Liu An and the other people were startled to see that this octopus sea beast had broken their siege. Magic tools and spirit tools took off from their hands one after another, and exuded a plentiful amount of light. Then, these lights changed into a colorful and densely packed halo, and rushed towards the octopus with great intensity. It looked like a rainbow. Their intention was to stop the movement of the octopus.

　　“Bang” an earth-shaking loud sound rang out!

　　The massive body of the octopus knocked against these magic tools and spirit tools with a loud explosive sound. Then, a powerful shockwave was released by this collision; this shockwave struck and sent Liu An and his companions flying.

　　However, this collision couldn’t stop the octopus’s movement for more than a fleeting moment. And, the octopus continued to advance in the direction of the fleet. Several wounds had been inflicted on its body. And, some of them were huge. Blood was dripping from the wounds. But, these injuries didn’t seem to have any effect on this behemoth.

　　“Chase after it quickly! Don’t let it reach the fleet!”

　　Liu An had been sent flying backwards by the impact. But, a blood-red radiance had gleamed on his whole body, and his stature had been stabilized by this. However, his complexion looked ghastly pale at the moment. Wisps of blood could be seen flowing from the corners of his mouth.

　　The fact was that Liu An had withstood most of the impact of this collision since he was in the front. Therefore, the Qi and blood in his body had been stirred-up terribly by the impact. And, it was rendering him a very uncomfortable feeling.

　　But, the situation was critical at the moment. He had become familiar with the overwhelming strength of this beast, and thus knew that he couldn’t afford to let it get close to the fleet. After all, this octopus wouldn’t take long to shatter all of their efforts into smithereens if it approached the fleet.

　　Therefore, Liu An had no time to take care of his injuries right now. He immediately moved into action. It seemed as if his body had changed into a blood light as he chased after the octopus.

　　The rest of the people also hurried towards the beast after they had stabilized their bodies. But, their speed was very slow as compared to Liu An’s.

　　All sixteen ships were accelerating their speed toward the front. Shi Mu stood by the edge of Ship No. 1. Cai stood on his shoulder.

　　Cai had fled away into the distance when the octopus had raided the fleet some time ago. But, he saw that the octopus was approaching them once again after breaking away from Liu An and the others…

　　“Shi Tou, I’m not a coward. I’m not afraid of death. But, I know I can’t play a significant role in this situation even if I stay behind. In fact, I would drag you down instead. So, I should fly away.” Cai cast a glance at Shi Mu, and said in a low tone.

　　“Well, I don’t blame you,” Shi Mu was in the midst of speaking when a sudden gust of wind attacked him from behind. And, his facial expression changed as he looked in a certain direction.

　　A massive dark shadow suddenly took a turn, and whipped the sea surface. The greater half of its body was submerged in the water. It dashed to catch up with the fleet. Simultaneously, its massive body streaked a huge gully on the sea’s surface when came in contact with it.

　　“That’s not good; that monster is chasing after us again!”

　　“Hurry up, and escape!”

　　Other people on-board also saw this, and exclaimed in fear.

　　Shi Mu’s pupils shrank as he saw that Liu An and the others were behind the octopus sea beast, and were rushing over with all their might. However, it was clear that they would be too late to stop the beast.

　　“Cai, you run away!”

　　Shi Mu wore a solemn expression on his face at this moment. He extended his hand, and grabbed Cai from his shoulder. After that, he exerted a huge force, and flung Cai in the direction of the sky.

　　Cai hadn’t even reacted when he suddenly found himself flying toward the clouds. He was in a state of shock when he saw himself getting farther and farther away from Shi Mu. However, he then gazed at the octopus sea beast that was approaching the fleet at an alarming speed. After that, he fluttered his wings, and flew straight toward the sky.

　　Meanwhile, a tumultuous situation had already erupted on all sixteen ships.

　　A miraculous glow flashed on a few ships which were relatively closer to this octopus. In addition, there were some people on board who possessed flying magic tools, magic charms or other flying magic techniques. Those people had already started to stimulate their respective flying means since they wanted to run away from the ship. Meanwhile, the rest of the disciples had started their preparations of jumping into the sea in order to escape.

　　However, the speed of the octopus was incomparable. It rushed over in a flash, and pounded its bulky tentacles toward one of the ships.

　　“Bang” a loud explosive sound echoed!

　　The ship was struck just once, and it shattered into pieces like it was made of paper-mash. The disciples didn’t get enough time flee. On the contrary, they felt as if an indescribable mighty force had suddenly cascaded down on their bodies. And, their bodies turned into pulpy meat. Then, they sank into the sea along with the ship.

