Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 202
Departure into the Sea of Death
At 3:30 PM, the magical foghorns of the Venice military port sounded in unison, shattering the serene atmosphere of St. Mark’s Bay.
Eight prolonged blasts echoed like the roars of deep-sea behemoths, officially signaling the start of the most grueling expedition in the history of the World Magic Tournament. At the base of the granite pier, the water churned with white foam as eight magetech armored warshis belonging to the eight superpower nations advancing to the quarterfinals simultaneously engaged their propulsion magic arrays, cutting through the waves and charging out into international waters.
The eight warships cleaved through the waves in a proud arrow formation.
Leading the left flank was the “Royal Glory,” the warship of the British Empire. Its hull was forged from bright, silver-plated platinum alloy, and its masts were carved with winged lion crests. The arrays of Light-element magetech cannons deployed along its sides emitted a noble glow, standing as haughty as a mobile castle.
On the right flank, the “Thunder” warship of the American Empire presented a completely contrasting style. Its entire hull was rugged and angular, clad in thick, rough grey camouflage steel armor. Heavy magetech cannon barrels pointed straight toward the sky, exuding a raw, violent, muscular aesthetic.
The warships of Germany, Greece, Egypt, Russia, and Japan closely followed behind, each displaying its own distinct design.
At the vanguard of the formation, cleaving apart every fierce Mediterranean wave, was the “Xuanwu” warship of Team China.
Neither as flashy and ostentatious as the British ship nor as crude and bulky as the American one, the Xuanwu wore a pitch-black hull forged from millennial basalt combined with top-tier magic-conductive ore. The hull reflected cinnabar vein patterns that wound across it like the scales of a divine Xuanwu beast. The bow was tapered into the solemn shape of a dragon head, and its flanks flared out two metallic fins that parted the waves into dual rolling ribbons of silver silk.
Standing at the bow, Lin Feng wore a black battle robe edged with rolling golden clouds. The sea breeze whipped the heavy coat’s skirts, but his physique remained as steadfast as a bronze pillar driven deep into a rock cliff.
Beside him, the core members of Team China had all gathered: Ye Langtian with his spatial shortsword at his waist; Han Yue in a pristine snow-white feather cloak, her long hair streaming in the wind; Ye Qingwan with her nimble turquoise eyes gazing at the sea and sky; Gu Xiaowei busily checking her leather pouches of restorative magic potions; and standing right behind Lin Feng with a straight posture and radiant aura — Xie Zhaoyuan.
“The wind has changed direction,” Han Yue murmured softly, her crystalline voice sounding like jade colliding with ice. Her slender hand reached out to catch the wind whistling past the railing. The salty sea breeze now carried a pungent, fishy odor and an aura of bone-chilling coldness.
Lin Feng raised his head and looked ahead.
The fleet had just crossed the fifty-nautical-mile mark, leaving the safe waters behind. The scenery before them transformed with terrifying speed.
The brilliant blue Mediterranean sky had completely vanished. In its place, a thick, leaden black cloud bank rolled in from the southeast, swallowing the twilight. The dome of the sky gradually shifted to a gloomy, blood-red hue, sticky and oppressive like a colossal pool of dried blood overturned upon the sea.
Beneath the ship’s keel, the seawater underwent an abnormal transformation. The afternoon’s brilliant azure morphed into a thick, opaque jet black. Wave after wave no longer churned white foam; instead, they bubbled with countless fist-sized, dark purple air bubbles that continuously burst:
“Pop... sizzle...”
Every bursting purple bubble released a thin wisp of smoke carrying an acrid stench of sulfur mixed with the foul odor of rotting carcasses from the abyss.
“Crack... snap...”
A wave carrying purple bubbles lashed against the port side of the Xuanwu. The seawater splashing onto the steel plating immediately sizzled and smoked, its high-grade anti-corrosion paint gnawed away into pitted scars in the blink of an eye.
“The acidity here is dozens of times higher than normal!” Gu Xiaowei pulled out a magic testing hairpin and dipped it gently into a droplet of water clinging to the railing. The silver hairpin instantly turned pitch-black and began to smoke. The young girl’s face paled: “The seawater is also dissolved with highly toxic blood coral and the resentful spirits of sunken shipwrecks. Falling into the water without protective magic artifacts will melt flesh and skin into liquid within five minutes!”
