South Sea Demon Court, Dragon Emperor and Dragon Princess

Yu Qingyi had advantages in forming her Core. First, her cultivation wasn't weak; compared with most Foundation Establishment Peak Stage cultivators, she was no worse. Second, she excelled in the Wood Attribute, and she had never neglected Soul Cultivation. In other words, when it came to the three aspects of physique, Magic Power, and Divine Soul, only her Magic Power was slightly lacking.

Finally, Yang Zhengshan had prepared an ample supply of Core Formation Spiritual Items for her: the Spring of Vitality, Supreme Demon Core Pill, Lightning Tribulation Pill, Tongming Pill, Spirit Pine Dew, and Nine-Patterned Bodhi Seed. Every Core Formation Spiritual Item she could use had been prepared for her by Yang Zhengshan.

That was precisely why Yu Qingyi hadn't taken the Nine Tripod Divine Pill right away. Instead, she planned to rely on her own cultivation to form her Core first.

The difficulty of forming a Core as a Divine Soul Realm Martial Artist was slightly greater. The main challenge lay in the fact that the Magic Power in her body wasn't pure, as it was mixed with a Martial Artist's True Essence. Thus, the first step in her Core Formation was to purge that True Essence.

The Core Formation process was tedious and complicated. Yu Qingyi wasn't in a hurry. With great patience, she expelled the last of the True Essence from her body, then slowly accumulated Magic Power, raising her condition to its peak.

As the days passed, Yu Qingyi remained in the Quiet Room without making a sound, while Yang Zhengshan patiently stayed in the Longevity Palace and waited.

While Yu Qingyi was forming her Core, the situation outside was also slowly changing.

At first, the various major forces maintained an Eerie Calm, but as time passed, with nothing happening either with Tianxian Dao or elsewhere, the major forces once again became restless.

The Struggle for Authority couldn't wait. The longer they waited, the more likely they were to miss their opportunity.

They could wait for a few years, but having them wait indefinitely was clearly impossible.

Moreover, not every force in this world feared Tianxian Dao. For example, the South Sea Demon Court and the North Sea Demon Court were both located in the Deep Sea, using the Deep Sea as a barrier. Even if Tianxian Dao Master entered the Deep Sea, he wouldn't dare claim that he could suppress them.

Besides, the Demon Race had always been arrogant and conceited. They believed themselves descended from the Ancient Era and possessed the bloodlines of divine beasts. How could they willingly submit to a Dao Master?

Thus, following the Eerie Calm, the first to make a move was the South Sea Demon Court.

A magnificent and luxurious palace stood beneath the Deep Sea, over a thousand zhang below the surface. The palace was built on Thousand-Year Cold Crystal, and its entire body shimmered with Glazed Light, reflecting the surrounding blue waves into a rainbow of colors, like a jade goblet suspended in the Deep Sea.

The palace gates were inlaid with White Marble and carved with twin Chisou holding Luminous Pearls in their mouths. The pearl light pierced through the water, illuminating the corridor before the palace as brightly as day. The corridor was paved with Red Coral, while Crystal Pillars stood on either side, Silver Thread Spirit Fish twining around them and darting back and forth.

The dome of the main hall resembled an inverted Ice Wheel, decorated with pearls like Star Seeds. Jade Goblets were placed on the tables inside, and the seats were covered in Jiaoxiao. Shell Curtains hung from the walls, and when the underwater currents brushed past, they rustled like shattered jade striking together. Ancient Scale Patterns were carved into the pillars, and the reflected water made the patterns seem to move, as though aquatic clans from bygone days were patrolling within.

Occasionally, Seven-Colored Jellyfish drifted near the hall windows, their forms mingling with the light of the Crystal Walls. Amid the clear radiance filling the hall lay the thousand-year stillness and splendor of the Deep Sea. There was no clamor from the mortal world, only the gentle rippling of water patterns.

The main seat inside the hall was built on Ink Crystal, its body carved with Wave Patterns and its crests adorned with Red Coral. The armrests curved upward like Jiao Fins, while the crystalline surface reflected the flowing light from the ceiling, appearing solemn and luxurious.

A beautiful woman of peerless appearance was seated in this luxurious chair. She wore an Indigo Jiaoxiao Skirt embroidered with silver-thread Dragon Patterns. Wherever the scales and claws appeared and disappeared, they glimmered with fine pearl-like light as she breathed. A translucent Cicada Wing Gauze covered the outside, and as the wind stirred it, it seemed as though white foam from wave crests had been scattered across it.

