"Originally, we thought the Celestial Emperor's bloodline was just a gimmick. Now it seems that you and Zhao Wuji went to such great lengths that it is truly worth investigating."
With every step Qingniu took, the void trembled more violently.
"Look closely, and let not a single person today escape!"
Shen Xuanyue's aura surged violently, her sword Qi piercing the heavens. In the air, swirling blossoms fell in colorful cascades, and a path paved entirely with flowers materialized before Lin Feng out of thin air.
At this moment, he only recognized the elder and Wuyou King; the others were all masked, making them completely unrecognizable.
"Hmph! No matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, do you really think we will fall for them again?"
Chapter 6: Sword Bone
Instead of disrupting the flower-paved path before her, the group launched a coordinated attack directly at her, clearly convinced that Lin Feng was a fake.
"If any of you dare to harm even a hair on her head, once my cultivation achieves greatness, I will raze every last one of your sects to the ground!"
Seeing that Shen Xuanyue's mind was entirely focused on the path, Lin Feng panicked.
"A mere trash, and you dare utter such wild words!"
That voice was all too familiar to Lin Feng—it belonged to the Little Dragon King of Little Dragon Pool.
"Stop! Do not attack!"
As the Little Dragon King struck out at Lin Feng within the passage, a flash of light nearby prompted someone to shout a warning. Just as the Little Dragon King was about to withdraw his hand, he saw Shen Xuanyue drop her defensive barrier.
The rest of the group never expected her to do this, nor could they guess what she was plotting; but if the Little Dragon King's strike landed successfully, she would have no way to escape.
Boom!
The earth shook violently. The passage that Shen Xuanyue had opened with her supreme swordsmanship exploded instantly. Lin Feng was struck with horror as he watched her cough up blood under a barrage of attacks and plunge headfirst into the passage.
"No!"
No matter what, a top-tier powerhouse of the human race should not fall in a place like this.
A streak of light flew toward him, and Lin Feng instinctively reached out and grabbed it.
It was her natal flying sword!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The passage detonated in a chain reaction. Lin Feng gripped the sword hilt for dear life, having no idea where it was dragging him!
To witness a living Taixu Realm sword cultivator blasted apart right before his eyes was something Lin Feng had never imagined. The killing of Shen Xuanyue dealt him a massive shock.
*What? Even you sense the danger?*
The flying sword in his hand vibrated violently, desperate to break free.
Rumor had it that a natal flying sword was the foundation of a sword cultivator. She was so powerful—surely you have gained spiritual sentience, haven't you? With the outside world so dangerous, how could I let you leave?
Knowing little of the scenery at the heights of cultivation, he clung tightly to the hilt even as his palms were torn to shreds.
The flesh on his palms peeled away piece by piece. Enduring the agonizing pain, Lin Feng pulled the flying sword into his embrace, trying to shield its brilliant light with his own body.
Perhaps truly sensing safety, the flying sword stopped vibrating. Its dazzling radiance faded, turning into a delicate, feminine longsword.
Ahead lay a pitch-black, silent void. Believing he was safe, he had just switched the longsword to his other hand, intending to strap it across his back, when the sword suddenly bent. Like a horrifying leech, it lunged and latched fiercely onto his spine!
Ah!
The pain pierced straight through his Divine Soul, and the immense suction force prevented him from even curling his back. With his right hand raised and his left hand reaching behind him, he watched in terror as the blade burrowed into his flesh and squeezed into his spine.
*What? How could it be so evil?!*
Then, something even more unexpected happened to Lin Feng.
Sliding up and down, the blade rasped away the flesh above his spine before suddenly shooting upward. The sword tip pierced through the Dazhui acupoint and drove straight inside.
"Ugh, ah!"
Screaming madly, boundless terror flooded his entire body, followed by a bone-chilling cold. Lin Feng realized his body was disintegrating; threads of blood floated around him, and every single joint and bone creaked with a faint, eerie glow.
Unwilling to believe that Shen Xuanyue would plot against him, nor that her natal flying sword could be so evil, he gritted his teeth to see what it was actually going to do.
