Chapter 576: Who Is the Master of Yu Nanhong

There was no time for anyone to react; the instant the dragon's roar echoed, a spiky yellow figure smashed through layers of heavy bluestone, raising dust everywhere as the large stone tiles in the great hall heaved upward like an earthquake rumble!

Boom—

The yellow figure, like a flood dragon, burst through the floor tiles and surged toward the figure draped in a Nanyang white robe before the table!

The pervasive dragon qi instantly became turbulent, transforming into countless phantom images; it seemed as if innumerable Yellow Fiend Poison Dragons were coiled together, each ferocious and terrifying dragon head opening its maw wide, roaring as they lunged to kill!

Upon hearing the dragon's roar, the many dragon sons' faces instantly turned with joy; they then successively knelt with a thud, prostrating themselves with five limbs to the ground, and shouted loudly:

"Your son respectfully welcomes Father King!"

The yellow figure gradually enlarged in Shen Yi's pupils, then was quickly scattered by a wisp of red mist.

Amidst slightly disheveled hair, the expression on that handsome face remained unchanged; he stared intently and focusedly at the yellow figure, just as his hand's action was equally serious, driving the blade into the Second Prince's throat, and even now, there was no sign of stopping.

In the sea of consciousness between his eyebrows, the three Hall Lords of the Tian Realm, led by Ke Shisan, were poised and ready, prepared at any moment to die in place of their master.

Even at the cost of three Foundation Stones shattering, Shen Yi would inevitably take the Second Prince's life today.

After all, the Foundation Stones could be repaired slowly, but opportunities for Ke Shisan to advance one step further were rare; moreover, after this, most of his own strength would be exposed, and the Southern Long Gong would certainly be even more vigilant.

The opportunity must not be missed!

The dying Second Prince opened his dazed eyes, staring at the youth before him in disbelief.

He could not understand at all what the other was thinking.

Father King has already acted.

Under such circumstances, this fellow still refuses to dodge or yield, determined to take his life?!

Just then, the three Hall Lords suddenly fell silent.

This was because the yellow figure stopped when it was still three zhang away from the stone table.

Standing straight before it was a figure, his long robe flaring angrily, holding a sword in one hand; the ancient, rustic sword had not left its scabbard. Gripping the middle of the scabbard, a chill rested on his lips as he forcibly blocked that yellow figure three zhang away!

The yellow figure finally revealed its true form: muscles rippling like mountain ranges, dull scales still covered in moss, faintly emitting a smell of decay—it was a robust dragon arm beyond compare.

Just a single forelimb was as large as a true Yellow Fiend Poison Dragon, making it hard to imagine how enormous the demon's true body must be.

"Heh."

Ye Jiu gripped the scabbard, let out a cold snort, and suddenly shook his arm, actually driving that dragon claw back several feet right before everyone's eyes.

This scene, seen by everyone in the hall, left them all looking shocked.

Especially Qi Zhaoyi and the Ke Family Crown Prince, who looked at the Tianjian Sect Master with full apprehension.

The next moment, Ye Jiu raised an eyebrow, and a contemptuous voice echoed through the hall.

"Life or death doesn't matter? Winners take all?"

The great hall was in Tianyan Siji, so silent that a pin dropping could be heard, making the sound of the long knife cutting flesh even more distinct.

The Second Prince extended both claws, gripping the blade tightly, and a muffled gurgling sound came from his throat, seeming to beg for mercy yet also sounding like furious cursing.

The dragon arm that had surged from the ground slowly rose, its claws clenching into a fist.

A deep voice resounded throughout the entire hall.

"I will say this only once."

"Stop."

Not to mention in Yu Nanhong, even across the entire Hongze, few could ignore the Southern Long Wang's warning.

Moreover, this was happening right inside its lair.

The various Sect Masters stared at this old rival with complex expressions, then shifted their gaze to the youth on the main seat.

They saw Shen Yi also looking at that dragon arm, then steadily pressing the blade down.

Crack—

The golden patterns were stained red with blood, appearing somewhat sinister; the Black Blade completely pierced the Second Prince's neck, then drove straight down into the stone tile floor.

