The three fiend kings stopped in their tracks.
Mountain-Crusher’s dozen dark-red tentacles recoiled at once, Sea-Overturner went even further, the whole squid body retreating half a li, its tentacles curling as they exhaled thick inky fiendish qi, wrapping itself in a murky fog.
“Be careful, another sword cultivator.” Mountain-Crusher’s voice came from the base of his tentacles, carrying a trace of fear.
Chen Yu hovered above the sea, watching the three fiend kings who had rushed forward with fierce momentum suddenly halt in unison, and couldn’t help but wonder inwardly.
Why do these guys react to a sword cultivator like it’s some kind of flood beast?
He thought for a moment and suspected that Xu Xuan Heaven might have often seen sword cultivators before, leaving them all mentally scarred.
The three fiends faced off in silence for a moment, then the central whale-headed one broke the stalemate first.
The Tide-Swallower Fiend King raised its head and let out a prolonged, low bellow. Its enormous whale body began to shrink rapidly, its hundred-zhang frame collapsing to human size within a few breaths.
Thick black fiendish qi swirled around it. When the mist dissipated, an old man in an ink-colored robe stood where the whale had been.
These magic beasts can actually change into human form.
In Zeyarila only a few true dragons could use this sort of technique, so how had this fiend pulled it off?
“Tide-Swallower Fiend King, greetings to the young reverend.” The old man cupped his hands toward Chen Yu.
“I know you come from the Three Origins Sect. I would not mistake the Primordial Origin Sword Dao. Years ago, your sect’s Dao Master came to Xu Xuan Heaven to gather herbs; from afar I once saw him sweep his sleeve and cleave the sea. Your sword just now follows the same lineage.”
He lowered his hands and looked at Chen Yu with sincere dark-gray eyes, sighed, then added, “But our actions today are out of helplessness. This sea cannot be without a true dragon, the Sea-Strangling process of becoming a dragon must succeed.”
Chen Yu’s tone was calm, neither moved by the old man’s earnestness nor showing contempt.
“You speak elegantly, not like an ordinary wild fiend, so I tell you this.”
“But you confuse right and wrong and aid the wicked. The Legacy Pearl of the South Sea belongs to the Eighteen Islands of Zhan County; you stole the pearl and ruined the sea-suppressing formation, recklessly endangering the lives of tens of millions of people in Zhan County.”
“Do you know how great a disaster that venomous snake will bring when it transforms into a true dragon?”
Mountain-Crusher could no longer contain his anger. He slapped the sea with a mighty tentacle, sending up waves dozens of zhang high.
“Old Whale! Why are you wasting words with him? He’s only a sword cultivator. The three of us together—kill the brat quickly, then hurry to aid the Sea-Strangler!”
Sea-Overturner hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes, start now! If something goes wrong at the Sea-Strangler, the whole becoming-dragon scheme will fail!”
Tide-Swallower did not move. He merely raised his arm to block Mountain-Crusher’s side.
“Silence. As long as I do not act today, neither of you may act either.”
Mountain-Crusher’s ten tentacles stiffened at once, obviously furious.
“You old immortal, spit it out! Otherwise don’t blame us two for being rude.”
The old man ignored their threats, withdrew his arm, and bowed deeply to Chen Yu again.
“Young reverend, you must understand, the snake’s transformation into a dragon will bring future harm, but without a true dragon to suppress Xu Xuan Heaven, a great flood catastrophe is imminent.”
“Do you know that Xu Xuan Heaven can both swallow and spit out sea water? In past times that swallowing and spitting were regular, the tides were extremely abnormal.”
“But Xu Xuan Heaven has not spat seawater out for hundreds of years. Recently there have been strange tremors deep below. If Xu Xuan Heaven were to suddenly exhale, even the coasts of the southern border would be submerged by hundred-zhang tsunamis.”
“If a true dragon does not come to guard this sea, it will not be long before catastrophe sweeps the entire South Sea.”
“I too act out of helplessness, which is why I chose to aid the Sea-Strangler. Among the four of us fiends, he is indeed the most likely to shed and become a true dragon.”
A great catastrophe?
Chen Yu had not expected the fiend kings to be so united; it turned out something was wrong with Xu Xuan Heaven itself.
But he did not wholly believe the old man. Tide-Swallower’s words were airtight, yet any fiend that had survived here so long would be an expert at saying whatever suited the listeners.
He pondered briefly and found the most obvious flaw in the old man’s argument.
“If you only need to subdue the sea, the Sea-Suppressing Divine Cauldron and the Legacy Pearl suffice. The Dao Masters of the Eighteen Islands have used them for many years without issue. Why must you have a true dragon?”