After the pain subsided, an incomparable surge of power welled up from within. He instinctively straightened his posture, standing rigid as a sharp sword.
*Natal flying sword, you won't harm me, right?* Watching his own flesh waste away until almost only a skeleton remained, with the meridians in his chest clearly visible, Lin Feng resigned himself to his fate.
No matter what the flying sword—or she—intended to do to him, trading his own life for it still seemed like he came out ahead.
He only wondered whether, if she survived, she would still be a good person.
As his consciousness plunged into darkness, that was his sole remaining thought.
The enmity between the human race and the Demon Race was irreconcilable. Hailing from Qingluan Continent, Lin Feng harbored a natural hatred for the demons. If his death could bring even the slightest benefit to Shen Xuanyue, he was willing.
"Hmph, that woman is truly hard to kill. Everyone stay sharp!" In the darkness, several towering figures advanced in a fan formation, their caution evident.
Ahead in the darkness, a dark red glow hovered, as if the dawn were about to break.
The group searched in silence, nearing the red zone.
"Wait, Shen Xuanyue has not yet reached the Immortal Realm; even if her natal flying sword gained sentience, it couldn't possibly have flown all the way here!" The Great Dragon King's words caused everyone to halt in their tracks.
A heavy silence filled the air!
"Can't you just keep your mouth shut?" The Little Dragon King was extremely displeased, though none of the figures made a move.
"I'd love to stay quiet, but this is the ancestral land. If the Demon Emperor finds out we broke in here without permission, who can bear the consequence?" Arguing his case logically, the Great Dragon King began to back away, and the others exchanged glances and started retreating as well.
"What a damn buzzkill!"
Reluctantly, the Little Dragon King had no choice but to fall back.
Hm?
His foot caught on something, but the Little Dragon King didn't bat an eye.
Sweeping two fingers across his eyes, a column of light burst forth, and he looked ahead.
"Are you insane?!"
Using a divine ability to probe the barrier ahead—this stunt frightened the others into quickening their retreat. Yet he casually withdrew his power and looked down.
Using his peripheral vision, he instantly recognized what lay on the ground!
*It's him?*
The unexpected windfall came too quickly. He even picked up a pebble and flicked it forward. A transparent ripple flashed, and the pebble silently dissolved into fine powder.
Panicking, the others suddenly stopped dead in their tracks.
"Hehehe, the old undead one isn't in the ancestral land after all. Can we relax now?" He probed recklessly, though while speaking of relief, he retreated faster than anyone else.
"Little Dragon King, if there is a next time, you can pray to your own fortune. With such reckless behavior, you're bound to cause a disaster sooner or later!"
Everyone understood he was deliberately testing whether anyone was hiding inside the barrier ahead; they simply couldn't accept his rash methods.
"You lot are getting more cowardly by the day. This time we're targeting the human race—how could he possibly have a free hand? Come on, aren't you even a little curious about what's inside?"
"You've truly lost your mind. Let's go!" As soon as those words left his mouth, the others flinched in fright!
"If you want to die, don't drag us down with you. Letting you join this hunt was a mistake!"
With the clear warning in their words, the Little Dragon King backed away rapidly, shrugging with utter indifference.
Seeing that he was merely mouthing off, the others finally looked a little less displeased.
*Kid, you better not die too soon!*
Glancing deeply at the spot where Lin Feng had fallen, the Little Dragon King stopped hiding altogether. He sprang up and was the first to fly away from the darkness.
On the ground, Lin Feng suddenly opened his eyes! *What's going on? He spotted me—why didn't he capture me?*
Darkness surrounded him on all sides. Not daring to stay put, Lin Feng felt the biting night wind sting his face. He reached up to touch it, his heart hardening.
If his senses were correct, a huge portion of the flesh on his hands and face was gone.
Still, at least he was alive!
Treading unsteadily with heavy and light steps, he picked a random direction to flee as the red glow ahead grew closer and closer.
"Hey, stop right there!"
"Stop! You're not allowed to come any closer!"
A glowing white maiden appeared in the darkness. Lin Feng instinctively covered his face with both hands.
