“W-we won?”
“How could these many monsters fall in such a short amount of time…”
“It’s all thanks to the new Patriarch!”
The people from the Onyx Moon Sect looked with awe at the massacre that took place. Even a single one of those huge monsters would have been a catastrophe but all of them were now dead. The whole shoreline was riddled with sea creature corpses that were filled with spiritual energy. To these demonic cultivators that could use the beast cores to cultivate this was a bounty worth dying for.
They couldn’t make a move though, even though they had contributed to the fight it came late. The man that almost single-handedly killed them all was still floating up in the air. His figure was engraved into the people's minds, he just stood there like a pillar with his chin raised high.
‘Hm, are these people summoner types or something?’
Zhang Dong was the senior that everyone was looking at now. The storm clouds were used up and finally dispersed after the vast majority of the enemy forces were now gone. What he could feel now was a small bunch of them still hiding inside the water. They were protecting what seemed to be the leader.
They were really biding their time and only using the mindless sea monsters as a fighting force. After he cleared out most of them they just started to back away. It was clear that they would probably retreat back into the sea, that is if he didn’t stop them.
‘I should probably not lose more time here…’
His reason for coming here was not to battle these monsters. Even if he was victorious he still felt that battling them under the sea would be disadvantageous to him. As long as they remained there, he didn’t feel that they were much of a threat. After this defeat, they would probably think twice about going to shore.
‘At least now I know their tactics and weaknesses, they really don’t do well out of water.’
The tidal wave that caused parts of the city to flood was already retreating. Water elements that previously swarmed from all sides were slowly dissipating. Without the sea creatures to intensify these water elements their plan wouldn’t work. They needed to cover the lands with seawater that boosted their might and also allowed the many sea monsters to survive. Without it, they didn’t pose that much of a threat.
‘I guess they aren’t sure what to do yet, I’ll have to give them a reason to leave…’
In his palm, a blob of purple energy appeared and it was combined with an orb of lightning. The construct started expanding but didn’t go above the size of a basketball. The core was constantly getting squished to contain more energy and this was made a lot easier with his gravitational Dao.
After a moment the attack was sent flying towards the location of the enemy leaders. Zhang Dong figured that they didn’t think that he was able to sense them. This was probably the reason why they didn’t leave yet. Now, on the other hand, a massive wave of energy was coming their way.
Three of the giant sea monsters that he previously demolished were sent out to block it. The first one suffered an instant defeat as the energy balls just shot past through its chest. Then when it collided with the other two it finally exploded.
He could not hear what the merpeople were saying but he could feel that they were retreating. Even though they were deeply submerged under water, the explosion produced a massive pillar of water to shoot up. The cultivators that were with him were quick to retreat as this also produced a massive wave that crashed into the pier once more.
‘Huh? Is there someone really prideful with them?’
Even after the warning shot was sent and three of the huge nascent soul sea creatures were dead, the merpeople didn’t retreat. Instead, he could feel that he had only aggravated the leader into a frenzy. They seemed to be calling for more sea creatures by sending some kind of signal through the sea, if he didn’t stop them then another wave would be approaching them.
‘Are they perhaps very easily irritable?... If so then couldn’t I just use them?’
His mind started to spin as he realized something. For all intents and purposes, he was a demonic cultivator now. These sea dwellers weren’t attacking the Empire or any lands that he owned. Their aim was the island where Wang Long resided. If he managed to point them in his direction then perhaps they could actually aid him in his next endeavor.
Stolen novel; please report.
While he didn’t want to send any spirit points toward his enemy, it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. With another force attacking his new base Wang Long would be forced to send out his people to protect the lands. Even if the merpeople lost they would probably weaken the demonic armies.
‘Okay let's try this…’
“You dare go against a proud demonic being like me? Do you think you can just enter the demonic island without dying? Come out!”
