Chapter 505: The Long Gong Prince of the South (First Chapter, 4.4K)

In the cold, foreboding Long Gong hall.

The insect demon's head was brutally seized; its features were numb, only the corners of its eyes twitching slightly: "Hah... hah..."

The drunkenness seemed to have faded by more than half, yet it dared not fully wake up.

As the most trusted general under Ke Laosi, its strength was even greater than the three demons in the Immortal Cave back then; to call it the personal guard of the Dragon Grandson, the final line of defense, would not be an exaggeration.

Now, the insect demon could only stare blankly at the figures around it.

Many of those great demons had just moments ago been joining it in surrounding the Cloud Pavilion, yet now they were staring silently with those indifferent eyes; the blood floating around their bodies emitted a thick scent of aquatic creatures.

It was almost unimaginable how many aquatic lives this group of great demons had stained their hands with before stepping into the Dragon Grandson's palace.

"You—"

The insect demon had just opened its mouth when Wu Jun, expressionless, choked its neck with the base of his palm, the Hukou.

The two were evenly matched in strength.

But under the gaze of those dozen-plus pairs of eyes, the insect demon did not dare entertain even a shred of resistance; its face flushed red, it made instinctive, tiny struggling movements, and fearfully cast its gaze toward the ink-robed figure on the throne.

The plea for mercy overflowed from its eyes.

It was not stupid; it could instantly grasp who held the power in this situation.

Although the young man's face was utterly unfamiliar, no matter how the insect demon racked its brain, it could not find the other's identity.

Yet, being able to mobilize so many great demons, the status of this ink-robed youth must be enough to make everyone's liver and gallbladder tremble with fear.

To live, only the other's nod was needed.

Everything could be negotiated; they were great demons of Bai Yujing, even placed within the entire Hongze, they were rare and powerful beings.

Unless it was a life-and-death grudge, or they were madmen, no one would be willing to squander such aid so casually.

"..."

Shen Yi, at some point, had risen, taking a letter from the throne and examining the handwriting on it carefully.

Moments later, he lifted his gaze slightly.

Bai Xi, long and slender fingers flicked lightly; such a casual motion seemed more effective than any magical decree, simply and clearly sentencing the fates of these two great demons.

Wu Jun withdrew his questioning gaze, lowering his eyes to look at the insect demon in his palm.

The five fingers suddenly exerted force!

Golden patterns spread from the wrist to the fingertips, piercing the other's neck with a "puchi," and frantically thrusting deep into its body.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

The insect demon suddenly grabbed Wu Jun's arm; an instant burst of demonic energy caused some stone debris to crumble from the other's wrist.

Yet the face of this golden-patterned turtle demon showed no change whatsoever; it merely focused intently on strangling the insect demon's throat, trying hard to suppress the choking sounds from its throat.

This eerie, silent scene made the entire hall feel chillingly cold.

"Roar!"

The other great demon sitting opposite finally mustered the courage, heaving its body up with a "boom," intending to reveal its demonic form and fight these people to the death.

However, before its body could fully straighten, seven or eight arms had already brutally reached out, seizing its various joints and forcing it down to its knees!

Boom—

The instant its knees touched the jade tiles, the hall shook violently, as if it were about to collapse entirely.

The auras of exactly eighteen Bai Yu Jing demons completely enveloped the two figures.

Under the pressure of various innate supernatural abilities, the two fierce generals under the Dragon Grandson were like chicks, utterly powerless; their bones shattered inch by inch, their faces stained with blood, their eyes nearly bulging from their sockets, looking both grotesque and desperate!

Crack.

Wu Jun snapped the insect demon's neck; watching the tall figure slide from his embrace like rotten mud, the corpse, still retaining some warmth, collapsed completely onto the ground.

It casually rubbed its wrist, then, accompanied by a line of great demons with grotesque faces holding stone talismans, turned in perfect unison, showing deep reverence, clasped their fists, and bowed to the young cultivator at the upper end of the hall.

