Chapter 242: The Water Elemental Spirit
The sea had already become a battlefield.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the endless ocean below was no longer blue. It had been dyed black by the countless sea monsters moving beneath the surface.
Everywhere Mo Fan looked, there were creatures.
Warrior-level sea monsters crawled across the waves like insects. Commander-level creatures occasionally revealed enormous bodies beneath the water, their movements creating waves that could swallow ships whole.
But none of them were the true threat.
The real danger came from the two enormous auras standing at the center of the battlefield.
One belonged to the Sea Witch Monarch.
The other belonged to the terrifying creature that had been relentlessly attacking the Mermaid Queen.
The Mermaid Queen was already covered in injuries.
Her beautiful blue hair was scattered across her shoulders, and the elemental light surrounding her body had become noticeably weaker. Even so, she continued standing between the two Monarchs and the young mermaid behind her.
She refused to retreat.
Because behind her was her daughter.
A Water Elemental Spirit.
The little girl was surrounded by an extremely pure water aura. Unlike ordinary magical creatures, her body seemed to be formed from the ocean itself.
Every time she breathed, the seawater around her gently moved.
Every time she became frightened, the surrounding water trembled.
She was still young.
She had not yet learned how to properly control her own power.
And that was precisely why the surrounding sea monsters wanted her.
A Water Elemental Spirit was something even Monarch-level creatures would covet.
If they could devour her elemental essence, their own strength could undergo an astonishing transformation.
"Zhao Manyan!"
Mo Fan suddenly shouted.
Zhao Manyan was already moving.
"I know!"
The golden light surrounding Zhao Manyan erupted.
His Light Element formed layer after layer of defensive magic around his body while his Water Element simultaneously surged outward.
The two elements intertwined.
Instead of attacking the Monarchs directly, Zhao Manyan slammed both hands toward the ocean.
"Water Barrier!"
BOOM!
A massive wall of water rose from the sea.
The barrier stretched for hundreds of meters, separating the young Water Elemental Spirit from the approaching tide of sea monsters.
The first Commander-level creature slammed into it.
Bang!
Its enormous body was thrown backward.
A second creature crashed into the barrier.
Then a third.
Then dozens.
Zhao Manyan's expression became serious.
"There's too many!"
The barrier began to shake.
Cracks appeared across the surface.
The Water Elemental Spirit stared at Zhao Manyan in surprise.
She had never seen a human protect her like this.
Most humans she had encountered had treated elemental spirits as resources.
But this human...
Was standing between her and the monsters.
Zhao Manyan gritted his teeth.
"Don't look at me like that."
He raised his hand.
Another golden shield appeared.
"I'm not doing this for free."
The young mermaid blinked.
Zhao Manyan smiled.
"Actually..."
He glanced toward Mo Fan.
"I probably am."
At that moment—
ROOOOAR!
A gigantic shadow emerged from beneath the ocean.
The sea exploded upward.
A monstrous claw tore through Zhao Manyan's water barrier.
His expression changed.
"Shit!"
The claw descended.
Zhao Manyan immediately raised his shield.
BOOM!
The impact sent him flying.
His body crossed several hundred meters before crashing into the sea.
"Old Zhao!"
Mo Fan's eyes narrowed.
The surrounding flames suddenly surged.
The sea beneath his feet began boiling.
But Zhao Manyan emerged from the water before Mo Fan could act.
"Cough!"
He wiped seawater from his mouth.
"I'm fine!"
Mo Fan stared at him.
"You call that fine?"
"My armor is fine."
Zhao Manyan looked down.
A massive crack had appeared across his defensive armor.
"...Mostly."
Mo Fan sighed.
Then his expression changed.
The Demon Element inside his body stirred.
A strange sensation spread through the battlefield.
It wasn't an ordinary elemental aura.
It was something deeper.
Something that made the surrounding creatures instinctively uneasy.
The sea monsters closest to Mo Fan suddenly stopped moving.
They couldn't explain why.
There was no roar.
No deliberate intimidation.
No explosion of magical energy.
Yet their bodies instinctively told them to stay away.
Mo Fan's eyes slowly became darker.
The Demon Element awakened.
A thin layer of black-red energy wrapped around his body.
The flames around him changed.
They no longer burned wildly.
Instead, they became strangely quiet.
Like an enormous beast opening its eyes.
The Sea Witch Monarch noticed him.
Her expression changed.
"What are you?"
Mo Fan smiled.
"Someone who's getting impatient."
He disappeared.
Boom!
The sea beneath him exploded.
Mo Fan crossed the battlefield in an instant.
The first Commander-level creature didn't even understand what happened.
A fist struck its chest.
BOOM!
The creature's enormous body bent backward.
The impact created a circular depression in the ocean.
Before it could recover, Mo Fan grabbed its head and threw it directly into another sea monster.
