The King of Black Fog

Although the teeth were clenched, the whale's lips had stayed open.

With a loud boom,

the seawater suddenly reversed. All Yang Qinglan could hear was the screeching of the water. The basket starfish, Li Changzhou, and she were swept toward the massive teeth.

Yang Qinglan watched Li Changzhou as the whale's esophagus exerted a gravitational pull on him—it felt as if he was being pulled up into the sky, while a waterfall was thrusting him back to the earth.

The seawater churned. Li Changzhou, who often trained at the bottom of great lakes, coped well. Yang Qinglan, swept and brushed by the aggressive flow, immediately struggled to breathe and couldn't catch her breath.

Her black bangs fluttered, her clothing ballooned as if wind-filled, and bubbles streamed continuously from her lips.

Li Changzhou's left hand tightly enclosed her slender waist to prevent them from being separated by the water current, while his right hand opened and, after five seconds, a "Thai Fighting Fish · Oxygen Bubble" appeared in his palm.

The oxygen bubble was three meters in diameter and as light as a real bubble.

Li Changzhou, holding Yang Qinglan, dove into it, and immediately, the pressure from the ingressing seawater vanished.

Yang Qinglan immediately took a deep breath of oxygen, which wasn't fresh but was devoid of any odd smell, yet her lungs still felt the stifling sensation of the seawater.

What followed was a bout of tumbling.

The bubble, light yet large, couldn't prevent itself from being washed away with Li Changzhou holding Yang Qinglan at the bottom, as it "fell downwards."

A series of light collisions ensued, and the bubble firmly stuck to the whale's teeth. The basket starfish nearby suffered the same fate; the surrounding seawater pushed outward like mad.

The oxygen bubble was sturdy enough for deep-sea use; the turbulent seawater now seemed trivial.

Once stable, Li Changzhou finally allowed himself a slight sigh of relief.

"How did you end up down here?" he busily asked Yang Qinglan.

The surrounding seawater hissed sharply.

"...I was pushed."

"Who?!"

"Never mind that now," Yang Qinglan replied. "Reassure Qian Xia first."

Li Changzhou opened his hand, retrieved the "Ground Finch's Beak" from his sister's backpack, and five seconds later, the "Tiger Armor" was taken from his backpack—a code between the siblings, signaling each was safe.

"All set," Li Changzhou put away the "Ground Finch's Beak" and looked toward Yang Qinglan, ready to ask who had pushed her down.

Yang Qinglan was soaked, her black hair meticulously sketched, clinging to her pale face.

Li Changzhou's heart skipped a beat, realizing something. His gaze slowly drifted down, sliding over her elegantly pale neck, the well-defined curves of her round breasts, the soft, twisted waist...

"Cough!" he turned away.

Yang Qinglan, realizing as well, also turned away, embarrassed yet slightly amused, "You can see clearly even in this darkness?"

"I have good, err, Constitution," he replied.

Li Changzhou busied his thoughts with other matters, trying to forget the scene he just witnessed.

"This whale clearly came to save the basket starfish," he vocalized his thought process, focusing like reciting aloud in a morning class. "It must be a Black Card player; sticking with the basket starfish probably won't spell trouble for us."

"It is a Black Card," Yang Qinglan said.

"What?" Li Changzhou asked instinctively.

"Protecting the basket starfish to survive is the Black Card's mission."

"It's the Black Card's mission, so what?"

After a silence, Yang Qinglan said, "Never mind, forget I mentioned it."

The intensity of the water gradually decreased; soon, the water inside the whale's mouth had emptied. The oxygen bubble, the basket starfish, and a few lively schools of fish piled up in front of the teeth, resembling iron bars.

"Shall we leave?" Li Changzhou asked.

1928 had cameras, expensive though they were—a single full-body photograph cost one or two Silver Coins; a load of rice was only three Silver Coins. For him, however, money was not a matter of concern.

He now carried with him photos from the Commander Mansion, Ming City, and even England.

"The basket starfish can help break through the 'Fire God Map.' We can get it first and have it appear in the exchange list," Yang Qinglan's gaze fixed on the tightly packed cluster of basket starfish nearby.

Without seawater, the basket starfish looked like a ragged fishing net.

"Will Little Radish blame us?" Li Changzhou asked with a smile.

"She won't care," Yang Qinglan replied, his voice also tinged with amusement.

The void shattered, and the Black Death God with a Bone Scythe appeared in the whale's mouth.