Although no one spoke, the hall was vast and silent, yet the spots of scarlet on their stone bodies, and the thick, suffocating scent of blood, made the scene strangely terrifying.

The ink robe swayed slightly.

Shen Yi closed his eyes, sensing the aura on the letter.

The aura mark deliberately left in the letter clearly carried the flavor of a prestigious orthodox sect.

By normal reasoning, let alone a single aura mark, even if the other party had truly appeared before him, Shen Yi might not have been able to recognize them.

After all, his understanding of the Seven Sons of Yu Nanhong was really not very deep.

But coincidence was such that... he actually recognized this aura.

Back when he had just left the Nan Yang treasure land, he had seen six stone Dao tablets; the aura on the one belonging to the Heavenly Sword Sect was exactly the same as that on this letter.

Who would have thought there would be an unexpected gain.

The hidden arrow that had long caused Shen Yi great worry had finally revealed its true form.

On his handsome face, no joy or anger could be seen; it was like an ancient well without waves, as if his emotions were very calm.

"Go."

Shen Yi opened his eyes and nodded slightly at his chin.

Immediately, the eighteen figures quickly withdrew from the hall, dispersing at a speed invisible to the naked eye; only after reaching a sufficient distance did they suddenly release their auras!

This action was not him suddenly going mad, wanting to draw the Long Gong's attention.

Rather, during the previous hunt, due to time constraints, the later ones were closer to the territories of those Bai Yu Jing great demon generals; even with the most decisive actions, the creatures in the vast waters were countless, and the news was inevitably spread.

Even with Shen Yi's ability to carry stone talismans on his person.

Of the eight Bai Yu Jing great demon generals, only seven were slain; one still managed to escape with its life.

He did not know what reaction the Long Gong would make.

But dispersing their attention was certainly not wrong.

"..."

A hint of vicious ruthlessness surged in Shen Yi's eyes as he turned and stepped into the depths of the Dragon Grandson's palace.

He was not only going to take the hits head-on, he was going to seize them by force, and in the end, he was going to bring all of these things back with him!

After all, Ke Laosi was a Dragon Grandson on the same level as a Dragon Son, so its collection could easily equal a smaller-scale Prince's treasure vault.

Shen Yi drew out his long spear, and the Azure Dragon Star-Shattering Spear slammed out with violent force!

In an extremely brutal manner, he tore apart the entire Dragon Grandson Hall; tall beams, along with countless glazed lamps, exploded together into the dark currents.

All manner of rare treasures and exotic curios revealed their true forms.

With a casual wave of his hand, like a gale sweeping away the last clouds, Shen Yi swept all the countless treasures into his thumb ring.

It had to be said, the most useful dharma artifact Nanyang Sect had left him was probably this very thumb ring of the Shen Zongzhu's jade; the vast space within was simply a perfect match for him.

With all this done.

Shen Yi leaped up, a streak of flowing light darted out, transforming into a black flying sword that landed precisely beneath his feet, and he shot violently toward the surface of the waters!

……

In the deepest waters of the entire Yu Nanhong, slippery bluestones were piled high, with water plants like clouds upon them; compared to those halls built of Bai Yu, it appeared incomparably aged, covered in the marks of time.

This was the South Long Gong.

Within it coiled a Yellow Fiend Poison Dragon of the purest bloodline; legend had it that when it leapt from the water, even immortal trees would wither along with it.

At this moment, inside the bluestone great hall.

Fifth Prince Ke Shiliang stood respectfully, carefully describing everything he had witnessed along the way, as well as his various guesses about the Xian Sect's reaction.

Beside him, Ke Laosi, along with a host of family members, knelt on the ground, using their garments to cover as much of their dark crimson dragon scales as possible, and burying their heads deeply into the floor.

What could make the two of them so humble was not a living thing, but merely a giant yellow dragon stone sculpture coiled on the wall; it was not exquisite, but rather crudely carved, as if it had been casually gouged out with sharp claws.

