Battle on the Water

The night grew deeper, and the river lay pitch-black.

Feng Xu untied the grass ropes around the children and used his Spirit Sense to probe the movement beneath the water.

"If you do this, you'll bring calamity upon us!"

The chief shouted furiously.

"Drive them away!"

"No, sacrifice them to quell the water god's wrath."

Beside the chief, several core members of the tribe cursed as well. Some even dropped to their knees, begging the gods for forgiveness.

The chief also took the lead in kneeling and repeatedly kowtowing.

"Xu, what do we do now?"

The monster beneath the water could attack at any moment, and the people of this tribe could not be relied upon either.

"Feng Xi, hold it off for now. I have a backup plan, but I need time."

Feng Xu opened the Merit Mall and found Merit Treasure Refinement.

"Put all my Merit into it. Refine!"

All the rope they had twisted aboard the bamboo raft vanished, along with the untreated bark.

Feng Xu's consciousness entered a void. Before his eyes, the bark broke down into countless fine threads. Countless golden motes poured into them, turning them into pale-golden cords.

Then, the weaving began.

On the bamboo raft, Feng Xi saw Feng Xu suddenly become vacant-eyed, and his heart sank.

At that moment, the enormous maw emerged from beneath the water again.

Feng Xi reacted swiftly, snapping off a stalk of bamboo and striking the giant mouth. Using the recoil, he shoved the raft away and narrowly avoided the attack once more.

This could not go on for long.

Feng Xi split the bamboo apart and rowed frantically.

But his speed was far inferior to that of the aquatic demon.

A huge vortex suddenly appeared ahead, dragging the bamboo raft underwater. Feng Xi changed direction, but another vortex blocked him before long.

Looking up, he saw that the raft had already been surrounded by six enormous whirlpools.

The whirlpools rapidly expanded, Devouring everything around them.

Even the tribe in the marsh was affected. They braced themselves with bamboo poles and rowed toward the shore.

When the creature beneath the water attacked again, Feng Xi stomped his foot, splitting the bamboo raft in two.

The empty half of the raft was instantly swallowed by Devouring.

Sensing that the monster was about to strike again, Feng Xi gave Feng Xu a deep look.

He told the children to hold tightly to the raft, then spun through the air and kicked the raft toward the shore.

The raft flew over the whirlpools and landed in the marsh.

He himself was dragged beneath the water by the monster.

Feng Xi held his breath, activated the Bloodline Power, and transformed into a sixty-foot giant. He clung tightly to the monster's teeth, forcing its jaws apart to keep from being swallowed.

He was dragged through the water in a wild rampage, while the whirlpools on the surface gradually disappeared.

Feng Xu's eyes suddenly regained their light.

He looked around, but Feng Xi was nowhere to be seen. Alarm surged through him.

He raised a hand and brought forth his Dharma Treasure, the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web.

The situation was urgent, and there was no time to think of a name. The first term related to a net that came to mind was this one.

"Collect!"

Feng Xi let out a fierce shout.

The fishing net spread open in midair, rapidly growing until it covered an area five li across.

The river water surged upward in reverse, passing through the net and shooting toward the heavens.

A golden carp over thirteen hundred feet long, along with countless ordinary fish, was swept into the net by the current.

Taking advantage of the golden carp's panic, Feng Xi escaped from its mouth, landed on the river's surface, and swam toward the bamboo raft.

Feng Xu retrieved the Dharma Treasure. The Heavenly Net and Earthly Web swiftly shrank into the shape of an ordinary fishing net.

The two men took the children and, ignoring everyone's astonished gazes, used half a bamboo raft to row back toward their own group.

He had used all his Merit to refine a low-grade Houtian Merit Spirit Treasure. It was more than enough to deal with a demon that had only just entered the Earth Immortal realm.

Not only had he used the more than sixty thousand Merit he had saved up, but another sixty thousand Merit had descended when the fishing net took shape.

Moreover, judging by its appearance, this Dharma Treasure could be upgraded further. He simply lacked sufficient Merit for now.

