"Human, why do you slaughter my people!" Ling Tian could feel the communication coming directly from the spiritual world.
"What are you?" Ling Tian retorted impolitely through the spiritual world.
"I am the Lord of Aragawa!"
Ling Tian's heart skipped a beat. He had heard of this name before. It was a great yokai from Japanese legends during the Heian period, on par with Ibaraki-doji, whom he had recently defeated.
Ling Tian immediately became vigilant. Such an opponent would likely be difficult to deal with. His victory over Ibaraki-doji had been somewhat of a fluke, as Ibaraki-doji had just been summoned, had slept for a thousand years, and his energy was greatly depleted, far from recovered, when Ling Tian took him down.
However, the monster before him now appeared to be in its prime. Most importantly, this was on the water, the opponent's home turf!
"They attacked me without provocation, why can't I fight back?"
"Mortal, you dare to run rampant on my territory! In short, you killed my subordinates, so you must pay with your life!"
"If you want me to pay with my life, you'll have to see if you have the ability!" Ling Tian replied dismissively.
"Human, you have angered me. Die!"
Standing on the back of a green fish, Aragawa no Shuin suddenly extended his hand. A powerful surge of magical energy emanated from it. The next moment, something incredible happened. The previously calm water surface, like a zipper being pulled open, parted to the sides. In the center of this opening was the ice mountain where Ling Tian was located.
Without the support of the water, the ice mountain rapidly descended. Ling Tian watched in astonishment as the water parted, forming walls of water tens of meters high on either side of the ice mountain.
The ice mountain continued to descend, dropping nearly a hundred meters before slamming into the mud at the bottom of the water, shattering into pieces.
Fortunately, during the descent, Ling Tian had immediately recalled the Ice Soul Giant Bear into his spiritual realm. He then used several Wind Control Talismans to keep his body suspended in mid-air, thus preventing him from being smashed to smithereens along with the ice mountain.
However, at that moment, the water surface, which had been split like a zipper, suddenly closed. The walls of water on both sides pressed towards Ling Tian!
Considering Ling Tian was at the bottom of the water, nearly a hundred meters deep, the approaching walls of water could crush a person into a pulp.
Yet, Ling Tian remained calm and unhurried. He formed hand seals and cast a spell, instantly creating a cocoon-like air membrane around himself.
Immediately after, the walls of water pressed in, and the gap in the water surface was filled. However, Ling Tian's movements at the bottom of the water were not restricted in any way.
As the water flowed in, it was blocked by the invisible air membrane. Ling Tian could breathe freely within it and was not affected by the water pressure or resistance!
This spell was called the Dragon's Swim Technique. As the name suggested, it allowed a dragon to move freely underwater.
Above the water, Aragawa no Shuin was initially pleased. He believed that with this single move, he would be able to shatter that human and that terrifying giant bear into pieces.
After all, this was in the water, his home turf. He was the god of the water!
However, Aragawa no Shuin soon froze in place. He saw Ling Tian at the bottom of the water, with his hands behind his back, leisurely admiring the underwater scenery.
"Nani?" The great yokai could hardly believe his eyes. Although there had been many powerful humans in history, he had never encountered one like Ling Tian, who could disregard water pressure and remain so composed at a depth of nearly a hundred meters.
However, Aragawa no Shuin did not intend to let Ling Tian go. He immediately issued orders to his subordinates. Instantly, hundreds of killer crabs, each over a meter in diameter, dived into the water and floated towards Ling Tian.
Ling Tian did not dodge as before. He waited. When the group of killer crabs reached him, Ling Tian had a thought and summoned the Ice Soul Giant Bear once more.
The moment the Ice Soul Giant Bear appeared, a blue ice ring rapidly spread underwater. This time, the extreme cold aura was even more intense, engulfing a water area of forty to fifty meters.
In an instant, a new ice mountain formed at the bottom of the water, but this ice mountain was also filled with the corpses of various aquatic creatures.
Following this, due to buoyancy, the ice mountain rapidly ascended and soon reached the surface!
With a thought, Ling Tian immediately emerged from within the ice mountain onto its summit, facing Aragawa no Shuin from a distance of over fifty meters.
"Do you still intend to cause me trouble?" Ling Tian communicated directly with Aragawa no Shuin through the spiritual world!
"Mortal, do you know who you are speaking to!"
"What are you? You're just a water monster!"
After speaking, Ling Tian produced two Burst Fire Talismans. He injected his true essence into the talismans, and instantly, over twenty fist-sized fireballs flew towards Aragawa no Shuin!
"Baka!"
Aragawa no Shuin was enraged. He extended his hand, and a black steel fork about two meters long appeared in his grasp. The fork was entirely black and had two sharp heads, clearly an extraordinary item.
Aragawa no Shuin pointed the steel fork in his hand towards the water surface in front of him.
This time, the water surface suddenly rose, forming a wall of water.
The water wall of Aragawa no Shuin was nothing compared to that of Umi-bōzu. This water wall was as if the water surface had been cut in half with a single stroke, and then one half rose from beneath the surface!
The Burst Fire Talismans exploded upon hitting the water wall, releasing their energy and causing steam to billow. However, the sheer volume of water in the wall quickly extinguished the flames!
Aragawa no Shuin, in his fury, swiftly hurled the black steel fork in his hand towards Ling Tian!
The steel fork flew with incredible speed, arriving before Ling Tian like lightning. At that moment, Ling Tian produced his black katana, the Oni-kiri he had forged himself.
Ling Tian raised his sword and slashed horizontally. The katana contained a great deal of internal energy. With a loud clang, the steel fork was directly blocked by Ling Tian and fell back into the water!
At this point, Aragawa no Shuin had already cast a spell, and the steel fork that had fallen into the water disappeared. The steel fork reappeared in Aragawa no Shuin's hand.
It turned out that such a fork was condensed from Aragawa no Shuin's spiritual power!
Ling Tian's expression was also grave. Although he had deflected the attack, his arm felt incredibly sore and numb. He knew how powerful that steel fork was; it was certainly enough to inflict severe damage on him.
Ling Tian was now somewhat troubled. Fighting this monster in the water was simply too disadvantageous.
In the water, all of Aragawa no Shuin's spells were greatly enhanced. How could he possibly enjoy this?