The Swan Sea began to shake.
It wasn't just the area the cultivators were gathered by, which was the part of the sea above the Swan's Seamount. No, it was nearly the entire Swan Sea. For the past few hours, bubbles of air had been rising from the seamount and steadily popping at the sea level, the indication an eruption was imminent. But that was nothing compared to the flood of huge air bubbles that were now rushing to the surface, and exploding with ear-shattering pops.
The force was so great that an entire section of the Swan Sea was lifted up, like a bulge on the water's surface. All the gathered boats were sent drifting backwards. The raft underneath Harry's feet swayed dangerously, and if Harry had been any slower in finding his balance, he would have fallen into the Swan Sea.
It was like an underwater earthquake was rumbling, such was the noise and magnitude. The sea shook, the boats shook, and although he couldn't see it, Harry imagined the seabed was violently shaking too. All the stories and descriptions of the event didn't do it justice – only by seeing it happen could one appreciate the sheer power behind the eruptions. It must have been a massive pressure chamber to cause this kind of reaction.
Below the water, Harry saw hordes of Magic Beasts frantically swimming away from the rising shaft of bubbles. He glimpsed a school of fishes and other larger, indiscernible shapes rapidly fleeing.
The trembling continued for nearly a minute, and just when Harry was wondering when the eruption would occur, there was a deafening WHOOOOOOSH as a torrent of water shot upwards, through the fissure on the cracked seabed and exploding above the surface. Due to the long and narrow shape of the fissure, the water erupted in the form of a wall that rose out the Swan Sea. Millions of gallons blasted into the sky, reaching a mile into the air and forming an umbrella of rain that fell all across the Swan Sea. The rushing force was so great that the thousands of boats and rafts were all blasted back, depositing many cultivators into the water.
The wall of seawater hung in the air for a few seconds, and then it all crashed back into the sea, like a heavy rain during a thunderstorm. Along with the water were physical objects, which splashed across the sea and sent everyone into a frenzy to collect them.
Many people had gathered to partake in this treasure eruption, so it only took a few minutes for everything to be snatched up. But most people ended up disappointed. Most of the items were just rocks or sand, common things to find at the bottom of the sea. They must have been random pieces of trash that made their way into the fissure.
"Hey, look at this!" Harry heard Slade exclaim. He was holding a purple, stringy looking plant.
'Trailing Violet Seaweed – an Ordinary Grade plant,' Harry was able to identify it before he looked around their raft for more treasures – only to find nothing else. Of their group, Slade was the only one to pick up something valuable. Shaun picked up a rock, which he threw back into the water. Even across the entire Swan Sea, very few people managed to pick up anything of value.
The sea returned to calm in mere moments, as if the violent eruption never happened. As the few treasures that did appear were picked up, the cultivators returned to calm too. It would be some time before the next eruption occurred. According to historical records, sometimes, the eruptions occurred with as little as 15 to 30-minute gaps in between. Other times, it could be many hours until the next one. There was no way to tell.
It didn't seem like any Natural Essences appeared. As his friends explained, the treasures grew right on the Swan's Seamount. It took a few eruptions before any would be dislodged. Some lucky cultivators like Slade were able to grab a Magic Plant, which must have somehow been caught in the upstream. But most people were empty-handed, or just obtained some trash.
'How mysterious,' Harry stared down to the depths of the sea, trying to imagine what the Swan's Seamount might look like. When it erupted, water was forced out the fissure at tremendous speeds. Whatever else was in the sea was shot out alongside it, and due to the high speed, it was impossible to predict where they would land.
'These treasure eruptions are like a game of chance. Whether you get something is all due to your luck. But if you do manage to get something, it requires strength to hold onto it, or else someone else will definitely try to snatch it away,' Harry thought. No doubt everyone was prepared to fight for the real treasures.
For the next few hours, the Swan Sea was peaceful, except the occasional bubble that floated to the surface. Harry idly relaxed on the boat, waiting for the next eruption to occur. There wasn't much to do, other than keep an eye out for the New Port Sect and the Ivory Fist Clan.
Then all of a sudden, the water began rumbling again.
"It's happening! Get ready!" people shouted, and Harry leapt to his feet too. This time, he knew what to expect and wasn't as startled when another wall of water erupted over the Swan Sea.
As the water poured down, a series of plopping noises were heard next to their raft.
Harry reached into the water, full of hope of grabbing a Natural Essence – and pulled out the mangled body of a dead fish. It must have been swimming near the fissure when it was caught in the blast, which killed it instantly. And when it landed on the surface of the water, the body was flattened like a pancake. It was a grisly sight.
