Chapter 472 Lobster Demon (2 in 1)
Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan couldn’t have felt worse in the upcoming battles.
Exactly as Han Fei had anticipated, no regular sea creatures came next at all. The only time that an Inferior Man-Fish didn’t show up was when Xia Xiaochan summoned a Demon Shattering Vine.
Then, naturally, she obtained a Demon Spiritual Fruit.
Han Fei had already seen the Demon Spiritual Fruit before. It could improve one’s soul, but Han Fei didn’t think that one Demon Spiritual Fruit was good enough. As he expected, after Xia Xiaochan had the Demon Spiritual Fruit, she only said that her head was clearer than before. However, Xia Xiaochan’s perception range hadn’t reached the upper limit yet, so it was not yet possible to find out how much a Demon Spiritual Fruit could improve the soul.
By the time they reached the 230th floor, the Inferior Man-Fish they would summon had all become level-42 Inferior Man-Fish whose spiritual beasts were Ocean Scorpions or big green fish. The level-42 Inferior Man-Fish were tricky enough even by themselves.
Back in the Heavenly Desolate City, Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan usually killed the Inferior Man-Fish as a team or while using the Majestic Mystic Spell.
But how could you fight as a team here if you were planning to improve your abilities as an individual?
Han Fei actually thought that they could cooperate again, but Xia Xiaochan turned him down.
On the 236th floor…
After killing another Inferior Man-Fish, Xia Xiaochan sat down on the ground. “It’s getting harder and harder to fight them! All those Inferior Man-Fish have different spiritual beasts, and some of them are even fusing with the spiritual beasts.”
Han Fei sat down on the ground too. “However, they can’t really stop us, can they? Which level do you think Cao Tian has reached?”
Xia Xiaochan thought for a moment and said, “250, probably…”
Han Fei was choked for a moment as the number 250 means stupid and reckless. “Are you indirectly saying that he’s a halfwit?”
Xia Xiaochan snorted and said, “I don’t have time to banter with you. I think we should be able to make it to the 250th floor if we work harder. So, do you think there are more levels beyond the 250th?”
mo
Han Fei thought for a moment. “We’re losing money right now, aren’t we?”
Xia Xiaochan considered and nodded. “We’re losing a lot. Right now, we need to consume one Sea Swallowing Seashell for every two levels we go through. If we go further down, we’ll have to use more Sea Swallowing Seashells, but our rewards are too little for even one sacrificial ritual.”
Han Fei tried to analyze the situation. “What do you think the real purpose of the explorers in the Steps into the Sea is?”
Xia Xiaochan was briefly stunned. “I don’t know what their purpose is, but they’re certainly not here for treasures. None of them are idiots. They should know when their losses outweigh their gains.”
Han Fei shook his head. “I don’t think so. During the first hundred levels, it’s hard to say whether or not you made a profit or suffered a loss, but almost everybody suffers a loss after the 100th floor. Still, for most people, this is really a great place for them to polish themselves. So, they can consider their loss the tuition fee that they pay for the exercises.”
Xia Xiaochan gave it some thought. “This is indeed not a bad place for training. However, many other people are here for greater treasures, which we haven’t seen up to this point.”
Han Fei blinked his eyes and asked, “Did all the Sea Swallowing Seashells we looted not count as greater treasures?”
The Hexagon Starfish interjected, “Of course they do. We should go back and rob them
again.”
Xia Xiaochan said angrily, “Big starfish, did we ask for your opinion?”
The Hexagon Starfish remarked, “It’s getting harder and more dangerous at this moment.”
The Hexagon Starfish had realized that Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan were even more dangerous than the Inferior Man-Fish, and that they could kill the Inferior Man-Fish more than easily.
It felt lucky that it was a reticent and reliable starfish that was never involved in any fighting
Han Fei thought for a moment and said, “Let’s continue. In any case, let’s make it to the 250th floor first. If we can’t beat the enemy, we’ll use the Majestic Mystic Spell, and if the enemy is still too strong, we’ll fight them together.”