Yet this crude stone sculpture seemed to carry an endless domineering aura, making one dare not raise one's head before it.

Beneath the dragon's belly was a bottomless black abyss opening.

Anyone who merely tried to glance into it would feel a great terror overwhelming enough to shatter one's mind surging into their brain.

"Father King, your son has said all he has to say."

Ke Shiliang spoke until his mouth was dry, but no response came from within that black abyss opening, as if there were simply no living thing inside.

It seemed long accustomed to this, and did not show any strange expression.

No one would, on account of this, suspect that Father Emperor might have already passed into immortality at some unknown time.

A great demon comparable to a Dao-Combining realm cultivator, the sovereign of the Yu Nanhong waters — its fall would certainly be sensed by every living being throughout the entire Yu Nanhong.

"Your son takes his leave."

Ke Shiliang slowly stepped back out, and as he left, he casually glanced at Ke Laosi beside him.

The elite generals under his command had been lost by more than half; to get Father King to show mercy and dispatch a few more aids to him, so he could continue to oversee the waters near the Yu Nanhong Seven Sons... was not something that could be accomplished merely by kowtowing and admitting fault.

If it were one of those Dragon Grandsons qualified to inherit the South Long Gong, there might still be a chance to start over.

As for this bastard... tsk.

Ke Shiliang walked further away; he had already told Father King about the matter of hosting a banquet for the Yu Nanhong Seven Sons, so now all he had to do was keep a close eye on the aura of that blood talisman.

Little Thirteen was his son; though his cultivation was low, his talent was extraordinarily high, and he could even dual-cultivate the spiritual arts of the human race — his future achievements would surely be extraordinary, and there might even be a chance for him, as the father, to share in that glory.

And now he had just died for nothing.

Father King would absolutely not sit idly by.

As long as the Yu Nanhong Seven Sons did not use some method to dissolve that blood talisman, with this evidence, the Yu Nanhong Seven Sons paying a price was an inevitable matter.

Thinking of this.

Ke Shiliang carefully began to sense the existence of the blood talisman.

After a moment, his eyelids suddenly twitched twice, and within his pair of dragon eyes flickering with sharp light, a few shades of uncertainty and suspicion gradually welled up.

The person drawn by the blood talisman had actually emerged... and was not far from the waters?

"What audacity!"

Ke Shiliang had never dreamed that he had only just surrounded the Cloud Heaven Pavilion, and yet the people of the Xian Sect actually dared to press the issue and come chasing after them?!

He directly took out a conch shell, and without hesitation summoned the six Bai Yujing Great Generals under his command, growling low: "Hold the Yu Nanhong for this Prince! I want them unable to escape even if they grew wings!"

They really treat this Yu Nanhong as their own back garden, coming whenever they please, leaving whenever they please.

Let alone a mere few Dao Sons, even if some Shen Zongzhu came in person, he probably would not dare to make such a wild boast.

Yet the next moment, the uncertainty and suspicion in Ke Shiliang's eyes gradually transformed into a shade of terror.

"……"

The other end of the conch shell was utterly silent, as if fallen into a dead domain.

Not a single one of the six Bai Yujing Great Demon Generals he relied on responded.

After an unknown length of time, a panicked voice finally came from within: "My Prince! They've rebelled, they've all rebelled!"

"Speak to this Prince word by word!"

Though he was within the South Long Gong, Ke Shiliang still felt an inexplicable chill in his heart, and instinctively raised his voice.

Once that great demon finished explaining the matter in a fluster.

A crack! was heard.

Ke Shiliang had already unconsciously crushed that conch shell into a pile of fine powder, his face deathly pale.

The forces under his command had assembled and were now slaughtering another batch of forces under his command.

These somewhat convoluted words left Ke Shiliang entirely stupefied.

Compared to Ke Laosi's reckless impulsiveness, which had pointlessly gotten three Bai Yujing Great Generals killed, he himself had now, without the slightest awareness, handed over five Bai Yujing Demon Generals to others...

