Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Theoretically, Divine Sense could also detect what lies behind the door.

However, using Divine Sense to detect is neither secure nor time-efficient. It's unknown when the lower-level battle will end, and pursuers might arrive at any moment. At this stage, everyone is in a race against the clock, and of course, it's quicker to break in and sweep a glance.

Yan Yu led the team through the corridor at a steady pace, ready to coordinate with the door-breaking team to handle any emergencies.

And the emergencies did arrive as expected: Most of the rooms contained dead dragon-headed creatures, while only a few were alive, seemingly hiding behind the doors as if to ambush the group.

At this time, those outside would assist the door-breakers in killing these creatures.

Yan Yu narrowed his eyes, sizing up the corpses with a brief sweep of his Divine Sense, and quickly noted the differences from the previous dragon-headed creatures.

Simply put, they seemed somewhat underdeveloped.

The dragon-headed monsters encountered earlier had completely draconian heads, with both horns and whiskers, pupils bright like torches, sharp teeth, and drool dripping everywhere, almost indistinguishable from true Flood Dragons. Their bodies below the neck, although humanoid in limb structure, were essentially covered in scales, and their strength was comparable to that of the Long Race.

But these creatures in the rooms, some had no horns, some no whiskers, some no teeth, some no scales—it felt like an evolution that had failed halfway through.

Chen Lingyun, of course, noticed this as well and suddenly walked into an empty room nearby.

Yan Yu frowned and turned his head, only to see her quickly walk out again, tossing a Jade Slip to Yan Yu.

"Take a look at this," she said, her face beaming with a smile, clearly enjoying herself.

Written on the Jade Slip was script in tadpole text. This bizarre Cultivator language was rarely seen outside the Mysterious Realm and wasn't phonetic or logographic but rather ideographic—requiring Divine Sense to read, and not the text itself but the author's thoughts contained within.

To draw a comparison, each character was like a portable hard drive, capable of storing a certain amount of information. If an ordinary person were to try to read tadpole text, it would be like not having a computer to access the hard drive.

Reading tadpole text with Divine Sense was quick, so there was no worry about wasting time, hence Yan Yu did not refuse and immersed his Divine Sense into it promptly.

Hmm.

Indeed interesting.

This Jade Slip was a diary, hastily documenting the history and origin of the "Three-Island Treasure Ship":

It was created by an organization known as the Worship Dragon Cult during an ancient period on a different timeline, in the Vast Wilderness Era when humans and demons coexisted.

At that time, the Long Race was exceedingly prominent, subjugating all demons and having many humans attached to them. The Worship Dragon Cult was a human sect that worshiped the Long Race, using the Three-Island Treasure Ship to transport tributes to the Long Race—the reason the internal cabins of the ship were proportionally elongated was to accommodate the enormous size of the Long Race.

Then came the end of the Vast Wilderness Era.

Frictions between humans and demons intensified and ultimately escalated into a racial war. The demon race was completely defeated and retreated to parts unknown, and the Human Race's reckoning with the Worship Dragon Cult finally arrived.

The author of the diary was one of the Human Race Cultivators who exterminated the Worship Dragon Cult. They boarded the Three-Island Treasure Ship, killed all the human traitors, but discovered that the ship had been secretly launched by the dying Worship Dragon Cult, sailing to the very depths of the Endless Sea.

The depths of the Endless Sea were rife with danger, and it was impossible for Cultivators to fly back with Sword Control. Only by navigating with the Three-Island Treasure Ship, utilizing Long Race technology, could one travel in such waters.

But the treasure ship did not recognize any bloodlines apart from the Long Race. The Worship Dragon Cult controlled the ship's navigation through the blessed blood essence of the Long Race, and these Human Race Cultivators had to find another method...

Yan Yu read up to this point and looked at those incompletely evolved dragon-headed monsters; a sneer couldn't help but surface within him.

What the hell?!

Detest the Long Race, kill the Long Race, understand the Long Race, become the Long Race, is that it? So you're playing boomerang now?

If these Human Race Cultivators truly hated the Long Race, or truly clung to their identity as the Human Race, they should have rather died than touch such forbidden bloodline magic... and yet, look at these abnormal corpses all around.

It shows that whether it's "demons and humans do not stand together," "the distinction between Immortals and mortals," or even "Cultivators should strive for their own power," they are all just slogans to deceive people into taking sides; ultimately, it all comes down to self-interest.