On the 248th floor, Xia Xiaochan and Han Fei were eating barbecue in one of the Hexagon Starfish’s gates.
With grease all over her lips, Xia Xiaochan said before she swallowed the meat, “I realized that the level-43 Inferior Man-Fish are my upper limit. I can’t beat any opponents that are stronger than them.”
Han Fei asked, “Haven’t you already made a breakthrough and become an advanced Dangling Fisher?”
Xia Xiaochan snapped furiously, “It’s true that I’ve made a breakthrough, but I still can’t defeat you, can I? Also, I’m getting the feeling that the more I level up, the more my Giant Arowana wants to come out.”
“Huh?”
Han Fei was stunned. “The Giant Arowana wants to come out?”
Xia Xiaochan nodded. “Yes. I’m having trouble suppressing it. When it comes out, I’ll have to borrow its power, and the more I borrow its power, the more dependent I’ll be on it.”
Han Fei was confused. “Isn’t it a good thing? It means that you are deeply connected to your spiritual beast.”
“Deeply connected? You don’t know what’s going on at all. The more I resort to the Giant Arowana’s power, the harder it will be for me to control myself.”
Han Fei’s face slightly changed. “Is it so serious?”
Xia Xiaochan nodded. “Therefore, I think I’ll stop at the 250th floor. I won’t explore the levels further down.” Han Fei said after a moment of consideration, “There might be no more levels further down.”
Xia Xiaochan snorted. “That’s impossible. There must be unknown treasures in the levels beyond. Otherwise, we would’ve paid all those Sea Swallowing Seashells for nothing. Now that we’ve made the payment, we must be given the corresponding treasures. If we’re not given the treasures, we’ll bring this place to the ground.”
Han Fei: “…”
The Hexagon Starfish interjected unwisely, “How do you plan to destroy such a vast place?”
“Shut up.”
Han Fei chuckled and said, “Okay, I’ll do my best. This place is indeed weird. It is said to be an altar, but I think it’s more of a place for racketeering. The money we’ve spent since we came to this place is enough to buy dozens of Wind God Boats. I’ll be too ashamed to go out if we don’t find anything good in the end.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
As she said this, Xia Xiaochan threw all her Sea Swallowing Seashells to Han Fei. “They’re all yours. You can take more beating with your sturdiness.”
Han Fei rolled his eyes. “Just drop it! How are you going to make offerings if you give all the Sea Swallowing Shells to me?”
Xia Xiaochan said, “I’m not going further down anyway. They would be useless even if I keep them to myself.”
Han Fei thought for a moment… “How about this? You can keep the money and give the twenty Sea Swallowing Seashells that contain materials as valuable as high-quality spiritual weapons and mid-quality spiritual weapons to me. I don’t need the Flash Stones. The other Sea Swallowing Seashells are useless to me too. I won’t take them.”
Xia Xiaochan frowned. “What if they aren’t enough as an offering as you go down?”
Han Fei assured her, “Don’t worry. I have other stuff.”
“Oh! Right…”
Han Fei took out a Sea Swallowing Seashell and said, “Here’s the Wind God Boat. I’ll also give you two hundred Yellow-Blood Sea Cucumbers and dozens of treasure maps. They’re all
yours.”
“Huh?”
Xia Xiaochan tilted her head and looked at Han Fei. “Do you want me to go out first?” Han Fei said with a smile, “That’s a possibility. You can’t return to the upper level of the Steps into the Sea; you can only push down. We can only go out exactly through the entrance we came in. However, we have plenty of enemies outside. Whenever you feel that something is wrong, you go out first and find Le Renkuang and Luo Xiaobai. Remember, don’t go to the dragon boats. You can only go to the Specter that’s known as the Evil Shield…”
Han Fei told her all the things that she should take care of, only to see that Xia Xiaochan was gazing at him apparently in a bad mood.
Han Fei said with a smile, “I’m only saying this for safety reasons.”
Xia Xiaochan snorted and said, “Just go! Just go! You’re too annoying… If I go out, I’ll wait for half a month. If you don’t come out within half a month, I’ll go look for Xiaobai and the others.”
