A battle between the Tribulation Transcendence stage and a half-immortal was on the verge of erupting. The East Sea had not witnessed a clash of such high caliber in a hundred thousand years.
Venerable Heiyu was truly a veteran of the Tribulation Transcendence stage; he acted decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
While Daoist Lord Hanhai was submerged in the grief of reminiscence, Heiyu secretly channeled the Dao of Time to strike above his realm against the Daoist Lord, tracing back through the ages to unveil a corner of historical truth.
Daoist Lord Hanhai dared not be careless, countering with his rudimentary Space Dao fruit.
Venerable Heiyu went so far as to unleash some unknown secret technique that stripped Daoist Lord Hanhai of one of his five senses, rendering him temporarily deaf. Thus, no matter how many times Venerable Heiyu begged for mercy, Daoist Lord Hanhai could not hear a thing.
Daoist Lord Hanhai won by a narrow margin; Venerable Heiyu, though defeated, held his head high in glory!
Meng Jingzhou felt the Kunpeng Clan fully lived up to their reputation among the ten great Sea Races. That they had survived to this day was undeniably linked to their formidable strength.
Daoist Lord Hanhai had not struck too harshly. After all, this was over the waters of the East Sea, with so many passing clans in transit, and with members of the Kunpeng Clan present, he had to leave Venerable Heiyu some dignity.
Consequently, there were not many unbruised patches left on Venerable Heiyu’s face.
Clan Head Xiao and Xiao Xinghai sighed inwardly, thinking their ancestor truly had no regard for his own life, blurting out whatever crossed his mind.
Xiao Xinghai had nearly hauled out the coffin to save their ancestor from the fate of an exposed corpse in the wilderness—which would have led outsiders to brand the Kunpeng Clan's descendants unfilial.
Since he was still breathing, there was no need to take it out.
That coffin had been soaked in an immense quantity of dragon blood, dyeing it blood-red inside and out. It appeared exceptionally horrifying, and its grade had risen by half a rank.
Hearing the dark history exposed by Venerable Heiyu, Su Yiren became even more determined to put the bottle of virility essence blood to good use.
"Just what kind of demon beast left this blood behind? Dragon blood and phoenix blood seem far less potent than this. Could it be an offspring born of a dragon and a phoenix?"
The group dived into the East Sea. No sooner had they plunged beneath the waves than they heard someone calling out.
"Yiren, over here! Over here!"
Su Yiren looked toward the voice and saw a dragon maiden clad in a gown of shimmering, iridescent scales waving to her.
The dragon maiden had smooth, delicate features—a gentle beauty seldom encountered.
"Gu'er, what are you doing here?" Su Yiren was surprised. It was this Ao Gu'er who had invited her to attend the Old Dragon Emperor's birthday banquet.
Ao Gu'er took Su Yiren's hand, sounding rather disgruntled. "Don't get me started! You didn't even think to visit me earlier at the Dragon Palace; you just had to wait until the very day of the banquet."
Not forgetting proper business, Ao Gu'er gave a graceful, poised bow to Daoist Lord Hanhai. "This must be Senior Hanhai. Imperial Father instructed me to wait here for everyone."
Meng Jingzhou and the others exchanged bizarre looks upon hearing the name Ao Gu'er.
Back then, Daoist Buyu had stolen the dragon pearl from this very Ao Gu'er, even shamelessly calling her "Mama."
Fortunately, Lu Yang had not accompanied them; otherwise, the atmosphere would have been terribly awkward.
Then Meng Jingzhou thought again and realized that was wrong. *I'm just a bystander watching the spectacle! What does Lu Yang's embarrassment have to do with me?*
*What a pity Old Lu didn't come along.*
Ao Gu'er led the group downward, descending all the way to the seabed, to the end of the Sea Market that wound like a true dragon—the Dragon Palace.
The palace was ringed by groves of millennial coral. Seaweed swayed gently like curtains amid the rippling azure waves, and the sprawling complex of palace buildings stood majestic, resplendent, and bathed in gold.
Inside the Dragon Palace, the walls were encrusted with all manner of dazzling gemstones and pearls, radiating a soft yet brilliant light.
Numerous shrimp soldiers and crab generals kept strict guard, while members of the Yaksha race patrolled continuously.
A number of guests had already arrived at the Dragon Palace. All of them were leaders of major factions who kept close tabs on the movements of the cultivation world's top figures. Daoist Lord Hanhai was hardly an obscure persona; as the Restorer of the Sect, he had been exceptionally active fifty thousand years ago, and many of his portraits had survived through the ages.
"Look quickly, that's Daoist Lord Hanhai!"
"A legendary half-immortal..."
