A Dragon's Maw
"Understood."
In truth, Jekyeong had briefly considered gathering them all to use as meat shields, but ultimately decided against it. The primary reason was simple: he doubted they could even perform that role adequately.
Not all cultivators were created equal. Throwing them into a battlefield would be akin to tossing a lifelong farmer naked before a heavily armored army. They would be cut down as uselessly as weeds before a scythe, without exerting the slightest influence on the tide of battle.
On the other hand, the Water Beasts were different. While their cultivation realms were technically no different from those of the low-level human cultivators, the beasts possessed a highly useful instinct. They were ignorant, ferocious, and utterly subservient to higher-ranking members of the Beast Race. Instead of suffocating in terror when faced with death, they bared their vicious fangs. Such traits made them incredibly useful instruments of war.
"Jekyeong."
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to ask the others for help?"
Cheongo began listing the names of the Great Demons Jekyeong usually associated with. It placed particular emphasis on Jang Yeong's name. Jekyeong shared many things with Cheongo, so the spiritual bird knew that Jekyeong's involvement in this war was at least half due to Jang Yeong.
Consequently, Cheongo's feelings toward Jang Yeong were far from pleasant. Though it didn't say so outright, the bird clearly regarded Jang Yeong as the root cause of this impending disaster.
"No. I won't be asking them for help."
"Why?"
"It's simple. The larger you grow, the more exposed you become. If our forces grow stronger, the forces they send to crush us will grow stronger as well. Of course, it would be a different story if we could become so powerful that they wouldn't even dare to attack... but that's impossible."
Gathering that much power was difficult enough, but even if he succeeded, it would pose another problem. Jekyeong had no confidence in his ability to control the Great Demons he assembled. The individuality of the Beast Race was far stronger than that of humans, and this was especially true for the stubborn, headstrong Great Demons. The most he could do was wave a carrot to coax them; the idea of commanding and driving them onto a battlefield was utterly out of the question.
"Besides, it doesn't make much of a difference whether they're here or not. When the humans invade, they won't focus all their forces solely on me."
As long as Gwak Jeong-sin kept his eyes fixed on him, Jekyeong couldn't avoid bearing the brunt of the assault, but the other Great Demons wouldn't have it easy either. In a sense, the other beasts would naturally disperse the humans' military strength. That was more than enough.
Dozens of vessels flying the banners of the Yeongbu Merchant Alliance advanced sluggishly. Their pace was slow enough to make a turtle yawn. Part of it was intentional, but in truth, they couldn't have sped up even if they wanted to.
This was because several of the largest ships in the fleet were towing massive stone pillars at their sterns. These stone pillars, nearly as large as the vessels themselves, were no ordinary objects. They were specialized dharma treasures designed for underwater detection, known as the Ocean-Measuring Anchor.
They could detect enemies approaching stealthily underwater and suppress the water-based spiritual energy within a certain radius, effectively neutralizing the Water Beasts. It was a treasure perfectly tailored for anti-beast warfare. However, even for a dharma treasure, it was prohibitively expensive, making its use exceedingly rare outside of wartime.
It was a rare artifact of which only a few existed even within the Yeongbu Merchant Alliance of Yangseo Lake, and Gwak Jeong-sin had specially borrowed them for this campaign.
"I thought they would have reacted by now, yet everything remains quiet."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Of course, but..."
"Don't overthink it. We only need to focus on our own duties."
Though he spoke dismissively, Gwak Jeong-sin also felt that something was amiss. The Black Flood Dragon was by no means an opponent to be underestimated; he would have completed all his preparations before they even left the port. Yet, even now, as they crossed into the Heukgyo Water Territory, there was not a single reaction...
Surely he hasn't fled?
The thought crossed his mind for a fleeting second, but Gwak Jeong-sin immediately dismissed it. No, that couldn't be. The dragon had established too much here. He would never abandon everything without putting up a single fight.
Jekyeong. You grew far too greedy.
Infiltrating the Human Territory using human subordinates. Haeyeon Island and the Ghost Spider. Even the recent raids on merchant ships by the Great Demons. Gwak Jeong-sin had long since grasped exactly how the Black Flood Dragon known as Jekyeong was expanding his influence.
If you choose to slip from my grasp, then I have no reason to show you mercy.
Just as a common, promising talent of the Yeongbu Merchant Alliance had risen to become Vice Chairman, an unnamed Great Demon had become the dragon lord of the Heukgyo Water Territory. It was no one's fault. Their positions had simply shifted, and with that shift, the way they viewed each other had naturally changed.
Gwak Jeong-sin briefly recalled the past—the time he had first arrived in this water territory riding a puppet bird. Though not many years had passed, it felt strangely like a lifetime ago.
Thump!
Just as he was lost in thought, the water's surface suddenly shuddered, and the ships began to rock violently in tandem.
"What's happening?!"
"Activate the Ocean-Measuring Anchors!"
Several cultivators hurriedly channeled their spiritual energy into the Ocean-Measuring Anchors. Dozens of spirit stones crumbled to dust in an instant, and the anchors, which had looked like ordinary stone pillars, began to emit a soft, silver glow.
