The Third Realm - Chapter 35 preview (Patreon)

A brief moment of debate, then Wu Ying acted. He pulled himself closer to the oyster, prying it open, resolved to keep going. He would just have to work faster and hope that his luck held. He only needed two more, after all. He had other options, in the worse case scenario of running out of air, though he would prefer not to enact them.

Somehow, as he pushed off the latest oyster, he noticed that oppressive feeling had grown stronger. Eyes darting around the surroundings futilely, his spiritual sense doing its best to outline the world and the area around him at best it could, his fingers prying open the next oyster shell, he worked.

Something was coming, instinct told him. Instinct that he had honed over a decade of moving through the wilds, the places where nature and Spirit Beasts still held sway. Places where man had rarely set foot, for the creatures that lived there were numerous and powerful and jealous of intruders. That instinct screamed that his time was running out.

But he could not move, could not work any faster than he had before. He could but try to smoothe out his movements to increase his efficiency, shift from oyster to oyster. Another shell pried open, a suspicious bulge within. A flicker of his hand, cutting open the flesh and the deposit of more irritant within, even as he swiped and replaced the glowing treasure.

For a moment, his senses expanded outside as the bright light illuminated the surroundings. He sensed something dark and slithery at the edges of his perception, then felt the expanded vision slam shut as the energy from the pearl dissipated.

Hurrying now, words of prophecy ringing in his ears, churning energy through his aura as he fought against the tug of current to move to the next. He raged within, at the clumsiness of this work. Another gatherer, specialized in this, might have been able to sense the pearls within. So had the previous gatherers, the previous victims of the beast, worked.

He had not the skills or the element suited for this environment. Above, where light lived and his senses were fully his own, he could have looked for clues, asked the wind or probed the edges of the flower or the soil. Yet, the water and the oyster within were anathema to him, even his connection to the wood element insufficient to prise apart the water-aspected oysters secrets.

Instead, he had to do it this way, the hardest way. Spike went into the edge of the oyster shell, cultivator enhanced strength prising apart the flesh. He moved more sloppily now, even as a part of him noted the curious absences in the oysters. Certain parts, certain portions of the rocky field below that he moved upon were devoid of the shellfish. Rubble lay close by, as did the scattered, broken externalities.

Conclusions were drawn, and none of them were happy. He wondered, briefly, if he should confront the creature preying upon those here. Yet, Wu Ying discarded the idea just like he discarded the latest oyster, moving onto the next.

The water was not his element, and the monster that lay within would not be his choice. Let the Viscount find another hero to do his bidding. Perhaps in the intervening seven years, one of greater stature and ability would arrive.

A strike, a twist, a push and the latest oyster opened. Wu Ying sensed within the buldge and could not help but smile, working quickly to slice open the flesh. He reached inside, gripping the oyster and beginning to will it to him.

Only to stop as his spiritual sense, flooding outwards, told him a much less satisfying piece of information. The pearl was extracted, held aloft in one hand, as its light illuminated the surroundings and the monster that stalked Wu Ying, a creature twice the size of the flagship that he had sialed open in just its main body.

Eyes widening, Wu Ying threw himself backwards even as he willed the pearl into his storage ring, knowing that the ship killer had come. He was out of time.

And breath.

***

Wu Ying jetted to the side, expelling chi down his feet and to the side to dodge the grasping tentacles coming for him. One, two, three, four tentacles… he spun around and sideways, kicking quickly as he tried to rise above the head of the Spirit Beast coming for him. He sensed the moving tentacles, their large suckers on the end nearly dwarfing his body.

So many tentacles, each of them moving like a serpent itself, twisting and grasping at him. Darkly coloured skin, lightening up as the camouflage the beast had used to sneak up on Wu Ying faded away, revealing the monstrous visage.

