As we approached the city what we saw could only be described as absolute chaos. Fires had sprouted all over the place and the ocean was visibly bubbling around a singular figure floating above the city. He was facing off against a handful of Mertalians who I guessed were the only ones within the city that could prove a challenge to him.

I looked around and found more and more charred bodies as we approached the city. A pit quickly formed in my stomach and I found myself spiraling into my own thoughts when a soft, reassuring hand laid on my shoulder and comforted me.

“It isn’t your fault Astra. It’s his fault.” she said, pointing to the floating figure wreathed in flames. I thought about it for a second and pushed the sour thoughts to the back of my mind.

As we got closer to the city, the water drastically warmed up to a point where it was starting to feel uncomfortable.

“Why is the water so warm even this far away?” I asked the group. It was Zi Fu who spoke up first.

“That’s his domain. From what you told me, he’s a domain solidification realm cultivator. This means he has almost absolute control over the qi within a certain area around him that doesn’t clash with another domain. Should his domain clash with another’s, they would fight using their domains for which will dominate the other, that person usually wins the fight too. Right now you’re feeling the effect of his domain from all the way out here. I’ve been in quite a few domains in the past, so this man must be ridiculously powerful.” Zi Fu said.

We swam through, closer to the dome but angled ourselves so we didn’t risk getting seen by Azoreth. We didn’t care as much about the Mertalians seeing us, they had their hands full with a fiery foe and they didn’t take kindly to resistance from humans.

One second, all was calm and the Mertalians and Azoreth were at a standstill. The next second they all erupted into motion and began fighting.

This had been one of our plans so we all burst into motion ourselves. We swam as fast as we could to the opening in the rock ceiling hoping to escape while Azoreth and the Mertalians were distracted.

We angled our swimming so we were to Azeroth’s back, him being the most dangerous opponent at the moment, but as we approached the opening in the ceiling, Azoreth whipped around and stared directly at me.

He seemed to think for a moment and then launched a lazy fireball in our direction. I had no idea how it didn’t become engulfed by the abundant water qi in the area and dissipate, but it looked dangerous nonetheless. I summoned Shimmer for a moment to throw up a water qi shield, but as soon as the shield was hit by the fireball, it shattered into nothingness. I cursed under my breath and sent Shimmer back.

Both the Captain and Zi Fu moved in front of our group and put up their strongest defenses, but even those weren’t enough to stop the fireball. An enormous explosion erupted in the water and only the combined efforts of the Captain and Zi Fu prevented the rest of us from being turned into charred husks. Once the explosion dissipated, all that was left was a large oblong shape of water-less space that was quickly filled in by the surrounding water. The fire qi had erased all of the water in a nearly ten meter circle around where it had exploded.

As a group, we were swept toward the location of the explosion. I realized the power just a casual attack of his had and I became even more afraid of the man I had released into the world. I looked over to Azoreth again and he was looking at us in confusion. He looked down to his hands, letting the various attacks from the Mertalians land impotently against his body. He sneered and prepared a larger scale attack to launch at our group.

I blanched at the sight of him preparing something stronger and screamed out to everyone to swim as fast as we could for the exit.

We weren’t going to make it to the exit in time. He pulled back one hand and a small flame erupted within it. The water around the flame was essentially deleted, overwhelmed by the power of the flame despite the inherent advantage water held over fire.

He was about to launch the attack at us when one of the Mertalian elders intervened.

“I will not allow you to kill any more of our workers!” The elder yelled out over the din of combat. He launched a circular disc of water at Azoreth that hummed with power as it flew at the fire cultivator faster than I could track. Azoreth was forced to react and block the attack, his prepared fireball dissipating into nothingness as he defended.

“You three, you’re useless in this fight, go capture those workers!” The elder said as he pointed to a group of three Mertalians off to the side of the battle. They were preparing another set of attacks to launch at Azoreth, but at their elder’s words they looked to our group and sped off in pursuit.

We swam as fast as we could, but once we were within fifty meters of our escape, the group of Mertalians had caught up, placing themselves between our group and the exit.

They unleashed their auras and suddenly our group was facing off against three nascent soul realm cultivators, though one of them seemed to be at the very beginning of the nascent soul realm.

The one in the center, I recognized him as the Mertalian who had first shown up on our ship, spoke first.