'Screw you!' he chucked the dead beast back into the water. His friends burst into laughter at his expense.
"Look at this!" Slade exclaimed. Somehow, he managed to pick up another treasure, this time a gem in the form of an iridescent round pearl.
'Damn, why is my luck so bad?' Harry swore. If only he could –
"Hey, has anyone ever entered the underwater fissure?" Harry blurted out as soon as the thought crossed his mind.
His friends abruptly stopped chatting and stared at him like he was crazy.
"James, where do you get these ridiculous ideas from?" Shaun asked in wonder.
"What do you mean? I think it's a reasonable idea, right? You could just go inside and take whatever treasures you want."
"James – no! What if the seamount erupted while you were inside? You'd be shot out and launched a mile into the air, then die on impact when you land on the sea! You'd end up like that fish you just picked up!"
"Obviously, I don't mean right now. I mean, what about when the seamount isn't erupting? It only erupts for two days every couple of decades. There's plenty of time for people to explore it in between eruptions," Harry clarified.
"Well, plenty of people have tried it before," Sam admitted. "In the past, brave, or maybe stupid, people have dived down there. Most were never seen again, probably ended up in the belly of a Magic Beast. But there were one or two people who somehow made it there and managed to come back up – and even then, all they could do was bring back a few Ordinary Grade Natural Essences."
"That's it?" Harry blankly asked.
"Yeah, that was all they could get. Since there's so much pressure down there, it's difficult for humans to exert their strength. They couldn't even break off Earth Grade treasures, and had to settle for the Ordinary Grade ones. Besides, the only people who've managed to come back are those in the Core Formation Realm. The tiny profit they got simply wasn't worth the danger!"
"Alright, I guess it'd be pretty stupid to do it. Relax, I'm not going to try it," Harry conceded and dropped the topic. It was just an impulsive question, and the more he thought about it, the worse of an idea it seemed to be.
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream sounded from behind him. Their group whirled around, only to see a bone-chilling sight.
On one of the rafts not too far away, a group of cultivators were under attack by a group of grindylows. They had silently breached the surface, and then swarmed the humans on their boat. Only one of them had time to scream before being dragged down into the depths, and Harry only managed to see a glimpse of him before he disappeared under the waves.
By the time the nearby cultivators were able to get there, it was already over. A whole group of humans had just vanished.
What caused people more panic was, further out in the distance, there were two more empty rafts, devoid of any humans. It didn't take a genius to realize the grindylows got to them first – before they even got a chance to scream. Due to everyone being focused on the treasures, nobody noticed their disappearance.
"That's not good," Shaun muttered. "The beasts are attacking despite our numbers. We have to be more vigilant."
Everyone nodded, and spread around the raft, making sure to keep an eye out on all directions. Groups of disciples started clustering together, to provide a better sense of safety. The relaxing, expectant atmosphere was abruptly gone.
Without warning, on the other side of the sea, another dozen grindylows leapt out onto a boat of Swan Sea Sect Outer Disciples. The disciples yelled in surprise and managed to put up somewhat of a fight – but before the Elders could intervene, two of them were captured and dragged into the water, kicking and screaming. They vanished under the waves, and the waters were still again.
The Elders looked with grim expressions, and the surviving disciples on the boat looked sick. Everybody heightened their vigilance – those two unfortunate disciples could very easily have been them.
"Disciples, group up and watch each other's backs," one Elder called out. "Remember there was just recently a Beast Surge. There's no telling what other beasts might come out, but they are definitely more aggressive than usual."
A tense hour and a half later, and after a few more grindylow guerilla attacks, the third eruption occurred. It was no less astounding than the first two, but this time, Harry's luck was even worse. No objects at all landed near their raft, and they all ended up empty-handed. But across the Swan Sea, Harry could see people excitedly holding up small, fist-sized chunks of blue crystals.
'They must be the Natural Essences,' Harry noted. They indeed looked similar to Qi Crystals, except radiated a gentle blue light. Instead of Metal Qi, he imagined they were condensed from pure Water Qi. He longed to get his hands on one during the next eruption.
Actually, more than that, he wanted Earth Grade treasures. With the Nameless Technique's consumption, he just knew he would need thousands, at least, of Ordinary Grade crystals to complete Washing Marrow. How was he supposed to collect that many? His only hope was to collect Earth Grade treasures instead. Hopefully, he'd only need a few dozen of those.
A series of loud splashing noises interrupted his thoughts, which were followed by cries of alarm.
'Is it erupting again?' Harry got up. But something didn't seem right – the last eruption just occurred, and these noises were coming from the distance. He looked towards the sound, and the sight made his blood freeze.