He indifferently handed the Jade Slip back to Chen Lingyun and transmitted his voice:

"Quite the joke."

Chen Lingyun replied with a smile:

"Shared joy."

Yan Yu looked forward once again, only to find Zhao Yuanzhen emerging from the room as well.

"What is this Demonic Sect Enchantress up to? Didn't I say to break the door open, take a quick look if no one's there, and leave?"

"What are you lingering in the room for, hmm? Are you taking my orders lightly? I must punish you, I must punish you severely!"

Zhao Yuanzhen noticed his disapproving gaze and hurriedly sent a message through a psychic link:

"Shush, I've found something good, it's not convenient to talk about it here. I'll show you after we get out."

Yan Yu imperceptibly nodded, then shifted his gaze away.

Commands are dead after all, and man is flexible—how can one be confined by commands?

Those who do not obey commands are useless, and those who do not cherish their comrades are less than useless!

The other three strictly followed the "break and leave" rule, so the team's progress was quite fast, and they ultimately cleared all hidden dangers on this floor, arriving at the stairs at the end of the hallway.

Even without ascending the stairs, everyone could see the daylight and sea of clouds at the top of the stairwell, as well as the briny sea breeze pouring down.

No mistake, the deck was just above.

Yan Yu calmly climbed the stairs, with Li Zhaojiang and Li Minghu closely following behind him.

While the two teams were of equal status, it seemed as though by default, this time it was agreed that Yan Yu would lead the team, perhaps Li Minghu had secretly communicated with everyone via psychic link.

The ten-person party reached the deck, only to see the sky above blanketed with storm clouds, as if a fierce storm was imminent.

The sea breeze here was incredibly violent, even more ferocious, forceful, and unruly than that on the deck of the Fiery Tiger Aircraft Carrier! Even more domineering than the sea breeze, however, was the imposing, incomplete corpse of a Flood Dragon sprawled at the bow, mountainous in size, and a towering giant, ceaselessly chewing within the dragon's corpse.

The giant stood close to three meters tall, far exceeding the genetic limits of the Human Race, and his back muscles were completely covered with layers of dragon scales. Despite the group's arrival on the deck, he continued to gnaw at the corpse, as if in this world there was nothing more important than devouring the dragon.

Without waiting for orders from Yan Yu or Li Zhaojiang, everyone instinctively spread out into formation, finding positions suitable for their individual combat style.

Sword Immortals at the front, Assistant Officers and Envoys next, with the spell casters at the rear.

Zhenhai Team took the left side, Qing'an Team the right, both prepared to coordinate with each other.
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Finally, the giant stopped chewing and stood up.

"You..." The hoarse and bewildered voice emerged, "Are you dragons too?"

"We are humans," Yan Yu replied calmly, "What are you?"

"I am..." The giant turned around, revealing a bloody and fierce dragon head on his neck, with an extremely abstract expression of confusion, "Am I of the Human Race? Or the Long Race?"

"Stop the nonsense." Seeing he had lost even the capacity to communicate, Yan Yu didn't want to continue dialoguing with a madman, to avoid the risk of losing dignity.

He levitated the Huang Tingjian Sword into the air and, following that, cast a sword technique, striking towards the dragon-headed giant.

This sword strike was like a signal, and the rest of the group quickly launched their attacks—Flying Swords, Taoism Methods, magical treasures... instantly engulfing the dragon-headed giant.

Despite his enormous size, the giant's movements were not sluggish or slow. He first leaped back to evade the slashing strike of the Huang Tingjian Sword, then rolled several times, retreating behind the mountainous corpse of the Flood Dragon.

He was out of reach.

"Hold," Yan Yu commanded again.

With the dragon corpse serving as a shield, expecting their attacks to easily penetrate the body was impossible. After all, even in death, a dragon was still a dragon!

What was more critical was that Chen Lingyun had quietly sent him a psychic message, stating that her ghostly entities placed in the lower deck's hallway had discovered that the Miti Allied Forces had bypassed the obstructing dragon-headed monstrosity and were now making their way towards the upper deck!

"Rally at the stern." With time running out and the enemy imminent, Yan Yu swiftly made a decision.

The group hurried towards the stern of the ship, forming a tight battle line—Sword Immortals at the front, spell casters at the back.

"Invisibility Technique," Yan Yu ordered.

Without a second word, everyone quickly executed their spells, and their bodies soon became transparent.