“You could always ask the Eighteen Islands of Zhan County for help instead of supporting a venomous snake.”
The old man shook his head, seriousness creasing his dark-gray eyes.
“A true dragon rides clouds and controls wind, rain, thunder, and lightning; its powers are not limited to a single sea-suppressing technique.”
“In truth, the tide pressure accumulated in Xu Xuan Heaven is no longer something a single pearl or cauldron can suppress. What can truly channel Xu Xuan Heaven’s tides is the water-mastering divinity that only a true dragon possesses.”
“A dragon lord must personally enter the depths of Xu Xuan Heaven and serve as a channel, guiding the centuries-accumulated tides from the abyss into the North Sea to dissipate them slowly. If a true dragon guards Xu Xuan Heaven, we can resolve this crisis.”
“But the one who would solve this is a venomous snake, unacceptable to the righteous path, so I chose this desperate measure. The Sun-Stealing Golden Wheel is what I gave him; I hope, young reverend, that for the sake of the world you will let us pass.”
Chen Yu murmured inwardly that the logic was indeed flawless; even he could not refute it.
Olivia, unfamiliar with dragon affairs and feeling no sense of impending catastrophe, was merely curious. “So Your Majesty, will you let them through?”
Chen Yu did not speak, he simply lowered his head to look at her.
Olivia stared at the giant slime facing her outside the pavilion and immediately realized that her lord’s head was cooking up some weird idea again.
Mountain-Crusher and Sea-Overturner were growing impatient. Mountain-Crusher slapped the water with his tentacles, churning up greenish bloody waves.
“Brat, step aside quickly. Didn’t Old Whale just say it? We’re doing this for the people too! If you don’t move, you’ll be blocking the people of the entire South Sea!”
Sea-Overturner nodded repeatedly, its tentacles slapping the water in time with Mountain-Crusher’s, “Right, right, we’re doing it for the people, move aside!”
Chen Yu raised his head again, his gaze sweeping over the two squids.
“Very well. Since you claim it’s all for the people, then assist me.”
As he spoke, he transmitted his voice quietly to Olivia, “Your cue.”
Olivia rolled her eyes; she already knew.
She stretched her body, spreading her silver wings fully, rose gracefully from the flower pavilion railing, passed through the castle barrier while growing larger, flew out, and landed on Chen Yu’s shoulder.
Her dragon soul was only palm-sized, but when it settled on Chen Yu’s shoulder the silver-white wings folded slightly and every scale along her nape emitted a soft silver glow in the dim Xu Xuan fog, looking undeniably extraordinary.
She mimicked the lines her lord had taught her in divine sense, cleared her throat, and lifted her dragon head.
“A dragon lord stands here. Will you not help me reclaim the dragon pearl?”
Tide-Swallower’s gaze fell on the palm-sized silver dragon soul perched on Chen Yu’s shoulder.
His dark-gray pupils contracted slightly.
This aura is undeniably from a true dragon, even purer than the dragon remnant he remembered in the depths of Xu Xuan Heaven.
But why does it look like this?
And although the little dragon soul carries dragon blood, there is no sign of any wind-calling, rain-commanding, or lightning-driving divinity about it.
Peculiar, very peculiar.
Mountain-Crusher and Sea-Overturner were surprised by this sudden dragon aura as well, but after a glance they recovered some confidence.
Mountain-Crusher urged in a muffled voice, “Old Whale, stop staring. Kill the brat now.”
Then he charged forward at Sea-Overturner.
Tide-Swallower once more blocked Mountain-Crusher and Sea-Overturner.
“No mischief. Quickly greet the dragon lord.”
He had figured it out. Even if the silver-scaled spirit was not a true dragon, it was an fiend on the verge of shedding into one—and because it stood with the righteous path, it was more qualified than that venomous snake to be Xu Xuan Heaven’s true dragon.
Mountain-Crusher and Sea-Overturner exchanged a look and ceased their words.
Mountain-Crusher struck first. Ten dark-red tentacles shot out at once, curling toward the back of Tide-Swallower.
Sea-Overturner’s inky mist surged from the flank at the same moment. As the black waves rolled, they carried countless long inky spears, their tips sharp and poisonous.
Then a streak of golden light cut across in front of them.
The sword light arrived faster than their tentacles.
The tentacles Mountain-Crusher launched were all sliced clean from the front less than three feet from Tide-Swallower’s back by the sword light.
At the same time, Tide-Swallower dodged the inky spears.
Olivia, crouched on Chen Yu’s shoulder and watching the two squids with interest, borrowed Chen Yu’s divine sense to ask, “Weren’t you just saying that you’re doing this for the people here?”
