Chapter 169 Subduing the Sea Beast

Within the vast expanse of the ocean, although aquatic life was extremely abundant, the vast majority of these creatures possessed little to no spiritual intelligence. For Zhou Tian, such creatures could at best serve as expendable cannon fodder, but adopting them as true subordinates was completely devoid of any cultivation value.

Talent was of paramount importance. When recruiting subordinates, the very first thing Zhou Tian looked for was whether the creature possessed spiritual intelligence. Without even basic intelligence, no matter how much effort Zhou Tian poured into nurturing them, the end result would merely be powerful beasts incapable of acting independently or carrying out tasks for him. It might be acceptable to raise one or two such pets, but truly spending vast spiritual resources to cultivate such entities was entirely unnecessary.

At present, the sea beast before Zhou Tian was the strongest creature he had encountered since entering the deep sea, and remarkably, it already possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Given this, Zhou Tian naturally felt the desire to subdue it.

"I didn't expect you to have already awakened your spiritual intelligence. It seems we share a karmic bond. Well then! If you can understand my words and are willing to submit to me, nod your head three times, and I will save your life."

Zhou Tian had only asked with a tentative mindset, never expecting that upon hearing his words, the sea beast would indeed nod its head three times toward him.

Although this did not mean the sea beast possessed a high level of intellect, it at least demonstrated that it had some measure of intelligence and could understand Zhou Tian's speech. For a sea beast with a certain level of intellect and passable strength, Zhou Tian naturally had every reason to take it under his command.

With a slight smile on his face, Zhou Tian directly purchased a healing pill from the system store. Enclosing it with his magical power, he tossed it toward the sea beast.

"Open your mouth and swallow it!"

Hearing Zhou Tian's command, the sea beast did not harbor any suspicion. It simply opened its mouth and swallowed the pill thrown by him straight into its belly.

Pills produced by the system naturally possessed miraculous healing effects. Scarcely had the pill been ingested when the sea beast's body began to recover at a rapid pace.

Until all the injuries on its body completely vanished, the sea beast let out a few joyful roars and then wagged its massive head flatteringly toward Zhou Tian.

Watching the sea beast's performance, Zhou Tian could not help but smile with satisfaction.

In reality, while healing the sea beast, Zhou Tian had also given it a test. Just now, he had healed its injuries without any defenses in place. Had this sea beast possessed low intelligence or a cruel disposition, Zhou Tian estimated that the very moment its injuries healed, it would have launched a direct attack on him.

And if the sea beast had truly dared to do so, there is no doubt Zhou Tian would have reacted without a second thought, immediately launching an assault upon it. Even if he didn't necessarily kill it, he would have made it suffer dearly.

However, judging by the current situation, the sea beast's performance satisfied Zhou Tian. Without even deciding how to train the creature yet, its current performance had at least earned Zhou Tian's approval. As for what benefits it might obtain from him in the future, that would depend entirely on its subsequent conduct.

With such thoughts in mind, Zhou Tian did not immediately bestow any rewards upon the sea beast after observing its behavior. Instead, he directly steered the Twelfth-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus to float above its head, pointed toward the deep sea, and ordered the creature to carry him in that direction.

Upon hearing Zhou Tian's command, the sea beast did not hesitate in the slightest. Without a second thought, it began swimming in that direction with Zhou Tian on its back.

When Zhou Tian had been acting alone, he hadn't felt much inconvenience, but now that he was traveling while riding a sea beast, he immediately ran into trouble.

The sea beast he rode was simply too massive. Unlike Zhou Tian—whose body, while not small when sitting on the Twelfth-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, could certainly not be called huge—traveling through the seabed with such a compact form usually meant that unless marine creatures possessed a certain level of intelligence and noticed his extraordinary nature, most powerful ocean life would simply mistake him for ordinary small fish or shrimp, showing zero interest in him.

Now, however, once Zhou Tian started traveling atop this sea beast, the situation changed instantly.

The sheer size of the sea beast meant it was impossible to travel anywhere without drawing attention. While ordinary marine life would not dare to actively provoke it, certain sea beasts that considered themselves formidable would immediately challenge it upon discovery, assuming it was trespassing on their territory.

