Chapter 976: The Merman's Tear; Meeting Saberstorm Again; The Infinite Blaze Prison’s Second Form (I)

Deep beneath the dark sea, violent tremors rolled through the waters. The black murky sea was stirred into surging waves that spread outward. At the very center of it all, two humanoid figures were clashing at astonishing speed. One had a human torso, a fish tail, and a trident in hand. A faint trace of fiend qi still clung to him, but he was breathtakingly handsome, like a fallen immortal. The other bore wings upon his back and wore ancient-looking black armor etched with intricate designs; his movements were swift and forceful as he unleashed massive palm strikes.

Around them stretched a crimson sea of fire that spanned a hundred zhang in width. Within it, the armored man burst forth with incredible speed, flickering through space and casting spells with ease. Each strike landed harder than the last, until the merman was all but driven back. Then, without warning, the merman let go of the trident and let it drift at his side. He blinked once, and a single blue tear dripped down from his left eye; the moment it fell, he sent it hurtling forward. That single move caused his aura to drop to the point of vanishing, and blood even flowed from his eye.

Seeing this, the armored man reacted as though he were confronted with a deadly threat. He thrust his palm forward, sending out three palm manifestations in succession. They shattered the blue tear into a spray of glittering fragments, and only then did he let out a quiet breath of relief. Yet in the next instant, those scattered shards suddenly flared to life within the sea of fire, gathering into a massive bubble that sealed him inside. At the sight, the merman's face lit up with joy. Without wasting even a split second, he grabbed the blue trident and thrust it forward again and again.

From within the bubble, blue chains of energy burst forth, lashing toward the armored man. Once entangled, the man within would surely be restrained. And yet, even facing this danger, the man remained completely unhurried. With a cold snort, he pressed a finger to his lower abdomen, and azure flames swallowed him whole. Within the blazing prison, he seemed to turn into a devil wreathed in hellfire. As the chains closed in, he simply reached out, grabbed them, and tugged violently.

Clatter!

The merman outside the bubble was dragged toward the armored man. He struggled desperately, trying to summon the remnants of his demonic power, but the surrounding flames threw his energy flow into chaos, leaving it completely beyond his control. Before his terrified eyes, the azure flames flared violently, burning away the blue bubble. The armored man took a step forward and instantly appeared before the merman, as if by teleportation. His broad hand shot out and clamped around the merman's slender neck.

The armored man sneered. "Well, it's just too bad. I was expecting a pretty little mermaid."

The merman's neck was held in a vice-like grip; with his face red and distorted from the sheer effort and hatred, his beauty was nowhere to be seen. He let out a hoarse roar. "How dare you!? The merfolk are not toys for your kind!"[1]

Quite proud, aren't you? Though I suppose you have reasons to be. Luo Chen nodded slightly. The merman was truly strong, and those strange, unpredictable abilities had been tough to deal with. He had pushed Luo Chen further than expected, even forcing him to use the second form of the Infinite Blaze Prison, which he had only just developed.

But that was where it ended. He tightened his grip until the merman was nearly choked to death. At the same time, the azure flames coiling around him stirred, slipping along his fingertips and spreading over the merman's body like living snakes. A strange fragrance began to seep through the murky depths of the Sunken Sea. Luo Chen closed his eyes as surging vitality poured into him, so soothing it nearly drew a groan from his lips. It had been a long time since he had refined a demonic beast with his primordial true fire, and this one was even a late-stage Demon King.

Under the refinement of the Withering-Flourishing True Fire, life force flowed into him in an endless stream, making his body quiver. The merman, six or seven chi tall, had been reduced to skin and bone; after a series of violent convulsions, he stopped moving altogether. Deep within this withered frame, a demon core struggled desperately against the azure flames but could not break free. A quiet shout echoed from within it. "When our lord breaks free from the Heaven of Northern Yama, all of you will be doomed!"

But Luo Chen acted as though he heard nothing, and simply continued to burn down the merman's body, only leaving a single piece of flesh intact. After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he finally loosened his grip. The charred remains crumbled into ash and drifted slowly to the seabed. With a flick of his hand, the piece of flesh and the blue trident flew into his grasp and were stored within his Ink Ring. Only then did he finally turn around.

"Fellow Daoist, you've been watching for quite some time. Have you seen enough?"

