Chapter 303: A Phoenix In The Ocean (1)

A sharp screech broke the air, and a fireball shaped object came hurtling towards them from within Virtuous Heaven Temple at a speed that was nearly beyond the perception of the human eye.

The three men released the door at the same time and rolled to the sides as the fireball-like thing flew out of the brass door and sped towards the surface of the ocean and disappeared. All that was left of its passage was the rippling of the sea and the ringing of their ears, courtesy of its screech.

“Are the three of you alright?” Shen Jingbin cried out as she and the other two ran forward to check on the three men getting up from the ground.

Quiet And Steadfast shook his arms and swiveled his neck to assure her that he was okay. “We’re alright. We managed to dodge it in time, so none of us were hurt.”

The Winds Of Ximen looked in the direction that the fireball-like thing had flown off in and asked quizzically, “What was that?”

Pure Crane held his wrist with his other hand and gave it a good shake. He then turned to the three ladies and asked, “It was too fast, so I couldn’t get a good look at it. Did any of you see what it was?”

When the incident had happened, all of their attention had been focused on the three guys, preventing them from noticing anything else.

“I caught sight of what looked to be a giant tail, but I couldn’t make out the finer details of it,” Qi Mu said unsurely.

“A giant tail? Though we couldn’t get a good look at it, it should be a type of bird. If it has an enormous tail, it should be… a Phoenix?” Quiet And Steadfast mused.

Upon hearing the word ‘Phoenix’, the party froze for a moment before they subconsciously recalled the creature’s figure and cry.

“Now that you mention it, it did sound like the Phoenixes I’ve seen in shows on TV. Similarly, it has an extremely harsh sounding cry,” The Winds Of Ximen said.

“But, why’d it fly into the sea? It doesn’t make any sense,” Pure Crane asked.

“I agree. Yiju has always been a stickler when it comes to lore, so I doubt they’d allow a Phoenix to fly out of the ocean; it must be something else,” Gentle Flower commented.

Shen Jingbin had felt distraught ever since that unknown creature had flown into the ocean. Currently, everyone else was trying to figure out what the heck it was, leaving her the only person who was staring out into the ocean; her thoughts an enigma.

Different from the Eastern Sea, the Southern Sea was an underwater map. Usually, an oxygen meter would appear whenever players were underwater. After remaining underwater for a set amount of time, their oxygen meter would start to slowly deplete. Once that happened, their HP would start to drop until they surfaced or died. However, things were different in the Southern Sea. Here, players would be able to move about as if they were on land and there were no side effects whatsoever. At the same time, the art team had made the ocean water a shade of clear dark blue, allowing players to see their surroundings even when they were in the ocean. Still, taking into consideration the depth they were at and the refraction of light in the water, players wouldn’t be able to see as clearly as they would be able to on land.

At this point, the others finally noticed Shen Jingbin’s silence. The Winds Of Ximen waved a hand in front of her and asked, “Hey, what are you looking at?”

Shen Jingbin continued to stare unblinkingly at the ocean’s surface as she batted aside his hand. “Don’t move…”

Her pupils suddenly constricted when she was midway through her sentence. There it was!

“Move!” Shen Jingbin suddenly roared.

The group heard a loud bang above them just after she spoke, and the scenery before them began to distort.

This was the same phenomenon that could be seen when a weight was dropped into water!

Not daring to waste even a single second, the six of them scattered in different directions. Although Qi Mu’s mind reacted quickly, her body wasn’t able to keep up with her thoughts. At this moment, The Winds Of Ximen tugged her belt and pulled her to the side.

‘Bang!’ As soon as they dispersed, a wave of force came crashing down from the sky, landing where the two of them had stood just moments ago. Immediately after, the surrounding seawater began to roil.

The pair took a deep breath of air after they regained their footing. Luckily for them, they’d managed to dodge in time. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t have survived.

No other activity could be heard after that. The five of them displayed an unspoken understanding and made their way towards Quiet And Steadfast.

“What happened?” Quiet And Steadfast asked with furrowed brows, while the rest of them turned their gaze to Shen Jingbin.

Shen Jingbin stared intensely at the center of the turbid ocean and said, “That fireball-like thing just flew out again.”

“The giant bird?” The Winds Of Ximen asked.

Shen Jingbin nodded. The little Black Tortoise in her arms seemed very excited as it struggled nonstop in her arms. However, try as it might, it wasn’t able to break free as Shen Jingbin was holding its shell.

“I’ll have a look,” Said a certain Miss Shen from the Planet of Bottomless Courage, as she glanced at the little Black Tortoise before taking a step forward.

Quiet And Steadfast quickly grabbed onto her hand and said, “Hold on, let’s go together.”

Shen Jingbin glanced back at him but didn’t reject his proposal.

The pair carefully made their way towards the center of the turbid ocean. As soon as they approached, a familiar cry suddenly rang out. Shortly after, an enormous blazing wing reached out from the muddy waters and shot towards them.

“It’s the Phoenix!” Shen Jingbin managed to get a good look at the creature when she dodged it. It looked almost the same as the Phoenixes she’d seen in Chinese fantasy shows. The only difference was that its feathers were more brightly coloured.

While shielding her, Quiet And Steadfast cried out, “Who cares what that thing is! It’s definitely not an NPC, so just attack it!”

Apart from Qi Mu, everyone else appeared with a ‘whoosh’ and proceeded to surround this odd Phoenix with their weapons in hand.

Shen Jingbin placed the little Black Tortoise back in her pet inventory and released Mascot, while Quiet And Steadfast summoned Fuzhu. The group then began their assault on the Phoenix whom they’d surrounded.