Faced with these challenges from other sea beasts, Zhou Tian did not stop his mount from fighting, nor did he offer any assistance in terms of combat power. However, each time his mount sustained injuries, he would still heal it to prevent it from dying of severe wounds.

After watching dozens of such battles, Zhou Tian gained a fair understanding of his mount's strength as well as the general power levels of the creatures in the nearby waters.

To be fair, while the sea beast under Zhou Tian had appeared very weak when facing him, crumbling instantly before the Divine Water Suppression Thunder and allowing him to easily capture it, this did not mean its actual strength was truly negligible.

The reason it had fallen so easily to Zhou Tian was largely because his combat power was even greater in the ocean than on land. Moreover, the power of the Divine Water Suppression Thunder was multiplied exponentially in the sea. Since Zhou Tian's baseline strength was already formidable and further amplified by the environment, the resulting power was naturally beyond what that sea beast could resist.

To put it bluntly, on land, dealing with Saint-realm existences was a sure thing for Zhou Tian, though encountering Demigods would require some effort. But once in the ocean, let alone Saint realms, even Demigod-level existences would merely be playthings at Zhou Tian's mercy.

Yet, while that sea beast appeared thoroughly weak before Zhou Tian, if placed in the outside world, it possessed solid strength surpassing a Saint Beast. If it advanced even slightly further, it would attain Demigod-level power.

Yet, a sea beast of such strength had encountered dozens of challenges within just a few days while carrying Zhou Tian along his journey. In several of those clashes, had Zhou Tian not secretly intervened, it would have nearly perished at the hands of its opponents.

In merely a tiny corner of the ocean, the sea beasts Zhou Tian encountered already possessed a frightening level of strength, boasting hundreds of Saint realms and several Demigods. With such power, combined with their colossal size, one could easily imagine that if they were to go ashore, effortlessly crushing one or two empires would pose virtually no pressure at all.

The strength displayed by the sea beasts both excited and worried Zhou Tian.

The exciting part was that with so many formidable sea beasts inhabiting the ocean, if he could truly conquer and rule all of them, the military might under his control would reach a terrifying scale. Finding other continents aside, any living creature wishing to navigate the oceans would find it impossible to move an inch without Zhou Tian's permission. Furthermore, given that sea beasts could leave the water for short periods, if Zhou Tian so desired, even coastal nations would likely have to dance to his tune.

The worrisome part was that sea beasts were merely one of the larger factions in the ocean—much like magical beasts on the mainland, possessing supreme strength yet lacking overarching political dominance. Since even sea beasts had reached such a level of power, Zhou Tian could not afford to take the true rulers of the ocean, the Sea Clan, lightly.

Having gone through this series of experiences, aside from figuring out the power distribution in the nearby waters, Zhou Tian's test of his mount could be considered somewhat concluded.

After observing dozens of sea beasts over this period, Zhou Tian discovered that while most of them possessed absurdly formidable strength, their intelligence was roughly on par with feral beasts. Aside from lacking the erratic rage of mindless beasts, their intellects were uniformly low. Even among sea beasts that had reached the Demigod realm and were on the verge of becoming divine beasts, their intelligence was not much higher than his mount's. This highlighted the unique value of the creature beneath him.

Weak strength was not a problem; Zhou Tian had plenty of ways to enhance it. What truly concerned him was intelligence. Means to boost intelligence did exist in his possession, but the difficulty of employing them right now was exceptionally high. At the very least, before Zhou Tian successfully transformed into a true dragon, he was unlikely to use methods that elevated the spiritual intelligence of other creatures.

Thus, the intelligence of his subordinate sea beasts could only depend entirely on their own innate talent.

Comparing it to all the other sea beasts, Zhou Tian found that the mount he rode had performed the best. Having already intended to subdue it, he naturally made his final decision then and there.

"Swallow this!" After purchasing a pill that could enhance a beast's physical constitution, Zhou Tian skillfully wrapped it in his demonic power and tossed it directly toward the sea beast's mouth.

Following his command, the sea beast opened its mouth with equal familiarity and swallowed the pill.

