A black figure and a white figure were in the middle of an intense battle on the sea’s surface. They were very far from the fleet, but the people on board could still hear their spine-chilling bellows reverberating.

　　The white ape was barely one-tenth the size of the gigantic octopus sea beast. But, it had a very vigorous stature. It was jumping and rolling all over the body of the sea beast in a very nimble manner. Moreover, it seemed that it had the potential to exhibit more courage in this battle.

　　The intense magic power waves would often burst forth, and stir-up the already unsteady sea surface. In fact, the intense magic power would set off thousand or more feet high mighty waves every now and then. These waves were so high that they seemed to be reaching the sky. Also, gusts of fierce hurricane-like wind would often shoot up to the sky. It would seem as if they were connecting the earth to the sky. However, this had left the nearby sea area to submerge in an abyss of darkness.

　　Some of the octopus sea beast’s tentacles were repeatedly attempting to shoot down the white ape. But, they had been failing to touch the ape even once. Meanwhile, the remaining tentacles were dancing in a frantic manner… as if they were about to unleash the second wave of attacks. Surprisingly, the white ape went closer to one of the nearby tentacles instead of moving away from them. Then, it stretched out its long and muscular arms, and grasped that bulky tentacle.

　　After that, a tyrannical look gleamed in the white ape’s eyes. The bulging muscles of its sturdy arms stuck out as it exerted its full strength to rip apart the tentacle.

　　A loud “Chi Chi” sound was heard!

　　That incomparably large tentacle of the octopus was torn into two sections. Consequently, a spurt of fresh blood rushed forth, and sprayed out everywhere in an unrestrained manner. It then dyed the surrounding territorial water dark red.

　　The white ape still hadn’t let go of the huge and wiggling tentacle. Therefore, it got drenched in the fresh blood which seemed to be raining down from the sky. The ape’s appearance seemed terrifying at the moment. In fact, it seemed as if an evil spirit of hell had taken a rebirth. It was giving off a kind of ominous and inexplicably stern spiritual aura.

　　Roar!

　　The octopus sea beast issued an excruciating roar. Simultaneously, its eyes got suffused with a crazy and bloodthirsty expression. Then, a spurt of blood gushed into its eyes, and made them bloodshot. Its massive body then pounced toward the white ape. It hadn’t even reached the white ape when its two tentacles swept toward the white ape at a very fast speed. In fact, the speed of the tentacles had doubled.

　　The white ape could dodge only one of the tentacles this time since the tentacles had been shot at an incredibly fast speed. Consequently, the other tentacle wound around the ape’s body, and tightened its grip on it.

　　The white ape raised its head skyward, and issued a loud roar. Then, its arms made a desperate effort to break free from this clutch. But, the white ape didn’t succeed. However, the white ape’s body was considerably strong. Therefore, the octopus’s tentacle couldn’t crush it to pulp.

　　Suddenly, the trace of an ominous glint flashed across the white ape’s eyes. It stretched-open its large mouth, and started to bite at that tentacle with its incisive teeth.

　　The octopus loosed its grip owing to the acute pain inflicted by the nasty bites. The white ape saw this, and his eyes glistened with a magnificent golden gleam. But, the brutal look in its eyes became even more intense as this happened. It then rushed forth, and grabbed that tentacle which hadn’t retracted yet. Then, it jumped downwards.

　　“Plop” the octopus got pulled down into the sea by the white ape. And, a loud crashing sound was heard as the two beasts smashed into the sea together.

　　Bang!

　　The sea’s surface flared up, and set off layers of monstrous waves. A tentacle or a part of the white ape’s body would often emerge from the sea in the following time. This would trigger even more turbulent waves on the sea’s surface.

　　“Palace Lord Liu, the intense battle between these two mighty monster beasts indicates that they are nearly on the same level. We are not…” the red-browed Palace Lord — Di Feng — walked over to Liu An, and said.

　　“The sudden appearance of this white ape is indeed strange. It can’t be said that this ape has come to help us out of this turmoil. But, we won’t be able to escape by sheer luck in case it suffers a defeat in this battle. Transmit an order that all ships will forge ahead at full speed. Our goal is the Western Continent!” A hint of hesitation appeared on Liu An’s face when he heard these words. But, his vision congealed after a moment, and he said.

　　“All ships… change the direction of the bow, and leave at once. Proceed straight toward the Western Continent!” the red-browed man shouted at top of his voice.

　　Some people wanted to question this order. But, none of them dared to oppose Liu An. The miraculous glow on the surface of the remaining twelve ships flashed, and the ships accelerated in the direction of the distant coastline.

　　Meanwhile, Cai was still hovering in the air.

