Author's Notes
A-Ji's friends...
A-Ji meets...
Cang decides...
At the bottom of the ocean...
Chapter 17 - Ocean's Fury
It was Lin Haoqing and his younger brother Ru Jun, as well as Qu Xiaoxing who was assigned as Haoqing's apprentice and Luo Jisang assigned as Ru Jun's apprentice.
After looking at her friends, the young woman observes Lin Canglan preparing new seals while an immense and powerful demonic power appeared on the horizon.
Pulling herself together, she struggles to get away from them in order to find some way to free Chang Yi from the transport box while displaying the purest despair on her tearful face.
"Please don't try to do anything." Qu Xiaoxing pleads in a desperate voice because just like Haoqing, Ru Jun, and Luo Jisang, he knew how the royal family viewed the young princess.
"But they — !"
"You can't help it. Your bastard sister ended up seeing the merman. We heard her asking the grandmaster to capture the jiaoren as she wanted it for herself. It was very unlucky that it came ashore the day she decided to traveling on the royal ship and that upon sighting it, all the nearby demon masters and those of the grandmaster's bastard sect were summoned to help in the capture."
"That's true. Big brother is right. You won't be able to do anything."
"But..."
Haoqing and Luo Jisang just shake their heads and A-ji starts to cry, tears streaming down her cheeks as she feels useless. The merman had saved her life and now, she couldn't save him. Her fists close and she consecutively strikes the fine sand and then, her head down while her body shakes with the sadness and immense pain arising from her impotence and overwhelming guilt that took her at that moment, with her body breaking into tears at the same time when her friends tried in vain to comfort her.
When the young woman looks back at the monstrous storm on the horizon that was getting closer and closer, the princess spots a figure in the middle of the ocean and mutters dumbfounded upon recognizing him, "It's the Zhushang [Lord or lord, which can also be translated as ruler supreme or emperor in classical Chinese] of the oceans."
Everyone is astonished and promptly drags her away, to later move when riding in the wind, with them saying that they should get out of there as soon as possible.
Then, there is a fierce clash and it is possible to see several demon masters and some demon slaves trying to stop the overwhelming tsunami that was advancing against the coast, with the ocean emperor appearing in all his power and fury followed by several others of his species, with everyone preparing for battle at the same time as the grandmaster took the lead after telling Ru Ling to return to the palace, then organizing a protective triple matrix to protect the palace from afar with the help of the other demon masters of his sect around the beach because the castle and its port were nearby.
As they walked away, A-ji watched the ocean's own fury, as well as the staff in the emperor's hands, as well as feeling its massive demonic power, with the weather in the region growing fierce and equally violent as it was gripped by an unrelenting storm with thunder that brutally tore the sky while a whipping wind punished everyone in the place.
"We can free you from the box!"
"We don't know where it is. The grandmaster must have had the box protected to satisfy that bitch." Lin Haoqing spoke as he and the others pulled her along.
"Yes. What we can do is move away. Since you are also a princess despite your parents and sister hating you, we can use you as an excuse to move away." Luo Jinsang comments.
"As for freeing him, you must use your wits and your wits in strategies. It won't be easy to get him away from your sister."
"For sure."
So, they arrive until they are close to the castle and behind the protective triple barrier, watching that in the distance, the fierce battle continues.
"Surely, the grandmaster will face the ocean's Zhushang."
"Well, that jiaoren had a big majestic tail. Sure enough, he has a high status. He must even have royal blood."
"Well, if he's of royal blood, that explains the commotion among the jiaoren."
"He's more like an angry father."
"You're right, Ru Jun. The sealed jiaoren's name is Chang Yi and he is the taizi (crown prince) of the ocean. He saved my life and kept me safe and secure, as well as showing me the beauty of the ocean." She speaks with her head down while crying.
A-ji revealed his identity because she knew his friends could be trusted. None of them would report this to the kings, their father or the grand master.
In addition, they were alone because many fled when they saw the stormy horizon while others ran to the beach in order to defend the kingdom, making the group alone in that place.
"Well, that justifies their attitude."
"It would be so nice if Zhushang killed the grandmaster."
"I don't know if he could even with the legendary scepter."
