Chapter 424: Undersea Army

Ocean Mother Nest.

Inside the cockpit of the Deep Sea Monster Fish.

A magic projection unfolded before the fishman youngster's eyes, revealing the landscape beyond the Ocean Mother Nest.

The fishman youngster's expression shifted dramatically!

The projection depicted an undersea valley.

In dim light, a colossal magic formation occupied the entire valley. Even the cliff walls were carved with countless magic runes, tracing intricate lines of the formation.

Ocean Mother Nest lay concealed within one cliff face, the one bearing the most intricate patterns of runes and lines.

Beneath this wall stood an altar constructed from countless bones.

These skeletal remains belonged to various sea beasts, the massive bones of whales, the fearsome teeth of sharks, turtle shells, and more.

This was no simple assembly. Alchemy techniques had been applied, harmonizing the essence of every bone into a unified whole, achieving a gold level quality.

A gold level altar.

Upon it stood an octopusman priestess clad in ceremonial robes.

Her body resembled that of a human, yet her neck bore an octopus head. She had no hair, two eyes, no distinct nose bridge, but a large mouth. From her chin as the horizontal line, a ring of numerous fine octopus tentacles grew around her face, extending to the back of her head, serving as a beard.

The octopusman priestess's head was milky white, her eyes pink. Her chest was swollen, marking her as a female octopus.

What unsettled the fishman youngster most was the aura emanating from this octopusman.

Her life aura was unconcealed; she was unmistakably a saint level being! Not only that, but her life aura also carried traces of divine spells and magic. This indicated the saint level octopusman cultivated both divine spells and magic power.

At that moment, she was inspecting the altar, her expression utterly focused and serious.

Standing beside her was another octopusman.

This octopusman was very small, seemingly underage, barely reaching 1.5 meters in height.

The fishman youngster observed: This octopusman's body had a grayish-white skin tone, but his octopus head was a deep, dark green.

Though short, his body was stocky, with bulging, rock-hard muscles that gave the impression of solid marble. His chin tentacles were particularly robust, though far fewer in number than those of the saint level octopusman priestess.

This octopusman made no effort to conceal his life aura, he was a gold level fighter.

His octopus head was enormous, especially when the tentacles spread out like an umbrella canopy, creating a disproportionately large head on a small body.

His tentacles were clearly well-trained; the four largest were each coiled around a weapon, an axe, a halberd, a knife, and a spear.

Fully armored and heavily armed, his gaze swept constantly around him. He was likely the bodyguard of the saint level octopusman.

Besides the octopusman priestess atop the altar and the octopusman guards below it, numerous other intelligent sea creatures surrounded the altar.

Fishmen were the most numerous, followed by octopusmen. The fishman youngster also glimpsed nagas, mermaids, and even sea giants within the magic projection.

It was hard to imagine so many different races of undersea sentient beings gathered in one place.

Some had constructed coral dwellings, others lived in caves within the valley walls, while still others simply sat cross-legged on the ground or slept under the open sky.

Mortals comprised roughly half the gathering, while transcendents were exceptionally numerous! Bronze level, iron level, silver level, and even gold level.

From the magic projection alone, the fishman youngster had already spotted three other gold level beings!

Most of these intelligent sea creatures were gathered around the altar, kneeling in prayer. Their number was approximately 300.

Gradually, more and more gathered around the altar, joining the ranks of the praying.

When the number reached about 500, a sudden clamor erupted.

Then, ripples spread through the water as a massive school of fish and sea beasts were driven into the valley.

The fish included groupers, lanternfish, manta rays, whales, sharks, and more. Among the sea beasts, the most numerous were the sharp-clawed water monkeys.

The intrusion of the fish and sea beasts did not cause chaos in the valley. The inner circle of believers remained utterly still, immersed in their prayers, undisturbed.

This massive swarm of fish and sea beasts was driven directly onto the altar.

Presiding over the scene was yet another octopusman.

Compared to the previous two, his form was the most colossal.

