Goblin Dependency

At the same time, the stiffness after the water jet would create a perfect moment for Xia Nan to strike, using a [Gravity Etching] to completely take down the opponent.

But unexpectedly, under Xia Nan’s gaze, in the moment before the water was about to jet out from the Shark Beast’s mouth, a sly glint suddenly flashed in its murky fish eyes.

The Shark Beast, aiming at Xia Nan, abruptly lowered its head!

It redirected the water jet from Xia Nan’s body to the ground beneath its feet.

"Boom!!!"

The high-pressure condensed water hit the beach, and the powerful impact almost instantly created a massive depression beneath the Shark Beast’s feet.

At the same time, the Shark Beast’s short, stocky limbs bent for leverage, its body center shifted back, and in the moment the water was jetted out, it forcefully leapt up.

Its legs left the ground.

The strength from its leg muscles combined with the impact of the water jet.

The achieved effect was the heavy, robust body of the Shark Beast transforming into a grayish-blue robust shadow, flying backward like a bomb towards the sea behind.

It wanted to escape!

The previous encounters with Shark Beasts all fought to the end; Xia Nan never expected that the opponent had the possibility of escape.

Nonetheless, in the instant the water jetted out and the opponent’s feet left the ground, he immediately reacted.

Perhaps the sea is the opponent’s main stage, but with the [Abyssal Stream] armor enhancement, his underwater combat abilities were also significantly enhanced.

There’s no reason to let such a severely injured enemy escape before him, adding unnecessary risks to his future adventures.

Howl——

A wolf’s howl exploded in the air.

The Shark Beast and Black Wolf, almost one after the other, plunged into the sea.

Leaving behind the Furious Tide Battle Gang and Wind Forger, two adventurer teams, tensely confronting each other on the beach.

...

...

Stodd core area of "Thousand Pile Island."

Crossing the shallow sea and beach, crossing the extending wooden platforms, arriving at the center of Stodd Island.

The noise brought by the adventurers dissipated into the cold forest wind depths.

Replaced by the rustling sound of leaves and the unfamiliar quiet insect chirping.

Sturdy Water Iron Wood trees rose from the ground, their dense canopy blocking the scorching sunlight above, casting deep shadows on the leaf-covered ground.

Thanks to the protection from the Piledwellers, this forest located at the island’s core has almost become a sacred place on Stodd Island, with strict prohibition on logging, and visitors from outside are not even allowed to enter.

Having grown for countless years, the trunks of these Water Iron Woods are so thick that they require several people to encircle them. Their bark color has evolved into a nearly ink-black dark brown, the surface is full of textured cracks that, against the occasional sunlight filtering through the leaves, faintly reveal a metallic sheen.

"Shaa..."

Alongside the subtle rustling sound of some slender hard object dragging against the ground.

A very tall figure was leisurely passing through this ancient wooded land.

At first glance, it seemed like just the most common human traveler.

A dark travel cloak covered the head, the shadow of the hood brim concealed half the face, revealing a clear jawline and neck contours, and the movement was accompanied by a faint metallic sound from armor clashing beneath the cloak.

But getting a little closer and observing carefully, the anomalies distinguishing them from ordinary humans could no longer be hidden.

It was the hem of the cloak swaying back and forth with the body’s movement, revealing half-transparent flesh scales on the back of the hands;

It was the strands of dense white-gold colored hair poking out from the inner side of the hood, like animal mane;

It was those amber vertical pupils flickering in and out of view under the shadow, slowly contracting and expanding with the surrounding light strength.

And that long tail extending from the edge of the cloak, arranged with fine white-gold scales, swaying rhythmically left and right with each step.

— A Dragon Descendant!

Like Sarisa, with a thin bloodline, possessing only flesh scales on the body surface and those vertical pupils, in appearance, otherwise indistinguishable from humans.

However, compared to that, the long tail trailing behind, with its intense presence, clearly marked his racial identity.

