"Then how are we supposed to transport the Taixu Immortal Grass?" Venerable Liuhe inquired further, his brow knitted in deep worry.
He could not shake the feeling that their preparations were not foolproof enough.
"If we don't lay down restrictions around the Taixu Immortal Grass, it will release toxic fumes all along the journey. Every living creature along its path will be poisoned, which would be far too conspicuous."
"Yet if we place restrictions upon it, I fear a small box won't be able to contain it, will it?"
Mister Tinghai was fully confident on this matter. He produced a small wooden box. "Can you sense even the faintest trace of toxic fumes from within this?"
Venerable Liuhe was startled. "The Taixu Immortal Grass is inside this?"
"Indeed."
Mister Tinghai opened the box. Within it, a slender, graceful stalk of immortal grass appeared before the three men.
Venerable Liuhe instinctively channeled his cultivation technique to ward off the poison, only to discover that even with the immortal grass right before his eyes, not a wisp of toxic vapor was released.
"What kind of formation is this?"
Venerable Liuhe noticed that besides the Taixu Immortal Grass, a formation was engraved inside the wooden box.
Mister Tinghai closed the box and smiled faintly. "All things have their counter and mutual generation. Where there is Taixu Immortal Grass, there is that which restrains it. This is a detoxifying formation our Yingzhou Island's forebears discovered within an ancient secret realm. It neutralizes all poisons in creation, perfectly counteracting the Taixu Immortal Grass."
"Regrettably, according to our research, this detoxifying formation ought to possess a core eye, yet it has never been found."
Venerable Liuhe was astonished. He had not expected such a marvelous treasure to exist.
Venerable Liuhe moved to open the box to get another look at this rare object, but Mister Tinghai held him back.
"It cannot be opened again. Another formation has been set inside the wooden box. The next time the lid is lifted, that second formation will crush the Taixu Immortal Grass, unleashing its toxic fumes in full force—fumes so potent that not even this detoxifying formation will be able to suppress them."
Venerable Liuhe realized with a start. "So it must be opened at the Old Dragon Emperor's longevity banquet!"
"Correct."
Venerable Liuhe pondered it. Everything had been calculated from beginning to end; there truly seemed to be no oversight anywhere.
"If there is any flaw at all, it's that the Four Thieves of Juxuan Island failed to do their job properly," Daoist Sanshan sighed softly.
"The Dragon Palace possessed a dragon pearl, an ancient artifact said to be deeply tied to the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor. The Old Dragon Emperor is exceedingly fond of it. That dragon pearl also possesses detoxifying properties and could potentially affect the Taixu Immortal Grass."
"Fortunately, although the Four Thieves of Juxuan Island did not succeed in stealing the dragon pearl, intelligence from the Dragon Palace Maritime Market reports that disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect snatched it, and the Dragon Palace does not know where it went either."
"It's fine as long as it's lost. So long as the Dragon Palace cannot find the dragon pearl, anything works."
Mister Tinghai handed the box to Daoist Sanshan, who stowed it away solemnly.
The three smiled at one another and set about their respective tasks.
No one noticed as a pearl the size of an elixir pill flew toward Penglai Island at unfathomable speed, passing through layer upon layer of restrictions, passing through the wooden box, and landing precisely at the center of the detoxifying formation.
It was the spitting image of a formation eye.
The Taixu Immortal Grass withered at astonishing speed.
***
"Lu Yang, come!"
Daoist Lord Hanhai channeled his rudimentary Space Dao fruit, giving empty space a gentle tug.
Nothing happened.
"That shouldn't be. Where did that brat Lu Yang run off to?"
Daoist Lord Hanhai was baffled. What he possessed was the rudimentary Space Dao fruit; he could traverse anywhere in the cultivation world at will, and locating a Nascent Soul cultivator through the power of his rudimentary Dao fruit should have been child's play.
"Lu Yang, come!"
Daoist Lord Hanhai repeated the trick, pawing and scratching at space with his hands, yet could find no trace of Lu Yang whatsoever.
Watching Daoist Lord Hanhai claw away at empty air as though possessed by a malevolent ghost, his body flailing about out of control, Meng Jingzhou remained silent.
Since even the Patriarch couldn't find that rascal Lu Yang, that brat had probably ended up in some secret realm left behind by an immortal.
