Explaining the situation, the people from Little Dragon Pool felt their scalps tingle, yet they remained stubbornly defiant, maintaining their bowing posture on the spot without retreating even half a step.
"Qingxiu, any discoveries? Oh, Senior Shuiyuan, what is the meaning of this?"
Seeing Shuiyuan getting closer, at the critical moment, Qingfeng, who had previously gone out to report, arrived with someone in tow.
"This old man is apprehending Turandot of the Merfolk Clan and happened to encounter an ambush by Little Dragon Pool disciples here, so I am questioning them. What, do you have an objection?"
"Dare not, Qingshan was merely hearing the energies of heaven and earth resonating here and came to investigate. Senior, please proceed!"
After Qingshan finished speaking, he stood in place, leaving Shuiyuan with no choice but to extinguish the thought of executing Qingxiu and the others. They quickly hurried behind Qingshan, while Shuiyuan sneered.
"Come out!"
With a single movement, the mountains and rivers changed color. Shuiyuan raised his long saber high and slashed directly toward the spot where Tulong was hiding.
"Hahaha, Little Dragon Pool, Heavenly Demon Palace, you've come at the right time!"
A gaze filled with hatred swept across the area, and Tulong charged straight at Qingshan.
The Merfolk Clan had deep, irreconcilable hatred for both factions, and if he was going to kill, he wanted to kill the one with the most formidable talent!
"Impudent!"
His intent was far too obvious, making Shuiyuan lose face entirely. With a sharp shout, he also whirled around in pursuit.
"The impudent one is you!"
Crossing his hands, Tulong abruptly turned back. His eyes flashed with a piercing blue light, and mysterious scales successively emerged along his arms.
"Illusory Realm, kill!"
Two water dragons stretched forth, one striking toward Shuiyuan and the other blasting toward Qingshan.
"Not good! This person is in the Divine Wandering Realm (Late)! Senior brother, run!"
Taking the full brunt of the attack and feeling the terrifying might of the water dragon, Qingxiu only had time to utter a single sentence before he was pierced straight through the body and frozen into an ice sculpture.
"Tulong, it's you!"
Qingshan also recognized Tulong's identity. Seeing that he could not evade the blow, he shoved those to his left and right away, slammed a palm onto his long sword, and charged directly toward the water dragon.
On the other side, Shuiyuan's surging aura flowed, sending sand and stones flying behind him, yet Tulong didn't even spare him a glance as the water dragon directly swallowed him whole in a single gulp.
Suddenly, the three of them vanished.
Watching with a dry throat, Lin Feng finally witnessed for the first time just how terrifying the Divine Wandering Realm could be. The Shanhai Realm (Late) elder had almost zero capacity to resist before being dragged into the illusory realm.
"That's a bit unreasonable. If your cultivation level rises, who could ever win against you guys inside an illusory realm?"
Watching the battle from close range, his hands were trembling.
"You know how powerful it is, but who would ever give us the chance to grow?"
With the two strongest threats pulled into the illusory realm, Turandot finally let go of Lin Feng.
"The Water Moon Illusory Realm—this technique is truly formidable. Tulong's cultivation is higher by a grade, how long will it take him to kill them?"
No sooner had his voice fallen than the result was decided. Shuiyuan's physical body had perished and his spirit dissipated, already transforming back into his true form of a blue fish, while Qingshan, who was in the Shanhai Realm (Mid), looked to be in decent condition, except that his long sword was left with only half a blade remaining.
"Tulong, you just wait for me!"
As soon as he emerged, Qingshan did not dare to linger. Slapping the magical artifact at his waist, he vanished along with his surviving fellows.
Dragging his fang-shaped long saber over, Tulong kicked Qingxiu's corpse into shattered pieces and was about to move on Shuiyuan when Turandot put away the illusory realm and appeared with Lin Feng.
"Holy Maiden? What is the meaning of this?"
Utterly surprised, Tulong looked again at Lin Feng.
"She is already my woman now. The matters of the Merfolk Clan are my matters!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Feng spoke straight out.
"I have already lost my divination abilities. Now, we can only rely on Duoduo to lead everyone!"
Turandot added by way of explanation, though Tulong was not particularly surprised by Lin Feng's words.
"This is indeed a good thing... Oh? Holy Maiden, you? You can cultivate now?"
