not grant him a perfect vision in the absolute darkness of the deep waters. At most, it allowed him to trace the shadows of their gigantic figures. However, it was still much better than an obscured feeling!

Gulp!

There were about seven ancient sea serpents chasing after him like hunters chasing after their prey. It was apparent that they want to eat him. At least, that was his thoughts until they overtook him and swam ahead.

'They weren't trying to eat me, but running away? What are they running away from?'

Albion suddenly shivered from his instincts and subconsciously glanced back.

The shadows of a colossal 'mountain' began to move and gobbled up the dead ancient sea serpent lying at the bottom of the ocean floor in one fell swoop.

'What the f*ck!'

Albion thought the ancient sea serpent was giant, but this was something else! This was on the level of the final boss or something!

'This thing has got to be at least 100 times bigger than the ancient sea serpents!'

Albion was thankful that he had not dilly dally in the belly of the dead ancient sea serpent and chose to leave as soon as he finished all his preparations!

'Leaving the belly of one sea monster to find yourself in the belly of a bigger sea monster. Oh, how fantastic would that make you feel!'

Without even thinking, Albion swam at his most remarkable speed. In mere moments, he caught up with the other seven ancient sea serpents.

"Hey, sea friends, we meet again. Quite the big bloke back there, huh? Someone you know?"

Albion attempted to start a conversation with the ancient sea serpents but received no replies.

As they were all swimming for their lives, they could be considered comrades on the run.

Nevertheless, Albion did not have high hopes that they would understand him, but it is worth a shot. Perhaps, the two years of solitude had made him lonely, and needed someone or something to talk to.

[I am also here, you know.]

Goldfinger injected itself.

'Hey, don't just go reading my mind. Anyway, this Yaksha's Blessing is quite all-encompassing, isn't it? It still feels a bit weird to be able to talk underwater.'

[Yakshas are nature's beloved spirits. To get the Yaksha's blessings is the same as getting the blessings of nature. If you have the full blessings of Yakshas, you can command all of nature. Talking underwater is nothing compared to this.]

Goldfinger explained.

Albion raised an eyebrow in doubtful. How did someone as vile and evil as the Dark Emperor get their blessings if that was true?

As he asked himself this, a flash of the Dark Emperor's memory showed him a scene of the Dark Emperor eating a strange-looking sea creature and drinking its blood.

'Oh… so that's how.'

His lips twitched.

Suddenly, he noticed a shadow drawing in fast as he steered his body away and dodged the attack.

Snap!

An ancient sea serpent tried to bite but miss. It suddenly came to his attention that the other ancient sea serpents all had their eyes on him.

Although they were moving at the same pace as him, they were no longer trying to escape for their life. The mountain-sized sea monster did not give chase to them.

"How about we try and talk this out for a bit?"

Albion tried to negotiate.

"There are seven of you big bad boys and one small me, surely not enough to share between everyone. Eating me will not be enough to fill your bellies—at most, just enough to be a tiny snack. Besides, I probably will not taste good, alright?"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

His words fell on deaf ears as he received several more bites from the ancient sea serpents. Nevertheless, he dodged each attack with ease like a slippery eel.

"Look here, buddies. I might look young and tender, but this is the body of a ten-thousand-year-old smelly monster. I definitely won't taste—"

Snap! Snap—Whack!

"F*cking, listen to me while I am talking!"

Albion smacked an ancient sea serpent on the head in anger. The force of the impact sent ripples through the water and knocked the ancient sea serpent back.

He smacked its head so hard it became disoriented and did not know left from right.

The other ancient sea serpents backed off with their heads rolled back slightly as if they were taken aback and confused why such a small human could be so powerful.

Albion was also surprised.

His cultivation has been suppressed to the Innate stage, but unexpectedly, the Innate stage was still so strong!

Albion had always been a timid and unconfident person. But at this moment, he was surging with confidence that came with his strength!

The ancient sea serpents glanced at each other with the same doubts their eyes before one of them shook their heads. Nah, they must be tripping.

It attempted another bite at Albion, but…

Whack!

Albion also gave it a resounding smack on the head.

"What's that? You also want a beating?" Albion grinned at it before shifting his gaze to the others. "Damn, you have all been trying to eat me. It will not do if only two of you are beaten."

This time, the ancient sea serpents seemed to have understood what he was saying as they immediately turn tail and fled.

He could not stop them all, but definitely enough to stop one of them as he latched himself onto the nearest one with great force.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The ancient sea serpent cowered and whimpered under his firm grip. It resisted furiously but failed to shake him off.

After some time, its resistance weakened until it stopped entirely, seemingly given up and resigned to its fate.

"Hahaha. Since you know how to behave, I won't beat you."

Albion loosened his grip and patted it on the head. At the same time, the ancient sea serpent began to rub its head against his head subserviently. It was better than being beaten and choked, it thought.

After a moment, Albion's hand froze while his eyes lit up brightly like stars in the night.

"I think I have just gotten myself a ride."

He grinned cheekily.