Chapter 1 The Golden Beach

Although the flow of visitors has not been high recently, the appearance of sea snakes at Golden Beach has still attracted the attention of relevant management personnel.

Sea snakes, as a rule, do not voluntarily approach human habitats. Unless provoked, they will not attempt to attack or hunt large creatures like humans. Furthermore, they are most active around coral reefs, making encounters with typical beach tourists even less likely.

On ordinary beaches, few people would be prepared with tools to catch sea snakes—and you can’t kill them, because some sea snakes are protected animals. Even though spiritual energy has been revived, as long as national laws remain unchanged, they are still protected animals.

Fortunately, Golden Beach was well-prepared, with every tool imaginable. Catching a sea snake was nothing; they could even hunt sharks.

However, when the relevant personnel arrived at the beach, ready to deal with the ‘one’ sea snake reported by tourists, they saw a massive swarm of sea snakes and fish of unknown species, filling the entire coastal area of the beach!

In the sea, these creatures were not stirring or making any movements, but simply floating in the water with pure, utmost respect, surrounding a single person.

It was as if they were submitting to him, pledging allegiance.

Instantly, the staff member was dumbfounded. He looked at the tool in his hand, then at the coastline, and immediately threw it on the ground before calling his superiors.

At this time, the number of people on the beach actually increased—of course, most of them were standing at a distance, curiously filming with their phones. After all, such a bizarre scene was rare even with the revival of spiritual energy. Many people were also whispering in discussion.

“Don’t you think that person looks a bit familiar?” A few young people squinted, feeling that the figure was somewhat familiar. They all possessed some cultivation, greatly improving their eyesight, allowing them to see clearly.

“I recognize him… he was on Central TV during the Holy Trials a while ago, the one who could summon thunder…” A middle-aged man, who seemed to be on vacation with his family, stroked his chin and stated definitively, “That’s right, it’s him, I remember, his name is Su Zhou!”

“It’s said that he awakened dragon blood. Could it be that these snakes and fish were all attracted by him?”

“Very likely. Aren't there shrimp soldiers and crab generals around the Dragon King in TV dramas? It seems it’s not all fake!”

“He’s kind of handsome…”

Some people didn’t comment, but excitedly posted pictures of these rare scenes on various social media platforms—a scene of fish surrounding and guarding a person, truly a rare spectacle that must be shared with fellow internet users!

Shao Qiming looked at the coastline, which had completely become a seafood convention, and couldn’t help but sigh, “If I really have nowhere to go in the future, I could just follow Su Zhou to catch fish. It would be a guaranteed profit-making venture!”

Shao Shuangyue still had a little girl’s kindness. Although she hated snakes, she could tell that the snakes and fish had a special attitude toward Su Zhou, and felt a little sorry for them, “Wouldn’t that be bad? After all, they seem to have come because they are close to Brother Zhou…”

“You’re right.” Shao Qiming didn’t mind, but instinctively did the math. He looked at the coastline and nodded, “Ah, they’re dispersing. It seems Ah Zhou has some control over these creatures.”

At this time, it could be seen that the human figure surrounded by all kinds of seafood seemed to say something, and then made a gesture. Immediately, the dense mass of at least several thousand sea snakes and fish all turned and left, returning to the sea.

When leaving, they were quite reluctant, looking back with every third step. This scene was also captured by people.

Gradually, the seaside returned to calm—but what was surprising was that, having gathered so many fish, shrimp, and sea snakes, the place should have been filled with all kinds of rich fishy smells. But for some reason, everyone present not only didn't smell any fishiness, but instead smelled a faint, strange fragrance.

At this moment, Su Zhou stood in the sea, his heart also quite unsettled: “To think that just this beach has so many spiritual creatures? Among them, there are even quite a few who possess blood and flesh spiritual awareness. Converted into humans, they are already demons who have opened their minds!”

Only demons who have opened their minds would release this kind of clear spiritual fragrance.

But after thinking about it carefully, Su Zhou was relieved: “That’s right, unlike the mainland, which has the protection of the Order Array, even if demons appear in the mountains and forests, they will be taken into custody or killed by the special operations forces of various countries at the first opportunity. The ocean is so vast, unaffected by humans, making it extremely difficult to find demons… The ocean might really become a hidden danger!”

