“But it clearly has been done,” the Sea God Emperor said, gesturing to the fiendish shark squad.
“It looks like taming on the surface,” Ling Dong said. “But in fact, it is not. They are actually bound by a devilish contract, a common way to control lesser devils in the South. And the Southern Alliance is the only place that can produce and enforce such contracts. Or dissolve them, for that matter.”
He pointed to Zhou Li. “By replacing your demonic mounts with fiendish creatures, Zhou Li has both increased the guard’s might and made it dependent on the South. Given a few more years, they could completely replace your mounts. Then your entire guard’s mobility would be at the South’s mercy.”
“Is this true?” the Sea God Emperor said, looking gravely at his grand marshal.
“The dependence on devil-binding contracts is a minor affair,” the grand marshal said dismissively. “Once we have our own devil binders, it won’t matter.”
“And you didn’t inform me first?” the Emperor growled.
The marshal paled and stepped back as the Sea God Crown’s power flared.
This entire time, Cha Ming hadn’t been paying full attention to the Emperor and the others. He’d kept his attention on one man: Zhou Li. The annoying, all-knowing man had been quiet. If past behavior was any indication, that didn’t bode well for them.
Still, despite spreading out his transcendent force and keeping his Devil-Sealing, Demon-Subduing Eyes active, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, there was little he could do about the man’s karmic powers. He wished Wang Jun were here, or even Gong Lan. They would know what Zhou Li was up to.
Brother, we’re here! Huxian’s voice suddenly said.
Cha Ming thanked the heavens for their mercy when he suddenly thought of something. It wasn’t a reassuring thought. Huxian, how badly do those dolphins you spoke of hate fiendish demons again?
No reply.
Huxian?
Silence.
Cha Ming looked to Zhou Li, who smirked. The waters bubbled, and suddenly hundreds of dolphins burst out of the water and pounced on the elite corps and their mounts, including the grand marshal.
Stop them! Cha Ming yelled.
I can’t! Huxian said. They won’t cooperate!
“Looks like you lose again,” Zhou Li said, suddenly stepping up and back. He summoned a large scroll, which rapidly began unfurling behind him. It was filled with scenes of blood and slaughter, where devils wreaked carnage on lesser mortals. Then, to Cha Ming’s amazement, the vivid images began peeling off from the scroll. They radiated a sinister aura, and a malevolent ochre halo emanated from every fiber of their being.
Hell’s gates might as well have opened. A tide of devilish creatures poured out and attacked the Northern cultivators. Cha Ming looked over to the Sea God Emperor, who’d stopped berating his advisors and had begun fighting back against the demonic dolphins. Huxian and friends, seeing they could do no good there, leaped into the flood of devilish creatures and began tearing them apart alongside Feng Ming.
They started a fight, but it’s far from unsalvageable, Cha Ming thought. We haven’t directly attacked the Sea God Empire.
Warning bells rang in his mind, and as he moved to place himself between the Northern cultivators and Haijing’s City Guard, he realized there was another group from Haijing. One that he’d brought over personally. A burst of sword light left the group of Northern cultivators and smashed into them, killing a full fifth of their members.
Cha Ming wasted no time. He flashed into the group of surprised cultivators, who relaxed when they saw him. Dozens of black staves appeared in the air, and to their surprise, stabbed down on a few select cultivators. “These men attacked the Sea God Emperor’s men. They are plants by the enemy and deserved to die.” He disappeared as they began arguing in confusion.
As he rushed to calm down the Haijing City Guard, however, a voice bellowed from where the elite corps were fighting dolphins. “Who dares kill members of my guard? I’ll have their heads!”
A blue blur rushed out toward the North’s forces, and both Cha Ming and Feng Ming rushed to intercept it. Cha Ming’s staff and Feng Ming’s spear struck out at the same time, barely blocking the Sea God Emperor’s trident. “Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”
The Sea God Emperor’s eyes were crimson and filled with madness. He’d lost all sense of reason and was already preparing for another strike.
“Just like Songjing,” Feng Ming said bitterly.
“Just like Songjing,” Cha Ming said, preparing to take another blow. They’d tried their best to dissuade everyone, but it was all for naught. The North, the South, Haijing, and rogue demons were fighting each other in a mad frenzy. Even if they won the battle, the results would be catastrophic.
Zhou Li had played them all for fools yet again.
Chapter 35: The Stillness of Time
Now that dialogue was no longer an option, Cha Ming allowed his transcendent force to fill the entire battlefield. Streams of small golden gliders zipped out from the hundreds of black ships not far away; the South’s ships were evidently carriers for these smaller contraptions that were piloted by cultivators.
With rehearsed prevision, they swarmed the North’s cultivators, who clashed with them in formation. Several gliders fell into the sea on impact, but it was just a drop in the bucket. They stung at the Northern cultivators like bees, crashing toward them on bladed treasures as they tried to pierce them with spears. Dozens fell with each wave.
Cha Ming and Feng Ming had no time or breathing space to help these Northern cultivators. Cha Ming might be strong, but his endurance and regenerative capabilities were his
