At the same time, somewhere beneath the sea, Emperor Jianyuan slowly awoke.
He felt an unbearable stabbing pain in his primordial spirit, as though it had shattered and was riddled with countless holes.
His entire body seemed filled with shards of ice. The slightest movement sent them rolling through his limbs, bones, blood vessels, and meridians, making him feel as though he were being sliced to death.
"Where is this?"
He opened his eyes and looked around, finding himself underwater, apparently very far from the surface. There was not a trace of light around him, only gloomy darkness.
Emperor Jianyuan then discovered an enormous crystal dragon coiled beside him.
Its entire surface resembled purple crystal, giving off a faint glow even in these deep waters.
Its massive head rested near Emperor Jianyuan.
Its eyes had originally been closed, as though it were sleeping. Only when Emperor Jianyuan groaned out his question did Sleeping Dragon open his enormous draconic eyes.
He did not open his mouth, but Yu Kunlun's voice rang out around them. "This is a deep ocean trench, roughly seventeen thousand nine hundred zhang below the surface. Only deep water can block the gods' starlight. Only the deep sea lies beyond the reach of their power."
Emperor Jianyuan looked at him, his brow deeply furrowed. "You're in a very bad state."
He had not noticed earlier, but when Emperor Jianyuan forced himself to melt the ice shards inside him with true essence and further sharpened his vision,
he saw more than twenty wounds on Sleeping Dragon's body.
"I'm badly wounded."
Sleeping Dragon sighed. "An hour and a half ago, at least twenty-seven Star Lords sent their power down into the mortal realm and attacked us. That I escaped their pursuit at all was thanks to my ancestors' protection."
Protecting