The underwater Dragon Palace was magnificent. It had crystal floors, golden pillars, and jade steps.
Pearl curtains hung down. They made a rustling sound in the water.
Fish swam freely among the corals. They appeared lively and carefree. In the blink of an eye, they revealed their ferocious teeth. They bit at their companions, leaving behind waves of blood with a strong fishy smell.
The dragon in the Mind Palace had quieted down. Ji Yutang, following her intuition, chose a direction and walked swiftly.
After turning through several crystal corridors, the sea beasts were nowhere to be seen. They were replaced by groups of dragon species. Each manifested their dragon form, evolving towards true dragons within the Dragon Palace city.
“Are all the dragon species of the North Sea gathered here?” Ji Yutang was somewhat surprised.
Although she had a talisman to conceal her aura, she still felt uneasy.
As she pondered whether to move forward, a dispute suddenly arose among the dragon species.
A Dragon Carp manifested into human form. It summoned a gleaming sword and fiercely attacked the dragon species ahead! The dragon species were initially shocked. They fled in all directions. After a few moments, they regained their composure. They transformed into human form and angrily shouted at the Dragon Carp, “Li Bai, are you betraying the ancestor?”
The young man transformed from the Dragon Carp sneered, “What ancestor? Are those inside even worthy?”
The carp first transformed into a Dragon Carp. Then it leaped over the dragon gate to evolve into a true dragon species.
He prided himself on being a “true dragon bloodline.” He had no intention of betraying the dragon clan! The reason he mingled with these traitors was to find an opportunity to capture them all!
This Dragon Carp was a Golden Core stage cultivator. Although some dragon species were on par with him, they were defeated one after another in battle.
Despite being besieged by a group of dragon species, the Dragon Carp did not fall behind at all.
“The combat power of the Dragon Carp is so fierce?” Ji Yutang exclaimed in surprise. She did not dare to move forward for fear of being caught in the aftermath of the battle.
“Those dragon species must have been tricked. They are unable to exert their full strength,” Li Jingyu explained.
Sure enough, after being defeated, the other dragon species noticed something unusual about themselves.
They glared viciously at Li Bai, as if they wanted to tear a piece of flesh from him.
“Shameless traitor, did you drug us?”
Li Bai wiped the bloodstains from his sword and said indifferently, “It’s just using their own methods against them.”
The banquet in the Dragon Palace city was a feast for the dragon species.
At this time, as long as there was dragon blood, one could enter the Dragon Palace to comprehend the Dao. Thus, they would take a step closer to becoming a true dragon.
But these beasts betrayed the trust of the true dragons. They drugged the banquet in the Dragon Palace, causing the true dragons to lose their power.
Several unyielding true dragons had already been slain by traitors. The remaining true dragons were imprisoned in some formation.
Since he, Li Bai, was a dragon species, he had to find a way to rescue the true dragons.
This was a one-sided slaughter.
The Golden Core stage Li Bai had already cultivated the “Heaven and Earth Lock” divine ability. None of the dragon species inside could escape.
“The higher-level dragon species haven’t appeared. Are they occupied with something?” Ji Yutang’s eyes flashed with a strange light.
She thought of a possibility and instinctively turned to Li Jingyu for confirmation.
“Very likely,” Li Jingyu nodded, responding slowly.
The Dragon Carp, originally holding a sword and heading deeper into the Dragon Palace city, suddenly seemed to sense something. His sharp eyes pierced in the direction of Ji Yutang and the others!
“Who?!” he shouted, and the sword light fell like a shooting star, slashing fiercely in that direction.
Ji Yutang’s eyelids twitched. She did not dare to directly confront Li Bai’s sword momentum.
Firstly, the opponent’s cultivation was at the Golden Core stage. Secondly, the concealment talisman would fail when she made a move!
She quickly dodged to the side. Unexpectedly, Li Bai could sense her movement, and the sword light shifted, falling again.
Li Jingyu sighed. She removed the concealment talisman from her body and revealed her figure first.
Li Bai’s offensive stopped, but his brows were still shrouded in a few degrees of severity.
“Human cultivators? What are you doing in my Dragon Palace?” he asked in a raised voice.
“I heard that the Dragon Palace city is cooperating with the Demon Sect. So we disciples of Taiyuan Palace came to investigate,” Li Jingyu replied calmly.
Li Bai stared at Li Jingyu and snorted coldly, “There’s another person.”
Li Jingyu’s eyes flashed with a strange light.
This Taiyuan Xuanqing Concealment Talisman couldn’t be seen through even by a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Yet the Golden Core Dragon Carp could sense it?
She glanced at Ji Yutang, giving a signal.
Since they had been discovered, there was no need to hide.
Fortunately, this person was not on the same side as those dragon species. Perhaps they could cooperate.
Seeing Ji Yutang’s figure appear, Li Bai’s expression softened a bit.
Although he was a demon clan cultivator, his clan had superior Qi Dao techniques. He also followed the path of Qi Dao.
The Dao method he cultivated, “Non-Self is Different,” would reject all non-self forces. The Dao was the only one.
He pressed his sword and scrutinized Li Jingyu and Ji Yutang. Finally, he fixed his gaze on Ji Yutang and said in a deep voice, “Are you cultivating dragon skills?”
Ji Yutang nodded.
Li Bai didn’t dwell on this topic. He paused and then sneered, “The matter of the Dragon Palace city involves Nascent Soul stage powerhouses. I’m afraid you can’t handle it with your strength.”
Taiyuan Dao Palace hadn’t sent any Nascent Soul stage cultivators. They had only sent a few disciples in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stages, which he saw as merely a show to demonstrate the style of Tai Shang’s direct lineage.
