Chapter 688: Waters of the East Sea

Chapter 688: Chapter 385: Waters of the East Sea

A few months later.

On the East Sea shore, a small fishing boat.

As the sun set in the west, two children ran and played along the beach. For the fisherfolk’s children living by the sea, this was nothing more than their usual pastime before dinner.

The soft sand, the cool evening breeze, and every now and then, you could pick up shells and crabs mingled in the mud and sand.

“Brother, there’s a big fish washed ashore over there.” One of the children pointed at a large fish stranded on the distant beach and shouted.

This fish was more than seven feet long, its whole body gray and white, and its outer surface was covered with many shells and barnacles.

Kids by the sea were never afraid of fish. When the two saw such a big catch, they knew it could fetch them a good price if they brought it back to sell, so they dashed over, running straight up to the fish and inspecting it closely.

The fish’s appearance was bizarre—its face was actually covered with an exoskeleton, making it look as though it was wearing a bone mask.

What’s more, the fish’s belly was incredibly swollen; it seemed to be a pregnant female. The two brothers exchanged a glance, hurriedly took out sharp daggers from their pockets, and stabbed into the fish’s belly, slicing it open with force.

Riiiiip!!!

The moment the blade slit it open, a torrent of roe spurted out from inside the fish, splattering everywhere.

The fish eggs were each the size of a grape, crystal clear like water, and deep red in color, almost like works of art.

The boys had never seen such beautiful fish roe before. Unable to resist, they reached out and picked one up to inspect it.

The roe was as translucent as amber, and you could clearly see a tiny black bead inside. As soon as the boys picked up the roe, an enticing fragrance wafted forth, absolutely irresistible.

Their resistance crumbled before the aroma, as if bewitched. They immediately tossed the roe into their mouths and bit down hard.

The roe melted instantly, sweet and mellow in flavor—a true delicacy of the mortal world.

The two brothers’ eyes lit up. They exchanged a glance and quickly crouched down, shoveling handful after handful of roe into their mouths, juice spurting everywhere, mouths brimming with the lingering taste.

“Mmm!”

Small children know no fear and dare to eat anything that goes into their mouths. The two brothers shook all over, as if seized by a strange transformation—black sludge was violently vomited from their bodies, and the skin that had been dried out by years of sea wind suddenly turned alabaster and tender, smooth as silk.

But this was not the greatest change for these two. Looking at each other, they exchanged a knowing smile: “I have attained enlightenment.”

The elder brother asked, “What have you comprehended?”

The younger replied, “All things are born of water—the path of water control.”

As he moved his right hand, a surge of blue light rose from the sea nearby, gathering above his palm into a sphere of water.

The water sphere sometimes stretched into threads, sometimes expanded into sheets, incredibly nimble and lively.

The younger asked, “And what have you understood?”

“Wood is the spirit of the earth—the Dao of life-giving wood.” With a slight stomp, the elder brother caused saplings to burst up from beneath the sand, transforming this patch of land into a dense forest within moments.

“As brothers, encountering such fortune today, why not found a sect right here and pursue the great Dao of techniques?”

“Agreed.”

Though they appeared to be only eleven or twelve, after eating that fish roe, they acted with uncanny maturity, speaking like adults—a true marvel.

After the two confirmed each other’s intentions, they set off together.

Meanwhile, similar occurrences were happening everywhere across the nine provinces of the land.

An old man in Shu was fishing by the river when he suddenly caught a silver-white snow eel. He brought it home for the family to share, and within three hours, all six members sprouted white scales, their arms became powerfully built, and they could leap several zhang high, impervious to blades and spears—matching the Inner Strength Martial Artists who had trained for years.

In the Northern Desert, a Great Han brute hauling water at the oasis quenched his thirst on the spot. Before long, with a single thought, he could command water to form ropes and walk upon the surface as if it were solid ground—a most wondrous sight.

In the Southern Border, in a small tribe, a dying shaman drank from a pot of stream water just fetched by the clansmen. His life, all but spent, blazed anew, his youth returned as if by immortals’ grace.

Such tales were too numerous to count. Some reaped great fortune, while others ended up in miserable straits, like the four masters of the Chen Mansion.

The world surged with change, as if a brand new era was thundering onto the stage of history.

Later eras would call this the weakening of the martial way and the rise of the path of immortals—an age of cultivation under the heavens.

…

The wandering corpses of the Northern Desert had already been wiped out completely by the Great Tang army within these few months, no longer a threat.

But these months also saw Chang’an receiving wave after wave of dreadful news, each more shocking than the last, leaving Sanhuang with splitting headaches.

In some place, an entire village had turned into monsters, seized the land to become overlords, broke from the Great Tang, and founded their own clans—such-and-such mountain, such-and-such cave, such-and-such family.

Sanhuang dispatched a five-thousand-strong army to destroy them. Though they ultimately succeeded, they lost over two thousand soldiers, while their opponents were but a village of six hundred.

Elsewhere, a sect of immortals rose to power, devoted to cultivation and ascension, opening its doors wide to disciples, its incense flourishing, emboldened enough to ignore the imperial edicts.

Sanhuang sent an army of thirty thousand to annihilate the sect—though the cult was wiped out in the end, the cultivators wielded strange arts, killing 8,600 from the imperial army. That day, the mountain gate reeked of blood, corpses littering the ground, the news shaking the world.

Those unstable factors that military force could suppress were one thing, but what truly worried Sanhuang was that as time went by, these cultivation sects and monster clans mushroomed violently. The imperial army had its limits—should the day come they could no longer be suppressed, the Great Tang’s dominion would be lost for good.

“Your Majesty, there is urgent news from the Southern Border. A group of tribes there have established the ‘Five Venoms Immortal Sect’—they’re openly seizing cities and imprisoning the officials.” A palace guard stepped into the study and placed a letter on Sanhuang’s desk.

Sanhuang rubbed his throbbing forehead—this was already the seventh force to publicly defy the court this month. The Southern Border’s terrain was a maze of wild mountains and treacherous peaks—a natural shield for the locals, but a bone stuck in the army’s throat.

The emergence of open rebellion in such a place was fraught with peril. Mishandle it and the empire could be gravely wounded, even lose its teeth altogether.

“I see. You may go.” Sanhuang waved his hand, and the guard immediately withdrew from the study.

“As for the matter of the East Sea waters—Master warned me long ago, but never could I have imagined it would change the world so dramatically. Fortunately, it is not only the commoners who have benefited from the East Sea’s gift.” Sanhuang tapped the table and muttered softly, “Deploy the Golden Dragon Army. Eliminate the Southern Border’s ‘Five Venoms Immortal Sect’ at once.”

It seemed like he was speaking to himself, but in the next instant, a voice responded from somewhere hidden in the room.

“As you command.”