“A Yao Overlord!”
Chen Feng was somewhat shocked to see the gigantic tortoise. Its strength had already reached the mid-level Ascendant Immortal stage. Not even Patriarch Heavenly Sword was a match for this tortoise.
After the appearance of the gigantic tortoise, the ocean continued to roil and a gigantic wyrm emerged from the ocean as well. When compared to Tu Jiao, this one was truly a wyrm. Cyan in colour, it sported dragon horns on its head and draconic claws. Although not quite there yet, given time, it would surely successfully transform into a true divine dragon.
“Another Yao Overlord!” Patriarch Heavenly Sword became somewhat concerned and he sent Chen Feng a secret vocal transmission.
“No worries. If it comes down to it, we can just fight them.” Chen Feng, on the other hand, did not appear too concerned.
Woah! Woah!
Another Yao Overlord appeared. This one managed to shock Chen Feng slightly. Sporting a delicate-looking face, this Yao Overlord possessed the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. Its scales flashed with light. Surprisingly, it was a half-human, half-yao.
“This is a true ocean yao! It is also the most ancient of ocean yaos, proficient in soul attacks! Island Lord, be careful.” Patriarch Heavenly Sword was someone with a great deal of experience. Thus, he was able to swiftly recognize the Yao Overlord.
“This makes three Yao Overlords.” Chen Feng himself had to suck in a breath of air.
Shortly after that, however, a fourth Yao Overlord appeared. This water yao also had a gigantic body. Rather, it was slightly bigger than the gigantic tortoise. Eight thick tentacles grew out from its body, a layer of slime covering its surface. It was a most disgusting sight to behold.
Even though Gold Bead was able to endure the appearance of the four Yao Overlords, Tu Jiao had begun trembling. Yao beasts placed a higher importance on cultivation levels than humans. This was the oppressive effect that came from the deepest part of their bodies. Even their souls were trembling.
“Humph!” Chen Feng released a harrumph and Tu Jiao immediately felt a wave of power was.h.i.+ng over his whole body, making it more bearable for him. Even so, he was still feeling too terrified to resist the Yao Overlords.
Noticing that made Chen Feng truly concerned. He had forgotten about one thing. More than half of East Dragon Island"s cultivators were the various water yaos. If a large-scale war were to erupt between the two sides, the deterring might of the Yao Overlords on the water yao"s side would surely be damaging to East Dragon Island. Although East Dragon Island had waged wars for expansion efforts before in the past, it had never had to face water yaos of this level before.
Unless there is absolutely no other choice, we cannot start a war with these water yaos. Chen Feng made up his mind. Truth be told, given East Dragon Island"s present level of strength, even if a war were to erupt between the two, East Dragon Island would surely emerge victorious. But it still had a formidable enemy known as Heavenly Firmaments Palace. East Dragon Island was presently in a period of rapid development. It was not the right time for a large-scale war.
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
Having received Chen Feng"s secret vocal transmission earlier, Patriarch Martial Sky, Heavenly Premier Boltfiend and Heavenly Premier Tristar, with Bi Qing in the lead, arrived. They swiftly appeared beside Chen Feng. Due to their appearance, the atmosphere of might on Chen Feng"s side was propped up once more. Rather, he could also sense a change – due to the appearance of Bi Qing and the other three – in the auras of the four great Yao Overlords.
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
The six water yaos who were beaten down by the Essence Spirit Bead earlier had once again emerged from the ocean. But when they saw the two sides facing off, they behaved themselves and stood behind the four great Yao Overlords. At the same time, even more water yaos at the Ascendant Immortal stage emerged from the ocean waters. In just the blink of an eye, the number of Ascendant Immortals behind the four great Yao Overlords had exceeded 20.
So many Ascendant Immortals! Chen Feng began feeling shocked. At the same time, he wondered if there were too few people on his side.
“Fellows, I believe there is a need for a talk,” Chen Feng said.
“There is such a need.” The one to speak was the water yao with the half-human, half-snake body. When he opened his mouth, the soundwaves coming from it gave Chen Feng and the others an entrancing feeling.
“Humph!” Bi Qing gave a harrumph and they instantly recovered. Patriarch Martial Sky and the others were secretly shocked by that move. This water yao with the smallest size appeared to be the strongest amongst the four great Yao Overlords.
“East Dragon Island. I know of this force. It has been developing very quickly of late. However, I did not know that its leader is just a minor Earthen Immortal,” the half-human, half-snake water yao continued. This time, he did not utilize a soul attack.
“I am the Island Lord of East Dragon Island, Chen Feng. How should I address you fellows?” Chen Feng said smilingly.
“You may call me Ocean Sovereign.”
“Ocean Sovereign. What a great name! However, as the most ancient existence in the ocean, you are indeed worthy of this name.” Chen Feng nodded.
“I am Black Profound.”
“I am Cyan Wyrm.”
“Just call me Octopus.”
The other three Yao Overlords gave a very simple reply. It appeared that they would let the Ocean Sovereign handle everything.
“Very well. The four of you must be the leaders here. Now, let"s talk. If you go any further, you will enter our East Dragon Island"s territory. I don"t care what happened to you all, but let"s stop here. If you advance any more than this, I believe a war would erupt, a large-scale war.” When he mentioned that, Chen Feng"s voice took on a stern tone.
