Chapter 2837: Xuan Du and the Yaksha

Inside the gate — or rather, the flickering points of light beyond it — was a sky full of stars.

"The passage out of the dream!" Bao Chihai's voice tightened, and he pointed at the stone gate, also somewhat excited. "As long as we carry the marker, stepping through this gate will return us to reality!"

Everyone could no longer hold back, and all quickened their pace.

But at this moment, two figures suddenly emerged from behind the large rock to the side.

The Earth Mother recognized them at a glance — the one walking in front was precisely the Sea Emperor Xuan Du!

Although it had never truly faced the Sea Emperor face to face, He Lingchuan had once shown it a portrait, so it could recognize him at a glance: this brawny man with red skin, green hair, a pointed chin, long fangs, and a whole string of severed heads hanging around his neck was Xuan Du!

Following closely beside the Sea King was a black-skinned Yaksha.

Xuan Du also seemed not to have expected them to arrive this fast; his footsteps halted, a flash of black light in his hand revealed a trident, and he pointed it at the Earth Mother: "I've been waiting for you all for a long time."

He Lingchuan stepped forward two paces and shouted in a deep voice: "Xuan Du, you are also a True Immortal of the mortal world — are you really going to be in cahoots with the Heavenly Demon?"

Before Xuan Du could utter a sound, the black-skinned Yaksha beside him pointed at the Earth Mother and cried out:

"You..."

His articulation was muddy and unclear, as if a mouthful of thick phlegm were stuck in his throat, and his mouth was also muffled, making his voice extremely indistinct; the Earth Mother could only make out the first word.

It asked Bao Chihai beside it: "What did he say?"

Bao Chihai shrugged: "I can't understand it either."

The black-skinned Yaksha went on with another string of garbled sounds; the Earth Mother couldn't understand a single word, only knowing that he was somewhat agitated.

Hm, was it agitation or indignation? Among the sea monsters the group had just killed there were plenty of Yaksha; could he have had relatives among them?

It shouldn't be. Logically speaking, a monster able to stay by the Sea Emperor's side should have cultivation that's at least not weak, so how could he be unable to speak clearly?

With him jabbering like this, can the Sea Emperor really understand?

At this moment the Sea Emperor tilted his head slightly and whispered two sentences to the black-skinned Yaksha, whereupon the latter's emotions immediately calmed down, but his gaze still locked tightly on the Earth Mother, not even glancing at the others.

What grudge does this fellow have with it?

The Sea Emperor stood tall on the spot and said to He Lingchuan: "The accounts between us should also be settled. A grievance has its source, a debt has its debtor — you were the one who came to provoke me first."

He Lingchuan sighed: "The great matters of the world come first; can't you and I set aside our enmity for now?"

"Naturally not!" After the Sea Emperor finished speaking, he looked at the Earth Mother: "And this big dumb lump — he's killed so many of my sea clan! Today I'll strip your soul out, stuff it into the Stone Ox, and send it to the Lei Ting Heavenly Prison, to suffer three thousand six hundred lightning strikes every day, never to be freed for all eternity!"

The Earth Mother flew into a rage.

It had once been trapped for several thousand years in the Void of Yujing City; Shangguan Biao had modeled that place into the Lei Ting Heavenly Plain. When it fought shoulder to shoulder with He Lingchuan, it had not suffered few lightning strikes, and that taste was truly unpleasant.

Therefore, the moment the Sea Emperor mentioned the Lei Ting Heavenly Plain, the Earth Mother flared up, bouncing in a single step to the Sea Emperor's front, its iron fist greeting his face.

Along the journey into the Sea Emperor's palace, He Lingchuan had rarely let it join battle; the Earth Mother's essence, energy, and spirit had recovered considerably, and this move carried the momentum of mountains collapsing and earth splitting.

The Sea Emperor shifted his step to dodge; the Earth Mother's fist retracted — before it even hit the mountain wall, the entire rock cavern was shaken violently by the fist wind, and countless stones fell rustling down.