After returning to the raft, Feng Xu immediately had everyone head back to shore. The marsh was not a place where they excelled at fighting.

Not only had he saved those children, he had also captured the water god that had long threatened their tribe.

But he did not want to gamble with the thoughts of his tribesmen.

What if they were too devout and insisted on releasing the fish back into the river?

The members of the Windfire Squad were called up to work.

They released all the ordinary fish. The small ones were returned to the marsh, while the large ones were slaughtered on the spot.

"Xu, how should we deal with this big fish?"

Under the flickering firelight, Feng Xi drew out a stone blade.

"Finish handling the other fish first, then slaughter this big one and dry it into fish jerky."

"Don't kill me! Spare me, spare me!"

"Spare you? When you ate my Human Race, did you ever think of sparing their lives? When you attacked us underwater, did you ever think of sparing us?"

"People can eat fish, so why can't fish eat people? I only followed my instincts. What did I do wrong?"

Feng Xu was so angry that he laughed. It was already a prisoner, yet it still wanted to reason with him?

"In the water, you can reason all you like. But once you reach the shore, your life and death are in my hands. I don't care whether you were wrong or not. The winner takes all. You can't talk your way into being spared."

Feng Xu kicked the big fish hard.

Its scales were too tough. Not only did he fail to break through them, but his own foot began to ache faintly.

People came from the marsh. Their chief led several trusted aides.

Two of them were no weaker than Feng Sui.

"Immortal, you saved my tribesmen, yet I treated you in such a manner. Please forgive my offense."

The chief took the lead in kneeling and kowtowing, and the others immediately followed.

"I am not an immortal, nor did I save your tribesmen."

Feng Xu turned his head, glanced at the untied children, and spoke indifferently.

"They are my tribesmen. You need not act like this."

You abandoned them anyway, so taking them with me does not count as stealing, does it?

The few of them froze for a moment, then quickly understood.

"It is good enough that the immortal does not blame us."

Feng Xu motioned for Feng Xi to help them up before continuing.

"It was my fault to act so suddenly this time. Fortunately, I managed to subdue this demon and did not bring calamity upon you."

Luckily, the Merit Treasure Refinement had finished in time. Had it been any later, Feng Xi would have died here.

"Many thanks, Immortal."

Feng Xu stopped them again. If they kept calling him an immortal, how would they trade with him later?

"This big fish has long threatened your tribe. How do you wish to deal with it?"

"Since you captured it, naturally you may handle it as you see fit. So long as you do not release it back into the water."

Hearing this, the big fish grew even more panicked and continued begging for mercy.

"Fellow Daoist, spare my life. Even if you kill me, other members of the Demon Race will still come here to eat people. This river is so vast, and demons that eat people are everywhere.

"If you spare me, I promise to guard the Human Race here!"

That truly was a problem.

This river was a thousand zhang wide, and who knew how long it stretched.

If there could be a Giant Golden Carp here, there was no guarantee other members of the Demon Race would not come to eat people.

As for why they insisted on settling by the river.

First, there were marshes along the shore, which kept beasts from harassing them. Second, food was abundant. There was not only plenty of rice, but also large fish in the water to eat.

"What do you think?"

Feng Xu asked the chief. This was their territory, and if the fish were released, they would be affected the most.

After hesitating again and again, the chief ultimately left the decision to Feng Xu.

Feng Xu looked at the Golden Carp. After pondering for a moment, he spoke.

"I can spare you, but you must swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao. From now on, you will no longer eat people. You will protect the people here from Demon Race attacks. If you break this oath, may heaven strike you with five bolts of lightning."

"I... I..."

The Golden Carp stammered. Meeting Feng Xu's fish-eating gaze, it ultimately swore the oath.

The Primordial World was different from his previous life. Here, swearing an oath to heaven truly brought karmic consequences.

Once the oath was complete, the Golden Carp could feel some unseen force influencing it.

"Can you let me go now?"

Feng Xu did not answer. Instead, he looked toward the chief.

"How many people has it eaten?"