Five days ago, Daoist Lord Hanhai had used his rudimentary Space Dao fruit to open a spatial tunnel, stepping across to the East Sea in a single stride to ask Meng Jingzhou and the others about the situation.
How could Meng Jingzhou and the other two know where Lu Yang had flown off to? They had all shaken their heads, saying they had no idea.
Daoist Lord Hanhai had no choice but to repeatedly unleash his rudimentary Space Dao fruit, summoning Lu Yang as if calling back a departed spirit.
He had not succeeded once.
Later, Daoist Lord Hanhai brought Meng Jingzhou's trio and the Dragon Clan hero Xiao Xinghai back to the Kunpeng Clan, where Venerable Heiyu personally came out to receive them.
Even someone as powerful as Venerable Heiyu was merely a junior before Daoist Lord Hanhai.
If the records were correct, Daoist Lord Hanhai had ties with the Kunpeng Clan in his earlier years, though that was fifty thousand years ago.
Whether by cultivation base or generational seniority, Venerable Heiyu did not dare put on airs.
"Little Meng, you kids can put your hearts at ease. With me here, no one in the entire East Sea is my match," Daoist Lord Hanhai had said placidly, his tone radiating supreme confidence.
His words were not an exaggeration. In an East Sea that possessed not a single half-immortal, he truly was an invincible being.
Five days later, the aftereffects of Tao Yaoye using her Feathering Immortal Physique had faded. With the Old Dragon Emperor's longevity banquet imminent, Daoist Lord Hanhai led the group to attend the festivities.
The Old Dragon Emperor's nine-thousandth birthday banquet was an event of paramount importance in the East Sea; all members of the Sea Race and human cultivators at or above the Void Refining stage had received invitations.
Daoist Lord Hanhai stood with hands clasped behind his back atop an auspicious cloud. Down across the sea's surface, human cultivators were displaying their myriad techniques as they traversed the East Sea to attend the banquet.
In the waters, countless clan ancestors had reverted to their true forms—fish, crabs, shellfish—arriving at the emperor's invitation.
"I haven't visited the East Sea in a long time. Who would have thought it is still so lively?" Daoist Lord Hanhai remarked casually, exuding the grandeur of a Daoist lord. In terms of population diversity and numbers, the East Sea surpassed even the Demon Domain.
"Old Ancestor, you traveled the East Sea back in the day?" Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.
Daoist Lord Hanhai chuckled heartily, his expression radiant with high spirits. "Naturally. Back in my day, I carved out quite a name for myself in the East Sea. It's just a pity that you young cultivators only know me as the Dao Seeking Sect's Restorer of the Sect, but know nothing of my adventures in the East Sea."
The era in which Daoist Lord Hanhai had been active in the East Sea was simply too long ago—so ancient that even Clan Head Xiao and Xiao Xinghai had never heard of his deeds there.
"The two characters of my Daoist title, 'Hanhai', were taken precisely to commemorate that era of my life in the East Sea."
"Back then, when I was still in the Body Integration stage, I was researching the Dao of Space. That triggered a spatial turbulence that transported me all the way from the Dao Seeking Sect to the East Sea."
"I was gravely wounded by the spatial turbulence, and my strength fell below even the Golden Core stage. Fortunately, the fishermen of that time rescued me."
"In that little fishing village, I met a little princess who had snuck out of the Dragon Palace. We hit it off right from the start."
"Under her care, my injuries gradually healed. Our bond grew deeper still, and we became Dao companions, roaming the East Sea together—searching for immortal herbs, clashing with marauder cultivators, venturing into secret realms..."
Daoist Lord Hanhai looked up at the sky and sighed deeply, his voice heavy with melancholy. "Alas, those who follow different paths cannot plan together. In the end, there was the barrier of our races; we could not be together."
Meng Jingzhou and the others were swept up in Daoist Lord Hanhai's poignant sigh, feeling as though they could sense his heartache from all those years ago.
From behind them, Venerable Heiyu muttered under his breath, "Wait, that doesn't sound right. Why did I hear that the Dragon Clan was insatiably lustful, and Senior Hanhai couldn't endure the endless draining, so he secretly fled?"
Daoist Lord Hanhai whipped his head around, glaring murderously at Venerable Heiyu.
Chapter 865