Chapter 1353: Duan Ling Tian Is Missing

"Brother Ling Tian!" Facing the powerful sucking force, Han Xue Nai managed to get ahold of herself forcefully. Her expression changed drastically when she realized Duan Ling Tian was caught in the rapid whirlpool.

Without any hesitation, she quickly flew down into the rapid whirlpool.

At the same time, an odd jewel appeared in her hand out of thin air.

She crushed the jewel as soon as it appeared. A seven-colored ray appeared and shot up into the sky.

The seven-colored ray shone all the way to the sky and only faded after a long time.

Bang!

When Han Xue Nai charged into the whirlpool, she was not affected by the sucking force. There was a layer of transparent light shield covering her body that isolated the seawater around her. She could still control her movement even though she was in the whirlpool.

The rapid and swirling seawater within the whirlpool was beating against the transparent light shield, causing it to tremble. However, Han Xue Nai did not have the time to care about that.

Her face was solemn as she dove deeper into the ocean, following the whirlpool. Soon after, she arrived at the bottom of the ocean.

At the same time, she saw the cause of the whirlpool... It was a giant creature that was lying flat at the bottom of the ocean. Its terrifying mouth was wide open. The energy coming out from its mouth was the cause of the appearance of the whirlpool in the ocean.

Some of the deep sea fishes were caught in the whirlpool, failing to get away from it.

"It's a Sea-Engulfing Beast! Why would a Sea-Engulfing Beast be here!" Han Xue Nai exclaimed as her expression changed. It was obvious she recognized the creature in front of her.

The beasts on Dao Martial Saint Land were divided into two categories.

One was Saint Beast while the other was Wild Beast.

Saint Beasts that broke through to the Innate Stage were intelligent. They spoke the human language and would even take human form. They were no different from a human in their human form.

They could cultivate Saint Grade Marital Tactics and use Saint Weapons just like humans. They were also divided into Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators.

Since they were Saint Beasts, their bodies were, naturally, more powerful than ordinary humans. Some of Saint Beasts would have their strength reduced when they took human form. However, when they revert to their true form, they would regain their full strength.

Wild Beasts were different from Saint Beasts.

If Saint Beasts were favored by God, then Wild Beasts were abandoned by God.

In comparison to Saint Beasts, breaking through to the Innate Stage aside, Wild Beasts did not have human intelligence even if they managed to break through to the Mortal Shedding Stage, Saint Rudiment Stage or the Saint Stage.

They would not be able to speak like humans, let alone take human form.

They were similar to the unevolved wild beasts on Cloud Continent. They only survived through their instincts.

They lived by the rule of nature - The weak are the prey for the strong. It was the survival of the fittest.

Although they did not possess intelligence, could not take human form like Saint Beasts or cultivate human methods, martial tactics and use Saint Weapons to fight, their cultivation speed was not inferior to Saint Beasts.

Moreover, their bodies were stronger than Saint Beasts.

If a Wild Beast and a Saint Beast at the same level were to fight, the Saint Beast might not be a match for it even if it took human form, used Saint Weapons and Saint Grade Martial Tactic.

Wild Beasts' bodies were too powerful!

The weakest one was comparable to a Three-Clawed Divine Dragon's body from the dragon clans. The powerful ones could even compare to the dragon clans' Four-Clawed Divine Dragons.

Wild Beasts' bodies were their biggest advantage.

Their battle instinct honed from a hundred, 1,000 or 10,000 battles was their most powerful technique. It was not inferior to the Saint Grade Martial Tactic.

The one that appeared before Han Xue Nai was precisely one of the Wild Beasts!

Sea-Engulfing Beast!

Han Xue Nai could tell it was a Sea-Engulfing Beast at the Early Mortal Shedding Stage.

"You swallowed Brother Ling Tian?" Han Xue Nai's face turned solemn and cold when she looked at the gigantic creature before her. The playfulness in her eyes was no longer there. Instead, it had been replaced with killing intent.

"Young Miss." Just when Han Xue Nai was about to attack, two respectful voices sounded in unison.

At the same time, two big silhouettes appeared behind Han Xue Nai and bowed to her.

They were two towering big middle-aged men. Their appearance was so mediocre that most people would not take notice of them.

However, judging by the transparent light shield on their bodies that remained unaffected by the rapid seawater, their strength had to be a lot more powerful than Han Xue Nai.

The two middle-aged men had responded to the signal ray Han Xue Nai released earlier. Her father had sent them to protect her. However, when she left Dao Martial Saint Land, she left them behind at the southern ocean of the Dao Martial Saint Land.

"Kill it! It has swallowed Brother Ling Tian. Take care that you don't hurt him," Han Xue Nai commanded.

"Yes." One of the middle-aged men nodded seriously and took a step forward as soon as she finished speaking.

A streak of light shot out from beneath his foot when he stepped forward. It pierced through the Sea-Engulfing Beast's head in just a blink of an eye, causing it to fall. It was killed just like that.

