Chapter 1336

"How dare it?!"

"Arrogant, audacious, running amok, lawless! Your Majesty, it's just a hairy freak, a tailless stinking monkey—what right does it have to strut around here? This is nothing short of it defecating on the heads of us East Sea Demon Kings!"

"Your Majesty, the seahorse clan has long had dealings with my clan. The Great Horse King is broad-minded, the Little Horse King benevolent and charitable. Now the Little Horse King's life or death is unknown, vanished in the white-haired monkey's territory—we cannot stand idly by, especially since that monkey comes charging into the East Sea with fierce intent. What does it want? To bully us East Sea, lacking a Demon King, and wipe us out completely? Our East Sea waters—how many times greater are they than the rivers of Jianghuai?"

"In the past, when audience was granted with the Whale Emperor in Yun Tian Palace, and the Huai King was seen, his temperament was not bad. Bai Yuan being on good terms with him—it should be—"

".."

"Your Majesty, knowing the monkey's face but not its heart—what decent demon would entangle itself with humans, wanting to be refined into pills? In my view, that monkey is nothing but a lapdog of the Great Shun! A puppet of Tian Shun, slay a demon king to forge a demon king pill, to prolong the life of that Great Shun emperor old coot!"

"Come, let's see what's happening!"

"The Wu King in the west has moved—we must go too, cannot fall behind, hurry—"

Long tail swaying, eight limbs swinging—

"The Horned Shark King, it's the Horned Shark King of the East Sea who's gone—did you note it down?"

"Reply, my lord, noted down!"

"Report!"

"March 8th, Si hour, seven ke, the Little Horse King of the Horse Clan, East Sea Demon King, entered Jianghuai—"

"March 8th, Si hour—Jianghuai Ape King entered the East Sea."

"March 8th, Si hour, eight ke, East Sea Demon King Wu King"

Copper rings spinning, clerks of the Directorate of Astronomy wrote furiously, eyes locked on the light dots tracing each demon king's path, hands never stopping, ink flowing, leaving afterimages.

Each demon king has a dedicated clerk recording its movements; when a demon king departs, the clerk shouts a warning, and if heading to the seahorse clan's territory, must warn again.

In the past two years, land battles have been frequent—whenever they stir, clouds gather, dozens of river stones converge. Today, what moves are not terrestrial martial sages or great enlightened ones, but the East Sea Demon Kings.

The Sacred Emperor leans on the railing, silently counting the demon kings' movements.

The Haiya King entered Jianghuai first, then the Bai Yuan Queen followed, then the Little Horse King came, Hai Fangzhu overlapped with the Ape King, the Little Horse King vanished, and Bai Yuan leapt to the Southeast Sea.

It was Bai Yuan's bold move into the Southeast Sea that made all the East Sea Demon Kings feel as if a hornet's nest had been stabbed, swarming out of their lairs toward the seahorse clan's land. By the time Bai Yuan reached the Southeast Sea, the number of demon kings converging had swelled to as many as eight.

The seahorse clan has long operated in the Southeast Sea, so it cannot lack friends or allied demon kings. Beyond friends, there are inevitably those who feel grief like a rabbit's death foxing—neutral demon kings who believe the Little Horse King met an unfortunate end.

People generally hold a mistaken belief about cultivators: that the higher one's cultivation, the more "lawless and heaven-defying" they become. In truth, it is the opposite—greater strength brings expanded limited freedom and absolutely enhanced infinite constraints, two sides of one coin, mutually inverse.

The higher the cultivation realm, the more one cherishes life, the more one rejects relying on one's own strength to act recklessly, and the more one seeks to achieve goals with minimal cost.

Life is everywhere bound; power is a circle— the stronger the power, the larger the circle drawn, the greater the freedom within, while simultaneously the "circle" outside is bound tighter and harder.

No direct conflict occurred while assassinating the Little Horse King.

Bai Yuan's such behavior is no different from having touched the boundary of that "circle."

Fierce fire burned on the sea surface.

Unbeknownst to them, Hei Shui Du Yun Yan's palm was slick with sweat, soaking the paper, as if feeling the baking of the raging fire.

Fire.

Great fire.

"Great Horse King, get out here! Little Horse King, Southern Border lapdog, blocking my cultivation—like killing my parents, come forth and die at once!

""

Heaven shook, earth trembled, seaweed torn from roots, the entire seahorse clan's land quivered under Bai Yuan's violent roar, cracking, and just the water waves from the sound waves scraped off three feet of soil, ink sprayed like a cuttlefish muddying the vision, and those with weak cultivation even spat out a mouthful of blood.

Boom!

Shattered stones rained down, the elastic fetal membrane bounced them away.

Inside the coral nest, several seahorse demons panicked, carrying their pale yellow fetal membranes as they transferred, and before leaving, the shadows within the membranes flickered.