This gain and loss — that was a full ten Bai Yujing aids, which even for the entire South Long Gong was a force that could not be ignored.

In the end, he didn't even know by whom they had been turned!

Ke Shiliang slowly halted his steps, looking back toward the blue-brick dragon hall behind him, his breathing suddenly growing heavy: "..."

Xiao Si was right... this matter must have been done by the Xian Sect... and it had to be the Xian Sect!

At this moment, right within the Yu Nanhong waters.

A full eighteen thick, heaven-piercing auras rose in various places!

Streaking outward from the waters in different directions.

For great demons of such cultivation, a thousand or so zhang was but a single step away.

But even so.

A certain great demon Zhenshi of Bai Yujing, looking at the water's surface right before it, was still forced to halt its steps.

Its entire form froze in place; those sturdy arms, enough to stir heaven and earth upside down, now trembled madly — not out of fear, but straining with all its might against that gaze that had suddenly enveloped it.

Just within the nearby undercurrent.

A figure wearing a crown of dangling beads, roughly nine zhang tall, with shoulders broad and thick like Shanfeng, stepped out at a leisurely pace.

It was seen draped in a splendid robe, upon which was embroidered a vicious Yellow Sha Poison Dragon.

This lifelike pattern, paired with the calm face beneath the crown of beads — its dragon mouth slightly parted, as if wanting to say something.

But before any sound came out, it had already noticed something off about this Zhenshi of Bai Yujing.

This old dragon in splendid garb suddenly lost the mood to question it, and so lightly raised an arm — withered fingers bearing sharp claws — and casually pointed over.

"Crown Prince..."

Even having received the blessing of a demon-essence origin, this Zhenshi still instinctively called out the other's identity.

"Mm?"

The Crown Prince of the South Long Gong seemed not to have expected this thing could still speak, let alone seem to recognize him.

It raised a brow, but alas the fingertip had already pressed down — too late.

In an instant, the equally tall and sturdy demon Zhenshi suddenly twisted its features, and without the slightest room to resist, crumbled into rubble.

Crack.

The drifting stone fragments bobbed with the waves, and the Crown Prince of the South Long Gong casually took one into its palm.

So-called spirit puppets, no matter by what means they were forged, must inevitably share some connection with their master.

This was also why it had been unhurried from start to finish.

But after a moment.

The Crown Prince of the South Long Gong lightly furrowed its brow, looking at that utterly unremarkable stone — no formation sigils upon it, nor the slightest aura of any rare treasure.

Only a faint trace of aquatic-blood scent.

It thought for a moment, and a flash of Bai Guang suddenly gathered in its palm, wrapping around the rubble.

Just then.

The Crown Prince of the South Long Gong suddenly hissed, its expression changing for the first time.

The rubble turned into a pile of blood-powder, then scattered by the waves — and on its palm, at some unknown moment, the flesh had become a mangled, bloody mess, a rather horrifying sight.

A dead thing, after utterly crumbling apart.

Could still possess the power to wound it.

Even stranger, with its breadth of experience, it could not discern by what means this spirit puppet had been driven.

Could it be that forces beyond Yu Nanhong were at work?

"Heh."

The Crown Prince of the South Long Gong raised its gaze toward the water's surface — it had originally only received word from a general under Ke Shiliang, and had come out for a leisurely stroll.

Who would have thought it would actually encounter something interesting.

Just which cultivator was this, making light of the South Long Gong?

It raised its head; that cold, grim dragon slowly parted its lips, revealing snow-white, razor-sharp dragon fangs, adding a touch of ferocity to its incomparably regal bearing.

"Whoever you are, this King will let you know — this is not the least bit funny."

Along with the words, the Crown Prince of the South Long Gong casually clenched its palm, and when it opened again, the wound on its palm had already healed completely.

This was the might a great demon comparable to the Dao Merging realm ought to possess.

And the terrifying foundation of the next Lord of Yu Nanhong.

(End of chapter)