Wukong and his two brothers hurried on their way without daring to stop, headed for the North Sea of Uttara Kuru Kingdom.
The trio had profound mana and their escape techniques were well-practiced. However, the Jiao Demon King excelled specifically in the water escape technique, so he was slightly slower. Wukong and the Ox Demon King could only slow down their pace, and together the three of them flew on clouds. The formidable trio of demon kings naturally faced no trouble along the way, hence their journey was smooth sailing. After several days, they finally reached Uttara Kuru Kingdom, and after several more days of flying, they arrived at the edge of the North Sea.
"Is this... the North Sea?" The three warriors stood on the cliff overlooking the North Sea, and as far as they could see, the sea was pitch black, emitting a dense death energy. All the fish and shrimp in the sea were dead, their white bellies turned up and floating on the surface.
The Jiao Demon King quickly took out a jade token to contact his subordinates, and soon, there was a response. He announced his location, and before long, someone flew over, descending beside the cliff. Wukong saw that this was a burly Great Han clad in armor, with the true form of a whale. Upon seeing the Jiao Demon King, he hastily knelt down and bowed, saying, "Great King, not long after you left, a great disaster befell the North Sea, and all of our brothers have perished!"
The Jiao Demon King's face grew unsightly as he asked, "Dragon Whale, what exactly happened?"
The Dragon Whale's complexion turned red and white intermittently, clearly frightened by the memory of the catastrophe, and he said, "That day, death energy seeped from the depths of the North Sea, killing many fish and shrimp. But those of us with cultivation were unfazed, so we didn't pay much attention. After a day, when we woke up, the whole North Sea was engulfed by death energy, potent enough to harm even masters of the Dao of Immortals. Only because I have thick skin and flesh could I run to shore, but our brothers couldn't withstand the torment of the death energy and lost their lives."
The few of them looked at the pitch-black seawater, floating with pieces of fish and shrimp, shimmering white under the sunlight with some reflective brilliance.
Hearing the Dragon Whale's words, all three of them couldn't help but be taken aback. Where did such formidable death energy come from to cover the entire North Sea? The Jiao Demon King frowned and said, "The depths of the North Sea is Beiming, a danger known to those of us from the Aquatic Tribes, hence we never set foot into the Thunder Pond. Could it be that something happened in Beiming?"
However, the Ox Demon King thought to himself, "Patriarch once mentioned that during their time in Beiming, they had a battle with someone. Could it be that a formation was damaged, allowing the death energy from the corpse of a suppressed great being to leak out? This is too terrifying. The whole North Sea is shrouded in death energy. I fear even I wouldn't dare approach it."
The Dragon Whale said, "Now it's impossible to fly over the North Sea, and I dare not enter the water again. The seawater is chilling to the bone, harmful to the soul, as if it's freezing the Three Flowers and Five Qi."
This Dragon Whale's magic power was mediocre, only at the level of a Third Layer Heavenly Immortal. However, considering his abilities, his ascension into the ranks of Taiyi Golden Immortals seemed only a matter of time. The Third Layer of True Immortals was divided into Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal, and he had been lingering on the level of a Heavenly Immortal for quite some time, hindered only by the lack of opportunity.
The four of them rode the clouds to the beach and descended upon the sands. The water of the North Sea had turned into something akin to stagnant death water, pitch black in color, and it was still, with no waves.
Once on the beach, the smell of the sea breeze was a strong, rotten fish stench that made one want to vomit, causing everyone to repeatedly frown.
Wukong crouched by the sea, dipped his hand into the seawater, and immediately felt a chill from his fingertips spreading to his whole body. His Primordial Spirit shivered twice in rapid succession. He hurriedly withdrew his hand and with a rotation of the Three Flowers and Five Qi, he drew a deep breath of Congenital True Qi into himself to dispel the chill within.
The Ox Demon King and the Jiao Demon King also dipped their hands in to test it and indeed felt the cold penetrate deep into their marrow. No wonder, with their high levels of cultivation, they couldn't stand the death energy on the shore. For the aquatic tribes in the depths of the sea, survival was even less likely. Although the North Sea Dragon Palace was also powerful, it evidently couldn't withstand such death energy.
The Jiao Demon King said, "If that's the case, can't we just build a ship and sail into the sea?"
But the Dragon Whale replied, "Great King, that is absolutely not possible. Ordinary ships will sink to the bottom of the sea in just a moment. Recently, some powerful People of the Immortal Path built large ships and then went into the sea."
Wukong was just about to ask a question when he saw a familiar figure descending on the beach and couldn't help but be overjoyed, shouting, "Sister!"
The newcomer was Wusheng, who, hearing the call, turned around and saw it was Wukong, asked, "What brings you here?"
Wukong ran up and said, "My brother's home is in the North Sea. Hearing about the disaster that befell it, I accompanied him to take a look. What about you, sister? How come you are here?"
Wusheng replied, "I'm here to figure out why the North Sea has become like this."
Wukong asked, "Sister, do you have a way to go out to sea? This death energy is said to be drifting from Beiming."
Wusheng frowned slightly and said, "The North Sea is extremely dangerous. You should not go to sea. Just return from where you came. I'll go ahead."
No sooner had she spoken than her robe flapped, revealing a huge warship. She somersaulted onto the ship, hung a horsetail whisk on the mast, which Wukong recognized as Patriarch Subhuti's. Wusheng then activated the warship, and it slowly disappeared on the sea surface, leaving Wukong feeling disappointed. His sister was indeed as indifferent as ever, not excited to see him, nor willing to share more information.