"I wonder how many hits it will take to chop down these huge monsters," Li Changzhou said as the Black Death God's white robe fluttered, drifting towards the basket starfish.

"Woo—"

Suddenly, the sound of a conch came from the whale's esophagus.

The whale made a swallowing motion.

Boom!

The world turned upside down, and Li Changzhou instinctively wrapped his arms around Yang Qinglan; the two rolled and tumbled inside the bubble, occasionally bumping against the soft cavity walls, feeling as if they were about to fall apart.

Bang!

The oxygen bubble dropped into a lake.

"Little Starfish, quick, help me!" Before the two could steady themselves, they heard a delicate female voice.

"Woo!"

Looking up, the basket starfish entered the water and immediately came to life, its limbs energizing and lashing like whips.

"Hahaha! Who would have thought that killing one monster would deliver a little demoness right to my doorstep! Come back with me and be my concubine!"

A fierce blaze suddenly illuminated the surroundings.

Only then did the two clearly see their surroundings.

A huge pit, filled with seawater.

The seawater reflected the flames, dazzling and colorful, stirred by the blast, resembling a pot of sunset, with a mermaid floating on the lake's surface, brightly lit by the flames.

The mermaid's body was very slender and delicate, starting from its sunken belly and pert buttocks, merging into a silvery tail.

Bang!

Tentacles and flames burst open above the lake surface, igniting fragments of limbs, resembling a meteor shower raining down onto the lake.

The basket starfish curled its remaining limbs, enveloping itself and the mermaid.

"Changzhou!" Yang Qinglan called out urgently.

An air shield was an impenetrable barrier in the sea, but it would be destroyed by fire.

The pit was also not large, nearly filled by the basket starfish; the oxygen bubble had no space to sink.

"Send me out!" Li Changzhou shouted.

Yang Qinglan glanced around swiftly, and Li Changzhou burst out of the oxygen bubble, then leaped out of the lake, his right arm lifted high; the sky full of fire rain whistled, spiraling and gathering on his fist.

"Eh?" Zhu Xiongjie expressed surprise, perched on the cavity wall like a monkey.

Upon seeing the figure in the flames, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Li Changzhou!"

Li Changzhou had already removed his "Attribute Mask."

The fire rain converged, resembling a brilliant small sun.

Clouds churned in his mind, with flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder.

With a thunderous crack, it struck his spine!

Potential surged, and his entire body's strength exploded; Li Changzhou delivered a mighty punch.

Zhu Xiongjie was surprised but quite unafraid, casually throwing a punch that forcefully pushed back the sky full of fire rain.

"Puh!" Li Changzhou spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body ignited, turning into a fireman, and with a bang, he crashed into the opposite cavity wall.

He clung to the cavity wall with his right hand, wiped the corner of his mouth with his left, and condensed the fresh blood into a Blood Pearl, tossing it into his mouth. The flames automatically fell off, sinking into the lake and stirring up bursts of white mist.

His eyes sharply fixed on Zhu Xiongjie, brimming with killing intent.

The Flame Wave had been broken, a first for him!

Zhu Xiongjie swallowed the blood that surged up his throat.

The flames were repelled by him, but Li Changzhou's punch, with its force, had injured him.

A man powerful in both fist and flame control...

If it were one-on-one, Zhu Xiongjie wasn't afraid at all. He could simply rely on his physical strength to beat his opponent to death even without using flames but now—

Zhu Xiongjie's expression changed several times, then he smiled and said, "Li Second Master, what are you doing? I'm just following the Commander's orders to eliminate monsters."

"Eliminate monsters?" Li Changzhou asked, his Blood Pearl rapidly recovering his injuries.

"Exactly. Second Master might not know, but this year's rare sea freeze is caused by this beast. Killing it will allow ships to enter the port, and the dockworkers can have their jobs back,"

On the lake, the mermaid watched the two men warily.

The Basket Starfish quietly healed its damaged arms, much slower than its initial momentum.

Li Changzhou's hand gripping the chamber wall switched from the right to the left.

"With ships entering the port and dockworkers back at work, how can I show my favor and win people's hearts?" The Emerald Bee Sword, emitting a jade light, slid out from his sleeve.

A low buzzing sound, clearly audible in the cavern.

Zhu Xiongjie was taken aback for a moment, then sneered coldly, "I didn't expect Second Master Li to be such a formidable character, I have lived—"

Boom!

