"All Done."

"Come to think of it, I sealed someone's bloodline in the past too, though it wasn't nearly as exquisite as the sealing array you found, Lu Yang." "Whose did you seal?" Lu Yang asked curiously. "A friend I made back in my youth, from the East Sea Dragon Palace, named Ao Ran." "You actually have a friend in the Dragon Palace?" Lu Yang and the others were surprised. They had assumed that just like in the Demon Domain, the Nine Sons of Dao Seeking were notorious everywhere, and they had already braced themselves to make enemies of the entire world. Old Ba glared at them displeasedly. "What kind of talk is that? What's wrong with me having a friend in the Dragon Palace? The one who made enemies of the whole world is Ninth Brother." Lu Yang let out an "Oh." So the situation was pretty much the same as in the Demon Domain; their mental preparation hadn't gone to waste. "He possesses the purest dragon bloodline. He asked me to seal most of his bloodline so his outward strength would appear weaker to outsiders." "Why do that?" Lu Yang and the others were baffled. "So when someone angers him, he can say with a dark scowl, 'You forced me to undo the seal.'" Lu Yang: "..." "Keep your guard up when you go to the East Sea. Even though the Dragon Palace keeps a lid on things, the situation there is still quite chaotic." "Quite chaotic?" "The East Sea has not only the Sea Race, but humans as well. The Sea Race lives in the ocean, while humans live on islands. Due to historical reasons, deep grudges have built up between the two races over generations, leading to constant clashes year-round. Moreover, it's beyond Great Xia's jurisdiction, so people don't pull their punches when fights break out." Not only Lu Yang, but even Meng Jingzhou was hearing this for the first time. Neither knew much about the East Sea. Only Li Haoran, possessing memories of his past life, knew quite a bit about the East Sea. In particular, the Nine Nether Cult had expanded its operations there and conducted secret transactions. No matter how long Great Xia's reach was, it couldn't stretch to the East Sea; the smuggling trade currently run by the Nine Nether Cult had been established back when Qin Haoran was the cult master. There was another reason Qin Haoran had developed overseas operations—if his creditors ever came knocking on his door one day, he could flee to the East Sea. Unfortunately, this demonic leader had been bound by love, trapping himself in Great Xia. Old Ba also kindly reminded them, "Right, none of you have ever been in the ocean, so your swimming skills probably aren't great. Before going to the East Sea, you'd better exchange for a Water Avoidance Bead. The Mission Hall has them, and they'll help you move freely underwater." Unlike the Immortal Fairy's Water Avoidance Art, which drained moisture from both allies and enemies, a Water Avoidance Bead genuinely warded off water. "May I ask what Master did in the East Sea back then?" "Oh, plenty. For example, he had an ambiguous, tangled relationship with a Dragon Palace princess, among other things." Lu Yang was shocked. To think that though Master was now withered with age, he had also had his dashing, romantic days in his youth! "Master had a romantic affair with a Dragon Palace princess?!" "It didn't quite go as far as romance. It's just that back in his youth, to save someone, Ninth Brother needed a supreme treasure from the Dragon Palace. That treasure happened to be the Dragon Palace princess's favorite artifact, and she kept it hidden in her belly. So Ninth Brother shrank himself down, slipped into the princess's belly, and stole the supreme treasure out. When the truth came out later, Ninth Brother kept calling the Dragon Palace princess 'Mother.'" Lu Yang: "..." The five thanked Old Ba and headed to the Mission Hall, where each exchanged for a Water Avoidance Bead. The beads were quite expensive, but having accumulated a massive amount of contribution points from doing missions, the price was nothing to them. Seeing all five of them exchanging for Water Avoidance Beads, the senior sister at the Mission Hall quickly summoned Dai Bufan. Dai Bufan had thought Lu Yang was taking the other four to pull off some massive undertaking. Only upon hearing that they were merely accompanying Old Horse to visit relatives and spend a couple of days having fun at the East Sea did he let out a sigh of relief. "Go on then, go on. Have a great time."