Lan Shuang had already despaired.
Three days ago, Cold Moon Island, where the Sea Spirit Clan lived, had been forcibly conscripted by the Dragon Clan.
The Dragon Clan had demanded that they hand over three thousand able-bodied youths to build water palaces and transport spirit ore on the Eastern Sea battlefield.
Everyone knew it.
The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans were constantly clashing now.
Among the small clans sent to the battlefield, it was fortunate if even one out of ten returned alive.
Lan Shuang had refused.
So Cold Moon Island had been razed by the Dragon Clan.
The clan elders had fought desperately to buy her a slim chance at survival.
She had fled into the Northern Sea with the last few dozen clansmen, thinking they could use its complicated currents to shake off their pursuers.
But the flood dragon behind them had pursued them relentlessly.
Ao Zheng.
The son of the Blackwater Dragon King.
A Golden Immortal.
To the Sea Spirit Clan, he was an existence they simply could not contend with.
"Clan Leader, we can't go any farther!"
One of the clansmen had gone pale.
Lan Shuang looked up.
The seawater ahead was black as ink.
Abyss Power churned within it, devouring spiritual energy and grinding away divine sense.
This was a forbidden region of the Northern Sea.
Legend had it that countless years ago, a Dragon Clan Great Luo had entered to investigate, only to return severely injured.
Since then, the Northern Sea Aquatic Clan had rarely approached this place.
Lan Shuang glanced back.
Ao Zheng was getting closer and closer.
His dragon eyes were filled with undisguised mockery.
"Sea Spirit Clan, where else can you run?"
"Kneel now, and I might still leave you a few intact corpses."
Determination rose in Lan Shuang's eyes.
"Into Abyss."
"Clan Leader!"
"If we fall into Ao Zheng's hands, we'll die even worse deaths."
Lan Shuang clutched the child in her arms and rushed into the black sea first.
The rest of the clansmen gritted their teeth and followed.
Just as they were about to be swallowed by Abyss Power, a crack suddenly split open in the center of the black seawater.
Beyond the crack hung a barren island.
The island's spiritual energy was thin, yet it was peaceful and tranquil.
A deep voice rang out from all directions.
"Those who enter this realm must obey three rules."
"No noise."
"No fighting."
"Do not reveal this place."
"Leave on your own after a hundred years."
Before Lan Shuang could speak, a gentle yet irresistible force enveloped every Sea Spirit Clan member.
The next instant.
They had landed upon the barren island.
There was solid ground beneath their feet.
A spiritual vein lay in the distance.
Above them was a murky gray sky.
Ao Zheng's dragon might was no longer behind them.
"We... survived?"
"What is this place?"
"What kind of existence was that senior who spoke just now?"
The clansmen were still shaken.
A stormy sea churned within Lan Shuang's heart.
To open up a Grotto-Heaven in the depths of Abyss.
To instantly draw them inside across endless seawater.
That senior's cultivation likely far surpassed that of a Golden Immortal.
He might even be a Great Luo.
Lan Shuang immediately knelt.
"Lan Shuang of the Sea Spirit Clan thanks Senior for saving our lives!"
The sky fell silent for a moment.
Then the voice sounded again.
"Keep quiet. I am in seclusion."
Lan Shuang hurriedly lowered her head.
"This junior obeys."
Outside.
Ao Zheng stopped outside the Abyss Sea Eye.
The Sea Spirit Clan's aura had vanished.
It had vanished completely.
A trace of confusion flashed through Ao Zheng's eyes.
"Did Abyss swallow them?"
He circled the area several times and soon noticed an enormous shadow in the depths of the seabed.
The shadow resembled a mountain range lying beside Abyss.
Ancient patterns covered its surface.
Ao Zheng's eyes gradually lit up.
"An innate spiritual treasure?"
Anything that could exist beside the Abyss Sea Eye was surely extraordinary.
The Sea Spirit Clan no longer mattered.
If he could bring this spiritual treasure back to the Blackwater Dragon Palace, his father would surely reward him generously.
Ao Zheng spread his dragon claws.
Black lightning coiled around them.
