Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 28: Flipping a Palm to Capture the Vicious Flood Dragon, Splitting Light to Slay the Demon Marquis
Three or four days had passed in a flash since Xuzhuang boarded the He Family’s ship. The journey had been peaceful and the seas calm. In his spare time between meditations, Xuzhuang had refined a considerable amount of cloud sand into Red Fire Gang Thunder.
On this day, Xuzhuang was, as usual, dedicating half of his attention to refining Red Fire Gang Thunder when he suddenly noticed that the already sparse fire-elemental Spiritual Qi in the air was dwindling to almost nothing. In contrast, the water-elemental energy grew ever more abundant, creating a surging, powerful feeling.
’What is this...’ Even for the open sea, such a phenomenon was far from ordinary. Xuzhuang stood and peered into the distance. He saw dark clouds massing and spreading, blanketing the sky for miles in an instant. A deep rumble echoed, and as a fierce gale swept by, a torrential downpour and roaring waves crashed toward them.
In an instant, the scene of clear skies and calm, blue seas was utterly transformed. Nothing remained between heaven and earth but a murky gloom, and the entire ocean seemed to boil with rage.
The deck erupted into chaos as passengers and crew ran about, shouting at the top of their lungs. He Shanhai hurried out to take command of the situation. Xuzhuang had no time for any of it; his eyes were fixed forward, two beams of imperceptible divine light piercing the dense wind and rain to see the center of the storm.
A reef as large as a mountain peak jutted out from the sea. Coiled upon it was a colossal beast, thousands of feet long. Its belly was devoid of scales, and it roared toward the heavens, its cavernous maw revealing a forest of menacing teeth. It possessed claws and feet; aside from the lack of horns, it had the complete appearance of a jiao dragon.
Facing it was another colossal beast, also a jiao dragon. Though slightly smaller, this one had two horns on its head, four claws on its feet, and was covered in majestic, cyan scales. Half-shrouded in cloud and half-submerged in water, its upper body stood proudly amidst the storm. A slight sway of its form stirred up monstrous waves. With a flick of its giant claw, as if delivering a heavenly punishment, a bolt of violent lightning struck down, blasting the surface and sending water flying everywhere.
The two colossal beasts were merely facing off, not yet truly engaged in battle, yet they had already turned the world upside down. For miles around, countless innocent creatures had suffered, the casualties innumerable.
Their every move was like a natural disaster. As this scene unfolded before their eyes, He Shanhai was directing his crew, desperately trying to turn the ship to escape the all-destroying battlefield.
"Marquis Fuhai, don’t push me too far!" the sky-scraping jiao dragon roared toward the heavens. "I have yielded to you at every turn, yet you follow me to my own lair to provoke me. Do you really think I’m afraid of you?!"
"Hmph!" The Cyan-Scaled Jiao Dragon snorted, the sound like a clap of thunder rolling through the clouds. It spoke coldly, "Lieyun, you’d better confess. Was it you who ambushed and killed the Dragon Palace Crown Prince and stole the Dragon Pearl?!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" the evil flood dragon, Lieyun, roared with laughter. "So that’s what this is about! Marquis Fuhai, you running dog, are you getting desperate now that the Dragon Palace is holding you accountable? If I’d known a true dragon was in your territory, I would have killed him and taken the Dragon Pearl long ago. I’d have fled millions of miles away! Do you think I’d stick around waiting for you to come knocking?"
"It had better be so! Lieyun, I’ll tell you the truth—the fall of a true dragon has already incurred the full wrath of the Dragon Palace..."
Marquis Fuhai’s thunderous voice was still echoing when Xuzhuang’s gaze suddenly shifted back to the ship. The deck, which had just become orderly under He Shanhai’s command, had once again erupted into noisy chaos.
A monstrous wave parted, and a troop of armored shrimp and crab soldiers, walking upright like men and brandishing weapons, strode toward them across the water. Their leader was a large, tiger-striped shrimp holding a steel trident. Its whiskers twitched as it bellowed, "I am a Sea Patrol Captain under the command of Marquis Fuhai! What human ship is this, daring to trespass in my waters? All humans, jump overboard at once! Your vessel and all its cargo are hereby confiscated!"
He Shanhai was filled with despair. He hurried forward to negotiate, "We are a merchant vessel from the He Clan Chamber of Commerce! We frequently deliver tribute to Marquis Fuhai. We beg you for some leniency, Captain."
The Sea Patrol Captain sneered. "I don’t care what family of land-dwelling mud-people you’re from. All I know is this ship’s route was not registered with the Marquis Mansion, which means you’re smuggling yourselves through! Anymore backtalk and I’ll have you all captured as a snack for the Marquis!"
"What! You got a problem with that?" He suddenly pointed his steel trident at a furious, wide-eyed guard behind He Shanhai and roared, "Seize him! Chop him into seven pieces and feed him to the troop’s whale sharks!" frёewebηovel.cѳm
Xuzhuang knew these were the unwritten rules of the vast ocean. Though humans could be found everywhere on the seas, their power was nothing compared to that of the Sea Race. Any ship sailing these waters could never avoid paying tribute and smoothing things over with the various Marquis Hai who ruled the different regions.
But these Marquis Hai, enfeoffed by the Dragon Palace, were not only powerful but also had terrifying appetites. They extorted exorbitant tributes, and anyone who dared to defy them would naturally end up as a meal.
Therefore, plenty of clever people tried to find other ways. Some would skirt the edges of a Marquis Hai’s territory where patrols were lax. Others would pay off powerful Demon Marquis who refused to submit to the Dragon Palace’s authority. By blazing these new trails and establishing a stable trade route, the profits were immense.
He Shanhai was likely traveling on one such "trade route," but his luck was rotten to the core. He had run straight into a standoff between Marquis Fuhai and a great sea demon.
’So this was the tribulation they faced.’ Xuzhuang was leaning on the railing, lost in thought. When he heard a shout—"Seize him! Skin him and throw him into the sea to feed the fish!"—a cold light flashed in his eyes. Suddenly, He Shanhai and the others watched as the swaggering shrimp captain, who had been so imperious just moments before, went rigid. His steel trident fell to the deck with a clang. A moment later, his massive head slid sideways off his body and flopped onto the deck, rolling with the pitch of the ship and leaving a trail of blood and ichor.
"Wh-what...?!"
"How dare you! You damned mud-people!" the other Shrimp Soldiers shrieked in alarm. "Not only are you smuggling your way through, you dare to kill a Sea Patrol Captain!" They all raised their glittering weapons.
He Shanhai felt as if he’d been struck by a heavy hammer, his vision going dark. Two words echoed in his mind: ’We’re doomed!’
He suddenly lifted his head and looked over. Sure enough, Xuzhuang was standing ramrod straight by the railing, hands clasped behind his back. The battering wind and rain did nothing to disturb his dignified bearing. He seemed to be paying no mind to the chaos on deck; his eyes were once again fixed on the distant heart of the storm.