As everyone knew, the Holy Maiden of the Merfolk Clan was actually a spirit of benevolent water, taking human form by absorbing the worship and incense offerings of the Merfolk Clan. Her divination powers were formidable, yet she was incapable of cultivation.
As for why, no one knew.
Legend had it that only upon meeting the Water God could the Merfolk Clan's Holy Maiden return to her true self and transform into a water spirit capable of cultivation, but right now, Turandot was clearly radiating the aura of cultivation.
Once a spirit of heaven and earth gained intelligence and began cultivating, because of its natural affinity with the Great Dao, its progress would be exceptionally rapid.
Throughout the generations of Holy Maidens, it wasn't as though none had thought of cultivating and growing powerful, but on the path of cultivation, slaughter was inevitable. As a spirit of benevolent water, even the slightest karmic debt from killing would cause a backlash from the Merfolk Clan's sacrificial power, resulting in the destruction of both body and soul.
Tulong looked at Turandot as if gazing upon a rare, peerless treasure, or perhaps a deity.
"Your Holiness, Holy Maiden!"
He cupped his fists and dropped to his knees, overwhelmed with emotion.
"I can kill, and I can cultivate. After a little while, you won't need to protect me anymore!"
With a twitch of his eyelids, Lin Feng suddenly felt that he had struck an incredible bargain. This bargain had already been thoroughly enjoyed and safely pocketed, leaving him immensely proud.
Pushing the dead blue fish on the ground before the two of them, Tulong backed away step by step until he departed. With Turandot able to cultivate, she was no longer the fragile vase of the Merfolk Clan; the Merfolk Clan finally had hope.
Chapter 13: Greed
"My pride, my reliance, my stubbornness—they were all contained within that very slap. Kill the demon and take its core; you may keep it!"
She stood facing the wind, breathing in the fragrance of the wild.
A wisp of spiritual energy emerged from his fingertips, slicing open the fish demon's corpse, and Lin Feng could not suppress his excitement.
This was his first time extracting a core after beginning cultivation, his first time experiencing dual cultivation, his first time possessing genuine power. His perspective on people and things was fundamentally changing.
Inadvertently raising his head, he watched the spring breeze ruffle her dress, admiring her graceful figure.
Things ought to be this way, but why was it that her merman pearl was able to draw upon the power of the seal?
Within his divine soul, the Yin-Yang diagram slowly revolved. Touching the fish demon's corpse, Lin Feng greedily absorbed the rapidly dissipating spiritual Qi.
The cyan demon core, the size of a fist, was saturated with dense water spiritual Qi; the fish demon had died far too quickly.
"This is the first one; you holding onto it will probably be more useful!"
He handed the demon core to her. At this moment, it was hard to say whether there was any genuine love for Turandot; both understood that their union was a matter of circumstance. However, a single night of intimacy had allowed both of them to begin cultivating through the merman pearl, leaving them far too unsettled to remain calm.
"Alright!"
She didn't say much more, summoning her merman pearl, which began frantically devouring the spiritual Qi.
"What kind of power was that? Is it the power of the sacrificial offerings you receive?"
"I don't know. Once I took human form, I lost the natural affinity with the cultivation of the Great Dao possessed by the spirits of heaven and earth. You must keep this secret for me!"
"I truly don't know whether to call you lucky or extraordinarily lucky. If they had captured you early on..."
The two instances of "being lucky" referred to entirely different things. Turandot recalled her merman pearl; in just a short span of time, she had completely absorbed the fish demon's spiritual Qi.
"A divine soul is a supreme tonic—what a pity!"
Lin Feng felt a lingering sense of regret.
"Tulong's hatred runs too deep; leaving him an intact corpse was already showing great restraint!"
"Holy Maiden, flee quickly, people from Little Dragon Pool are coming!" Tulong's voice echoed from nearby as a warning, sounding somewhat panicked.
"A powerhouse has come, I can't beat them!" He spoke bluntly, feeling not the slightest bit embarrassed.
"Just follow closely behind. As long as you can ascertain our ultimate destination, that's enough; don't throw your life away."
Turandot turned back, scooped up Lin Feng, and swept across the treetops in flight. Tulong opened his mouth to speak, then excitedly slapped his forehead.
"Understood!"
Comparing people only leads to frustration; while Lin Feng could only manage Qi Condensation into the Body and couldn't even wield objects through the air yet, Turandot was already capable of carrying someone in flight. Even though they were fleeing for their lives, she felt a trace of joy.