"Ah!"
He could roughly guess what he looked like now, but he hadn't expected to terrify someone like this.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you human?"
Looking too ghastly to be seen in public, Lin Feng turned his head away just as she apologized first.
Peering through the gaps in his fingers, Lin Feng finally got a clear look at her.
Dressed in watery green robes, wearing a flower wreath upon her head, and stepping barefoot on the ground, he couldn't help but worry the stones would hurt her feet.
Radiating a genuine kindness from the inside out, the young woman wore a deeply apologetic expression.
"Yes, I am human!"
"Wow! You really are human?"
Overjoyed and pleasantly surprised, the little girl started to run toward him before suddenly freezing. Water magic swirled around her hands, and the surrounding essence of flora and fauna condensed to quickly form a set of natural, exquisite garments.
"Put these on first!"
With the chilly wind howling, Lin Feng felt utterly awkward!
"My name is Turandot, and I'm from the Merfolk Clan. What about you? What's your name?"
Her watery eyes seemed capable of speaking. Lin Feng wanted to conceal his identity, yet a voice inside his chest rebelled.
"I—my name is Lin Feng!"
"Hello there, Lin Feng! You can call me Duoduo!"
"Hi—hi, hello there, Duoduo!"
Forgetting the danger, Lin Feng longed to escape immediately, yet he somehow felt safe in her presence. Leaving or staying felt equally wrong, and his words were completely at odds with his inner thoughts.
*What is wrong with me?*
Puzzled, he watched as a streak of light pierced the sky in the distance.
"Ah! It's the Little Dragon King—quick, hide!"
She seemed to have completely forgotten that Lin Feng was human as she grabbed him and leaped downward.
*Hide? Hide where?!*
The ground was solid everywhere. Then Lin Feng noticed a jade-green pool appearing beneath his feet!
What kind of skill was this—could she conjure things out of thin air?
Assuming Turandot was some formidable master, Lin Feng hid in the water and didn't dare to move a muscle.
Moving like lightning, the Little Dragon King swept out a palm.
Sand and gravel swirled wildly across the ground, but there was no trace of Lin Feng.
*How is this possible? That brat is covered in injuries—where could he possibly have run?*
The two of them were clearly right there in the water, yet before the Little Dragon King's eyes lay only an open patch of grass.
*Could he have gone inside? Impossible!*
Staring at the red region, the Little Dragon King punched the air in frustration.
*Damn it, that brat actually managed to swallow my thought projection—something strange is going on here!*
With flickering eyes, the Little Dragon King gazed all around.
Underwater, several books drifted up from Lin Feng's chest.
With his undergarments torn to shreds, he hurriedly reached out to grab them.
"Aah, you mustn't move!"
Panicked, Turandot watched as the books repelled the water, automatically forming individual air bubbles that floated upward.
Lin Feng hadn't expected this mishap, especially with the Little Dragon King right above them.
The moment he moved, a crushing pressure surged from all directions, and everything went black.
"You actually have no cultivation?!"
Turandot was utterly astonished. Sensing something amiss, the Little Dragon King lowered his head to look.
Ngh!
Lin Feng's eyes widened in a blank panic! To save him, Turandot pulled him into a kiss.
The sound of crashing ocean waves echoed in his ears, and the surrounding pressure vanished abruptly. Looking up, Lin Feng pulled her tightly into his arms.
Boom!
The Little Dragon King struck down with a palm. Heavens and realms flickered behind him as a ferocious surge of fire-attribute spiritual energy poured downward. From Lin Feng's perspective, the Little Dragon King's gaze locked directly onto his eyes.
Lacking experience, he assumed they had been discovered.
Though they hadn't been exposed, the damage was entirely real.
Bang!
The spell pierced through. Lin Feng only felt as though his back had been struck by a massive hammer, knocking the wind completely out of him, while Turandot in his arms opened her mouth and coughed up blood.
The spiritual shockwave blasted the books in his arms flying.
Quick-eyed and fast-handed, Turandot caught them in a few swift motions and flashed him a gesture to keep quiet.