“You all aren’t going anywhere. Go back to your homes while the elders deal with the intruder.” He told us. We all grimaced, but with only three of them to stop us, we all thought we still had a chance of escape.

“Don’t think ye can stop us, Mertalian.” The Captain said before launching into an attack, throwing himself at the centermost Mertalian.

Zi Fu took the other middle stage nascent soul realm Mertalian which left the remainder of us to fight against the newly promoted Mertalian. He sneered at our group.

“A mere group of core formation and foundation establishment realm cultivators wish to fight against me? You’re courting death!” He shouted before launching himself at our group.

The sailors weren’t used to fighting like Jia and I and they were all at a lower cultivation than we were so they did their best to dodge the attacks of the Mertalian while they harried him with ranged strikes.

Jia and I did our best to intercept the Mertalians blows and he, seeing that we were probably the strongest of the group, decided we needed to be dealt with first.

He appeared in front of Jia first, swinging out with a sword created solely of water qi. Almost all of the Mertalians we had seen since encountering them used water qi, it must be related to their racial affinity with the type of qi.

Jia struck out with her white sword, and thanks to her prowess with the sword and the increase in her physical abilities due to her body cultivation she was able to fight against the Mertalian on somewhat equal fitting. Luckily it seemed that the Mertalian had yet to stabilize his cultivation realm and Jia was able to keep him occupied long enough for me to join the fight.

I struck out from behind the Mertalian with both of my swords and cut two shallow furrows in his back. He snarled and must have realized I posed at least a small danger to him.

He created a bubble of swirling water around him and I felt a small pressure pushing down on something inside of me. It didn’t feel like it was affecting my body itself, but something immaterial within me. I realized he must be using his nascent soul to try and overpower me.

I struggled against the strange power trying to exert its control over me, but didn’t notice the oncoming attack from the Mertalian. He struck out at me with his sword and I only barely managed to react in time to stop it from cutting me in half. As he struck out at me and I blocked his attack, Jia swam up behind him and attempted to finish the fight early. As she swung with her sword, a loud clang reverberated through the water as her sword met the sphere of flowing water around the Mertalian.

As Jia’s sword intercepted the sphere of water, she cut a slash of ice into it. As the water flowed around the ice, it became destabilized and eventually dissipated. Jia used her movement technique to appear next to the Mertalian, and at the same time surrounded herself with thin spikes of ice. She launched the spikes at the Mertalian and then easily pierced his skin, though not enough to severely injure him. The explosion of ice when she appeared did a good job at sealing the Mertalians movements, the water surrounding the pair quickly cooling and becoming more viscous if not outright freezing. Jia, unhindered by the freezing water, harried the Mertalian with sword strikes that he desperately tried to defend against. His movements were slowed by the surrounding ice, and his soul pressure didn’t seem to affect Jia. He was still a nascent soul realm cultivator though, and Jia could only pressure him so much. He relied on his more powerful cultivation to try and overpower Jia.

He went on the offensive, unbothered by the spikes of ice Jia continued to launch at him. He let them bury themselves in his skin and then dissipate as the water continued to swirl around his body.

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I used soft steps on the halcyonic sea to appear behind the Mertalian, currently engrossed in attacking Jia. He was pressing her back, so I needed to quickly provide a distraction to give her a chance to regroup. Jia saw my movements and used her own movement technique to appear next to the Mertalian, sealing his movements. He was too absorbed with Jia’s sword, now slicing directly at his neck to notice me behind him. I sliced out with both of my swords and cut another pair of furrows into his back. This time I used my body cultivation to enhance my speed and power and the damage I dealt to his body was significant. Deep red blood flowed out from the wounds and into the surrounding water.

He seemed to falter then, realizing the danger he was in.

“Wait! Stop! I surrender!” He said. Jia stopped her next attack, content with the fight stopping.

Before I could react, I had stabbed out with both of my swords. The Mertalian wasn’t expecting an attack and didn’t have his defenses up.

“Astra! Wait!” Jia called out but she couldn’t stop me. I stabbed into the Mertalian’s back, barely piercing through his body. He was still a nascent soul realm cultivator after all. I thrust the swords again with all my might and thrust them deeper through his body. I felt the Mertalian struggle against my swords, but he was quickly running out of strength.

