With two huge booms, a dazzling light burst above the giant whale’s form in the sky. It was as if a sun had finally risen in the secret realm. But with the white light came a sky full of red. That was the blood mist surging from the giant whale’s body.
“Moo,” a shrill roar echoed down from the air. It was the giant whale’s rare cry of agony.
The blood mist turned to blood rain and fell. In the oasis, every sand person looked up in panic. They let the slightly warm blood rain fall on them. Each one was stunned by the sight before them.
Ye Chui waved his hand. He used a water spell to condense the blood rain into a curtain of rain. It blocked above him and his group.
After its cry of pain, the giant whale’s body floating in the air began to plummet at high speed. It still twisted and struggled without stop. That scattered even more blood downward. But Ye Chui could see its life force had ended from those two nuke blasts. With a boom, the ground shook as if in quake. The giant whale crashed heavily to the earth.
Ye Chui said with a smile, “I wonder what giant whale meat tastes like.”
“Whale meat is said to be best grilled with this Xun incense flower. A small yellow flower in the secret realm tastes closest to Xun incense flower. Perhaps we can try that,” Green thought dutifully.
Two horrific holes appeared on the giant whale’s vast back. The wounds had nearly torn off half its back. Flesh and blood dripped. One could see dark red chunks of meat flipped out. From the blast’s fierce impact, some spots had burned black from extreme heat. A faint fish scent spread out. Amid the blood smell, it carried a temptation that made mouths water.
Ye Chui waved away the blood curtain above his head. He looked at the Eldest Prince, the Gale Leader, and the others beside him. He saw they still wore stunned looks. They seemed too shocked to speak a word. The desert giant whale was a fearsome magical beast. Each encounter brought huge harm to a tribe. This beast with its massive size and ability to shuttle freely through desert and earth was every desert sand person’s nightmare.
Worst of all, the Gale Tribe had no fixed oasis camp. They were skilled at migrating through the desert. The whole tribe could move at great speed. Yet they suffered the most from desert giant whales.
By contrast, the Blood Scorpion Tribe’s main camp sat on a giant tortoise’s back. The Green Bay Tribe held a natural geographic edge for their camp. The Divine Citizens’ City, the secret realm’s strongest force, had ways to counter desert giant whales. Only the Gale Tribe, over a hundred years, had faced this horror at least dozens of times. Countless sand brothers died in its mouth. Just not long ago, a hundred more perished there. But now, one fearsome desert giant whale had turned to a pile of meat mush right before their eyes.
Such a shock was without doubt immense.
Ye Chui gave a slight smile. He walked to the Gale Leader to say something. But just then, Ye Chui’s expression froze a bit. A touch of dizziness showed on his face. His body swayed.
…
In Ye Chui’s mental world.
On a modern city street, an old magus with all white hair stood there in shock. It was the Eldest Prince’s mental magus guard. Just now he had cast a mental spell to invade Ye Chui’s mind. But he never expected the world after entry to look like this. He looked in surprise at the passersby nearby. Their clothes, the street’s buildings, the iron boxes rushing about everywhere, all felt utterly strange to the well-travelled white-haired magus.
“This place, what is this place? Castro Continent has no such spot for sure,” the white-haired magus muttered to himself.
“This is my consciousness world,” a passerby man said suddenly as he walked past the white-haired magus. He then turned into Ye Chui’s form.
“This is also my hometown,” another passerby turned into Ye Chui’s form and stood on the white-haired magus’s other side.
“Here, every person is me.”
“I know mental magic too.”
“Mental invasion is useless on me.”
“Soon, you will become me too.”
One by one, Ye Chuis appeared before the white-haired magus. They surrounded him.
The white-haired magus felt deep unease in his heart. He tried by instinct to leave this awful world.
But the Ye Chuis had grabbed his arms one by one. He could not break free. One Ye Chui stood before the white-haired magus. His palm turned like a sword. It stabbed into the white-haired magus’s chest. A black substance spread from the wound. It quickly covered the white-haired magus’s whole body. That was assimilation. The white-haired magus felt his own will fade bit by bit.
He was no longer himself. He became Ye Chui.
Moments later, the white-haired magus had fully become Ye Chui. He tilted his head. He smiled slightly at the countless Ye Chuis around. Then all the Ye Chuis scattered through the street. They turned back to normal passersby.
The assimilated Ye Chui turned back to the white-haired magus’s form too. But now his shoulder-length hair became a trendy white short cut. His magus robe turned to a suit. He seemed at once like a stylish old gent. Like everyone else in this world, he started to busy himself with his affairs.