Initially, the sea beast assumed this medicine would be identical to the healing pills it usually consumed. To its surprise, the moment it swallowed the pill, it felt a violent twisting pain throughout its body. Driven by agony, it roared a few times, almost believing Zhou Tian was trying to harm it and preparing to counterattack, until a layer of black grime was expelled from its pores. Only then did the beast calm down.

"Roar~" Sensing the changes within its own body, the sea beast let out an excited roar, then hurriedly nodded gratefully toward Zhou Tian, wagging its massive head in a ingratiating manner.

"Good." Patting the sea beast's giant head, Zhou Tian couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "You sea beasts really have it good! Endowed with innate talents, while others struggle so bitterly to improve their strength, all you need to do is strengthen your physical bodies. A tiny pill can boost your power by this much. If it were me, improving my strength would never be so easy."

The sea beast could not understand Zhou Tian's lament and thus offered no commentary. After shaking its head in confusion, it obediently resumed swimming toward the deep sea according to Zhou Tian's previous orders.

However, after watching its movement this time, Zhou Tian spoke up to stop it: "Alright, no need to swim anymore. I'm giving you a task now: go and beat all those sea beasts you fought earlier into submission. Once you complete this mission, I'll reward you with another pill just like the one you ate. What do you say?"

Hearing Zhou Tian's words, the sea beast's eyes instantly lit up with a brilliant flash. Letting out an excited roar, it turned around without a second word and bolted back toward the direction they had come from.

The pill Zhou Tian had just given it held tremendous appeal. If it could obtain a few more, its strength would surge once again. Having lived alone in the ocean for so long, the beast deeply understood the importance of power. Now presented with such a prime opportunity to elevate its strength, it naturally wouldn't let go.

Moreover, while sea beasts were not mindless feral beasts, they were similarly fond of fighting. Back when its strength was lacking, the mount had been defeated numerous times along the way. Now that its power had increased, it naturally wanted to settle old scores. Even if it couldn't defeat every single opponent straight away, with its slightly boosted strength, winning more often than not against those enemies should pose no problem.

Under normal circumstances, with its current strength, seeking payback might still prove somewhat difficult. However, since Zhou Tian's mount was an exception, it had several other methods to accomplish the task. With a plan forming in its mind, it was in no hurry at all.

Avoiding the sea beasts it could not yet defeat, Zhou Tian's mount specifically targeted a creature it had previously lost to and issued a challenge. The outcome held no surprises; since its own strength was already superior to the opponent's and had now broken through, the adversary stood even less of a chance.

After defeating that sea beast, Zhou Tian's mount did not kill it. Instead, it let out a series of low growls toward the rival, leading to a development that surprised Zhou Tian.

"It's actually recruiting lackeys!" Glancing at his mount, Zhou Tian was genuinely startled by its performance. Although he knew the creature possessed considerable intelligence, he never imagined it had grown smart enough to pull off such a stunt.

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Zhou Tian didn't dwell on it too much. After all, the smarter his subordinates were, the more advantageous it was for him. While this behavior exceeded his expectations, it still fell well within his acceptable limits.

Proceeding in this manner and targeting sea beasts it could handle, Zhou Tian's mount gathered over a dozen followers in a short span of time, forcibly establishing itself as their leader through sheer might.

With a dozen lackeys under its command, the mount finally turned its attention to the sea beasts it couldn't defeat alone.

Under the direction of Zhou Tian's mount, its dozen underlings swarmed a powerful sea beast. After a grueling war of attrition, although that formidable beast managed to defeat all of the lackeys, it also sustained heavy injuries.

At that exact moment, Zhou Tian's cunning mount leaped out and issued a challenge to the exhausted beast.

One side was well-rested while the other was utterly fatigued. Naturally, that beast was no match for Zhou Tian's mount anymore. Thus, after a bitter struggle, the creature that had previously easily thrashed Zhou Tian's mount was forced to surrender in utter helplessness.

However, having achieved victory through such tactics, that defeated beast was naturally unwilling to submit sincerely. Consequently, despite repeated threats and ingratiating gestures from Zhou Tian's mount, the beast remained completely unresponsive—until Zhou Tian intervened to help his mount out.

