Nash hadn’t actually fainted; he was only pretending. But when he heard her tail slither closer across the stone, his heart nearly gave out for real.

  Stay calm, he told himself. I’m bait. I’m bait. Don’t die as bait.

  Then, Dante’s voice brushed against his mind through spiritual transmission.

  > “Hold on, Nash. We’re right behind you.”

  Nash exhaled a shaky breath. Thank the heavens.

  The Mermaid circled him slowly, her eyes gleaming with something ancient and hungry.

  “This human…” she murmured, running a delicate hand over his chest, “…is much more handsome than the last one.”

  Her fingertips rested lightly over his heart. She smiled, the expression beautiful and chilling all at once.

  “His heart… is so strong. So full of life.”

  Several nearby Mermaids giggled, their tails flicking in the moonlight.

  “Congratulations, Auntie,” one said sweetly. “Once you eat his heart, your cultivation will stabilize for sure.”

  Unable to contain her delight, the white-haired Mermaid pressed her cheek against Nash’s chest, listening to the powerful, steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

  “Boom boom… boom boom…” She mimicked the sound softly, then burst into laughter. “Hahaha… such strong vitality. I love it.”

  “Auntie,” one of the younger Mermaids called, her voice shrill and excited. “The moon’s almost out!”

  The white-haired Mermaid lifted her gaze toward the horizon, where the full moon was slowly breaking through the clouds.

  Once the moonlight touched his body, she could tear his heart out and devour it.

  In the shadows beyond the reef, Lauren and the others immediately understood what that meant.

  “Time’s running out,” Lauren whispered.

  Dante nodded. “Yeah. The Hidden Spirit Talismans won’t hold much longer.”

  Westin frowned deeply. “But that white-haired one—she’s at the fifth level, a Great Demon. That’s Nascent Soul strength. The four of us are barely early Core Formation. We can’t take her head-on.”

  Lauren’s voice came through the mental link, calm but cold. “She’s badly injured. Her cultivation’s been reduced to the early Nascent Soul stage. She’s been devouring human hearts just to keep her realm from falling any further. It’s taking a toll on her life force.”

  “So, we still have a chance,” Dante said grimly. “If we hit her hard enough, she’ll drop straight to the fourth level.”

  The three of them exchanged quick glances, watching as the moonlight inched closer through the drifting clouds. They outlined their plan in hurried whispers.

  On the stone platform, Nash could feel the Hidden Spirit Talisman’s energy fading. His body trembled, his spiritual power suppressed to maintain the illusion of being unconscious.

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  Dante’s voice brushed his mind. “Nash, wait until she reaches for your heart—then strike.”

  The Mermaids around him began shrieking in excitement, their bodies twisting and swaying in some bizarre dance. It looked like a ritual—chaotic, sensual, and utterly grotesque.

  Nash held his breath, focusing on the sound of her approach. The laughter, the flapping of fins, the rhythmic slaps of tails against stone—it all blurred together until he could sense her presence looming over him.

  Then came her scent—salt, blood, and something faintly sweet.

  The white-haired Mermaid extended her hand, her nails lengthening into razor-sharp claws, glinting in the moonlight.

  Her lips curved into a hungry smile. “Boom boom… I can almost taste it.”

  Her hand darted down—straight for his heart.

  Nash rolled away at the last instant. A flash of gold erupted from beneath his sleeve—

  The Gold Silk Talisman activated.

  Threads of shining silk exploded outward, wrapping around the Mermaid’s arm like a net of light. Her hand was caught mid-strike.

  Nash lunged up, his dagger flashing as he plunged it into her abdomen.

  The white-haired Mermaid froze, staring down in disbelief as crimson spread across her pearly skin. Her scream split the night—high, piercing, and furious.

  In an instant, her delicate beauty shattered.

  The skin on her arms rippled and hardened into overlapping scales, and her body began secreting a faintly glowing mucus. Her aura flared wildly, power crashing out like a wave.

  The dagger barely scratched her now, but the damage was done. Already weakened, the blow sent her cultivation spiraling downward—falling from early Nascent Soul to late Core Formation.

  Still, she was far from helpless.

  Everything had happened in a single heartbeat. By the time the other Mermaids realized what was happening, Nash was already surrounded, blades of spiritual light flashing around him as he fought.

  “Kill him!”

  “Eat him alive!”

  “Rip out his heart!”

  The shrieking Mermaids surged forward, a chaotic tide of scales and madness. Some swung jagged coral branches or rusted harpoons. Others hurled rocks, bones, or whatever they could find.

  The beach devolved into chaos—a grotesque, frenzied storm of shrieks and flailing tails, the moonlight glinting off blood and scales alike.

  This is the difference between demonic beasts and humans.

  Demonic beasts possess their own talents. For example, male Mermaids can use song to defeat enemies, their strength stemming from their bloodline inheritance and body structure.

  While humans may not be as physically strong as demonic beasts, they possess agile minds, having developed various formations, spells, celestial arts, and Talisman.

  While they don't rely on awakening bloodlines, humans do pass on their skills from master to apprentice. A well-equipped human cultivator is no less capable than a demonic beast of the same level, let alone this elite group of well-equipped creatures.

  Western's domain was immediately unleashed, and the rocky island instantly became lush and green.

  Vines entangled the Mermaids' tails, suspending them in mid-air.

  They immediately secreted a large amount of mucus, and the vines slipped, sending the Mermaids plummeting like rain.

  Lauren's ice spikes and Dante's silver needles darted toward the Mermaids, each blocked by the hard, slippery scales of their skin or stuck to the mucus covering their bodies.

  As the mucus emanated, a stench filled the air. It was like a dead fish left out in the sun for three days, nauseating.

  They all silently vowed, mission accomplished, never again to take on a Mermaid-killing mission.

  "Dante, go in and get Nash. Westin and I are outside."

  Huh? Didn't we agree that you'd kill them?

  Dante silently recited the Heart Purification Mantra several times before rushing in.

  "These damned human cultivators, kill them."

  "Kill them..."

  The voices rose and fell, interspersed with waves of eerie singing, each rising higher and higher.

  It was like a combination of Notre Dame's hymns and a shrine; the scene was incredibly eerie.

  Several people immediately took the elixir they had taken earlier to calm their minds.

  These mermaids generally had low cultivation levels. Aside from a few, most were at level one, two, or three, not even at the Core Formation stage.

  But when they sang together, their power was formidable.

  Lauren, holding her sharp sword, stabbed at the scales, which were covered in slime and fully open for defense. She broke through the defense, creating a large hole. Unexpectedly, the water that flowed out was even more foul, so foul that she vomited.

  Killing a hundred or eighty mermaids like this wouldn't be a problem, but there were thousands of them here.