　　The other tentacles of the octopus fluttered in the air in a wild manner, and rolled up a few disciples who were trying to flee. These disciples had been either on the sea’s surface or in the air. Then, the octopus threw them into its mouth.

　　Another three of its tentacles rolled toward ship No. 1 at the same time; this is where Shi Mu was. These bulky tentacles swept across, and covered almost half of the sky. The tentacles hadn’t even reached the ship when a gust of strong wind swept over them.

　　A black light flashed on Shi Mu’s chest, and black scales spurted out all over his skin.

　　Then, a blue light emerged under his feet. The blue shuttle propped up his body, and flew away.

　　Shi Mu had been able to bring out fifty percent this bluish-green shuttle’s implicit power after nurturing it in warm temperature over a period of time. Therefore, a manned flight wasn’t a problem for him now.

　　A loud sound rang out!

　　Shi Mu’s ship was slashed into two sections from the middle. And, more than a hundred disciples got killed in an instant.

　　At this moment of life and death… a blue light dashed away from the ship, and escaped the catastrophe.

　　However, Shi Mu couldn’t remain unaffected by the strong wind caused by the tentacles even though he had escaped far from the ship.

　　His complexion turned deathly white. The fact was his internal organs had gotten stirred-up badly when the strong wind had struck his body. He also spouted a mouthful of blood. Moreover, the blue light under his feet had dimmed by the impact.

　　Fortunately, he had already changed his body, and had deployed a defensive spell to protect it. Therefore, he had received only a few minor injuries. The blue radiance of the jade shuttle brightened once again. Then, it held him, and flew far away from there.

　　Roar!

　　Ten gigantic tentacles of the octopus once again fluttered in the air in a violent manner. They strangled and gobbled-up the disciples that were in the midst of fleeing.

　　Meanwhile, one of its tentacles danced, and dashed straight toward Shi Mu to thrash him.

　　Shi Mu was alarmed by this. He promptly stimulated the movement of the magic power and the Real Qi in his body, and poured them into the jade shuttle under his feet.

　　The jade shuttle emanated a magnificent blue radiance, and its speed increased by nearly half. Then, it dashed away at the accelerated speed.

　　However, the massive tentacle turned fuzzy, and stretched across more than a hundred feet in a split second. It swept toward Shi Mu while issuing an ear-piercing whistling sound along the way.

　　However, it seemed as if Shi Mu had eyes on the back of his head. He stimulated a magic spell, and his stature descended to avoid being rolled up by the approaching tentacle.

　　But then, another shadow appeared beside Shi Mu’s body, and whipped him with full force!

　　Shi Mu had barely avoided a seemingly unavoidable attack when he received a severe thrash. The snake scales which came in contact with the tentacle shattered into pieces. He couldn’t stop himself from spurting out a mouthful of blood once again. The overwhelming force that had plummeted on his body couldn’t be explained in words. His body couldn’t endure this force, and he was sent flying in the air.

　　Then, another shadow flashed, and Shi Mu’s body got rolled up by another tentacle. After that, an enormous force pressed down on his body.

　　Shi Mu spewed up blood, and a wave of dizziness fell upon him.

　　His vision also became fuzzy. But, he could still vaguely see that the bloody mouth of a beast was approaching him.

　　“Am I going to die in this kind of place?”

　　“Mother, the promise I had made to you… may not be…”

　　“No! I can’t go back on my words!”

　　Shi Mu mumbled to himself. The effects of dizziness suddenly subsided, and his mind sobered up. He then roared in his heart, and his body started to struggle in a desperate manner.

　　The blue veins on his forehead gradually became very prominent. His face contorted, and revealed a very malevolent look. Moreover, his body inflated a bit, and fresh blood started to gurgle out of his wounds since he was exerting immense strength.

　　Shi Mu slowly pushed the huge tentacle a hairsbreadth away from his body.

　　The octopus had apparently felt Shi Mu’s struggle. Its tentacle shrank a bit out of curiosity. Then, a new source of vigor rushed through its tentacles, and crushed Shi Mu’s deathbed struggle.

　　Ka-cha!

　　Shi Mu’s body got squashed again. It couldn’t be said how many bones in his body had been broken by the pressure. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious the next moment.

　　His body would be swallowed up by the octopus just like those unfortunate disciples! This thought had barely crossed Shi Mu’s mind when a layer of silver radiance emerged on the surface of his body.

　　This silver radiance seemed very weak and thin, but it contained tremendous strength. It immediately pushed the tentacles almost one foot away from Shi Mu’s body.

　　The movement of the octopus’s tentacle stagnated, and a trace of a puzzled look peeped through its eyes.

