City lord’s official residence, Silver Moon City:
“Milord, the prince is urging you to head immediately to the frontlines. The battle against the traitor Lu Yang could begin at any time,” a general said respectfully to Sima Changkong.
Sima Changkong stood on a floating island, remaining silent as he looked at the sea to the northeast with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Milord!” that general urged once more.
Suddenly, Sima Changkong smiled faintly and shook his head.
“Huh?” The general felt confused.
“What is the point of the battle at the frontlines? Go report to the prince. Tell him I’m going to watch Gu Hai slaughter dragons.” Sima Changkong smiled.
“Ah?” This surprised the general.
“Ao Shun? The previous dragon crown prince? That is a Heavenly Palace Realm expert, while Gu Hai is just a Golden Core Realm cultivator. How is he going to deal with this? I can’t figure this out. Not at all. Hahahaha! It must be very magnificent!” An excited glint flashed in Sima Changkong’s eyes.
“However, the prince is urging you to…,” that general said with a bitter expression.
“Don’t worry. The prince will not blame me. Slaughtering dragons as a Golden Core Realm cultivator with the power of the weakest royal dynasty? Furthermore, Ao Shun is bringing a powerful dragon army as well. How is Gu Hai going to do this? Go back and report to the prince. I cannot miss this. Just go.” Sima Changkong showed excitement in his eyes.
“Ah? But, but—”
“Don’t worry. Just pass on my words. The prince won’t blame you. Didn’t I tell you that already? I’m immediately heading to Nine-Five Island. Hahaha! Defeating the strong while weak? No, this is not just on the level of weak. What is Gu Hai going to do?” Sima Changkong said excitedly.
Sima Changkong left the general behind and called his subordinates together. Then, he boarded his flying ship and quickly flew out of Silver Moon City, heading towards Nine-Five Island.
In a study in Ying Capital, Ying Royal Dynasty:
“Dragon bone instruments? Why did no one tell us earlier?” Mo Yike demanded while glaring furiously.
“Mister Mo, we only just received the information ourselves. No one paid attention to this. Who could have imagined that Gu Hai would take advantage of this opening?” An adviser smiled bitterly.
“Taking advantage of the opening? Ha! Taking advantage of the opening? Do you really think that he took advantage of an opening? Gu Hai planned this long ago. Before heading to the Heptagold Sect, he already arranged for people to go to Silver Moon City to coordinate this with his zither pavilion. Otherwise, the timing would not be so good,” Mo Yike said with an unsightly expression.
“Huh? That can’t be, right? Gu Hai wouldn’t have prepared that early!”
“First, he got Huangfu Chaoge’s spy to meet with Liao Ya, inciting Liao Ya to take revenge and make use of the crown heir’s fear and hatred of Gu Hai to soothe Liao Ya’s concerns. Thus, the dragons left their barracks without permission.
“His Majesty already ordered that this would be punished with the death penalty, no matter who it was.
“Then, Huangfu Chaoge’s spy informed Ao Shun in advance. Since Ao Shun is protective of his dragons, he would definitely conceal the matter with everything he had. However, the truth would eventually come out. The best way to hide this was to make it official.
“Furthermore, Gu Hai moved quickly, causing harm to us. When he destroyed the Heptagold Sect, many people would ask to destroy the Han Royal Dynasty. By then, Ao Shun would be one of the first to ask for this.
“Gu Hai planned all this.
“And this was even before taking into consideration that Ao Shun was the one heading to the Heptagold Sect. Gu Hai had even scared Ao Shun back. Ao Shun’s embarrassment and fury would make him even more fervent in wanting to destroy the Han Royal Dynasty.
“All of this was just to force Ao Shun to bring the dragon army to Nine-Five Island?” Mo Yike showed a sullen expression.
Gasp! “That can’t be, right?” the advisers said with unsightly expressions. Who could have imagined that Gu Hai’s schemes ran so deep?
“Ao Shun is in danger?” Emperor Lu Yang’s face sank.