"Duoduo, what did you mean by what you said earlier?"
He desperately wanted to ask Turandot what that senior had said to him, yet Lin Feng feared that if she answered truthfully, he himself wouldn't dare to speak the truth.
"The Little Dragon King wants to capture me, and I am also heading to Little Dragon Pool. You know this—we saw him unleash fire-type spells, and before the people of the ancestral grounds find me, he will definitely try to figure out whether it was me."
The logic made sense to Lin Feng, but her next words made him take her truly seriously.
"That senior is human; I don't yet know what he might have said to you, but you needn't tell me. You only need to tell me whether we are heading the same way..."
How was he supposed to answer that?
"The various Demon Kings of the Demon Race are all..."
Just as he was about to speak, Turandot shook her head, cutting him off.
"Don't say it, I can't withstand Little Dragon Pool's soul-search!"
Soul-search—she said it with such casual ease. What on earth was she planning to do?
Their mutual hesitation made each of them realize that the other had their own hidden agenda. A sense of bleakness amidst wind and rain spread between them, intertwining endlessly.
Not knowing what else to say, Lin Feng looked behind them; pursuers were already closing in.
"Once one achieves the Dao, must the changes be this drastic?"
He was merely feeling a bit emotional, but Turandot only accelerated their pace.
"To save the Merfolk Clan, these are all necessary prices!"
"Halt!"
The pursuer's cultivation was also in the Spirit Movement Realm, making him faster than Turandot, though not by an overwhelming margin.
"Look, they've come out in full force, determined to capture me!"
Left speechless with amusement, Lin Feng couldn't help wondering if she suffered from an overactive sense of self-importance.
"How do you know they're all coming just for you?"
"The person ahead, stop right there, or don't blame me for being unpolished!"
If his cultivation permitted it, the outcome would have been entirely different. Just as a mocking expression crept onto Lin Feng's face, he was lightly tossed into a river by Turandot.
She didn't say a word, and he hurriedly dived to conceal himself.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several figures chased past one after another, while Lin Feng remained motionless beneath the water.
With so many Spirit Movement disciples turning out, could it be that they really had dispatched their entire clan?
Wait a minute, didn't you say you were taking me to the Heavenly Demon Palace?
She had already made it abundantly clear: "they" had seen the Little Dragon King unleash fire-type spells. Lin Feng finally understood—she had clearly been waiting near the altar all along. As for whether she truly knew nothing about the existence and danger of the barrier, Lin Feng no longer cared to investigate.
He had already gotten the person; why bother looking into the rest?
"Young master, the Heavenly Demon Palace is three thousand miles to the west, situated within the Myriad Demon Heavens. I cannot go any closer." Tulong appeared silently, lacking even the skill to lie convincingly as he gazed in the direction where Turandot had vanished.
"Go protect her. Perhaps you and I will meet again in the Heavenly Demon Palace."
Realizing that his intentions had been a bit too obvious, Tulong cupped his fists apologetically.
"My apologies!"
"Relations of closeness differ; that's human nature. Protect her well—she is the hope of your Merfolk Clan!"
"Understood!"
Sensing that Turandot's power was growing rapidly, Lin Feng had merely given a sincere instruction, yet Tulong suddenly taking the stance of a subordinate made him feel slightly unaccustomed to it.
"Go, I can take care of myself!"
Apologies were apologies, but when Tulong left, he did not hesitate in the slightest.
He was Turandot's subordinate after all; Lin Feng appreciated his crisp and decisive nature.
Everyone had their own selfish motives. With Turandot already gone, he certainly didn't want Tulong lingering around him as an extra pair of eyes.
Shen Xuanyue, what kind of path have you set me on, and precisely for what purpose?
The few thin volumes of books she had left behind actually recorded the Codex of a Hundred Demons, the basics of alchemy and artifact crafting, and introductory explanations of various formations.
Everything had to be built upon the foundation of one's own strength. A massive ocean of information regarding cultivation common sense was already imprinted in his memory; he needed to find time to calm down and thoroughly digest it all.
As for his experiences encountering the Merfolk Clan and that inexplicable human senior who had placed trust in him, Lin Feng remained deeply suspicious.
No one would surrender their chastity purely because of a mythological legend; even facing the crisis of their entire tribe, he refused to believe Turandot could pull it off as effortlessly as she made it seem. The aura of a tribal ruler that she occasionally let slip proved that even if she couldn't cultivate, her intelligence and breadth of knowledge far surpassed Lin Feng's.