"I have my doubts."
"Me too."
"What I want is for no jiaoren to die and not be captured. What happened to Chang Yi is enough."
Everyone looks with pity at the crestfallen friend who was so immersed in a heartbreaking pain and overwhelming guilt that she mentally whipped herself while brutally beating herself in her mind, that she didn't notice the arrival of a demon that positioned herself next to Lin Haoqing, with everyone looking at the young woman with pity while being worried about her mental and emotional health because they knew that she suffered from chronic depression and that she even tried to commit suicide not just once, but three times. One with seven years, another with eight years and the last attempt with nine years.
The first was when she threw herself from the highest ledge, ending up falling into a wagon full of cotton that broke her fall by suddenly appearing when they made the horse walk backwards, aiming to get him out of the place. The second was when she tried to hang herself and even though the rope made of cloth had torn, thus preventing her neck from being broken, it ended up causing damage to her throat and vocal cords, with her lying on the ground semi-conscious for several hours until that a maid saw her and helped her, to be treated later. The third time, she stabbed herself and missed her heart by inches, miraculously surviving.
For the sake of her looks, the kings silenced any rumors of her suicide attempts and proceeded to limit her suffering and even stopped Ru Ling from tormenting her at the same level as before.
Her friends also knew about what happened to A-Ji's shifu years ago and that at the time they met him, he had been a lifeline to find him at his most depressed and that after a few years, The brutal loss of him shook her psychological state again.
At that same time, the friendship with the brothers strengthened her and made her not seek new suicide attempts when she almost tried to commit suicide after the murder of her shifu, with her friendship expanding later to the brothers' disciples, Qu Xiaoxing and Luo Jinsang.
"The battle looks fierce." The newly arrived demon comments.
"Could you please check the progress of the battle?" Lin Haoqing asks as she blushes slightly.
"Yes." She nods as she blushes, too.
Then, the young demon assumes her real form of a sword, with him putting it on her waist, and then, a silver sphere comes out of the weapon and flies towards the battle.
The fierce battle continued with the massive and intense storm relentlessly turning day into night in that location while the tsunami had been temporarily restrained by the demon masters.
Several kilometers away, the monk Cang watched the battle through his bird and is alarmed to see that the grandmaster managed to subdue the emperor of the oceans, with him realizing that Ning Qing had the immortal seal on his body when he saw what happened when in the hand-to-hand confrontation, the demon struck him in the chest with demonic power concentrating in his fist to intensify the attack together with the power of his legendary scepter.
The power was countered and although it was visible that the grandmaster suffered damage, the emperor of oceans suffered even more serious damage because of the immortal seal that protected his enemy's body.
Even injured, Ning Qing managed to use seals and complex movements creating arrays in a total of five, giving rise to golden chains that surround the emperor and other chains that come from some demon masters who took advantage of the fall of the jiaoren's power and, consequently, the fury of the ocean that had been fostered by the emperor's powers empowered by his legendary scepter.
The qi master also noticed some dead jiaoren and others that were being captured.
Deciding that he couldn't allow their capture while also being unaware of the fact that the Crown Prince of the Ocean had been sealed in a shipping box, causing him to misunderstand the Ocean Emperor's fury, the monk decides to prevent the fall of the oceanic empire because if they captured him, the consequences would be disastrous.
After all, it wasn't just limited to the loss of the island's defense that was provided in part by the jiaorens while the other part came from the defensive techniques that were activated with the approach of vessels or people.
Then, he sits in a lotus position, creating a protective barrier around himself, to then concentrate his powers and momentarily transfer part of them to his creation, which increases in size while gaining new powers.
The immense and powerful bird listens to its creator's orders and after listening to them, it begins to execute the given orders.
When everyone starts trying to seal the critically injured Ocean Emperor in a demon transport box, a huge octopus with six eyes and thick tentacles appears.
The demon prepares to launch a tentacle towards the emperor to save him, while his appearance causes a commotion because he was worthy of being called a sea monster.
At the same time, the huge bird made of qi moved swiftly and managed to cut all the golden chains as well as break several matrixes with its sharp wings, and then throw the emperor into the ocean far away, with the octopus gently catching him and on top of him everyone's amazement as Ning Qing looked curiously at the bird that appeared that didn't have demonic powers, with him not being able to detect what that power was.