　　The sea area behind the fleet had turned into a spectacular mess owing to the overwhelming waves. Intermittent bursts of muffled-thunder-like bellows were spreading from time to time. These were seemingly the unrestrained effects of the fierce battle that was taking place in the sea.

　　Cai’s eyes revealed a hint of anxiousness. He hadn’t left this place like Liu An and other people. Instead, he had stayed back, and had continued to hover in midair.

　　Bang!

　　A loud earth-shattering sound was heard. The sea surface burst open, and the octopus emerged from the bottom of the sea along with the white ape.

　　The octopus had sustained several severe injuries over its body. More than half of its tentacles had been broken off, and many deep wounds had been inflicted on its body by the white ape’s claws. Fresh blood was gushing out those wounds in torrents. The blood had dyed half of its body red.

　　The white ape didn’t appear to be in a good condition either. Many parts of its body had been corroded, and fairly large wounds could be seen on those parts. Even its furry skin had been peeled off. Blood was streaming out from the places from where its skin had been peeled off.

　　The octopus was blazing with fury. It waved its remaining tentacles, and flung them toward the white ape once again.

　　The white ape was gasping for breath at the moment. It seemed that it wouldn’t be able to continue. However, it still managed to dodge the attack.

　　The octopus seemed to have sensed the fact that the ape was very tired. So, it issued a series of howling sounds in a fit of excitement. Then, a layer of blue radiance bubbled-up on the surface of its body. And, its remaining tentacles turned water-blue.

　　The tentacles were swinging in the air in a controlled manner at the moment. It seemed as if they were the arms of a human. Buzz Buzz! Suddenly, a layer of blue light gleamed on the sea’s surface in the vicinity of the octopus.

　　Then, a vast-stretched blue light appeared in the seawater around the white ape’s body, and the ape’s movements started to become sluggish.

　　The surrounding seawater then turned into an expansive blue quagmire, and restricted the white ape’s movement to a great extent.

　　The white ape continued to dodge the attacks in a clumsy manner. But, it eventually failed to do so, and got rolled up by two tentacles that were waiting for an opportunity to grab it.

　　The octopus burst into an excited roar as it grabbed the white ape. Its tentacles slightly wiggled, and then started to squeeze the white ape with full strength.

　　The white ape bellowed, and started to struggle. But, it couldn’t succeed in slipping off the tentacle’s grip since its injuries were very severe.

　　Puff!

　　The octopus opened its mouth, and sprayed out a black fluid toward the white ape. This fluid then dyed the ape’s body black.

　　The white ape let out a blood-curdling screech in agony. Then, a layer of silver radiance burst forth on the surface of its body, and its body started to shrink at a very fast speed. Its body reduced to four or five feet in height within a matter of a few seconds.

　　The silver radiance on the white ape’s body grew brighter, and took the form of a silver silkworm cocoon. It was almost impossible to see the white ape’s situation afterwards. The cocoon-shaped silver light didn’t move a bit… In fact, it seemed as if it were a statue.

　　The octopus was startled at first. But, it brimmed with happiness a moment later. Then, its tentacle fluttered and rolled up the white ape’s body. Then, the octopus stretched-open its large mouth, and swallowed the white ape down its stomach.

　　The octopus then turned its head, and looked into the distance.

　　The ships had seized the opportunity. And, they had sailed far away when the octopus had been absorbed in a fierce battle with the white ape.

　　The octopus exuded a screech, and dashed in the direction of the fleet in order to catch up with them. In fact, its body seemed to have changed into a black afterimage as it rushed after them.

　　However, it had covered only a little distance when its belly suddenly radiated a tiny silver light. That light seemed to be coming from inside its body. Even its enormous body wasn’t able to cover it.

　　The octopus exuded another screech. But, it was smeared with anguish this time. Then, its gigantic body tumbled into the sea; it seemed that it was experiencing immense pain at the moment.

　　The silver radiance on its belly continued to grow brighter… as if it wanted to break out of its body.

　　The octopus again issued an excruciating hissing sound of pain. Its massive body was struggling on the sea surface, but the source of this tormenting pain was inside its body. So, it had no other means but to struggle with this persistent pain.

　　The silver radiance grew brighter with each passing second. Suddenly, the octopus’s belly was ripped apart with a loud “Chi” sound. Then, a mass of silver light shot out of its belly, and flew in the southwest direction like a meteor.

　　The white ape’s silhouette could be vaguely seen amid that silver light. Its body was hardly twenty feet in height at the moment.

　　The octopus exuded a frightened screech with all of its might. However, a hint of relief and extrication could also be felt in its screech…

　　A big hole had been split open in its underbelly. And, fresh blood was gurgling out of that wound in a crazy manner… so much so that a large area around it had turned red. The internal organs of the octopus could be seen through this wound. It could be said that it had sustained a very serious injury.

