I soon left the Lord of Lords small world and was back to the tunnel within the Palace of the Deeps. Looking at the trio laying on the ground, I pulled a vial of strong-smelling salts and placed it under the nose of Wu Di.
"Cough, Cough! Bloody hell, it's like I had my nose stuck in a donkey's ass." Wu Di said as he almost gagged.
"That's rather inappropriate," I said to the usually calm collected, and very polite Wu Di.
"Did you ever smell that stuff?"
"Oh, I smelled worse, but this is the only way I know how to wake you up from whatever world you were in," I said as I pointed at the two others who were also on the ground next to Wu Di.
"What happened?" Wu Di asked.
"You've been attacked by a half-Pixie, I told you to be more careful," I said as I went to the other two and woke them up.
Their reaction was pretty similar to Wu Di minus the cursing.
"That smelled really bad…" Huang commented as he rubbed his nose.
Hua Yue turned around and was desperately trying to stop her gags, we all acted as nothing happened afterward as we moved through the corridor.
"Where did the Half Pixie go, though?" Wu Di asked.
"Oh, don't worry about her," I replied "She's been taken care of," I said and I didn't lie.
"Sad, it would have been a good source of income, their hair is very expensive," Huang said.
"But that means enslaving them, then harvesting her like she is some sort of sheep," I said.
"Half Pixies are nothing but monsters, there is no need to feel pity for them," replied Huang.
"They are sentient, they feel pain, and speak words, a blind man wouldn't think a pixie is a monster if she spoke to him, why should you focus on one's appearance and not care for their core?" my words hit deep as not only Huang, but even Wu Di and Hua Yue were all contemplating them.
"What do you think is the thing that separates man and beast?" I asked.
"It's the mind, the ability to think," Wu Di replied, and almost immediately understood that it was a trick question.
"Yes, indeed, then if a monster has a mind, then it is no longer a beast. So why must we still oust them, if they feel like us, hurt like us, feel joy and happiness, regret remorse, and have hopes and dreams? What would separate a beast from a person if in their core they are all the same?" I rhetorically asked.
"Then, what about demons," Wu Di said.
"You among all should know best about this, we've been to the demon lands together, do you really think them beneath humans? They were hospitable even, treated us with respect, we traded, competed and helped each other, how is that any different than what we humans do with each other?" I replied.
"Well, those were demon-kin, their ancestor was a true demon though, I'm talking about real actually demons."
"Oh, the ones with horns and all,"
"Well, not all of them have horns but yes," Wu Di said.
"My logic still applies," I said. "Let's take this path, this one is blocked," I said as I pointed at the new tunnel that led up and into the underwater mountain.
The group followed me, and Wu Di found the chance to ask, "How come your logic still applies I don't get it."
"The moment someone is capable of speech and reason. It elevates it from being a beast, however, their actions can degrade them to worse than beasts. I've seen some creatures that would call themselves human, but their acts were inhuman. They ravaged young powerless ladies. For me, though these things can speak and act, they were less than beasts. Because a beast has a mating season, they would not force themselves on another, and would always seek to gain their mate's attention and approval. While these creatures were driven by lust that knows no stop, and thus, even if they had the Mind, they were less than beasts. As for demons, it is the same, as long as they act within reason, and never cross the lines that are considered taboo. Then I wouldn't mind dining with the devil. But the moment one of these lines are crossed, then in my eyes, they fall to a stage that is less than a beast."
The group remained silent, it was a bit to grasp because most of what I said was based on my memories and my understanding of morals from Earth. Perhaps it is a strange notion to them, but racism is bad, as long as a being is capable of conversation and thought, and the moment they gain aspiration, hope, and belief, they are no longer below human.
"That's a deep way of thought, I will reflect on it, I find some wholesome insight within your words, Shen Bao," Wu Di said.
"It is nothing but basic things, but do as you wish, also I think we're in a pickle," I said.
"Pickle? The thing you eat, I never liked them," Huang said.
"Ah, it's just an expression, anyway, we're in trouble because the next room is flooded," I said.
"How can you tell, so far my divine sense isn't detecting any blockage."
"Let's get a bit closer then and you'll see it," I said and we moved together. Then soon, the group used their divine sense to scan the area ahead and they also came to the same realization.
"Amazing, your divine sense is at least twice as large as mine." Wu Di said, "how did you do that?" he asked. Then immediately added, "Ah sorry, it must be a cultivation secret, forget I've asked."
"Oh, don't worry about it, I just have a good soul strength, it helps a lot with increasing the potency of my divine sense. I also am an alchemist, I make a lot of Soul Strengthening pills and eat them like they are candy, so that helps." I replied.
"Emm, I hate to burst your bubble, but what are we going to do here, this gate is closed, but the moment we open it we'll be flooded, though I don't mind the waters of the Deeps anymore since they don't have the gravitational effect, once we are in the water, that One-Eyed Kraken will have us for lunch," Huang dropped the reality check bomb on all of us.
"I know," I said, though Y has regained a bit of strength, I doubt he is capable of fending the One-Eyed Kraken, at most he'll be able to block a hit or two, and I'm damn adamant on not using the saint Qi crystals.
I could improve Y's abilities slightly but that will take time, and X's firepower is outright useless underwater because bullets and water are not good friends, just to add more salt on the wound, apparently, the One-Eyed Kraken is immune to most poisons.
I had to double-check on the Poison God's book, and noticed that he has a great Poison Tolerance, and also can easily dispel most of the poisons I have.
And just to make this day even worse.
Behind us, explosive sounds echoed all over the place.
"What is that?" asked Huang.
"That, my friends, is trouble. It seems that a cultivator has arrived, and they just walked into one of my formations."
"When did you do that?"
"Oh, when I was following after you, I placed a few traps behind us so to warn us if anyone had come, but I didn't expect them to arrive this early. We need to think up a plan, we don't want to be caught between a rock and a hard place here."
"Well if it's a rock or a hard place, we better start digging, anyone has a plan?" Wu Di asked.
"Emm, I might say I do, though it's a crazy plan, but crazy enough that it just might work," I replied in a grin.