Mountain-Crusher retracted the twitching stumps of his severed tentacles; new flesh was already angrily growing from the wounds. He sneered coldly, “My ass the people. They’re not on my body.”
“That old man’s naive. If the Sea-Strangler becomes a true dragon, he’d want the sea to swallow all of Xu Xuan Heaven, why would he guard Xu Xuan Heaven for you?”
Sea-Overturner dropped the pretense entirely. Its fiendish fog ballooned until it blotted out the sky, black waves rose and crashed down, shredding the sea within dozens of li into a dark green chaos.
The fiendish qi solidified into a wall expanding in all directions, the sea stench so strong even the barnacles on the reefs began to clamp their shells shut.
Tide-Swallower roared in anger, “If you want to pass, step over my old bones first.”
The old man shifted back into his giant whale form and tangled with the two squids. A tail slap sent one squid flying, while the other wrapped around and attacked again.
The three fiends fought so fiercely they churned the sea into turmoil.
“Young reverend! Don’t worry about me, go after that venomous snake, don’t let it refine the dragon pearl!”
“No need for such haste.” Chen Yu’s eyes landed on the two squids.
He had noticed these two were quite hardy; no matter how many tentacles the sword light cut off, they grew back quickly.
He decided to use his treasure.
A hum rose from the miniature castle in Chen Yu’s left palm, transforming into golden light that shot into the sky above the sea.
The castle swelled with the wind, growing from palm-sized into a massive object that blocked the sun. The silver-gray stone walls glinted coldly in the Xu Xuan fog.
“First kill that ancient bastard, then kill that damned sword cultivator!”
Mountain-Crusher shouted, but suddenly sensed something blocking the already faint light above Xu Xuan Heaven and instinctively looked up.
Above them was the castle’s base, larger than a peak, so vast that when he raised his head his entire vision was filled. For a moment he mistook it for a newly risen sea plateau.
His mind was full of confusion.
A sword cultivator who didn’t use a sword, why craft such a thing as a treasure?
But confusion aside, he felt no real fear.
Treasures are not stronger simply for being larger. Golden Core masters expend heartforce and refining fire to temper treasures; objects of mountain size already require arduous continuous refining for centuries to fully fuse with a master’s Dao.
This strange refining contraption in front of him was bigger than a mountain. Not even a century—ordinary Golden Core immortals might exhaust their lifetimes and still fail to control it satisfactorily.
To him it was just a pile of patched-together stones that would fall apart at a strong wave.
Tide-Swallower had the same worry at first.
While tangled with Mountain-Crusher he glanced at the castle, but after hearing Chen Yu’s transmitted voice he hesitated, and in the end chose to trust him.
With a fierce sweep of his huge tail Tide-Swallower hurled Sea-Overturner dozens of zhang away, then launched himself out of the surging waves, a streak of black fleeing light streaking across the sea.
Mountain-Crusher and Sea-Overturner watched the direction Tide-Swallower fled and laughed.
“Old Whale? Just empty reputation.”
The two fiends combined their powers to raise the sea for a hundred li from the bottom up. Waters layered higher and higher before them, forming a wave over a thousand zhang tall.
Mountain-Crusher’s inky fog surged into the wall, dyeing the entire water wall a heavy dark green. Within it countless inky spears and tentacle phantoms roiled, forming a moving mountainous mass of fiendish qi.
They struck together, slamming the thousand-zhang-high ink wave with all their might toward the floating castle suspended midair. The wave obscured most of the sky, even the gray-white fog over Xu Xuan Heaven was driven aside by the pressure of the surge.
Under their watch the tsunami slammed into the castle and immediately engulfed it.
But before the two fiends could press their advantage they saw that after the wave passed the castle still remained unmoved, surrounded by activated magic formations.
Both fiends froze.
What the hell is this?
This was a treasure—how could it have formations?
They hadn’t yet figured out what had happened when the formation inscriptions over the castle lit up.
From the tower bases to the main keep, every ancient rune came alive in the same instant.
Countless golden formation lines extended from the castle surface, weaving themselves into a three-dimensional network that covered the entire fortress.
With a roar a ring-shaped grand formation appeared in the sky, large enough to envelop the castle and its surroundings.
The grand formation’s diameter was so vast the Xu Xuan fog was pushed back hundreds of zhang. Countless runes flowed rapidly across its face, gold and silver-blue interweaving into streaming light paths that carried oppressive weight.
Silver Sparrow’s voice sounded from the castle’s core, “Report to master, Heavenly Gang and Earthly Killing Extermination Formation is fully charged, ready to fire.”
Chen Yu nodded, “Good, fire.”
No sooner had the words fallen than the formation’s light completely swallowed the two fiend kings.