Chapter 45
Face-Slapping the White Lotus Merman (5.1)
Editor: ghost
In this way, An Si was captured by the First Prince. This time he was still locked up in the deep sea prison except he definitely could not escape until a few decades later; his spiritual dan would need close to a hundred years to reconstruct. Hence there was no one guarding the prison. An Si could only obediently wait in prison.
A few days after An Si was captured, Hong Yan finally found out what the Netherworld Ghost King was trying to do.
“Ming Chi, it is very likely that the Netherworld Ghost King is trying to make the Heaven Breaking Mist.”
“Heaven Breaking Mist?” Ming Chi looked at Hong Yan, not knowing what that was. Zhou Xu and Hong Yu looked at her as well.
“Basically, it uses more than a hundred thousand grievances, as well as draconic energy, demonic energy, ghost energy, devil energy, celestial energy and others. It is made from the world’s various different energies. Because it is a mist, it will slowly envelop the world and swallow it whole.”
“Why does he want to do such a thing? If the world is swallowed, wouldn’t he have nowhere to live too?” Zhou Xu asked.
“He even added his own ghost energy. You think he would care about his life and death?”
Ming Chi was somewhat shocked, “He used his own ghost energy, but then what is happening with his current body?”
“He did not pour all his energy in. He ripped apart his own ghost energy, pouring in nine parts while leaving one for himself. Even if he did not do this, his lifespan would soon reach its end.” Hong Yan said.
“Then what did he need Xu Yuan for?” Zhou Xu still did not quite understand.
“Xu Yuan is the reincarnation of the Ten Star Ruler. His body should contain something called the Buddhist Heart relic. This can take the place of celestial energy. In addition, his mist is still missing the spiritual dan of a merman.”
“The spiritual dan of a merman?” Zhou Xu questioned.
“Correct. The spiritual dan of a merman is very difficult to obtain; their race must gather energy to construct their spiritual dan and willingly hand it over for the spiritual dan to leave their body. This is why Luo Cang is still searching for it. The merman’s spiritual dan is the efficacy enhancer of the Heaven Breaking Mist; without it, the resentful energy in the mist would not run rampant.”
Seeing that n.o.body spoke, Hong Yan continued, “After using the merman’s spiritual dan to stimulate the resentful energy, when the Heaven Breaking Mist is about to explode, adding in the Buddhist Heart relic would destroy all the resentful energy in an instant. This energy would become a violent spirit similar to a malicious spirit. The resentful energy of a hundred thousand people would become an immeasurable number of violent spirits. This spirit can engulf the world, much less an immeasurable number of it.”
After Hong Yan finished her explanation, the small room sank into silence.
Everyone in the room had furrowed brows. They only now understood the gravity of the situation. Had responsibility for the whole world fallen all onto their shoulders?
“Since this is the case, what should we do?” a seemingly aged voice sounded. Zhou Xu raised his head and saw an old man with a head of white hair. By his side was a handsome youth who shot Zhou Xu a smile.
Zhou Xu just stood up when the old man gestured for him to sit down. The youth by his side faintly smiled and said softly, “Royal Father is concerned for you.”
Zhou Xu was unexpectedly embarra.s.sed. He thought that he was unperturbed by familial affection, but after the recent worlds, he realised he would never be able to truly be indifferent or treat the people who loved him coldly.
Nodding slightly, Zhou Xu pulled the Dragon King to sit next to him.
The Dragon King scoffed as he looked at him and asked Hong Yan, “May I ask this lady, what methods are there to resolve the problem?”
Shaking her head, Hong Yan said, “I’m not too clear about this.”
The room once again went quiet. In the end, after thinking for a long time, Zhou Xu said, “Perhaps we can do something about the Buddhist Heart relic.”
In the midst of the others’ doubt, Ming Chi understood Zhou Xu and made eye contact with him. Ming Chi encouraged him to continue.
“If I’m not wrong, the Buddhist Heart relic is indeed something only a few in heaven have. Although it was already present in the reincarnated Xu Yuan, he is not a high celestial. Perhaps we could stimulate the Buddhist Heart relic and make it reject the efficacy enhancer.”
