Author's Notes
The Ocean Emperor's younger brother decided...
A-Ji is...
Her friends try...
Chapter 18 - A-ji's Overwhelming Guilt
In the end, the doctors were unanimous in agreeing that the emperor should be taken to the ancient cave that was famous for concentrating demonic powers that activated special spiritual stones capable of supplying and healing the body of a demon and even, the jiaozhu of a jiaoren if it were necessary.
The problem with using the underwater cave was that he couldn't use medicine. The cure had to be natural and they considered that the monarch was more likely to have a better cure in the cave than with medicines because it increased the chance of recovery although there was still a risk of life.
In the end, the decision to take him was taken by the emperor's younger brother, Chang Shi, grand vizier and royal advisor, who carried his older brother, Chang Dai, to the cave and then deposited him in the center from the healing chamber which was surrounded by special spirit stones.
After placing him while the scepter of the ocean was next to the emperor who did not let go of it even once, he moves away and everyone starts to keep vigil in the cure of their sovereign while the grand vizier laments that the adopted son of the emperor, Shang Which, if he wasn't in the kingdom because maybe he would have avoided Chang Yi's capture.
After all, they were inseparable brothers and surely, both would join forces making them gain time until the arrival of their father to avoid capture in the hands of the Grand Master.
It was a pity in his eyes that the black dragon left for training and that the young crown prince could not accompany him because he was being trained by his father to one day inherit the empire of the oceans. As he was heading to a secluded spot, he received authorization from Chang Dai as long as he kept away from any human or human crowd no matter how small.
Meanwhile, on land, more precisely on the outskirts of Dacheng Palace, the box is taken at the same time that A-ji's friends manage to get it out of the miserable state it was in, at least partially because the princess could not stop looking desolately at the horizon showing tearful eyes and a silent cry while feeling completely useless.
It was all her fault in the young woman's view because in her view, she was to blame for the fate of the jiaoren who had saved her at the same time that she had fallen in love with him.
With difficulty taking his gaze away from the horizon after sighing sadly while rudely drying his eyes, A-ji notices out of the corner of his eyes that his friend's sword glows, and then, the metallic glow takes human form after separating from the waist and when the brightness ceases, reveals a young woman beside him wearing black and red clothes, in addition to having black hair and onyx eyes, with the girl identifying her as a demon because of her demonic aura and if she was with her friend, it could only mean a thing and as he thought about it, his countenance displayed displeasure in Lin Haoqing's direction while asking with distaste in his voice, 'Have you turned a demon into your slave? We promised that we would never enslave demons through the curse of the master-slave contract."
"No. We don't have a Master-Slave contract. She is free to leave whenever she wishes. She chose to stay with me."
She looks suspiciously at the situation, with the young demon being dismayed, and then speaks, "It's true. His father thinks I'm his slave. But, it's a lie. He returned the power I passed and freed me from the curse. I chose to follow him after he saved my life. I want to pay off this debt."
The young demon speaks as she blushes slightly as she looks at Haoqing who seems not to notice the slight blush on her cheeks as she sighs.
"Look."
He makes specific hand seals that were used to demonstrate the demon's bond of bondage to the demon master and in doing so, it is visible to all that there was no hint of a bond.
"See? He canceled the Master-slave contract after introducing it to the Devil Valley's bastard master" Qu Xiaoxing comments with a smile.
"Then fine."
"My name is Si Yu, nice to meet you." She speaks with a smile on her face bowing slightly.
"Pleasure." A-Ji bows slightly too.
"She's a metal demon. Her real body is a sword. Normally, she prefers to stay in that form. But, she can stay in two places at once." Ru Jun speaks while smiling, "I find it a very useful skill."
"Actually, it's quite useful."
"Especially when I go to dangerous places. As long as the sword isn't destroyed, I won't die because my inner pearl stays in my real body. Besides, Lin Haoqing and I can mentally talk through the sword when I'm away. "
"It's a very useful skill."
"Demons of the metal element are rare."
"True. Normally, we live isolated and away from humans."
"What happened on the beach? Everything quieted down." Luo Jisang asks curiously.
In that, she tells everything that happened, with them being surprised that the ocean emperor caused serious damage to the grandmaster and when Si Yu told what happened when the jiaoren hit him, Ru Jun muttered flabbergasted, "That's... But, it can't be possible. That means..."
"It means what you're thinking, brother. It's an immortal seal being activated according to what we read in that book. If the grandmaster has the immortal seal..."
"It is protected from damage and attacks. Furthermore, the immortal seal returns double damage to the perpetrator of the attack. I've read about this seal. It's extremely rare." A-ji comments.
"I wonder where he got it?"
"The seal has to be given by someone. Who in this world would be able to handle such a powerful seal?"