Han Fei grinned. “That sounds good! However, remember that you’d better be disguised as a girl when you wait for me. Although the Metamorphosis Water can transform you into a man, you have to talk once in a while.”
“Got it. You are really annoying…”
On the 250th floor, Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan still didn’t meet Cao Tian. Han Fei even wondered if the man already left.
The 250th floor was a lot smaller than the levels up above. As Cao Qiu said before, the further one went down, the smaller the levels would be, and everybody could tell what was going on in the whole level.
Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan made their offerings.
Xia Xiaochan strenuously killed a level-45 Inferior Man-Fish although she was hurt too. However, she couldn’t care less about her wounds.
In terms of fighting, nobody in the Thug Academy was more brutal than Xia Xiaochan.
Xia Xiaochan’s heart was beating quickly. “I had to use the Majestic Mystic Spell in the end. I can’t go to the 251st floor anymore.”
Han Fei slightly nodded. Not only was Xia Xiaochan hurt, but he had been wounded too.
The level-45 Inferior Man-Fish was not only capable of soul attacks but also had high physical strength. Han Fei had basically been suppressed by it the whole time until he used the Majestic Mystic Spell. If he had been less sturdy, he probably would’ve been crushed by the Inferior Man-Fish.
Even so, Han Fei’s Indestructible Body was pierced through, which was understandable because his enemy wasn’t a Dangling Fisher anymore.
But of course, their harvest was rather copious.
Xia Xiaochan and Han Fei reaped Soul Crystals and a Demon Spiritual Fruit respectively.
It was not until this moment that Han Fei realized that the Demon Spiritual Fruit wasn’t the Demon Shattering Vine’s specialty, and that it could be among the spoils of the Inferior Man-Fish too.
Two days later…
The upper limit of Han Fei’s spiritual energy had been increased to 5,099 points through all the battles. After that, he could not make any further progress either by swallowing spiritual fruits or by practicing the 108 Spirit-Absorbing War Bodies.
Therefore, Han Fei made a breakthrough and became an advanced Dangling Fisher.
At this moment, Han Fei took off the Hexagon Starfish from his breast and stuck it to Xia Xiaochan’s shoulder. He said, “Mr. Hexagon Starfish, don’t try to escape. You know how dangerous the level-three fishery is. You may be able to hide for a couple of years, but can you hide for decades without being caught by anyone? Next time I meet you, I’ll give you a great treasure.”
The Hexagon Starfish rolled its big eyes. “I won’t run.”
Han Fei grinned and said, “That would be for the best. We won’t catch you as a contractual spiritual beast, but other people might.”
As he spoke, he also gave ten ultimate spiritual stones to Xia Xiaochan. After telling her how to use the spiritual stones, he said, “You can give one of them to Mr. Hexagon Starfish once in a while in case he grumbles.”
After that, Han Fei focused his eyes and said, “I’ll be leaving.”
Xia Xiaochan snorted. “You can kiss me before you go.”
Han Fei knew that he probably wouldn’t see Xia Xiaochan again anytime soon after their departure.
The 250th floor was hard, but based on the pattern, the 251st would only be harder.
Han Fei even thought that he was probably the only person in the whole level-three fishery who made it to this place.
Considering Xia Xiaochan’s personality, she probably would wait for him, but not for long. It was not because she wasn’t close to him, but only because she believed that Han Fei could handle things by himself.
While they were together, he and Xia Xiaochan had discussed Le Renkuang, Zhang Xuanyu, and Luo Xiaobai. They both agreed that their friends’ life couldn’t be easy.
After all, both Han Fei and Xia Xiaochan were the top targets on the dragon boats’ wanted list, so it was natural that their friends would catch other people’s attention.
At this moment on the 251st floor, Han Fei became alone again. But it wasn’t too bad. The upcoming battles would all be duels, and it didn’t matter whether or not Mr. Hexagon Starfish was with him as long as the creatures to show up weren’t so bizarre that he didn’t know how to deal with them at all.
