Chapter 121: Joine Awakens
“Captain, you’ve been poisoned,” Xu Qing said.
The Captain’s eyebrows shot up. “Poisoned? I’m not poisoned. You think someone as skilled as me would get poisoned?”
“You’ve definitely been poisoned,” Xu Qing said with conviction, noting that the Captain’s face was about as dark as the black waters of the sea.
A somber expression overtook the Captain’s face. “Deputy Captain Xu, please don’t make irresponsible remarks. And always back your words with hard evidence. A moment ago I saw an interesting-looking sea fruit, ate it, and got sick. I suppose I shouldn’t randomly eat any fruit I see around here.” [1]
Suddenly realizing that his face was starting to feel numb, the Captain produced another handful of antidote pills and popped them in his mouth like candies. Inside, he was feeling very down. After falling into the water earlier, he’d hidden himself so that Xu Qing would be forced to explore the passage first. He’d then planned to just follow when the way was clear. Never could he have guessed that Xu Qing would actually lace the entire tunnel with poison.
Seeing that Xu Qing was about to continue the conversation about poison, the Captain suddenly looked over to Zhang San in his corpse disguise. “Hey, who’s that? Isn’t that Zhang San?”
Not waiting for Xu Qing to respond, he rushed over to Zhang San. Upon arriving, he launched a kick, but Zhang San jumped out of the way, then looked up to see the Captain and Xu Qing, who was also walking over.
Immediately noticing the greenish-black coloration on the Captain’s face, Zhang San said, “Captain, did you get poisoned?”
“Shut up.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “Cut the crap, Zhang San. By the way, do you really think you’re going to get anything good by laying around here pretending to be a corpse? Come with me. I’ll show you where the really good stuff is.” After looking around to confirm his location, the Captain picked a specific direction and started moving.
Zhang San didn’t hesitate for a moment. Jumping up, he called a quick greeting to Xu Qing then followed the Captain.
Before going too far, the Captain looked over his shoulder and called, “By the way, Deputy Captain Xu, the place I’m going to has those Foundation Establishment Pills you want. Come on!”
Xu Qing looked around at the chaos on the battlefield. Then he looked at the Captain, and realized he was heading in the same direction as that indicated by the Spirit Breath Lamp. Seeing no reason to hesitate, he followed.
And thus, the three of them left the fighting behind. They were mighty enough that, though they did encounter some obstacles, they were easy to overcome. The Captain was obviously in a hurry. His hand constantly exuded a frigid energy, and whenever he encountered Merfolk cultivators, he froze them into blocks of ice instantly.
Zhang San had a very different manner of fighting than the Captain. He had all sorts of interesting items and gadgets that he would throw out, most of which created extremely deadly explosions. As a result, the Merfolk were almost incapable of getting close to them. He also wielded a silk thread that was hard to detect with the naked eye. It spun around him constantly, and was incomparably sharp.
Sometimes after the Captain froze an enemy into ice, Zhang San would follow up by slicing them to pieces. The way they worked together made it obvious that this wasn’t their first time teaming up. And it also helped the group move very quickly.
Xu Qing also noticed that Zhang San had attached a thread to the Captain, which made it easier for Zhang San to follow him. Of course, Xu Qing’s methods of attack were different from both the Captain and Zhang San. More specifically, he actually didn’t launch any attacks. Instead, he laced the surrounding water with a colorless poison powder that he had specifically developed to target Merfolk.
As they moved along, any Merfolk who got too close would start dissolving. Even if they tried to flee after noticing they were poisoned, their entire bodies would rot away and they would die screaming in agony.
When Zhang San saw that, his expression flickered, and he quickly took out a handful of antidote pills. He also tried to move a bit faster to put more space between himself and Xu Qing.
The Captain, of course, continued to pop antidote pills. As they sped onward, Xu Qing eventually realized that, to his surprise, the Captain’s destination was the very same place the godpriests had come from.
About an hour later, as the sounds of the battle faded behind them, they reached a location with numerous bizarre buildings.
They were made from coral, but they were all pitch black, and they were grouped together in a circular configuration. The architecture reminded Xu Qing of the temples from the forbidden region by the scavenger basecamp.
It’s a temple complex, Xu Qing thought, his pupils constricting. At the same time, he was fairly certain the fluctuations from the Spirit Breath Lamp had pointed in that exact same direction. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to take the lamp out to confirm.
“We’re here,” the Captain said excitedly, accelerating toward the temple complex.
Their arrival attracted the attention of the Merfolk guards inside the complex, who rushed out to fight. There weren’t very many of them. Normally speaking, there would have been more, but considering the calamity that had struck the Merfolk, and the fact that there was fighting going on everywhere in the underwater world, there were a lot fewer than normal.
Given the Captain’s strength, Zhang San’s gadgets, and Xu Qing’s colorless poison, it didn’t take very long for them to clear a path into the temple complex. A few Merfolk appeared who were Foundation Establishment cultivators, but had their cultivation bases suppressed to the Qi Condensation level. But the Captain simply unleashed his explosive power, and they were frozen. It didn’t matter what cultivation base level he faced, the result was the same.
The sight left Xu Qing feeling shaken. The Captain obviously had incredible battle prowess. Furthermore, Xu Qing was coming to realize that the Captain had a very clear idea of where he was going. During the entire trip, he hadn’t taken them down one wrong path. They had made a beeline for this specific location.
Is the Captain after the same thing as me? Xu Qing kept his guard fully up as he followed.
