Chapter 91: Sea God
Chapter 91: Sea God
Word count = 2280 on 10/4/2023
In the distance is a beautiful island with 7 giant aquamarine colored pillars reaching into the sky. A small town is situated on the outskirts of the island neighboring the pillars. While in the core region of the island is a massive dark blue pyramid. Countless steps can be seen on this black blue pyramid that smells of the sea. The peak of the pyramid reaches into the sky.
A single black figure can be seen flying towards the island with Black Raven Wings. The figure stops for a moment to enjoy the view before casually breaking the sound barrier once more and reaching the shoreline. He doesnt suppress his presence as he crashlands onto the beach. 7 figures float through the air originating from the 7 pillars. They bypass the town and its inhabitants who form the sea gods' citizenry as well as the gods' human army.
The citizens are quite panicked as the impact on the shoreline was so powerful that it makes most of them who are on average Spirit Kings or Spirit Ancestors fairly worried. Living on Sea God's island, they have witnessed various powerhouses and even fought off Spirit Halls invasion many years ago.
The 7 figures soon arrive at a crater on the beach where a cloaked figure is patting themself down due to all the sand covering him. The raven-like wings have disappeared but as these 7 figures have long noticed him, they assume he simply dispelled the wings.
They set down onto the ground and Xue Tie who finished cleaning himself looks up at them with a smile. A smile that confuses them as he is an intruder on their home.
"Ah, before you say anything. I am partially aware of your customs and that I'm an intruder blah blah blah. You, the only female member amongst the 7 pillars, are the Sea Woman Douluo." the figure, who is obviously Xue Tie points at the only woman in the group who looks like a typical description of a mermaid with her slightly gel like blue hair, light blue skin, skin tight black and blue suit with fish fins on her forearms.
(A/N: ill post a pic of them at the end as doing an image for each one when their mentioned is dumb)[1]
"You are the youngest, The Sea Ghost Douluo. The most obvious, Sea Dragon Douluo and SeaHorse Douluo. Now is the guessing game…. Ill say you are Sea Fantasy, your Sea Spear and your Sea Star." he points at each of the 7 pillars
The sea Ghost Douluo is a man with black blue hair, wearing what looks like simple plate armor and a horned crown on the tip of his forehead, he has a mask covering his face which is what Xue Tie used to assume their identity as he doesnt even know if the anime version reached this far and they don't look like their manga self so that's useless to him.
Sea Dragon Douluo looks like a buff man with a crystal on his chest. He has long horns on his head which were the indicator for him. Seahorse Douluo looks a bit elvish with his long ears but the strange crown he wears looks a bit jelly like which is how he associated it with the other beast type douluo of the 7.
The hard part about the last 3 is that one looks poisonous with his weirdly colored hair, this is who he assumed was Sea Fantasy as he knows that this titled douluo has a type of snake as his martial spirit. The last 2 which are Sea Star and Sea Spear were guesses which he unfortunately got wrong as the blond like man who bears a very minor resemblance to Qian Xunji is the Sea Spear Douluo while the other who is a man with crown that snoops down over his face is the Sea Star Douluo.
Xue Tie is unaware of his final mistake in the guessing game and they are also bored quickly though they are amused by his gumption. Especially as their energies scan over his body and find that the young man before them with a middling beard and red hair is a titled douluo. This makes them wary of the talented individual before them. As such, SeaHorse Douluo steps forward and speaks out first.
"We can tell you are quite talented. But you are still an intruder, state your business and if you are not hostile then you may leave"
"I am here to meet with the Sea God Douluo and perhaps request to participate in the Sea God trials if possible. Yes, I know that only proper successors may attempt the trials but I also know that rules can be broken under the proper incentive."
"May I ask what you have that would convince us to allow you to meet the venerable Poseidon?"
"I grant you all the mercy of living"
"What." "Audacious" "Foolish Boy" They retorted in anger. But that anger is quickly squashed by the energy presence of a Limit douluo. They pale even further when they realize the pressure comes from the newly revealed set of 6 black/red rings, 1 red ring and 1 clear red ring with a golden crown on it. They tremble in fear and the Sea Horse douluo roughly stands up straight and nods his head which turns off the pressure.
They all breathe a sigh of relief and turn meek as they guide Xue Tie further into the island. They serve as humble hosts who begin to explain the history of the island, what the pillars represent and eventually they arrive at the outskirts of the core region where they find a humble shack where two individuals reside.
"Hahahaha. Old man, so this is where you have been hiding. Your family was a bit worried for you. Ill be sure to tell them that you're reliving your youth with your old flame." Xue Tie addresses the man of the two sitting individuals. Their head is lying on the lap of the beautiful woman.
"She wears a white and red gown with long sleeves, adorned with wrought silver. Her golden crown is shaped like a halo around her head, matching her golden scepter. Her ocean blue hair falls like water down her back and to the ground. Her clear blue eyes seem deeper than the oceans, and their depths seem to encompass the experiences of the ancients." (appearance description of Bo Saixi from the soul land wiki)
The woman is releasing a pleasant aura which covers the man who is none other than old man Tang Chen. The old man opens his eyes with a smile on his face.