"What about that giant bird? It had neither demonic nor spiritual power. Where did it come from and what power did it have?"
"True. There was also the apparition of that being and he was protecting the jiaoren."
"Yes. They were going to capture more jiaoren and among them, the ocean emperor. The appearance of the octopus monster was useful because it was huge and managed to rescue the emperor while the giant bird freed him from the chains just like it did with other jiaoren."
"It was providential that he came."
"I wish I knew what power that was."
"Me too."
"Idem."
"I never imagined it would have a power that we didn't know about."
"Surely it must be mentioned somewhere."
They are thoughtful as the princess looks sadly at the ocean, mourning the imprisonment of the handsome jiaoren who saved her and who showed her a wonderful world.
So, after a few minutes, A-Ji's friends decide to leave to clean themselves up and then eat something.
Sighing sadly, the master of demons follows them to the royal palace complex where her presence is ignored, with the young woman leading them to the rooms next to hers and then requesting the preparation of bathtubs for the servants who bow down, and then carry out the given orders.
After all, as much as she was disadvantaged in the royal family to the point that the king and queen didn't care about her at the same time that she was mistreated by her older sister, it didn't change the fact that the servants needed to follow all her orders and show proper respect, as well as guards who were expected to bow in reverence as they would any member of the royal family.
The princess knew that none of her relatives cared about her and only allowed her to accommodate them in good rooms and offer meals as well as obliging servants and guards to show proper respect while servants had to obey her orders because appearance was everything.
After her friends settled in rooms next to hers, the young woman asks some servants to prepare a considerable feast for knowing Luo Jinsang's appetite while she herself was not hungry after what happened to her savior.
Far away, more precisely in the private meeting hall, the emperor, the empress, the general and his son, as well as the grand master were talking around the mahogany table with gilded details and which contained open scrolls, in addition to some other reports.
The grandmaster had hit acupuncture points on his body to restrict the pain and contain the injuries before going to the meeting while bandages were visible under his clothes. Even talking required a bit of effort.
Ning Qing knew that if he didn't have advanced knowledge of medicine along with techniques for stanching and restraining wounds, as well as for alleviating pain, he wouldn't even be able to stand on his feet.
All of his disciples learned not only techniques and seals, but also how to use their spiritual and magical powers to fight. Knowledge in the field of medicine and herbs was also introduced, as well as other supplementary knowledge that was not provided to the demon masters who were below their hierarchy.
Ning Qing prided himself on the fact that his sect members were more powerful and consequently superior to other demon masters while bemoaning the fact that there were five notable demon masters below his sect's rank, in addition to the defector, Ji Chengge, who was also one of the most powerful under his orders in the past and who currently wields power opposing the sect he belonged to in the past after becoming a monk, then adopting the name of Kong Ming.
Another major disappointment he had was with Lin Canglan, who was formerly a member of his sect until he decided to rebel against him by trying to prevent him from having access to the fundamental component for the completion of the creation of the frozen poison.
In the end, the grandmaster used the life of the woman Canglan loved to get the ingredient and as punishment, he banished him from the sect at the same time that he was the first to taste the poison that acted as a curse with his beloved, to later, being sent to the Demonic Valley where he ended up becoming the Master of the place because even though he was expelled, he still held the level of power and knowledge of his sect while he was forced not to transmit such knowledge because if he did that he would not receive the necessary medicine to deal with the frozen curse.
Furthermore, the grandmaster was also bothered by the unusual techniques that appeared on the beach, as well as the mysterious power of that bird.
In fact, he intended to return to his sect as soon as possible to search the library for some clue about what that power was.
The reason he made them mistakenly believe that the injuries were not serious and rather superficial when acting normally was for appearances and to instill even more respect and admiration.
Ning Qing would never allow anyone to see him in a weakened state because he had his pride, and if that happened, he would summarily eliminate that person.
After all, in public he was always supposed to be powerful and haughty never the other way around
Therefore, the grandmaster used some techniques to allow him to move freely and without showing any pain on his face no matter how much he moved, in addition to being able to stand up without showing any discomfort on his face at the same time that he was relieved to see that everyone mistakenly believed that his injuries were not serious but superficial.
"The appearance of those bastard demons has greatly disrupted your Highnesses' plan." Zhu Ling commented as he snorted.
"Indeed. But I don't think we've done much damage." The general comments looking at some reports.
"Even so, we lost manpower today with the sudden arrival of the bastard demons. Also, there was a tsunami according to the reports."
"Thank goodness the grandmaster was on the spot and could call for help."
"Containing the tsunami was a bit tricky, but, my disciples managed to contain it. They are at a level far above the demon masters. I demand only the best to compose my sect. The other demon masters have had their use considering the fact that they are disposable garbage."
"True."
"Even so, we have losses from these garbage. Will we still be able to have enough quantity for the plan?"