“W-why?” He asked me incredulously. I saw my reflection in his eyes and the face I saw was someone I didn’t recognize.

As the Mertalian went limp, I released my hold on my swords, letting them dissipate into qi back within my dantian. I held out my hands, now stained with blood despite the water washing away the awful red color into the surrounding water. Jia swam over to me and was looking at me with a strange look on her face.

“Astra, are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She looked like she was going to say something else but held her tongue. She was looking at me with an expression on her face I couldn’t read, but I knew it was accusing me. As if she was calling me a monster.

I felt sick and immediately turned away from Jia, loosing that morning’s food out into the water. Jia’s hand landed on my back and rubbed me in a soothing motion. It made me feel a little better, but I still couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she was judging me. I tried to push the feeling down, but Jia’s next question froze my blood in my veins.

“Astra, why did you kill him after he surrendered?” She asked me, still rubbing my back. I didn’t answer for a time, I was spiraling within my own thoughts. What would she think about me? What should I say? What if she wants to stop being my friend?

“Astra!” Jia yell brought me out of my head but not before one last thought entered my brain.

“What if she betrays you one day?” the voice in my head said. But I realized something then, the voice wasn’t the same as my inner voice, it was much more sinister and had a tone that I recognized. I looked down at the ring on my finger and frowned. I turned to Jia with a new resolve on my face.

“I’m sorry, I’ll explain it later with you and Zi Fu.” I told her.

As if being summoned by my words, both the Captain and Zi Fu appeared then, both of them looking at the floating body in the water approvingly.

“Good job, lasses. One less fish bastard stopping us from escaping, now let’s go!” The Captain said. I felt sick to my stomach again and retched into the water, but nothing came out. Jia was whispering to Zi Fu and he looked at me with a contemplative expression on his face.

Before we could continue talking though, we were reminded of the nearby fighting and all looked over to see Azoreth holding one of the Mertalian elders up by the throat before immolating him within his grip.

We all blanched, knowing we wouldn’t escape if he wanted to stop us and quickly swam into the hole in the ceiling. As we swam up, the sailors seemed more and more comfortable. The sweltering heat of the water decreased as we got further away from Azoreth’s domain.

We made it up to the surface and all breathed out a sigh of relief. We swam over to The Dread Moon’s Revenge and Zi Fu and the Captain worked together to push the ship out of the cove. They both pushed the ship until we were tens of leagues away from the Mertalian’s cove and back on our original path to the eastern continent.

Both men flew back up onto the ship and we all sat or laid down on the deck of the ship, completely drained of energy. The ship wasn’t moving , as the sails were still drawn so the Captain, understanding we weren’t completely out of the woods yet, ordered the sailors to their feet and sent them onto their duties. The ship began sailing east and we all relaxed as the hours passed and no angry domain solidification realm cultivator came to kill us.

Jia and I both went to our room and promptly went to sleep. Once we woke up, Jia retrieved Zi Fu and I looked a little sheepish under the gaze of the two of them.

“Astra. Jia said you killed the Mertalian even though he surrendered? While I don’t have any issue with your actions, personally, he was trying to enslave you after all, Jia’s concerned because it was out of character for you. Do you care to tell us what’s going on?” He looked at me flatly, telling me he wouldn’t be letting this go until he was satisfied.

Jia just looked at me concerned, her fists balled on her lap.

I explained from the beginning, how I had found the ring with the demon sealed within it in the hidden realm, and how I had planned to suborn the demon to myself once I was strong enough. Jia fingered her sword as I spoke, but then shook her head and gave me a look that said she thought I was stupid.

“That was an incredibly bad decision. From what Jia has told me, you’re well aware that demon’s corrode the mind of those carrying the items they are sealed within. Without the demon suppressing mantra Jia told me about, I wouldn’t allow her to carry that sword. What made you think you would be able to resist the mind corrosion?

“Well. He promised not to?” I said weakly. Only now, after the events with Azoreth did I realize I had been naive in believing the demon. It made me feel even worse and I felt like I was going to be sick again. Jia must have noticed my expression and sat down next to me, rubbing my back.

Zi Fu rubbed his face with one of his hands, the other bringing out a gourd. He took a draught from the small container and sighed.

