Chapter 718: Biting the Hand that Once Fed You
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Kui Cow King opened his eyes and leered at his opponent. Thunder roared in the skies above his head and it was clear that he was at the peak of his rage. “Liang Hong, you once studied with your master under my master. Today, not only have you occupied his Mount Liubo, you killed the child he left behind! Earlier, how can I have not seen through you, you heartless ingrate!”
The Intermediate Nascent Soul stage cultivator called Liang Hong had a deeply unpleasant expression on his face. He said coldly, “The Flowing Waves Holy Man had long left this island. How can we leave such a prime real estate empty? By occupying it, it’s better than letting it go to waste.”
“The death of the child under the Flowing Waves Holy Man is not my fault too. He was rude and insulted my master, hence I punished him.”
Inside his heart, he feared what was to come. The Freshwater Holy Man occupied the Flowing Wave Holy Man’s abode because the former had reached the Immortal Soul stage. Furthermore, there was no news about the Flowing Wave Holy Man. No one knew where he had gone. Only then did he dare to occupy the abode.
However, the Freshwater Holy Man and his disciple were cruel indeed. Had they just chased the child and the Spiritual Sea Horses away, it would have still been fine. However, they enslaved a group of Spiritual Sea Horses and imprisoned them with their own spells and turned them into weapons.
The Spiritual Sea Horse King, out of consideration for the members of his tribe, submitted in humiliation. However, the child whom the Flowing Waves Holy Man had kept around earlier had a stronger personality and a sharp tongue. He infuriated Liang Hong, who then killed him.
After he heard that the Kui Cow King and his tribe had joined the Celestial Sect of Wonders, the Freshwater Holy Man and Liang Hong felt uneasy. However, they thought about it for a while, they were still unwilling to leave Mount Liubo. Instead, they tried their best to seal themselves off.
They lived in relative stability for a few years. Hence, the two of them began to lower their guard. In the end, the Freshwater Holy Man decided to leave the abode and leave Liang Hong in charge. He did not expect the Kui Cow King to return then.
What was worse was the fact that Liang Hong heard no news about it at all. The spell formation of the island did not reach too. When he realized, the Kui Cow King was already before him. He could neither flee nor pretend he was not involved.
What was even worse was that Liang Hong could not contact his master, the Freshwater Holy Man. The entire Mount Liubo appeared to have been cut off from the outside world, sending chills down his spine.
The Freshwater Holy Man was never good at Vanishing Spells. Liang Hong feared that if he were to escape. The Kui Cow King would pursue him after he heard about what had happened from the Spiritual Sea Horses. If he met with a fast cultivator, his escape would have been even more difficult. Only then did he grit his teeth and hold the Spiritual Sea Horses hostages.
He stared at the Kui Cow King and said, “I can’t do anything since you have joined the Celestial Sect of Wonders. However, let me escape. If not, we will all die.”
“The Kui Cows and the Spiritual Sea Horses are good friends for many generations. You and the Spiritual Sea Horse King are close friends too. If I remember correctly, you watched the 64 Spiritual Sea Horses currently under my control grow up.”
Jieyu, on the other side, revealed his true form as a humongous black dragon. His voice brimmed with a thick dragon aura, which was more awe-inspiring than the Kui Cow King, and he said, “Heh, do you really have no shame?”
Liang Hong continued without any sign of relenting, “Do you belong to the Celestial Sect of Wonders too? I pray for your understanding. As long as you let go, I won’t injure a single Spiritual Sea Horse.”
“At any time, you can’t even injure a single hair on their back.” Then, a quiet calm voice rang. A purple-robed scholarly young man appeared behind Jieyu. It was Zhu Yi.
Liang Hong widened his eyes in shock. His eyes betrayed a look of helplessness.
While the many independent cultivators of the East Sea were isolated from each other, they still paid a great deal of attention to the major events of the Divine Lands. They too knew about up and coming figures, for fear that their disciples may accidentally come into conflict with any one of them.
Jade Letters that could record a person’s physical appearance were hard to forge and very rare. Ordinary independent cultivators may not be able to obtain them but for powerful Nascent Soul stage cultivators like Liang Hong, they had their ways. The Celestial Sect of Wonders was one of the more eye-catching rising powers these few years and Liang Hong had seen the pictures of all of its core members.
Including the second immediate disciple, Zhu Yi.
To be precise, as the East Sea bordered the Great Zhou Empire, the most noticeable figure of the Celestial Sect of Wonders in the East Sea, other than Lin Feng himself, was Zhu Yi, who was famous throughout the Great Zhou Empire.
Before Liang Hong could speak, Zhu Yi shook his head and said, “If you did not repay your gratitude in full, that was still fine. However, you bit the very hand that fed you. For scum like you, there’s no point in keeping you alive.”
With that, he extended his right hand and opened his palms. Streams of black and white lines flew out and turned into a huge world.
The world took the shape of a spiritual altar that looked like a mandala.
Bright, eye-piercing light intersected with pitch-black dark lines and formed something that resembled the starry night sky. Together, they formed an independent small world.
It was Zhu Yi’s Great Boundaries of the Celestial Light and Darkness Mandala which immediately enveloped Liang Hong.