From the far end of the Swan Sea, near the area the New Port Sect had claimed, an enormous thing was emerging from the water. At first Harry bizarrely thought it was part of a very long and thick rope, until he realized it was actually a Magic Beast – a snake-like creature with no limbs. It was over 100 meters long, and Harry couldn't even see its full body. Perhaps another 100 meters were hidden underneath the waves. It was pitch black, the color of night, and torrents of water splashed off its slimy body as it rose above the sea level, towering over the gathered cultivators.
'What the hell is that?' he scrambled backwards, even though the beast was on the other side of the sea. 'A snake?'
Harry's jaw dropped open as more and more of the creature emerged. Last to appear was the creature's head, which slowly rose out the Swan Sea. It was flat, and large, very large, with numerous crisscrossing scars and two beady eyes on the sides. Two caverns, big enough for Harry to comfortably crawl through, were situated at the front of the head. With a start, Harry realized they were the nostrils. Two huge fins, larger than the boat he was standing on, was on either side of the head. And the creature's mouth was an enormous crack on the scarred head, large enough to swallow a dozen humans in a single bite.
Finally, someone recognized the creature.
"It's a Deep-Sea Cave Eel! How did it grow so large?"
"Holy shit! That thing lives in the Swan Sea?" Shaun gasped. Not just him, but many people felt their legs go weak from being so close to such a beast.
The Magic Beast opened its mouth, and revealed rows upon rows of sharp fangs. It looked like the inside of a cavern, one full of stalagmites and stalactites, and its orb-like eyes stared at the cultivators down below, in search for a meal.
From its long throat, a high-pitched sound wave rang out. It was the loudest thing Harry had ever heard, and sounded like nails on a chalkboard. He clapped his hand over his ears, wincing in pain. Along with the sound came an immense pressure that locked the surroundings place, the kind that only one at the Core Formation Realm could emanate. If the cultivators weren't already paralyzed with fear, this would definitely do it.
Then without warning, the beast struck. Its head shot towards the water like a lightning bolt, and its jaws closed with a loud SNAP! An entire clan of cultivators had been floating there, petrified with fear, but when the Deep-Sea Cave Eel returned to its original position, only bits and pieces of their raft remained. As for the humans… the eel simply gulped, and a bulge traveled along its body.
"Let's get out of here!" Slade screamed. Nobody disagreed. Panic settled in as everyone yelled in terror and turned away, pushing their boats back to the shore at the maximum possible speed.
Obviously, this was a Heaven Grade beast. Only a Heaven Grade beast could grow this large, and of the gathered cultivators, there were only two people who could possibly put up a fight. For everyone else, they could only run away. The surface of the Swan Sea quickly devolved into chaos.
But even as Harry looked towards the Sect Master, another figure charged forwards.
"Mine!" Macnair roared. His eyes were bloodshot red, and he leapt towards the enormous eel. Perhaps it was due to losing two Heaven Grade Beast Cores to the Sect Master, but he had a crazed look as he attacked the beast.
"This beast is mine! Anyone who interferes will die!" he repeated.
The head of the eel was at least 40 meters above the Swan Sea, but Macnair reached that height in one leap. At the same time, he withdrew his battle-axe. It swished through the air, and Macnair sent all six tons of it thundering down towards the beast.
In response, the eel creature opened its cavernous mouth, and crunched down upon the weapon. To Harry's shock, it actually caught the enormous battle-axe between its jaws, and with a violent twist of its serpentine body, both beast and man smashed into the Swan Sea. Its tail came out the water, and whipped down hard against the surface – right on top of another group of cultivators. Dozens of screams rang out, until they were abruptly silenced.
When Macnair disappeared underneath the waves, Harry's heart skipped a beast.
'Did – did Macnair die?' he thought with a faint sliver of hope.
"Those beasts use sound attacks to paralyze their prey," he heard someone yelling. "Sound travels faster underwater, so its attacks are even more powerful!"
'Oh please, kill Macnair,' Harry fervently prayed. 'Better yet, come back out and finish off the Ivory Fist Clan too…'
But then he saw the water frothing, and suddenly, a man encased in a high-quality metal armor shot out the sea. The figure was standing in the eel's mouth, using its arms and legs to prop the massive jaw open. Metal buckled as it fought against the crushing pressure –
"Attack it, you fools!" Macnair's voice rang out from within the metal armor, and three figures from the New Port Sect leapt into action. They were the two Elders of the New Port Sect, along with Theodore Nott, who took out their weapons and immediately landed attacks on the eel's side. Although the eel was a massive creature, it had one weakness – once its mouth was occupied, it was defenseless. The attacks struck the eel's body, leaving deep gashes where blood readily flowed out.