“Well it’s good that we caught it before you released the demon. They usually kill those who release them unless they have a contract, and even a lesser demon might be dangerous to you Astra with your will in a weakened state due to the corrosion.

“I wouldn’t have released him!” I said, not quite believing my own words. Jia quirked an eyebrow at me.

“Not even if he promised to be your friend and fight on your side?” She asked. As always, Jia knew what I was thinking and I deflated.

“Alright, I probably would have let the demon out if he said that.” I said.

“WHAT? You’re telling me all I had to do was pretend to be your friend and you would have released me?!” The demon yelled out into my head. I held my head at the loud yelling and both Zi Fu and Jia fussed over me for a moment, worried the demon was corroding my will. I explained to them what the demon said and Jia’s titering laugh resounded through the room.

“Well it seems the demon didn’t know you well enough to manipulate you properly.” She said. And it was a good thing, that.

Thanks to Zi Fu and Jia’s advice I decided it would be best to use the demon suppressing mantra to stop the corrosion before it got worse. The demon, knowing it was about to lose its awareness, begged and pleaded with me, promising it would stop the corrosion and wouldn’t ask to be let out again, but to no avail. With the final chant of the mantra, I felt the ring go dormant and then it felt like a normal ring. I sighed in relief, feeling an unknown weight on my soul lift at that time and I realized the demon had a stronger hold on me than I thought it did.

Jia hugged me, and I hugged her back, reveling in the warmth and the newfound peace I felt now. I felt a little bad about the demon’s situation, but he influenced me until I took a life in cold blood. Something like that couldn’t be forgiven. I had killed before, but never someone who had surrendered. I still felt guilty, and the face of the Mertalian asking me ‘Why’ played across my vision even when I closed my eyes for the rest of the trip back to the eastern continent.

The familiar sights, sounds, and smells of Dangsu city flooded my senses as we docked in the port. We paid the Captain extra for transporting us to make up for any losses he had accrued, and the extra time we had spent in Azortia. We bid the Captain farewell, and in a surprising show of affection the Captain gave both Jia and I a hug and Zi Fu a firm handshake.

“I’ll miss ye all. Tis always an adventure when ye ride on me ‘ol ship. Next time ye need to travel to the western continent, be sure to come find The Dread Moon’s Revenge!” He told us. With a bright smile and excited hand waving we said goodbye to the Captain and crew and relaxed in Dangsu city for the rest of the day. We needed to resupply for the trip back to Cheng Lian city and we were tired from the week on the ship.

We rested for the day, resupplied and then the following morning we were off back to Cheng Lian city.

Zi Fu continued to train both Jia and I as we traveled and we both improved in our combat capabilities under his tutelage. The time it took to get back to Cheng Lian city passed by in a blink of the eye.

We walked into the city and finally it was time for us to say goodbye to Zi Fu.

“Thank you again Astra for retrieving the medicine to help my master. I’ll never be able to repay you for your kindness.” Zi Fu said. Before he could react, I wrapped him up in a big hug and snuggled my face into his chest.

“You’re welcome! What else are friends for! I look forward to seeing you again when you bring your master to meet us!” I told him, though my words were muffled by his robes.

In lieu of a hug from Jia, she gave Zi Fu a deep bow.

“Thank you for agreeing to teach us. We learned a lot from what you’ve taught us. The next time you see us, we shall be even stronger.” She said.

Zi Fu took in Jia and smiled. He then rummaged through one of the pockets within his robe until he pulled out a small ring.

“Here Jia, I was planning to give you this since I realized that Astra has one and you don’t. Consider it one last parting gift from a temporary master to his disciple.” He said and he lobbed the small ring over to her. She caught it deftly and put it on. Her eyes opened wide when she looked at the contents.

“This much spirit coral?! I can’t possibly take all of this she said before taking off the ring and trying to give it back to Zi Fu. He put up a hand in front of her to stave off the return of the ring.

“Don’t worry, our sect is not so poor that I need to steal important cultivation resources from you two. From what I understand, Astra has plenty of spirit coral herself, I can’t let you fall behind when Astra’s monstrous cultivation method brings her to the core formation realm.” He said, smiling.

Jia looked over at me and then she smiled and put the ring back on. She bowed again, deeper this time and without another word, Zi Fu disappeared from our sights.