Chapter 122: Why is he Crazy?
The Merfolk worshiped a god named Joine.
That said, she wasn’t truly a god. The term ‘god’ was applied to her by the Merfolk in a show of reverence and humility. The truth was that she was actually just a mysterious entity from the bottom of the sea who had godliness.
Even still, godly entities that could lie dormant on the seafloor would obviously be incredibly mighty. In fact, they were so mysterious that most species couldn’t understand them, and the same could be said for their mightiness. Before the broken face of the god arrived, sea monsters did exist in the sea surrounding the Revered Ancient mainland. But they weren’t like this. After the broken face of the god arrived, living beings were changed. In many places, entities appeared that contained some of the essence aura of the broken face of the god. And those beings came to be called godly entities. Their predecessors, which had been researched by various intelligent species, were evolved forms of grues from the forbidden regions. Joine was one such being.
To ordinary mortals… she was basically a god.
For many epochs, godly entities like her stood at the apex of creation, and were worshiped as deities by countless minor species. Even the most powerful species would fear them. However, as the epochs passed, and the intelligent species in the world grew stronger by struggling to survive, they came up with ways of defending themselves against godly entities.
In fact, some species could pose a threat to godly entities, and the most powerful species could even fight the emperors of the forbidden grounds. Humans, despite being scattered in so many locations, counted as one of the powerful species.
The waters seethed with every step Joine took on the seafloor. As she approached the Merfolk Isles, Master Seventh stood atop his dreadnaught, looking down at the bottom of the sea.
“Zheng Kaiyi,” said the Merfolk patriarch, “if Joine comes, she’ll bring a tempest of blood and carnage. There’s no need for your sect and my people to fight each other. We’re allies! And we can continue to be allies! We’ll cede all our rights and benefits to you! We’ll even help you defeat the Seazombies.”
“You and your people are bending the knee too late,” Master Seventh said coolly. Ignoring the Merfolk patriarch, he waved his hand and said, “Bring out the War Banner of Humankind!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the dracolizard dreadnaught roared to heaven, and the thirteen Gold Core elders bowed their heads respectfully. The over one hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators did the same.
On the tallest building atop the dracolizard’s back, an enormous banner appeared. It was fully 300 meters long, multicolored, and was splattered with blood. It looked tattered, as though it were actually only the corner of a much larger banner. As it flapped in the wind, it released an unparalleled murderous aura that caused heaven and earth to tremble. In fact, that aura was so strong it caused the air to go still, and the surface of the sea to become placid. It seemed capable of suppressing all beings in existence; even godly entities would bow their heads in its presence.
The blood splattered on the banner pulsed with godliness, as though countless godly entities had died beneath it. Especially noteworthy was one specific drop of blood that was a pure gold color. That blood exuded a sensation that surpassed godliness, making it seem very close to the broken face of the god above.
The Merfolk patriarch’s face drained of blood, and in a trembling voice he said, “The War Banner of Humankind? There’s no way Seven Blood Eyes could have a precious human treasure like that. Even if it is only one corner of it....”
The banner flapped, and a massive wave of force erupted from it, creating the illusory image of a finger. It contained a boundless sensation of ancientness, like something from the River of Time itself. It did not contain any special mightiness, but anyone who saw it, even from afar, would feel so shaken their mind would empty.
It seemed like that enormous finger represented a dao of heaven, and as it stretched forth, it pushed down toward the sea.
The surface of the sea for a diameter of 50,000 kilometers evaporated, revealing Joine, the eyes on her tentacles wide open as she fought back against the power of the finger. Her resistance did nothing. Most of her tentacles simply exploded, as did her fish skeleton robe. The long tongue coming from her back withered up, and the rot on her flesh spread out rapidly. Then, her lower half exploded, sending flesh and blood spraying out everywhere. Her top half survived, and as she screamed in agony, she retreated into the depths of the sea!
Of course, no one in the Merfolk Isles saw any of that happening, save the cultivators on the shoreline who could see through the weakening spell formation. The disciples in the underwater world had no way to see it, except for those who had special items that let them see what was happening outside. For instance... a spirit rhino eye.
Inside the temple, Xu Qing’s eyes were wide as he stared at the image projected by the spirit rhino eye.
By means of that projected image, he saw the dreadnaught, the banner, and the huge finger. He saw the 50,000 kilometer area of sea evaporating, and Joine exploding. However, there were limits to what the spirit rhino eye could do, and after a certain point, the terrifying image caused the eye itself to explode. When that happened, the Captain did something that struck Xu Qing with profound shock, and left Zhang San wide-eyed and speechless. He took out a hand-sized crimson lump of flesh and slapped it onto the statue of Joine.
