Conversation, The Shadow Behind the Scenes

He searched high and low for it, only to find it when he least expected it.

Perhaps fate in the mortal world was just that peculiar. Di Xin had come to Chentang Pass because Yang Jian wouldn't be at Guanjiang Kou during this period, only to encounter Yang Jian, who was carrying mountains and driving the sea, outside Chentang Pass in the East Sea.

Truly, his luck was flourishing; everything he set out to do was accomplished.

"Who are you? From your tone, you're looking for me? A running dog of the Heavenly Court!"

Yang Jian stood up abruptly, on guard. Howling Celestial Dog immediately transformed into a size of several feet, baring its teeth and staring at the suddenly appearing Di Xin, letting out low growls.

"A running dog of the Heavenly Court? Does that Haotian even deserve it?"

Di Xin glanced disdainfully at the sky, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of space, colliding with the king of the Heavenly Court high above.

No generals in the Heavenly Court?

The immortals of the Three Teachings refuse to be controlled by you?

This is your own incompetence, your own lack of means, yet you make me take the blame in the end!

You ruined the entire Cheng Tang dynasty, stirred up a civil war in the Human Race second only to Xuanyuan and Chi You, and in the end, only four of the nine continents of the Great Desolation remained. All of this was caused by you, who only knows how to cry to Zixiao Palace!

In the end, you reaped the greatest benefits, filling the 365 positions of the Heavenly Court gods, bending the backs of the Human Race, and turning the mortal world into a playground for immortals and buddhas.

"Haotian Golden Palace xxxx Jade Emperor," Bah!

Seeing the disdain in Di Xin's eyes, Yang Jian's hostility lessened considerably, and his tone softened:

"Since you're not a running dog of the Jade Emperor, when did Yang Jian offend you to make you travel all the way to the East Sea to find me?"

"Yang Jian, is it? Let me ask you, are these waves on the East Sea your doing?" Di Xin asked coldly.

"This, it is indeed Yang Jian's doing. My Master passed down a divine ability and ordered me to train in the East Sea, which is why I stirred up the peace of this body of water. However, my Master has already been to the East Sea Dragon Palace and informed the Old Dragon King of the East Sea about this matter. I wonder why you are here..."

Yang Jian's eyes held confusion. His Master said no one would come looking for him because of this, so what was going on now?

"Do you know that the waves you stirred up have flooded a hundred miles of coastline, causing tens of thousands of people to be displaced? Your Master informed the East Sea Dragon Palace, but did he inform my Yin Shang?"

Di Xin's expression turned serious, the Kongtong Seal's effects fully activated, spreading his identity in all directions.

"So it is the Human King himself. Yang Jian has been very disrespectful."

Yang Jian frowned, but he cupped his fists and bowed generously, showing respect for half of his Human Race bloodline.

But, Master said the Dragon Clan was helping me calm the waves in the East Sea?

Could it be...

"May I ask, Great King, did Yang Jian cause the waves to reach the coast?"

"Then do you think I have nothing better to do than travel to the East Sea to play with you?"

Di Xin snorted angrily. Although this was his objective, how could he show it?

"Yang Jian dares not! It's just..."

Yang Jian was about to speak when he remembered that the Dragon Clan had no obligation to help him calm the waves. Although the Dragon Clan was partly at fault for standing him up, he couldn't go to the East Sea Dragon Palace to demand accountability, right?

Others could be unrighteous, but he could not be.

"Great King, Yang Jian has been cultivating in this valley for the past two years and has not stepped out of it even once. I was unaware that I had caused such a disaster for the common people by the sea.

However, since the matter was caused by Yang Jian, Yang Jian will naturally not evade responsibility. Please allow Yang Jian to personally inspect the situation by the sea and find a way to compensate for the losses Yang Jian has caused.

If anyone has died because of Yang Jian, then please, Great King, give Yang Jian some more time. After Yang Jian finishes his urgent matters, he will personally go to Chaoge to offer his apologies with thorns and a rope, ready to be executed."

These words were spoken with dignity and grandeur, so much so that even Di Xin, asking himself, could not achieve such a feat.

"A fine man! Hahaha, rest assured, if you had committed murder, I would not be speaking to you so calmly."

Di Xin clapped his hands and laughed, looking at Yang Jian with the gaze of a father-in-law looking at his son-in-law, increasingly satisfied.

"My Yin Shang's border guard general is not just for show; he had already evacuated the refugees and found them new places to live."

No, wait. Di Xin suddenly stiffened his expression: Li Jing said the storms in the East Sea only began when Nezha had not been born for ten months, yet Yang Jian claimed he had been cultivating here for two years. There was almost a year's gap in between!

"Yang Jian, let me ask you, you said you cultivated here for two years, but the East Sea storms only began a year ago. For that year's storms, was someone suppressing them for you?"

Who was manipulating things in the middle? They waited until Nezha showed signs of abnormality before releasing the storms, making Li Jing mistakenly believe his son was a monster. Was all of this misfortune and disaster brought about by his son?

Then, after Nezha was born, he went to play at the estuary of the East Sea, killed the Third Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace, and in the end, was forced to return his flesh and bones to his parents. Was all of this also someone secretly plotting everything?

"This..."

Yang Jian hadn't expected Di Xin to be so perceptive, able to deduce from his few words that someone had been helping him. Now, whether to speak or not speak put him in a difficult position.

However, this Human King said no civilians were harmed. It should be fine to mention the Dragon Clan, right?

Fine, if I mention it, I'll bear the consequences.

Having made up his mind, Yang Jian cupped his fists and said:

"To be frank, Great King, it was the East Sea Dragon Palace that promised to send a Dragon Prince to help Yang Jian calm the waves, so they wouldn't disturb the coast. But perhaps the Dragon Palace had something to attend to, and the Dragon Prince returned to the Dragon Palace, forgetting to inform Yang Jian, which led to this unfortunate outcome.

However, the root cause is still with Yang Jian. If you have any punishment, Great King, Yang Jian will not refuse or evade it."

"A Dragon Prince from the East Sea Dragon Palace? Is the Dragon Clan also trying to get involved?"

Di Xin muttered to himself. The Dragon Clan was, after all, one of the three primordial races. The Phoenix Clan had Kong Xuan in seclusion; perhaps the Dragon Clan also had a backup plan.

As one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, True Person Huang Long, who aided Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor in defeating Chi You, the Nine Heavens Yinglong, and the Zhulong, who legend says opens his eyes for day and closes them for night, not to mention the Azure Dragon, one of the Four Sacred Beasts...

On the surface, the Four Dragon Kings appear subservient, but in reality, is any one of them a direct descendant of the Ancestral Dragon?

However, if the Dragon Clan were to intervene, what would they ultimately gain?

Di Xin had too little information to deduce much of use. Still, all schemes would eventually surface with the passage of time, and then he would naturally know who was plotting all of this behind the scenes!

"Yang Jian, I see you are magnificent and heroic. How about it? Do you want to come to my Yin Shang and serve as an official?"

"Thank you for your kind offer, Great King. However, Yang Jian has more important matters to attend to. If I survive completing them, I will naturally seek refuge with Your Majesty."

Yang Jian cupped his hands and politely refused. Right now, he would consider nothing other than splitting the mountain to save his mother.

"Do you have karma with the Heavenly Court?"