Before that could even sink in, a thick, ash-grey magical fog wall came drifting leisurely from the distant horizon, swallowing the eight-nation fleet whole.
The moment the fog struck, every single magetech device aboard the ship experienced simultaneous chaos.
On the observation deck, the magic compass spun wildly before going “clack,” its needle shattering entirely. The optical communication mirrors between warships flickered frantically before winking out, leaving behind only chaotic static noise.
“Reporting, Captain! Communication signal with the command ship has been completely lost!” The communications mage rushed out from the pilothouse in a panic: “The positioning array has failed! The sonar radar can barely scan two hundred meters, and all echo signals from the seabed have been completely absorbed!”
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes and attempted to project his spiritual perception outward.
However, the moment it stretched a few dozen meters past the ship’s side, his sea of consciousness prickled with pain as if pierced by thousands of needles. That ash-grey fog was saturated with chaotic energy particles, constantly eroding the caster’s willpower.
He instantly retracted his perception, his expression calm yet his gaze growing several degrees heavier.
“Soul-Snatching Fog, Blood Acid Seawater...”
A warm, steady voice rang out beside him.
Xie Zhaoyuan stepped to the edge of the deck. Having survived the shattering of his sea of consciousness and achieved miraculous recovery thanks to the Soul-Cleansing Water Lin Feng had brought back, his aura had completely transformed. Xie Zhaoyuan’s eyes shone brightly, and the Light-element magic energy within his meridians surged like a mighty river, devoid of its former gloominess.
Looking at the purple bubbles gnawing at the hull, Xie Zhaoyuan looked at Lin Feng with boundless gratitude:
“Captain, this toxic sea wants to swallow us whole, but it will have to get past my light first.”
With that, Xie Zhaoyuan crossed his arms over his chest, his ten fingers dancing to trace intricate magic trajectories.
“Hum...”
A brilliant, dazzling golden holy light, as warm as the morning sun, erupted from Xie Zhaoyuan’s chest. The seven Light-element star orbits within his sea of consciousness linked in an instant, and a flawless hexagonal star map condensed beneath his feet.
“Lightfall – Shield of the Holy Armor!”
Xie Zhaoyuan muttered softly, pushing his hands forcefully forward.
Tens of thousands of blazing golden light rays shot from the hull into midair and intertwined, forming a colossal luminous tortoise shell that completely enclosed the Xuanwu. Every single light scale was deeply engraved with ancient magic runes, radiating a solemn, indestructible majesty.
“Sizzle... sizzle...”
The purple sea foam and acid fog lashing against the barrier emitted sounds like boiling lard poured into a hot skillet. Under the pure purifying power of the holy light, all toxins were burned away into harmless wisps of white smoke rising into the void.
Inside the barrier, the air instantly grew warm, and the unpleasant sulfur stench was completely swept away.
Gu Xiaowei cheered: “Awesome, Brother Zhaoyuan! This barrier is insanely sturdy, and it even purifies the air!”
Xie Zhaoyuan let out a long breath and turned to Lin Feng: “Thanks to the baptism of the Soul-Cleansing Water, my sea of consciousness has expanded multifold, and my magic energy is exceptionally pure. Maintaining this barrier continuously for a day and night will be no problem at all.”
Lin Feng clapped a heavy hand on Xie Zhaoyuan’s shoulder, appreciation flashing in his eyes: “Very good. With you guarding our rear, the whole team can engage in combat with peace of mind.”
On the flanks, the other warships were also struggling to cope. The British ship erected a glass shield, the American ship used lightning discharges to detonate the purple bubbles, and the German ship raised magic steel walls to wrap its hull. But the chaotic shouting echoing from the enemy decks proved how utterly flustered they were by the harshness of the dead sea.
Lin Feng turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping across every team member:
“Everyone gather at the command deck. We need to unify our tactical plan immediately.”
The six of them immediately crowded around the magic table behind the helm. Lin Feng waved his hand, spreading a sheepskin nautical chart across the table. The topography of the Dead Coral Reef Sea Area emerged with intricate red lines crisscrossing like a spiderweb.