When they were deep into the temple complex, they eventually found themselves in front of a specific temple building that was blue in color.
“Zhang San,” said the Captain, “you set up some traps in the area. Use your best little gadgets. I’ll pay you back later. Xu Qing, lay down some poison. Don’t be stingy! I’ll compensate you when we get back to the sect!”
Zhang San immediately got to work, and before long, there were explosive traps set up everywhere. And they were all placed in an ingenious and clever manner that would make them very difficult to detect, let alone disarm.
For example, he dug a hole in the floor and placed a trap into it, which would obviously be triggered when stepped on. Upon noticing that Xu Qing was watching him work, Zhang San grinned and explained, “Nothing will happen to the first person who steps on it. But when a second person steps on it... boom!”
Xu Qing watched, then looked around. Based on what he remembered from the Spirit Breath Lamp, he got the feeling this wasn’t the exact spot he was looking for. He probably needed to go deeper into the complex. That caused him to breathe a sigh of relief. After Zhang San was finished setting up all his traps, Xu Qing spread out his poison powder, ensuring that this temple would be even more dangerous to enter.
Finally, he looked over at the Captain.
Visibly pleased, the Captain opened the door in front of them and beckoned for Xu Qing and Zhang San to follow. Beyond it was a huge open space with nothing in it other than a statue of Joine.
Looking around anxiously, Zhang San said, “Captain, what are you up to? There’s nothing here at all, much less the thing I’m after.”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything, he just looked at the Captain.
“Calm down, you two,” the Captain said, squatting on his haunches. “I guarantee that both of you will get what you’re after. Just be patient.” With that, he pulled out a withered-up eyeball that didn’t look human. Putting it down in front of him, he performed an incantation gesture and pointed out. The eye opened, and then a projected image shot out from its pupil. It looked like the island and everything around it.
“Alright, let’s take a look at what’s going on,” the Captain said, looking excited.
“A spirit rhino eye?” Zhang San exclaimed, walking over to look at it. “Those things are expensive. Where did you get it?”
Xu Qing looked closely at the bizarre eye, then the Captain. After that, he backed away a bit to look at their surroundings. What Zhang San had said was accurate. There was absolutely nothing around them but the statue. The statue itself seemed to be made from coral, and did not emit any fluctuations of godliness. But Xu Qing didn’t feel he could relax. He fully remembered the statue with the saber in the temple complex near the scavenger basecamp. That statue had looked completely ordinary in nature as well.
That said, Xu Qing had no intention of sticking around for long. As soon as he had an opportunity, he was going to leave.
Even as he studied the area, the ground trembled, and the sound of a distant explosion reached their ears. They also heard a piercing sound that cut through everything in the underwater world. The source of that noise was the very same battlefield Xu Qing, the Captain, and Zhang San had left behind. The place was now strewn with corpses. The dozens of godpriests were still alive, but were in very bad shape.
Their god magic beasts were all dead, and the priests themselves were in a state of madness as they emitted piercing shrieks. At the same time, they burst into flames, burning their own life force to unleash a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering god magic.
The same thing happened on other battlefields throughout the underwater world. Although there weren’t a lot of godpriests, when they burned their life force and shrieked, the sounds combined, growing louder and louder to a shocking level.
Within moments, several hundred godpriests throughout Joine Island were all shrieking, and the sound pierced the entire island. The sound even passed outside of the spell formations to reach the depths of the sea. They were summoning something!
Eventually, a howl echoed out from the depths of the waters. It was like a cry that originated from heaven and earth, and was indescribably intimidating. As the howl erupted, waves rose up on the surface of the water for thousands of kilometers in every direction. The sky changed colors, and wild winds sprang up. In the extreme depths of the sea... an astonishingly massive figure appeared, 30,000 meters tall, like a god.
It seemed that every movement it made took extreme effort, but at the same time, every step it took caused the seafloor to quake. Terrifying might erupted from the figure, causing countless sea beasts to tremble, regardless of the level of their cultivation base. At the same time, the souls of the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators trembled at the might exuded by the god-like figure.
Rumbling sounds echoed out constantly. If one could peer from the sky down into the bottom of the Sea of Endlessness, they would see an old woman wearing a long robe made of fish skeletons, tentacles writhing around her as she walked toward the Merfolk Isles. Wrinkles covered her face, and much of her skin was rotting off. But her emotionless eyes still shone with golden light. And when she exhaled, her breath contained strong mutagen, but also, traces of godliness. Her tentacles all had eyes on them, and they were also golden, and though they were only half open, they were all looking in the direction of the Merfolk Isles.
Emerging from the woman’s back, jutting out of the fish skeleton robe, was a massive scarlet tongue covered with innumerable deceased souls. Shockingly, those deceased souls appeared to all be Merfolk godpriests, and it was their shrieks that the woman was responding to.
As all of this happened, the spell formations covering Joine Island weakened to the point where the cultivators there could see what was happening beyond the island.
This figure was the god worshiped by the Merfolk... Joine!
1. In Chinese, the Captain specifically indicates that a “wind evil” entered him. The “wind evil” is not some sort of fantasy/xianxia invention, but rather, a real-life concept from Traditional Chinese Medicine. That’s why I translated it as simply “got sick” rather than “wind evil,” because for all intents and purposes, that’s what he’s saying. TCM is extremely common in China, even in big hospitals. Doctors who don’t even believe in TCM will still enforce general rules from it, such as not letting wind blow on you when you’re sick, or the catch-all directive to “wear more clothes and drink hot water” whenever you don’t feel good. ☜