Book 6, Chapter 57: Direct Attack 2
The four Titan-Class puppets appeared at the same time and began to charge towards the sea otter.
Even though they were made of metal, their bodies had been covered in Origin Formations, allowing them to fly through the air rapidly. As soon as they appeared, they began to run across the surface of the water, their feet creating ripples wherever they touched the water. These ripples had a strange rhythm to them and even caused the surface of the water to hum faintly.
This was the effect of the Flat Treading Origin Formation, allowing them to give form to formless entities and exert force against those entities.
When faced with such an immense pressure bearing down on it, the otter opened one of its eyes and then casually flicked its tail. This seemingly leisurely movement actually caused the Titan-Class puppets to begin to sink into the water.
The flat ground they had been walking on had been taken out from under their feet.
This was not an Origin Skill. Instead, it was likely some Method Power that the sea otter had comprehended, giving it incredible control over water. While Flat Treading allowed the Titans to walk on the surface of the water via the use of Origin Energy, there was nothing that could be done if the sea otter was using Method Power to counteract its effects.
Its calm, unhurried action was actually one of the most powerful moves it could have used. Obviously, it was not willing to make light of these Titan-Class puppets either.
The four Titan-Class puppets sank into the water.
The waves suddenly surged, making it nearly impossible for the Titan-Class puppets to resurface even if they wanted to.
The sea otter shot a glance at Su Chen, as if mocking that his puppets were only mediocre at best.
Su Chen didn’t mind. He let out a low growl, and the swarm of Catastrophe Bugs appeared behind his back.
These bugs had managed to easily wipe out a massive turtle. The threat they posed was easily imaginable.
But at the same time that the Catastrophe Bugs appeared, the jellyfish made its move.
A formless ripple began to spread in all directions, and Su Chen and Gu Qingluo both felt a wave of dizziness overtake them as a chilly, evil intent attempted to infiltrate their hearts and take control of them.
A consciousness invasion!
Su Chen was stunned.
Thankfully, even though his cultivation base was only at the Spirit Burning Realm, his consciousness power had already reached the level of an Emperor already, and his mastery of consciousness Arcana Techniques was at the Tenth Ring. Even though the jellyfish was powerful in this regard, it would still have a hard time trying to control Su Chen. However, Gu Qingluo was clearly having a much harder time withstanding the pressure.
Su Chen reached out to grab Gu Qingluo’s hand, helping her ease the burden.
With Su Chen’s help, Gu Qingluo was able to relax quite a bit.
However, the jellyfish was obviously not trying to target them, but the Catastrophe Bugs.
An instant later, all of the Catastrophe Bugs screeched and chittered, clearly finding it hard to withstand the jellyfish’s consciousness attack.
The Catastrophe Bugs might be able to endure most Origin Energy skills, but their consciousness was quite weak in comparison.
There was nothing that could be done about this problem. That was precisely what allowed Su Chen to control them for his own purposes.
Actually, the original Catastrophe Bugs were incredibly powerful. Their immunity to Origin Energy and their rapid rate of reproduction made them almost invincible. Even so, the fact that they could be controlled by Su Chen meant that these weaknesses inevitably began to show.
Their resistance to Origin Energy decreased to eighty percent, and their resistance of consciousness power decreased even further. In addition, their lifespan had been reduced to an hour.
This was the price Su Chen needed to pay in order to control these bugs, and as such they were no longer worthy of their title of being invincible. When they ran into opponents that were capable of targeting them, they would be easily killed.
The jellyfish before Su Chen’s eyes was obviously one such opponent.
Even though it was unable to wipe out the imprint Su Chen had left on their souls, it could fight with Su Chen, causing lots of damage in the process.
The Catastrophe Bugs in the sky began to rapidly die off, their carcasses raining down from the sky as they shrieked in pain.
“Let me!” Gu Qingluo said with some agitation.
“Not yet. Your strength must be preserved until the last moment,” Su Chen refused and grabbed Gu Qingluo’s arm. “This is only the beginning.”
“But the Catastrophe Bugs are being destroyed,” Gu Qingluo exclaimed, panicking somewhat.
The Catastrophe Bugs that Su Chen had poured his blood, sweat, and tears into researching were beginning to die off in droves only after winning a single battle. This was like cultivating bitterly for ten years, then being killed immediately after celebrating reaching the peak. How was it possible not to feel a tinge of regret?
Su Chen, however, didn’t seem to mind at all and said, “We’ll just switch up our tactics.”
He raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.
With a boom, the surface of the ocean exploded.
Four massive figures shot into the sky - the Titan-Class puppets that had fallen into the water early.
The four puppets glowed with white light, as if they were enveloped by an egg shell. This thin layer was not a defensive barrier, but a flight Origin Formation.
During the rule of the Arcana Kingdom, the study of puppets had advanced in leaps and bounds. Because of their physical weakness, the Arcanists spared no expense in developing powerful bodyguards, which was why they had so much experience constructing puppets. With Patelocke by his side, it was impossible for the Flat Treading Origin Formation’s nullification to render these Titan-Class puppets useless. The earlier attack had been merely to probe the sea otter’s abilities.