“Look closely,” Lin Feng’s finger pointed at a deep red whirlpool in the southeast corner: “This is Coordinate No. 7 — the Crimson Hell Coral Abyss we drew. The Organizing Committee threw us in here not simply for a survival camping trip, but to cast us into a genuine life-or-death arena.”
Ye Langtian crossed his arms over his chest, his voice ice-cold: “The density of sea monsters here is three times higher than other areas. The underwater currents below swirl like a meat grinder; if ships are even slightly careless, they get dragged straight down into the trench.”
“Indeed,” Lin Feng nodded: “But the greatest danger always harbors the greatest rewards. Twelve Ancient Array Milestones are scattered across the sea, and the Crimson Hell trench alone holds three pivotal milestones. That is where the highest concentration of Tactical Star Crystals lies, and it’s also where the Holy Spring Ascension Pill reward is concealed.”
Hearing the four words “Holy Spring Ascension Pill,” both Han Yue and Ye Langtian’s eyes flared with fires of desire. Both of them were currently stuck before the Super-level bottleneck, and this holy elixir held life-or-death significance for each of their cultivation paths.
Lin Feng looked directly at each member, sonorously assigning combat duties:
“To survive and claim full points over the next forty-eight hours, the team must coordinate as seamlessly as a war machine:
First: Xie Zhaoyuan. You are the Xuanwu’s sturdiest shield. Your supreme duty is to maintain the Shield of the Holy Armor, ensuring the hull is not corroded by sea acid and preventing miasma from infiltrating. The Xuanwu is our only base; while the ship stands, we stand; if the ship sinks, we lose our footing.”
Xie Zhaoyuan clenched his fist tightly: “I stake my life on it. Until my magic energy runs dry, the barrier will not fracture by a single inch!”
Lin Feng nodded and turned to Han Yue:
“Second: Han Yue. Beneath the coral reef waters filled with razor-sharp submerged rocks and treacherous whirlpools, the ship’s propellers are extremely vulnerable to damage. You will use Ice Sealing to scout the water surface ahead within a five-hundred-meter radius. When you encounter obstacles or currents, immediately freeze them to create maneuvering lanes for the ship, and simultaneously seal off rock crevices to prevent sea monsters from ambushing the ship’s keel.”
Han Yue nodded decisively, the crystal ice scepter in her hand striking the floor lightly as a freezing mist radiated outward: “No matter the fierce waves or hidden rocks, I will freeze them all.”
Lin Feng shifted his gaze to Ye Qingwan:
“Third: Qingwan. The sea fog stifles visibility, but at an altitude of three hundred meters, the fog thins out. You will use Wind Wings to patrol the skies, combining wind-element hawk eyes for long-range reconnaissance. You are responsible for searching for the luminescent signals of the Ancient Array Milestones, while providing early warning if you spot flying monster flocks or distant beast tides.”
Ye Qingwan smiled brightly, her invisible wind wings fluttering softly behind her: “Don’t worry, Captain, leave the skies entirely to me!”
Lin Feng’s gaze landed on Ye Langtian:
“Fourth: Langtian. You are the blade in the shadows of the team. With Spatial Teleportation, you won’t participate in large-scale sweeping; instead, you’re responsible for emergency rescues and cutting off sudden sneak attacks. Especially when approaching the Ancient Array Milestones, you will use Spatial Flash to infiltrate the heart of the array and retrieve the Tactical Star Crystals as fast as possible.”
Ye Langtian smirked slightly, his thumb flicking the hilt of his sword to reveal a cold, purple-silver steel edge: “Whoever blocks the path to the star crystals, their head will fall before they can blink.”
Lin Feng looked at the youngest girl on the team:
“Xiaowei is in charge of potion logistics and detoxification at the command center. Anyone who suffers magic exhaustion or toxic affliction, you must treat them immediately to maintain peak combat status.”
Gu Xiaowei puffed out her chest earnestly: “Understood, Captain!”
After delegating clearly, Lin Feng rested both hands on the nautical chart table, his eyes ablaze:
“As for the vanguard spearhead blazing the trail... leave it to me. Whether it’s deep-sea monster swarms or those harboring malicious intents from behind, my lightning and fire will sweep them all away!”