After rescuing Chang Yi's father, the newcomer made of qi prevents the jiaoren captured through seals from being confined in boxes by deftly breaking the chains and matrices, and then throwing the mermen and mermaids with the strength of his wings to the ocean, just as he did with the bodies of the dead.
The octopus picked up the other extremely injured members of its species as it watched the bodies of the dead turn to sea foam on contact with the water, thus causing their power to be returned to the ocean.
Seeing the weakened state of his monarch, he sinks as soon as possible into the ocean, keeping the seriously injured in his tentacles while the other wounded follow him, taking advantage of the fact that the bird protects them when he makes a barrier appear from her wings golden light between them and the demon masters, successfully blocking the attacks of the one that targeted the giant octopus and the rest of the demons.
Recovering from the appearance of the immense demon and the unexpected interference of the golden bird, they begin to attack it and the others who were unable to attack the jiaoren who had managed to flee because of the immense barrier, began to attack the immense bird that despite being large , deftly dodged the attacks, with everyone being astonished to see that small golden spheres appeared from the feathered wings and that when they fell in the middle of the beach, they made small sprouts appear from the fine sand that turned into huge trees in a matter of seconds under a green glow and that instead of leaves, there were flowers that appeared on the branches and that generated a massive and equally immense cloud of pollen, for later, leaves appeared that started to fly while the storm gradually disappeared once the emperor was unconscious, causing its power ceased along with the scepter's power at the same time that the sea was calm again.
They all put up shields to block out the pollen, but to their amazement, the leaves shatter the barriers they've conjured by breaking away from the branches at the same time becoming a greenish storm of razor-sharp leaves that just broke matrices and barriers without causing any harm any damage to their skin, thus causing the pollen storm, which was a mixture of gold and silver in color, to reach them, causing them to fall asleep instantly after causing confusion and their demon slaves suffered from the same effects that were afflicted their masters.
Many tried to use flames against the leaves, as well as rocks, weapons and other techniques to destroy them.
However, the razor leaves proved to be indestructible because even the flames didn't burn them at the same time as they cut through the rocks like butter, with them not being able to see that there was a small layer of protection on each leaf to protect them from destructive attacks.
The Grand Master is amazed to see that the leaves passed through his shield and when he tried to hit the bird, he simply dodged while the pollen took effect, leaving him unconscious, and then the bird became smaller at the same time as the golden barrier disappeared, as well as the trees that have regressed until there is no trace of them left in the sand, with the flowers and leaves disappearing in the process.
After returning to its original size, the bird returns to fly over the region, close to the clouds.
They didn't know that they were only alive because the monk followed the rules and among them, he understood not to take the life of living beings.
It was even as a result of this rule that the leaves, even sharp and indestructible, were limited to harming only barriers, matrices, weapons and chains, leaving people's bodies without any damage.
Therefore, the demon masters killed on the beach were due to the jiaoren's attacks and not the monk's attacks.
After the clash ended, Siyu walked away from the spot as she blushed at the thought of Lin Haoqing and as she walked away, she questioned what power that was and why the mysterious bird's attacks, even when they were fierce, didn't hurt those around her limiting itself only to protection, breaking matrices, chains, weapons and any other technique directed against it, just as it was in relation to the razor-sharp leaves.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away, in the depths of the ocean, more precisely in the medical wing of the palace, which was formed by a complex of imposing size, the monarch was being medicated and treated by the best doctors who worked tirelessly while the people were worried with its ruler because according to what was announced by the grand vizier of the empire, the damage was very serious and his life was in danger. The chances of survival were too low to the point that only a miracle could save his life while the other injured jiaoren were treated by other doctors, with some of them dying from the severity of their injuries.
The news of the crown prince's capture, as well as the battle and the sovereign's very serious injuries spread across the ocean, causing several jiaoren to swim worriedly to the palace complex in their eagerness to seek information about their emperor's status while they prayed for the captured prince, with many becoming saddened to see that their suspicions were confirmed because the rumor that he had been involved with a demon mistress had also spread among them.