Mo Yike showed a bitter expression as he said, “Most importantly, Your Majesty’s battle with Long Shenwu could start at any moment. Right now, we can’t afford to send anyone to Nine-Five Island to reinforce Ao Shun. Furthermore, Ao Shun has already been gone for three days.”
“Gu Hai!” Lu Yang’s expression appeared sullen.
“Mister Mo, you are saying that Gu Hai has laid a trap at Nine-Five Island and is waiting for Crown Prince Ao Shun to fall into it? However, Crown Prince Ao Shun’s army is very strong. This time, he brought over one hundred dragons and more than three thousand sub-dragons! What is Gu Hai going to use to fight Ao Shun?” an adviser said with a frown.
“I am not sure as of now,” Mo Yike said bitterly.
“Could there be experts sent by the Qian Heavenly Emperor?” one of the advisers suggested.
If the Qian Heavenly Emperor sent powerful experts, Ao Shun was indeed in danger.
Mo Yike shook his head and said, “It can’t be the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s men.”
“Huh? Why?”
“The Qian Heavenly Emperor’s appointment of Long Shenwu as the supreme commander already says it. Although His Majesty rebelled, the Qian Heavenly Emperor will not use his full power to deal with His Majesty. He is leaving this to Long Shenwu. Of all the talents in the Qian Heavenly Dynasty, there will only be Long Shenwu and no one else,” Mo Yike said with certainty.
“Would he be that nice?” Emperor Lu Yang asked after a deep breath.
“It is because he needs to show the magnanimity of a sovereign. At the very least, he will not openly send anyone out. There are many people in the Qian Heavenly Dynasty waiting. After all, you were a high-ranking official who rendered outstanding service in the past. You helped the Qian Heavenly Emperor gain his nation. If you did not betray him, he would not have done anything to you, no matter how lawless you became. This is still the same. Right now, he is showing all his officials and citizens the magnanimity of a sovereign,” Mo Yike explained.
“Humph!” Emperor Lu Yang snorted coldly, clearly disdaining the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s attitude.
“What should we do now?” one of the advisers asked worriedly.
Mo Yike sighed, “It has been three days. It is already too late. We can only hope Ao Shun can avert disaster. Hah. However…”
“However, what?” Emperor Lu Yang asked.
“Ao Shun’s mental fortitude is somewhat weak. Haha!” Mo Yike laughed bitterly.
“What do you mean?” an adviser at the side asked in confusion.
“He was previously the dragon crown prince, the next leader of the dragon race. Yet, he ended up as a sin dragon, stripped of his position as the dragon race’s crown prince. What does this say? The current dragon crown prince is a person of extraordinary means. Ao Shun was the next in line while the Dragon Prime showed no care for the world. Only one dragon in the dragon race stood above Ao Shun. Aside from the prime, he had the most authority. Regardless, he got reduced to a sin dragon, losing his crown prince position. Hah!” Mo Yike said bitterly.
“Huh? This proves his poor mental fortitude?”
“Tell me, how strong is an emperor’s mental fortitude if his officials forced him off the throne and branded him a criminal?” Mo Yike explained.
“Huh?”
“Also, Gu Hai recently used a ritual array that was running out of power, manifesting a Dugu Qiubai to scare Ao Shun away. Scare away, mind you. How strong could his mental fortitude be?” Mo Yike said bitterly.
“However, he is strong,” one of the advisers said with a frown.
“Indeed. He is strong. I hope that he is strong enough to crush Nine-Five Island. Hah!” Mo Yike sighed softly.
Nine-Five Island, the Thousand Islands Sea:
The White Cloud flying ship descended towards the Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza.
Gu Qin stood there respectfully with all the officials to receive Gu Hai.
“Salutations, my emperor! Long live my emperor! May my emperor live for ten thousand years!” The officials all bowed respectfully.
Gu Qin’s eyes filled with excitement. The many officials also showed joy on their faces. Their emperor had returned. This was a major event. The emperor had been gone for more than half a year.
Gu Hai looked at the blessings above the Soaring Palace Hall as he stood on the flying ship. Then, he showed a rare genuine smile.