"Big brother, this monkey struck first with its voice—indeed clever, we're slightly at a disadvantage, but never, ever fall into its rhythm!

No matter what it says or asks, do not explain, do not explain!

Also, do not clash head-on with it—we cannot win. Now, demon kings should be rushing here; we must stall, stall until others arrive.

Second brother, pull yourself together—you bear the river stones, second brother, you cannot escape, nowhere to hide. First use my body—it'll do just fine to pretend it's me!"

The startled, panicked Little Horse King looked up: "Third brother, give me your body—you—"

"It's fine—this was originally second brother's promise to the Southern Border to expedite things, as it should be. Losing the body can be remade; advancement is merely a matter of time. First, get through this crisis! Big brother, remember!"

In panic, the Little Horse King saw the chance, grabbed the lifeline, flicked its tail, hurried to beneath the pale yellow fetal membrane, and waved its two meat-bud-like little claws.

The pink thin membrane tore open, countless tendons and blood vessels interlinked, lightly throbbing, a pure white "dragon body" lay still within the flesh cocoon—huge, majestic, agile. The Little Horse King immediately leapt down, following a great blood vessel connecting to the spine, and plunged in.

The body destroyed, the current Little Horse King is extremely fragile—any demon king could easily kill it, even a powerful great demon. Only by linking to the fetal membrane can it gain some safety. Though third brother's fetal membrane has only first-tier strength, it is far stronger than its current state. At least upon fusion, it gains self-preservation ability.

Boom!

Shattered stones fell again, seeing third brother depart, second brother fused with the fetal membrane, reborn anew.

The Great Horse King hesitated no longer—dragon lips condensed a water cannon, massive body coiled upward, twisted its head, dragon claws tore through thousand-zhang rock layers, head raised, furious roar: "Ape King, you bully the horse too much—return my second brother's life!"

The earth split and collapsed, revealing a black passage.

The dragon's head protruded from the passage.

The Great Horse King's build surpasses the Little Horse King's—more massive, more imposing, broader frame, deeper color: one is shallow-sea sandy beige, the other deep-sea azure, nearly black with blue.

Heavenly light surged, shining down, like golden snakes flowing close to the ground.

The Great Horse King raised its head, clearly seeing the Ape King standing high in the air—golden eyes blazing, baring canine teeth, arms clasped, condensing a ten-thousand-zhang water pillar, forcefully rotating, vigorously stirring the clan's waters, waves surging, draining the seabed, like the undulating waves of the Nine Bends Yellow Sand.

At this moment it burst from the earth, within a radius of ten or so li, not a drop of seawater remained!

The Great Horse King saw the Ape King, and the Ape King also saw the Great Horse King.

Four eyes locked.

The Ape King laughed loudly to the heavens.

"Horse King! Finally came out—road-blocking grudge, no sharing heaven, hand over the Southern Border lapdog! I'll spare your life!"

"You bully the horse too much! You bully the horse too much! You killed my second brother's life and now seek my third brother!" The Great Horse King's eyes turned blood-red, and the water cannon in its mouth surged in power.

Is this tenth rank?

Bai Yuan's eyes narrowed, sharply sensing the Great Horse King's aura, which was actually a notch stronger than the Iron-Head Fish King he had faced before.

"I don't know." Without the teleportation divine ability, the demon king couldn't traverse the waterways, nor could he merge into one like Hai Fangzhu and be carried along. Hai Ya Wang swished his tail, straining to come from the Huaijiang, explaining as he swam, "The Great Horse King doesn't usually make a move, and the horse demon clan doesn't usually fight either; they like to farm, and before, it was just tenth rank."

"Xiao Shui! Be careful. The Great Horse King is stronger than the Iron-Head King! He should be eleventh rank."

"I know. Just leave it to me as Fangzhu Lord entrusted, and treat it like sleeping!"

Again, Dragon Phase, and again hiding strength, moreover secretly receiving aid from Nanjiang.

Wolfish ambition!

The earth split open, the two demon kings faced each other directly, with no more obstacles.

The Great Horse King, filled with grief and indignation, opened his dragon maw wide, and the condensed blue water cannon blasted out with a boom, almost forming a brilliant pillar of light, silently and without sound.

Bai Yuan remained calm and unafraid, having come to the East Sea and lost Hai Jiang's patronage, but after 【Hua Ling】, it was in no way weaker than the Great Horse King, and moreover had merged with Hai Fangzhu. With arms clasped around the dragon pillar, he bared his fangs and roared, muscles bulging in knots, and his hundred-zhang frame swelled another three zhang even as it became engorged with blood.

The dragon pillar swung, leaving an afterimage invisible to the naked eye, parting the air flow, and with a mighty strike, the tip of the ten-thousand-zhang water column swept straight toward the Great Horse King's water cannon!