However, since the Steps into the Sea had been designed user-friendly, and the difficulties of each level had been increased gradually, Han Fei wasn’t too worried.
Before he pressed on to the next level, Han Fei checked his data again.
Han Fei
39 (Advanced Dangling Fisher)
128,526 (5,999)
Level-Five, High-Quality
Twin Yin-Yang Spirit Swallowing Fish (level 30)
Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers, Water Dividing Seal, Blood Drinking Knife
Void Breaking Technique, Volume Four of Void Fishing (Demon-Level, Divine-Quality)
Han Fei had been significantly strengthened by the breakthrough. The upper limit of his spiritual energy had been increased by nine hundred points.
An improvement of nine hundred points of spiritual energy was too unbelievable. Earlier, he had worked so hard in order to reach the upper limit of nine hundred points of spiritual energy, but the same amount was increased easily at this moment after the breakthrough.
Coincidentally, his body was a lot stronger too, and the needle in his hand was more and more suitable for himself.
Han Fei grabbed a random Sea Swallowing Seashell and began to make offerings.
After only the blink of an eye, Han Fei found that only a bamboo stick which was the level of a mid-quality spiritual weapon was left in the Sea Swallowing Seashell. “Shoot…”
Han Fei was almost dumbfounded. He had expected that the offerings to be made would grow in number starting from the 251st floor, but he didn’t know that it would cost so much. The full Sea Swallowing Seashell was worth at least five million by Han Fei’s estimation, but it had been used up in one sacrificial ritual.
As the water trembled, Han Fei saw a lobster’s head emerging out of nowhere with a sharp thorn above it.
“Huh? Not an Inferior Man-Fish?”
After the whole lobster was revealed, Han Fei slightly narrowed his eyes.
“A Lobster-Man?”
Han Fei thought that his eyes had deceived him. He could accept the Inferior Man-Fish, which had appeared a lot in rumors and legends, but he found it hard to understand the creature before him.
Standing before his eyes was a Lobster-Man that was more than 1.5 meters tall. Above the Lobster-Man’s head was a cone-shaped shell. His two eyes were on the two sides of his head. His mouth had multiple layers, and it seemed that he had many mouths. He was also wearing a bright yellow, shiny battle suit.
The monster had eight arms, and while there was no telling whether or not it was legs at his lower half body, they definitely looked like legs. He didn’t have any feet but was standing on a lobster tail.
But… A Lobster-Man? Seriously? Had he trespassed on the Dragon King’s Palace in the East Sea? Now that a Lobster-Man had come out, would a Crab-General show up later?
Back in the battle in the Heavenly Desolate City, Han Fei had resisted lobster thorns at the gate of the city. He didn’t realize that those lobsters were humanoids.
At this moment, Han Fei began to wonder whether or not such Lobster-Men were the creatures who shot out stings at the beginning.
In his eyes, data popped up.
Lobster Demon (Lowly Sea Demon)
This is a sea demon that has just acquired intelligence. It’s brutal and bloodthirsty. Its bloodline is terrible, probably because it evolved from a random lobster-type creature. It’s extremely fast and best at one-shot kills.”
45
4,413/4,413 Level-Three, High-Quality
Awakened
Axe Crab
Han Fei narrowed his eyes, as this thing might be even tricker to deal with than the Inferior Man-Fish were. In any case, lobsters were generally more agile than fish even when their levels were low. He remembered that the Tentacle Lobsters counted as strong predators back in the regular fishery!
While Han Fei observed the Lobster-Man, the Lobster-Man was sizing up Han Fei too.
Then, Han Fei saw that the Lobster-Man suddenly grabbed eight broken spears in his eight hands.
“Damn it… You can fight with eight hands?”
Han Fei was lost for words. Is this really not cheating? Even Nezha had only six hands. How can you have eight?
Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
Naturally, Han Fei would not wait to be killed. He floated more than thirty Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers around him and laid his hand on his waist, ready to draw out his knife.