"There's no reaction! It's not a beast!"
"That's impossible!"
Amidst the rising clamor from all sides, Gwak Jeong-sin stared at the churning surface with cold, calculating eyes. The water was thrashing with increasing violence, as if foreshadowing some cataclysmic phenomenon.
Gwak Jeong-sin's premonition was spot on. The shaking of the water grew progressively worse. Waves of all sizes surged continuously, and the ships went from rocking to violently dancing upon the swells.
The cultivators gathered here were at least at the mid-stage of Qi Condensation, and they were no fragile greenhouse flowers possessing only cultivation without combat experience. Thus, they did not lose their balance in an unsightly manner despite the wild rocking of the ships. But that was all. They could do nothing more than desperately cling to whatever they could find to steady themselves.
"Fellow Daoist Gwak! We are being dragged in!" shouted a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had taken flight on a flying sword.
Upon hearing this, Gwak Jeong-sin immediately soared into the air himself. He instantly confirmed that the warning was true.
"What is this? Is this the work of the Black Flood Dragon?" one cultivator yelled.
But Gwak Jeong-sin immediately shook his head. "No. The Black Flood Dragon does not manipulate water."
"Right, that's true. Then has another Great Demon intervened?"
They had received a brief briefing on the Black Flood Dragon from Gwak Jeong-sin beforehand. It was brief in the literal sense. It wasn't that Gwak Jeong-sin was stingy with information, but rather that there was genuinely very little known about the dragon. At most, they knew that he manipulated fire, possessed an colossal size, and was exceptionally cunning.
"The suction force is growing stronger! At this rate, we'll all be dragged under!"
No sooner had those words been spoken than the water's surface caved inward, forming a massive whirlpool. Everything in the vicinity began to be sucked toward the deep, hollow center of the vortex.
Dozens of ships lurched simultaneously, losing their bearings and spinning out of control. Although the cultivators aboard scraped the very bottom of their spiritual reserves to hold their ground, the whirlpool's pull only intensified.
"Allow me!"
One of the Foundation Establishment cultivators drew one of the spears strapped to his back. Letting out a thunderous roar, he hurled the spear with all his might toward the center of the whirlpool. While the spear had looked ordinary in his hand, the moment it left his grasp, it transformed into a streak of lightning and shot forward.
Boom!
The moment Jekyeong felt the sharp ripple of dharma power, he instinctively gauged its strength. This was a habit he had naturally developed through his accumulating combat experience.
Most cultivators would attempt to dodge or block the moment they sensed an opponent's attack. This was because their physical bodies were fragile. Since their delicate flesh was easily wounded upon impact, they had no choice but to defend themselves.
Jekyeong, however, was different. His physical body was practically a defensive dharma treasure in its own right. Half-hearted attacks could barely scratch his scales. This was not arrogance, but a fact grounded in his past experiences.
Thus, Jekyeong once again instinctively assessed the threat level of the incoming attack. The moment he deemed it was not particularly threatening, he decided to ignore it and continue his "work."
Rumble—
That work was none other than "drinking water." To be more precise, it was "drinking water as fast as possible." He was currently swallowing the water of Yangseo Lake indiscriminately.
At the same time, he vaporized the swallowed water using his monster power. Jekyeong's wide-gaped maw became a colossal watery abyss, endlessly pulling in all the lake water in the vicinity.
Crash!
Just then, the attack Jekyeong had anticipated pierced through the water's surface. Flying as fast as a bolt of lightning, the attack slammed directly into the middle of Jekyeong's massive torso.
Ugh!
Jekyeong flinched involuntarily. The dharma power infused within the attack wasn't particularly overwhelming, but the force was highly concentrated, making its destructive power greater than he had anticipated. It stung quite a bit; perhaps a scale or two had even cracked.
He's quite skilled.
Was this one of the two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators Choi Ju-tang had mentioned? The one who utilized multiple spears?
Hmph. Just you wait.
Suppressing his irritation, Jekyeong sucked in the water with even greater force, dragging the dozens of ships into the whirlpool at an accelerated pace.
Boom! Boom!
The humans above the water were not about to take this lying down. The lightning-like spear flew down twice more, arrows imbued with a mystical light pierced the surface, and a bizarre force momentarily froze the swirling vortex.
"Grrrrr."
Though several attacks battered his body and various unfamiliar techniques attempted to restrain him, Jekyeong did not yield.
They are hesitating.
Jekyeong saw right through his enemies' intentions. They were only making a fuss from above the water, refusing to dive in and unleash their full power. They simply didn't want to take the risk.
Yes, stay right up there.
The vortex, which had been temporarily bound by the strange force, shattered its shackles and expanded even further. Dozens of ships collided with one another, splintering and tilting precariously.
Just then, a beam of light shot straight toward the crown of his head. Jekyeong closed his mouth and shifted his massive frame. A powerful sweep of his tail shattered the beam of light, sending an immense force surging through the currents toward the surface.
Jekyeong roared with all his might.