Zhu Xiongjie stomped his foot and leaped forward, reaching Li Changzhou's face in the blink of an eye.

His muscles bulged, his whole body turning into a siege hammer.

A ferocious collision!

Although Li Changzhou was not as strong as his opponent, he had inherited 12 points of Agility in the first stage, giving him extremely fast reflexes.

Caught off guard, he still managed to pull the Emerald Bee Sword, trailing jade light, in front of him.

Zhu Xiongjie's upper body suddenly leaned backward, his knee raised, changing the collision into a kick.

The fierce Gang Wind hadn't arrived yet, but it already pricked Li Changzhou's wrist like needles.

If this kick landed, let alone knocking down the Emerald Bee Sword, it could shatter his arm.

If he had just a bit more time, or if he were mentally prepared, such as a naval officer's Water Dragon techniques, he could have summoned the Black Death God, but there was no time now.

It's just an arm!

Li Changzhou steeled his heart, turned his wrist, adjusted the angle, and presented his arm.

If the kick landed solidly, with the current angle, the Emerald Bee Sword would definitely shoot towards Zhu Xiongjie's neck and stab a hole in him.

Zhu Xiongjie bent his knee again, switching from a kick to a knee lift, and sent the Emerald Bee Sword flying like a giant hammer.

The Emerald Bee Sword, with its unmatched edge, plunged straight into the chamber wall, disappearing without hesitation!

Li Changzhou had no time to recall the Emerald Bee Sword.

Zhu Xiongjie's rushing momentum hadn't ended yet; his other leg sprang forward, aiming a kick at Li Changzhou's temple.

"Bang!" Li Changzhou raised his left arm just in time to block, the wind from the kick messing up his hair.

The knee Zhu Xiongjie lifted, extended, another kick.

"Bang!" Li Changzhou raised his right arm.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Nine Revolutions Linked Mandarin Duck Feet!

In less than half a second, Li Changzhou was forcefully kicked a meter into the pit!

Having expended his momentum, Zhu Xiongjie clasped the chamber wall, sank his waist, twisted his hips, took a deep breath, and prepared for another fierce attack on Li Changzhou.

Just as he lifted his leg, his form staggered, the whipped leg went out, but was three parts weaker than before.

Li Changzhou returned the kick!

Bang!

Zhu Xiongjie was kicked back.

Li Changzhou stepped forward from the meter-deep pit, his spine tingling slightly, electric current entered his right leg, and his force exploded with another kick!

Zhu Xiongjie's gravity was above his head, and he was clinging to the chamber wall.

He didn't resist, took a deep breath, his muscles as hard as steel, and took the full brunt of Li Changzhou's kick.

Bang!

Zhu Xiongjie skimmed across the lake in the air and crashed back to the opposite side.

Just as he steadied himself, the sound of the wind was already beside his ear.

Li Changzhou lunged at him!

His feet alternated, demolishing like a storm!

One stomp!

Two flapping wings!

Three against the wind!

Four like a civet pouncing on a mouse!

Five like White Snake spitting!

Six dodging!

Seven swinging back!

Eight with the Eight Diagrams!

Nine moving forward!

Upside-down kicks, high-low circles, back and forth thrusts, diagonal and reverse entries, fully displaying his strength and agility.

There was up and down, front and back, left and right, alternating between Yin and Yang, continuous, paired, following each other.

Nine Revolutions Linked Mandarin Duck Feet!

Zhu Xiongjie was both shocked and angry, his hands clasping the chamber wall, his feet also performing Nine Revolutions Linked Mandarin Duck Feet!

Bang bang bang bang!

Kicks exploded in the air in a series of blasts!

After nine strikes, Li Changzhou had knocked Zhu Xiongjie a meter into the chamber wall!

He didn't stay outside, closing the distance, he took half a step forward.

Dark clouds rolled, striking through his spine.

Zhu Xiongjie clenched his right fist, envisioning his tailbone suddenly igniting a great fire, drawing the fire to engulf his body, his fascia taut, the force surging.

Bang!

Lightning collided with flames, fist against fist!

Li Changzhou roared furiously, pushing back the approaching flames.

Zhu Xiongjie grimaced, his low growl resembling a lion's roar, and the flames were pushed back again.

Bang!!

The flames exploded as if squeezed, enveloping both of them.

From Zhu Xiongjie's charge, to Li Changzhou mastering the Nine Revolutions Mandarin Duck Feet as a counterattack, to their mutual bombardment, it all happened within three seconds.