In the sky, the Chongming Bird weaves through the clouds, keeping an eye on the Shadow Demon team below.
Lu Heng's team of four, with the Sea Demon Clan's High Priestess Sona in tow, is in pursuit, aiming to intercept the Shadow Demons before they reach the Sea Demon Clan's territory.
Fifty kilometers from the Sea Demon Clan's territory, Su Muyu suddenly senses something amiss and wonders out loud:
"Lu Heng, something feels off. The Shadow Demon team's flight posture hasn't changed for a long time."
Shadow Demons aren't naturally capable of flight, but once they reach above level 20, they can fly without needing extra skills.
In other words, slightly higher-level Shadow Demons can fly and have a similar flight style.
Su Muyu then asks, "Should we have the Chongming Bird approach for reconnaissance? It's too far to confirm if there's something wrong with these Shadow Demons."
Hearing Su Muyu's warning, Lu Heng considers a possibility and immediately nods, saying, "Approach and investigate immediately."
"Alright." Su Muyu agrees with a nod, closes her eyes, and guides the Chongming Bird to dive down, approaching the Shadow Demon team for investigation.
Within a range of three hundred meters, through the Chongming Bird's vision, Su Muyu finally sees the problem clearly.
"This is bad, this entire Shadow Demon team is made up of disguised shadows, none of them are the real bodies." Su Muyu urgently reports after realizing the truth.
"Directly fly to the Sea Demon Clan's territory, 500 km/h is not the maximum speed for Shadow Demons, they likely left an illusion and then accelerated. Go intercept them directly!" Lu Heng makes a quick decision.
Sona has also used the Sea Language Skill to notify the Sea Demon guards within the territory to prepare for defense.
The Chongming Bird releases the Flowing Light Shuttle once more, speeding towards the Sea Demon Clan's territory.
Three minutes later, the Chongming Bird enters the range of the Sea Demon Clan's territory and then locates the Shadow Demon team.
Under the leadership of the Shadow Demon Great Demon Helmer, the Shadow Demon team has already rushed into the Sea Demon Clan's territory, heading straight for the Vasqi Temple, engaging in battle with the Sea Demon guards stationed outside.
This group of Shadow Demons is a summoned force, with levels generally above 40, boasting immense combat power and numbering as many as sixteen.
Thus, with one charge, the Shadow Demon team scatters the fifty Sea Demon guards standing in front, breaking their formation.
Upon discovering the Shadow Demons' presence, the Sea Demon guards dispersed across the territory immediately rush over to join the battle.
The battle becomes increasingly intense.
The temple gate has been struck by Great Demon Helmer several times and now stands on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, the Chongming Bird arrives, unleashing the Solar Wind at the Shadow Demon Great Demon Helmer.
The scorching Solar Wind howls past, boiling the seawater and causing some impact to Helmer, but most of the heat is absorbed by the seawater, so it doesn't stop Helmer's actions.
The Chongming Bird can only swoop down, using its claws to attack.
Helmer turns and swipes with his claws, smashing the Chongming Bird to pieces with a single strike.
Twenty kilometers away, Su Muyu shudders and exhales, saying, "The Shadow Demons are attacking the temple gate, and the Chongming Bird has been dispersed."
After all, it's just a summoning, and fighting underwater, the Chongming Bird's flame attributes are completely suppressed, so it poses little threat to the Shadow Demon team.
At a distance of twenty kilometers, at supersonic cruising speed, it takes only a minute to arrive.
The Mechanical Tiger swoops over the Vasqi Temple, and Sona, in her anxiety, jumps directly from the sky, diving straight into the ocean, raising a huge wave as she charges towards the sea bottom to stop the Shadow Demons' ferocity.
Lu Heng follows immediately, rushing into the temple together.
At this moment, the Vasqi Temple's gate has already been broken, and the Shadow Demon team has stormed into the temple.
Great Demon Helmer is preparing to destroy the Sea God Statue to steal its Divine Energy.
Just then, Lu Heng arrives, using a [Void Flash] to appear in front of Helmer, wielding his sword to block Helmer's swiping claws.
Seeing a human summoner appear, Helmer's expression tenses, and he explosively releases a circle of Shadow Energy, creating over ten Shadow Clones that smash towards the Sea God Statue from all directions.
Lu Heng sees this and a spark flashes in his eyes, releasing [Divine Embodiment] while activating [Bullet Time], both his real body and clones striking out together to intercept the over ten Shadow Clones.
The fierce clash between sword light and Shadow Energy shakes the entire temple.
Although Lu Heng intercepts as many Shadow Clones as possible, two Shadow Clones still strike the Sea God Statue.
The attacks blast several holes into the statue, from which the breath of Divine Energy emanates.
The Divine Energy within the Sea God Statue is the source of energy for the Vasqi Temple and the key to protecting the Sea Demon Clan.
The goal of this Shadow Race Great Demon is the Divine Energy within the Sea God Statue; as long as he seizes this vast energy, he can gain a significant boost in combat power.
Just when the Sea God Statue is attacked and several damage spots appear, High Priestess Sona arrives, standing in front of the statue, raising the [Heart of the Tides] to cast a water curtain, enveloping the Sea God Statue.
After securing the Sea God Statue, she finally has the hands free to control the water to attack Helmer.
A major characteristic of the Shadow Race is their very fast action speed.
This species is born with extremely high movement speed, with an innate +100% movement speed Talent.
This is why Shadow Demons are considered one of the most dangerous demon species in the Abyss World.