Big oval eyes, bulbous head and body behind the grasping tentacles. As the head reared backwards, flowing with that strange, sinuous, boneless motion, the beaked mouth of the creature was revealed. It opened its mouth wide, chi gathering within as the creature began its attack. Wu Ying reacted, slicing downwards with the Saint-level knife he had wielded before.

He projected his attack as best he could, pouring chi and sword intent to the motion, but as fast as he was, the water slowed his motions. The projectile bullet of condensed water, filled with chi and dark intent by the Spirit Beast octopus struck his own attack, only disrupted a little by Wu Ying’s own return attack.

The bullet’s container was damaged, the contained energy within the attack exploding outwards. It threw Wu Ying backwards and upwards as the compressed water and the force of the attack struck his body. Precious air was forcibly expelled from Wu Ying’s body, bubbles trailing upwards even as his eardrums ruptured, leaving him with a blinding ear and headache.

Realising how badly out maneuvered he was, Wu Ying kicked his feet again, heading upwards. He could not breathe, could not afford to stay down here, fighting the monster. Instead, with his free hand, he touched one of the remaining, unbroken bulbs hung on his belt and triggered the seal within, letting the glowing light fall behind him as he swam upwards.

Tentacles, reaching for Wu Ying halted for a moment, the suddenly brighter light drawing the monsters attention. In the meantime, Wu Ying grasped one of the Fifty Jin Flasks and threw it sideways, the larger flask pierced with the edge of his thumb as he did so ever so slightly, the motion aided by the Heart of the blade.

Integrity of the flask broken, the enchantment began to unravel a little. The entire brown flask bobbled and floated downwards, only to be struck by another reaching tentacle. It was enough to break the final seal, and another explosion of compressed water erupted within the ocean once more.

Swimming upwards and sideways, Wu Ying was picked up and thrown aside, forced higher and higher by the sudden explosion. Beneath him, the Spirit Beast Octopus jerked aside, the tentacle that struck the flask pushed aside and a small rip appearing along the rubbery flesh. Yet, for the most part, the creature was unhurt by all of Wu Ying’s antics and in moments, was reaching for him.

Realising his plan had failed to injure the creature, Wu Ying cut free the last flask, letting it drop directly beneath him. Within seconds, it exploded again, pushing him upwards and putting his body under further strain. He felt himself almost black out, the pain in his ears greater than ever.

Yet, this time, the Spirit Beast was ready. Controlling the flow of water with its own chi, it rode the attack higher and reached for Wu Ying, grabbing at him with his tentacles. Wu Ying snarled, waving his dagger around, projecting the blade with his own chi, his killing intent and sword intent cleaving through the water. His attacks cut through the bulbous flesh, leaving the octopus to leak blue blood into the water.

But for all his attacks, all his preparation with the Serpent’s Grace, he was unable to make it to the surface. A bare two dozen feet, his flailing, dodging, parrying failed him. An unseen tentacle rose up from behind him, gripping his arm first. Then another closed on his body, tightening around his legs, and sliding upwards to grasp his lower body.

So close to freedom, he was yanked back, the tentacles beginning to close on him and pull. Down back into the depth, only the greater strength from being a Body Cultivator keeping his arm from being simply torn from his body.

Mouth opened into a wordless, soundless scream, air bubbles escaping, Wu Ying was drawn towards the open mouth, large bulbous eyes glinting with malice beneath him.

***

No more tricks, no more air, weapon-hand held tight. Unlike normal octopuses, the creature’s mouth was large, rimmed with fangs meant for tearing. As Wu Ying was pulled closer, he could feel the pulsing of contained chi inside the fangs, a twisted, cold and slow chi that chilled his blood. Poison chi, embedded inside the fangs itself. A single bite, and Wu Ying knew, he would never be able to fight off the effects before he was killed.

He twisted and pulled, attempting to free himself but was unable to do so. The strength of those tentacles, that gripped at him was more than he could beat. The monster was strong and it was only luck that he managed to keep one hand free, or to twist aside such that it did not grip his neck and pull it off.

