Thunder Eels

After swimming for several days and covering more than ten thousand li, Zhou Er finally found a large island.

However, before Zhou Er could even reach the shore, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator flew over and barked, "What kind of Demonic Person are you? How dare you run wild on Juqiao Island?"

Though Zhou Er couldn't understand the cultivator's words, his Spiritual Sense let him grasp their general meaning. The man had mistaken him for someone of the Demon Race.

"I'm Cang Er, not a member of the Demon Race."

Zhou Er leaped out of the water and hurriedly explained.

"Look at the scales on your neck, and you still claim you're not a Demonic Person!"

As Zhou Er emerged from the water, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator activated the horsetail whisk in his hand. A murderous gust of wind swept toward Zhou Er.

Seeing this, Zhou Er quickly ducked underwater and evaded the attack. Then he poked his head back above the surface and said, "I can explain."

"Who wants to hear your explanation? Juqiao Island doesn't welcome Demonic People from the water. If you dare offend us again, I'll have a True Person come and capture you!"

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator had only exchanged a single blow with Zhou Er, but Zhou Er's lightning-fast reaction had immediately told him that his opponent was no ordinary cultivator. He was rather wary.

When Zhou Er heard mention of a Golden Core True Person, he panicked.

If a True Person really came to capture him, there would be no chance to explain. Without hesitation, he swam out toward the deep sea, eager to escape the trouble.

As he swam, Zhou Er gradually understood. After merging with the Life-Bound Gu, the Azure Nether Poison Flood Dragon, his body had taken on many demonic traits, and he carried demonic aura.

The people of Juqiao Island had probably mistaken him for someone of the Demon Race because of that.

But Zhou Er couldn't separate the Life-Bound Gu from himself now. All he could do was leave with his half-demonic body.

Wary of the Golden Core True Person on Juqiao Island, Zhou Er kept close to the seabed and didn't dare swim up to the surface, lest the Golden Core True Person seize him.

Juqiao Island was clearly out of the question now. With nowhere else to go, he could only return the way he'd come.

Zhou Er had been cultivating with heavy water for a long time, so the immense pressure beneath the sea was nothing to him.

After swimming along the seabed for another day and night, Zhou Er noticed what looked like a human figure near a distant coral reef.

He was still wondering why there would be a human figure in the deep sea when the figure eagerly swam toward him.

She had a fish tail.

At the sight of her, Zhou Er turned and bolted before he could even get a good look.

She had to be a true member of the underwater Demon Race—surely dangerous beyond measure.

"Hey, big brother! Where are you from?"

A Fish Demon called after him.

Zhou Er didn't look back. There was no telling whether this member of the Demon Race would eat him.

In this world of cultivation, danger always came out of nowhere.

"Big brother, wait for me!"

Seeing that Zhou Er didn't turn around, the Fish Demon called out in a huff.

Then a flash of lightning flickered through the water, and the fish-tailed girl appeared right in front of Zhou Er.

Her long, blue-green hair was loosely tied back, with wisps of pale violet lightning often curling through it and flickering faintly as she swam.

Her eyes were a clear, vivid blue, curving into crescents when she smiled. The corners tilted upward, and her gaze brimmed with liveliness, as if it concealed lightning glinting across the tide.

The girl wore no clothes; fine blue scales covered only her most private parts.

"Big brother, you can't outrun me!"

The Mermaid girl said with a smile.

"Who said I was trying to outrun you? I was headed this way. Why are you blocking my path?"

Though Zhou Er was astonished by the girl's uncanny speed, he wasn't particularly flustered. His face remained stern.

Still, from the way she spoke to him so familiarly, Zhou Er could tell she had mistaken him for one of her half-demonic kin.

"Big brother, where are you from? I've never seen you in this Sea Domain before."

The girl giggled, revealing a neat row of tiny teeth.

Zhou Er had just sensed that the girl was only a second-tier, early-stage Demonic Beast—roughly equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator—and posed no threat to him. So he wasn't especially nervous. He merely said, "I'm an Azure Nether Poison Flood Dragon from the land. Of course you've never seen me."

"So big brother belongs to the Flood Dragon lineage! I do too. My family is the Thunder Eel Clan, so we're practically half-relatives."

In terms of Demon Race bloodlines, the Azure Nether Poison Flood Dragon's was far nobler than the Thunder Eel's. The girl excitedly reached out to take Zhou Er's hand.

But Zhou Er dodged her.

The girl wasn't flustered or embarrassed. She only smiled and said, "Big brother, my name is Lei Jiani. Would you like to come visit my home? My father is the king of this Sea Domain."

A Demon King was equivalent in strength to a human Golden Core cultivator.

Zhou Er merely cleared his throat and said, "I'm going home, so I won't be visiting yours."

As if! That was a Demon King.

Who knew whether Lei Jiani had some ulterior motive?

She might look like an adorable young girl now, but who knew if she might trip him up?

"Then can big brother take me to your home to play?"

