Dragon Palace Invitation, Time Waits for No One

Li Yang's damn mouth was firmly clamped shut by Li Changshou—this kid wasn't unaware of Master's awkwardness, he was deliberately trying to get a laugh out of his Senior Brother.

"Shut up and watch!"

With an external enemy approaching, Li Changshou had no intention of drawing the enemy's gaze their way; otherwise, making a clean escape would be far from easy.

At this moment, the Azure Dragon unleashed the pressure of the Heavenly Immortal Realm, penetrating directly through the formation and blanketing every corner of the Immortal Crossing Sect, instantly startling all the immortals within.

A few streaks of light then shot out from Sky Breaking Peak, arriving just outside the Mountain Protecting Array, where they coalesced into four figures who looked up at the Azure Dragon in the clouds.

Among those four figures was Fairy Jiujiu's master, Venerable Wangqing.

Venerable Wangqing stood there in a blue-white long robe, hands clasped behind his back as if holding nothing, his figure tall and straight as a pine—a handsome middle-aged man with graying temples.

The Azure Dragon couldn't see any handsomeness in him at all, since nothing could match its own looks.

"Are you the ones in charge of the Immortal Crossing Sect?"

Venerable Wangqing didn't even lift his head, his calm voice carrying clearly through the formation and beyond:

"This Poor Daoist is merely a wandering cultivator within the sect; the Immortal Crossing Sect is far from being under my authority.

I simply find this little dragon far too rude and have come out specifically to teach you a lesson."

"How dare you!"

The Azure Dragon roared, raising its dragon claw to strike at Venerable Wangqing.

For some reason, that claw grew larger as it moved through the air, in the blink of an eye reaching a hundred zhang in size, as if intent on smashing both Venerable Wangqing and the Immortal Crossing Sect's grand formation to pieces.

Though this Azure Dragon had only just entered the Heavenly Immortal Realm, it was a divine beast of heaven and earth, a former overlord of the waters during the age of Dao and Demon strife, with a body of immense strength. The sight instantly paled the faces of the many Immortal Crossing Sect disciples who had yet to achieve the Immortal Realm, and even the realm's high immortals showed troubled expressions.

On the back mountain of Lesser Qiong Peak, Lan Ling'e gripped Li Yang's arm tightly, her nails nearly digging into his flesh, clearly tense.

Her whole body trembled, evidently cowed by the dragon's might.

But what Li Yang and Li Changshou didn't know was what their Junior Sister, whom they thought was terrified, was actually thinking.

'Such a huge dragon claw, such a huge dragon—perfect as the best test subject for the spatial Exploding Pill.'

Lan Ling'e had already succeeded in refining the spatial Exploding Pill, but she hadn't yet tested it, so she didn't know how powerful it truly was. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help but feel eager to try.

Still, Lan Ling'e had been taught in turn by two old hands, so she forcibly suppressed the impulse within her, and what showed on the outside was only trembling.

At that moment, the fierce claw suddenly halted right before the Mountain Protecting Array for no apparent reason, with only the wind force carried by the dragon claw causing ripples of light to wash over the formation.

"Impressive, so this is Venerable Wangqing's strength."

Li Yang saw it clearly—Venerable Wangqing had effortlessly blocked the dragon claw's fierce attack with nothing but a sword finger.

He mused to himself, 'Facing that power, at least I couldn't manage it so lightly.

If I prepared in advance with formation support, trapping and killing him would be easy.

But this is only the strength he's shown so far; beyond that, I'd struggle.'

In two years, he hadn't been without progress. The Shelter Grotto-Heaven was now much larger than two years ago, and its foundation was far deeper.

At the very least, besides the Origin Immortal avatar formed from over thirty-eight thousand Star Stones, he also had over a hundred thousand ordinary Origin Immortal Stage 'Golden Pill' avatars.

If he summoned that many avatars, he could set up a terrifying formation outside and easily suppress and kill this Azure Dragon.

So even without knowing the original plot, Li Yang wasn't worried about this.

He couldn't defeat the Dragon Clan, but this one dragon he could still handle.

"Hmph!"

Suddenly, a cold snort echoed both inside and outside the formation, and then the hundred-zhang dragon claw shattered in an instant, exploding into mist.