【Beheaded Tian Realm Yellow Fiend Poison Dragon, total lifespan 690,000 years, remaining lifespan 270,000 years, absorption complete】

As the panel notification flashed up, Shen Yi slowly released the knife handle, and the Black Blade with golden patterns turned into a streak of light, vanishing into his robes.

Whether it was the many dragon sons prostrate on the ground or the Ke Family Crown Prince bowing in greeting, instantly their eyelids twitched, and their shoulders trembled slightly.

Besides being shocked by Shen Yi's audacity, it was also because they sensed their Father King's emotional turmoil.

"..."

Shen Yi casually tore off a piece of the Second Prince's garment and slowly wiped the blood from his palm.

Then, raising his eyes slightly, he threw that wet bloodied cloth at the feet of the Ke Family Crown Prince and said indifferently, "Keep it safe; this is the reckoning you wanted."

His still-clear voice rang in the ears of the demons.

They instinctively looked up; the Nanyang patterns on that white robe with golden threads were so glaring, and in front of this Nanyang Sect Master, the arrogance on Ye Jiu's face was so familiar.

Standing one behind the other, the two made this group of dragon demons suddenly recall the situation from one hundred thousand years ago.

That humiliating past!

The Ke Family Crown Prince's crown tassels shook rapidly; he stared死死 at the rag on the ground, causing a trembling sound of fury to emerge from his throat.

However, with Father King present, as the Crown Prince, he had no right to speak, so he could only forcibly suppress his emotions and wait in place with his head bowed.

"In these years, you have improved greatly."

The Southern Long Wang remained silent for a long time before finally speaking slowly; even though he tried his best to conceal it, the killing intent in his voice could not be hidden.

"Far from it."

Ye Jiu chuckled lightly and mocked, "Not enough to drag you, this old thing, out of that cave and cut off your head with a single sword strike."

"But..."

He clenched his five fingers around the scabbard, and three inches of flowing light rushed out from the scabbard with a swish; he stopped smiling: "Holding you back for a while is still no problem."

The Southern Long Wang fell silent again, offering no rebuttal, and simply said softly, "Go back and prepare; this time... there will be no more Seven Sons in Yu Nanhong."

The Seven Sons sharing one breath and branch did not refer solely to the seven Sect Masters, but also to the sacred lands they had merged their Dao with.

With these seven gathered together, they could surely help Ye Jiu temporarily take that final step, reaching the level of perfect Heavenly realm.

Both had reached this realm through external aid; even though the South Long Wang would far outlast the other, since Ye Jiu had no intent to fight to the death, neither side could truly do anything to the other.

As the words fell, that dragon arm slowly retracted, leaving behind only a terrifying great hole amid the wreckage.

Ye Jiu also casually dispersed the Dao sword in his hand and returned to Shen Yi's right side.

He stole a glance at this Shen Zongzhu, a hint of almost imperceptible pleasant surprise flashing through his eyes—the other's strength was far greater than he had imagined. Though still somewhat immature, considering that he had leapt to such a realm in such a short span of time, it was already enough to shock anyone.

Moreover, apart from his strength, the composure the other had shown before the South Long Wang—unflustered in the face of danger, calm and at ease—perfectly matched Ye Jiu's expectations of the Nanyang Sect Master.

A true great sun should forever be dazzling!

The preciousness of such a disposition was in no way inferior to the other's terrifying talent.

As for the South Long Wang's threat… as if bowing one's head and acting meek would make the other let Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons go. The wolfish ambition was plain for all to see—it was only a matter of sooner or later.

"…"

The Crown Prince of the Ke family bent down and picked up that torn cloth, clutching it in his palm, and brought it to his nose to sniff lightly.

Feeling that fresh scent of blood, he then raised his head to look at Shen Yi ahead.

His premonition had indeed been correct—the reappearance of the Nanyang Sect signaled that Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons intended to rebel. These cultivators had forgotten the beatings they had once suffered and were trying to straighten their backs once more.

Facing the Crown Prince of the Ke family's gaze, Shen Yi quietly met his eyes: "Is there… anything else you need me to account for?"