The probe clearly demonstrated that the sea otter was extremely good at controlling water, which put the puppets at a disadvantage when fighting in the sea. In addition, the jellyfish had managed to keep the Catastrophe Bugs in check.
If that was the case, it was time to switch opponents.
The four Titan-Class puppets flew into the air, their eight fists glowing with golden light as they punched at the jellyfish. Because they were puppets, they had no consciousnesses to speak of, and the jellyfish’s consciousness techniques were completely useless. Actually, a single one would have been more than enough to defeat it. But because Su Chen was in a hurry, he decided to try and resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
When faced with the fierce charge of the four Titan-Class puppets, the jellyfish knew that it was in trouble and flew away as quickly as it could.
However, it was not able to completely flee from danger, because the four Titan-Class puppets followed closely behind, giving the Catastrophe Bugs, which were only moments ago in dire straits, a brief reprieve.
Su Chen whistled yet again, and the Catastrophe Bugs turned around in midair, this time swarming towards the sea otter.
The sea otter finally sprang into motion.
It swung its tail, churning up a massive wave that rushed towards the swarm of bugs.
The momentum of this wave was unstoppable, and it was infused with the water Method Power that the otter had comprehended. Even the four Titan-Class puppets probably would have been forced backwards by an attack of this magnitude.
However, the Catastrophe Bugs were the ones facing this attack.
The last opponent they had faced, the giant turtle Sovereign, had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of bones.
Even if this wave had been imbued with Method Power, it was still intrinsically based on Origin Energy.
And if it was based on Origin Energy, its power would be reduced by twenty percent.
If it was based on Origin Energy, the Catastrophe Bugs could band together to resist the attack.
The remaining Catastrophe Bugs all gathered together and assumed a tight-knit formation, forcefully enduring the wave crashing down on them.
The otter’s seemingly unstoppable attack was pitifully weak against the Catastrophe Bugs, and was only able to take out a few thousand of them.
The Catastrophe Bugs seized the opportunity to close in.
The sea otter knew it was in trouble and opened its mouth, letting out a loud roar.
A giant cyclone surged forth from its mouth, spinning violently as it slaughtered any creature that was sucked into its path.
Even so, this was still of limited use against the Catastrophe Bugs.
The Catastrophe Bugs were swept into the cyclone and then spat out the other side. It appeared that, as before, their numbers hadn’t dwindled very much.
The otter dove underwater. At the same time, the surface of the ocean suddenly became still and began to glint under the sunlight - it had been turned to iron.
Turning seawater from its liquid state into a metal-like state was something that probably only a Sovereign could accomplish.
“So you even have a trick like this up your sleeve? It seems like my medicine didn’t actually affect you very much,” Su Chen sighed.
Unfortunately, even this struggle was in vain.
The Catastrophe Bugs landed on the sturdy wall of seawater and began to bite down at it.
Even though this wall of water appeared tougher than any metal that could be found on the main continent, the Catastrophe Bugs bored their way through it like swiss cheese. Eventually, the smooth surface of the water cracked like a mirror before finally shattering.
The Catastrophe Bugs plunged into the water like lemmings.
The surface of the water roiled violently as the otter ferociously defended itself against the Catastrophe Bugs. As a Sovereign that had comprehended Method Power, there were many water-type skills that it could use. But no matter what kind of arsenal it possessed, as long as its attacks still relied on Origin Energy, its effect on the Catastrophe Bugs would be limited.
Very quickly, a storm began to whip up on the surface of the sea, as if an underwater volcano was about to erupt. Brilliant flashes of light could be seen glimmering under the surface of the water, and even flames and ice crystals appeared. Obviously, the otter was using every trick in the book to try and stem the tide of Catastrophe Bugs, including the skills it was not very proficient with.
However, it was clearly fighting a losing battle.
Even though Su Chen didn’t bother diving underwater to see what was happening, Su Chen could sense that the battle taking place below the surface was beginning to die down just based on the fact that the ocean’s surface was beginning to calm down.
After a few more moments, the surface of the sea returned to its former calm state.
Su Chen knew that the battle had come to an end.
A moment later, the Catastrophe Bugs flew out from the ocean, gathering near Su Chen.
Their numbers had increased yet again.
The four Titan-Class puppets had also begun to descend from the sky.
Their return indicated that the jellyfish had been finished off as well.
Actually, the jellyfish should have lost even faster than the otter due to the fact that it was outnumbered and that its close-quarters combat skills were weak in the first place. The only possible explanation was that the jellyfish had been running the whole time. However, the Titan-Class puppets were not only strong, but also incredibly fast - Su Chen had “taught” them how to use Whitetower Teleportation. As such, the jellyfish was unable to escape and was blasted to death under the violent barrage of fists unleashed by the Titan-Class puppets.
Having dealt with the two Sovereigns, Su Chen and Gu Qingluo continued to advance on the Deep Sea Sorrow.
They ran into two more groups of Sovereigns on the way there, but with the protection of the Catastrophe Bug and the Titan-Class puppets, they were easily able to claim victory.
After defeating a fifth wave, Su Chen and Gu Qingluo finally arrived at a small mystical mountain.
This was where the Deep Sea Sorrow was located.