The Ox Demon King couldn't help but laugh and scold, "Wukong, this is your sister? She seems quite arrogant. She really should be taught a lesson!"
Before the words had settled, a streak of green light flew over the sea surface, and before anyone could react, the Ox Demon King was hit by it right on the crown of his head, tumbling to the ground and crying out in pain. His physical body was incredibly tough, so the fact that he was hurt by a single hit was proof of the severity of the attack, and if it had hit anyone else on the crown of their head, it would have certainly caused their heads to blossom like a thousand peach flowers. The Ox Demon King, clutching his head, rolled on the ground, gasping in agony.
Wukong could not help but laugh, "Brother, my sister has quite the temper; it's best you don't provoke her, or else you might struggle to protect your little life."
Shaking and trembling, the Ox Demon King slowly got up from the ground; it seemed that the green light had directly ignored physical defenses, penetrating into his Primordial Spirit, causing such pain that it felt as though it was about to split apart. In his heart, he was secretly shocked at who this woman could be, to possess such strength, while also wondering about the origins of Wukong's sect. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh, indeed, it was no wonder that the Patriarch had secretly signaled for him to descend to the Lower Realm and foster a good relationship with him.
The Jiao Demon King also watched with a heart full of fear and trepidation. Such techniques could perhaps be from a Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal, a master of that level? He had witnessed the might of the Ox Demon King, who could battle The Five Peaks' True Gods without falling behind—an incredible level of cultivation. Yet unexpectedly, talking behind someone's back from so far away had resulted in being knocked to the ground, unable to get up. The Jiao Demon King thought to himself that if that streak of green light hit his own crown, it would definitely cause his Primordial Spirit to be shattered.
Wusheng's warship had already vanished without a trace, and the Ox Demon King, slowly standing up from the ground, cursed inwardly, but he dared not speak out loud; this woman was just too powerful.
Wukong said, "That warship also seems quite ordinary; it's likely able to sail the sea because of the horsetail whisk."
The Jiao Demon King agreed, "That's right, I'm most skilled at water warfare and can tell at a glance that the warship is made of ordinary materials. The fact that she could drive the warship out to sea must definitely be due to the horsetail whisk. I've got several warships here too, but I'm not sure whether your Magical Treasures can protect them?"
Wukong then said, "Why not give it a try and see?"
The Jiao Demon King responded, laid the warship upon the sea, and all four jumped aboard, attempting to move forward, only to feel as if they were trapped in a quagmire, unable to move an inch.
Wukong imitated Wusheng and placed the Divine Whip on the mast, and then saw the Eighty-Four Talismans of the Divine Whip glow with radiance. After that, when he drove the warship, it was able to move.
"Indeed, it's correct! Brothers, shall we explore the North Sea and see what's there?" said the Jiao Demon King. With such a powerful individual scouting ahead, he was not afraid of encountering any problems. He simply had to follow, for the North Sea was mysterious and enigmatic, rumored to be the birthplace of Kunpeng and an important battlefield during the Middle Ancient Period, likely harboring countless lost Magical Treasures from that era.
Wukong said, "This Divine Whip of mine is only an imitation; I'm not sure whether it can make it to the North Sea, but trying it out sounds good."
The Ox Demon King said, "Indeed, it should be given a try."
All three were extremely curious about the unknown and wanted to uncover what exactly had happened in the North Sea that caused such devastation to the Aquatic Tribes.
Wukong also wanted to follow Wusheng and see for himself, so he let the Jiao Demon King steer the warship forward.
The warship was equipped with its own Formation, into which inserting Crystal Stones imbued with Spiritual Energy could power it up, which was extremely convenient.
The Jiao Demon King placed several Crystal Stones into the Formation, then steered the warship. With a rumbling sound, the warship slowly started moving and then sped up, breaking through layer upon layer of black waves, heading towards the North Sea. Along the way, the surface was littered with dead fish and shrimp, as well as Aquatic Tribe experts who had attained monstrous form, all unable to escape their fates and perishing in the sea.
"Those are Patrolling Sea Demons, all dead... and the North Sea Dragon Palace's Octopus General, a Taiyi Golden Immortal master," said the Jiao Demon King as he noticed a group of figures floating on the sea. Upon closer inspection, it was a team of Patrolling Sea Demons from the North Sea Dragon Palace. A chill rose in his heart—where was this deathly aura coming from that even Taiyi Golden Immortals and Daluo Golden Immortals could not withstand?
Crouching on the rail of the ship, Wukong looked out to see dead Aquatic Tribes with bellies turned skyward floating on the sea. The sight was chilling and the stench of rotting fish reached them, making them extremely uncomfortable.
The Ox Demon King said, "Old Jiao, be extra cautious when steering, and don't damn well get us killed!"
Though somewhat fearful, the Jiao Demon King became even more careful, "Rest assured, Brother, I will navigate cautiously and not risk our lives."
After sailing for several hours, they saw two more warships; those warships were manned by People of the Immortal Path. As the Immortal Path was vast and Wukong and the Ox Demon King could not possibly recognize everyone, they did not figure out their origins.
Protected by the Divine Whip, the warship sailed steadily across the sea, heading north, uncertain when they might reach the North Sea.
To find out what happens next, please tune in to the following episode.