The eel screeched in pain, opening its mouth and allowing Macnair to leap free. The resulting soundwave paralyzed everyone once again, and the beast thrashed its long body across the sea. Its tail swept left and right, knocking over dozens of boats and hundreds of cultivators. Being struck by a Heaven Grade beast, even casually, was a death sentence. Just a swing of its tail was enough to smash weaker cultivators into bloody paste.
But no one from the New Port Sect seemed to care about the casualties they indirectly caused.
The two Elders and Nott struck again, carving another set of wounds onto the massive body. And the beast screamed in pain again, convulsing across the Swan Sea and injuring or outright killing another score of fleeing cultivators.
"Your Beast Core is mine!" Macnair screamed, and sent his axe crashing down with all his might.
This time, the eel didn't intercept it. The creature's head was directly chopped off, and fell to the Swan Sea with an enormous splash. The body stood erect for a few seconds, swaying back and forth, with red blood pouring out of its gaping neck, until it finally fell onto the sea with a thunderous crash. As the body landed, huge tidal waves spread from the impact point, soaking those who hadn't managed to flee quickly enough.
'Holy shit,' Harry stood frozen in terror. A few weeks ago, when the octopus beast came out, the Sect Master defeated it rather easily. At that time, he thought he had witnessed true strength. But as it turned out, Macnair was even stronger, or at least, he was more brutal with his attacks. It was hard to tell whether he or the eel was the beast.
'That's Macnair's true strength! He's powerful enough to physically grapple with a Heaven Grade Magic Beast!' he thought glumly. Across the Swan Sea, many others had the same thought.
It wasn't just his brute strength, but also his battle experience. It was obvious that Macnair had a lot of it. He immediately realized the eel's strongest point was the mouth, and he put himself there to stop it from closing. While he did so, the two Elders and Nott coordinated with each other to attack. They didn't even need to plan anything beforehand. It was clear they all had experience fighting together before.
"This corpse belongs to the New Port Sect!" Macnair immediately yelled across the sea. "Anyone else who touches it will be killed! Disciples, haul the body to land!"
Actually, that threat was unnecessary. Who was going to try to arrest this corpse from Macnair?
The corpse of a Heaven Grade beast was a precious treasure, far more precious than the Ordinary Grade or even Earth Grade Natural Essences that would appear. In fact, those Natural Essences were like trash when compared to this beast. Not to mention the Beast Core, every part of its body from the skin to flesh to bones could be sold for an incredible price.
The disciples of the New Port Sect cheered as they positioned themselves along the long corpse, and headed towards the shore. The rest of the cultivators just stared uneasily as the sect left, watching the leviathan being dragged away. They left behind dozens, perhaps hundreds, of dead cultivators behind them.
Later that night, Harry returned to his dorm. After the eel was killed, although the body was collected, it was impossible to gather the blood that dispersed through the sea. The stench attracted countless Magic Beasts to the area, and it was too dangerous to continue staying there. There was no choice but to go home, and come back the next day.
The first day of the treasure eruptions was a bust. He didn't get anything valuable, in fact, the only winners were the New Port Sect. Everyone else dejectedly left.
'Tomorrow,' he vowed as he drifted asleep. 'Tomorrow, I'll get some treasures no matter what.'
He was having a dream, an unpleasant one. He was running, sprinting as fast as he could from four shadowy figures chasing him. The surroundings were wet, and he felt like he was wading through water. When he looked down, he realized he was slogging through a swamp, and his legs felt like lead. The more he urged them to move, the slower he became. Every step he took was like lifting an enormous weight, like trying to move through honey. When he glanced behind him, he saw his pursuers were right there.
The one on the right turned out to be Macnair, by his side was Theodore Nott, next to Nott was the Patriarch of the Ivory Fist Clan, and then on the far left was Noah from the Alchemy Hall. The four of them were staring at him with identical expressions of hatred, the same face mirrored on all four of their heads.
"James, die!" they yelled as one.
Before he could even struggle, each of them grabbed a part of his body. Collectively, they pushed him under the swamp water. He was choking, squirming, struggling to breath, but all he inhaled was a mouthful of murky water. The nasty, brackish fluid was entering his throat and flooding his lungs – and when his lungs finally gave out, he woke up with a gasp and shot out of bed.
'A – a nightmare?' he muttered, and heaved out a sigh of relief. But there was something about that dream that was just too real, too frightening for him to let it blissfully slip away into his subconscious.
He took deep breaths, just as the first rays of light were peeking through his window. He looked out towards where he knew the Swan Sea and its treasures and dangers alike to be.
'Not a dream,' he decided. 'An omen.'