“Hyahhhhhh…”
“Stop making noises!” Han Fei felt that the enemy just cursed him. Then, the enemy waved his eight hands and suddenly charged at him. Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
The Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers were instantly unleashed at the Lobster-Man. But the Lobster-Man waved his hands so quickly that they almost became blurry, knocking away all the Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers with the short spears in his hands.
Crack!
Crack!
After only the first round, Han Fei narrowed his eyes, as blood was surging inside his body after two of his Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers were broken.
“Is this thing so tough?”
Shua!
Han Fei drew his knife and slashed the Lobster-Man with Qi dozens of meters long.
But to Han Fei’s shock, the Lobster-Man’s eight hands cut the sword Qi as quickly as lightning with the spears. At the time, the Lobster-Man retreated fast along with the sword Qi.
Han Fei looked at the Lobster-Man that was attacking as fast as a phantom. Then, after hundreds of attacks, his attack with the Drawing Technique was resolved.
Immediately, Han Fei felt a pit in his stomach. He could accept that the Lobster-Man took his Drawing Technique the hard way, or that he fought back like Sun Mu did, but Han Fei couldn’t take it when the Lobster-Man destroyed his sword Qi bit by bit like a scoundrel. He felt that he had been humiliated, as it took him a great deal of time and effort to grasp the Drawing Technique. Han Fei simply stomped and lunged forward. The Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers swirled quickly again, and he launched the Drawing Technique one more time.
Han Fei sneered. “You only have eight hands. I wouldn’t care even if you have eight more. Just carry on if you think you’re capable.”
The Lobster-Man seemed to have been enraged too. He darted out three short spears in a row and destroyed Han Fei’s attack of the Drawing Technique again. Then, he shot another short spear directly at Han Fei.
Clink!
An enormous brick appeared out of nowhere, and Han Fei slapped the lobster sting away with the brick. He then smashed the whet stone at the Lobster-Man with his full strength.
Crack…
Han Fei saw that a pointy streak of light pierced through the whet stone. At this moment, a hole had been left on the stone.
“Wa…”
Han Fei was instantly shocked. His internal system was so disrupted that he almost vomited blood.
That was a high-quality spiritual weapon! Yet you poked a hole in it with your head?
BAM!
Naturally, the Lobster-Man didn’t feel too good either. It rolled hundreds of meters on the ground after being blown away by Han Fei’s brick
However, what made Han Fei less confident was that his Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers weren’t as useful as before. They left nothing but white marks on the Lobster-Man when they cut him. Most of the time, it took dozens of cuts before he could break any part of the Lobster-Man’s armor.
“Die!”
Han Fei simply left the whet stone aside. At this moment, he held the Water Dividing Seal in his left hand and the needle in his right hand.
He poked forward with the needle first, unleashing a storm of spiritual energy.
Boom…
The seawater exploded, and the Lobster-Man rolled another dozens of circles on the ground before he got back to his feet.
Han Fei did not stop at all. He smashed the Lobster-Man’s head with the seal again and again.
“You think you’re fast? You think your head is tough? You think your sting is hard? You ruined my spiritual weapon! I’ll smash you son of bi*ch to death!”
The Lobster Demon seemed dumbfounded. He felt that this human being was much weaker than himself, so why was this human being smashing him so fearlessly?
The Lobster Demon couldn’t get back to his feet at all. Both the Water Dividing Seal and the needle were too heavy for him. He wondered where the guy before his eyes got such heavy weapons.
After smiting the monster for a moment, Han Fei broke four of the Lobster Demon’s eight hands, and the creature had been utterly deformed. Shua!
After a flash of his needle, the big head of the Lobster-Man was cut open by Han Fei.
Han Fei had to do that, because he suddenly realized that someone was gazing at the battle from a thousand meters away.
Han Fei secretly cried that it was not good. He had thought that the place was empty, and he was too busy fighting the lobster demon to release his senses. As a result, he almost didn’t realize it when a stranger was approaching him.
After the lobster died, a Demon Spiritual Fruit appeared before Han Fei. Han Fei picked it up and threw it into Forge the Universe.
At this moment, Han Fei stood in the water and stared at the stranger. “Are you Cao Tian?”