For some unknown reason, everyone present heard a hint of anticipation in those words, and could not help but wear strange expressions.

Hearing this, the Crown Prince of the Ke family was silent for a moment, then gently removed the beaded crown from his head and casually tossed it to the ground, laughing self-deprecatingly: "Nothing more."

Hidden beneath the beaded crown was a fierce yet aged face.

This "test" had let him see many things clearly. At least, without borrowing the power of his elders, relying solely on himself, plus that useless Ke Shaoyi whose aid he could never summon, he simply could not shake Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons.

Father had likewise seen this clearly, and had also personally witnessed how he had caused his brother's death. The words the other left behind in the end represented his intent to retake control of the South Long Gong.

Once a Long Wang himself appeared, the forces he could mobilize would be far greater, and once mobilized, it would be with the intent to utterly annihilate the Seven Sons.

Father could not even be bothered to continue pointless entanglement with the Seven Sons here, to duel and waste energy—this alone showed how heavy his killing intent was.

This was no longer a situation the younger generation could主导.

With those words from the Crown Prince of the Ke family, the outcome of this banquet was thoroughly declared.

His act of casting away the beaded crown also meant abandoning the thought of inheriting the Dragon Lair, and instead settling into becoming a great general under Father's command.

The South Long Gong had been comfortable for too long, and only now, at last, felt a thick sense of crisis.

The many dragon princes slowly retreated to both sides, not daring to make another sound.

Qi Zhaoyi stood in place with an unreadable expression on his face. On the surface this matter seemed to have nothing to do with him, but in truth it had completely disrupted his original plans.

One had to know that the woman back home was on good terms with the Seven Sons—if Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons truly rose again, then he could forget about turning things around in this lifetime.

"Good."

Though slightly disappointed, Shen Yi did not dwell on it.

The goal of provoking the South Long Gong had been achieved, and the Meng Sect had already made its stance completely clear. That old dragon could endure even this situation—further provocation held no meaning. The other was absolutely impossible to leave this place.

If he could, he would rather sweep every dragon prince in this hall clean.

All added together, there was even hope of forcibly pushing Ke Thirteen to the late-stage Heavenly realm.

But the strength the South Long Wang had displayed earlier dispelled Shen Yi's thoughts… borrowing strength was borrowing strength, but truly dragging the Sect Masters of several Meng Sects into life-and-death crisis, or even causing some of them to perish in these waters—such things he could not bring himself to do.

They owed him nothing.

Moreover, even if he summoned several Hall Masters and they joined forces to heavily wound the South Long Wang, yet could not truly slay the other, this was no good thing for Shen Yi.

The immortal might not care about other matters, but this old dragon was responsible for overseeing the spiritual currents of Nanhong's waters and lands on his behalf. If it were injured, it would inevitably draw the immortal's attention.

If they were to fight, then it had to be a sure kill.

Then let Ke Thirteen, who likewise possessed a dense bloodline, replace the South Long Wang and temporarily hold the Dragon Lair steady, while he figured out how to thoroughly master the power of this realm.

This was the only way out Shen Yi could think of.

Today's harvest had already been enough.

Having thought this through, Shen Yi casually picked up the Second Prince's corpse, stored it in his thumb ring, then strode toward the hall's exit.

Yet this act of his caused the many dragon demons, who had barely managed to suppress their fury, to all raise their heads in astonishment, then widen their eyes in shock and rage.

Even the Crown Prince of the Ke family clenched his teeth once more.

Accepting defeat gracefully would be one thing… but having already lost his life, to still desecrate his corpse—is this what a righteous sect should do?

Recalling the blood-fiend black clouds when Shen Yi had struck earlier—had the once-immortal-like Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons now fallen into demonic cultivation!

For some unknown reason, a chill suddenly rose in Qi Zhaoyi's heart.

When Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons still played by the rules, they had countless ways to suppress them. But if this group all turned into unscrupulous madmen, then even the West Long Gong would find them quite troublesome.

"Ahem."

The other Sect Masters cleared their throats a few times and strode after Shen Yi toward the hall's exit.

