Chapter 9 The Dragon's Secret Realm (Part 9)
Wei Feng felt like he was about to drown.
He opened his eyes groggily in the water, hearing the intermittent chirping of merfolk. Although he had never learned the language of merfolk, he inexplicably understood what they meant.
"Danger...come find me quickly."
Wei Feng stroked his chin, gurgling out a long string of bubbles, thinking to himself, "Who do you think you are, daring to make me come find you in person?"
This damned assimilation of resentment has even made him understand the language of merfolk.
Although he likes to eat fish, he has absolutely no desire to become a fish.
The Eternal Sound-Destroying Bell sank into the mud and sand while he was asleep. Wei Feng picked up the bell with his head down, and the phonograph on the earring suddenly flashed red.
"Wei Feng, where are you now? I'm coming to find you." It was Xuan Zhiyan's voice, sounding a bit emphasized, as if he were speaking right outside.
Wei Feng put the bell back into his storage bag and spent some time adjusting his posture. He peered out through the gap and, sure enough, saw Xuan Zhiyan wearing a crimson disciple's robe. He was overjoyed. "Xuan Zhiyan!"
He shouted, but the other person just kept turning their head around as if they hadn't seen him.
Wei Feng frowned. He hadn't set up any formation to conceal his presence. Remembering the barriers that old pervert was good at, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He swam out through the gap with his fishtail, "Zhiyan!"
"Wei Feng!" Xuan Zhiyan finally saw him and excitedly ran up, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing his mermaid appearance, exclaiming in shock, "Ancestor, how did you become a mermaid?!"
"It's a long story," Wei Feng said nonchalantly. "Did you get the incantation for the bell?"
“I’ve found out, I’ve found out,” Xuan Zhiyan repeated the incantation to him, then grabbed his scale-covered arm and said, “No, it’s too dangerous for you to be here alone. Come with me.”
“I’m not leaving.” Wei Feng clicked his tongue. “We haven’t found the Divine Kite Shark Scale yet. Besides, I’m more comfortable following that old pervert than following Qi Fengyuan.”
Xuan Zhiyan said with a headache, "Even if you and my master can't stand each other, you are still a member of the Yanghua Sect. He can't just ignore you. Wei Feng, this is no small matter. On the mountain, your fellow disciples don't dare to mess with you, but in the secret realm, a slight mistake could cost you your life."
Wei Feng slapped his tail twice in frustration, about to retort, when a sharp mermaid cry suddenly appeared. A white fish tail, three or four times larger than Wei Feng's, wrapped around Wei Feng's waist with the waves and dragged him backward at high speed.
"Young master!" the black-haired merman cried out in a hoarse voice, "Danger!"
"Wei Feng!" Xuan Zhiyan exclaimed in shock. By the time he realized what was happening, Wei Feng had already been dragged into the air by the mermaid. He hurriedly tried to swim up, but was suddenly grabbed from behind and had his shoulder pressed down.
“This merman is at least at the Nascent Soul stage; you are no match for him.” Qi Fengyuan appeared out of nowhere and glanced at Xuan Zhiyan. “Go back and find your fellow disciples. Tell them to hide in the stone house and not come out.”
Xuan Zhiyan still had reservations, "But Wei Feng—"
"Hurry up and go!" Qi Fengyuan snapped, "Don't get in my way!"
Xuan Zhiyan glanced at Wei Feng, who had been swept away by the merman, gritted his teeth, and turned to run back the way he came.
"Qingdu, let him go!" Qi Fengyuan flashed and blocked the black-haired mermaid's path.
Qingdu's expression turned fierce the moment he saw Qi Fengyuan. "Qi Fengyuan, traitor!"
“There were reasons for what happened back then, and I wasn’t the one who informed on him.” Qi Fengyuan’s gaze fell on Wei Feng, whom he was holding hostage. “This child is not a descendant of your clan leader, so you can’t take him away.”
"You are cunning by nature, I will never believe anything you say again!" Qingdu grabbed Wei Feng's shoulder tightly with one hand, and pointed his other hand at Qi Fengyuan like a claw.
"Then don't blame me for being impolite!" Qi Fengyuan's expression darkened.
The two, one human and one mermaid, quickly became entangled in battle. Qi Fengyuan's cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul stage, while Qing Du was still recovering from serious injuries and was soon unable to hold on. Wei Feng was carried by him and moved quickly, fainting and waking up repeatedly. Every inch of his skin became painful and itchy. He coughed up blood and reached into his storage bag to touch the small wooden plaque. Just as he was about to inject spiritual power, someone was faster than him.
A tremendous suction force abruptly pulled him away from Qingdu's fishtail. Qingdu couldn't react in time, and the sharp claws on his shoulder couldn't be withdrawn. The sharp nails tore the flesh off his shoulder, revealing the white bones underneath.