Underground.

Inside the flesh cocoon.

The Little Horse King, struggling to merge his body with Old Three's, slightly lifted his head, intending to observe the battle situation. The faint heavenly light streamed down through the cracks in the Great Horse King's surrounding passage, illuminating the darkness and firmly imprinting the outside scene onto his pupils.

A fierce wind blasted the face, the vortex expanded.

Bai Yuan drew the sea into a staff, swung the ten-thousand-zhang water column, clasped and chopped down, swinging it into a crescent moon in midair. In the earth's cavern, the dragon head roared.

The sound was completely blurred, only light and shadow devoid of sound remained.

The Great Horse King's condensed water cannon fiercely let the water column blast forth!

The sphere distorted violently, tremendous power transmitted upward, Bai Yuan's palms ached and went numb, but this could not hinder him in the slightest. He roared again, bared his canine teeth, twisted his body, pressed down and swung. The water cannon the Great Horse King emitted could not hold out, and actually deviated straight from its original trajectory, exploding into terrifying air currents that flew toward the heavens!

The water cannon shattered the firmament, and the clouds within a radius instantly cleared, leaving ten thousand li without dust.

"Hand over the traitor, Great Horse King!"

A buzzing in the ears, the Little Horse King spat out a mouthful of blood, his head swam and vision blurred, fear loomed overhead, he curled up tightly, and dared not look again.

After swinging the water cannon away, Bai Yuan roared in midair, his feet treading empty air, he plunged downward. He opened his white-furred large hand, five fingers loosely grasping, the Tiangang appeared, sharp bones towering like mountains, and he grabbed toward the earth like a dipper, determined to drag out another stone from the river.

The Great Horse King gazed at the clear sky, his heart filled with shock.

How could the divine ability he had painstakingly condensed be flicked away by that monkey with a single staff?

In the fight, there was no room for hesitation. The Great Horse King had only to accept, pressing his dragon claws to the earth, he surged out furiously, and once again condensed water cannon in his mouth: "Return my second brother's life!"

"Hand over the Little Horse King!"

Each spoke their own words.

The water cannon bombarded, and the Tiangang giant hand shattered.

Bai Yuan's long staff danced again.

The water cannon's continuous chaotic dance, one after another flying sideways, exploded into boundless water waves.

Compared to the Little Horse King, the Great Horse King's offensive was faster and more fierce, endless and boundless.

However, wandering the Six Xu, beneath the Heavenly Pass and Earthly Pivot, it could not touch Bai Yuan in the slightest. Bai Yuan bore the Great Horse King's slaughtering divine ability, swung the water column, and sped forward in close pursuit.

The Great Horse King intended to traverse, change position, and discovered indeed it was as the second brother said—his surrounding space was sealed, he could not maneuver. Seeing Bai Yuan within arm's reach, the Great Horse King's entire body hue shifted, becoming unnaturally smooth, with his exoskeleton revealing a metallic sheen.

Above the sea and below the ocean, Bai Yuan and the azure great dragon collided head-on.

The earth trembled and quaked.

Visible surging air waves rolled back, reopening the seawater that had just gathered, blowing many hiding sea horses into flight.

In that mere instant of contact, the tremendous force pressed down, and the Great Horse King only felt he had struck a rock, his bones throughout his body emitting sounds on the verge of shattering.

"Roar!"

Sharp teeth against canine teeth, golden eyes against blue eyes.

The Great Horse King opened his huge maw and blasted out a water cannon. Bai Yuan clung to the Great Horse King, slipped past his body, lowered himself then raised his hand, and struck out with his palm heel. The Great Horse King only felt his chin struck by the palm's tremendous force, his skull violently jerked upward.

The Great Horse King strained to press down, the water cannon slanted upward, bombarding Bai Yuan's skull, but was hindered by some strange force, scraping Bai Yuan's forehead and flying out, unable to approach even a bit. Immediately after, Bai Yuan extended his giant hand, and the Great Horse King immediately felt his dragon maw pressed firmly from above and below. After his neck tightened then loosened, the view he had just raised swiftly sank. He was seized by Bai Yuan on his entire head, flung sideways in an arc, and at the highest point, he was body-slammed downward.

The dragon body smashed onto the earth, the earth as fragile as tofu, trembling and sending out visible "ripples." Under the tremendous force, the palace on the ground and the den below completely collapsed and were squeezed, burying the Little Horse King's body.

The Great Horse King's jaw was nearly dislocated, completely unable to speak.

"Die!"

Five fingers clenched into a fist, heart-fire burning like Xiong Xiong, Bai Yuan leapt onto the Great Horse King's head, leaned his upper body back, and punched the dragon's head.

The vacuum exploded.