Lei Jiani asked, staring at him with wide, sky-blue eyes.

"No. Don't follow me."

Zhou Er hurriedly refused, then quickly swam away.

But Lei Jiani stuck to him like a cockroach you couldn't get rid of, edging closer as she said, "Big brother! In this vast seabed, meeting each other must be fate."

Zhou Er didn't answer. He just kept hurrying toward Yueya Island, afraid that a third-tier Demon King might come after him from behind.

Fortunately, nobody came after him by the time he reached Yueya Island.

"Big brother! So this is your home! My cultivation is still too weak for me to go ashore, so I'll see you off here. I'll come find you another time."

Lei Jiani said with a smile.

"Go back. Be careful on the way, and watch out for sharks."

Once on land, Zhou Er felt safer with solid ground beneath his feet and wasn't so afraid of Lei Jiani anymore.

"Big brother! What's there to fear about sharks?"

Lei Jiani was, after all, a second-tier, mid-level half-demon. Ordinary sharks weren't something she needed to fear.

Though he had nothing else to do just then, Zhou Er decided to stay on the island for a few days. He would cultivate through Moon Absorption and, first of all, get away from Lei Jiani.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Big Mouth flew over and told Zhou Er that someone from the Demon Race was wandering around the Shallow Beach.

Zhou Er rushed over and saw Lei Jiani holding a beautiful coral arrangement, decorated with lovely shells and pearls. She said, "Big brother! I found this treasure last night. Do you like it?"

Lei Jiani presented it as though she were showing off a precious gift.

Zhou Er glanced over it and asked, "What's this about?"

"I just thought it looked pretty and wanted to show big brother."

Lei Jiani said.

"Oh!"

Zhou Er nodded slightly, then left.

For the next several days, Lei Jiani came to see Zhou Er every morning. Sometimes she brought him gifts; other times, she sang to him.

Naturally, Zhou Er didn't accept the gifts.

Still, Zhou Er could tell that Lei Jiani liked him wholeheartedly.

He guessed she was drawn to the bloodline of the Flood Dragon lineage.

After all, among the Demon Race—and especially the Water Race—the Dragon Race was held in the highest regard.

Lei Jiani's father was a Demon King. Perhaps she knew a way to break through to the Golden Core realm.

He could make use of this girl.

But Zhou Er also worried that it was a trap, meant to lure him into the sea.

So he would have to test Lei Jiani first.

Over the next few days, Zhou Er gradually warmed up to Lei Jiani and spent half a day chatting with her.

Seeing that her sincerity had won Zhou Er over, Lei Jiani spent every day at the Shallow Beach, chatting away with him about everything under the sun. She was happier than she'd ever been.

From Lei Jiani, Zhou Er also learned a few things about the Demon Race.

Ordinary members of the Demon Race could only take human form after reaching the fourth tier, roughly equivalent to a human Nascent Soul. Then they could establish their own people as a Demon Race and become elders of their kind. Before that, they were merely uncivilized Demonic Beasts.

Both the Demon Race and humanity looked down on Demonic Beasts.

The descendants of the Demon Race, on the other hand, were born with traits of both humans and demons, depending on the strength of their bloodlines.

Though "human" wasn't quite right. They were better described as Dao Bodies.

The Primordial Spirits had created humans in their own image, making humanity the beings most attuned to the Dao. That was why members of the Demon Race became more human the further they cultivated.

Among the Demon Race, the more humanlike one's appearance, the nobler one's bloodline.

Someone like Lei Jiani, whose upper body was entirely human in appearance, already had a fairly noble bloodline.

And someone like Zhou Er, who had hands and feet and looked almost entirely human apart from a few scales and fangs, was of an even nobler sort.

Ordinarily, only the direct blood relatives of fourth-tier Demonic Beasts looked like that.

That was why Lei Jiani had mistaken Zhou Er for someone with a noble bloodline.

Of course, Lei Jiani didn't know Zhou Er was a demonic cultivator who had fallen after cultivating an evil art.

Naturally, Zhou Er couldn't reveal the truth. From what he'd seen, the Demon Race and humanity were enemies who couldn't stand one another.

If he revealed that he was human, he might bring death upon himself.

As Zhou Er's conversations with Lei Jiani grew more frequent, he learned that her father was the Demon King of the five thousand li of sea around them.

Above the Demon Kings were the Heavenly Kings: fourth-tier Demonic Beasts whose strength was comparable to that of Nascent Soul True Lords.

Above the Heavenly Kings were the divine beings.

At present, four Dragon Gods ruled the shallow seas to the east, west, south, and north.

The deeper seas held even more divine beings, but some had been sealed by the Dragon Gods, while others kept out of sight.

As Zhou Er counted the divine beings in the sea, he realized that the sea seemed to have more Spirit Transformation powerhouses than the continent of Wansheng.

The only Spirit Transformation powerhouse Zhou Er had heard of on Wansheng Continent was the Demon Venerable of the Xiantian Demon Sect, from five thousand years ago, along with the three True Lords who had sealed him.