Retrieving his Heaven-Turning Seal, Zhou Tian channeled his demonic power and hurled the artifact toward a small mountain on the nearby seabed.

"Boom!" With a deafening roar, the thrown Heaven-Turning Seal smashed the small mountain into a pile of rubble. The sheer destructive power displayed startled the sea beasts, who had never witnessed the might of a magical treasure before.

Faced with Zhou Tian's display, those sea beasts finally began to take this seemingly unremarkable human seriously. Casting awe-inspired gazes toward him, every single sea beast involuntarily lowered its body in submission.

To say nothing of the other sea beasts, even Zhou Tian's personal mount was genuinely shocked by the power he demonstrated. This was the first time Zhou Tian had used the Heaven-Turning Seal since entering the ocean, and its terrifying destructive might had subdued the group of sea beasts in a single stroke.

Shortly after, seeing that the beasts' attitude was quite cooperative, Zhou Tian produced a batch of healing pills to mend the injuries sustained during the battles. Such a gesture, simple as it was, elicited genuine goodwill from the creatures despite their generally low intelligence.

Aided by his mount and backed by the might he had just displayed, Zhou Tian effortlessly persuaded the entire group of sea beasts to pledge their allegiance within moments.

Using this very method, Zhou Tian easily subjugated nearly a hundred sea beasts inhabiting the shallows.

Only after subduing them did Zhou Tian manage to piece together information regarding the ocean from the fragmented words of these low-intelligence creatures.

In the seas, sea beasts occupied a position equivalent to magical beasts on land, boasting the highest collective strength. However, due to limited intelligence and a lack of grand ambitions, most sea beasts lived solitary lives within their own territories. Thus, despite holding the greatest overall strength, they constituted the least influential faction in the ocean.

Conversely, the Sea Clan possessed far inferior collective strength compared to sea beasts, yet they possessed intelligence rivalling that of humans. By uniting into kingdoms akin to human empires and cultivating magic and battle qi, these Sea Clans relied on collective strength to suppress the powerful sea beasts.

Armed with this knowledge, Zhou Tian decided against venturing deeper into the deep sea—at least, not in the near future. If he stumbled upon the deep-sea factions right now, while he wouldn't necessarily suffer losses, he wouldn't gain any major advantages either. Letting them become aware of his presence prematurely would adversely affect his future plans. Therefore, he shelved any thoughts of entering the deep sea, intending to confine his activities to this coastal region. If he were to venture deep into the ocean, he would likely only do so after successfully transforming into a dragon.

Having assessed the situation, Zhou Tian immediately reorganized his subordinate sea beasts, gathering them all in the shallow coastal zone. He then ordered them to form small squads and patrol the coastline to subdue other sea beasts.

Thus, at the cost of some medicinal pills and within the span of a little over ten days, Zhou Tian successfully amassed a force composed of hundreds of sea beasts.

Bringing these sea beasts back to the capital was obviously out of the question; the capital was located inland and had no waterways connecting to the sea, making communication with such a force difficult.

Zhou Tian had originally intended to use these sea beasts to make a show of force against the goddess. Having successfully completed the first half of his plan, he immediately proceeded with the next phase.

At Zhou Tian's command, one of the sea beasts rose from the water and crawled onto the shore.

Scarcely had the beast emerged when the Amazon tribe near the coast reacted swiftly.

Stationed by the sea, the Amazons were well-accustomed to dealing with sea beasts. However, because sea beasts historically lacked effective organization and intelligence—often causing casualties but ultimately ending up as food for the Amazons—the sight of a sea beast coming ashore did not panic them despite their prompt response.

Quickly organizing forces to quietly surround the beast under their chieftain's orders, the Amazon women prepared to eliminate the intruder.

Yet, before they could even launch their attack, the calm ocean surface stirred once more with new activity.

One, two, three...

"Good heavens! Why are there so many sea beasts?"

All the Amazon warriors were terrified by the scene unfolding before them. Sea beasts, usually a rare sight, suddenly seemed as common as dirt. Instead of the usual months passing between sightings, hundreds of them emerged from the ocean one after another. Moreover, these creatures acted as if directed by an intelligence; while the Amazon women surrounded the initial beast, the subsequent arrivals completely encircled the Amazons themselves.