The shocks received today had already been far too many—so many that one more hardly mattered.

Shen Zongzhu's way of doing things never seemed normal.

As the many cultivators departed the great hall in orderly fashion, the numerous illustrious dragon demons glared in fury, yet not a single one dared speak out to stop them. They could only watch helplessly as the immortal carriage once again bloomed with radiant light, then lifted and flew straight out of the waters!

When both sides no longer held back.

Based on this scene alone, who the true master of Nanhong was, was already obvious enough.

……

The massive immortal carriage rose like a palace ascending, radiance streaming for ten thousand zhang.

At this moment when the rising sun had just appeared and the sky was still somewhat dim, it was so resplendent and majestic, gliding slowly toward the direction of Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons.

The various powers along the way all took in this scene. In their puzzlement, no matter what they were doing, they stopped their steps and respectfully bowed toward the immortal carriage.

"……"

Upon the throne, several Sect Masters sat in silence, each with their own thoughts.

Although they owed some of this to the favor of the Eastern Long Gong, the Nanhong Qi Sect had once possessed such treatment, and even more abundantly.

By strength alone, they could have long reclaimed these things.

They merely felt that acting too arrogantly would bring unforeseen calamity to the Qi Sect, so they had endured in silence.

Yet today, under Shen Zongzhu's various absurd actions, they were forced to re-experience these things once more.

"Are we prepared?"

Sect Master Lingyun raised his gaze in a daze, but instead of asking Sect Master Lingyue as usual, he directed his eyes toward the figure at the very front.

Even he did not notice that, although Shen Yi's strength was still far inferior to Ye Jiu and Zhu Shixiong Qi, and even less than Junior Sister Ji, after the recent "banquet," he had begun to feel an implicit sense of being led by Shen Yi.

The decisions made by the other party seemed unreliable at a glance, yet somehow gave an inexplicable sense of calm control.

Moreover, the change in this young Sect Master's strength truly evoked a deep, heartfelt fear.

As cultivators at the Dao-Integration Realm, their understanding of heaven and earth was already profound enough.

Yet they could not comprehend Shen Yi at all.

This fear of the unknown was innate, unchanged by fluctuations in cultivation.

To possess Earth Realm strength capable of slaying the Heaven Realm was already terrifying enough; moreover, the fact that the other party could possess a perfect Earth Realm cultivation was itself absurd.

Upon hearing this, the other Sect Masters, including Ji Jingxi, who was most familiar with Shen Yi, all turned to look at Shen Yi; they too were curious about his thoughts.

"..."

Shen Yi remained silent for a long time, then said with slight apology: "Not every moment offers a chance to prepare."

He wanted to live, he wanted to win, and to preserve his life, he had already been forced to do many things.

If any of these things were exposed, any single one would instantly plunge the Nanhong Seven into a state of eternal damnation.

There truly was not much time left.

Compared to his arrogance and pride in the hall earlier, Shen Yi's sudden gentleness now made Ye Jiu glance aside slightly, unable to distinguish which was the true Sect Master of Nanyang.

Only Ji Jingxi heard the barely perceptible trace of apology in Shen Yi's words.

She slowly furrowed her brows and lightly pressed her red lips.

Suddenly recalling the Dao-Heirs' evaluation that Shen Yi was prone to causing trouble, she had gradually denied this assessment in her heart through observation in recent days.

But now she suddenly realized: was it possible that what she saw and what the Dao-Heirs saw were both true?

The reason she felt Sect Master Shen did not stir up trouble was because the other party had quietly provoked a great trouble that might exceed the imagination of herself and others, and which they could not yet detect?

At this thought, Ji Jingxi's heart suddenly gave a thud.

Very few things in the world could make her feel panic, yet now her heartbeat inexplicably accelerated, and it did not seem false.

But soon, Ji Jingxi withdrew her gaze, leaving only a faint, helpless smile on her face.

For some reason, even if she had anticipated something, she still felt that Shen Yi had his own reasoning... This abrupt, somewhat foolish trust was something even Zhu Shixiong Qin had never possessed.

(End of this chapter)