He wasn’t sure what these two intended to do. But knowing they weren’t on the side of the dragon species, he didn’t plan to interfere with them.
Just as he was about to turn into a several-zhang-long Dragon Carp, Li Jingyu’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Senior, do you know what changes have occurred in the Dragon Palace city?” Li Jingyu asked.
The Dragon Carp turned its head. Its eyes glowed with a blood-red light. It said indifferently, “That’s not something you should be concerned about.”
Li Jingyu’s eyelids twitched. She continued, “We previously encountered disciples of the Tianhai Demon Sect in the Sea Abyss.
They were collecting Taiyin Fiend for someone, seemingly to deal with the true dragons.”
“Taiyin Fiend?” The Dragon Carp, who was about to leave, was stopped by Li Jingyu’s words.
He stared at Li Jingyu and said sternly, “What else do you know?”
Li Jingyu looked at the Dragon Carp and didn’t hide anything. She said, “True Dragon Transformation Array.”
“What?” The Dragon Carp was shocked. It immediately sealed the space and looked at Li Jingyu and Ji Yutang. It said, “Tell me everything you know in detail.
Now, those Nascent Soul stage ancestors are busy suppressing the true dragons and have no time to care about this place.”
Li Jingyu originally wanted to recruit this Dragon Carp as an ally. So she exaggerated the matters of the Taiyin Fiend, North Sea Demon God Pillar, and so on.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Carp also explained the situation of the true dragons being trapped in the Dragon Palace city.
After a stick of incense, both sides got the information they wanted.
Before leaving, the Dragon Carp pointed Li Jingyu and Ji Yutang in the right direction.
He hadn’t participated in the matters of the Immortal Sect cultivators, but he knew where the Immortal Sect prisoners were being held.
After the Dragon Carp left, Ji Yutang turned to Li Jingyu, frowning. “Is he going to rescue the true dragons alone?”
“I don’t know,” Li Jingyu replied straightforwardly.
She shook her head and added, “I don’t think this senior is a reckless person.
He’s been lurking in the Dragon Palace city for quite some time. He should have his own plan.”
Ji Yutang responded with a hum, lowering her eyelashes. “Let’s go find the other Dao friends.”
Li Jingyu crossed her arms, smiled, and said, “As you wish.”
The two of them got the information from the Dragon Carp. Qin Ruoshui, as a true disciple of Taiyuan Palace, had his own way of finding people.
Outside the prison, they chose different directions and met directly here.
“Junior Sister Ran, Daoist Friend Ji, you came just in time,” Qin Ruoshui’s eyes flashed with joy.
Since they had found the prison, a fight with the dragon species was inevitable.
Li Jingyu listened to Qin Ruoshui’s plan and nodded calmly.
Ji Yutang couldn’t help but glance at Li Jingyu a few more times.
Why didn’t she mention meeting the Dragon Carp when they encountered Qin Ruoshui? That information was closely related to the changes in the Dragon Palace city.
Was it to “avoid suspicion” in front of her? But what was the point of doing that now?
After thinking for a moment, Ji Yutang saw that Li Jingyu really had no intention of speaking. She took the initiative to bring up the “Dragon Carp” and explained everything in detail.
Afterward, she added, “The Nascent Soul stage cultivators among those dragon species should be held up. So we still have a chance.”
“Did the Dragon Seed drug the banquet at the Dragon Palace? With the demon clan’s level of alchemy, it’s impossible for them to achieve this.
There must be traces of demonic cultivators involved.” Qin Ruoshui’s face darkened. His hatred and anger towards the demonic cultivators grew even stronger.
“If the True Dragon Transformation Array fails, they might resort to other insane methods.
We must stop them!”
“Let’s rescue our fellow cultivators first, then contact Daoist Lin,” Ji Yutang suggested.
Qin Ruoshui nodded in agreement, “Alright.”
In the water prison where the Immortal Sect cultivators were held, a group of demon cultivators stood guard.
They were ill-tempered and prone to arguing over the slightest disturbance.
Using a concealment talisman, they quietly stole a treasure from one demon cultivator and hid it on another.
As expected, when the demon cultivator discovered his treasure had been “stolen” by another, he flew into a rage. A fight broke out.
Qin Ruoshui observed, “Their cultivation seems to have been boosted by external forces, much like the Chi Dragon, and is not solid.”
After watching for a while, he added, “This external force manifests the dragon form. It likely comes from the flesh and blood of the true dragons we saw earlier. The demon cultivators’ approach has many flaws.”
Ji Yutang furrowed her brows at his words.
She also relied on external elixirs, similar to these demon cultivators.
Would she end up like them? What was the point of practicing the Dragon Transformation Sutra then?
“Their minds are flawed. They recklessly consume elixirs. It’s not a true path of strength,” Li Jingyu said gently, noticing Ji Yutang’s expression.
“But the path of strength draws from the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth. The burden it places on the world is far greater than that of us Qi cultivators. Without liberation, one merges with the world. This path is not the true path,” Qin Ruoshui said calmly.
Li Jingyu countered, “The Great Dao is one, yet the paths to it are countless. There’s no such thing as a true or false path.”
Qin Ruoshui suddenly turned to Li Jingyu.
He didn’t agree with her words but chose not to argue further.
After a long pause, he spoke softly, “Junior Sister Ran, you’ve changed a lot.”
Li Jingyu’s expression remained unchanged, as if she hadn’t heard him.
Ji Yutang also felt that Li Jingyu was different from the “fiancée” she remembered. But her impression of her was too vague to be certain.
Pushing aside her chaotic thoughts, she broke the awkward atmosphere among the three. She said, “They’re fighting now; it’s a good opportunity.”