"Why are you here brat? I don't think an empire can be left alone by their emperor for too long? Weren't you working on some sort of Spirit beast project? Also you're not old enough to be saying phrases like flame to refer to beautiful women." He retorts but it's obvious to anyone that the old man is fond of Xue Tie.
"You know my situation. I consider my soul a bit archaic which is what allows me to take what I want from any generation of speaking without backlash. As for the project, it's a success, it just needs more time before I can introduce it to the general populace of my people and even more before I can showcase it to the world. So do shut up now." Xue Tie has his own words to say and while his ending seemed harsh, the tone of which indicated a hint of sarcasm. Granted he still isn't done speaking
"As for my empire, if I can't figure out how to lay off my work to others. I'd be the most miserable Limit Douluo in the vast Universe"
The woman raises her face towards Xue Tie and actually looks at him. Surprise evident on her face as she observes him.
"I see, so you are the youngster who has saved this old fool, as well as the owner of the energy from the beach" She says with a gentle smile
"Who are you calling an old fool?"
"Accept it or I'll stop letting you rest your head on my lap."
"Oh Woe is me."
They casually banter which calms down the 7 pillars who seem accepting that someone like Tang Chen who created a record in this place long ago acknowledged someone like Xue Tie.
The Sea God Douluo turns to Xue Tie once more after ending her teasing match with Tang Chen.
"Young Emperor, why have you come here?"
"I've come to both meet you, an iconic figure of an era as well as hopefully partake of the Sea god trials. I don't care about the inheritance unless you want to force it on me. I simply wish to test myself before I proceed to break-through into godhood."
His statement elicits gasps from the 7 pillars and even Tang Chen has to rise from his lying position to stare at Xue Tie
"Brat, this isn't a simple matter that you make it all out to be." Tang Chen rises and places his hands on Xue Tie's shoulders. Almost shaking him around if not for the sturdiness of his body which Tang Chen can naturally feel in his failed attempt.
Black flames rise around Xue Tie's body but even when they touch Tang Chen's hands, they don't burn him.
"Heh, old man. From the very beginning, I've had the legacy to become a god, it was just a matter of time. The key to ascending is a special energy which my flames are a mutated form of. When I ascend, I can offer you the chance to be my divine servant if you want. Do try not to die in the meantime" The arrogant statement elicits another gasp from the 7 pillars while Bo Saixi, the Sea God Douluo rises as well.
She is calm as if she is already aware of this but bits of sadness are seen on her face as she does not have the potential to reach the Limit Douluo without the blessing of the Sea God. She questions.
"You are allowed to ascend through the Mimesis training grounds but the official trails can only be initiated with the approval of the Sea God themselves. This is done through…"
"The Vast Sea Cosmic shroud, otherwise known as Sea God's heart. I know about it, and where it is. But I'm too lazy to get it as it would take roughly 6 days for the round trip. How about this? You give your god a bit of this flame and see if that gets his approval. If not then i'll walk the steps and then leave some I reach my limit, if it works then ill take the trials." He says and offers a puff of flame that floats towards the high priestess.
She takes the gentle black flame into her hands like a prayer as she closes her eyes. A moment later, a golden glow covers her body that shoots up into the sky. Xue Tie feels his connection with the flame disappear as it leaves the world.
This ritual takes a few minutes in which the glow spreads to cover Xue Tie as well. He feels something scan over his body but he remains calm with an uncaring look as he truly is not interested in the sea god title.
"So your the boy who is driving the food god mad and annoying the Rakshasa god? I can truly consider the words you say to be true of your interests as well as your claim now that I see your flames in person. For what reason do you attempt these trials?" A voice resonates inside his head. Closing his eyes, Xue Tie can see a hazy face of a bearded blue man speaking to him. Xue Tie casually responds
"A personal test, But i'm still missing a few spirit rings for my 2nd martial spirit, so I was also hoping for the god pillar stone. I don't really need it but having to kill more beasts after all I have done would be counterproductive to my goals"
"Hoo, you even know about those, interesting, anyone that has received those has joined the pillars of each generation. So I find it strange that you can know about it when your not from here"
"My secret to keep or give out. Maybe when we meet in person, ill tell you over a night of wine. But i don't think we are close enough yet to share our secrets with each other." He states and the cloud inside his head dissipates. A golden rune is formed before him and the light pillar around the priestess dissipates after that.
The 7 pillars are once again in shock as the gold level trials are meant for the gods' successor trials. But it was given to Xue Tie for no reason as he doesnt want to inherit the title.
The priestess looks at him with a complicated expression as she speaks up.
"To be worthy of going through each trial, you must achieve the best result in every single one. In the first trial, you must climb all 1001 steps of the Nine Heaven Staircase and reach the Sea Gods temple on top of it. Only then can you proceed to the 2nd trial. Any failure in this will halt all other trials"
"Hahahaha, ah this'll be fun. Lead the way, Ladies and old men first."
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[1] Images here