Chapter 176: Captured
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
Over ten thousand demons had gathered in the cave. Every single one of them had formed their Demon Cores, and possessed the cultivation base of at least peak-stage Gold Core realm. They had now transformed into human form, and had prepared their most brutal and vicious innate abilities, getting ready to strike a deadly blow on the invading cultivators. Some demon beasts were seen holding magical treasures which they found by luck, or horn, tooth, scales and some other items which fell off from their body when they had their shape changed.
A few demon beasts were looking at Wu Qi with an unfriendly expression in their eyes. He was, after all, a human, and it was rather awkward to see a human standing among several thousands of demon beasts.
Nevertheless, since the catfish-flood-dragon told Wanying Dragon King that Wu Qi saved her life, the dragon king had been standing beside Wu Qi. As the king who ruled all the aquatic demon beasts in the Longyuan River, no demon beasts at the scene dared challenge his dignity. Although some demon beasts really wished they could open their mouth and swallow Wu Qi, when they saw how he and Wanying Dragon King were talking harmoniously, they had no choice but to give up the idea.
Wu Qi was now exercising utmost caution while talking with Wanying Dragon King, as this old demon dragon had lived in Longyuan River for at least tens of thousands of years. He was a cunning and treacherous one, slippery and emanating a strong smell of oil from every single scale of his. The old demon dragon talked with Wu Qi laughingly and jokingly, but amidst his words, he kept probing Wu Qi's origin and background, and asking all kinds of personal questions.
Wu Qi dared not tell this old demon dragon about his true identity and where he came from. He kept spinning his words and talked about everything unrelated. At the same time, he turned the table and asked questions concerning the old demon dragon. For example, he asked about the exact situation in the water body of Longyuan River, the landscape of Meng Mountains where the rivers flowed, where the old dragon king came from, and why the strong and formidable demon beasts from Longyuan River never left Meng Mountains to the outside world.
The seemingly harmonious and joyful talk went on for the time it took to finish a pot of tea. Then, both of them looked into each other's eyes and exchanged a smile, nodding their heads approvingly at the same time. None of them spoke anything useful, and were just talking nonsense, yet they behaved like everything they said was the truth.
Wu Qi looked at old demon king, his back now dripping with cold sweat. This old demon king was tough to handle, as there were a few times Wu Qi could nearly not hold back his questions.
On the other side, old dragon king rested his eyes on Wu Qi's face and kept nodding his head. 'What a talented young lad! There is no way those stupid subordinates of mine could compare to him. But too bad, he is a human. If he were a demon beast, I’d definitely ask him to stay back in Longyuan River and make him take over my throne in the future.' The old dragon king thought. He had a feeling that he was about to step into the realm of Heaven Immortal, and once he shook off his form of demon dragon and transformed into a True Dragon, he would have to leave Longyuan River immediately and transcend where he supposed to go.
However, out of the countless demon beasts in Longyuan River, no one proved worthy enough to take over his throne. Wu Qi was witty and cunning, but too bad he was a human!
He sighed lightly, smiled at Wu Qi and said, "You're pretty good, little boy. Well, although we've been talking nonsense for quite some time, I've never learned your name? Tsk, could you want me to keep calling you little boy, or young lad? You had save catfish-flood-dragon's life, and that makes you the prestigious guest of ours. Don't worry, I won't eat you."
Wu Qi pondered for a brief moment, then he replied with a smile, "My name is Wu Qi. Wu is for 'what you do not wish yourself do not do unto others', and Qi is for 'begging life from the heavens and earth'. The meaning of my name is I'll never bow my head before anyone and beg for anything." Wu Qi was laughing deep in his mind. His real name was actually 'Wu Qi(吴起)', and Wu Qi(勿乞) was the name he gave himself after being forced to join the anti-government boy scouts. So, even if Wanying Dragon King or some demon beasts who followed him knew some kind of evil curses, they would be unable to do anything to him. In the realm of cultivators, no one would easily tell someone his real name.
"Wu Qi, Wu Qi!" The old dragon king nodded and said, "That is a nice name, and the meaning behind it is excellent too. 'What you do not wish yourself do not do unto others', tsk, that does mean something!" Then, he casually pulled out a token made from dragon bone and tossed it over. "From now onwards, you'll be the prestigious guest of all the demon beasts in Longyuan River! Take this token. With it, all demon beasts within ten thousand miles of Longyuan River will treat you as the most special guest." The old dragon king said with a smile.