　　The fleet was far from this place. In fact, it had nearly disappeared by now.

　　The octopus let out a low roar, and dropped the thought of chasing after the fleet. Then, it slowly sank into the sea, and disappeared without a trace.

　　Cai still lingered in midair. He flapped his wings, and flew in the direction of the fleeing silver light. It seemed as if he-himself transformed into a stream of light as he chased after the silver light.

　　… …

　　Bluish-green waves were rippling everywhere on the surface of the deep-blue sea. The surface of the sea appeared as calm as a mirror.

　　A cool breeze would often pass by the sea’s surface. And, the sea’s surface would reveal a few billowing waves whenever this would happen. However, those waves would appear clear, and would sparkle in the sunlight.

　　Suddenly, a silver light flashed over from afar. It streaked across the sea’s surface at a lightning speed, and triggered gusts of wind and vigorous surging waves in its vicinity.

　　The figure of a gigantic white ape could be seen amid that silver light; it was thirty-or-forty feet in height. Its whole body was wrapped-up in a layer of that translucent silver light.

　　However, many parts of its body looked wounded at this moment. And, its white fur had been dyed red by the constant flow of blood from its wounds.

　　The white ape didn’t seem to be paying attention to its injuries as it continued to rush forward. However, it would frequently turn around, and look behind it with a glimmer of fear in its golden pupils.

　　Suddenly, a golden light emerged behind it, and started to pursue it at an astonishing speed. It was much faster than the white ape’s fleeing silver light. And, it was catching up with the white ape rather quickly.

　　The silhouette of a colorful-robed Taoist priest could be seen in that golden light. His beard and hair were entirely white. Also, three strands of long beard were beating his chest. He held the handle of a snow-white time glass. This time glass seemed to comprise bone powder.

　　There was a massive golden dragon under this old man; it was two-thousand-feet long. It had nine long heads, and a slender build. It was galloping forward like an electric current while carrying the colorful-robed old man.

　　This colorful-robed old man bore an infuriated look on his face at the moment; he was gazing at the white ape ahead in a resentful manner.

　　Roar!

　　The golden dragon looked at the white ape in front from under the old man, and the pupils of its eyes revealed a gleam of extreme hatred.

　　Suddenly, one of its middle-heads opened its big mouth, and spurted out a beam of golden light toward the white ape.

　　However, the white ape seemed to have sensed the imminent peril. Therefore, its fleeing silver light immediately shrunk a bit, and narrowly evaded the beam of golden light.

　　The colorful-robed old man let out a cold snort as he saw this. Then, he waved his sleeve, and a beam of multi-colored light darted out. The speed of that light was so fast that it caught up with the white ape in a flash.

　　There was a string of round white beads in the midst of that light beam. Each bead was as big as a duck’s egg. They all were sending out multi-colored rays of light at the moment.

　　The white ape appeared to be extremely afraid of this bead. It tried to move aside, and dodge the beads. However, it couldn’t dodge the beads completely, and its shoulder got scratched by the beads.

　　Ka-cha!

　　The white ape’s shoulder got smashed by the beads, and its blood and flesh scattered in all directions as a result. The wound was so deep that even the dense bones of the ape could be seen through it. In fact, one of its arms had almost been broken by this blow.

　　“Puff…”

　　A mouthful of blood flowed out of the white ape’s mouth. Its huge body then smashed into the sea water, and sank to the bottom of the sea. It seemed to have lost consciousness.

　　A cold gleam flashed through the old man’s eyes, and he waved his sleeve again. And, that string of multi-colored beads turned into multi-colored rays of bright light once again. Then, these lights flew into the sea, and struck the white ape on its head. It seemed that this string of beads had been shot with an intention of crushing the ape’s head to pieces.

　　However, a golden light flashed above the white ape’s head at this moment, and revealed the ancient golden book.

　　Crash-Bang!

　　The golden book opened-up on its own. Then, its pages turned by themselves, and stopped at a particular page. That page contained an extremely complex pattern that rather seemed like the formula of a magic charm.

　　The pattern exuded splendid brilliance, and a mass of golden light enveloped the white ape’s body.

　　Then, the white ape’s body vanished into thin air along with the golden ancient book with a flash of light.

　　The colorful-robed old man’s complexion profoundly changed when he saw this. He then stood up on the nine-headed Golden Dragon, and looked around.

　　There wasn’t a single person in sight in the surrounding territorial water; it seemed that the white ape had disappeared without a trace.

　　The colorful-robed old man’s brows creased tightly. He waved his hand after some time, and recalled that string of multi-colored beads. Then, he patted the nine-headed Golden Dragon under his body.

　　The Golden Dragon burst into a loud and reluctant howl. But, it still turned around, and galloped in the direction that they had come from.