His octopus tentacles were exceptionally thick, two in front and two behind, extended downward like four massive arms.

His true arms resembled tree trunks, their dark skin adorned with vivid red patterns that bloomed like countless flowers.

These crimson floral designs covered not only his arms but also the surfaces of his four octopus tentacles.

This octopusman who had driven the fish and sea beasts into the valley bowed to the saint level octopusman, seemingly reporting something: “Jlglu...”

“Gulujili,” the saint level octopusman replied with a slight wave of her hand.

The escorting octopusman then bowed and withdrew.

The fishman youngster couldn't understand them, let alone the lesser-known octopus language. Fortunately, their conversation was recorded by the Deep Sea Monster Fish, and the tower spirit could translate it later.

He continued observing.

The sea beasts and fish schools were herded toward the altar.

The massive magic circle activated, its blinding radiance ultimately surging into the altar.

The altar erupted with a powerful gravitational pull, drawing the sea beasts and fish toward it. They slammed violently against the altar, instantly crushed to death.

The gold level altar was exceptionally sturdy.

The sea beasts and fish surged like waves, shattering into countless blood-red splatters, while the altar stood immovable as a reef.

The corpses of the slain sea beasts and fish rapidly dissolved, flesh and blood vanishing, leaving only bones behind.

The diverse bones began moving of their own accord, assembling themselves with the golden altar to make it even larger and more solid.

Occasionally, ghostly apparitions of fish or sea beasts appeared, only to be instantly scattered by the divine light radiating from the altar.

“This is a blood sacrifice!”

“Moreover, this isn't a pure magic formation.” The fishman youngster's expression grew grave as the formation activated, surging with countless sacred runes. He even discerned a prayer inscribed in layers of divine script.

“A formation combining divine spell and magic!”

“Five gold level octopusmen and a saint level priestess!”

“Over thirty silver level, more than a hundred iron level, and at least two hundred bronze level!”

“This is a mixed-species undersea army.”

Racial barriers were commonplace; under normal circumstances, such a large-scale coalition would never be formed. But considering they appear to share the same faith, their gathering becomes plausible.

“But what exactly are they doing here?”

“Why the blood sacrifice?”

"And to whom is it addressing? Could it be the Charming Blue Goddess?"

Watching the magic projection before him, the fishman youngster felt his doubts lessen significantly, only to be replaced by many more.

“Regardless, I'm fortunate I didn't transform into a ghost and leave the Mother Nest.” The fishman youngster felt relieved.

Had he done so earlier, he would likely have been discovered the moment he surfaced.

A massive magic formation surrounded the Ocean Mother Nest, guarded by a united army of undersea races. What the fishman youngster feared most was the saint level octopusman priestess.

Her clergy job must be at least that of a bishop.

The fishman youngster harbored no confidence that his Deceptive Disguise spell could conceal him from such an entity.

Since emerging from the Mystifying Monster Island, the survivors had never faced such a trial; they had never attempted it.

In truth, the octopusman priestess posed a far greater threat than usual. The reason was simple: she was orchestrating a blood sacrifice!

This was an offering and ritual to a deity.

A ceremony of such immense scale would inevitably draw the attention of the gods.

The fishman youngster had no confidence in deceiving a saint level priestess, let alone a deity.

“Is there a connection between this saint level priestess and the saint level sea beast in the Mother Nest?”

“The teleportation must be related!”

The fishman youngster spotted some “familiar faces” among the praying crowd. These familiar faces were precisely the fishman who had teleported in during the previous incident and ultimately departed via teleportation.

“So, what should we do next?”

With this intelligence, the fishman youngster suddenly felt his situation was dire.

He had previously envisioned shattering the Ocean Mother Nest to distract the saint level sea beast with potential external sea beast swarms, allowing the Deep Sea Monster Fish to escape.

But now, that plan was suicide!

The sea beast swarms might be low-intelligence creatures, but the mixed naval forces surrounding them were almost entirely sentient beings.