It was a heavy token, sculptured out from a dragon bone. On the surface of the palm-sized token was a map, and should represent the detailed distribution of the water system in the Longyuan River region. Behind it was an image of a flood dragon enshrouded in clouds and winds, with two characters of 'Wanying' mounted in the center of it using tiny black beads. Inside the token also contained a thread of Wanying Dragon King's dragon breath, proving it was a genuine token and not some counterfeit product.
Wu Qi took over the token and thanked Wanying Dragon King, shoving it into his storage ring but not putting it into his heart.
Meanwhile, Wanying Dragon King was laughing deep in his mind. Since Wu Qi had received the token of Longyuan River's prestige guest, he was now a friend to Longyuan River. In the future, if anything bad happened to the demon clans of Longyuan River, he believed Wu Qi would provide some help to them. Using a small token to win the friendship from Wu Qi was a worthwhile deal for the old dragon king.
While both were having various thoughts in their mind, the rock ceiling of the Catfish King's Cave suddenly broke and crumbled into pieces, and three bright beams of different colors shot right into the cave. However, upon his arrival, Wanying Dragon King unleashed his Dragon Core, making it emanate a vast water power wave that enveloped the entire cave. Though the bright beams managed to penetrate into the cave, what they saw was just an endless rocking and rolling water waves, and could never see the tens of thousands of demon beasts underneath it.
The old dragon king was a demon beast who had almost stepped into the realm of Heaven Immortal. Thus, his magical power was far stronger than Wang Jian, Wang Ben, and Wang Li. Although their mirrors were upper-grade magical treasures with incredible power, Wanying Dragon King had spent tens of thousands of years in refining his Dragon Core, making its quality almost reach the grade of Immortal Item. So, how could these three mirrors be its match?
Three bright beams shot and impacted right onto the dark water wave, raising up a large sheet of rainbow glow. Slowly, Ying Zheng and his men descended from the surface, hovering above the water wave and looking at the cave which had its ceiling destroyed. Ying Zheng clasped his hands behind his back, throwing an overbearing look at the cave, while Xu Fu acted as his mouth and said with a sneer, "You uncivilized catfish-flood-dragon and that young lad, what are you waiting for? Quickly show yourself and face your death!"
Xu Fu's facial muscles were twitching violently. His hatred for Wu Qi had penetrated deep into his bone marrow, as his Dharma Eyes were nearly blinded by Wu Qi, and seventy percent of his soul source was extracted by Wu Qi as well, nearly making his cultivation base disappear completely. If he were not saved by Ying Zheng using some secret medicines, he would have long become a crippled man. It was a great grudge, a heavy one. Xu Fu had sworn secretly that once he was able to capture Wu Qi alive, he would definitely place him into a cauldron and concoct him into a human pill. Only then he could vent his anger!
Xu Fu gave a loud cry and raised both hands high up in the air. A large bed of green flame flowed out from his palm, forming two streams of dark-green flame around him. Then, he murmured using his dried lips, reciting some strange and profound incantations. With that, the green flame exploded abruptly, wheeled a few turns around him and finally transformed into a large 'Thunder' rune. The strokes of the character were ancient, and when the rune was formed, tiny electric arcs immediately danced and jumped out from it, making a few turns in the air before merging back into the rune again.
As the deep, muffled recitation continued, Xu Fu supported the rune from below, then slowly waved both hands downward. In an instant, the rune dispersed and transformed into several hundred tiny electric arcs, shooting down at lightning speed with a series of rapid crackling noise.
Wanying Dragon King laughed. He opened his mouth and sucked back the water-bucket-sized Dragon Core into his body, causing the water waves above them to fade away immediately. While laughing out loud, he said, "Ying Zheng little boy, have you not completed your cultivation of Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic? My children, slaughter them all!" Then, he pointed his finger out, unleashing a dark water wave that towered into the sky and transformed into a huge hand that greeted the electric arcs pouring down from above. Without too much effort, the several hundred electric arcs, each with the power equal to the full force strike of a beginner-stage Earth Immortal, were crushed into pieces by a grip of the giant hand.