His chest burned, his vision began to darken at the edges as he struggled, burning more and more energy with each motion. The mouth edged closer to him, aiming to bite his legs off. Eyes wide, Wu Ying pulled, tugging with every inch of his strength to curl his legs inwards. He could not free himself, but he managed to pull his upper body closer at the cost of dislocating his sword arm.

Enough to bring his other hand close enough to stick his hand forward. The hand that held his World Spirit ring. A storage ring with special properties, including his backup plan. Chanelling his will and chi into the ring, he poured energy into it and pulled, extracting from within the ring. Not sand, not earth, not even herbs; nothing so prosaic.

Just air. Just wind.

A typhoon of air, of energy and power roared from his hand. Locking his hand and arm in position, he chanelled that energy directly into the creature’s mouth, forcing water out of the mouth and pushing himself back with each moment. Inside the cyclone of wind, Wu Ying poured the full killing and sword intent into the cyclone, the attack leaving bloody tracks inside the mouth.

Surprised, the creature spasmed, tearing at Wu Ying’s arm and body further apart and damaging it further. Then, it spasmodically threw him away, casting the cultivator aside in blind rage, even as it expelled a cloud of ink.

Splashing in the deep, his body flopping bonelessly in the pressure of the throw, Wu Ying groaned, swallowing a mouthful of brackish water by accident. He coughed and spasmed, even as he cut-off the flow of air, hoping the damage to his ring was not too great.

Below him, in the gloom that he could barely see into and not sense at all, for the cloud of ink the Spirit Beast had expelled blocked his own senses, the beast awaited. Rather than wait around, he began kicking feebly, grateful that in all this, they had managed to reach close to the surface. A few moments more, as his chest burned and unconsciousness threatened to take him, he broke free of the water.

He opened his mouth and forgetting all his training gulped at the air, desperate to fill his lungs. Darkness that encroached against his consciousness faded slightly with each breath, each moment. Around him, Wu Ying spotted the ships. The back of a ship.

Eyes wide, he realized he had been thrown outside the ring, away from the center of the formation. And deep beneath the water, he realized; the Spirit Beast octopus was emerging, its shock at being attacked tossed aside.

Realisation ran through Wu Ying, as he realized he had a choice to be made. Take to the air and safety, or swim into the center, leading the monster into it.

Not much of a choice there.

Wu Ying began swimming forwards, pushing the Serpent’s Grace to the maximum, lowering his head downwards as he pulled with his still functioning hand. Somewhere along the way, he had lost the short sword that he had been given, the Saint-class weapon dropped deep below the water.

After a half-dozen strokes, with the pain of a wrenched lower back and dislocated shoulder throwing his stroke off, Wu Ying realized he had to change his tactics. He twisted his body around, kicking about so that he could tread water. Then, as long tentacles reached for him, he kicked hard against the ground, pouring more chi into the motion. He exploded out of the water, even as tentacles rose from below, searching for him.

The moment he breached the water surface with his body, his senses, his domain and dao snapped back into being. No longer trapped by the overflowing spiritual power of the creature below that had permeated the water, blocking off his own control, Wu Ying called the wind to himself, blocking one attack with a shearing wall of wind and dodging another attack.

Like a leaf on the wind, Wu Ying drifted between the grasping tentacles, his uninjured hand moved towards his shoulder. He needed both hands, both arms for this fight. Positioning it carefully, he gripped his shoulder and then with a scream that echoed through the open sea, he yanked it back into position.

Searing agony shot through his shoulder into his arm and body. Concentration wavered for a brief moment, time enough for a slimy tentacle to grip hold of his leg and yank him down. Yet, before it could go too far, a ballistae bolt slammed into the base of the creature’s tentacle, just sprouting out of the water.

Moments later, the ballistae bolt exploded, tearing open a wide hole that leaked blue blood. In the momentary spasm, Wu Ying called the wind to him and flew upwards and sideways, darting towards the center of the formation once more.

