Chapter 377: Journey to the West: The Aftermath — Prince of Qin Li Shimin (Chat Group Contents)

The Three Realms, within Lord Tianchi.

This Lord Tianchi was vast and boundless, filled with all manner of turtles, soft-shelled turtles, fish, and shrimp; among them, the outstanding ones could even inhale and exhale the essence of the sea, becoming sea spirits of tremendous magic power.

And deep within this Lord Tianchi, in a remote spot, stood a mansion that looked perfectly ordinary.

This mansion appeared utterly unremarkable, with not even a single guard at its gate, yet no spirit, however great their magic power, dared to trespass into it.

For the master of this mansion was a renowned super-powerful figure in the Three Realms — the Bodhisattva of Broad Power among the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons, Ao Lie!

Ao Lie's own magic power alone was already extraordinarily formidable, making him one of the rare powerhouses of the Three Realms; and behind him stood a master, an elder martial brother, and many close friends.

Especially his senior martial brother — a super-powerful figure famous throughout the Three Realms, who had once caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace and later became the Buddha of Victory in Strife of the Buddhist faith, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.

His own strength was already tremendous, and added to that was the backing behind him, so very few in the Three Realms came to provoke Ao Lie.

Suddenly, an old man carrying a turtle shell on his back and dressed in splendid robes appeared before the cave-dwelling's gate.

If any strong figure from the Long Gong were to see him, they would surely recognize his identity — the Turtle Prime Minister of the Western Sea Long Gong.

Having arrived at Ao Lie's domain, this Turtle Prime Minister quickly called out toward the cave-dwelling: "Prince Ao Lie! Prince Ao Lie!"

A moment later, a guard in armor walked out of the cave-dwelling and immediately barked at the Turtle Prime Minister: "Who are you, making such a racket here?"

Seeing this, the Turtle Prime Minister hurriedly explained his purpose, and at the same time informed the guard that the Western Sea Long Wang was Ao Lie's father, and added that he had brought a letter from the Western Sea Long Wang.

Upon learning of this, the guard quickly returned to the cave-dwelling to report it on his behalf.

Inside the cave-dwelling, a young man in white robes, handsome of face, with faint traces of dragon qi emanating from his body, was sitting cross-legged in meditation on a high platform, cultivating — it was none other than the Bodhisattva of Broad Power among the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons, Ao Lie!

"Bodhisattva!" The guard entered the cave-dwelling and promptly bowed respectfully to Ao Lie.

Hearing the guard's voice, Ao Lie quickly opened his eyes and asked: "What is it?"

The guard hurriedly replied: "Reporting to the Bodhisattva, the Western Sea Long Wang has sent the Turtle Prime Minister to deliver a letter, and wishes to request an audience with the Bodhisattva!"

"Ao Qin?" Upon hearing the guard's words, a cold glint immediately flashed through Ao Lie's eyes.

It turned out that although Ao Lie and Ao Qin were father and son, ever since Ao Lie's birth, Ao Qin had always considered him an unfilial son, beating and scolding him at every turn.

If it had only been that, it would have been fine — after all, a father beating and scolding his child, while not right, was still within the bounds of normal.

But later, Ao Lie had beaten the son of the Martial Virtue Star Lord of the Heavenly Realm. When the Martial Virtue Star Lord came demanding satisfaction, Ao Qin had cared nothing for Ao Lie's life, and had actually wanted to hand him straight over to the Martial Virtue Star Lord to vent his anger — to kill or flay him as the Martial Virtue Star Lord wished.

Such behavior naturally filled Ao Lie with despair, so in a fit of rage he fled directly to his uncle, the Jing River Long Wang.

The Jing River Long Wang was very fond of Ao Lie, and even helped him apply for a divine post in the Jing River to shield him from the threat the Martial Virtue Star Lord posed.

But the Jing River Long Wang's actions naturally also angered the Martial Virtue Star Lord. The Martial Virtue Star Lord then secretly schemed, framing the Jing River Long Wang for withholding the proper number of rainfall points, and ultimately had him sent by the Heavenly Court to the Dragon-Slaying Platform.

Before the Jing River Long Wang was executed, Ao Lie had also gone to Ao Qin to beg for help, only to find that the man was still utterly heartless, lifting not a single finger to intervene.

It was only later, after becoming the Bodhisattva of Broad Power among the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons of the Buddhist faith, that Ao Lie, with the help of his senior martial brother Sun Wukong, finally cleared his uncle the Jing River Long Wang's name.