Liang Hong tried to use his special spells but discovered, to his shock, that he was completely cut off from the Spiritual Sea Horses outside.
The Spiritual Sea Horses on Mount Liubo were shocked too. Many of them had strong personalities and this time, they did not mind sacrificing themselves to ensure a victory for the Kui Cow King. No one would have thought that Liang Hong would have been so easily captured by Zhu Yi.
He could not even kill these Spiritual Sea Horses any more, let alone retaliate.
The first Spiritual Sea Horse to speak was the Demonic Commander from earlier on. He stared blankly at Zhu Yi and then at the Kui Cow King and asked, “Cow King, who… who is this senior?”
Kui Cow King replied, “This is the second disciple of the Master of the Celestial Sect, Zhu Yi.”
The group of Spiritual Sea Horses appeared to have just woken up from a bad dream. They rushed up to Zhu Yi and Jieyu and paid their respect
Till now, they were still feeling unreal. Just a moment ago, they were enslaved by someone else and their lives were no longer in their control. In the next instant, they regained their freedom. This made them think as if they were in a dream.
Under the control of the Freshwater Holy Man and Liang Hong, these Spiritual Sea Horses were cut off from the world. They did not know about many things and the Kui Cow King had to explain everything to them.
After he finished his explanation, he asked, “Where is the old sea horse?”
The Demonic Commander stage Spiritual Sea Horse said in sorrow and rage, “For us, our father became the steed of the of the Freshwater Holy Man.”
The Kui Cow King brimmed with rage. Together with the Spiritual Sea Horse King, they studied under the Flowing Waves Holy Man and also venerated him as their master. Their relationship was very good and while he knew that this old friend had a fair temperament, he was very resolute on the inside. For him to be held hostage like this, the Kui Cow King could imagine in his old friend’s heart.
“No rush, we will wait for him here,” Zhu Yi slowly tried triggered the collapse of his Great Boundaries of the Celestial Light and Darkness Mandala, which resembled doomsday to Liang Hong inside it. He no longer dared to resist as he truthfully told them what had happened.
According to him, the Freshwater Holy Man would return soon.
With the help of Lin Feng’s Fences of Heaven, everything that had happened on Mount Liubo was cut off from the outside world. Even if the Freshwater Holy Man left some sort of powerful spells on the island, he would not discover anything amiss.
Lin Feng and Xiao Yan landed on the island. Using his heel, Lin Feng poked the ground underneath and said with a smile, “Cultivating the Gui Water Yin Thunder Spell, interesting indeed. I wonder if it’s possible to call up the Black Gui Thunder Water. If that’s possible, I would like to see it.”
On the other side, Jieyu and Baiguang took on their human forms as they talked by the side.
“Dear, I remember that the Inter-world Passage in the East Sea will lead to the Barren Expanses. It appears to be near the territory of the Purple Sea Dragon King?” Jieyu asked his wife, Baiguang, who nodded and replied, “Yes, indeed.”
The Purple Sea Dragon King was a powerful demon famous in the Barren Expanses. The more active Demonic Saints of the demons were collectively known as the Ten Demonic Saints and the Purple Sea Dragon King was one of them. Together with the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the Golden Roc Grand Sage, he was one of the top three most powerful demons.
However, the Purple Sea Dragon King was rather calm and he preferred to do things in a more subtle fashion. Hence, compared to the other Demonic Saints, he was not as well-known.
However, even the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage did not dare to underestimate him, not only because he himself was extremely powerful, but also because the Purple Sea Dagon King was one of the leaders of the dragons. He represented the interests of the Immemorial Celestial Dragon, who resided deep in the Black Sea, in the Barren Expanses.
The Immemorial Celestial Dragon was like the Phoenix; they did not show themselves very often and hence, rarely participated in the wars between Man and Demons. However, neither human cultivators nor demons dared to underestimate their influence.
Baiguang said softly, “Many demons who headed over to the Divine Lands through the Inter-World Passage of the East Sea are under the command of the Purple Sea Dragon King. Many of them are dragons.”
“Perhaps other demons borrowed the territory of the Purple Sea Dragon King. I heard that the ties between the Golden Roc Grand Sage and the Purple Sea Dragon King are quite good. The demons under their command are often in contact with one another.”
Jieyu said, “My lord asked you to come along with me to the East Sea. He said that it would be something fateful too, could it be…”
Baiguang fell silent for a while and then said, “Both of us belong to Great Void Sect Dragon Pond, if we meet the dragons of the Barren Expanses it may be slightly awkward. Perhaps we should listen to Master Lin’s instructions.”
As she said that, Lin Feng said, “I’m here.”
From afar, the space split open a young man clad in black appeared. His face was dark and his lips thin. He had a high nose ridge and arcane spell runes were imprinted on his nose.
His expression was normal until he saw Lin Feng and the rest on the island. Immediately, an ugly expression crossed his face. That was because the restrictions he placed on the island were still intact till now, as if no one had touched them.
This was the Freshwater Holy Man, who occupied the former abode of the Flowing Waves Holy Man. He swept the group with his gaze and when he saw the Kui Cow King, Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, Yang Qing and Li Yuanfang, his expression got even uglier.