Ming Chi continued, “Moreover, the Buddhist Heart relic and the spiritual dan are similar; both cannot be causally s.n.a.t.c.hed away. Hence Xu Yuan should at least still be alive now and we may be able to utilize this and take action from there.”
Hong Yan agreed, “The Buddhist Heart relic is unable to be s.n.a.t.c.hed by force. Luo Cang can only toss Xu Yuan into the mist at the last minute. Then the Buddhist Heart relic would follow.”
“Perhaps we could also help.” Another voice interjected. Everyone raised their heads. The person who arrived was precisely the southern ocean merman clan leader, An Xiao and behind him was An Si’s father, An Miao.
An Miao first bowed towards the Dragon King and Zhou Xu before saying, “Since he used An Si’s spiritual dan, we may be able to crack the spiritual dan before it is used.”
Zhou Xu did not say anything. An Miao continued, “If possible, I’d like to beg the Dragon King and the Second Prince to allow my son a way of living. His spiritual dan has already been taken; being locked in the deep sea prison and unable to properly cultivate, he may die within a few decades.”
Zhou Xu had not returned to the Dragon King’s palace in a long time. Hence he did not know that An Si had been imprisoned by his older brother. He was a bit doubtful, but after seeing his older brother’s smiling appearance, he instantly guessed the situation. He did not reject An Miao. Of course, since his own father was present, he had no power to decide; he was the second prince and the real Dragon King was not him.
The Dragon King nodded and said, “This junior only made a mistake. I will guarantee that, if you can accomplish this, we will release An Si and gift a cultivation treasure in hopes that he will quickly recover.”
“Thank you, your highness.”
Afterwards, Ming Chi used an ancient method to call the Ten Star Ruler’s celestial energy. This method was very strange; it required seven killing formations and the person’s own heartblood. Once the energy was called, he would not know whether it was successful or not. If the celestial energy did not want to appear, they could not do anything about it.
In truth, this was like giving medicine to a dead horse. Ming Chi had never prayed in his life, but this time, he could only pray that his call was successful.
People from various clans were starting to realise that something was unusual about the world. Zhou Xu gathered an increasing number of strong soldiers. The Netherworld Ghost King naturally knew about these movements.
At the same time, Zhao Shuxuan found out that his supposed Heaven Breaking Dagger was no longer usable. A few days later, it even turned into a block of wood.
Extreme joy had been turned into despair. But this time An Si was no longer by his side.
After being reborn, he realised that he was still a loser. He did not know what to do. Why could he never escape?
In the end, Zhao Shuxuan began to frenziedly search for An Si, but the more he searched, the more disappointed he felt. He realised that he truly threw away the most important treasure.
Sadness and despair made Zhao Shuxuan finally collapse and he suffered a severe blow to his spirit. He left An Si a letter before throwing himself into the ocean to commit suicide.
Perhaps there truly was fate; this letter was unexpectedly found by a shrimp soldier and handed to An Si who was still locked up in the deep sea prison.
After An Si looked through it, he was unexpectedly very calm and quiet. He realised his and Zhao Shuxuan’s life was the same: full of mistakes.
Only this time, An Si could not make mistakes again. He also wanted to be irresponsible and commit suicide like Zhao Shuxuan, but he still had his father and his brother. If he died, how sad would his family be?
Perhaps, living was the best punishment towards himself. An Si tore the letter into strips, never wanting to look at it again.
The second day after An Si read the letter, his father and the southern ocean’s clan leader came to the deep sea prison together. The second prince Zhou Xu was standing behind them.
Kneeling on the ground, An Si heavily struck his head against it as he kowtowed to Zhou Xu, “I’m sorry, Second Prince, I was wrong.”
“Ai, you….” An Miao heaved a long sigh and did not continue. His child’s life was already ruined. Now, he could only hope for him to live; he could not control anything else.
“You need to compensate for your mistakes. An Si, we will cut off your merman tail since your spiritual dan has been utilized by someone.”
