Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 114 Enemies in the Sea

“Good heavens…I’ve been here before!” exclaimed Baron Milton. “Look at that castle over there…this is Le Havre! Just north of Paris!”

"God above, we've truly come home!"

"Long live the Divine Envoy!"

The members of the French delegation embraced each other, tears welling in their eyes. Although the journey to the East hadn't taken long, the sheer scale of the trip—from being in a foreign land one moment to returning home the next—made them overwhelmed with emotion.

Even if they couldn't understand what these foreigners were shouting, the Immortal Alliance cultivators could still sense their joy from their expressions.

Until Joan of Arc appeared before everyone with a troop of cavalry.

"Your Excellency, welcome. It seems the teleportation array is functioning successfully." She dismounted and bowed to Chen Xuan, placing her hand on her chest. Chen Xuan had already briefed her beforehand; she only needed to read the script.

"Let me introduce you all. This is Joan of Arc, the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army," Chen Xuan said.

The monks were greatly surprised!
The commander of a kingdom's army is actually a woman? And judging from her full armor, she is clearly not the type of strategist who stays behind the lines, but rather the kind of general who actually leads troops into battle.

Governor Xu Yuanqing, having seen many grand occasions, maintained his composure and clasped his hands in greeting to Jeanne, saying, "I am the Governor of the Immortal Alliance from the Eastern Central Plains Dynasty. These fifteen are representatives of the Immortal Alliance delegation, responsible for handling the problems encountered by cultivators from various regions in the West. The people behind me wearing jade tokens are orthodox cultivators from their respective sects. They have come here to witness firsthand just how rampant the demons are here."

The interpreter immediately began translating the two languages.

At this point, Chen Xuan was no longer needed.

He walked to the side alone, took out his phone, and pressed the shutter button on the group of people talking.

This was absolutely a historic moment—on one side were the French army in full armor, led by the famous Joan of Arc; on the other side were Eastern ascetics in silk robes, whose leader, though not as famous as Joan of Arc, would inevitably become a part of history after this event.

Just as the two groups were talking, a sudden, urgent bugle call came from afar.

"Waaaaahh ...

“This is a warning sign.” Joan of Arc’s brow furrowed. “Your Excellency, Your Excellency the Divine Envoy, the enemy is here. Please excuse me!”

After saying that, she turned around, jumped onto her horse, and led her cavalrymen toward the main camp.

Meanwhile, others noticed an unusual phenomenon on the previously calm sea: numerous dark shadows emerged from the water, like giant whales rising from the deep sea to the shallows. As they moved rapidly, they pushed up the water behind them, creating rolling sea slopes.

But everyone soon realized that they were not giant whales, but warships!

The masts pierced the waves and rose from the sea like a rapidly growing forest, followed by the bow and hull... These ships that broke the surface were completely black, covered with shells and barnacles, as if they had been soaking at the bottom of the sea for hundreds of years.

This was the first time the monks had ever seen a ship capable of underwater navigation.

They can maintain high speeds without sails, and show no sign of stopping even when they get close to the coast.

More than twenty warships rushed straight onto the beach.

Chen Xuan finally saw the "demon army" that Joan of Arc had spoken of.

They came not only from the ship, but also from the sea... As the black ship forcibly stormed the beach, a large number of monsters emerged from the water and began to advance towards the land. These monsters still maintained the appearance of living beings, only they were larger and more imposing. For example, the giant crabs had pincers as thick as an adult human, and their thick shells were probably enough to withstand the cuts of ordinary swords.

The enemies who jumped off the ship were clearly different from the shrimp and crabs. They had human-like features and seemed to be half-human, half-demon species. They were in a leading position in the attack formation and were probably the leaders of this group of demons.

“Incredible…” Xu Yuanqing exclaimed in surprise, “They are indeed demons, and at different levels… So many demons gathered together, yet they don’t kill each other, but act like an army…” His expression gradually turned serious, and then he looked at Chen Xuan and said, “Sect Master Chen, you are right, they are indeed extremely threatening. If we let them go unchecked, they will threaten the entire East sooner or later.”