The overwhelming momentum radiating from Lin Feng caused all five of them to feel a surge of burning passion in their chests. The stifling, gloomy gloom of the dead sea seemed utterly crushed beneath their captain’s unwavering will.
“Rumble... whoosh...”
The hull of the Xuanwu shook violently.
The ship had officially pierced through the outer current boundary, plunging straight into the basin of the Crimson Hell Coral Abyss!
The moment the bow sliced past the invisible boundary, the last lingering glimmers of light in the sky winked out entirely. Everything around them plunged into pitch-black darkness as thick as ink.
Deep down in the fathomless seabed, colossal coral reefs began to emit a bright red fluorescence like blood. They grew densely like the ribcages of prehistoric behemoths, forming a spine-chilling, winding labyrinth of underwater rocks.
Suddenly, the sound of waves crashing against the hull ceased.
The surrounding water surface was as flat as a mirror. Not a single ripple, not a breath of wind. The sudden silence was bone-chilling, leaving only the dull, rumbling roar of the ship’s magic engine.
“This isn’t right...” Ye Langtian gripped his sword hilt, his entire body tensing like a drawn bow.
A spatial assassin’s life-or-death intuition warned him that the Grim Reaper was pressing right against his neck!
“Beep... beep... beep... BEEEEP!”
The sonar detector on the deck shrieked frantically, its needle slamming straight into the absolute maximum red zone before exploding into a tiny fireball!
“Under the seabed... countless creatures are surging upward at extreme speed!” Han Yue cried out in alarm, the frosty aura around her convulsing violently as she sensed the violent tremors from the deep water!
Lin Feng strode quickly to the railing, staring straight down into the pitch-black water.
In the fathomless darkness of the deep sea, red, blood-like specks of light began to emerge.
One speck... ten specks... hundreds of specks... then thousands of blazing red specks!
Those were not luminescent corals.
Those were eyes!
Vast, basket-sized blood-red eyes, thick with extreme brutality, bloodlust, and ravenous hunger, were slowly opening from countless coral crevices in the deep abyss!
“ROAR... OOO!”
A heaven-shaking screech tore through the night, carrying ultrasonic waves that rattled the sturdy steel hull of the Xuanwu!
The calm sea surface instantly shattered!
Dozens of pitch-black columns of water shot tens of meters straight into the air. From the bottomless abyss, hundreds of colossal dark shadows, thirty to forty meters long, began to surface, tightly surrounding the Xuanwu and the surrounding fleet!
Under the illumination of the barrier, the hideous shapes of the monsters became clear: their bodies resembled colossal prehistoric sharks, completely covered in armor scales made of red coral stone as hard as cold steel. Their backs bristled with sharp spikes secreting purple toxic slime, and most terrifying of all were their faces — distorted and deformed, resembling the faces of the dead howling in agony!
Ghost-Faced Shark Behemoths!
The overlords of the red coral region, every mature specimen reached the Peak Warrior level, and those alpha leaders stretching over fifty meters in the rear carried the terrifying, destructive aura of Commander-level!
Thousands of black fins tore through the water, creating deadly whirlpools. Their gaping, jagged jaws wide open, ready to crush everything into tiny fragments!
In the distance, the red alarm sirens of the American and British warships wailed in panicked succession. Magic fire flashed frantically amid the fog, interspersed with roaring waves and the terrified cries of international contestants.
The nightmare of the abyss had awakened!
Yet, at the bow of the Xuanwu, rocking amidst a sea of encircling monsters, Lin Feng stood as unyielding as a spear thrust straight into the heavens.
His gaze locked onto a Ghost-Faced Shark Commander surging right toward the bow, the corners of his lips curling into a cold, supremely arrogant smile.
He slowly raised his right arm.
“Snap... swish... BOOM!”
Fierce, dark purple lightning bolts erupted, tightly wrapping around Lin Feng’s fist and radiating a destructive majesty that tore through the gloomy fog of the dead sea!
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Lin Feng’s voice was as cold as millennial ice and snow, echoing across the jet-black sea before the thunder descended!