Seeing the Sea Emperor retreating along the stone wall, the Earth Mother once again swung its fist at him across the air.

The fist wind carried terrifying pressure, and moreover it was spiral-shaped; sweeping past the stone wall it was like a level-fifteen gale on the Stormy Plains — anything brushed by even a tiny bit, even just touching the tail of the gale, would be swept up like a kite with its string cut, or directly pressed into a meat patty on the stone wall.

The Sea Emperor, however, stood his trident upright before him, planting it in the ground. When the gale reached the trident it was as if it had crashed into a cliff, split in two, and swept past on both sides, yet did not injure the Sea Emperor in the slightest.

One strike failing, the Earth Mother was not anxious either. We'll see.

Sure enough, before the Sea Emperor had even lifted his trident, the stone wall an arm's length away from him suddenly produced a massive stone fist, at least the size of a millstone, smashing precisely at his ribs.

This blow came without any warning; anyone else would certainly have been unable to dodge in time. But the Sea Emperor seemed to have eyes on his shoulders; at the critical moment he raised his palm and pressed it on the stone fist, borrowing the force of this blow to leap into the air.

He appeared to have been knocked flying, but in reality he borrowed the force to leap several zhang away.

How nimble — the Sea Emperor's movements on land are this agile too? What infuriated the Earth Mother most was that the Sea Emperor blocked this strike without even turning his head, as if he knew its routine, and receiving it barehanded was far too casual.

Even after the Sea Emperor landed, he still threw a mocking remark at the Earth Mother:

"Once you leave that turtle shell of yours, you only have this little bit of ability? I really overestimated you before."

The so-called turtle shell, of course, referred to the Earth Mother's body.

Fire flared in the Earth Mother's eyes. This guy's mouth is truly venomous — fighting while running his mouth endlessly!

But the Sea Emperor's next action made its eyes go straight:

He actually took out a flower from his bosom and shook it at the Earth Mother.

It was a golden lotus, its petals still beaded with a few dewdrops. And right under the Earth Mother's gaze, one of the dewdrops vaporized into green mist, coiling around the petals.

Wind-Dew Golden Lotus!

This thing had accompanied the Earth Mother for several thousand years; it absolutely would not mistake it!

But it never imagined the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus would fall into the Sea Emperor's hands.

"What the hell!"

Why would the Sea Emperor produce the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus?

At this moment He Lingchuan and the others also pressed forward in fierce attack; the Sea Emperor remained unperturbed, a sliding step making him vanish from his original spot and reappear five zhang away, right behind a powerful expert, whereupon a cold light flashed.

Had He Lingchuan not rescued him in time, flinging out the long spear in his hand, that man would have been decapitated.

"Don't fall for the trick!" He Lingchuan roared at the Earth Mother, "That's the Illusion Music Goddess's illusion, meant to confuse your mind!"

Right — this is a dream; what can't the Illusion Music Goddess conjure? Perhaps she previously spied on the Earth Mother's performance in the Purple Flower Maze, discovered it used the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus's dew to break the array, and so now conjures a golden lotus to bewilder it.

As for why the Illusion Music Goddess could simulate the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus, perhaps she learned it from other Heavenly Demons? After all, during Shangguan Biao's administration of Yujing City, his interactions with Heavenly Demons were extremely frequent; who knows whether he leaked secrets related to the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus.

Thinking like this, the Earth Mother always felt something was a bit off.

As a victim who had suffered losses for several thousand years, it actually understood Shangguan Biao's character very well. Even if that guy cooperated with Heavenly Demons, both sides would inevitably each have their own schemes, united in appearance but divided in spirit. The Wind-Dew Golden Lotus is the core secret treasure Shangguan Biao used to control the Earth Mother — how would he casually reveal it to Heavenly Demons?

The Shangguan Biao the Earth Mother knew would most likely hide the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus in a place no one could find — right, for instance, inside his own Secret Realm.

So, there is only one possibility:

Its Earth Mother Plain and the Nine Nether's Coiling Dragon Secret Realm have already fallen into enemy hands!