I, the Second Prince of the Dragon Palace

I, the Second Prince of the Dragon Palace

These long two days...

Amid somewhat boring music, song, and dance, Li Changshou unlocked another new skill—

While using the Wind Whisper Spell to monitor his surroundings, he slowly read the Classics he had borrowed from the outer hall of the Daoist Canon Hall.

It was rather dull.

The most exciting parts of this Demon-Quelling Assembly should be the Dragon Palace's gift presentation and the sparring between disciples of the various sects.

Li Changshou had not the slightest interest in the Dragon Palace's treasures.

Though no one would ever complain about having too many magic treasures, for one thing, there were too many wolves and too little meat this time. If he wanted to compete for treasures, the second-stage Void Returning Realm cultivation he displayed was nowhere near enough.

For another, he deduced that the Dragon Palace would inevitably face a great calamity in the future. He could not allow himself to become entangled in even the slightest karma connected to it.

If he did get entangled, then it would be Jiu Wu's fault.

Judging the time, it was almost time for the Demon-Quelling Assembly to officially begin.

Li Changshou glanced at the high platform in the sky. After two days of discussions, the Celestial Immortals of the various sects had probably already settled numerous matters with the Dragon Palace, including the Eastern Sea's borders.

But none of that had much to do with him...

Jiu Jiu was still unable to solve that six-colored cube, directly proving that cultivation realm and intelligence did not share a positive correlation. It had also let her smoothly pass two boring, wine-less days;

After Li Changshou had misunderstood Youqin Xuanya last time and spoken those words of rejection, she seemed to have understood something as well. Though she would look back every half hour, she made no move to approach him again...

Overall, these two days had been fairly peaceful.

Just as he was comfortably reading the scriptures, Li Changshou suddenly sensed two sharp, hostile gazes fall upon him without warning.

Without revealing anything, he put away the Bamboo Slip in his hand and focused on parsing the information brought by the Wind Whisper Spell. In the direction those gazes came from, Li Changshou discovered the vague figure of a youth.

Hm?

Did this person have a grudge against him? There was no reason for that.

Li Changshou looked up and saw that the person stood at the edge of the venue, still a hundred zhang away from Du Xian Sect's seating area...

More precisely, this was not a "person." Small, tender dragon horns like deer antlers grew from his forehead.

A young dragon of the Dragon Clan?

He should be one of the young dragons who would spar against the immortal sects at this assembly.

Questions filled Li Changshou's heart, because he realized this Dragon Prince had been staring fixedly at him.

He subtly leaned back and found that the Dragon Prince's gaze shifted slightly as well, confirming beyond doubt that he was looking at him.

On closer inspection, one could see a faint blue gleam in the Dragon Prince's eyes.

Could it be that this Dragon Prince had seen through the fact that he was concealing his cultivation?

That should not be possible. His method of hiding his cultivation was a unique technique he had derived through deeply analyzing all manner of arts used to probe others' cultivation, then drawing reverse conclusions from them...

Could it be that he saw I had the lowest cultivation among Du Xian Sect's people, so he set his sights on me?

Li Changshou calculated inwardly. Just then, the Wind Whisper Spell caught the youth's lips curling into a certain "brimming with confidence" smile.

Perhaps this young dragon lacked confidence, yet had been ordered to win the coming spar, so he wanted to first find the weakest person from a major sect?

This approach...

Was he really that wild...

Li Changshou looked up and met the Dragon Prince's gaze with calm eyes. The blue light in the latter's pupils gradually faded, and those sapphire-like eyes silently looked back at Li Changshou from hundreds of zhang away.

By the classic "ten seconds of eye contact" rule, this human and dragon ought to have been...

His line of sight was suddenly blocked by a large red figure. A Turtle Immortal had appeared in front of the youth.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, why have you come over here? It will soon be your turn to take the stage!"

Crown Prince? The Dragon King's son?

Being targeted by someone like that was truly no good thing.

Yet Li Changshou became even more puzzled. Why had the Dragon King's son picked him, a Du Xian Sect disciple, out at a single glance from the vast sea of people?

Could it be that his face held some inexplicable attraction for male dragons?

Li Changshou immediately fell into deep thought, carefully analyzing the karma involved and considering whether he should find an excuse to leave now...

The Dragon Clan's overall situation was, in truth, extremely awkward.

They had numerous experts accumulated since ancient times, as well as countless "wealth" treasures, but they also faced the grave plight of being rejected by heaven and earth after the Primordial Wilderness had been shattered in the ancient war.

Although the Dragon Clan was filled with experts and appeared immensely powerful, their overall strength had long since fallen far behind the rapidly developing Human Race;

Moreover, the Dragon Clan mainly relied on bloodlines to gain strength. After Ancestral Dragon, the strongest of the Dragon Clan, perished near the end of the ancient war, no dragon had ever been able to surpass Ancestral Dragon;

Thus, in the Primordial Wilderness after the Six Sages took their places, the Dragon Clan could only tread on eggshells, terrified that they might offend a Sage and be directly slaughtered... Yet they were unwilling to fade into obscurity and still dreamed of being the rulers of heaven and earth as they had been in those days.