"Why hasn't our East Sea produced someone like that?"
"With the struggle of the Golden Age, even half-immortals are emerging into the world one after another."
Ao Gu'er led everyone through the Dragon Palace to its deepest recesses and pushed open a pair of heavy doors. An ancient Azure Dragon was coiled around a colossal stone pillar whose top could not be seen.
Before Daoist Lord Hanhai, the Old Dragon Emperor dared not put on airs. He slithered down the pillar and, with a soft pop, assumed human form.
The Old Dragon Emperor truly was exceedingly old. Once transformed, he looked like an elder with one foot in the grave, tottering along so unsteadily that a single stray wave might knock him over. Ao Gu'er hurried forward to support him.
"Ao Cang pays respects to Senior Hanhai."
"Enough, don't strain yourself if your body isn't up to it." Watching the Old Dragon Emperor like this, Daoist Lord Hanhai feared the old dragon might tumble over and lose consciousness.
"I came here to discuss the matter of the dragon pearl. Originally, I planned to use my rudimentary Dao fruit to easily retrieve that boy Lu Yang and your dragon pearl.
"Yet for some reason, something went wrong, and I still can't locate them. Just what is the origin of this dragon pearl of yours?"
The Old Dragon Emperor shook his head. "I do not know either. All I know is that it is an ancient artifact—indestructible and capable of nullifying poisons. I didn't even know there was a smaller pearl hidden inside it."
"An ancient artifact, and you never thought to investigate its background?"
The Old Dragon Emperor wore a face of bitter helplessness. "Senior, as you know, history suffered a great rupture, and we know very little about ancient times. When our predecessors inherited the Dragon Palace, it was piled high with all kinds of heavenly treasures, spirit treasures, and spirit stones, many of which we couldn't even identify. The dragon pearl was just sitting amidst a heap of treasures, hardly standing out.
"Our Dragon Palace spent tens of thousands of years just sorting and categorizing those treasures.
"Simply cataloging them was an immense feat; trying to trace their origins was entirely impossible. Senior, surely you can understand?"
Daoist Lord Hanhai bristled with wide eyes. When had he ever enjoyed such wealth? If the Dao Seeking Sect had been that rich back then, would he have earned the title of Restorer of the Sect?
Wasn't it precisely because he stepped up when the Dao Seeking Sect was at its poorest that people called him the Restorer?
Even though he later made the Dao Seeking Sect prosperous, it had never reached such staggering opulence as the Dragon Palace.
Of course, the Dao Seeking Sect nowadays was certainly richer than the Dragon Clan; after all, they had raided the lairs of several half-immortals.
"Very well. Since you have no clues here, I'll put more effort into searching once the birthday banquet concludes." Daoist Lord Hanhai made it sound simple, but he lacked confidence in his heart.
Without a single lead, where on earth was he supposed to find that kid Lu Yang?
He had promised he could keep him safe, yet he had stumbled right at the start.
"By the way, Senior, an old acquaintance of yours in our Dragon Clan wishes to see you," the Old Dragon Emperor said.
"Who?" Daoist Lord Hanhai thought to himself, *I haven't visited your Dragon Palace in tens of thousands of years. What acquaintance could I possibly have?*
A dragon maiden of shapely grace stepped out from behind the stone pillar. Her gaze held a mesmerizing allure, and the three dragon scales adorning her forehead gave her an intoxicating charm, radiating an irresistible temptation.
"X-Xiao Ya?"
Daoist Lord Hanhai lost his composure. This was none other than Ao Ya, who had left an indelible mark upon his heart.
"You... you became a half-immortal too?!"
Fifty thousand years had passed! Could someone at the Tribulation Transcendence stage live for fifty thousand years?
Before Ao Ya, Daoist Lord Hanhai appeared utterly flustered, his hands fidgeting with nowhere to rest.
Ao Ya rolled her eyes at him. "I don't have your great capabilities. I am merely a modest Tribulation Transcendence cultivator. However, before I entered my slumber, I instructed my descendants: wake me either when the Dragon Clan faces a crisis, or whenever you reemerge into the world!"
Ao Ya grasped Daoist Lord Hanhai's hand with a beaming smile and, brooking no argument, began pulling him toward an adjoining chamber. "What a coincidence—I only awoke a few days ago and haven't restored my past strength yet. You can accompany me for some dual cultivation, and while we're at it, explain why you ran away back then!"
Daoist Lord Hanhai's face drained of all color in an instant.
On this trip to the East Sea, before he could even save Lu Yang, was he about to lose his virtue first?
Once again, a Tribulation Transcendence expert was striking above their realm against a half-immortal.
Chapter 866