And the root of it all began the moment Shen Xuanyue carried him away and treated him as a substitute for another Lin Feng.
For the time being, no one was paying attention to him. Holding a long breath of internal Qi, Lin Feng drifted downstream along the river current. Turandot had crossed the river and departed; her speed was lacking, but even worrying about it was useless.
Only when he was truly by himself did he recover his youthful mindset. Everything underwater felt novel to him; as a human, this was his first time experiencing such a perspective.
The underwater undercurrent suddenly accelerated, carrying a nauseating stench of blood. He tilted his head to look aside.
So this river was a tributary of a larger water system, emptying into the main channel where the current swelled and quickened.
Knowing full well that with his current cultivation he shouldn't harbor too much curiosity, he still couldn't help himself.
Dances of blood-red flared in waves through the water, and with a turn of his head, he thrust his hand into the current.
With so much blood present, how would the Blood Spirit Arts seal react?
Acting with the sheer fearlessness of ignorance, he boldly circulated the Shenxuan Pure Heart Scripture, absorbing the water spiritual Qi and blood Qi simultaneously.
The water spiritual Qi flowed back into his Dantian, slowly refined as the cultivation technique operated, and he could feel his cultivation growing at a creeping pace. As for the blood Qi, it could not be refined by the Pure Heart Scripture; instead, it rampaged through his meridians, causing him to bare his teeth in agony.
Just wait, I want to see what changes you undergo.
Clenching his teeth as his temples throbbed violently, the blood Qi finally surged up into his head.
His vision turned completely red, and Lin Feng pitched forward headfirst. Fortunately, he was underwater and had prepared in advance, frantically paddling to steady his posture.
The Blood Spirit Art is merely a minor path!
Suddenly recalling Zhao Wuji's words, Lin Feng felt a sense of inexplicable loss while staring fixedly at the crimson flood pouring into his Consciousness Sea.
Hahaha, I succeeded! On the very first try, I've strengthened my divine soul power.
Compared to absorbing water spiritual Qi, where the growth of divine soul power was negligible, the results brought by blood Qi were remarkable. Without even needing him to deliberately refine it, the blood Qi entering the Consciousness Sea was absorbed directly by the blood-red Bagua.
Oh? What is this?
Ninety-nine percent of the blood Qi was absorbed, and the remaining tiny fraction was fed back out by the Bagua, transforming into pure divine soul power. Lin Feng could distinctly feel that he could see much farther underwater.
Yet he was not satisfied, feeling rather irritated.
What is the meaning of this? It's fine if you live off me rent-free, but you eat this much—what am I supposed to eat?
The Bagua treated him like a beggar, feeding back merely that tiny wispy sliver of divine soul power.
It's mine, all of mine!
Though lacking any personal guidance, he knew he should progress step by step; yet when he discovered that he could clearly consume massive mouthfuls of blood Qi to convert into divine soul power, only for the seal to siphon away the lion's share, he simply couldn't endure it.
Having just stepped onto the path of cultivation, anyone who discovered a power capable of rapidly strengthening themselves would inevitably breed greed—at the very least, yearning deeply for power.
He completely forgot that he had only just escaped danger, and began frantically swallowing the various types of blood Qi, attempting to use sheer volume to force a qualitative change, causing the seal to quickly feed power back to him and boost his cultivation.
A faint layer of red light shrouded the surface of his body, refusing to be washed away even by the turbulent river currents. It expanded and contracted, faintly threatening to condense into a suit of armor, yet constrained by his insufficient strength and the continuous erosion of the river water, it always fell just short and failed to take form.
"How is it gone?"
"Big sister, it's really gone, it vanished!"
"Could it be discovered by the people of the Heavenly Demon Palace?!"
"Strange, let's keep looking!"
Two red figures swam slowly through the water, discovering Lin Feng, whose color was vastly deeper and darker than the surrounding water.
"Ah? This!"
With a female gasp of shock, a man and a woman materialized, staring in astonishment at Lin Feng.
The bloody water in the river still surged in successive bursts, the contained blood Qi being absorbed by him to form a protruding node.
"Turns out it was just snatched by someone else. Let's go, this place will be discovered by the Demon Race soon enough anyway."