However, Ensnaring Performance looked around, appearing curious.
“Rise!” Gu Hai said indifferently.
“Many thanks, Your Majesty!” the officials said excitedly.
The flying ship was filled with storage equipment.
“Chen Tianshan, arrange for people to deal with the spirit stones, books, and manuals on the flying ship,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Chen Tianshan answered.
“Gao Xianzhi, bring Ensnaring Performance around,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Gao Xianzhi smiled.
“You are Gao Xianzhi? Master said that he would bring you to the Divine Continent the next time. After you bring me around, I’ll sing a song for you!” Ensnaring Performance jumped over excitedly.
“Alright,” Gao Xianzhi said with a faint smile.
Gu Hai disembarked from the flying ship and looked at the officials in front of him.
“All my beloved subjects, we have just returned and feel slightly tired. Go back first, and we will meet again during tomorrow’s morning assembly,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” the many officials answered respectfully.
Gu Hai made some arrangements before heading to a foggy ritual array in the palace with Gu Qin.
“Imperial Father, the information you sent was correct. Yesterday, a group of dragons, baxias, flood dragons, and a well-dressed young master arrived. I informed Senior Miao Chen, laid a large ritual array, and captured them. Among them was a one-eyed dragon that nearly managed to escape. If not for both the ritual array and Senior Miao Chen, he would have escaped; it was a very close shave,” Gu Qin said excitedly.
“A one-eyed dragon? That is Liao Ya. As for the well-dressed young master. Ha! That should be Lu An.” Gu Hai revealed a faint smile.
“Oh? That is Duke Lu Yang’s grandson?” Gu Qin’s expression changed.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “It looks like I did not return too late. Ao Shun will be arriving in a few more days.”
“Ao Shun will arrive in a few days?” Gu Qin raised his eyebrows.
“That’s right. Has Mu Chenfeng arrived?” Gu Hai asked.
“He arrived three days ago, along with a group of treants. I already made arrangements for him,” Gu Qin replied after some thought.
“Mu Chenfeng has returned? That means that he has completed his assignment. Ha! All that remains is Ao Shun!” A cold glint flashed in Gu Hai’s eyes.
Then, Gu Hai’s group entered the foggy ritual array in the palace. This ritual array had sound isolation effects, preventing any sounds from leaking out.
“Roar! All of you can forget about running. His Majesty will take revenge for us. Miao Chen, how dare you lay a trap for us? When the crown prince arrives, he will eradicate your entire race!” Roars came from the inside.
One hundred flood dragons, one hundred baxias, ten dragons, and Liao Ya had chains binding their bodies, preventing them from moving as they roared.
Not far away, Lu An was bound to a stone pillar with his cultivation sealed. He showed horror on his face.
Many Han Royal Dynasty guards stood in the surroundings. At this moment, these guards had goosebumps. These are dragons. My Han Royal Dynasty managed to capture so many dragons, flood dragons, and baxias?
Meng Tai, Miao Chen, and a few black tortoises stood nearby, watching coldly.
When Gu Hai’s group entered the ritual array, it immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
“Gu Hai?” Liao Ya roared while glowering.
Meng Tai’s eyes lit up when he saw Gu Hai.
“Your official Meng Tai salutes Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years!”
“Long live Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years!” the guards saluted.
Gu Hai nodded.
“Senior Miao Chen, many thanks for the hard work.” Gu Hai smiled as he looked at Miao Chen.
Previously, Shangguan Hen had awed Miao Chen and the Black Tortoise race elders, resulting in them bringing their entire race to stay at the bottom of the sea near Nine-Five Island.
“Gu Hai, you finally returned. All I can do is help you capture Liao Ya. I heard the crown prince say that you are also luring Ao Shun over? I am not a match for Ao Shun,” Miao Chen said with a bitter expression.
“It’s fine. Ao Shun? I have ways to deal with him. You don’t have to worry; you won’t have to lift a finger.” Gu Hai smiled.
“Oh?” This mildly surprised Miao Chen.
