Chapter 729: Raksha Shrimp (1/2)

Zac glared at the sealed talisman in his hand, swearing at both the wily elf and the salesman who had guaranteed 'unparalleled ability to escape even inside a sealed domain' for the talismans.

”Don't be like that. Now hurry, my preparations can only delay the big guy for a minute,” the voice of Ventus echoed through the chamber, surprising Zac.

It looked like the elf had known something like this would happen and made some preparations. The thing Ventus threw Zac at the end clearly wasn’t an escape token, but it looked like it was meant to deal with the situation above. Zac sighed with some exasperation before he rushed out of the Dao Arena, and he was met with a scene of utter chaos outside.

The outer wall was already gone, and there was an enormous hole in the Greengrove canopies right outside the settlement. And from the depths of the tunnel, hundreds of Raksha Shrimps skittered forward, reeking of bloodlust with their six serrated claws ready to tear the settlers apart. Even the smallest of them was 4 meters long, brutish crustaceans clearly bred for war. The largest specimens were almost twice as big, and Zac guessed they had to be the ones who reached had Peak E-grade, with the rest of them being in the later stages.

They rolled forward like bulldozers, but the protective arrays still held while the wall did not. In fact, the whole sky had been replaced by a starry nebula, making Zac feel like he was looking up at space outside the Mystic Realm rather than the greenish haze of the Twilight Ocean. Motes of light were constantly falling, each one of them targeting a shrimp that stepped too far.

The motes looked harmless, but one massive beast after another fell helplessly on the ground after a simple touch, and piles of them were quickly forming at the edge of the settlement. The two dozen cultivators still inside weren't affected though, and the motes harmlessly passed them by. A few took the opportunity to strike at the shrimp, but most were trying to break out.

It was not only space that had been sealed, but the beasts had actually managed to erect a physical barrier creating a cage far stronger than [Profane Seal]. There was a huge water barrier that encapsulated the whole settlement and the surrounding five hundred meters. Even Ventus's prepared defenses were within the water cage.

As for the source of the barrier, it was pretty obvious; a 40-meter long Raksha Shrimp King that actually floated in the air above the tunnel that it had created. Not only did it have eight enormous claws that made Zac's heart shudder when he looked at it, but it had actually formed what looked like wings made out of blood-red water.

His best guess was that the Beast King was tricked into thinking there was some opportunity for a Dao breakthrough hidden in the town, and it had now locked it down to look for it. Thankfully, it looked like it was a bit hesitant about entering itself because of the odd cloud in the sky, instead letting its children test the water.

Zac only hesitated for a second before he shot toward the water wall on the opposite side of the town, away from the Raksha Shrimp King and its minions. Fighting a Beast King was something he was planning on doing sooner or later, but there was a time and place for everything. This one had a seemingly endless number of followers to throw at him, and some of them had quite formidable auras.

Besides, the king himself gave off a much more condensed aura than the electric eel even if the shrimp king was less than half the size. Not only that, but the Raksha Shrimp species were generally considered one of the most dangerous species in the inner layer of the Twilight Ocean according to the missives he'd bought thanks to one special ability of theirs.

They could utilize a War Array.

The king had brought thousands of subjects, and it might be able to turn itself into the equivalent of a Middle Stage Hegemon with their combined contributions. It was no surprise that the settlers focused on stalling while trying to break the water wall rather than going all-out to take the king out. Few E-grade cultivators would willingly anger a Beast King, even less than a Hegemon.

F-grade beasts were almost always weaker compared to cultivators level for level, except for some unique races. E-grade beasts were a bit better off, but still slightly behind. They had gained some basic intelligence and an understanding of the Dao, but they were still a tier lower compared to cultivators with their weapons, and skills, and so on.

However, that all changed at the D-grade. The boost in power for humans was big, but it was even bigger for beasts. Beast Kings were essentially the lowest grade beasts that were considered bestial cultivators, beings who followed in the steps of the Beast Ancestor.

Only those who managed to purify their bloodline would manage to form a Beast Core, and when that happened they would gain a Bloodline Inheritance. This bloodline inheritance differed greatly in quality and scope between species, but even the worst ones were a full kit of both skills and a cultivation method that suited their kind.

Though apparently, beasts with extremely pure bloodlines could awaken such an inheritance much sooner, some even from birth.

The bloodline evolution alone would give them a tremendous surge in power, and forming a Beast Core would award them with a shocking amount of energy, and energy reserves were already one of the things they surpassed cultivators at. With the inheritance itself, they suddenly gained ways to make use of those almost endless stores of Cosmic Energy with skills and to empower those skills with cultivation manuals.

That was why the difference in power between cultivators and beasts was pretty much removed at the D-grade. In fact, the average cultivator was slightly disadvantaged in raw power. Zac was no average cultivator, but he still was far from the peak of the E-grade. The amount of strength he would have to exhibit to deal with this big guy was a lot more than he was willing to show in front of over a dozen elite cultivators.

Instead, he decided to follow Ventus's suggestion and help the people escape.

“Keep attacking it,” a burly humanoid roared as he unleashed a tremendous slash with a two-handed sword at the barrier. “We need to exhaust it!”

The others didn't need to be told what to do, and they were piling on in an effort of breaking through the thick wall of water to escape. A few even tried to swim right through it, but they were rebuffed and bloodied from the attempt.

“It’s you!” a familiar face exclaimed when he saw Zac approach. It was the storekeeper who had helped him update his [Ocean Chart]. “Where’s the boss?! We need his help getting out of here!”

“He teleported away somehow,” Zac said with a crooked smile. “I think he’s gone already.”

“What?!” multiple people exclaimed, glaring at Zac like this was all his fault.

“What are you looking at me for? Do you think I want to be stuck in here with you people?” Zac grunted as he took out his axe.

The next moment a storm of Axe-infused leaves slammed into the barrier, but it just rippled without properly breaking. The barrier was something else, and a showcase of the difference between the D-grade and E-grade. Hegemons simply had a disgusting amount of energy to spare, and the Shrimp King could probably just keep infusing the barrier with energy until their whole group was exhausted.

After confirming the situation, Zac took out the item he got from Ventus. The elf had said that this was the key, and Zac’s best guess was that it was meant for this very situation. He readied himself as he infused the token with Cosmic Energy, and he instantly felt it emit a shocking cold. He had a good guess what was going on.

“The boss prepared a key! Get ready!” Zac roared to those few who were attacking the shrimp at bay in the distance, and he threw the talisman at the barrier a second later.