Several years ago, the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace had deliberately arranged for a small group of newly bred Shrimp Soldiers to wreak havoc along the Shore of the East Sea;

Du Xian Sect had sent disciples to eliminate demons in the Eastern Sea and protect the Human Race, which counted as a slap across the Dragon Palace's face.

But the Dragon Palace did not dare strike back, because Du Xian Sect was part of the Three Teachings Lineage. That was why this Demon-Quelling Assembly was being held: the Dragon Clan wanted to use this opportunity to flaunt its strength and clearly mark the Eastern Sea's boundaries with the Human Race's Qi Refiners.

Afterward, the Dragon Palace had sent a Vicious Dragon to Du Xian Sect with an invitation, only for Venerable Wangqing to send it flying with one finger. That was another slap, louder than the last.

Yet the Dragon Palace still did not dare make a move against Du Xian Sect. Thus, some Dragon Palace noble had arranged that little grape trap, hoping to vent their frustration through it...

Beneath the childishness lay the Dragon Clan's helplessness and awkwardness.

In Li Changshou's eyes, the Dragon Clan was already strong on the outside but weak within, burdened with problems too deep to cure. The entire clan had become somewhat twisted.

Could this Dragon Prince have fixed his gaze on me for those reasons as well?

Li Changshou pondered for a moment and quickly reached a decision. He would quietly observe how events unfolded.

Leaving directly, in a place where dragons and snakes were mixed together, was far less reliable than staying beside his own immortals. If some Dragon Palace expert secretly decided to crush him, a little shrimp from Du Xian Sect, to vent their rage, that would be truly disastrous.

If that Dragon Prince directly called him out to spar later, he would simply admit defeat on the grounds that his cultivation was too low.

The music and dance in the venue dispersed. A Turtle Immortal with pale brows rode onto the stage atop a golden turtle and began slowly recounting the Dragon Clan's past glory. Li Changshou could not even be bothered to listen.

He sensed that gaze again. Decisively withdrawing the Wind Whisper Spell, he followed it and looked up, seeing the one who was about to take the stage behind them...

The Dragon Clan youth.

I, Ao Yi, Second Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, must accomplish something great today.

Ao Yi stood behind several Immortal Flood Dragon Soldiers, his expression calm as he waited for the Turtle Prime Minister to introduce him before stepping onto the stage.

The immortal armor and treasure robe he wore glimmered faintly, setting off his still somewhat delicate youthful face until he seemed as gentle as polished jade.

Ao Yi knew that at today's Demon-Quelling Assembly, he was half the protagonist.

Today was his tenth birthday;

But do not misunderstand—this was actually the tenth birthday since he had broken from his shell;

Over two hundred and thirty years ago, Ao Yi had already developed consciousness within his dragon egg. Every day, he could move around inside the egg for three hours.

In the Dragon Clan's professional terminology, that was called egg movement.

From that time onward, all sorts of "teachers" had used those three daily hours to continuously teach him etiquette, poetry, musical rhythms, Immortal methods...

There was no other reason. He was the Eastern Sea Dragon King's second Dragon Prince of this generation, and the bloodline passed down from Ancestral Dragon within him was even purer than his elder brother's. In the future, he might be able to charge into the Great Luo realm and become a pillar of the clan.

For the first several decades, the teachings Ao Yi received made him believe that the Dragon Clan was the strongest race between heaven and earth, born powerful, the true master of the Primordial Wilderness.

But Ao Yi clearly remembered that, one morning in the Eastern Sea one hundred and sixty-three years ago, he had already been able to remain awake in his dragon egg for five hours each day.

While teaching him, one of his musical-rhythm "teachers" seemed to have drunk too much and told him much, much about the Dragon Clan's unbearable current state.

The Dragon Clan was not the strongest.

Above were the Sages; below was the Human Race...

In the ancient war, the Dragon Phoenix Kirin clans had shattered the once boundless Primordial Wilderness, causing countless living beings to suffer devastation. The Dragon Clan had thus taken on guilt that could never be washed away, rejected by heaven and earth, their providence sealed by the Heavenly Dao.

They could only settle in the Four Seas, continuously using the bodies of Dragon Clan experts to fill the unstable sea eyes of the Four Seas, slowly cleansing the sins of those years...

What were sea eyes?

They were foul springs of heaven and earth, the most perilous of hells!

From then on, Ao Yi began to worry endlessly, pondering without cease each day.

As the Dragon King's son and inheritor of Ancestral Dragon's bloodline, what should he, Ao Yi, do for the Dragon Clan? What could he do for the Dragon Clan?

