Just as Gandalf was darting across the sea like a headless fly, the previously calm sea in the distance suddenly began to churn violently.

Giant splashes of water shot skyward, as if something was rapidly approaching Gandalf's position from deep beneath the sea.

Zhou Huai raised an eyebrow, controlling the water flow surfboard under his feet to a stop.

He wanted to see what the native beasts of this ruin truly looked like.

Splash—!

The surface of the sea was suddenly broken by a massive dark shadow.

A gigantic beast, whose size rivaled a small truck, leaped out of the water!

It was a creature entirely black, covered in countless slimy tentacles.

Its body resembled a massive tumor, and at the top of the tumor, a bottomless maw split open, filled with spiraling sharp teeth.

【Deep Sea Gullet LV40】

Almost at the instant it appeared, several more identical monsters emerged one after another from the seawater behind it!

They opened their repulsive giant mouths, aiming at Gandalf on the sea surface.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Blobs of ink-black liquid, emitting a {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} strong stench, shot towards Gandalf like cannonballs!

"A bit disgusting."

Zhou Huai's consciousness, within Gandalf's body, frowned in distaste.

With a thought, the water flow surfboard under his feet executed a beautiful fishtail, like the most agile surfer, easily dodging all the ink attacks.

He didn't have time to waste on these beasts now.

Finding that Divine Artifact was the top priority.

However, while Zhou Huai wanted to leave, those Deep Sea Gullets had no intention of letting him go.

Seeing that long-range attacks were ineffective, they roared, and countless thick tentacles, like arrows released from a bow, broke through the water surface and lashed fiercely at Gandalf!

Zhou Huai snorted coldly, and the speed of the surfboard under his feet increased again, drawing graceful arcs on the sea surface, dodging all attacks.

He had initially thought it wouldn't be difficult to shake off these guys.

But he soon realized he was wrong.

No matter how he accelerated or changed direction, those Deep Sea Gullets clung to him like maggots to bone, following him relentlessly.

Not only that, as time passed, the number of Deep Sea Gullets emerging from the seabed actually increased!

In just a few minutes, the azure sea behind him was already covered by dense black tentacles.

Looking out, there were nearly a hundred of them!

Countless water arrows and ink, like dense raindrops, furiously slammed against the Arcane Barrier behind Gandalf.

The clanging sounds were incessant.

Zhou Huai turned his head, looking at the overwhelming army of beasts behind him, and sighed helplessly.

"I didn't want to kill you."

"But you insist on seeking death."

He stopped the surfboard under his feet and slowly raised the eternal sanction in his hand.

"Forbidden Spell: Thousand Mile Ice Seal!"

Crack—!

Absolute zero erupted with him at the center!

The sea behind him, which had been violently churning, instantly froze!

The ferocity on the faces of those nearly one hundred Deep Sea Gullets, and the wild dance of their tentacles, were all frozen in that instant.

A layer of firm ice, emitting a colorful halo, completely sealed them.

Immediately after, those lifelike ice sculptures, as if losing their buoyancy, slowly sank one by one into the bottomless seabed.

Finally, the world was quiet.

Zhou Huai was just about to continue forward.

But the next second, his expression darkened again.

In the distance, the sea surface once again began to churn violently.

More Deep Sea Gullets!

And this time, the number was even greater than before!

A dense, overwhelming mass, stretching as far as the eye could see!

They surged like a tide, once again rushing furiously towards Gandalf's position.

Zhou Huai's brows furrowed tightly.

He began to try constantly changing direction, hoping to shake them off completely.

It was useless.

In this vast ocean, these aquatic beasts were the absolute Dominators.

Their speed was even a few points faster than Gandalf, who had activated water flow acceleration.

This time, their attack methods became even more frantic, more reckless.

Some Deep Sea Gullets even abandoned long-range attacks, directly using their massive Physical Bodies to fiercely ram Gandalf's Arcane Barrier!

Even more, at the moment they approached Gandalf, their bodies suddenly swelled, and they exploded with a bang!

Terrifying shockwaves created huge ripples on the sea surface.