A massive arc of saber light split the water open, and a tall, imposing man stepped through. Luo Chen's gaze sharpened slightly. "So it's you, Fellow Daoist Saberstorm. Greetings!"

Greetings? The hell are you greeting me for? Saberstorm let out a soft snort. Luo Chen's vigilance was obvious; even the azure flames coiling around him had yet to disperse, and he was clearly ready for another fight. But Saberstorm did not call him out on it. Instead, his gaze shifted to the submerged mountain ranges now swallowed by the churning black seawater. Broken peaks and shattered cliffs lay strewn everywhere, the lingering traces of water and fire having carved a vast basin into the seabed.

Saberstorm's eyes narrowed slightly. "As expected of someone titled Devil Lord... Not bad."

"Oh?" Luo Chen raised a brow.

Saberstorm was not one to praise others, yet the scene he'd seen earlier still lingered in his mind. Among the demon clans of the Northern Sea, the merfolk were known for their strength. Upon reaching the third tier, they would awaken an innate demonic ability—the Ocean Tear. It was an ability rarely used unless one of the merfolk was driven to the brink of death, but once unleashed, it carried the weight of an entire ocean. Even Sages who practiced water-based techniques would go out of their way to collect such tears and use them as conduits for powerful killing techniques. And yet, Luo Chen had taken that strike head-on and come through unscathed!

At that thought, Saberstorm's expression shifted, and he immediately changed the topic. "You've gone a bit too far. You've hunted down five of my demons! Do you have any idea how much of a headache you're causing me?"

Luo Chen narrowed his eyes. "Your demons? I wouldn't say that."

Next moment, an invisible clash of divine consciousness flared between them. Saberstorm looked eager to fight, and his golden saber vibrated in his grip. Opposite him, Luo Chen stood cold and still, azure flames surging and ebbing across his body without rest. Then, as if recalling something, Luo Chen suddenly withdrew his primordial true fire.

Saberstorm was clearly caught off guard. "Devil Lord, you—"

"Saberstorm, do you happen to know Ding Yi?"

Saberstorm's expression shifted, and the urge to fight faded from his eyes.

Seeing that, Luo Chen smiled faintly. As expected, Ding Yi's contact within the Three Oceans Defensive Line had been Saberstorm all along. Ding Yi's grasp of the Sunken Sea was uncannily thorough. He claimed it came from interrogating an Adept from the devil sect, yet much of it clearly reflected recent developments. In fact, such information was far beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators along the defensive lines. Even those stationed there could only grasp fragments. To know as much as Ding Yi did, one would have to remain there for years, watching everything firsthand.

Among all those stationed across the three defensive lines, only a battle fanatic like Saberstorm would remain there long-term, actively tracking the movements of demonic beasts. That made it easy to deduce their relationship once Luo Chen thought about it.

A friend of a friend could, at the very least, be tolerated. In a place as dangerous as this, there was no need to fight unnecessarily. Luo Chen shook his head and went straight past Saberstorm. Though Saberstorm tightened his grip on his saber, he ultimately did not act.

As they passed each other, Luo Chen said softly, "Don't worry. I won't touch the other late-stage Demon Kings for now. If you're interested, you can go after them yourself."

By the time Saberstorm came back to his senses, Luo Chen was already gone. His expression flickered. With his speed, he could still catch up and fight Luo Chen, but recalling the latter's techniques, especially that strange fire cage spanning a hundred zhang, he suddenly lost confidence in himself. Forget it. He's a bit too tough. Besides, he knows Ding Yi.

The thought lingered, and the urge to pursue gradually faded. Whether it was those final words or a trace of genuine caution, even he could not say. But in the next moment, his eyes snapped wide open. "Wait—the Scorching Flame Sawtooth Shark!"

1. This dialogue is originally based on an untranslatable wordplay between the word 美人鱼 (měirényú, literally "beautiful human-fish"), which refers to the Western idea of merfolk, and the word 鲛人 (jiāorén, literally "sharkman") which refers to the merfolk in Chinese mythology. The latter appear in the Classic of Mountains and Seas; according to the legends, they can weave a textile called "mermaid silk," which is water repellent, and their tears turn into pearls. Luo Chen calls the merman 美人鱼, which the latter seems to consider derogatory; he says something along the lines of "I am no plaything for humans," which we have preserved here. We also considered using "fishman" for 鲛人, but we preferred merman/mermaid/merfolk, so we chose to alter the conversation slightly. ☜