A wet tearing sound erupted from the bleeding limb, as it was pulled apart. Driven by anger, a couple of tentacles reached for the boat, even as more ballistae bolts started landing from ships positioned further away. A single blinding spear followed, as Ren Fei threw his weapon, the blazing weapon cutting through the tip of a spear as it attempted to grip a junk.

Wu Ying only caught sight of the entire issue for the majority of the tentacles continued to chase after him. Dancing between the tentacles, he conjured two swords in hand, simple Spirit-level weapons that he sharpened with his own blade intent such that he cut through the rubbery flesh with each parry and swing. The attacks only agitated the creature more, and from his location high above, Wu Ying was able to see the pair of globular eyes focus upon him angrily.

“Protect the ships! We need it in the center of the formation,” Wu Ying cried out, using the wind to project his voice to the nearby ships. Ren Fei had been shouting the same thing whilst waiting for his spear to return, but without Wu Ying’s command of the wind, even his commanding voice had struggled to reach the furthest ships over the chaos of the battle.

Anchor ropes snapped and twisted, a mast was torn off a junk as a tentacle swung, the creak and hiss of ballista bolts being fired and the screams of the injured all filled the air, whilst blue and red blood mingled on decks, making for treacherous footing.

Hovering a bare dozen feet above the air, flowing backwards and chased by the Spirit Beast octopus, Wu Ying led the monster deeper and deeper into the center of the circle. He could not tell how strong it was, not via his spiritual sense; the monster’s ability to camouflage itself still well in effect. It had to be at least Core level, though Wu Ying suspected Nascent Soul at the least.

Otherwise, this battle would have been a lot simpler.

A ballista bolt hissed pass him, flying from one of the ships behind to sink into the water, losing momentum as it sunk in the liquid before exploding. Wu Ying hissed as the tentacles paused for a second, wiping at his face as he was showered with saltwater that blinded him as he backed away.

Then, the monster twisted around, as though it suddenly realized the danger it was in. It pulled its tentacles close, giving up on harrying the junks, one of which was half-broken and beginning to sink, only held aloft by the power of the enchantments and it’s captain’s dao and chi.

“Fools. NOW!” Wu Ying roared the last word, projecting it across the surroundings. Perhaps the beast was running, perhaps it was truly leaving them alone. However, he could – they could not – risk it. If the monster held a grudge as some of these creatures did, they would be hunted across hundreds of li as they travelled back to port.

Or perhaps even more dangerously, the creature would come to the port city itself in the deep of the night. Harrying the city, destroying ships before slinking away. It’s camouflage was more than sufficient to do that. What a disaster that would be.

No, they had to kill it and kill it now.

All around Wu Ying, the formations lit-up further as the channeled and contained energy linked one ship to another. Remembering the danger he was in, Wu Ying raised his hand upwards and called the wind to him, pulling on it as he shot directly upwards rather than risk being caught in the attack.

Down the keels of the boats, the lines of chi ran, linking boat to boat via the water itself. The Five Binding, Seven Bells and Eleven Seas formation was powerful, powered not just by the chi of the individuals who activated it but the dao intent and stored energy embedded in the formation flags.

Once activated, the formation would need to rest for decades to recharge; but in the meantime, the trap worked, sending conjured lightning racing between the boats. Then, Ren Fei took action, hefting a new spear and throwing it, infusing the attack with everything that he had.

The spear lanced through the air, plunging through the water to strike the bulbous flesh between the Spirit Beast’s eyes. It sunk deep within even as Ren Fei, having expanded a large amount of chi in one motion fell to the ground, gripping his stomach and dantian.

Even so, the attack was sufficient.

The spear was the fulcrum for the formation, the guide for the energy that had been gathered. Energy arced from all five ships towards the spear, energy pouring down the connection that had been created to burn its way into the monster itself.

Lightning arced and danced, the smell of ozone and burnt flesh infusing the surroundings. Wu Ying floated above, watching as clouds of steam rose up as the energetic chi boiled off the water on its way to striking the monster below. The creature thrashed and twitched, a soundless scream echoing from its body.

