Free Web NovelChapter 42: Chapter 28: Capturing the Vicious Dragon, Slaying the Demon Marquis
Marquis Fuhai, with only half his body left, opened his cavernous, bloody maw and charged straight at Xuzhuang.
"How pointless." Xuzhuang raised his left hand, forming a sword-finger sign. "Go!" The sword pill leaped up. With a flicker, it split into eight beams of sword light. With another flicker, it multiplied into sixteen!
The sixteen beams of sword light shot toward Marquis Fuhai simultaneously, carving arcs through the air. With just a single, light pass, Marquis Fuhai was diced into dozens of chunks of flesh and fell back into the sea, not even managing to make another sound.
Xuzhuang reached out and beckoned lightly. A round, cyan Pill Pearl flew into his hand. He gave it a little shake, and it seemed ready to exude a dense Demon Fiend aura. He could also feel a surging thunder essence within it.
"So this is a Jiao Pearl?" Xuzhuang weighed Marquis Fuhai’s Jiao Pearl in his hand, then finally turned his gaze to Lieyun, who was still pinned firmly in the grip of the Innate Tai Su Qi Grand Capture.
In its struggles, the wicked jiaolong had already shattered the reef mountain out of existence and churned the surrounding currents into a chaotic mess of treacherous waves and whirlpools. Now, as Xuzhuang’s gaze fell upon it, a sudden chill gripped Lieyun’s heart. An image of Xuzhuang’s ’brutality’ flashed before its eyes—the single sword strike that had severed Marquis Fuhai, the afterimages of light that had dismembered him.
’For a thousand years, Marquis Fuhai and I schemed against each other, openly and in secret. He grew to become an outrageously arrogant great demon in this stretch of sea, became a lapdog for the Dragon Palace, purified his Jiaolong bloodline, and saw his cultivation soar. He finally surpassed me, was enfeoffed as Marquis Fuhai, and ruled the seas, demanding tribute. What power he held...’
’...and in the end, all of it was reduced to the Jiao Pearl in Xuzhuang’s hand.’
"Fellow Daoist, please stay your hand!" Lieyun roared. "I am willing to surrender! I am willing to recognize you as my master and be at your command! I will serve you faithfully, heart and soul, and do your every bidding!"
"Oh? If you are truly sincere, Fellow Daoist, that wouldn’t be a bad option," Xuzhuang said with a faint smile, toying with the Jiao Pearl. "It’s just a shame that I am not well-versed in the art of beast taming..."
As he spoke, the sword pill twitched again. Terrified, Lieyun cried out, "Fellow Daoist, wait! Wait! I will voluntarily spit out my Jiao Pearl! Please, hold it for safekeeping! We can figure out a way later! I swear I will not dare to make any trouble!"
Afraid Xuzhuang would refuse again, Lieyun immediately opened its bloody mouth and spat out a Pill Pearl. A Jiao Pearl from a living host had a different appearance, glowing with a faint golden light. Suppressing the agony in its heart, Lieyun channeled its Demon Fiend aura to deliver the Jiao Pearl to Xuzhuang.
Xuzhuang accepted the Jiao Pearl, a playful smile on his face. "Your heart of submission is quite sincere, Fellow Daoist..."
’Sincere my ass!’ Lieyun cursed inwardly, but the jiaolong’s face twisted into a human-like, fawning expression. It stammered, "Fellow Daoist..."
Xuzhuang feigned surprise. "Hmm? Aren’t you going to change how you address me, Fellow Daoist?" freёwebnovel.com
"Ah!" Lieyun jolted, quickly correcting itself. "Master... My Lord! My Lord!"
Xuzhuang chuckled and shook his head. With a flip of his hand, he stored the two Jiao Pearls away. The great hand of the Innate Tai Su Qi Grand Capture instantly retracted, turned back into a wisp of white qi in the air, and returned completely to the fontanelle atop his head.
The Jiaolong Liyun, suddenly freed from its restraints, couldn’t help but swish its tail and swim a lap in the sea, reveling in the joy of freedom. The thought of diving deep into the ocean and fleeing for its life bubbled up, but then it remembered its Jiao Pearl, now in Xuzhuang’s possession. In the end, it obediently poked its head out of the water and said fawningly, "Thank you, My Lord!"
"Since you’re going to follow me, are you going to stay in that form?" Xuzhuang said coolly.
Hearing this, Lieyun turned to look at its own colossal body, which stretched for thousands of feet. It shook its head, then suddenly rolled over in the sea. Its massive form began to contract, shrinking to just over ten feet long in a matter of moments. It looked itself over, then gritted its teeth and shrank again. This time, when it stopped, it was less than a foot long.
In the past, great sea demons like Lieyun had always considered size a measure of beauty. It had been a long, long time since Lieyun’s birth that it had experienced being this size, and it couldn’t help but feel extremely uncomfortable. It thrashed about in the water a couple of times, but not daring to linger, it took to the sky.
Having lost its Jiao Pearl, its Demonic Power was weak and difficult to sustain. It flew unsteadily, taking what felt like an eternity to reach Xuzhuang. It raised its two small claws in a difficult imitation of a cupped-hand salute and said respectfully, "Lieyun greets you, My Lord."
The wicked jiaolong that once churned rivers and overturned seas now actually looked a little cute. Xuzhuang smiled. "Now you look a bit more like a spirit beast of an Immortal Family."
He placed the less-than-a-foot-long jiaolong on his arm, and it obediently crawled into his sleeve to hide. Xuzhuang glanced at the blue sky gradually appearing as the dark clouds dispersed. He sent out his Spiritual Sense and found He Shanhai’s merchant ship. They had already escaped the storm and were sailing smoothly into the distance. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
A strange feeling suddenly arose in Xuzhuang’s heart. He knew that He Shanhai had passed his tribulation and that the peculiar karmic bond between them was now gone. ’But what exactly was that karmic connection?’
Xuzhuang pondered for a moment but came to no conclusion. He frowned and decided not to dwell on it. ’Since that’s the case, I suppose it’s time for us to part ways.’
"I’m off." Xuzhuang retracted his Spiritual Sense, summoned a beam of escape light, and instantly shot above the clouds, disappearing to an unknown destination.