Two enormous bodies collided.
Their bones cracked beneath the impact.
Mo Fan didn't stop.
He continued forward.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
The surrounding sea monsters began retreating.
Not because they were weak.
Because the person approaching them felt wrong.
The Demon Element gave Mo Fan a pressure that ordinary creatures couldn't understand.
It was as though something inside his body didn't belong to the ordinary world.
The Sea Witch Monarch narrowed her eyes.
"You possess a strange power."
Mo Fan didn't answer.
He simply raised his hand.
A massive black-red flame condensed above his palm.
The temperature around him suddenly increased.
The seawater beneath his feet began evaporating.
"Old Zhao."
"What?"
"Take the kid."
Zhao Manyan immediately understood.
"Leave the big ones to you?"
Mo Fan smiled.
"Exactly."
Zhao Manyan laughed.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
He turned around and rushed toward the Water Elemental Spirit.
The Mermaid Queen immediately tried to stop him.
"Human!"
Zhao Manyan raised both hands.
"Don't panic!"
He pointed toward Mo Fan.
"Look at him."
The Mermaid Queen glanced over.
Mo Fan stood alone between several terrifying sea monsters and the two Monarchs.
The Demon Element continued flowing through his body.
The Mermaid Queen hesitated.
Zhao Manyan took advantage of that moment.
"I'm not here to hurt your daughter."
He extended his hand.
"I'm here to get her out."
The young Water Elemental Spirit slowly approached him.
The Mermaid Queen stared at her daughter.
Then at Zhao Manyan.
Finally...
She nodded.
Zhao Manyan smiled.
"Good."
He reached forward.
The instant his fingers touched the Water Elemental Spirit—
BOOM!
A tremendous wave of pure elemental energy erupted.
Zhao Manyan's eyes widened.
The entire ocean around him began glowing.
The Water Elemental Spirit transformed into a brilliant sphere of blue light.
The light entered his body.
Zhao Manyan immediately felt as though an endless ocean had entered his mental world.
His Water Element Nebula trembled.
Then—
It transformed.
The stars became brighter.
The originally ordinary Water Element began undergoing a profound change.
The ocean within his spiritual world became clearer.
Deeper.
More powerful.
A mysterious consciousness appeared within the water.
Zhao Manyan's eyes widened.
"This..."
He could feel it.
The Water Elemental Spirit had accepted him.
The water around his body suddenly became incredibly pure.
The Mermaid Queen watched in disbelief.
Her daughter had chosen him.
Not because Zhao Manyan was the strongest.
Not because he possessed the greatest cultivation.
But because his Water Element had resonated with her daughter's nature.
At that moment—
A terrifying roar shook the entire ocean.
Mo Fan turned his head.
The Sea Witch Monarch had finally moved.
The enormous creature raised one hand.
The entire ocean rose.
A tsunami several kilometers high formed behind her.
The wave blocked the sky.
Mo Fan looked up.
Then smiled.
"That's more like it."
He clenched his fist.
The Demon Element erupted.
Black-red flames climbed into the sky.
The enormous tsunami collided with the flames.
Water and fire exploded simultaneously.
Steam covered the battlefield.
The Sea Witch Monarch's expression became ugly.
She had expected her ocean to suppress him.
Instead...
The flames continued burning.
Mo Fan stepped through the steam.
His clothes were soaked.
His hair hung against his forehead.
Yet his eyes remained completely calm.
"You've got quite a lot of water."
He raised one hand.
A massive flame sphere appeared above him.
"Unfortunately..."
The flame sphere began rotating.
The surrounding seawater was pulled upward by the heat.
"...I have even more ways to burn it."
BOOM!
The fire descended.
The entire battlefield disappeared beneath a sea of flames.
The Sea Witch Monarch roared.
The Crimson Monarch charged simultaneously.
Mo Fan turned.
He didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
His fist collided with the Monarch's enormous claw.
BOOM!
The ocean beneath them collapsed.
A shockwave spread for several kilometers.
Mo Fan's feet sank several meters into the seawater.
The Monarch's claw trembled.
Mo Fan looked up.
"You're stronger than the others."
His grin widened.
"Good."
The Demon Element surged again.
"That means I can finally warm up."
Behind him, Zhao Manyan watched the battle while holding the newly awakened Water Elemental Spirit within his mental world.
He couldn't help but smile.
"That bastard..."
Even after receiving such a precious opportunity, his first thought wasn't about cultivation.
It was about Mo Fan.
Because he knew exactly what was about to happen.
Whenever Mo Fan smiled like that...
Someone was about to have a very bad day.
The sea trembled.
The sky darkened.
And between the countless waves and raging elemental energy, Mo Fan walked toward the two Monarchs alone.
For the first time...
The sea monsters were no longer surrounding the humans.
They were retreating from them.
Because the true monster had finally entered the battlefield.