Time stretched on as they worked their way through the ocean, sometimes barely above the bottom. At other times they could see only vast, endless waters in every direction. Sound traveled far here, but aside from the soft swishing of their movements, they were surrounded by a deathly, suffocating quiet.
Concurrently, the pressure mounted. As they dove deeper, Cha Ming’s body felt a steady push against his skin, which was quickly remedied by the blue runes he’d painted on himself. They were a mile down now, and his eyes barely functioned. The only “sight” he could rely on were faint emanations of demonic qi that stood out thanks to his violet irises, as well as his morphed eyes from the Seventy-Two Transformations Technique that allowed him to pick up remote traces of light. He also had his transcendent soul. All three incomplete pictures were superimposed, leaving him with only a faint vision of a purple void.
At the two-mile mark, they finally saw movement in what resembled an underwater graveyard more and more. It was a school of demonic tuna, and the group was happy to swim through the large number of peaceful demonic fish. They swam with them for a while until they suddenly scattered. Giant squid zipped into the school and caught one of the students, dragging it into a dark fissure on the ocean floor. Cha Ming didn’t know what he expected, but he found himself inexplicably disappointed when the other tuna continued on, as though the disappearance of one of their thousands of members meant little. It was a testament to the cold and merciless nature of the ocean that, in a strange way, resembled the darkness of a magma-filled volcano.
That thought bred others, and soon he thought of his days on Jade Moon Planet. The days in the quiet waters became more like an ethereal dream of what once was and what could have been. A gentle smile, a calming embrace. Grief unlike anything he’d ever felt. And hope. Hope to see her again. The reason for his mission here. These thoughts were more potent in these dark surroundings, the perfect incubator for dreams and nightmares.
Some of them were of the mind, and others were real. As someone with a transcendent soul, he knew what was lurking in the deep. Demonic creatures measuring hundreds of feet long roamed the darkness below them, probing at them as they passed. Some looked like monstrous abominations with hooked maws filled with nothing but teeth. Others had massive eyes that, despite the absence of light, could still see. It was as though they’d morphed, and instead of taking in light, they drank in darkness.
Yet as interested as those things were, they all shied away. When Cha Ming asked, Lan Xuan was only too happy to elaborate.
Sea God Command, he said, pointing to an amulet around his neck. Won’t go anywhere near it.
Cha Ming relaxed a little when he heard this. Though he was confident in his strength, he had no desire to tussle with those fanged and tentacled creatures that, as far as he was concerned, belonged in the seven hells.
They swam some more, and the darkness deepened. They swam and swam, and then, when light seemed like nothing more than a distant memory, they saw a beacon in the distance.
At first, Cha Ming didn’t know if it was real or just a figment of his imagination, a hallucination created by his starved mind. Then the others noticed it too. It grew clearer with every hour, and before long, a tower appeared where the light had been. It stood tall beside a large bone that resembled the skull of a deceased god. It bathed the now-visible sea floor in a soft blue light.
Whatever the light touched came to life. Where there used to be rocky outcroppings and sandy floors, they now saw various forms of algae that survived despite the lack of oxygen. Multicolored schools of fish appeared, dancing joyfully beneath the enchanting blue glow. Human swimmers soon appeared, and flora and fauna of all kinds.
The tower grew clearer as they swam, and soon a large circle appeared on it. No, it wasn’t a circle—it was a clock. The tower was actually a giant clock tower that overlooked the entire seabed, and just below it was an assortment of bubbles. There was one large bubble stretching out wider than the tower was tall, while many other small bubbles floated around it. All the bubbles were connected by clear bridges, and each one hosted its own source of light.
The bubbles were cities, and Haijing was the largest of them. Its delicate porcelain spires and soft blue lights were a wonderful sight to behold in the alien deep-sea world. The small bubbles appeared to be villages, farms, and other facilities that supported the capital of the Sea God Empire. Patrols mounted on dolphins, manta rays, and strange crustaceans roamed around, fighting stray demons that came too close to Haijing’s exterior.
It’s beautiful, Cha Ming thought as he floated there, paralyzed by the city’s beauty.
Lan Xuan chuckled and swam up beside him. “Most people react the same way the first time they see it. It’s unlike anything on the surface, and to be honest, it’s this scene that keeps me doing what I do.”
Cha Ming looked around and noticed that many humans were swimming around, whether it be guards or other cultivators swimming below the ocean. To his surprise, their qi reserves were almost nonexistent, and their soul cultivation even more so. Further, many of these people had a blueish or pale tinge