The red-robed woman was surprised that Lin Feng dared to brazenly absorb blood Qi right here, and as she spoke with schadenfreude, Lin Feng, who had been on the verge of losing consciousness, snapped violently awake.
His Consciousness Sea was already a sea of crimson clarity. The divine soul power converted by the cultivation technique was pitifully meager, consisting of only a tiny thread, while his original divine soul power, though nominally dominant, was now completely enveloped by the blood-red hue.
Good heavens, my greed truly knows no bounds!
Slapping himself across the face, Lin Feng was terrified out of his wits. Had he not suddenly regained clarity, he had no idea what would have happened if he had continued.
"What's going on? Why is Ling'er so restless today?"
"Oh? Where did the blood Qi in the river go? Senior brother, there's no blood Qi in the river. Could it be that Ling'er threw a tantrum because it couldn't find food?"
"Hmm? Gone? Could they have discovered us?"
Chapter 14: Noble Status
The voices of a man and a woman rang out above the water, transmitting into the depths with absolute clarity.
With a violent jolt to his heart, Lin Feng hurriedly severed the connection, letting the bloody water flow downstream, only to discover that the man and woman nearby were standing awkwardly in place.
Just as he was about to conceal himself, they had failed in their own concealment, being jolted off-balance by the sudden release of blood Qi he had just cut off.
The people outside were of unknown allegiance, friend or foe, so both sides maintained a tacit silence. Holding his breath, Lin Feng traced the trail of the blood Qi upstream, while the other two adapted to the buffeting of the blood Qi, quietly re-concealing themselves until their figures vanished.
Overestimating his own strength slightly, Lin Feng found his movement severely hindered by the current, making progress agonizingly slow. Not far behind him came a thunderous rumble as a massive figure entered the water.
It was a demonic beast resembling a Qilin, swimming leisurely while devouring blood Qi, its massive eyes flashing with human-like intelligence as it snapped up passing fish and shrimp.
"Haha, look at this little fellow, senior brother!"
The two people above the water hovered in midair, watching it tumble and play.
"Junior Sister Fuqu, once Ling'er steps into the Divine Wandering Realm, I'll let it recognize you as its master!"
"Ah? Senior brother!"
Surprised and delighted, the woman listened as the man continued: "While everyone's attention is focused on Qingluan Continent, we must rapidly enhance our strength so we can achieve stellar results in future training trials and martial tournaments."
"Yes. But, Senior Brother Tianchi, Ling'er is your spirit beast, I..."
"Junior sister, surely you haven't failed to realize my feelings for you?"
The woman's gaze flickered between bashfulness and anticipation. Twisting her fingers nervously, she ultimately lacked the courage to look at Tianchi, lowering her head to murmur a soft assent.
"They're all in a rush to kill; I don't have much ambition, I only seek self-preservation. The three demon domains of the Demon Race versus the eighteen human domains—the scale and potential vastly surpass the Demon Race. Even with the wildlands to rely upon, I still feel a sense of unease!"
Fuqu was coy and bashful. Matters between men and women could well have flowed naturally at this point, yet Tianchi suddenly brought up serious business, leaving even the inexperienced Lin Feng in the water feeling anxious for him.
"Senior brother..."
The woman's call dragged out at the end; even a block of stone ought to have understood what she meant.
"Junior Sister Fuqu, how is your cultivation of the Flame Spell coming along?"
Lin Feng, hiding in the water, almost laughed out loud; this Tianchi truly was a blockhead.
"It's... alright, I'm almost breaking through to the Divine Wandering Realm!"
Fuqu cautiously raised her head, whereupon Tianchi laughed heartily, sending ripples rolling across the two of them.
"Good! Once junior sister steps through that threshold, you and I can fly away together as a pair. Junior sister, watch out!"
Tianchi wasn't actually stupid; speaking casually without changing his expression, he closed in on Fuqu and didn't tell her to watch out until he launched his attack.
Boom!
The water body exploded as several figures in cyan attire emerged from within.
"Ha! Good, wonderful people indeed. Sky Kui Demon King conducts himself in an upright manner, yet his disciples engage in theft from within. Splendid!"
The moment they appeared, the people from Little Dragon Pool pinned the charge of internal theft squarely upon the pair.
"Hmph, and here I thought it was who; turns out it's the esteemed folks from Little Dragon Pool. Spouting malicious slander and insulting my master—is this the standard of discipline taught by the Little Dragon King to his disciples?"