The unusual banquet at the Southern Sea Dragon Palace was still underway, while the special messengers who had left the palace for destinations far and wide had already begun picking up speed.
Neither Yi Shuyuan nor the Southern Sea Dragon Lord had set a specific deadline, but even a fool knew that the sooner this was done, the better. Judging by the preparations they had sensed before leaving, this undertaking would likely be no small affair.
Everyone was thinking the same thing: get there and back quickly. After all, someone who returned early might bring back a crucial text, uncover an important clue within it, and set the Alchemy Furnace going again. Wouldn't anyone who returned late miss out? That absolutely could not happen!
On a stretch of water off the Southern Sea coast.
With a bang, Stoneborn burst out of the sea amid a spray of water, fire trailing beneath his feet.
In the blink of an eye after he emerged, the fiery light flashed like a meteor streaking upward. Stoneborn had already soared into the sky and vanished into distant clouds.
Someone aboard a nearby coastal fishing boat seemed to notice the disturbance, and several boatmen looked toward where it had happened.
"What was that?" "Probably a big fish. The sea's full of them!"
"Must've been a porpoise, then?"
"But I clearly saw a flash of fire just now..."
When the first man to notice the disturbance turned around, he had still caught a trace of the fire thrown up by the Wind-Fire Wheels. The others all laughed.
"Hahahaha, how could there be fire in the sea?" "Was a sea dragon breathing fire?"
"When we get back today, you and your wife can have some dry wood and blazing fire of your own tonight!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Everyone aboard came