“Fire! Finish it,” Ren Fei screamed, waving a hand at the others from where he had pushed himself up against the railing. The heavy thunk and release of ballista bolts signalled the resumption of attacks from the other ships, the large arrows winging through the sky to sink into arms and, occasionally, the body.

Immediately, the ballista would explode, sending shrapnel and flesh flying through the air. Some ballista bolts never even made it, energy flicking upwards in the sky to trigger the talismans long before the attacks could arrive.

Wu Ying watched the chaos and carnage below, as sailors scrambled to reload the ballista whilst the formation dumped the stored chi into the Spirit Beast octopus. Eventually, the stored energy of the formation ended, the dancing blue and green lights fading away.

The octopus sank a little, then one still moving, uninjured arm reached forwards and ripped the spear out from between its eyes. It cast the spear away, jetting upwards a little as the remainder of its tentacles waved about. There were four arms left, one undamaged, the others only mildly wounded. Two others flopped beside it, blood slowly pouring from the injuries that crippled them, while another two were entirely destroyed.

The flesh across the monster’s face was burnt, branching scars of blackened flesh racing outwards from the wound. One branch reached all the way into a bulbous eye, the large pupil now white and blind. Spilled ink flowed outwards from the monster’s mouth, released by accident during the period of electrocution.

Cries of dismay rose up from around the group as the sight of the still living monster registered, followed closely by the shouts of the captains and first mates to keep loading. Wu Ying, above snarled a little, making both his weapons disappear and conjuring his Saint jian in hand.

Always, it seemed, it was up to him.

He cut the flow of air, building up momentum as he angled himself to face downwards. He fell, picking up speed with each fraction of a second, even as Wu Ying drew and cut upwards, forming a stand ever so briefly beneath his feet to give him place to stand.

The Dragon Rises.

First movement of the Wandering Dragon. The world rushed up towards Wu Ying below, and for a brief moment, he though he could feel the earth itself rotate beneath him as the octopus, arching back met his own attack with its own breath of exploding water.

Wind and blade intent met water and killing focus in an explosion that sprayed the surroundings, the moving water so energetic that it cut and tore apart sails and skin alike in passing. Yet, for all the creature’s strength, it had been injured and lured out of its domain, competing with Wu Ying in the air now where their attacks met.

And here, in the space between water and sky; Wu Ying dominated. His attack split apart the water, burrowing deep within to impact burnt and wounded skin beneath. The Spirit Beast screamed, thrashing as fresh blood flowed and twisted aside, seeking to escape now rather than lash out.

Too late.

Falling still, Wu Ying tucked his body and legs together, sword hand leading the way. The Sword’s Truth; that lunge he knew all so well, combined with the fall and the wind beckoned to him combined to speed his descent; till he moved faster than a stooping dragon.

He slammed into the water, the blade intent projected from his sword parting the water before him as he plunged within, wind meeting water and then burrowing deeper, to pierce into the dodging but all too slow beast below.

The second form of the Wandering Dragon struck, and The Dragon’s Truth pierced the monster below as Wu Ying entered water and monster alike.

Warm flesh surrounded Wu Ying for a brief moment, his spinning aura throwing aside the blood and viscera that threatened to coat him as he tore through the monster, exiting the other side in a welter of gore, spreading the explosion of skin and muscle through the bloody ocean on the other side.

He tucked his legs in, eyes gleaming with a tight smile as he watched the second movement of the Wandering Dragon, finally complete, take effect. The Spirit Beast was still alive, but gravely wounded. Though it was not perfected yet, the attack was everything he had hoped for, when he had combined his own knowledge of the Sword’s Truth along with his wind body.

As the monster twitched again, flailing limbs seeking to grab Wu Ying, he shook aside his elation and turned back to the battle. It was not over yet, though the outcome now was certain.

Barring further surprises.