A force steadied the ship, and it no longer rocked with the waves. That fishy, scorching stench still lingered in the air. The charred monster floated on the sea, its hollow mouth opening soundlessly. A streak of azure light shot from the waves and struck the short spear in its chest. The monster's body shattered at once, sinking to the seabed like spent ashes.
Then the sea split open, and an azure dragon tail burst from the water, kicking up towering waves. A woman walked across the surface, ripples spreading beneath her feet. She wore a long dress of green scales, her hair swaying gently with the current, a faintly glowing scale gleaming at the center of her brow. With a lift of her hand, Mo Feng rose from the edge of the deck and drifted steadily down to the floor.
Chen Wuya leaned against the rail, his vision blurred. He watched the woman approach, her gaze settling on Mo Feng's face. "You..." she said. "You carry the aura of my clan." Her voice was cool and clear, as though it had traveled from the deep sea.
Bai Zhi immediately rose to her feet, her flexible sword held across the dragon maiden's throat. Blood still seeped from her shoulder, but her hand did not tremble. "How do you prove you're of the dragon clan? That thing just now had dragon-clan traits too."
The dragon maiden did not move, merely let out a cold laugh. With a light tap of her fingertip, she condensed an ice crystal in the air. Within it appeared an image—the black chains on the seabed, carved with blood-patterned runes, identical to the markings on the monster's spear.
"This is a restriction laid down by the Demonic Cult," she said. "If I were one of their creations,