"Hmph! You're warning me? You'd better figure out how you're going to face the old undead one's interrogation!"
Nursing a grudge against someone unknown, the Little Dragon King departed in deep dissatisfaction.
Staring at the bubble-like books in her hands, Turandot turned back to look at Lin Feng, her gaze carrying a strange significance that made his scalp tingle.
"Lady Tu, what is it?"
It was truly hard to fathom why she was looking at him with such a devout expression. Lin Feng was completely baffled.
"I've finally waited for you. The Merfolk Clan is finally saved!"
What on earth was going on here?!
"Come with me. You'll understand everything soon enough!"
Wiping the blood from her face with a casual swipe, Turandot grabbed Lin Feng and leaped up out of the water. They stood once more on solid earth, and Lin Feng looked around.
"Stop searching. This is a unique divine ability belonging exclusively to the women of the Merfolk Clan; outsiders could never know it."
*Is that so?*
Without overthinking it, Lin Feng let her drag him toward the red zone.
Chapter 7: The Altar
Without any accidents and without spilling a drop of blood, Turandot led him right through the barrier in broad daylight.
Just as the two of them stepped inside, the Little Dragon King returned, though he could only watch from afar as a man and a woman entered the ancestral land.
*Who are they? Could those people have hidden that brat away?*
Uncertain whether the group of Demon Kings had been discovered, the Little Dragon King waited in place for a moment before dropping to the ground to investigate closely.
Beneath the soil, the earth compressed traces of blood.
"Water-Moon Illusion, the Merfolk Clan? Why would there be a Merfolk Clan here?"
Sniffing the bloody scent on his fingertips, the Little Dragon King jerked his head up.
The ancestral land lay right ahead, but he dared not cross even a single step over the boundary.
*Impossible. The Merfolk Clan shouldn't be able to cross the barrier. Damn it, the real question is whether they found out we were here.*
Filled with bitter regret, the Little Dragon King used his arts to gather the blood from the soil, then swaggered right up to the edge of the barrier to peer inside.
Within the barrier, Lin Feng was being pulled along by Turandot as they traversed streams and grasslands, skillfully dodging numerous sentient little animals, until they arrived at the foot of a massive altar.
The altar stood nine stories tall, every single tier densely covered in relief carvings. Turandot pulled him straight up to one specific carving.
"Look!"
She appeared incomparably excited, leaving Lin Feng somewhat dazed.
Before them was a relief carving depicting a man with a hunched back, sheltering a woman in his arms. Between the two of them floated several glowing bubbles, each containing a book.
The man's expression was one of shock and horror, while behind him loomed the scene of a spell attack whose assailant's face was obscured. The two figures stood within a pool of water, rendered with vivid realism.
"How is this possible?"
The relief carving bore heavy traces of age, startling Lin Feng.
The lines were somewhat stiff, yet he could clearly see that the man was himself, while the woman's lines were exceptionally soft, capturing Turandot's likeness with lifelike precision.
As their eyes met, large tears welled up in Turandot's eyes, transforming into pearls that fell onto the grass with a melodious chiming sound.
Was she happy or sad? What on earth was going on?
Lin Feng was truly bewildered. That he could not cultivate was an indisputable fact; the slight trace of Qi he now possessed, allowing him to introspect, was a "gift" bestowed by the Little Dragon King.
Doubts piled upon doubts. This ancient relief carving had recorded his meeting with Turandot long before it happened. For a fleeting moment, he even wondered if he might be some supreme expert reincarnated.
"D—Duoduo, what is the meaning of this?"
Glancing naturally toward the other relief carvings, the transitions were seamless, but the scenes depicted were almost entirely warfare: battles between the Demon Race and the human race, as well as conflicts between different demon clans. Each tier of the altar stood three zhang tall, with the carvings concentrated near the base, while the upper portions of every tier were wreathed in the clouds of war.
"I—I don't know either! But since you protected me, you will definitely be able to lead the Merfolk Clan away from persecution!"
*Could I?*
Even he didn't believe it. Lin Feng felt as though he were living in a dream.
