“As per the decree of our ancestors, this is the final reward for our thousand years of service,” the Sea God Emperor said. “We’ve looked over the juniors of our clan and protected the Sea God’s lineage. All three of us have survived, so we are given a final cleansing of lightning. The plane’s judgment will enhance our bloodlines before we are sent to the Sea God Plane.”
The gray bolts struck down on the three and spread throughout their flesh. Their rune-covered skin cracked and sizzled, but any damage caused by the lightning was instantly repaired by their fierce blood vitality.
“Such treatment is not an entitlement but a privilege,” the Emperor continued. “Such treatment can only be endured by combining the might of the three Sea God Artifacts and drawing upon the assistance of the Sea God Clock Tower beneath us. Therefore, to be worthy of this final boon, all three of the Sea God’s inheritors must cooperate. All three must survive, and they must control the Sea God’s Clock Tower. There have been many instances where this was not the case, so I hope you take this lesson to heart.”
The lightning strikes intensified, and the Emperor was forced to stop speaking. Gray lightning funneled down on them like a stream, and soon it became a fierce waterfall. Their blood glowed brighter as the gray lightning washed over them. It soon shone like the concentrated light of a thousand suns.
Then, suddenly, the gold and gray shields vanished. The lightning in the sky came crashing down on them, forming a gray sea of lightning nine hundred feet in diameter. Their three glowing blue silhouettes could barely be seen, but little by little, the sea receded. So, too, did the blue glow.
The massive clock below them ticked off the seconds. Before long, all that was left was a small lake of lightning thirty feet wide. By then, the blue glow had faded, and the Sea God Emperor’s crown had lost its luster. But despite being surrounded by gray lightning, the three men stood tall and strong. Their bodies could no longer be harmed by the plane in the slightest.
Seeing that it had failed in destroying them, the remaining lightning in the pool roared indignantly and leaped back into the skies. Then, space distorted, and the three men disappeared. Only three golden artifacts remained where they once stood, and those three tools sank into the Heaven Ascension Platform below them.
Cha Ming blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he was in another world. The world was filled with bright seawater, and despite being so far away, he could see a doorway in the distance.
“And now the Sea God Trials begin,” Gong Shuren said, summoning a thin layer of armor and a golden trident. Combined with her long white hair floating in the clear waters, she resembled every bit a goddess of the sea.
Chapter 24: Transcendent Ocean
For a moment, the sea was calm. Then, suddenly, a violet mist appeared around them. Demons began materializing one after another, and when the demons saw them, they charged. Whirling waters and vicious demons came quickly, giving them no time to breathe. Cha Ming’s staff crashed into a hundred-foot-long illusory carp that swam toward him. Though the demonic fish was small compared to many of the demons he’d fought, it used the water to its full advantage. The powerful force of his staff rolled off its slimy skin, leaving only a flesh wound as it jerked around to bite him. It bit a chunk out of his arm before he punched it with a metallic fist and sent it flying toward Gong Shuren, who impaled it with her trident. Then it broke and disintegrated into a puff of violet smoke.
Your staff is completely ineffective underwater, Gong Shuren sent. It might work fine in mortal oceans, but here, it won’t. Haven’t you noticed it yet?
He had, of course. The waters around him were far heavier and more viscous than the waters he’d traveled in before. They were even more difficult to swim through than the lava on Jade Moon Planet. That could only mean one thing: they were not in a mortal world, but a transcendent one that was hidden within the Sea God’s Clock Tower itself.
Staves are ineffective because they can’t cut through water, Cha Ming thought. But blades are too easy to divert due to currents in the water. Stabbing is preferred. He poured creation qi and creation essence into the tip of the Clear Sky Staff and extended it. The white ink pooled at the tip of his weapon and solidified under his direction, forming a sharp set of three blades. It wasn’t a trident but something else entirely.
The Clear Sky Staff now resembled a sky-scorching halberd, which consisted of a long spear with two crescent moons facing outward, making it an effective piercing weapon while retaining the slashing abilities of a halberd. Moreover, its clear shaft was a perfect conduit for five-element qi. Its two blades were attuned to creation and destruction while the gray tip was perfectly suited to executing Origin Strike.
Interesting weapon, Gong Shuren said as she impaled another demon. The creature dissipated in a puff of violet smoke.
It’s more useful than a staff underwater and better suited to me than a trident, Cha Ming replied. Weapon situation remedied, he helped her dispatch a few other demons along with Huxian and his four friends’ help. Each defeated