As its gigantic mouth was closing, the other middle-aged man vanished into thin air. The water did not ripple from his movement, it was extremely odd.

When he appeared again, he was already in the Sea-Engulfing Beast's gigantic mouth.

He opened the Sea-Engulfing Beast's huge mouth effortlessly and tore its mouth open all the way to its body.

However, it did not look that gory since the Sea-Engulfing Beast's carcass, blood, and flesh had already been frozen. They merely shattered like rocks.

Meanwhile, the fishes that were swallowed by the Sea-Engulfing Beast that had yet to be digested swam away quickly, escaping death.

There was an old man in the Sea-Engulfing Beast's stomach. The old man thanked the middle-aged man and bowed respectfully to him after he escaped from the Sea-Engulfing Beast. "Thank you, sir, for saving my life."

He was a demon that had taken human form. He was just passing by when he encountered the Sea-Engulfing Beast and was unfortunately swallowed by it... He thought he was going to die for sure and did not expect that he would be saved.

"Where's Brother Ling Tian?" Han Xue Nai arrived before the old man and took a good look around. Her expression changed when she realized Duan Ling Tian was nowhere to be found.

After looking at the creature's carcass, the middle-aged man who froze the Sea-Engulfing Beast and killed it said to Han Xue Nai respectfully, "Young Miss, there are marks left behind by a Devil Cultivator on this Sea-Engulfing Beast's body... The Devil Cultivator must have controlled it to come here. Otherwise, there shouldn't be any Sea-Engulfing Beasts here."

"Devil Cultivator?" Han Xue Nai's expression changed drastically when she realized it was unlikely that this incident was a coincidence.

Han Xue Nai took a deep breath. She looked at the old man and asked urgently, "Did you see another person when you were swallowed by the Sea-Engulfing Beast? A young man dressed in purple."

"I saw him." The old man nodded. "The moment I was swallowed, I saw an unconscious young man behind me. He was almost swallowed too... During the critical moment, I saw a black shadow dashed by, and the young man was gone."

"A Devil Cultivator controlled this Sea-Engulfing Beast and took Brother Ling Tian away?" Han Xue Nai's mind became clear. She looked at the two middle-aged men next to her and commanded, "No matter what, we must find Big Brother Ling Tian!"

"Yes." The two middle-aged men left in two directions after she finished speaking and begin their search deep in the ocean.

'Who would come up with all this just to take Brother Ling Tian away... Since he's able to control an Early Mortal Shedding Stage Sea-Engulfing Beast, it means he's at least above the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage,' Han Xue Nai's heart jolted as she thought to herself, 'With his ability, it's not difficult for him to directly kidnap Big Brother Ling Tian.'

'Why would he do this... There's only one possibility! He's afraid of me.' Han Xue Nai inhaled sharply as she thought to this point.

'That means... This Devil Cultivator knew that he wouldn't be able to take Brother Ling Tian away because I'm here. That's why he controlled the Sea-Engulfing Beast to buy himself some time.' Things became clearer for Han Xue Nai the more she thought about it.

'Di Yong! It has to be Di Yong!' When she finally cleared her mind, the first person she thought of was Wang Ba who took over a Five-Clawed Devil Dragon's body back then. He was currently known as Di Yong.

'He left much earlier... There must be something he wants for him to do this!' Han Xue Nai was almost certain the person who took Duan Ling Tian away was Di Yong... However, she could not figure out why Di Yong would do this.

'Is there something he wants from Brother Ling Tian? Maybe it's the Devilseal Tablet. However, would he want it even if it's given to him?'

The Devilseal Tablet was a Devil Cultivator's bane.

It was named a Super Saint Weapon and was listed in the Ten Great Saint Weapon Rankings due to one unique characteristic. Apart from that, it was no better than other Saint Weapons.

Han Xue Nai felt like it did not make any sense the more she thought about it.

'Could it be... the pagoda?' Soon after, Han Xue Nai recalled the pagoda that she and Di Yong could not go near but Duan Ling Tian could.

One could tell the pagoda was not simple at all.

She had a feeling the pagoda was not inferior to the Vast Sky Pagoda, one of the Super Saint Weapons.

'If that's the case... Brother Ling Tian should be safe for now,' Han Xue Nai thought to herself, relieved.

'If I were him, and I want the pagoda and its secrets, I won't let the Devilseal Tablet remain in Brother Ling Tian's possession."

'He's a Devil Cultivator after all... Brother Ling Tian could kill him with the Devilseal Tablet.'

'The biggest possibility would be him taking Brother Ling Tian's Spatial Ring away and removing the Blood Ownership Claim with his Spiritual Energy,' Han Xue Nai speculated as she calmed herself down slowly.

The Blood Ownership Claim on Spatial Rings on Mortal Continent was weak.

Anyone above the Mortal Shedding Stage could remove the Blood Ownership Claim of a Spatial Ring forcefully by using his Spiritual Energy.