The Exchange of Power and Influence Deep in the Eastern Sea

Shen Wenyuan had come down to inspect the area for two reasons: to announce Yang Wenqing's appointment and to cool the negotiations further. Choosing the mining district jointly operated by Wanxuan and the Dragon Palace had been a wise move.

Before they knew it, the group had reached the northern part of the mining district.

A thousand miles farther north lay the Far Northern Seas. They were also part of the shipping route by which the New Continent supported the Jade Whale Sect, as well as the Dragon Palace's northern border. Since the Dragon Palace had sided with Wanxuan, the New Continent's various forces had kept pressing it in that region, turning it into a new battlefield.

That was the fundamental reason the Dragon Palace was willing to send Water Demons to form a joint army with Wanxuan.

The sky here was much gloomier than in Redstone City. Lead-gray clouds hung low, the sea lay flat, and wind poured in from the north with a biting chill.

Shen Wenyuan stood atop an observation platform above a monitoring tower at the mining district's northernmost edge. His gaze crossed the dark sea to the distant horizon. Another 3,200 kilometers north lay the Far Northern Deep Sea and the new route the New Continent had opened to the Jade Whale Sect.

Yang Wenqing stood to his right. Lan Ying perched on his shoulder, apparently enjoying the cold wind. She narrowed her eyes and let it blow against her face.

Ao Yuan stood a little ahead on the left, also looking north. "About two thousand li north of these waters," he said, "an undersea mountain range divides the Far Northern Seas from our waters."

"North of the range, the water is over five thousand meters deep, and the Water Spirit Aura is so dense