After that, no further tales of True Lords had been passed down.

Though the sea had many Spirit Transformation powerhouses, they were weakened by a third once they came ashore.

That was why the Dragon Gods only stirred in the sea.

The other aquatic Demon Race members didn't come ashore either, and the different sides were mostly at peace.

Only the islands in the outer sea lived in constant fear of raids by aquatic demons.

As Zhou Er and Lei Jiani grew closer, she told him about her Big Sister.

There were three sisters in Lei Jiani's family.

"Cang Gege, I'm only telling you this. You absolutely mustn't tell anyone else, or my Big Sister will be furious with me."

Lei Jiani said solemnly.

"Don't worry. I live on this island. Who else would I tell?"

Zhou Er said with a smile.

After spending more than ten years in this lonely place, hearing a bit of gossip was a welcome change.

"My Big Sister, Lei Jiaxin, once saved a human cultivator, and fell in love with him. She tried every way she could to shed her fish tail so she could go ashore."

"But we haven't reached the Heavenly King realm, so shedding her fish tail wasn't easy. She went to Aunt You and got a spiritual medicine that could help her do it."

"The medicine could help her take human form early, but the price was losing all her cultivation."

"My Big Sister made a promise with that human cultivator. He said that once she came ashore, he would marry her. So even though it meant losing all her demonic power, she still went ashore."

"Later, after she came ashore, she discovered that the human cultivator already had a Dao Companion and an eight-year-old child. He'd betrayed my Big Sister's sincere love."

"In a fit of rage, my Big Sister slaughtered his entire family."

"Humans just love to betray people's feelings. He got what he deserved!"

As she said this, Lei Jiani looked quite satisfied.

Hearing this, Zhou Er's heart gave a thump.

After all, he'd been planning to deceive this little Thunder Eel girl himself.

Seeing how deeply Lei Jiani hated humans, he realized he might be in danger.

"Wait, your Big Sister lost all her cultivation. How could she kill those human cultivators? Surely they weren't easy opponents!"

Zhou Er spotted the problem.

Lei Jiani curled her lip and smiled, revealing her little fangs. "Cang Gege, your Azure Nether Poison Flood Dragon clan has Qingming Cold Poison. My Thunder Eel Clan has secret poisons too."

"I see."

Zhou Er nodded. It seemed Lei Jiani had many Divine Abilities up her sleeve.

That evasion technique that had brought her before him in a flash of lightning had to be one of them.

"Jiani, you've been coming to my island for months. Won't your father worry about you?"

Zhou Er asked.

"I already told him not to worry."

Lei Jiani said with a smile.

If she wanted to win the man she loved, she naturally had to work hard for it.

As long as Zhou Er was willing to pay attention to her—even if he only came to see her once each day—she could keep waiting here.

After chatting with Lei Jiani, Zhou Er saw that the sky was growing dark. Since it was almost time for his Moon Absorption Cultivation, he headed back onto the island.

As he cultivated, Zhou Er was still thinking about something.

The islands along this coast were far too lenient toward the Demon Race. There was no way he could sneak onto one.

For now, if he wanted to form a Golden Core, he could only rely on Lei Jiani's father, the Demon King.

He was already in his forties, and because he cultivated Poison Cultivation, he didn't have many years to spare.

At most, he had thirty years left. If he still couldn't get the chance to form a Golden Core, all his efforts would be for nothing.

Though living off a woman wasn't honorable—and living off a woman of the Demon Race was even worse—it also came with danger.

But Lei Jiani was different from Zhu Yan. Lei Jiani wouldn't control his life.

Besides, Zhou Er held the initiative in this relationship.

If he became Dao Companions with Lei Jiani, his life wouldn't be as miserable as it was in Bashui City.

On the contrary, he could even keep Lei Jiani under his control.

Of course, that was only if Lei Jiani didn't discover that he was human.

Otherwise, given the way Lei Jiani was now, she'd probably swallow him alive.

Still, he couldn't rush this.

After spending another month or so growing closer to Lei Jiani, he had gotten a firm grasp of her family situation and personality.

He felt the time was right.

One day, after Lei Jiani finished singing Zhou Er a love song of the Thunder Eel Clan during one of their quiet chats,

she suddenly noticed that Zhou Er hadn't walked away.

Usually, at a time like this, Zhou Er would leave, deliberately avoiding her feelings.

"Cang Gege! What did you think of my singing?"

Lei Jiani asked, blushing.

In her more than thirty years of life, she had only ever sung for Zhou Er.

She had heard these songs when her older sister sang them to a faithless man, and had gradually learned them herself.

"Jiani, you sang beautifully. After spending more than half a year together, I've realized you really are a good girl. But you know I'm not someone who takes relationships lightly,"

Zhou Er said seriously.

After what he'd gone through with Zhu Yan, that witch, Zhou Er couldn't help but approach matters of the heart with caution.