With a grand shout and show of power, he flew towards the spot that the last of the merpeople were in. While his enemies would be stronger underwater it didn’t mean that he would lose to them. The leader this time around was at the upper levels of the nascent soul level. Just like before they were holding a trident and didn’t look much different than the old man that he apprehended. He wasn’t the only one with that weapon, there were two others that were closer to the middle stage.
“You conceited air breather!”
“I’m the one being conceited? What about you? How can you hope to defeat a demon like me? You inferior sea creatures need to learn who your betters are!”
“You dare insult our noble race?”
“Noble race? You are nothing more than seafood to us and our lord Wang Long! He will soon set out to eradicate your inferior race of beings. But at least you have your uses, the meat from that other one did taste delicious… I’m sure elixirs made from you stinky fish mongrels will be worth a lot of blood crystals!”
“Y-you, what do you mean by that… “
Zhang Dong started talking while exchanging some blows with the three trident holders. The sea creatures that were with them attempted to fight him as well but he was just too slippery. Then whenever they closed in he just needed to release a burst of electric energy to stun them for a moment.
His little performance was working and he continued to kill off the mindless sea monsters that were being controlled by these people. By taking his time he was giving them some hope in resisting. If he just wiped the floor with them his plan wouldn’t work too well. They needed to at least think that they would have a good chance of winning a war with the demonic cultivators.
Soon enough he started exchanging blows with the mermen. To his surprise, they could use some strange underwater martial arts. They lacked legs and had to use their fish tails which were actually an advantage here. Their speed was tremendous and if Zhang Dong’s cultivation level wasn’t vastly above them he would probably struggle.
“R-retreat, we must retreat and inform the Queen…”
“You want to retreat? But I won’t be able to eat you if you do that, your fate is to become our food, even if you flee the demons will come for you, our King will eradicate you all!”
He continued to belittle them while knocking out the two weaker mermen. They quickly made their way into his spatial treasure but for the man that was left to watch it seemed as if they were getting devoured by a demonic being. Soon he was escaping while trying to use the sea monsters as shields.
‘Finally… I hope this works…’
The enemy leader had decided to turn back. The speed that he was running was truly astonishing. Zhang Dong felt that he would have trouble chasing after him when being in all this water. His flight technique wasn’t created to work that well under the sea.
‘Will this guy report it to this Queen? If it works out they will attack this place again and probably force the demonic leaders to act then that leaves this leaderless city…’
This was a conundrum that he wouldn’t be here for. There was only so much that he could do by himself. These people that lived in the city always had an option to leave now that their leader was gone. This was also something that he needed to make them aware of. He was not going to stay here to protect them, his place was with his own sect and not this city.
“Listen well because I’m not going to repeat myself.”
After the battle was over he turned around to look over the whole city. Quickly the cultivators and regular citizens trembled in fear. They all quickly went down to their knees, they all knew that there was no way of going against such a powerful old monster that they thought Zhang Dong was.
“I am not your Patriarch or part of the city, I don’t know if those creatures will return or not but you will have to take care of them by yourselves. Use these corpses if you wish, they matter not to me in the slightest.”
The message was short and clear, he would be leaving now and they were free to do what they wished. He could not stop any pillaging attempts or in-fighting to get into their old leaders' private chambers. All of them were aware that without a nascent soul master to back them, there was no way for this sect to survive. The only option would be to join another power while offering some gifts or to give up cultivating altogether.
“But remember this, those sea monsters might return here, some of them have survived…”
He would leave them with a warning. The message was clear, they had a limited time of getting out of the city that could potentially be invaded soon. The sea monsters that were killed were a source of food that would probably last for quite some time. What these people needed to do was to pack up and retreat to the mainland.
‘I hope this goes well…’
Even though the enemy of his enemy was his friend he wasn’t sure if he was making the right decision. What the merpeople would do was still a mystery but he did point them in Wang Long’s direction and could only hope that they would point their tridents towards his throat.
‘I need to find a safe spot for the teleportation array…’
Soon enough he took off while leaving everyone in the city stupefied. While speeding away he could sense some people rushing towards the dead monsters while others quickly abandoned the city their lives were now up to their choices.