Gradually, Ao Yi discovered a sorrowful truth.

Most of the Dragon Clan still believed they were the strongest race;

There were even countless clansmen who regarded guarding the Four Seas—a punishment handed down by the Heavenly Dao—as a noble virtue of the Dragon Clan, believing they were proactively seeking blessings for all living beings!

Still more countless clansmen clamored that the Dragon Clan had once ruled heaven and earth, that they were an ancient race, nobler by heaven knew how many times than the Human Race, who had been born as mere ants!

Now the Phoenix Clan and Kirin had nearly vanished, while the shamans and demons had become supporting players. Yet the Dragon Clan remained as prosperous as in ancient times, and was even worshipped by the Human Race as a totem. Was that not proof that the Dragon Clan was the strongest...

Pathetic!

Laughable!

The Dragon Clan's present cowardly existence had been bought by countless Dragon Clan forebears plugging the sea eyes with their flesh and blood!

Above were the Sages, who could slaughter the Dragon Clan with a single finger;

Below was the Human Race, whose mighty momentum had long become something the Dragon Clan could not withstand!

Yet the vast majority of the Dragon Clan still dreamed their beautiful dreams of ancient supremacy, unwilling to awaken. They constantly sought out the Human Race to flaunt their strength, yet did not dare truly wage war against them;

A few days ago, his elder brother, the Crown Prince of the Dragon Palace, had even arranged for someone to use such despicable tricks against Du Xian Sect, yet did not dare step forward and deliver an actual declaration of war to Du Xian Sect!

This was the mighty Dragon Clan!

This was an ancient ruler that had rotted and twisted from the roots!

What could he, Ao Yi, a ten-year-old young dragon, do?

Ao Yi looked toward the high platform, as though he could see his father, who had already reached the Great Luo realm;

Only a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could be destroyed by a great calamity, and even if his father abdicated, the position would go to several uncles. He could not sit in that position, much less use the Dragon King's authority to turn the Dragon Clan's situation around.

Ao Yi gave a cold laugh.

To put it bluntly, I am merely a pretty puppet upon whom my clansmen have placed their hopes—one meant to help them vent their anger and continue preserving the dignity of a hegemon.

That was all.

My son, at today's Demon-Quelling Assembly, you must choose a Du Xian Sect disciple to spar with. Remember to win beautifully and make your father happy.

That was his mother's instruction.

Your Highness, you must still exercise restraint when you act later. You cannot truly hurt anyone, or the aftermath will be difficult to handle.

That was the advice from his father's prime minister.

But they did not know what he intended to do.

"...Let us invite today's birthday celebrant, His Highness the Second Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, to take the stage!"

The Turtle Prime Minister had begun calling for him.

Ao Yi stepped calmly into the arena, feeling all the gazes converge upon him, yet he could not be bothered to look at these beings who were not of the Dragon Clan.

The Turtle Prime Minister continued reciting the prepared speech. Soon it would come to the part where Ao Yi personally chose an opponent for a spar. This was the "entertainment performance" before the Demon-Quelling Assembly officially began.

It was also meant to publicly show little Du Xian Sect some color.

Ao Yi naturally knew the extent of his true strength. His profound accumulation within the dragon egg, Ancestral Dragon's bloodline, and his innate divine abilities meant that, although he had only broken from his shell ten years ago, those dragons of the clan who had only recently become immortals were already no match for him.

But today...

Before this vast audience, with the immortal sects near the Eastern Sea gathered together!

He, Ao Yi, the ten-year-old Second Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, would do something great!

He had just observed the strengths of Du Xian Sect's disciples and fixed upon the weakest among them!

Noble Dragon Clan, you have already been slapped twice by Du Xian Sect. Do you still think those slaps were not loud enough?

Still not enough to wake you up?

Fine!

Today, he, Ao Yi, the Dragon King's Second Prince, would openly and honorably lose to the weakest person in Du Xian Sect's party!

Would that slap be enough?

Wake up, Dragon Clan!

Wake up, clansmen drunk upon your beautiful dreams of ancient times!

It was not too late yet. We must cast aside the Dragon Clan's so-called nobility and find the Dragon Clan's true path forward. Let the talented Dragon Princes and Dragon Princesses, like those Human Race Disciples, enter beneath the Sages of the Three Teachings and cultivate their laws and Dao!

The Turtle Prime Minister smiled. "Today, our birthday celebrant, His Highness the Second Prince, shall find a talented disciple of an immortal sect and exchange a few moves..."

It was here.

Ao Yi gently drew in a breath, stepped forward, and turned his gaze toward Du Xian Sect's seating.

Along with him, everyone in the venue turned their eyes toward Du Xian Sect's seats.

"You."

Ao Yi raised his right hand and pointed at the weakest person from Du Xian Sect whom he had selected earlier. In his still somewhat youthful voice, he said:

"Exchange a few moves with this prince."