"Snap."

The heavy tail swept over a dry branch, breaking with a crisp sound.

Occasionally brushing over the spots of light amidst the forest, faintly seen was a streak of green like sea algae in the gaps between the tight-packed white-gold scales on the tail.

It’s precisely this distinctive feature that earned this Dragon Descendant the title known throughout the Southern Islands for many years:

— "Algae Scale" Dodd.

As of now, it’s been several minutes since he received news about the Sha Hua Fishman attacking the port.

Having firmly controlled the whole Stodd Island, with the well-established information channels, he received the intelligence within minutes after the incident occurred.

Not just the port docks, reports of Fishmen landing on Stodd Island’s coasts are flooding in.

I must admit, his planned strategy was somewhat disrupted.

The Moon Tide Banquet is the day during the entire Sea Rhythm Festival when the Magic Particles in the air are most active.

That’s also why he chose that day as the ritual date.

Dodd indeed reached a deal with the Sha Hua Fishmen; he would hand over the adventurers drawn to the island by the Moon Tide Banquet as offerings, in exchange for a sufficient supply of Deep Sea Resonating Stones from the Fishmen side.

But just as he never intended to fulfill his promise from the beginning, the Fishmen obviously had no intention of waiting until the banquet ended to take action.

He was well aware of this beforehand.

With some regret in his heart that the Magic Particles in the air did not have time to reach the peak on the banquet day, but the difference of a few days, even though the effect might slightly decrease, had still met the ritual’s requirements.

"Uuh..."

His chest heaved, a peculiar sound echoed between his slightly parted lips, somewhere between a human sigh and a reptile’s gurgle.

Dodd halted his steps.

Quietly raised his chin slightly, his amber vertical pupils gazed ahead.

In his sight, a round clearing surprisingly appeared in the dense forest.

As if some invisible force was present, fallen leaves and dry branches were kept outside.

Under the bright sunlight, the ground was a soft, verdant sward.

In the center of the clearing stood a bizarrely shaped small pavilion.

It was woven from six Water Iron Woods.

As if purposefully guided by some force since sapling, these Water Iron Woods grew close together, intertwined, and fused, with sturdy roots paving the ground, distorted tree trunks forming support pillars and beams, the pavilion’s asymmetrical dome crafted from branches and needles.

Numerous intricate symbols were carved on the pavilion’s floor and both sides of the tree trunks, like ancient talisman patterns; adorned in the middle were clusters of translucent dark blue crystals, rhythmically absorbing the Magic Power from the surroundings, glowing an iridescent blue with the array pattern connecting the crystals.

If there were any adventurers participating in the event present, they would immediately recognize, this was exactly the type of specially-processed Deep Sea Resonating Stone required by the event!

His gaze closely examined those embedded on the pavilion’s surface one by one. Based on the intensity of the Magic Radiance, confirmed they were fully charged.

"Algae Scale" Dodd stepped forward, went directly to the center of the pavilion.

Paused.

Lowered his eyelids, those hands with half-transparent flesh scales reached inward beneath the cloak, crossed and folded in front of the chest, as if holding something.

The lips moved slightly.

"Buzz..."

The Deep Sea Resonating Stones, normally pulsating with blue light, suddenly ceased their throbbing.

A brief pause.

Then, the light burst forth abruptly.

The bright blue light flowed along the array grooves etched on the Water Iron Wood surface, passing through the node formed by each resonating stone, converging towards where "Algae Scale" Dodd stood.

The shrill noise of high-frequency energy vibrations echoed through the woods.

"Boom!!!"

A dazzling beam of blue light shot forth from the pavilion’s center, piercing straight into the sky.

The clouds were pushed apart, concentric semi-transparent ripples expanded outwards from the tip of the beam, slowly drifting down.

Just like an inversely placed blue light dome, moving at a deceptively slow pace, but essentially inescapable, covering the entire island.