An Si did not speak for a long time. He looked at Zhou Xu, eyes full of tears, “Second Prince, if I accept this punishment, can I return to the southern ocean? I know I’m wrong, I won’t involve myself in anything in the future. I only want to stay in the southern ocean.”
Zhou Xu shook his head, “No.”
An Si’s tears poured like the rain. Zhou Xu continued, “But I will personally forgive you.”
Wiping away his tears, An Si nodded to Zhou Xu and transformed into his merman form. He said to his father and the clan leader who loved him so dearly, “Cut it off.”
A merman’s tail had a special thing called a merman pearl. This pearl controlled a merman’s swimming speed and direction. It was due to the pearl that mermen could emit a special kind of energy. This energy could become the sound of singing, enticing their enemies before defeating them in their confusion.
Zhou Xu turned his head, not looking at the b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
Fifteen minutes later, An Xiao and Zhou Xu left with An Si’s merman pearl. An Miao stayed behind to treat his son’s wounds.
The merman pearl and spiritual dan could be linked, but that required them to be within a certain distance. Hence An Xiao and Zhou Xu brought the merman pearl to a courtyard near the Netherworld Ghost King.
The courtyard was somewhat crowded: Ming Chi, Hong Yan, the Dragon King and others were there.
An Xiao started the spell. The merman pearl slowly rose into the air as he moved his spiritual energy. The merman pearl began to emit faint orange rays of light. As if being attracted by something, it moved in the direction of the merman spiritual dan.
Everyone held their breaths. However, the pearl suddenly lost its orange radiance and fell to the ground.
An Xiao hurriedly said, “s.h.i.t, the Netherworld Ghost King has already used the spiritual dan!”
Without time to think, everyone present rushed towards the Netherworld Ghost King’s room.
This time they did not see a room shrouded in mist- the mist had already engulfed the entire palace and not a single person was alive.
The mist was still spreading rapidly. Zhou Xu could hear shouts from within the mist.
“Ha ha ha, you have all arrived. Since this is the case, witness the destruction of the world.” Luo Cang’s hoa.r.s.e voice sounded and a hunchbacked figure slowly walked out from the mist.
“Ming Chi, you won our great battle a thousand years ago. This time, you can see who will win, ha ha ha….”
Ming Chi flew up and engaged in battle with the Netherworld Ghost King. Luo Cang seemed like he did not want to fight him. He retreated until he could not retreat any further and said, “Ming Chi, do not force me. If you do, I will immediately throw in the Buddhist Heart relic.”
Ming Chi did not move. The Netherworld King took someone out of his spatial pocket. This person was precisely Xu Yuan.
In that instant, Zhou Xu suddenly lost the ability to move.
“Don’t panic, I am the Ten Star Ruler. Your body is being controlled by me. I have found a way to break the Heaven Breaking Mist.”
It was like Zhou Xu had been sealed in place. He wanted to ask further, but could not speak.
“I apologise, but you may need to be sacrificed. I possessed your body because the method to break the Heaven Breaking Mist requires a person’s body as the cornerstone and this body can only be from the dragon clan.”
Zhou Xu looked at the expanding dense mist and realised he was going to die soon. In addition, it was the same as the previous hundred worlds, only then he had been controlled by the system, but now he was controlled by the Ten Star Ruler and he would die leaving a good reputation.
Zhou Xu thought, he unexpectedly had a day where he would become a hero. It was truly ridiculous.
But if Zhou Xu made the decision, what would he choose?
Ke ke, it seems that he was really willing to exchange his death for the peace and stability of the world.
Zhou Xu always felt that he was not a good person, but faced with this kind of choice, he unexpectedly did not doubt. Zhou Xu really wanted to laugh; he affirmed that perhaps he could not be considered evil.
Closing his eyes, Zhou Xu let the Ten Star Ruler control his body.
The Netherworld Ghost King had already thrown Xu Yuan’s body into the dense mist. In an instant, the mist was filled with cries and wails.
Hong Yan looked at the mist and loudly shouted, “Take notice of the cracks. We will gamble on those cracks in the mist.”