"Respected Sea Clan warriors, our Goddess has a long-standing pact with your Sea God forbidding the Sea Clan from attacking Amazon territory! Your actions now violate that prior agreement. Do you not fear the wrath of the Sea God?" Confronted by the surrounding ring of sea beasts, the Amazon women seemingly mistook these creatures' abnormal behavior for a coordinated act by the Sea Clan. Consequently, the leading warrior stepped forward to sternly denounce Zhou Tian's actions.

It was the first time Zhou Tian had heard of such a pact, but since he was no member of the Sea Clan anyway, he cared little for divine agreements. After a brief pause, he simply controlled the sea beasts to close in on the Amazon tribe.

Seeing the sea beasts drawing closer, the Amazons began to grow anxious.

While the divine pact theoretically existed, the unseen mastermind had shown complete disdain for the Sea God's wrath. Consequently, the Amazon warriors could rely solely on their own strength.

Yet, could they truly handle these sea beasts using only their own might?

Dealing with a single sea beast required a coordinated group effort, and even then, achieving victory exacted a heavy price. Forcing them to face hundreds of sea beasts simultaneously far exceeded the capacity of this small frontline garrison.

To put it bluntly, if a battle were to break out between this Amazon force and Zhou Tian's sea beast horde, the beasts might sustain minor injuries at most, while every single Amazon warrior would undoubtedly perish.

Though renowned for their fierce bravery, Amazon warriors were not devoid of self-preservation instincts. If victory were remotely possible, they would gladly fight to the death; but facing certain annihilation with zero hope of winning, they were hardly inclined to make a meaningless sacrifice.

Observing the motionless Amazon warriors, Zhou Tian did not instruct the sea beasts to harm them. Although he intended to make a point, he held no personal grudge against the Amazon tribe and had no desire to slaughter them. Seeing how cooperative they were being, he naturally had no reason to make things difficult for them.

"Drop your weapons!"

Zhou Tian's voice echoed clearly in the ears of the Amazon warriors. Hearing the command, they scanned their surroundings, failing to locate the speaker, yet ultimately decided to comply. One by one, they obediently cast their weapons onto the ground.

Unarmed Amazons posed even less of a threat to the sea beasts. Directing one beast to guard the captive warriors, Zhou Tian led the rest of the horde toward the Amazon tribe's settlement.

Though he did not know the exact relationship between the Goddess and the Amazons, the fact that the deity had selected this exact region to exile him implied some hidden connection.

Since the Amazons were tied to that Goddess, Zhou Tian's best course of action was to start with them. While he didn't intend to massacre the entire tribe, he at least needed to extract any information they might hold regarding the deity.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Tian marched directly toward the Amazon settlement.

His advance immediately set the Amazon tribe on edge.

Controlling hundreds of sea beasts, each possessing power comparable to a Saint realm, created a force of undeniable terror when deployed together.

Yet this formidable army was currently marching directly toward their home. Without a way to halt them, the meager forces of the Amazon tribe stood virtually zero chance of victory.

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, the Amazons showed no weakness. While evacuating the elderly, women, and children of their tribe, they concentrated all remaining combat-capable personnel to block Zhou Tian's route.

Zhou Tian was naturally aware of their movements. In fact, long before getting close, he had spotted their defensive deployment. Seeing their stance, he merely smiled and commanded his beast legion to continue advancing toward the settlement.

"Fire!" Seeing the sea beasts enter the ambush zone, the Amazon warriors unleashed a volley of arrows upon the chieftain's command.

Zhou Tian remained completely unfazed. Ignoring the descending barrage, he sat placidly within the Twelfth-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus, letting his protective treasure deflect every incoming projectile.

In contrast, the sea beasts suffered a much more miserable fate. While their strength was formidable, their limited intelligence prevented them from displaying it effectively, and their colossal size made dodging the Amazon volleys virtually impossible.

Ultimately, under the excited gazes of the Amazon warriors, Zhou Tian's entire legion of sea beasts was riddled with arrows, looking like giant hedgehogs.