Her hair was arranged in a Coiled Dragon Bun, set with three South Sea Luminous Pearls whose light illuminated her temples. A Cinnabar Mole adorned the center of her brow, beside which two Light Gold Dragon Scales were affixed. Fine silver chains, as thin as strands of hair, wound around the edges of the scales, with tiny Pearl Pendants hanging from their ends. Half-translucent Dragon Horns showed behind her ears, with Light Green Coral Branches wrapped around them. A Green Spirit Butterfly perched among the branches, scattering specks of Fluorescent Light whenever it flapped its wings.

Her eyes were a deep blue like the Deep Sea. Every glance carried three parts majesty and seven parts liveliness.

She was the Demon Emperor Dragon Princess of the South Sea Demon Court. She also had another identity: the only True Dragon in the Myriad Flower Domain.

After transforming into her Dragon body, she reached a length of a hundred zhang, winding like dark Startling Thunder. A rugged Dragon Ridge rose along her back, and every piece of Scale Armor seemed forged from thousand-year Black Iron, its edges shimmering with Dark Purple-Gold Patterns. As her scales opened and closed, the Dragon Qi that escaped condensed into swirling clouds and mist, warm and smooth to the touch like jade.

Her Dragon Head was broad, and her eyes seemed like abysses concealing the sun and moon. When she opened them, golden light pierced the clouds. Azure and crimson Dragon Qi coiled around her body. Wherever the azure qi passed, withered wood sprouted new buds; wherever the crimson qi burned, the clouds and sunset glow became brocade. At rest, she could suppress the Shanhe; in motion, she could summon wind and rain.

They said there were many Dragonkind among the Aquatic Race, but only one dared call herself a True Dragon. That was the Demon Emperor Dragon Princess.

At this moment, she sat in the Ink Crystal chair, her brows slightly furrowed as she gazed deeply at the dim seawater outside the window.

The Demon Court Dragon Palace was located in the Deep Sea. The entire Dragon Palace was shrouded in clear radiance, bright and transparent, but when one looked outward from within the Dragon Palace, there was only a stretch of gloom. There were no sun, moon, or Stars, no Sky Vault, clouds, or thunder—only a silent darkness.

"Greetings, Dragon Emperor!"

A man clad in black armor entered the hall and respectfully knelt before Dragon Princess on the main seat.

"You may rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Dragon Emperor!"

The man stood, but he still kept his head lowered. His appearance was quite peculiar. His forehead bulged, with a single horn growing from it. His eyes protruded outward, and two long feelers extended between his mouth and nose. His mouth was also enormous, making him look hideously ugly.

"What is it?" Dragon Princess asked.

"Your Majesty, Dragon Emperor, the investigation into Tianxian Dao has yielded results!" the man said.

"Oh?" Dragon Princess became interested and looked at him. "Did Tianxian Dao really go into hiding?"

The man grinned. "No. They went to the Reincarnation Realm in the East Sea!"

"The Reincarnation Realm? What are they trying to do?" Dragon Princess asked in surprise.

The Reincarnation Realm in the East Sea wasn't a Realm Boundary or a Grotto-Heaven, but a special stretch of sea.

No one could clearly explain the origin of that sea, but the various major forces had some understanding of the Reincarnation Realm.

The Reincarnation Realm had always been regarded as a Forbidden Land. Whether it was Tianxian Dao or the various major forces, they all treated it as a Forbidden Land and prohibited anyone from entering.

The main reason was that many Dangerous Things existed within the Reincarnation Realm. Even if a Golden Core cultivator entered, it would be difficult for them to retreat unscathed.

There were also some Unknown Existences within the Reincarnation Realm. These Unknown Existences were not only powerful but incredibly vicious. They attacked every living creature that entered the Reincarnation Realm and would even run out to hunt down living creatures that had once entered it.

The reason everyone called it the Reincarnation Realm was that an island in the center of that sea held a Stone Tablet, upon which the three Large Characters "Reincarnation Realm" were written.

The various major forces had all speculated about the origin of the Reincarnation Realm. Some believed it might have been formed when the Grotto-Heaven of a certain major force from the Far Ancient Period fell. Others believed it might be an Outer-Domain Item, thrown into the Myriad Flower Domain by some Great Power, because they had found no records describing the origin of the Reincarnation Realm in the many ancient texts.

