“Splash, splash…”

Though the formation was set, the sea breeze still blew and waves rippled across the surface.

The faces of Jian Chou and the others showed the same rigid expression as Jiang Wenchao: eating soil—could dragons have some ambition?!!

Everyone’s dull gazes fell on the black dragon in the sea.

The terrifying dragon roar gradually grew low, actually carrying a strange sobbing quality. It frantically shook its head while looking around, and when its huge dragon eyes saw the thin red “gauze” surrounding it from all sides in the sky, it was so frightened that even its tail tip curled up.

Coiling its body, it immediately hugged itself into a ball, shivering.

This appearance had an indescribable pitifulness.

Little Jin looked and immediately forgot to eat his watermelon, mumbling: “It looks so scared…”

“Yeah…”

Though feeling that a black dragon wanting to go underground to eat soil seemed incredibly unbelievable, but…

Looking at this dragon’s curled up and trembling appearance, it really didn’t seem fake—utterly timid.

Left Liu finally suppressed his twitching mouth corner and said: “Our gathering’s second trial is hunting this thing?”

Jiang Wenchao remained silent.

Jian Chou secretly sighed: who told them the rule designer this time was Fudao Shanren?

Looking at that black dragon, she also felt like she couldn’t bear to watch.

Finally shifting her gaze away, Jian Chou looked at Jiang Wenchao: “We…”

Jiang Wenchao turned his head.

Meeting his still emotionless gaze, Jian Chou immediately felt ashamed: why did she suddenly feel that being Fudao Shanren’s first disciple was actually quite embarrassing?

No, no, she couldn’t think this way.

Jian Chou immediately dispelled all absurd thoughts from her mind, coughed, and said with some bitter smile: “When Young Master Ruhua and I encountered this black dragon before, it was roughly in this state. It cannot adapt to its new identity and doesn’t seem to want to adapt either. Please, Fellow Daoist Jiang, communicate with it and see if there’s any solution.”

First, this black dragon wasn’t a black dragon in the usual sense, and its combat power was still unknown. Being able to win would naturally be good, but if they could pass this trial without bloodshed, wouldn’t that be even better?

Second, it retained the earthworm’s nature, only wanting to return underground to eat soil.

Fudao Shanren now only had Soul Departure cultivation. Moving mountains and filling seas might be possible, but Jian Chou felt that turning an earthworm into a black dragon probably exceeded the limits of a Soul Departure cultivator—there must be some other mystery.

If they could communicate, they might obtain some useful information.

Jiang Wenchao naturally understood Jian Chou’s meaning.

He had previous experience communicating with fish. After brief consideration, he suppressed the strange feeling from hearing a black dragon roar about wanting to eat soil and said: “I’ll do my best.”

Heaven knew what kind of communication this would be.

Honestly, walking toward the edge of the red “gauze” barrier formed by the formation, Jiang Wenchao felt a strange sense of “facing death with resolve.”

“Why do I feel Fellow Daoist Jiang’s back looks so tragic?”

Left Liu propped his chin with one hand, couldn’t help tapping it, and started thinking.

Little Jin looked at Jiang Wenchao’s back, then at the still terrified and motionless black dragon ahead: “Maybe because he feels he’s about to communicate with an earthworm, so it’s tragic?”

Hey hey!

Hearing this conversation, Jian Chou felt sweat on her forehead: nothing had happened yet, but you’ve already characterized it as “tragic,” and you’ve even arranged the reason?

Was it…

That exaggerated?

Jian Chou helplessly watched Jiang Wenchao’s back—his wide maple-red robes blown by the wind as he walked toward the deep blue sea…

Uh, alright.

Maybe influenced by Little Jin and Jiang Wenchao, it did seem a little bit…

In a moment, Jiang Wenchao had reached the formation’s edge.

This formation was set up jointly by Jian Chou and Young Master Ruhua. Cultivators could freely enter and exit; it restricted beings like the black dragon that resembled “demon cultivators.”

He didn’t continue forward, stopping his steps.

Making a hand seal, his brow immediately flashed with light.

Speaking with Fish.

Quietly activated.

The moment the Dao seal activated, everyone behind felt a mysterious aura envelop Jiang Wenchao.

He still stood on the sea, but suddenly didn’t seem like a “person” anymore.

Or rather…

He seemed like everything.

If you thought of him as human, he was human; if you thought of him as fish, he was fish; if you thought of him as dragon, he was dragon…

What the heart conceived, the eye perceived.

Or rather, whatever Jiang Wenchao thought himself to be, that’s what he was.

All things in the world, all beings of heaven and earth, were within the transformations of his aura.

The various techniques of the Middle Domain’s Tongling Pavilion were originally closely related to many spiritual and demon cultivators. Jiang Wenchao using this “Speaking with Fish” Dao seal was quite natural.

Even having used it only a few times, Jian Chou could already glimpse some hidden composure in his figure and aura.

The genius who once showed his brilliance had become much more restrained after thirty years of hardship.

What would she herself look like after thirty years?

This thought suddenly crossed her mind, and Jian Chou inexplicably smiled.

The moment she saw Jiang Wenchao activate his Dao seal, her left hand had already assumed the starting position of a hand seal.

With just a thought, she could activate a Dao seal—possibly Deep Sea Binding, possibly Water Void Escape, possibly Island Control, or possibly some other seal…

“Buzz.”

The battle disc, expanded to a staggering two zhang and four chi, spun open with an almost arrogant aura.

Strong winds rose, lifting her black hair, and beneath her seemingly gentle expression, three parts coldness was hidden.

Pointing her right hand to her brow, Jian Chou pulled, and the Ghost Axe was already in her grasp, ready for battle.