…
The clash in the mental world lasted just an instant. Ye Chui’s dizziness vanished at once. He tilted his head with a laugh at the white-haired magus by the Eldest Prince. The old magus’s face was pale now. He spat out blood with a “wah” and fell to the ground. The Eldest Prince’s other two guards hurried to help him up.
Just now he had used his mental magic to invade Ye Chui’s will. He wanted to know who Ye Chui really was. He knew of the gravity magus Kru. But Kru could not have such great power. Even with Posili’s help, they could not defeat the giant whale. And just now’s attack, Posili had only assisted. The attack from the sky, that summoner’s golden swordsman, all that raised enough doubt in the white-haired magus’s heart. He suspected Kru’s true identity was that Ye Chui!
His mental invasion spell split off part of his mind to enter the other’s mental world. But the part he sent into Ye Chui’s consciousness sank like a stone in the sea. It vanished completely.
He had never met such a case.
“Mr Gavin, what is wrong?” the Eldest Prince asked with concern.
The white-haired magus, Gavin, stood with his companions’ help. His look at Ye Chui held deep awe. He said in a trembling voice, “He has mental magic stronger than mine. Gravity, mental, I never heard of anyone who can use both kinds at once, except that, the Almighty Magus!”
The Eldest Prince looked at Ye Chui and the others with some coldness. In truth, Gavin’s probe was not needed. From seeing Gilgar, the Eldest Prince had recognised their identities. He said, “Mr Ye Chui, no need to hide your identity any more, right?”
Ye Chui hid no longer. He undid the [Enchant Show Show] on himself, Debbie, and Green. They returned to their true looks. The Gale Tribe people saw the magus who had just shown such might change face. And this man was the famed Ye Chui. They knew that name all too well. The Eldest Prince’s blood enemy. Now the attack on the Green Bay Tribe was to deal with Ye Chui. At the sudden sight of Ye Chui, countless sand people grew alert at once. They aimed their weapons at Ye Chui by instinct.
They respected the strong. Ye Chui and his three had just slain the giant whale. That earned their respect enough. But now Ye Chui had changed looks. It left them at a loss for a moment. By instinct, they pointed weapons at him.
Then at that moment, a loud roar sounded from above Ye Chui’s head. Dragon Cub’s body, now like a small mountain in terror, got summoned out. It opened its mouth in a huge roar. Its body coiled and flew. It cut across the sky. The Gale sand people all felt their nerves shake. They stared open-mouthed at this fearsome magical beast.
Ye Chui gave a heh heh smile. He said loudly, “No need to fear, everyone. This is my magic pet.” He pointed at the giant whale on the ground and went on, “Dragon Cub, time to eat.”
So Dragon Cub landed by the giant whale’s side at once. Its size now was just a bit smaller than the whale’s. Its sharp dragon claws ripped open the giant whale’s skull. It started to hunt for the whale’s magic core.
Dragon Cub’s arrival turned the Gale sand people’s baseless hostility toward Ye Chui to respect at once.
“You, you are Ye Chui after all!” The Great Warrior asked in a lost voice then. He thought of how he had once told Ye Chui he wanted to fight him. And he thought if he was careful, he might not lose. But now he saw his own naivety. His weathered rough face could not help but blush.
Ye Chui smiled and nodded to the Great Warrior. Then he looked at the Eldest Prince.
The Eldest Prince’s face stayed cold. He gripped his waist sword tight. As if the next moment he would draw and strike. But in the end he calmed down. He knew why Ye Chui disguised himself. Besides the Divine spy in the Gale Tribe, a key reason was he wanted to tell him the truth about the Ninth Prince in peace. Though Ye Chui and the others were in disguise, Posili was real. Just now she had shown her ice magic’s power too. All that proved his son the Ninth Prince had not died. He tricked him. He secretly worked with the Church to sneak into the Crown Battlefield!
He looked at Ye Chui. His hate for Ye Chui in the end could only turn to a helpless sigh.
And that meant he fully let go of his grudge against Ye Chui, which had been a plot from the start.
“We have bigger enemies to face now.” With the Eldest Prince settled, Ye Chui pressed on without pause. He said to the Eldest Prince and the Gale Leader, “The Crown Battlefield itself is a huge plot. You should know that. The Divine Citizens’ City hides the secret realm’s strongest spirit god. He is our greatest foe. With the Crown Battlefield open, that spirit god stirs. Now the three great tribes must unite. The fight between sand people and divine people has begun!”
