Chapter 146 — The Blood Demon Kelp

"Some thirty zhang below us lies the Xuan Yin Grand Array, laid down by that Perfected One of Extreme Yin. A vicious thing it is—let any living creature wander in, and within a quarter-hour the yin-sha force will invade it, rot its flesh, and draw its primal spirit and soul into the array to swell its ferocity. However profound one's Daoist arts, step into that array and one leaves one's life there. Down the centuries, who can say how many living things it has destroyed. That no fish or shrimp swim in these waters is proof enough. In recent years the old Daoist has come to know the dread of heavenly tribulation and the inexorability of karmic retribution, and so has not dared work much evil. He withdrew the eighty-one Xuan Yin Beast-Gathering Banners that he had arrayed to devour living souls and primal spirits, and the array is not so deadly as before. Even so, we know nothing of its extent, and must act with the utmost caution." Xuanwu Cong suddenly halted and solemnly instructed them one by one.

Hearing how perilous the Xuan Yin Grand Array was, Zhou Xuan could not suppress a wish to go and probe it. Yet none of those present shared the notion—rather, they gave it as wide a berth as they could. Zhou Li could hardly say so outright, and so let the matter drop. Fortunately, Xuanwu Cong did not know the array's extent; if they wandered blindly, they would inevitably trigger its prohibitions and everything would go awry—which suited Zhou Xuan exactly.

These cultivators were earnest of heart and open and upright, true friends beyond the world worth making. Zhou Que likewise would not overmuch scheme against them; should he himself trigger the prohibitions, that would be no one's fault but his own. With this in mind, he let several vicious notions die away.

Here the reader must wonder: the author has written Zhou Xuan as a man sinister and venomous, one who for his own gain would not scruple to ruin all under heaven—why should kindly thoughts stir in him now? Know, then, that he who gives peaches and plums is repaid with jade. Xuanwu Cong and his fellow cultivators dealt with Zhou Xuan in good faith and bore him no ill intent; and after their acquaintance began, when Zhou Xuan brought forth such a treasure as the Immortal-Binding Rope, there was only envy in their eyes, no greed. Had it been any of the Daoist sects of the Central Plains, they would have mustered the whole sect to ambush and slaughter Zhou Xuan and seize the treasure. Like draws to like, and birds of a feather flock together; for his own protection, Zhou Xuan had no choice but to be ruthless. To found a sect overseas, Zhou Xuan would be weak and isolated, and making friends beyond the world was a necessary means—to stand alone is a sorry thing. In the end he still looked to his own advantage; his nature had not changed. But this is idle talk; enough of it—back to the proper tale.

"The Xuan Yin Grand Array is a thing of false and true, and in prestige among the demon-path arrays it yields only to this poor Daoist's own Dutian Grand Array. Though I have some acquaintance with the demon path, I am no master of it, and you, fellow Daoists, practice Daoist arts as well. To probe its workings and avoid the solid while striking the void will be truly difficult." Zhou Tan spoke the truth: the Perfected One of Extreme Yin was profound in法力, and the array he had laid was indeed hard to detect.

"Aye, the Xuan Yin Grand Array is formidable indeed—but now that the Xuan Yin Beast-Gathering Banners no longer suppress it, threads of xuan-yin sha-qi are ever leaking out; it is not wholly smooth and flawless. My Doushuai Purple Flame is exceedingly sensitive to yin-sha qi. Let me exert a little法力 and stir the divine-fire purple flame: wherever its purple light shines, the places that glow especially bright are where the yin-sha qi gathers, and those are the bounds of the grand array. Let us fellow Daoists carefully avoid them, and we may descend another hundred zhang without harm." Seeing that Xuanwu Cong already had a plan, Zhou Xuan felt a touch of regret, but he had no better stratagem either.

The water-ape had long since fallen quiet; the Perfected One of Extreme Yin was a fearsome name in the overseas cultivation world, and though the water-ape was hot-tempered by nature, it had no wish to provoke that peerless fiend. Hong Chengzu, Qing Shenzi, and the rest were of the same mind; seeing that Xuanwu Cong had a way, they were all overjoyed.

Seeing everyone nod, Xuanwu Cong said no more. He flicked a finger at that bean-sized purple flame, raised the Eight-Scene Lamp and gave it a shake—what a display of power! The bean-sized purple flame released countless rays, lighting the whole ten-li expanse, together with the hundred zhang of water above and below, to utter clarity. The purple light set the seawater swirling with haloes of radiance, and the Northern Sea, cold and translucent by nature, held no impurities at all; all present seemed to stand within a purple crystal, a beauty beyond telling. Yun Xiuzi, a woman at heart, saw such a dazzling marvel and stood dumbstruck a moment, until Zhou Xuan pulled her along and they continued the descent; only then did she come to herself, and she could not but marvel inwardly.

All fixed their eyes and looked: the purple light shone clear, with nothing amiss. Each let out the breath they had been holding, much eased, knowing this place was not where the grand array lay, and continued the descent. With a company of cultivators to sustain them, Zhou Li recalled his centipede and released only the nine gleaming silver Heaven-Dragon Demon-Subduing Swords to lend their power to the purple light. The Nine-Day Golden Crow Robe rolled with true fire, driving off clean the cold that could freeze stone to powder on the seafloor. Beyond, the chill water surged; within the purple mantle there was a natural warmth, and though the company had expected to muster true essence against the cold invading their meridians, they now saved no small amount, and all praised Zhou Yan's robe and treasure without cease.

The purple light shone on down; the seawater was calm, only the cold grew ever more piercing. By rights, such cold should have frozen the sea to ice, yet here at the seafloor all ran counter to reason: the water did not freeze, but instead eddied with undercurrents and swirls unending. Still, all present were of profound cultivation and feared nothing; whenever a whirlpool could not be avoided, a wave of the hand and a water-thunder bolt scattered it, and there was no danger.

Another five hundred zhang down, they had reached a depth of over two thousand zhang, and now the scene was altogether different: peaks rose towering, stretching a thousand li, and the deeper they went the lower it fell, a bottomless prospect. The company set foot on solid ground, standing atop a summit that rose from the seafloor, and looked down at the abyss below, several thousand zhang wide, pitch-black and deep. A sweep of divine sense found it likewise vast and unfathomable, reaching no bottom; unwilling to waste法力, they ventured no further.

"What a marvel!" Hong Chengzu exclaimed again and again. At the bottom the seawater had suddenly grown warm; the temperature rose. Each peak claimed a domain of some tens of li, and far off, the summits of several taller peaks gave off a faint red glow. They knew these for undersea volcanoes; it was the true fire of the earth's depths belching from these few that warmed the chill seafloor again. For this reason countless fish, shrimp, and shellfish darted among the many-colored corals in the mountains, brimming with life, and clumps of fat, dense kelp swayed to and fro. Only these fish and shellfish were all oddly shaped, greatly unlike the deep-sea fishes they had seen along the way.