With the wild laugh of the old dragon king lingering in the air, tens of thousands of aquatic demon beasts unleashed their innate abilities and all kinds of magical treasures into the enemy's direction. A large clump of poisonous fog and venomous liquid in various colors soared high up into the sky, turning into a huge ball of poisonous fog that covered an area of one hundred miles, completely enveloping Ying Zheng and his men. Countless magical treasures made from fangs, sharp horns, and scales shot and flew into the sky, pouring and shooting into the poisonous fog like raindrops. With just the first round of attack, several hundred Great Qin Dynasty's Gold Core soldiers and captains had their bodies riddled with holes, as streams of blood sprayed out and stained the surrounding water.
They were at the lake bed several dozens of miles beneath the water, amd thus were surrounded by a copious amount of Water element energies. In this place, the magical power of these tens of thousands of aquatic demon beasts was greatly boosted. On the contrary, apart from Ying Zheng, all the other men suffered a tremendous restriction and reduction in their magical power. On top of that, Ying Zheng's army was outnumbered by the aquatic demon beasts. As a result, with just one round of attack, seventy percent of Great Qin's army was killed.
Ying Zheng gave a shrill cry and said, "Wanying demon dragon, you again!"
Wanying Dragon King laughed happily and said, "Little boy Ying Zheng, it is your grandpa dragon here! Hahaha, previously, you were able to make the escape by sacrificing tens of thousands of soldiers. But this time, you are only accompanied by so little men, and I've brought all my children from the surrounding tens of thousands of miles. If you can still make the escape, your grandpa dragon, me, will spare you the next time we meet, what do you think? Go on, make your escape now, don't be shy!"
Then he let out a wild roar, brought all the aquatic demon beasts and sprung into the air, forming a tight encirclement around Ying Zheng and his men.
A white light flashed, as Bai Qi drew his sword and leaped towards the old dragon king. But suddenly, a shadow of dragon tail flickered from behind the old dragon king, brutally swept over and slapped right into Bai Qi's body, making him cough out blood and retreat immediately. Although Bai Qi had reached the peak-stage of Nascent Soul realm, the old dragon king's cultivation base was peak-stage of Nascent Divinity realm. As long as he could survive the heaven tribulation, he would be able to step into the realm of Heaven Immortal. There was a huge gap between their cultivation base, and it was a tremendous gap that could never be made up by any means.
Bai Qi was defeated with just one single strike, and it made Ying Zheng yell out immediately, "Retreat! Retreat!"
The shadows of eight flood dragons and one serpent emerged on Ying Zheng's back and quickly condensed into a fist-sized seal. Ying Zheng opened his mouth and coughed out a mouthful of blood onto the seal, then shouted furiously, "Old demon dragon, I'll definitely slaughter every single member of your nine clans!" He continued and coughed out a total of nine mouthfuls of blood onto the seal, before finally crying out, "Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic, Evanescence of Worldly Affairs, Ten Thousand Miles Teleportation!"
The black seal exploded, and streams of blood burst out from Ying Zheng's seven apertures at the same time. A black light emerged and quickly enveloped Ying Zheng and those who stood beside him: Li Si, Xu Fu, Bai Qi, and some other important ministers of his. Gradually, their bodies turned vague, slowly disappeared and faded away.
Upon seeing that, Wanying Dragon King immediately burst into anger. He roared, "Are you trying to run away from me again?" Suddenly, he transformed into a three thousand feet long flood dragon and waved both front claws aggressively towards Ying Zheng within the black light. But, his claws went through the black light, as the bodies of Ying Zheng and his men were like a mere illusion, not suffering any damage.
Wu Qi followed closely beside the old demon dragon and quickly approached Ying Zheng. With his right hand, he performed the incantation gesture of Seal of Minor Universal Star Shifting, while nimbly stroked over Ying Zheng's left hand using Picking Stars Palm with his left hand. With that, he had taken away a dark dragon ring worn on Ying Zheng's left ring finger.
When the ring fell onto his palm, Wu Qi immediately hid it underneath his sleeve. Then, he yelled and screamed while thrusting out Sword of Greedy Wolf into those soldiers and practitioners who were left behind by Ying Zheng. The sword beam flashed, bringing up tens of human heads up into the air.