Aside from that, the Reincarnation Realm had another characteristic: its living beings could avoid entering reincarnation.

This reincarnation didn't refer to the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but to the reincarnation of souls.

The Myriad Flower Domain had no underworld and no Six Paths of Reincarnation, but it had its own Life and Death Reincarnation.

After a living being died, its flesh decomposed, its soul dispersed, and its True Spirit also perished. However, the power of those scattered souls didn't disappear. Under the workings of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, it would gather again and give birth to a new True Spirit, which would then obtain new life along with a fetus.

This reincarnation was the rule governing the operation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Even so-called Lifespan was part of the Great Dao of Reincarnation.

However, the Great Dao of Reincarnation didn't exist within the Reincarnation Realm. Cultivators who entered the Reincarnation Realm would no longer suffer the tribulations of reincarnation in their Divine Souls.

In other words, entering the Reincarnation Realm could grant one a form of immortality of the Divine Soul.

As long as they could maintain the vitality of their bodies, they could live forever without dying.

Thus, many Unknown Existences were hidden within the Reincarnation Realm. There were savage Undead Spirits, powerful Yin Corpses, ancient cultivators barely clinging to life, and also monsters everyone called Demon Evil.

Demon Evil were neither ghosts nor spirits. They were formed from gathered Baleful Intent, their bodies condensed from resentment, carrying a bone-eroding, vicious aura. Their bodies were over a zhang long, with torsos like rotten wood wrapped in snakes, twisted and chaotic. Their surfaces were covered in charred-black Scale Armor, whose curled edges were stained with blood. Bluish-black slime seeped from beneath each scale, and when it touched the ground, it burned out wisps of green smoke, carrying the foul stench of rotten corpses mixed with wet earth.

Their four limbs were wrapped in rotten flesh over dry bones, and their claws were dark-yellow curved hooks. They had no tails, but seven gray-black tentacles extended from their lower backs. Translucent sacs hung from the ends of the tentacles, and within the sacs, one could vaguely see tiny souls struggling.

As they moved, pale-gray mist coiled around their bodies, with resentful ghostly phantoms appearing and vanishing within it. Black moss and poisonous mushrooms grew across the ground wherever they passed. When still, they radiated a chilly darkness; when moving, they carried mournful wails.

These Demon Evil were the most Dangerous Things in the Reincarnation Realm. Although the Reincarnation Realm could grant cultivators a disguised form of immortality of the Divine Soul, very few people would choose to enter it unless absolutely necessary.

If you didn't enter, you would die a natural death. If you entered, you might become food for those Demon Evil.

Unless you had a way to evade the search and pursuit of those Demon Evil, you were better off not entering the Reincarnation Realm.

Dragon Princess found it strange that Tianxian Dao wanted to enter the Reincarnation Realm. If Tianxian Dao Master had entered the Reincarnation Realm, she could understand it, but the fact that all of Tianxian Dao had gone there left her unable to make sense of it.

Tianxian Dao Master had already reached the point of being At the End of One's Life. It was perfectly normal for him to enter the Reincarnation Realm and cling to life.

Throughout history, many Lords of Authority had eventually gone to the Reincarnation Realm, but none had ever brought their own Dao traditions into it.

The reason was simple. A Lord of Authority could preserve his life in the Reincarnation Realm, but those Golden Core cultivators and Foundation Establishment Cultivators were not only useless there—they would instead become burdens.

As for hiding people inside a Grotto-Heaven, that wouldn't work either, because the entire Reincarnation Realm was under the Great Void Seal. No one could enter the Great Void from the Reincarnation Realm, so naturally there was no way to place a Cave Heaven Portal within the Reincarnation Realm.

To enter the Reincarnation Realm, one could only fly in.

"They may be searching for something," the man replied.

Dragon Princess fell into thought. As a True Dragon, she understood the Reincarnation Realm fairly well because she possessed the inherited memories of her Dragon Race ancestors. Although much of that inherited memory was vague and unclear, it still allowed her to learn many secrets unknown to others.

The Reincarnation Realm had existed for far longer than people imagined. It had already existed during the Ancient Era, but even the ancient Dragon Race didn't know exactly when it had first appeared.

Throughout the countless years, countless people had wanted to explore the secrets of the Reincarnation Realm, but most who entered never came back out.

The small number of people who managed to leave still didn't possess a complete understanding of the Reincarnation Realm.