However, although she said that, no one knew how to make the judgement. They only knew that when violent energy escaped, they needed to quickly dissipate and extinguish it.
At the moment when all h.e.l.l was about the break loose, Ming Chi suddenly found out that Zhou Xu rushed into the mist at the speed of a sword’s light.
His body moved before he could think. Ming Chi flew to hug Zhou Xu, but Zhou Xu’s speed exceeded his expectations and Ming Chi was unable to catch him. Ming Chi followed him into the mist.
Hong Yan flew into the mist to stop Ming Chi. Zhou Yang and the Dragon King both followed as well.
Nothing could be seen within the mist, but various wails could be heard; Zhou Xu felt like he was about to go crazy.
He felt like his body was being weighed down by a boulder and was soon out of breath.
Closing his eyes, Zhou Xu guessed that he was going to die. f.u.c.k, he hated this kind of abnormal death; it was extremely painful.
However, he had just closed his eyes when he was unexpectedly hugged by someone. He heard Ming Chi loudly shout, “Get out.”
Zhou Xu could not say anything, but his body was surprisingly able to move. He did not have time to react when a strong force pushed him out.
Standing up, Zhou Xu realised that it was not only him. Ming Chi, Hong Yan, and the Dragon King were all pushed out. Only Zhou Yang did not come out.
He instantly understood: Zhou Yang wanted to replace him?
He flew and wanted to charge into the mist, but this time he was obstructed by the Dragon King.
“Don’t move. Your older brother knows what he is doing.”
“What do you mean he knows what he’s doing? The Ten Star Ruler wants to use the body of a dragon clan member to eliminate the Heaven Breaking Mist. My older brother will die. Die!”
“That is also what he chose for himself.”
“What rubbish!”
Zhou Xu still wanted to speak, but realised his father was unexpectedly already crying.
He could not say anything. Zhou Xu entered someone’s embrace.
Ming Chi tightly hugged Zhou Xu, but Zhou Xu harshly pushed him away. He asked coldly, “It was you, right? It was you who pushed the Ten Star Ruler out of my body?”
“I wanted to, but I don’t have that kind of power. It was the Ten Star Ruler who withdrew himself from you when he saw Zhou Yang.”
The rapidly expanding mist slowly shrank and the mournful cries and wails could not be heard anymore.
“No, it cannot be….” The Netherworld Ghost King shouted crazily. In the end, his throat was pierced by the Dragon King.
Four hours later, everything was calm.
The mist had totally dispersed and the violent energy had been released by Xu Yuan and the Ten Star Ruler. The first prince Zhou Yang stood atop the ruins and gave Zhou Xu a faint smile, “I’m all right.”
The world regained its original order. Xu Yuan died and his troops were taken over by Ke Yuanlin. Zhou Xu finally accepted Ming Chi and at the same time realised that Ming Chi unexpectedly liked to do a specific action: pressing his forehead. It was the same as Xia Qingfeng, Han Zikui and Zuo Ming. At the certain place, Ming Chi also had a red mole.
This time, Zhou Xu was unable to deceive himself. If the two worlds were the same, then it was a coincidence, but three worlds? Four worlds?
Moreover, the few times he returned to the vast s.p.a.ce, he would see a black shadow flit by. Zhou Xu could confirm that this shadow was his lover, the lover that followed him into these worlds.
Three years later, Ke Yuanlin ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, reducing taxes for the people. The human world was peaceful and joyful.
Five years later, Zhou Yang left to travel the world and never came back. Before he left, he told Zhou Xu that at that time, he did not intentionally go in; he saw a figure he found familiar and threw himself in, only to find out that it was unexpectedly not Zhou Xu.
Afterwards, he naturally knew that the figure was the Ten Star Ruler. In truth, the Ten Star Ruler could escape by himself or at least his celestial energy could escape. But to protect Zhou Yang, he sacrificed his celestial energy.
Seventy years later, An Si died, despondently.
Ninety years later, Zhou Xu was met with a violent heavenly calamity. Ming Chi hugged him and experienced the same disaster. The two died together.