After all these experiences, Ao Lie naturally harbored not the slightest feeling for his biological father Ao Qin — in fact, he bore him some resentment.

That was why, upon hearing news of Ao Qin, Ao Lie's emotions became so agitated.

But after a moment's thought, Ao Lie still let the Western Sea Turtle Prime Minister enter the cave-dwelling, and then asked him to state his purpose.

It turned out that the Four Seas had been far from peaceful lately — a demonic evil known as the Nine-Headed Worm had led a host of spirits to appear in the Western Sea, and had even declared he would lead troops to invade the Four Seas and slaughter every last person of the Four Sea Dragon Palaces.

Although the Four Sea Dragon Palaces were powerful, the spirits led by the Nine-Headed Worm were no weaklings either, and in numbers they far exceeded the sea-dragon soldiers and shrimp soldiers and crab generals of the Four Sea Dragon Palaces.

Now the Western Sea had already fallen into an extremely dire situation, which was why Ao Qin had thought of his son Ao Lie, hoping to ask Ao Lie to return to the Western Sea and lend him a hand!

"A father-son reunion?"

After hearing the Turtle Prime Minister out, Ao Lie immediately let out a cold laugh, then scoffed: "Don't make it sound so pleasant!"

"If he truly had any father-son affection for me, he wouldn't have handed me over to that Martial Virtue Star Lord five hundred years ago! Now that the Four Seas are in trouble, he suddenly remembers he has a son — what a contemptible, self-serving wretch!"

"Prince…"

"Hmph!"

The Turtle Prime Minister had been about to say more, but was cut off by Ao Lie: "Go back and tell him — whether he lives or dies, it has nothing to do with me, the White Dragon! I am certainly not going back to the Western Sea to save him. Now go!"

Hearing this, the Turtle Prime Minister immediately brought up father-son affection once more to try to persuade Ao Lie.

But the less he said about it, the better — the moment he did, Ao Lie grew extremely agitated again, and even recalled how his uncle the Jing River Long Wang had died bearing a wrongful grievance.

"When he handed me over to that Martial Virtue Star Lord back then, why didn't he think of father-son affection?"

"When my uncle the Jing River Long Wang was in trouble and I went to him for help, why didn't he think of father-son affection?"

The White Dragon Ao Lie said in fury: "Now that he's in desperate straits with nowhere to turn, he suddenly remembers he has a son — it's far too late!"

"In all of heaven and earth, I, the White Dragon, acknowledge only one person — my senior martial brother Sun Wukong! Apart from him, even the Buddha himself would be of no use!"

"Guards! Show the guest out!"

After saying this, Ao Lie no longer paid the Turtle Prime Minister any attention, and instead ordered his men to drive him out of the cave-dwelling.

After the Turtle Prime Minister had left, the White Dragon Ao Lie once more recalled all the heartless things the Western Sea Long Wang had done to him in the past.

And this only made his resolve harden all the more.

But just then, a strange voice suddenly rang out in the White Dragon Ao Lie's mind.

"Ding! Welcome to joining the Myriad Heavens Chat Group!"

……

The ninth year of Wude of the Great Tang, the capital Chang'an.

As an empire that had only just been founded not long ago, the Great Tang appeared on the surface to be in a time of great peace, yet within the court the undercurrents had long since begun to stir.

Even the common folk in the streets and alleys had a vague sense that a storm was about to break.

The most important of all this was, naturally, the struggle between Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince of Qin Li Shimin.

The reason the Great Tang now held the realm was largely due to Prince of Qin Li Shimin alone.

From the moment the Li clan raised their army at Jinyang, Prince of Qin Li Shimin had been victorious in every battle; the Battle of Hulao Pass in particular saw three thousand troops rout a hundred thousand and capture two kings in a single engagement.

It was only a pity that the Prince of Qin was not the eldest legitimate son, so naturally there was a tremendous conflict between him and the Crown Prince.

And now, the Turks of the north planned to invade the Central Plains, yet the Emperor had stripped the Prince of Qin of his military authority and handed it directly to Prince Qi Li Yuanji.

Know that since the founding of the Great Tang, Prince Li Yuanji has never succeeded in commanding troops, and has even fled in disgrace—how could he possibly lead an army to victory?

But Prince Li Yuanji was recommended by the Crown Prince!