The Amazon warriors were naturally overjoyed. If they weren't in the middle of a battlefield, they might have jumped for joy.

However, those warriors were celebrating prematurely. While the sea beasts' sheer size made them easy targets, their innate power was undeniable. Could a volley of ordinary arrows from Amazon warriors truly kill them? That was an impossible fantasy.

Furthermore, Zhou Tian stood behind those beasts. Even if the Amazons possessed the capability to defeat them, Zhou Tian would never allow it; under his watch, those beasts wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

Shaking off the projectiles, the sea beasts—which the Amazons assumed were dead or at least severely wounded—stood back up as if nothing had happened, much to the horror of their attackers.

"Roar~" Though not seriously injured, taking unprovoked hits angered the sea beasts. Roaring furiously, they scanned their surroundings and spotted the Amazon warriors not far away. Without waiting for Zhou Tian's command, the beasts charged forward on their own.

Seeing the sea beast horde charge, it would be a lie to say the Amazon warriors weren't terrified. Yet, true to their reputation as a warrior race, even knowing they stood no chance, they notched new arrows and braced themselves to fight to the death.

The disparity in strength was absolute; if a clash occurred, victory would undoubtedly belong to the sea beasts without exception.

However, just as the horde was about to crash into the Amazon formation, a single command from Zhou Tian halted them in their tracks.

"Stop! Do not kill anyone!"

Zhou Tian's orders carried absolute authority. While the sea beasts lacked high intelligence, this trait had its advantages: they were remarkably simple-minded and rarely betrayed anyone once they acknowledged a master. Zhou Tian's overwhelming strength and healing prowess had long since earned their complete devotion. Having accepted him as their master early on, none of them dared disobey his explicit command to spare lives.

When the beasts halted, they were already perilously close to the Amazon formation—so close that the warriors could feel the hot breath exhaling from the colossal creatures. Even though they heard Zhou Tian's order, a lingering wave of terror washed over them. Had warrior pride not forbidden them from displaying weakness, over ninety percent of the Amazons would likely have collapsed to the ground in sheer relief.

"Who is the leader here? Step forward and speak!" Abandoning his mystery, Zhou Tian materialized atop the head of his mount. Looking down at the tense warriors, he initiated negotiations.

"I am." Realizing the speaker's identity, an older-looking Amazon warrior stepped forward despite her wariness. Raising her head to meet his gaze, she asked, "Respected powerhouse, what is the purpose of your visit to our tribe? We Amazons harbor no enmity toward you. Why drive these sea beasts to attack our settlement?"

Frowning slightly, Zhou Tian didn't even bother answering her question. With a casual glance, he asked directly, "Do you recognize this Goddess?" As he spoke, he channeled his demonic power to project an illusory image of the deity he had encountered in the Divine Realm.

"The Moon Goddess!"

"Ah, you do recognize her. Good. Since you know her, come with me on a trip!" Seeing the immediate recognition spark in the warrior's eyes upon viewing the projection, Zhou Tian smiled happily. Without waiting for her consent, he ordered his mount to wrap its tentacles around the Amazon warrior and hoist her into the air.

Seeing this, the remaining Amazon warriors lost their composure. While aware they were no match for him, standing idly by while their chieftain was captured was entirely unacceptable.

Thus, despite knowing their efforts were futile, they gritted their teeth against the terror, raised their weapons once more, and pointed their blades at Zhou Tian.

Sensing their hostility, Zhou Tian frowned. A cold glint flashed across his face as he prepared to teach them a harsh lesson.

To his surprise, the captured Amazon chieftain noticed the change in his expression. Knowing that a clash between her tribe and Zhou Tian would spell utter doom for her people, she panicked and shouted a hasty warning to her clansmen: "Don't move! I am going with this lord and will return shortly. None of you are permitted to make any hostile moves, or I will banish you from the tribe in the name of the War Goddess!"

"Great Warrior!"

Though several warriors cried out in anguish upon seeing their leader taken captive, whether due to Zhou Tian's overwhelming deterrence or the chieftain's strict warning, they ultimately suppressed their reluctance and watched helplessly as Zhou Tian departed with their leader.