He cried out in pain and then crashed into a cold embrace.
Jiang Gu wrapped one arm around the young merman's waist, looked down at Qi Fengyuan and Qing Du, and said coldly, "Sorry, gentlemen, the Divine Kite Mermaid is mine."
Wei Feng looked up at him, completely bewildered. "What Divine Kite Shark? Where is the Divine Kite Shark?"
Jiang Gu ignored him, and with his other hand he quickly made a hand seal, disappearing from the spot when Qi Fengyuan and Qing Du rushed up.
Qi Fengyuan's face immediately turned extremely ugly. "Qingdu, do you still want to fight me? If we keep fighting, Wei Feng will be skinned alive!"
Qing Du's expression changed, and after glaring at him fiercely, he chased after Jiang Gu in the direction he had left, with Qi Fengyuan following closely behind.
Wei Feng was naked from the waist up, with a fish tail more than a meter long from the waist down. The scales around his waist were wet and slippery, making it difficult to hold him securely. Jiang Gu moved his hand from around his waist up, pressed his arm tightly against his back, and used one hand to hold the back of his head and press it against his own shoulder.
Wei Feng's weak, trembling breath came through his clothes, radiating a scorching heat.
Jiang Gu resisted the urge to throw him away and hugged him even tighter. Qi Fengyuan and Qing Du were chasing closely behind them. Wei Feng's merman aura was too obvious, making it difficult to shake them off.
“Senior…” Wei Feng raised his head with difficulty, “I’m about to be strangled to death.”
"You think I want to hold a fish?" Jiang Gu glanced at him coldly.
Wei Feng raised his head and glared at him unhappily, but Jiang Gu's cool and comfortable body greatly relieved the pain and itching on his skin. After glaring for a while, he shamelessly lowered his head and rested it on Jiang Gu's shoulder, his long and soft fish tail quietly wrapping around Jiang Gu's ankle.
"Take it away." Jiang Gu said with obvious disgust.
Wei Feng pretended not to hear and curled up even tighter. Jiang Gu was about to kick away the sticky fish tail when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He quickly dodged away with Wei Feng. Wei Feng curiously peeked out to look, and a sharp ice spike grazed the wisps of hair on Wei Feng's forehead, cutting off a small strand of his hair.
"Qi Fengyuan, I knew you wanted to kill me!" Wei Feng roared. "You really had been planning this for a long time, hadn't you!?"
"You good-for-nothing!" Qi Fengyuan shouted as he chased after him, "I told you to stay inside and reflect on your actions, but you went down the mountain without permission. I'll deal with you when we get back!"
"You old bastard, I'm not afraid of you!" Wei Feng said arrogantly, clinging to Jiang Gu's shoulder. "Senior is at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Although he's afraid of water, he'll still beat you up without hesitation!"
Jiang Gu's expression changed slightly. Immediately afterward, Qi Fengyuan's attack changed its method. Thick and heavy water pressed down on him from all directions. The aura around him was squeezed thinner and thinner, and spider web-like cracks appeared. Salty and fishy water seeped in through the cracks, causing his spiritual power to stagnate for a moment.
Qi Fengyuan seized the initiative in that instant. Knowing that he was in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he no longer held back. He manipulated the water around Jiang Gu to form an oval-shaped water sphere. This water was heavier than lake water and crashed into the mud and sand, completely sucking away the air inside.
"Shattered Star Weak Water." Jiang Gu's tone was heavy. "There really is someone who can refine such a natal magic weapon."
Qi Fengyuan's grayish-white eyes were fixed on him. "Release Wei Feng, and I may spare your life."
Jiang Gu smiled coldly, "It doesn't matter who peels the scales, it's still peeling them. If they fall into my hands, I can give them a quick death."
Wei Feng felt a chill run down his spine. "Senior, this is caused by the assimilation of resentment. I am not anything at all— um."
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Gu reached out and covered his mouth. Ignoring the wound on his hand where the merman's fangs had pierced his skin, Jiang Gu stared at Wei Feng with a cold gaze and said, "Say one more word, and I'll pull out your tongue first."
Wei Feng nodded vigorously with his mouth being held shut.
Jiang Gu released his grip, flipped his palm, and grabbed the longsword that appeared out of thin air. The spiritual power within his body surged and churned. The blade cut through the water, producing a teeth-grinding, ear-piercing sound. The originally impenetrable Shattered Star Weak Water trembled violently twice, allowing some lake water and air to seep in.
Qi Fengyuan manipulated the Weak Water with hand seals, attempting to repair the gap, but a thunderbolt suddenly shot through the gap and towards Jiang Gu.