“Hidden danger, my foot.” At this time, Yala, who had climbed back onto Su Zhou’s head, unceremoniously complained, “Didn't you notice when you saw that scene just now? As long as you're around, any spiritual beast or water monster with a bit of dragon blood will follow your lead with a single command! When the time comes, even if you're hunted down and wanted by all the major transcendent forces in the world, as long as you return to the sea, it'll be like a dragon returning to the ocean, a tiger returning to the mountains…”

“Stop, stop!” Su Zhou tsked and stopped Yala from continuing, “Let’s not talk about why I would suddenly be wanted by the whole world. You want me, a human, to be accompanied by a group of seafood? That’s too much, right?”

“Look who’s talking. Aren’t I accompanied by a group of hairless apes now? Have you ever heard me complain?” Yala wagged its tail indignantly.

Of course, this was just a joke, but the existence of ocean demons is indeed a huge threat to all the existing shipping routes in the world.

Putting aside other things, the giant whale demons and seal demons that appeared in the Europa Federation led their groups to affect the weather in one area, causing torrential rains and surging tides, greatly impacting many coastal cities and shipping routes, resulting in direct and indirect losses of over billions of euros.

If powerful demons really appeared in the ocean, it would probably be a bit difficult to maintain the current smooth shipping routes.

Thinking like this, Su Zhou turned and returned to the shore, and the beach manager was very polite, even somewhat humble, as he came over to communicate.

What else could they talk about? It was nothing more than recognizing the identity of Su Zhou and his group, and wanting to politely advise him. For example, if possible, could Su Zhou not go into the water, or rather, they would be willing to offer some compensation, such as sending Su Zhou and his friends to some coastal beach islands to play…

But these words were not very persuasive, because Shao Qiming was not short of money, and Su Zhou seemed to be someone who was unmoved by money, so after saying half of what he intended, the manager simply shut up—anyway, the flow of people had not been good recently, so they could let Su Zhou and his friends play as they pleased. Maybe they would find it boring since there was no one else around, and leave on their own?

Actually, Su Zhou, who was quite moved by money, didn’t intend to interfere with other people’s rare beach trips. Anyway, he was already quite happy. Even if he didn’t go to the beach, where couldn’t he have fun?

However, he had indeed made quite a bit of money recently.

Since Su Zhou took first place in the national physical fitness and spiritual energy tests, the Hongcheng local Education Bureau gave a very large reward as promised. Su Zhou wasn’t very concerned about the specific amount, and gave it all to his parents to handle.

The resources he needed could basically not be bought with money, and for daily life, leeching off of Shao Qiming’s meals was enough… Why not pay for himself since he had money? What a joke! Don’t you know that meals gotten for free taste the best?

Eating other people’s food not only wouldn’t make his conscience hurt, but would even make him want another bowl!

“I’m planning to go snorkeling near Deep Water Bay.”

Walking on the sidewalk of the coastal highway, Su Zhou discussed with the Shao siblings, “There are quite a few spiritual creatures in the sea, and my instincts feel a bit off. I want to go check out the situation. Are you planning to go back to the hotel first, or somewhere else? How should we meet up later?”

“I want to go to the electronics district to take a look!” Shao Shuangyue raised her hand high, full of energy, “I heard there’s an early-access test for a personal terminal there, and I want to go see it!”

“Then let’s go to the electronics district.” Shao Qiming nodded with a smile, following his younger sister’s lead, “After changing clothes at the hotel, we’ll eat and wander around near there. You can just come find us then… How long will you be snorkeling for?”

“Not long, a few tens of minutes, at most a little over an hour.” Su Zhou estimated his snorkeling speed, feeling that this time would be enough for him to see the surrounding waters, then shrugged, “Be careful, I’m off.”

“See you later.”

The snorkeling spot wasn’t actually very far from the beach, and besides, Su Zhou didn’t need any snorkeling equipment. After separating from the Shao siblings, he directly chose a spot and strode into the sea.

Su Zhou’s weight ratio was very high, even close to that of a rock. He didn’t need to dive; he could naturally walk on the seabed just by walking.

In addition, there was the rarely used but definitely existent ‘water assistance’ power, allowing Su Zhou to breathe freely underwater… Of course, he could also breathe in the water anyway, there was no difference.

The seawater in the South Sea was still considered clear, without many fish or shrimp. It seemed that the previous gathering of seafood was really an accident caused by him.

“Speaking of which, after entering the water, my vision didn’t seem to be affected at all.”

Having walked a long distance in the sea, even with the light being a bit dim, Su Zhou could still clearly see the scenery hundreds or even thousands of meters away in the water, and couldn’t help but praise, “It seems that choosing to strengthen my eyes back then was really the right choice.”