The Azure Dragon reappeared amidst the rolling clouds, but was wrapped in an invisible force, its massive dragon body twisting and struggling as it was flung up into the nine heavens—Venerable Wangqing was playing with it like a loach.

After a moment, the Azure Dragon returned from the high sky in a fury, letting out a dragon roar full of rage.

Venerable Wangqing looked up, a hint of killing intent flickering in his eyes, and said coldly, "What? Just because you've cultivated to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, you dare to run wild at my Immortal Crossing Sect? Tired of living?"

The Azure Dragon immediately stopped its roar and dared not strike again. Instead, it transformed into a dragon-headed humanoid, a burly man in battle armor, his expression a mix of shock and anger, yet blustering with false bravado: "Fine, fine, Immortal Crossing Sect! Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!

I am the special envoy of the East Sea Dragon Palace, the Dragon Palace Navy Vanguard!

How dare you be so rude! I will surely report this to the Dragon King, and soon we will muster our troops and level this little mountain gate of yours!"

This display of outward strength but inner weakness naturally made Venerable Wangqing and the other three Heavenly Immortals want to laugh, and even Li Yang nearly let out a chuckle.

If this were in a novel, this would be the minor antagonist who clashes with the protagonist, gets beaten soundly, and then yells about having a big bad backing him up.

Then, the Immortal Crossing Sect's good cop and bad cop stepped forward.

An old Daoist said: "The East Sea Dragon Palace neither keeps to the East Sea to cultivate its own fortune and merit, nor does it restrain its evil dragons from stirring up trouble everywhere. Instead, it uses our Immortal Crossing Sect to establish its authority. Do you look down on our Human Teachings lineage? Or does your Dragon Palace intend to provoke a war between our human Qi Practitioners and your Dragon Clan?"

With those words, a massive black pot was hung squarely on the Azure Dragon's head. The dragon immediately dared not reply, its expression shifting from ferocity to clarity, and its eyes becoming pure.

Now, it was caught between a rock and a hard place.

At that moment, an old woman stepped forward with a smile to smooth things over, saying a few pleasant words to give the Azure Dragon a way out.

"Your Immortal Crossing Sect came to our East Sea to eliminate demons some days ago, and your disciples accidentally wounded the soldiers and generals our Dragon Clan was nurturing!

But our Dragon King does not wish to argue with you. Three years from now, on the East Sea Coast, a Monster Quelling Assembly will be convened, inviting all the immortal sects of the Eastern Continent of Divine Continent to gather and discuss future demon-quelling matters."

The East Sea Dragon Palace is filled with treasures, and we will heavily reward the Human Disciples who perform well at the assembly.

This is an invitation—do not be absent!"

The Azure Dragon took the out given to him, put on a stern face, produced the invitation, explained the matter, then gave a cold snort and turned to flee. The immortals watching from within the Immortal Crossing Sect could only shake their heads and laugh.

This Dragon Clan truly lived up to their name—able to bend and stretch, to grow and shrink, to be strong and to hide.

Seeing the Azure Dragon flee in disgrace, the crowd dispersed.

Li Yang's gaze turned deep. From now until Master's tribulation, there was still one year and nine months.

Could the Three-Revolutions Golden Core be refined?

Li Yang's heart grew heavy—time waited for no one!

Meanwhile, Lan Ling'e caught a glimpse of Master quietly slipping out of the Mage Birdcage, closing the door behind him as he tried to sneak away from the side. Helpless, she could only continue looking up and sighing with emotion.

"Senior Brother, is this the world of the strong clashing?"

Li Changshou naturally noticed Master's actions as well, but couldn't bear to embarrass him, so he replied absentmindedly, "Yes, this is the world of the strong, Junior Sister. We must work hard!"

Beside them, Li Yang snapped back to reality, temporarily setting aside his heavy thoughts, and deliberately teased, "You two have too narrow a view. This is just the world of ordinary experts. The world of true strong ones isn't like this—right, Master?"

That call of "Master" froze Old Daoist Qi Yuan, who hadn't yet managed to slip away, and made Li Changshou and Lan Ling'e, who had just looked up, bow their heads in silence.

Before Master could speak, Li Yang turned around and grinned at him.

"How about it, Master? After this tribulation drill, are you still afraid of the Heavenly Tribulation? Senior Brother customized this just for you!"

Li Changshou: ...

You little bastard.