As for what within the Reincarnation Realm was worth Tianxian Dao searching for, there were truly too many possibilities.

The Reincarnation Realm contained not only various Spiritual Items, but also many treasures left behind from the Remote Antiquity and Ancient Era. Most of those who entered the Reincarnation Realm but never came out had carried numerous treasures on them, including such rare and unattainable existences as Spirit Treasures, Authority Artifacts, and Great Void Spiritual Items.

Tianxian Dao Master had probably gone to the Reincarnation Realm for two purposes: to search for things useful to him and to remain there, clinging to life.

After thinking it through, Dragon Princess's expression returned to calm.

Since Tianxian Dao Master's objective was in the Reincarnation Realm, she no longer needed to fear Tianxian Dao.

"Pass down the order. Continue attacking the Southern Region. Command Ao Xuan to lead the armies of the shrimp and crab clans into battle. I'll give him three years. Within three years, he must seize the Jinchuan Mountain Range."

The Jinchuan Mountain Range lay in the central part of the Southern Region and ran from north to south. Overall, it resembled a branch splitting off from the Hengshan Mountain Range. Stretching over forty thousand li, it traversed the entire Southern Region.

The Changjin River also accompanied the Jinchuan Mountain Range. Its course was nearly identical to that of the mountain range, likewise flowing from north to south and surging majestically along the edge of the mountains before emptying into the South Sea.

The Jinchuan Mountain Range wasn't the longest mountain range in the Myriad Flower Domain. It was shorter than the Wanhua Mountain Range, and the Spirit Veins it contained were inferior to those of the Hengshan Mountain Range. However, it was the highest mountain range in the Myriad Flower Domain.

The highest peak in the Myriad Flower Domain stood within the Jinchuan Mountain Range, reaching a height of ten thousand zhang. Moreover, most of the peaks in the Jinchuan Mountain Range exceeded three thousand zhang.

It was like a wall dividing the Southern Region into two halves.

The Changjin River was the longest river in the Myriad Flower Domain, and also the river with the greatest flow from the Wanhua Mountain Range.

The source of the Changjin River wasn't in the Jinchuan Mountain Range or the Hengshan Mountain Range, but in the Wanhua Mountain Range.

In the central and southern parts of the Wanhua Mountain Range, numerous springs and streams gathered into rivers. They wound along the mountain foothills and flowed out of the Wanhua Mountain Range, then continued eastward.

The western and central parts of the Hengshan Mountain Range also had many streams flowing into the Changjin River. As more and more water converged, the river's current grew increasingly turbulent.

The river surged in vast, roaring waves. If it had continued flowing straight onward, it would have entered the sea in the southeastern part of the Southern Region, but it crashed into the Jinchuan Mountain Range.

The mountains were majestic. Even a river surging to the heavens couldn't break through them.

Blocked by the Jinchuan Mountain Range, the Changjin River had no choice but to turn southward. It made a turn of nearly ninety degrees, and at that bend lay the most wondrous waters in the Southern Region: the Angry Sea.

The Angry Sea wasn't a sea, but a vast lake, and also a part of the Changjin River.

Half of the Angry Sea lay above ground, while the other half lay beneath the mountains.

After countless years of impact from the Changjin River, the bases of the dozen or so precipitous peaks east of the Angry Sea had been eroded away by nearly half. The mountain bodies originally buried underground had become part of the waters.

Moreover, because the Changjin River flowed so swiftly, hidden currents churned everywhere beneath the Angry Sea's tranquil surface.

The Angry Sea covered a thousand li of water, yet it had given birth to no Aquatic Race or aquatic Demon Race. Any Aquatic Race or aquatic Demon Race that entered the Angry Sea would be tossed around by the hidden currents until they were completely disoriented.

The reason the South Sea Demon Court wanted to attack the Southern Region was to seize the Jinchuan Mountain Range and the Changjin River. This mountain and river were Dragon Princess's true objectives.

What she wanted wasn't the Position of Authority, but Dragon Transformation—to transform into a True Dragon.

She possessed a True Dragon Bloodline, but she still wasn't a complete True Dragon.

A True Dragon was an existence capable of roaming the Great Void, an existence on equal footing with a true Dao Master.

For the Dragon Race to become True Dragons, they had to rely on Earth Veins and Water Veins to undergo Dragon Transformation.

During the Ancient Era, the Changjin River and the Jinchuan Mountain Range had been the Dragon Race's grounds for Dragon Transformation.