The ground cracked like a spiderweb, the skull shattered, the Great Horse King sank into the earth, his consciousness instantly rose, dazed and muddled, just about to move, but Bai Yuan seized his chin again. The mighty eleventh-rank demon king had utterly no power to resist!

"Quickly, quickly!"

The Little Horse King was anxiously worried.

When a wolf pack pursues prey, even a rabbit running past nearby can be ignored. When a person is focused, they cannot hear others speaking beside their ears.

At this very moment, Bai Yuan, Hai Fangzhu, and the big and little Horse Kings had their attention wholly on their opponents, pouring forth strength and stirring the seawater.

But others were paying attention.

As the pollution-mark witness fish, Hai Ya Wang strained to hurry along, when he suddenly sensed a certain "river stone" approaching at high speed, and he was greatly startled.

"It moved, it moved! Heavenly God, the Whale King has come!"

"Whale Emperor?"

How could the Whale Emperor directly make a move? Could it be that the Great Horse King is also his hidden hand?

Liang Qu was greatly startled, and in that instant the Great Horse King found his opening and blasted out a water cannon.

Boom!

Bai Yuan embraced the azure water cannon, retreated three steps, and a faint scorched smell emanated from his palm.

"Not the Whale Emperor, but the Whale King! The Whale Emperor is the Cloud Whale, the Whale King is the Black Tiger Whale! One of the hegemons of the Eastern Sea."

""

"What realm is a hegemon?"

Bai Yuan threw the flying water cannon, then punched the Great Horse King.

After two consecutive heavy blows, the Great Horse King bled profusely, already dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

The Sea Tooth King's cannon fire came in rapid succession: "Demon Kings have varying strength, but among the Eastern Sea Demon Kings, there are seven universally recognized hegemons, each possessing peak or even Awakened realm power, far beyond ordinary, and it is even said that some have refined the Position Fruit; the Whale King is one of the seven hegemons, and if the Flood Dragon King wishes to contend, there could now be eight hegemons—he is already nearing that level."

Without needing the Sea Tooth King's reminder, distracted and looking out, Liang Qu had already seen the approaching "River-Middle Stone."

"Little Water!"

"I see it!"

At the end of the water waves, the figure was pitch-black, with fish eyes glowing crimson.

That was a fierce and formidable aura utterly unlike the Great Horse King's; within the golden eyes, a threatening hue was revealed.

Of the same level as the Flood Dragon King, and having never consumed the 【Dew Seed】!

The Great Horse King steadied his spirit, joy welling up.

"Ape King, today I do not know what misunderstanding there is—grant me a favor—"

The pitch-black figure spoke; Bai Yuan turned a deaf ear, kicked the Great Horse King aside, heedless of all obstacles and the Demon King's approach, leapt into the gap the Great Horse King had created amid the Whale King's shock and fury.

"Ape King! Do you truly think the Eastern Sea is your Jianghu, lawless and unbound?"

The roar exploded; the Whale King shook with rage.

In the fissure, Bai Yuan plunged straight down, controlling the vortex water; countless fine streams spread, serpentine, threading through the crack, rapidly probing, observing the patterns on his palm.

In a flash of lightning and stone.

Deep underground, the flowing vortex water swiftly sketched a blurry outline of a white dragon.

But it was not enough.

Not clear enough.

Based solely on the outline, nothing could be discerned—what exactly was this newly emerged River-Middle Stone? Was it truly the Little Horse King?

In the darkness, the blazing golden eyes suddenly snapped shut; a higher observational perspective leapt forth, continuously rising, soaring upward!

In an instant.

The beating heart, the flowing blood, the writhing fascia—

Fear, dread, joy, tension—

Mind's Eye!

Within the white dragon's flesh, blood-red threads wrapped the entire body, gradually merging with the surrounding flesh and blood as the Little Horse King's own form faded by half, clearly and without obstruction, reflected forth!

Front and back, up and down, all around, inside and out.

Everything was now clear.

"So that's how it is—"

Liang Qu attained sudden understanding.

"Ape King!"

A furious shout from above, pressure pressing straight down; Liang Qu let out a muffled groan, qi and blood surged upward, he did not continue deeper, seemingly wary of the Whale King's strength, turned direction, and retreated to the ground.

The Whale King let out a cold snort, thinking the Ape King had just arrived, unaware of the heavens' height and earth's depth; after releasing his pressure, he finally came to his senses.

Little did he expect, right before his eyes, the Ape King who had just leapt from the fissure now leapt again, like a meteor striking down, seizing the Great Horse King's skull in one grab.

"Whale King, save—"

The Great Horse King struggled and resisted, crying out in terror.

Bai Yuan reached out, brutally seized its throat, crushed the Horse King's ability to speak, pulled and dragged, violently hoisted it face to face, and grinned.

"Great Horse King, you wouldn't want your clan's rebirth secret known to other fish, would you?"