　　“Ka Ka” then a burst of joint cracking sound spread from Shi Mu’s body. And, his bones that had just been crushed by the octopus healed up in an instant. Then, his body started to inflate in the silver radiance, and became over a hundred feet in size almost instantaneously. Consequently, the silver brilliance that his body was exuding grew even brighter.

　　The tentacle that had been just shoved away wasn’t able to roll-up Shi Mu’s body again.

　　The octopus saw the change in Shi Mu’s body, and a sense of apprehension emerged in its heart. The inexplicable spiritual pressure that Shi Mu’s body was emanating at the moment had inflicted a sense of fear in the octopus.

　　Shi Mu’s body continued to expand. Bulging and sturdy muscles had burst forth all over his body. Moreover, innumerable thick silver bristles had sprouted on the surface of those bulging muscles.

　　The fact was that Shi Mu had transformed into the huge white ape once again! And, he had made this transformation in a matter of few breaths!

　　Also, this white ape was twice in size as compared to the one at the Portal of Brave Warriors. However, it could be said that its size was still far inferior to that of the octopus sea beast even though it was much larger than that of any ordinary human.

　　The white ape opened its eyes, and revealed a pair of golden pupils. It then glared at the octopus with an ominous glint in its eyes.

　　“Roar!”

　　Suddenly, the white ape pounded its chest with its hands. Then, it pounced toward the octopus. Two long and sharp claws grew on the massive palms of the ape, and moved toward the octopus’s body in an attempt to grasp it.

　　Shi Mu’s changed appearance nearly made the octopus jump out of its skin. However, that octopus didn’t try to dodge the attack. After all, it was a fierce demon beast who didn’t know the meaning of fear. Besides, it could naturally see that it wouldn’t be able to dodge such a deadly move.

　　Therefore, the octopus issued a loud bellow, and swooped forward. Simultaneously, its ten tentacles danced in a vicious manner as they galloped toward the white ape to thrash it. A shrill ear-piercing sound rang out in the air as the tentacles dashed forward. It was clear that the octopus had applied its full strength to this attack.

　　The white ape stopped in front of the octopus, and then soared skyward in order to evade the thrashing of the tentacles.

　　The series of swift and natural movements of the ape didn’t show the slightest trace of sluggishness.

　　Liu An and the others had hurried back to the fleet by this time. The fleet was far from these two beasts at the moment.

　　Two Gigantic Vast Sea Boats had been attacked and sent to the bottom of the sea within a short period of time. Liu An’s complexion turned unsightly when he noticed that one of those two sunken ships was the one that he had been leading. He quickly commanded the remaining ships to speed away while the octopus sea beast was absorbed in a fierce battle with the white ape.

　　However, Liu An felt something strange as the ships started to move away. Therefore, he looked at the white ape once again, and couldn’t help but feel surprised.

　　Other people also felt the same way. They were also dumbfounded to see this huge ape.

　　“What’s the matter? Where has this white ape come from?” Liu An asked the people on-board the ship.

　　The surrounding disciples shook their heads in response; they were also in a state of bewilderment.

　　“Oh, by the way… has anyone seen Shi Mu? Which ship is he on?” Liu An thought of something, and then asked.

　　“Not a single person of that ship could escape. He must’ve died as well,” a middle-aged disciple replied.

　　Liu An’s brows creased when he heard these words. He then let out a sigh after a moment.

　　Shi Mu was undoubtedly a very formidable warrior. But, he hadn’t reached the Earth-ranked. So, it was normal if he had died at the hands of that dreadful octopus beast.

　　On a certain ship…

　　Hou Sai Lei and Yu Yi looked at the scene in front of them with an astounded look on their faces. Then, Hou Sai Lei started to look toward the nearby water in an anxious manner… It seemed as if he was looking for someone.

　　Mighty waves were surging and tumbling in the vicinity of the fleet. So, how could he see a person’s silhouette amid this chaos?

　　“It’s useless to look for him. Brother Shi is unlikely to be alive. You have also seen the frightening attacking power of that octopus. Even the group of seven Palace Lords that included Liu An hadn’t been able to contend with this beast. In fact, Palace Lord Lu met a violent death in that battle.” Yu Yi looked into Hou Sai Lei’s eyes, and said with a sigh.

　　Hou Sai Lei glanced at Yu Yi, and his lips creased into a wry smile.

　　The fact was that a part of Hou Sai Lei’s spirit was still locked in that Spirit Capturing Bead that was in Shi Mu’s possession. And, that Spirit Capturing Bead wouldn’t have been able to stay intact in case Shi Mu had been killed. Therefore, Hou Sai Lei knew that he would’ve been done for if that had been the case.

　　However, Hou Sai Lei couldn’t share this matter with Yu Yi; he could only pray for Shi Mu’s safety and survival.