"Rise!"
His dragon claws crashed down.
Bang!
The waters of Abyss suddenly exploded.
Before the smile on Ao Zheng's face could fully bloom, a terrifying backlash surged back through his dragon claws.
Crack!
His dragon claws snapped on the spot.
Large patches of dragon scales shattered.
Ao Zheng screamed as his enormous dragon body was sent flying, smashing through several undersea mountain peaks in succession.
He looked up in terror.
The shadow on the seabed moved.
It merely moved once.
Yet the entire depths of the Northern Sea trembled with it.
Ao Zheng finally saw clearly.
That was not some innate spiritual treasure at all.
It was a turtle shell.
A turtle shell so massive it could support mountains and rivers.
Ao Zheng's entire body turned cold.
"An Innate Divine Saint!"
He turned and fled.
The next instant.
Abyss Power transformed into black chains that wrapped around his body from every direction.
Ao Zheng's magic power fell silent in an instant.
His Primordial Spirit was forced back into his sea of consciousness.
His enormous dragon body shrank smaller and smaller until he finally became a black flood dragon several zhang long, struggling madly within the chains.
Lu Chen's divine sense descended.
"I hid here to cultivate in seclusion."
"Why did you insist on slapping me with your claw?"
Ao Zheng was scared out of his wits.
"Senior, spare my life!"
"This junior did not know this place was Senior's cultivation ground!"
"This junior is from the Eastern Sea Dragon Clan. My father is the Blackwater Dragon King, and our clan has Great Luo ancestors. If Senior is willing to let me leave, the Dragon Clan will surely reward you handsomely!"
Lu Chen's brows furrowed deeply as he listened.
The Dragon Clan really was troublesome!
He only wanted to throw this flood dragon as far away as possible.
"Get lost."
The chains loosened.
Ao Zheng regained his freedom and hurriedly fled outward.
After escaping several hundred li, he gathered his courage and carefully asked, "May Senior leave behind a name? After this junior returns, I can give my clan an explanation."
Lu Chen fell silent for a moment.
Leave behind a name?
What name was he supposed to leave?
What if the Ancestral Dragon heard that a powerful Black Tortoise had appeared in the Northern Sea and personally came to visit?
"No need."
"Tell the Dragon Clan that Abyss will not involve itself in the Three-Clan Hegemony."
"If there is a next time, I'll stew you."
Ao Zheng shuddered all over.
"This junior understands!"
Dragging his broken claw behind him, he rushed out of the Northern Sea at top speed.
Within the Inner Realm of the Abyss.
The Sea Spirit Clan had heard every bit of the commotion outside.
A Golden Immortal flood dragon like Ao Zheng had been completely unable to fight back before this senior.
What shook Lan Shuang even more was his statement that Abyss would not involve itself in the Three-Clan Hegemony.
Among the countless clans of the Primordial World, who dared say such words in front of the Dragon Clan now?
The Three-Clan Hegemony had swept across heaven and earth.
Countless small clans had been forced to choose sides.
Choose wrong, and die.
Refuse to choose, and die as well.
Yet this senior had secluded himself in Abyss, rejected the three clans, and sheltered the weak.
Such broad-mindedness, such confidence, inspired nothing but awe.
Lan Shuang led her clansmen in kneeling once more.
"We thank Emperor for your protection!"
Lu Chen's eyes snapped open.
"Stop."
"Don't call me Emperor."
"It scares me."
Lan Shuang was slightly stunned.
Then understanding appeared in her eyes.
A true powerhouse indeed had no taste for empty fame.
The senior had secluded himself in Abyss, clearly waiting for the right moment.
If they rashly addressed him as Emperor, they might expose the senior's plans.
Lan Shuang nodded solemnly.
"This junior understands."
"This junior shall obey the Emperor's decree."
Lu Chen: "..."
What did you understand?
I told you not to call me that.
Lu Chen had originally intended to correct her further.
But then he reconsidered.
Forget it.
After a hundred years, he would let them leave.
By then, Abyss would close again, and he could continue sleeping.
It was only a form of address.
Not a big problem.