As the changes in the water current grew closer, Long Aotian suddenly brought his arms together, making a crossing motion, and then a Spirit Beast directly crashed into him.
This was only a hundred-year Spirit Beast. A luster flowed beneath Long Aotian's skin, easily blocking the impact. With a flick of his wrist, he grabbed it. The next moment, the Spirit Beast was already in his hand, and with a squeeze of his five fingers, it lost its breath and fell into Long Aotian's storage spirit tool.
Wang Nan was not far from him, and although his vision was limited, he still witnessed this scene.
Given that Long Aotian had been able to produce so many thousand-year Spirit Beasts before, a hundred-year Spirit Beast was indeed nothing to him.
However, Wang Nan saw more than just that.
In the deep sea, the surrounding water currents would slow down a Spirit Master's movements. Actions that were extremely ordinary on land would become very difficult in the sea.
Yet, Long Aotian had already prepared in advance the moment he felt the seawater flowing. This was partly due to his understanding of Sea Soul Beasts, and partly because his own will had merged with the surrounding environment.
Wang Nan had vaguely noticed this when Long Aotian fought the Evil Soul Master before, and now it was even more apparent. Long Aotian's method was as if he had unfolded a Domain belonging to him in the surroundings.
The seabed was actually not calm. As the two continued to dive, the surrounding seawater also changed, with various undercurrents constantly flowing, and seemingly small whirlpools hidden within them.
Wang Nan did not know if all seawater was like this or if only this place was so special, but undoubtedly, these "little surprises" made the underwater environment even more complex.
Heavy pressure, a constantly changing environment, coupled with Sea Soul Beasts that occasionally harassed them, made the entire process underwater also require holding one's breath the whole time.
This experience was very novel for Wang Nan.
The seabed was very quiet. Wang Nan heard no extraneous noises in his ears. In such an environment, he vaguely heard the sounds of his own body.
The sound of his heart, the Spirit Bone in his chest beating, the sound of blood flowing through his body—every muscle and bone in his body constantly resisting the external pressure in this environment. The surrounding seawater seemed to be forging his body into a single entity.
Just as Wang Nan was immersed in this wonderful sensation, Long Aotian, who was ahead, suddenly stopped.
Wang Nan abruptly came back to his senses and followed Long Aotian to stop, looking ahead, where piles of white bones were stacked.
Those were not the bones of Spirit Masters, but various Spirit Beasts, some dim, while others still emitted a faint glow.
Among them, Wang Nan saw more than one mermaid skeleton.
Several strange-looking fish were burrowing among the skeletons, gnawing loudly, crushing the bones with a "crunch, crunch" sound.
The arrival of Long Aotian and Wang Nan seemed to disturb their feeding, and they all turned their heads to look in their direction.
These fish had extremely large heads, with a mouth that almost took up a third of the entire head. When their mouths opened, one could see the serrated teeth still stained with the flesh and blood of some unknown Spirit Beast.
With a flick of their tails, those Spirit Beasts shot toward Wang Nan like arrows. Although Long Aotian was prepared, the strange fish crashing into him still caused his body to retreat a short distance in the seawater.
Wang Nan finally revealed his Spirit. With the Coiling Dragon Staff in hand, his right arm bone emitted a golden glow, and in an instant, a layer of golden light enveloped both him and the Coiling Dragon Staff.
Wang Nan immediately felt his body lighten. The seawater still surrounded him, but his movements were already much smoother than before.
With a twist of his right hand, the Coiling Dragon Staff swept in a half-circle, stirring up the surrounding seawater. The movements of the strange fish were noticeably disrupted.
However, as Sea Soul Beasts living on the seabed, they quickly adjusted their posture and lunged at Wang Nan with open mouths.
Wang Nan swung both arms, and the Coiling Dragon Staff, along with the seawater, met the strange fish.
This originally powerful strike, weakened by the seawater, had little killing power left when it landed on the strange fish.
Moreover, unlike Wang Nan, who had nowhere to exert force in the sea, these fish had no such concerns. If one attack failed, they would flexibly turn around and charge again.
In seawater, moves that involve larger movements are harder to execute.
Although it was his first time fighting in the sea, Wang Nan quickly noticed the differences between here and on land. He immediately focused his mental force, calmly sensing the changes around him.
Before those strange fish approached him, water currents flowed past him. Wang Nan held his Coiling Dragon Staff horizontally, blocking the path of these strange fish.
The moment they approached, his hands trembled slightly, and the tip of the Coiling Dragon Staff suddenly vibrated violently.
With this "collapse" strike, a huge force spread outward from the tip of the rod, even pushing away the surrounding seawater, leaving a vacuum zone.
Although it was quickly filled by the surrounding seawater, Wang Nan still captured the change in that instant.
Wang Nan repeated the trick, his hands trembling, and the Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand vibrated violently. The surrounding seawater was rapidly pushed away, then quickly filled by seawater from other areas.
Wang Nan's eyes slightly lit up. Stirring was not the only way to change seawater.
Just like now, creating a void allowed the surrounding seawater to rush in. Wang Nan hadn't actually touched the surrounding seawater, but in that instant, he still grasped the direction of the seawater's flow.
If one were to view the entire world as an ocean, and the rules permeating the world as seawater, there was undoubtedly another way to stir the "seawater."
Wang Nan was no stranger to using mental force and spirit power. Right here, in the deep sea, Wang Nan no longer paid attention to the bizarre fish Spirit Beasts and had even forgotten his initial purpose for coming here.
His gaze seemed to be looking at this ocean, yet also at the invisible things around him.
A cold light flickered in Wang Nan's eyes. He held the Coiling Dragon Staff upright, and the giant Dragon on it slowly swam, gradually detaching from the Coiling Dragon Staff and circling around Wang Nan.
The Coiling Dragon Staff suddenly grew larger. Centered around it, the surrounding space instantly shattered and distorted. Seawater flowed into the spatial cracks opened by Wang Nan, going to an unknown place.
The next moment, a terrifying suction force came from the Coiling Dragon Staff. The surrounding seawater, along with the strange fish in the water, uncontrollably moved toward the Coiling Dragon Staff.
The Coiling Dragon Staff fell with immense force. Even deep beneath the sea, it could not stop the power of this strike.
The seawater was pushed aside by this strike of the Coiling Dragon Staff, spreading outwards.
On the surface of the Ice Sea, a monstrous wave surged high. The Sea Soul Beasts in the surrounding sea seemed to have encountered something terrifying and scattered in all directions.