Chapter 967: After Waking Up (part 1)
Five months later, in the north of South Phoenix, the sun burned hot in the sky. Golden streams of light fell like sharp swords, stabbing mercilessly into the depths of the Forbidden Sea. The sea sizzled and angry waves surged out, its wild fury suffocating. A strong wind blew, seemingly intent on shoving the entire Forbidden Sea over the horizon. The sound of the waves and the cries of the sea beasts was outright shocking to any who could hear it. It was as if the sound itself wanted to bury any listeners at the bottom of the sea. Mutagen surged along with the waves, bending the light waves and turning everything hazy. Compared to it, everything else on the Forbidden Sea seemed as insignificant as dust.
At the moment, a lone ship was visible on the horizon, where the sky met the sea. Huang Yan lay in the boat amidst the haze and the mutagen and the waves. Patting his belly, he let loose a long sigh and looked down toward the bottom of the sea.
“You can really make a big commotion,” he said, sounding somewhat emotional.
As the waves crashed, a three-meter-thick vine splashed out from the water, pulsing with fluctuations of excitement. A moment later, it sank back down into the water and dropped down toward the bottom.
Far under the sea, it was as dark as ink, with no light. Everything was pitch-black and freezing cold. However, the vine emanated faint starlight that formed the only source of brightness in the depths. As it raced down, the water seemed to part for the vine, and it sucked up the mutagen like nourishing food. Ordinary sea beasts could sense what was happening, and quickly raced away.
Nothing posed an obstacle for the vine as it shot to the sea floor, illuminating everything around it with the starlight. Thanks to the starlight, it was soon possible to see a massive trench amidst all the black sand. It was so dark and mysterious that the starlight couldn’t penetrate it, and it emanated an unusual pressure.
A person floated cross-legged above the trench. He wore a violet gown covered in complex designs, and had long, violet hair. Apparently, the Forbidden Sea didn't affect him at all, as he floated there in a very natural manner. His facial features were astoundingly beautiful, and he had skin so fair it sparkled in the starlight. His eyes were like deep lakes, and his gaze was so sharp and penetrating that few people would dare to look into it. There was something heroic and wise about his bearing, and his sharply angled eyebrows would provoke reverence in any who saw him. His entire person glittered like a heavenly body!
He was none other than Xu Qing! He looked profoundly calm as he floated cross-legged above the trench. In his right hand he held the vine. One end of the vine floated to and fro in the sea, sending out amiable fluctuations. The other end... was inside the trench, struggling.
A short time later, Xu Qing yanked on the vine, whereupon a howl of agony could be heard from within the trench. Something terrifying was tied to the end of the vine!
It was an old woman wearing a gown of fish bones, whose body was covered in tentacles. Her face was extremely wrinkled, and largely rotting. However, her golden eyes were terrifying, and when she breathed, she exhaled mutagen full of strong godliness. Emerging from the woman’s back, jutting out of the fish skeleton robe, was a massive scarlet tongue covered with innumerable deceased souls. All of them howled in anguish.
The tentacles covering her had eyes that were also golden, and all of them were open and looking at Xu Qing. That said, many of the tentacles were severed, and the old woman was even missing much of her body. She was not mighty like she had been in the past, and in fact, in Xu Qing’s presence, she trembled.
She was Joine! She was one of the gods worshiped in the Merfolk Isles in the past. Although she was called a god, the truth was that she was just a godly entity. She had no godfire, and not much godly authority.[1]
At the moment, Xu Qing was using her as bait. And astonishingly, Xu Qing was using the sageheaven god vine as a fishing line.
“You’re not letting off enough godliness,” he said coolly. He flicked the vine forcefully, provoking a shriek from Joine as he tossed her back down into the trench.
Joine unleashed stronger fluctuations this time, and much more intense godliness. It led to a much better effect than before. After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, the sound of heavy breathing emanated from the trench. It was like heavenly thunder that sent the water flowing away in all directions.
Then, another howl erupted, whereupon Xu Qing yanked back on the vine again. The vine went taut, then started quivering, as if something had bitten onto it. Xu Qing pulled on it with great force.
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly as veins bulged on his right arm. As a result, his arm gleamed like mercury, and terrifying fleshly body power pulsed out. The vine emerged from the trench, pulling with it a rotting creature that resembled a lizard.
It was a god-river dragon! It resembled a lizard, except far more fierce and vicious. And it emanated the rot of death.[2]
Godly entities like this weren’t very common in the Forbidden Sea, and were extremely rare in shallow waters. They generally stayed very deep down. It was only when they looked for food that they would venture into the open, where they would eat just about anything alive.
Whenever a god-river dragon appeared, they brought catastrophe and death to whatever islands they targeted. In fact, many species that inhabited the Forbidden Sea called them ‘lizards from the Underworld River.’ This specimen was extraordinary even among god-river dragons. It was fully 30,000 meters long, with scales that radiated the light of the netherworld. Deceased souls were visible all over it, which were its victims, and it radiated a terrifying aura as it kept its jaws clamped onto Joine.