Of course, it wasn’t just his eyes. Su Zhou deactivated his water assistance at this time, and through his skin and nose, he could directly identify various subtle movements of water currents and biological situations in the surrounding seawater through the subtle movements and smells of the surrounding seawater… He sensed again that many spiritual sea fish and sea snakes were approaching him.

Su Zhou released a bit of pressure, slightly warning them, and these creatures dispersed.

After patrolling around a bit, Su Zhou found that there was nothing unusual around the South Sea beach, and no demons exceeding the mind-opening stage and reaching the awakening level. The strongest was a giant starfish crawling in the seabed silt. It had no intelligence, and no dragon blood, but had grown to the size of a dining table, hunting sea fish for a living.

Of course, if given the opportunity, hunting humans would probably not be a problem for it either, so Su Zhou thought about it, and used his transcendent-level spiritual pressure to directly drive it away.

“You’re quite kind-hearted.”

Yala didn’t know whether her words were praise or criticism. She watched the starfish curl its tentacles and crawl towards the deep sea, her tone relatively calm, “I thought you would directly kill this kind of unintelligent but threatening demon.”

“The body is neither good nor evil; the movement is either good or evil.” Su Zhou casually replied, “I actually don’t have the intention of being kind-hearted, it’s just instinct. I’m in a good mood today, so I just drove it away. At another time, in another environment, I would have killed it.”

Continuing to go deeper, he was already nearly a hundred meters deep. Although light could still be seen, the water pressure was already very high. Looking towards the distant sea area, it was vaguely dark, like the night.

Having walked to this point, Su Zhou felt it was about right. Within his sensing range, there were still no threats worth being vigilant about.

Come to think of it, although there are many marine creatures, they are only a small part of the entire ocean. Although, theoretically, ocean demons pose a threat to humans, the actual situation depends on the distribution and habitat of the demons.

After all, for demons, the existence of humans is also a great threat, just like bears and tigers encountering each other in the mountains. Unless necessary, and they are really starving, they will never actively attack each other.

Even wild beasts are not crazy. Lions hunting antelope and wildebeest must be careful not to get injured, let alone smarter demons.

“It’s about time to go back.”

Thinking like this, Su Zhou prepared to turn around.

But coincidentally, not far away, a black sea snake was swimming towards Su Zhou.

It was none other than the first sea snake that had come to befriend Su Zhou not long ago.

Ordinary sea snakes would not go into such deep seawater, but this black sea snake was different. It was full of spirituality, and its strength was not low either, also at the mind-opening stage. If it wasn’t for its inherently weak body, it would be considered quite talented among humans.

Ordinary marine creatures would directly retreat upon sensing Su Zhou’s faint pressure. This sea snake clearly could also sense it, but still overcame its instinctive fear and came closer, then tumbled in front of Su Zhou, seemingly wanting to express something.

“Yala, what does this sea snake friend mean?”

Su Zhou was too lazy to think about things related to snakes, so he directly asked Yala, “If it’s still seeking affection, tell it that I refuse, I already have a partner.”

“Its intelligence is almost nonexistent, and its soul is a mess. How would I know what it wants to say?”

Yala also expressed helplessness, how could she analyze a bunch of garbled code: “But it’s not seeking affection. It seems to want you to continue to go to deeper waters… Why? How would I know!”

The Xuan black sea snake was still swimming. Su Zhou silently calculated the time, only twenty minutes had passed, and he didn’t need to slowly explore the surroundings on the way back like he did now. Since that was the case, he had plenty of time, so why not go to a deeper place to take a look.

So he grabbed the black snake with one hand and said with a smile, “You’re too slow, lead the way.”

His speed in the sea could also reach more than twenty meters per second, faster than the average person running the 100 meters. The speed of ordinary sea snakes could not be compared to him.

The black snake shook its head repeatedly, and then cleverly pointed the way with the front half of its body as an arrow.

After advancing towards the deeper sea area for nearly ten minutes, Su Zhou finally sensed a faint hum.

“What is that…?”

The surroundings were already twilight, and the water was hundreds of meters deep. Su Zhou frowned. He closed his eyes and listened intently to the sound of the ocean, “No, it’s not physical mechanical wave transmission… it’s a spirit sound!”

He could faintly feel that in the depths of this ocean, there was a call from a distant shore, a sound that was calling something, guiding something… and this sound gave Su Zhou an incomparably familiar feeling.

Opening his eyes, Su Zhou narrowed his cyan-purple dragon eyes, bright spiritual light flowing in his erect pupils.

“This is… a dragon’s roar!”

“The roar of a True Dragon!”