If the thunderbolt had exploded in the narrow space of the Weak Water, Jiang Gu would have been reduced to ashes. At the critical moment, Jiang Gu grabbed Wei Feng in his hand and shoved him forward to block the thunderbolt. The thunderbolt instantly changed direction, and Jiang Gu took the opportunity to draw the thunderbolt into his sword. With the help of the opponent's powerful spiritual energy, he broke open the Weak Water and escaped with Wei Feng, who was almost charred.
"Heh, you're quite clever." Zhou Xiuyuan's figure slowly appeared not far away, lightning crackling around him, his gaze falling on Wei Feng. "But you'd better leave the Divine Shark behind—"
He rushed towards Jiang Gu at almost the same time as Qi Fengyuan, while the black-haired merman who suddenly appeared behind Jiang Gu also bared his sharp teeth at him.
The combined attack of two late-stage Nascent Soul experts and a Nascent Soul stage merman was incredibly powerful, instantly shattering the entire lakebed and pulverizing the rocks on the lake surface.
Inside the Weak Water Space, Wei Feng gripped the wooden plaque in his hand and quickly chanted the incantation. Taking advantage of Jiang Gu's desperate resistance, he swung his tail and pushed Jiang Gu away, then entered the void created by the wooden plaque.
Just as he was about to succeed, a cold, white hand suddenly grabbed his tail.
Wei Feng's scales were squeezed so hard they popped out.
At the same time, the cultivators who were training in the Chaolong Secret Realm were all attracted by the loud noise, and dozens of divine senses surged towards this side, including one at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage.
As the overwhelming mud and sand slowly fell, a hint of excitement appeared in Zhou Xiuyuan's eyes. He couldn't wait to see Jiang Gu's disheveled appearance after being seriously injured. However, there was no sign of Jiang Gu in the deep, shattered ravine at the bottom of the lake.
Not to mention the Divine Kite Shark.
"Where is he?!" Zhou Xiuyuan's expression changed.
Qi Fengyuan and Qing Du, who were beside him, reacted even faster and caught up with the divine senses before they arrived.
Half an hour later.
Jiang Gu climbed out of the deep pool, his black clothes completely soaked, and dark blood dripped from the hem of his clothes into the soil. He staggered forward with a pale face, turned around and scooped into the pool, pulling out half of a silver-blue fish tail.
The fish is still stubbornly resisting and refusing to come out.
Blood trickled down Jiang Gu's cold jaw. He suddenly exerted force, pulling the merman boy out of the water and throwing him to the ground.
Wei Feng curled up in pain.
Jiang Gu, covered in blood, walked over and knelt on the ground. He grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him up like a fish, saying with a half-smile, "Looks like you're not as stupid as you seem."
I wonder when this kid discovered his weakness was water.
Wei Feng looked guiltily at the ice spike still dripping blood from his waist and abdomen. He had stabbed Jiang Gu when he pushed him away, hoping to buy some time, but Jiang Gu still managed to catch him red-handed.
Jiang Gu's expression was cold and stern. The hand gripping Wei Feng's neck gradually tightened. Wei Feng struggled weakly for a couple of moments before stopping, his hand drooping limply at his waist.
Jiang Gu chuckled and took the storage bag from his hand with his other hand. "Your ability to play dead is quite convincing."
After waiting a while, the little mermaid who had been pretending to be dead quietly opened her eyes a crack, gave him a harmless smile, and said weakly, "Senior, I really didn't mean to hurt you, but you said you would peel off my scales and remove my bones, I... I'm scared."
Jiang Gu released his grip on Wei Feng's neck, then placed his fingers in a hand seal between Wei Feng's eyebrows. The fish tail and ear fins that had grown on Wei Feng's body after being assimilated by the resentment slowly disappeared, and the merman scent also completely vanished.
Wei Feng looked at him with some surprise and uncertainty.
"Peel off the scales and remove the bones." Jiang Gu repeated expressionlessly, reaching out to grab the ice spike that had pierced his waist and abdomen and pulling it out.
Warm blood splattered onto Wei Feng's chin. His face turned pale as he tried to back away, but Jiang Gu grabbed the back of his neck. Jiang Gu's ruthless voice rang in his ear, "It's not just about peeling off your scales and bones. I'm going to refine you into a puppet, to be at my command for all eternity."
Jiang Gu looked at the boy, who was either knocked unconscious or frightened, and reached out to pull open his tattered front, revealing his fair chest.
Sure enough, there was a small, silvery-blue shark scale on the left side of his chest, surrounded by a light red hue.
The blood-stained fingers traced the scale, the icy touch making Wei Feng flinch.
Jiang Gu glanced back at the several probing divine senses that were extending towards him, then picked the person up and disappeared from the spot.
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