She was the one with the highest combat power among them all. Since all current plans came from her, she naturally should be fully prepared.

Jiang Wenchao’s cultivation wasn’t low, but one must guard against the unexpected.

She said nothing more, no distracting thoughts in her mind, only watching the black dragon in the formation.

Little Jin and Left Liu also stopped joking.

Though Young Master Ruhua across from them was invisible, one could guess he was closely monitoring the situation.

Throughout Kunwu’s main peak, countless people had grown curious: what kind of communication result could they achieve?

Jiang Wenchao’s expression was completely calm, his aura suddenly changing to somewhat resemble the black dragon.

A strand of spiritual consciousness separated from his mind, floating invisibly and lightly outward.

Humans and insects, fish, birds, and beasts don’t share language. Cultivators without high cultivation and spiritual essences and demons can’t communicate through spiritual consciousness. Only after crossing the Soul Departure threshold do cultivators, having refined their hearts and comprehended heaven and earth’s rules, evolve their spiritual consciousness, allowing communication with all species through spiritual consciousness.

But the current Jiang Wenchao obviously lacked this ability.

This “Speaking with Fish” Dao seal provided him an opportunity to experience a Soul Departure cultivator’s abilities in advance.

That feeling was truly mysterious beyond description.

He felt he still stood in place, yet another self had already touched a new world, even reaching before that black dragon, seeing curled within that massive dragon head a…

Thin, small earthworm.

Compared to that gigantic body, this faint shadow appeared so weak and humble.

His spiritual consciousness extended like a thread, finally reaching out to gently touch the small earthworm’s shadow.

In that instant, like stars suddenly exploding in the night sky, Jiang Wenchao’s whole body shook, his eyes becoming vacant.

Behind him, Jian Chou’s hand tightened, nearly rushing forward with her axe.

Fortunately, the next moment Jiang Wenchao still stood steadily.

The only difference was his figure trembling slightly, while the previously trembling black dragon suddenly stiffened, its sobbing dragon roar immediately stopping, its huge dragon eyes showing a dull feeling.

“Buzz.”

In that moment, mysterious aura actually spread outward with Jiang Wenchao and the black dragon as centers, like a drop of ink spreading.

No one spoke, maintaining absolute silence throughout the Void Sea.

Under the watchful eyes of Jian Chou and the others, Jiang Wenchao made no sound, while the black dragon, after initial calm, began constantly retreating in fear…

The entire communication process lasted quite a while. Jian Chou remained focused throughout.

She could endure it, but Left Liu and Little Jin couldn’t.

One yawned, the other simply took out a watermelon and somehow produced a small iron spoon from his animal skin vest, cut through the watermelon’s thin green skin, scooped out a piece of red flesh, and put it in his mouth.

“Delicious…”

Even Young Master Ruhua, who had been waiting on the opposite side, moved to Jian Chou’s side when no one was looking.

Watching time tick by while Jiang Wenchao and the black dragon in the formation maintained their strange calm, he finally couldn’t hold back and spoke: “Fellow Daoist Jian Chou, do you think our Fellow Daoist Jiang, after such a deep soul-level exchange with this harmless and cute little earthworm, might abandon us to work alone?”

“…”

This voice appeared suddenly, right beside Jian Chou, like speaking directly in her ear with a bit of warm breath that happened to hit her earlobe.

Bone-chilling!

Jian Chou felt her whole body stiffen, the next moment her mouth twitched, and she unhesitatingly swung her axe!

“Swoosh!”

Fiercely swinging it sideways!

“Bang!”

Though the Ghost Axe carried no spiritual power, it still generated tremendous force, splitting the sea surface ahead into giant waves.

“Oh my, oh my, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou really doesn’t show any tender feelings, actually using an axe on this young master. This young master just casually suspected Jiang Wenchao a bit, right? It’s true that new clothes aren’t as good as old, new people aren’t as good as old friends. It’s all because I met you too late, making your heart grow crooked!”

A half-resentful voice, carrying contrived lingering fear, sounded from diagonally above Jian Chou.

In that instant, Jian Chou’s vision nearly went black.

At a time like this, couldn’t he be serious?

“Young Master Ruhua…”

“You call Jiang Wenchao ‘Fellow Daoist Jiang’ but call me ‘Young Master Ruhua’—so… Finally having a chance to be invisible, able to steal a small kiss, yet Fellow Daoist Jian Chou won’t even give me this opportunity. If you don’t mention it, who would know I just kissed you, right?”

“Cough cough cough!”

Left Liu, who had been lost in thought, nearly choked on his own saliva!

“Pff!”

Little Jin, still eating watermelon, was so startled by this statement that he spat out all the watermelon in his mouth!

Jian Chou stood there, stunned.

“Hahaha…”

The invisible Young Master Ruhua in mid-air suddenly burst into laughter.

“Your expressions are so vivid, so amusing, hahaha…”

Though unseen, his voice was heard.

Jian Chou’s face gradually darkened, grinding her teeth as she spoke coldly: “Fellow Daoist Left Liu…”

“Ah?”

Left Liu was startled, still immersed in thoughts of “did he kiss her or not,” “invisibility has such uses,” and “this is a real scoundrel, I’m still far behind.” Suddenly hearing Jian Chou’s words, his heart jumped, somehow feeling cold.

Jian Chou smiled slightly: “Seeing Fellow Daoist Jiang and the little black dragon communicating so pleasantly, there shouldn’t be any danger. Please, Fellow Daoist Left Liu, remove Young Master Ruhua’s invisibility seal…”

Remove it.

Remove it.

“Hahaha—”

Like being slapped, the previously lazy and seductive laughter abruptly stopped.