“We are still tens of millions of li away from your East Dragon Island"s territory. Youngster, aren"t you being too much of a busybody here? Besides, if we can easily gather up an endless number of water yaos, taking over East Dragon Island will not be an issue.” The Ocean Sovereign refused to show weakness and he gave a strong retort.
“I think you fellows still do not understand the might of our East Dragon Island. With our present level of strength, destroying you fellows is still not a problem for us,” Chen Feng replied coolly.
“You have to know, our ocean region is endlessly vast. There are many more that are stronger than us. This right here is just a small portion of our might,” the Ocean Sovereign said, not giving in at all.
“Very well, I believe what you said. Though, I believe you should also understand what the consequences are if our two sides get into a war.” Chen Feng changed his tone.
“We are not afraid of you human cultivators. Besides, many of the cultivators in your East Dragon Island are water yaos like us.” It was then that Octopus interjected.
“Is that so? Do you mean to say that you want to wage war against our East Dragon Island?” Chen Feng scoffed.
Octopus had wanted to say something again only to suddenly stop. Chen Feng knew that it must have received a secret vocal transmission from the Ocean Sovereign.
The Ocean Sovereign pondered for a moment before saying, “Regardless, we must continue advancing. Naturally, we do not want to become your enemy. However, this is not your East Dragon Island"s territory. I can guarantee you, we will stop within one million li from your East Dragon Island.”
“I don"t quite trust your guarantee.” Chen Feng shook his head.
“In that case, there is no helping it. Perhaps, we can only deal with this through a battle.” The Ocean Sovereign shook his head.
“May I know what is happening in the far-ocean region?” Chen Feng suddenly asked.
“Err.” The Ocean Sovereign hesitated somewhat.
“Fellows, if you want to move forward, you should at least give me a reason.” Chen Feng smiled.
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
Four more Ascendant Immortals from East Dragon Island appeared.
East Dragon Island is so powerful? They actually have so many Ascendant Immortals! The Yao Overlords began feeling apprehensive. The high number of Ascendant Immortals and the fact that Chen Feng possessed a mid-grade Immortal artifact made it so the Yao Overlords did not want to attack.
Although the fleshly bodies of yao beasts were stronger than human cultivators, they were not proficient in refining artifacts. Both sides were aware of the situation at hand. Should a battle erupt here, both sides would definitely suffer from a mutually destructive scenario. Additionally, the Ocean Sovereign could also faintly sense danger from Chen Feng and Bi Qing.
If they were unable to attack, they will just have to negotiate. Only, their side had to maintain their reputation and get some benefits. If they were truly unable to compromise, they would have to fight.
“If you fellows can give me a reasonable explanation, I can make way for you all. Even becoming neighbours with our East Dragon Island is not an impossibility. Rather, we can even become allies. I believe you fellows should already know about our East Dragon Island"s cultivation conditions. When the time comes, it would be possible for these water yaos to come cultivate in our East Dragon Island.” Chen Feng"s mind raced and he began forming a plan.
“Would you humans be so kind?” These far-ocean water yaos did know quite a bit about the situation in East Dragon Island. In fact, many had travelled from afar to join East Dragon Island in hopes of cultivating using the immortal energy.
“I will not hide it from you fellows. I have a secret technique that allows me to link up to the Immortal Plane and steal its essence. It is not just immortal energy. I can even steal immortal dao laws. This is also why our East Dragon Island could develop so quickly.” Chen Feng smiled.
The four great Yao Overlords did not react too much to what Chen Feng said. However, the water yaos behind them stirred somewhat. Naturally, if the lower-levelled water yaos heard that, they would become even more excited.
The allure of immortal energy was certainly something, but the allure of immortal dao laws was on a different level. For some yao beasts, the difficulty involved in comprehending the immortal dao laws was far greater compared to the difficulty that humans would face. Of course, it would be a different story if they did not want to ascend to the Immortal Plane.
“Are you telling the truth?” Hearing Chen Feng talk about the Heavenstealing Technique, the Ocean Sovereign felt the urge to take action, but he managed to restrain himself in the end.
“Naturally.” Chen Feng stretched his palm out and a True law swirled about above his palm.
“That, that is a True law!” The Ocean Sovereign became excited and he found it almost impossible to suppress his impulses anymore.
“I killed a True Immortal and extracted this out from his body,” Chen Feng said calmly, but his words immediately chilled the inflamed hearts of the four great Yao Overlords.
“Killed a True Immortal? Ha ha ha! I do not believe that.”
“Whether or not you believe that is up to you. If you want to attack, our East Dragon Island will not be afraid of you. In short, we can either peacefully co-exist or go to war. I hope that you fellows can consider this properly,” Chen Feng said.
“Can you really provide us with that kind of cultivation environment? If so, what is it you want?” The Ocean Sovereign pondered the issue and a crafty look flashed across his face.
“An alliance. I want your strength. You fellows should know as well that the entire Eternal World is now in a state of chaos. I need more allies to protect East Dragon Island.”
“I believe you. An alliance is something that we can talk about.” The Ocean Sovereign nodded.
“All right. If that"s the case, let"s talk about what is happening in the far-ocean region. Maybe I can help out somewhat.” Chen Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
When they broached the subject, the faces of the four great Yao Overlords turned somewhat ugly to behold. That was even more so for the water yaos behind them. In fact, some even revealed a look of dread.
Chen Feng"s heart gave a thump and he began wondering.
1 li = 0.5 km