She hurriedly bent down, pulled out an exquisite cloth pouch, and collected the pearls from the grass. Dropping to one knee, she offered them up to Lin Feng with both hands.
It wasn't that Lin Feng intentionally peeked, but from this angle, the scenery of her chest was exposed almost without reservation. He wanted to turn his head away, yet her expression was as devout as if she were gazing upon a deity.
Did they simply not care, or did they truly believe his identity was special?
"Are you unwilling?"
Caught in a dilemma and not daring to look too closely, Lin Feng could only cast his gaze back toward the relief carvings.
Feathered Clansmen with wings sprouting from their backs, hawk clansmen soaring through the nine heavens—one scene after another imprinted itself upon his Consciousness Sea.
"Are you really unwilling?"
She was filled with anticipation, yet tinged with hesitant uncertainty, offering him treasures as if making a supreme devotion.
"Duoduo, I don't know you, nor do I know anything about the Merfolk Clan. I am human."
As far as his eyes could see, the only depictions concerning the merfolk were scenes of his encounter with Turandot. Lin Feng reached out to help her up.
"But I am your destined wife, and you are our Water God Lord! These are facts that cannot be altered!"
The more she spoke, the more absurd it sounded. Lin Feng wanted to laugh, but he couldn't even manage a smile. From the Flower Moon Sect all the way here, the scenes kept repeating. He felt as though he had fallen into a surreal dream; he knew what was before him was real, yet he simply couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"But!"
"Never mind. You know as well as I do that I cannot cultivate. I have no cultivation base at all. How could I possibly lead the Merfolk Clan to escape their pursuers?"
At this point, he pressed further: "Who is hunting the Merfolk Clan?"
As for her calling him the Water God, Lin Feng didn't even dwell on it. All living things possessed spirit, awakened intelligence through cultivation, and eventually attained immortality. The concept of a "god" was recorded in the cultivation world, but no one had ever actually seen one.
Spirits evolved from the innate Great Dao were known as gods.
"Lord Water God is omnipotent and omniscient. You will definitely succeed!"
Blinded by frantic fanaticism and worship, Lin Feng didn't dare meet her eyes.
"Get up first. Can you at least help me understand what is going on?"
She was a member of the Demon Race, yet Lin Feng couldn't muster the slightest bit of killing intent or hatred. He knew very well this wasn't simply because she was a woman.
The Merfolk Clan was one of the most ancient races among the hundred demon tribes. Rumors had it that, much like the Feathered Clan, they were defective creations accidentally botched by the deities when forging humanity.
The human race appeared in the ancient world later than the demons, yet possessing innate Dao-aligned physiques close to the Dao, they learned everything swiftly and soon surpassed all other races, becoming the darlings of heaven and earth.
The civilization and order of the myriad races were established alongside the rise of humanity. Meanwhile, in the shadows, many human powerhouses began to explore:
*Why is it that when the myriad races cultivate and take human form, their cultivation progresses the fastest?*
*Why is it that despite the human body being so fragile, it can use cultivation to make up for its deficiencies and contend with the most powerful demon races?*
Influenced by these rumors, many individuals began capturing humans to conduct research.
While order prevailed and humanity was strong, those people did not dare act too brazenly. But once order collapsed and the various races went to war, humanity lacked top-tier protectors, and many were captured and dissected.
Among the demon tribes, the Feathered Clan and the Merfolk Clan suffered the most: numerous in population, widely distributed, and possessing high intelligence, yet lacking in martial prowess, they were openly enslaved by other demon clans and had their bodies and Divine Souls torn apart for research.
In truth, within the Demon Race, any tribe even slightly resembling humans met a tragic fate."
"Enslaving you is one thing, but why would they hunt you to the death?"
No matter what, the Merfolk Clan were still part of the Demon Race. Lin Feng found it hard to imagine—though upon second thought, he understood.
"Your human race will betray each other and slaughter your own kind for the sake of profit. The Merfolk Clan occupies the vast waters of heaven and earth; naturally, those demon clans proficient in water spells can't stand the sight of us."