The flesh melted, spreading out over the entire statue as it did, almost as if it were eating the statue. They even heard bizarre chewing sounds. When the statue was completely devoured, and had become a massive chunk of flesh, a crevice appeared on it. It was almost like a door within the flesh. It wriggled and twisted as if it wasn’t stable. The entire chunk of flesh did the same, like it might wither up at any moment.
Within the darkness of that crevice was what appeared to be the seafloor. And scattered about there were numerous chunks of flesh. Astonishingly, they were mangled bits left behind after Joine exploded. Apparently there were other beings in the depths of the water who found those chunks very attractive, and were rushing toward them greedily.
The aura from that flesh was so powerful it emerged from the crevice, allowing Xu Qing to sense it. It was so strong that it seemed capable of instantly killing anything it encountered. Even the Seven Blood Eyes forces in the air above the islands seemed leery of it, and weren’t interested in trying to acquire it.
However, the Captain’s eyes glittered with unprecedented madness. Turning away from the chunks of flesh on the seafloor, he looked at Zhang San and Xu Qing. “I know why the two of you are here. And I wasn’t lying. I told you I’d bring you to the good stuff, and those things are right here. Zhang San, you want the blueprint for the Merfolk’s Flying Fish Armor, right?”
The Captain pulled out a bright red jade slip. It was clearly an extraordinary object, as it radiated strange fluctuations, almost as if whatever was inscribed therein was alive. Within those fluctuations was the image of a fantastic suit of armor. Even at a glance it was obvious it was extraordinary.
Zhang San’s eyes went wide as he reached out toward it. “What is it doing here?”
The Captain smiled and handed the red jade slip to Zhang San, who took it excitedly. Next, the Captain looked at Xu Qing.
“Now for you, Xu Qing. You wanted some Foundation Establishment Pills, right? Here are three. And they’re very high quality. Very expensive. Very precious. First-class pills, no doubt. Definitely not like ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills.” He produced a jade box that he handed to Xu Qing. “Well, what do you think? That’s what you wanted, right?”
Pupils constricting, Xu Qing opened the box and saw three blue-colored medicinal pills that exuded a fragrant aroma. They also emitted a faint mist, making it seem like they were living things. Shaken, Xu Qing closed the box, put it away, and looked up at the Captain. There was no way he would believe that the Captain was just going to give him something as valuable as this.
“It took a lot of work for me to help the two of you out. And since I helped you, now you’re going to help me. Stand guard here, for just a short while. I’ll be back in the time it takes an incense stick to burn! When I’m back, I’ll share some of the loot with you. And if I’m not back in that amount of time, you can just forget about me and leave.
“I’m going to collect some of Joine’s flesh. She’s a god to the Merfolk, so it’d be great if the two of you could pray for me to live through this. If I do get back alive, then the three of us are going to be rich. Rich, you hear me?”
Xu Qing couldn’t have been more shocked to hear that. He looked at the flesh through the crevice, and sensed the terrifying aura. Then he looked at the crazy look in the Captain’s eyes, and came to the conclusion that the man must be insane. Either that, or he didn’t like the idea of living for too long, and wanted to live dangerously.
Xu Qing had encountered people like that before. They usually came in two varieties, which were polar opposites. One was the type who quickly ended up dead, and the other... benefitted wildly.
Xu Qing hoped the Captain was the latter, and therefore he asked, “How can we increase your chances of coming back alive?”
“You can’t. It all comes down to luck.”
Xu Qing nodded.
“What’s the point of life, anyway?” the Captain said. “To have fun, right? And it’s not my first time having fun. Alright, here I go!” Taking a deep breath, and his eyes burning with that crazy look, he dove into the crevice of flesh and blood.
There was something else in his eyes besides craziness, and that was ruthlessness. He really did seem like he had a death wish as he shot toward the mangled remains of half of Joine’s body. The wriggling lumps of flesh already seemed like they were starting to wither, as though they might not last much longer.
Zhang San watched for a moment, then sighed. “Have you ever seen someone in Qi Condensation like this? Does he freaking want to die...?”
Xu Qing shook his head. Even if the Captain cut open his own belly to show his cultivation base and prove he was a Qi Condensation cultivator, Xu Qing wouldn’t believe him.
“Are coffins expensive in the capital city?” he asked.
“I had one made for him before,” Zhang San replied, “but never needed it, so I demolished it. Oh, this reminds me. I used the demolished coffin in your dharmaboat. I ran out of materials and didn’t have anything else on hand. When we get back, I can make him a new one....”
“....”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response. Then, a moment later, he looked toward the entrance of the temple complex. Narrowing his eyes, he quietly said, “Something’s coming.”
A moment later, they heard sizzling sounds, as though something was being melted by poison. Then they heard the booms of Zhang San’s traps exploding.