Fortunately, Gandalf's Arcane Barrier was now thick enough.

Even after enduring such dense attacks, it remained as solid as ever, showing no signs of breaking.

Zhou Huai's expression grew increasingly grim.

He had no choice but to stop again and again, releasing Forbidden Spells to clear away the endless army of beasts behind him.

But it wasn't long before a new batch of beasts would emerge from the seabed, repeating the cycle.

"Something seems off..."

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf to put away his staff; he suddenly noticed something abnormal.

A pattern.

As long as he moved in a specific direction, the attack desire of the beasts behind him would significantly decrease.

Their speed would also gradually slow down.

Although they still pursued him relentlessly, they would deliberately maintain a safe distance from him.

But as soon as he deviated from this direction, even by a tiny bit, those beasts would instantly become furious, as if injected with stimulants, launching desperate and fearless attacks.

This feeling...

It was as if these beasts were guiding him in this unique way!

Understanding this, a strong interest immediately surged in Zhou Huai's heart.

It seemed that the beasts here were not ordinary monsters.

They were very likely also part of the rules of this ruin.

Since that was the case, he wanted to see where these guys intended to lead him.

Zhou Huai immediately adjusted his direction and sped towards that specific point.

Indeed.

After he found the right direction, the overwhelming army of beasts behind him immediately stopped attacking.

They simply followed silently behind Gandalf, like a well-trained guard, maintaining absolute quiet.

Time flowed by, minute by minute, in this eerie pursuit.

One hour.

Two hours.

A full three hours passed.

Finally, a slight change appeared at the end of Zhou Huai's line of sight.

On that boundless azure sea, a small black dot appeared.

As the distance continuously closed, the black dot gradually magnified in his vision.

Eventually, it transformed into the outline of an island.

"An island!"

Zhou Huai's eyes suddenly lit up.

After wandering in this damned ruin for so long, he finally saw land!

It was said that the Divine Artifact, pendulum of life, was hidden on one of the islands.

Could it be this one in front of him?

Thinking of this, Zhou Huai's heart couldn't help but beat a little faster.

The speed of the water flow surfboard under his feet increased dramatically again, rushing full speed towards that island!

Ten minutes later.

Gandalf's figure lightly landed on the soft sand beach of that island.

And the massive beast army behind him, upon seeing Gandalf come ashore, stopped in unison.

They patrolled the waters around the small island for a moment.

Then, like a tide, they silently retreated, submerging back into the deep sea.

Seeing this, Zhou Huai became even more convinced of his previous speculation.

These beasts were indeed guiding him.

He had discovered this secret, but what about the others?

With the intelligence of those elites from various countries, they should quickly figure this out.

No.

He had to speed up.

He looked around, beginning to carefully examine the small island.

The island's area didn't seem large, at most a few kilometers in circumference.

The island was exceptionally lush with vegetation, covered everywhere with towering ancient trees and exotic flowers and plants he couldn't name.

The air was filled with a fresh scent of grass and wood.

It was distinctly different from the wild, ancient atmosphere of the outside world.

The strangest thing was that no beast Qi could be felt on this island.

It was excessively quiet.

Zhou Huai did not hesitate at all, controlling Gandalf to step into the dense jungle.

The tall tree canopy covered the sky, cutting the sunlight into countless fragmented specks of light that scattered on the ground.

In the forest, only Gandalf's footsteps rustled.

He went deeper, his Mental Energy spreading out in all directions like an invisible spiderweb, probing everything around him.

Soon, he passed through this jungle.

The scene ahead suddenly opened up.

A crystal-clear freshwater lake, like a sapphire embedded in emerald, quietly appeared before his eyes.

The lake water was clear and sparkling.

The lakeside was covered with colorful flowers.

Several brightly colored butterflies danced among the flowers.

It was simply like a legendary paradise.

However, Zhou Huai's gaze did not linger too long on these beautiful sights.

His sight quickly locked onto the bottom of that freshwater lake.

At the deepest part of that lake, something seemed to be flickering with a golden, faint light.