"Has the Immortal Alliance never observed the phenomenon of the Demon Alliance before?" Chen Xuan asked.

“It’s not just the Immortal Alliance. Since cultivators have gained power, we haven’t seen anything like this.” Xu Yuanqing shook his head. “As for the more ancient times, who knows? Legend has it that humans fought to the death to defeat demons and only then were they able to establish themselves on the most fertile land in the Central Plains. The demons were all driven to the desolate mountains and forests and never dared to show their faces again. But legends are just legends and they don’t hold water.”

"Why?"

"The reason is simple: demons have no intelligence. They are wild beasts that have gained spiritual energy and transformed into their forms. Although they have powerful bodies, sharp teeth and claws, and some even know magic, they are still wild beasts in essence," Xu Yuanqing explained. "Take the tiger for example. A blue-browed tiger demon that has become a spirit will not only kill villagers, but also hunt those demon beasts that are not as powerful as it, so as to devour their spiritual energy and make itself stronger."

Chen Xuan stroked his chin. In fact, he had also asked Liu Shuyue about demons. However, in the latter's words, demons seemed to be something else entirely: their power could not be understood by common sense. Unlike magic, they were more like the power of the Great Dao that directly connected with heaven and earth. For example, there was the Dark Ba ​​that caused a great drought, the Azure Dragon Vortex that summoned wind and thunder, and the Shadow Demon that had no physical form and only appeared in dreams or illusions.

It seems the demons of the two worlds are not entirely the same... he thought to himself.

If Xuan were to appear in this world, it would likely unleash a bloodbath immediately.

"Lacking wisdom, they killed each other and plundered each other's spiritual energy... So how did they unite now?" someone in the group of cultivators asked.

"And the number of these demons is astonishing! There must be over a thousand!"

This remark drew immediate agreement from the crowd.

However, the expressions on everyone's faces were not those of fear, but rather of eagerness.

Normally, when killing demons, we have to first identify the territory to see if the demon belongs to the area under our sect's jurisdiction. As for tiger demons, fox demons, and wolf demons, we might find two or three after searching several mountains. Most of them are in the cave heavens controlled by the sect. Unlike the situation in front of us, where they are everywhere!

Chen Xuan didn't find the latter question particularly strange.

Conversely, it's strange that monsters are found in deep mountains and forests, but not in the sea. In terms of biodiversity and territory, the sea far surpasses the land. Coupled with frequent human expansion and the extinction of various terrestrial animals, the possibility of numerous demons existing in the sea is even greater, unless spiritual energy doesn't flow into the ocean.

Now he received a definitive answer: the sea was not only inhabited by demons, but their numbers were astonishing.

As for the first question... Chen Xuan felt that the answer most likely lay with those demons who had half-humanoid forms.

After all, the environment in the ocean is completely different from that on land, and what doesn't exist on land might exist in the deep sea. If someone told him now that demons had established an empire similar to that of humans on the seabed, he wouldn't be too surprised.

It has been proven that building a cooperative and interdependent organization does not require all members to be intelligent; just one or two nodes that know how to maximize benefits and minimize harms is sufficient.

For example, ants and bees.

Xu Yuanqing clearly had the same idea as him: "If we can capture a few of the higher-level demons who jumped off the ship, we might be able to figure out the reason for their alliance."

After saying that, he turned to look at the sect cultivators, "I think you all know what your purpose is in coming here, and the Immortal Alliance also hopes that you can break through your limits in the battle against demons and monsters, continuously improve, and demonstrate the prestige of our Immortal Alliance!"
"Listen to my command, everyone!" another official from the Immortal Alliance shouted.

The monks clasped their fists in unison.

"The Immortal Alliance grants you the right to conquer demons here—regardless of sect, origin, or seniority, the demons here have no affiliation and can all be killed!"

"Yes, sir!" everyone responded in unison, and then rushed towards the battlefield without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)