Joine howled in anguish as the god-river dragon ripped off a section of her body. However, the vine and its razor-sharp teeth had latched onto the dragon, making it impossible for it to free itself.
Having been dragged out into the open, it unleashed its aura, causing the Forbidden Sea to seethe. The waves on the surface grew larger, and the sky dimmed, all while massive winds swept back and forth.
Smoldering God fluctuations rolled off it. They were comparable to a three-world Smoldering God!
As it howled furiously at Xu Qing, the power of its three dead worlds bolstered it, making its overall aura even more terrifying. It lunged in Xu Qing’s direction, and though it could hardly open its mouth, compared to a human, it was massive. In fact, the opening of its mouth created a huge whirlpool.
All sea beasts in the area who could sense what was happening trembled in fear.
Xu Qing calmly rose to a standing position. He looked like a towering pine tree, emanating dignity and might. He strode forth like a dragon or tiger as he reached toward the snarling god-river dragon. As the dragon roared and opened its mouth wide, Xu Qing’s left hand clenched into a fist, and his entire person pulsed with the will of an emperor.
Undying Emperor’s Fist!
He launched a fist strike. The sea shattered as a destructive pulse spread out in all directions. Then the fist slammed into the god-river dragon’s head.
A muffled thump pulsed across the sea floor, which was followed by a shriek of pain from the dragon as its skull was cracked and many of its teeth shattered. In fact, its head couldn’t stand up to the blow, and it was sent spinning backward, blood spilling out everywhere.
That said, this was an extraordinary god-river dragon, and despite being injured, it still managed to lash its tail out in a devastating attack. Its tail was covered with bone spurs that the seawater did nothing to hinder. As the tail swept toward Xu Qing, he gripped the vine and stared forward unflinchingly. The tail bore down on him with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force. Then something unimaginable happened.
Xu Qing remained in place, unmoving.
But the incoming god-river dragon shivered as if it had slammed into an immovable mountain. Much of it shattered. The spurs covering it crumbled. Intense pain spread through it thanks to Xu Qing’s terrifying fleshly body. The dragon emanated a sense of intense terror, then spun in place to flee. Unfortunately, the sageheaven god vine was still embedded into the flesh in its mouth. As long as Xu Qing held the other end of the vine, there was no way it could escape.
Xu Qing stepped forward, alighting onto the head of the god-river dragon. Then he pulled hard on the vine.
A howl of anguish echoed out. The 30,000-meter-long dragon had no choice but to lift its head and shoot toward the surface of the water.
Shortly after, it burst madly out into the open. The sea caved as water sprayed everywhere. As the dragon filled the sky, it cast a huge shadow down on the boat in which Huang Yan sat.
Water sprayed all over Huang Yan. Huang Yan was not very happy about that.
Up in the sky, Xu Qing stood on the dragon’s head, where he reached out with his left hand toward the sun. Even with the naked eye, it was possible to see the sun rippling as a result.
Xu Qing’s fleshly body then seemed to seize some of the radiance of the sun, so that he himself became like a sun, shining with dazzling light. Boundless light and heat radiated off him as he then pressed his hand onto the dragon’s head.
Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as the god-river dragon trembled and howled. An instant later, its corpse dropped down into the water, where it lay floating, completely still.
A massive tsunami rolled out in all directions.
As Xu Qing stood on the head of the corpse, dazzling motes of godliness spread out from the dragon and merged into him. From a distance, it looked like a seven-colored halo of stars and moons was floating around him. He truly looked like a god.
“This Profound Sun Immortal Light Magic is anything but simple,” he said as he stepped off the corpse of the dragon and onto the boat with Huang Yan.
He relaxed his grip on the vine, which threw Joine onto the ship and then circled exultingly around the area. Joine, who was still missing half her body, trembled.
Also trembling was Little Shadow. It had been resting, but seeing that Xu Qing was back, it cast a very specific sound out into the surrounding water.
“C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch!” A moment passed. “Milord... no... reaction. I’m obedient... continuing now....”[3]
1. Joine was mentioned in too many chapters to list them all as references. Here are some highlights. The island named after her was first mentioned in chapter 111. She “awoke” and was described physically in chapter 121, and the Captain got some of her flesh in chapter 125. And don’t forget that Xu Qing’s spirit cruiser resembled Joine, as described in chapter 551.1. ☜
2. The ‘god-river dragon’ is also a dinosaur name, specifically, styxosaurus. I’m continuing to abide by my previous decision to not use the Latin-based dinosaur names. Given the author’s proclivity for wordplay, I’d like to accurately render the Chinese characters in these ‘dragons’ as much as possible. ☜
3. The “C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch!” is a reference to how the shadow used that specific sound earlier in the story, specifically in chapters 171 and 174. ☜