Cangming pressed his hand against the ice, allowing his bloodline power to surge from his palm and seep into the frozen layer.
In the next moment, his entire body jolted violently.
Cold!
It was an ultimate, piercing cold!
An icy chill backlashed through his bloodline, instantly invading his limbs and bones.
Cangming felt his blood freezing and his meridians solidifying. Even his thoughts began to slow down.
Yet he gritted his teeth and persisted, pouring even more true dragon power into the ice.
The ice covering the Sea Emperor began to tremble slightly. The frost that had originally crept up to his face actually started to recede slowly, revealing more of his features.
But at the same time, fine ice crystals began to condense on Cangming’s body.
The frost spread from beneath his feet, climbing up his calves, covering his knees, and continuing upward...
Lord Rat glanced over but said nothing, simply continuing to erode the black-spot monsters.
Time passed second by second.
The ice on Cangming’s body grew thicker and thicker, but the true dragon power he injected also increased in volume.
Is this the pain Father has been enduring?
Using his body to suppress the sea eye, suffering the torment of the cold spring eroding his form day and night.
With Cangming’s reckless infusion of spiritual power, the hard ice on the Sea Emperor finally melted a little more.
The aged sovereign slowly opened his eyes. White frost still clung to his eyebrows and eyelashes.
His gaze was somewhat unfocused. Only after a long moment did it focus on Cangming’s face before him.
"Ming... Ming'er?"
The Sea Emperor's voice was as weak as a breeze. His lips trembled as he managed to force a stiff smile.
"You... you’re back?"
"Did the Dragon Ancestor... win?"
Cangming nodded frantically. Tears slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the Sea Emperor’s cold hand.
"He won! The Lord won!"
"Father, hold on. The Lord will be back soon. He will definitely have a way to save you!"
Hearing this, the light in the Sea Emperor’s eyes brightened for an instant. As if experiencing terminal lucidity, he actually regained a bit of spirit.
"As long as he won, that’s good. That’s good."
He murmured to himself, his gaze moving past Cangming to look at Lord Rat, who was still struggling to hold the line nearby.
"Thank you. My thanks to Lord Rat."
Lord Rat didn't even turn his head. "Cut the crap and focus on suppressing your sea eye."
"Hehe..."
The Sea Emperor smiled, not minding Lord Rat’s rudeness.
"Lord Rat may have a sharp tongue, but his heart is good."
"If you hadn't been here to hold this place, the sea eye would have been lost long ago."
Lord Rat snorted and didn't respond.
"And that Lord Primal Phoenix outside," the Sea Emperor continued. "Protecting the Dragon Palace and countless merfolk by his own strength... such kindness is something my Eastern Region will never forget."
Lord Rat couldn't listen anymore and frowned.
"Old man, stop the nonsense and save your strength."
"We’re just acting on the Lord’s behalf. Don't go flattering yourself."
"And don't be in such a hurry to act like you’re on your deathbed, giving out last words and all."
"I’m the one killing all these black-spot monsters down here. You two just stay there and suppress the sea eye properly. Don't let the cold air scatter!"
"I can still handle this many monsters!"
Though Lord Rat was cursing and grumbling, his hands moved even faster, his fiendish qi surging out desperately.
He was afraid that missing even one monster would disturb this father and son’s final reunion.
He was truly annoyed; he hated seeing scenes like this.
"Old man, our Lord will soon resolve the matters at the provincial capital."
"If he doesn't permit you to die, even the King of Hell won't dare take you!"
"Do you hear me? Keep holding on for me!"
The Sea Emperor smiled gently, his eyes full of gratitude.
It was like a ray of light accidentally leaking into the deep sea—warm, yet weary.
But he knew his own body best.
Having spent a thousand years in seclusion at the sea eye, his physical form had long been saturated by the cold spring, becoming a part of this array.
Even though he had received nourishment from the dragon might in front of the Dragon Ancestor earlier, allowing for this brief period of terminal lucidity...
He could walk, he could smile, and he could see the rekindled hope in the eyes of his old subordinates.
Yet he knew better than anyone that this was merely the brightest flicker of a dying lamp.
The oil was already spent; the wick had turned to ash.
His chronic ailments and old injuries were ultimately beyond healing. Perishing in the cold spring was only a matter of time.
But why say it out loud?
Everyone was risking their lives for the Dragon Ancestor’s return and were excited by the blueprint for the Eastern Region’s revival.
Let Cangming hold onto this hope for one more moment.
The Sea Emperor quietly suppressed the cold breath rising in his throat back into his chest.
It was just... just that little spark of unwillingness in his heart was still flickering stubbornly.
The Sea Emperor closed his eyes, as if he could pierce through the deep seawater to see the future he might never witness with his own eyes.
If the provincial capital achieved a great victory, the Dragon Ancestor would ascend the throne, and ten thousand scales would be bathed in rosy light.
Red, silver, and blue scales would reflect the light of the nine heavens, draping the entire Eastern Region in flowing silk.
The once turbulent and broken abyss would be smoothed over, and the violent ocean currents would become gentle and full of life.
The coral sea would glow with new colors, the palaces would stand tall again, the scattered clans would return home, and the laughter of children would flow with the waves.
What a sight that would be—calm waves and clear seas, a world of peace.
The Sea Emperor carefully tucked this imagined scene into the deepest part of his soul, treasuring this last handful of splendor, and smiled.
"Alright," he heard his own weak voice say. "I... I will try my best to hold on."
Just as he spoke, a thunderous boom echoed.
A violent tremor suddenly erupted from the depths of the sea eye, as if the entire abyss were about to collapse.
A surge of death qi and black spots ten times more intense than before, accompanied by a subterranean roar, violently erupted upward.
Lord Rat’s expression changed drastically as several strands of the fiendish qi supporting the Great Plague Heaven snapped.
"Fuck!"
"Is my mouth consecrated or something?"
"I just said I could handle this, and you immediately drop a giant pile on me?!"
Lord Rat gritted his teeth, his eyes wide, and increased the output of fiendish qi to maintain the Great Plague Heaven.
But he soon noticed something was wrong.
He sniffed the air. The smell of the death qi erupting from the depths of the sea eye had changed.
"This death qi... it’s not right!"
"It doesn't seem like it’s flowing down from the provincial capital!"
The provincial capital was known as a ghost tide where myriad ghosts roamed. Even if it was death qi, it would inevitably be tainted with intense yin-baleful and resentful energy—the bitterness and malice of the living who died tragically.
But in the death qi currently erupting from the sea eye, the concentration of resentment hadn't increased; it had actually decreased. Instead, there was a very ancient sense of decay.
It was as if... corpses buried for ten million years were seeing the light of day again.
Furthermore, alongside this death qi, the originally suppressed black spots suddenly became even more frenzied.
Their activity surged, and they even began to devour and fuse with one another, quickly condensing into massive, aberrant monsters in mid-air.
"Is there a problem at the source?"
"The Western Region?!"
A realization flashed through Lord Rat’s mind, and he instantly thought of that ghostly place filled with burial mounds.
When the Lord chose him as a vessel to descend previously, Lord Rat had learned of the source of the black spots from the Lord’s mouth.
"Damn it, what new mess has started in the Western Region?"
Lord Rat grew anxious. Before he could think of a countermeasure, more black spots had already drilled out of the ice, condensing into form and lunging at the three of them.
"Old man, can you two still hold on?!"
Lord Rat shouted urgently.
However, no one answered him.
Rate on N.U.
