"Your Majesty, what is the matter?"
A man in red suddenly appeared, bowed, and knelt before the weathered old man on the dragon throne.
The weathered old man wore yellow robes. Though his face was thin, it held an underlying majesty, and a faint golden light flickered in his eyes.
This man was Dongfang Su, the reigning Martial Emperor of the Heavenly Martial Dynasty. He had held the throne for over fifty years.
The Heavenly Martial Dynasty was at the height of its prosperity and ranked first among the seven nations of the Southern Wilderness, precisely because of this Martial Emperor, Dongfang Su.
"To the southwest, a thousand li from here, there seems to be a strand of Dragon Qi soaring into the heavens!"
Dongfang Su's tone was grave as he gazed toward the southwest.
"Dragon Qi?"
Shock appeared on the red-robed man's face.
In the entire Heavenly Martial Dynasty, the only place where Dragon Qi existed was this imperial palace.
Outside it, there should have been no possibility of a second strand of Dragon Qi appearing anywhere within the Heavenly Martial Dynasty.
Dongfang Su's expression was exceedingly grave.
As emperor of the Heavenly Martial Dynasty, he also possessed the highest cultivation in the entire dynasty.
Moreover, an ancestor of their Dongfang imperial clan had once forged a karmic bond with a flood dragon.
As a result, they had received the flood dragon clan's protection for generations.
Even now, a young flood dragon lay sleeping in the palace's forbidden grounds.
That was also why Dragon Qi existed within the palace.
Yet the Dragon Qi Dongfang Su had just sensed was more than ten times as dense as the Dragon Qi within the palace.
Even an expert of Dongfang Su's cultivation had felt a trembling deep in his bloodline beneath that Dragon Qi.
Reverence!
As an emperor, Dongfang Su had not experienced such an emotion as reverence for many years.
"Guyue, go southwest on my behalf and investigate what has caused this Dragon Qi."
Dongfang Su spoke to the man in red.
"As you command!"
The red-robed Guyue accepted the order and immediately vanished from the spot.
Dongfang Su stood in the great hall, his brows tightly knitted.
"My Heavenly Martial Dynasty has been peaceful for many years, yet strange phenomena have appeared frequently of late. Could the time of great turmoil truly be upon us?"
Guyue departed on his orders, leaving the capital that very day and heading straight southwest.
Guyue possessed profound cultivation and served as a personal guard to Martial Emperor Dongfang Su. Traveling at full speed, he reached the vicinity of Floating Cloud Mountain in just three days.
"Hmm?"
Guyue looked toward Floating Cloud Mountain, suspicion appearing on his face.
"I remember ancient restrictions existing on Floating Cloud Mountain. Why have they disappeared now?"
He immediately suspected that the Dragon Qi had most likely come from Floating Cloud Mountain.
"I'll go up and investigate!"
Guyue immediately ascended the mountain.
Just as he reached the halfway point, Guyue stopped.
Looking into the distance, he saw a young man coming down the mountain path with a dog.
"A mortal?"
Guyue's gaze swept over the young man, but he sensed not the slightest cultivation in him.
The young man with the dog was none other than Ye Qingyun, who was coming down the mountain.
"Hmm? Someone else is coming up the mountain."
Ye Qingyun also spotted Guyue in his red robes, and a curious look involuntarily appeared on his face.
Lately, Ye Qingyun had been very curious about everyone who came up the mountain.
Guyue took a single step and appeared before Ye Qingyun in an instant.
Startled, Ye Qingyun backed away repeatedly.
Damao, beside him, remained quite calm, raising his head to stare at Guyue.
Guyue looked Ye Qingyun up and down, confirming that the person before him truly had no cultivation whatsoever.
"This is no place for a mortal like you. Go down the mountain immediately."
Guyue spoke coldly.
Having said that, Guyue paid Ye Qingyun no further attention and immediately headed for the summit.
By the time Ye Qingyun turned to look, the man had already vanished.
"What is he playing at?"
Ye Qingyun looked puzzled.
He had not intended to bother with it.
But then he reconsidered. My home is still up on the mountain.
"He's not going up there to steal my vegetables, is he?"
Ye Qingyun was suddenly alarmed.
Those were vegetables he had planted with his own hands, one by one.
I can give them away, but you can't just go up there and steal them, can you?
"No, I have to go up and take a look."
Ye Qingyun immediately hurried back up the mountain.
Unfortunately, he had no cultivation whatsoever and could not possibly catch up to the highly cultivated Guyue.
Guyue had already reached the summit and seen Ye Qingyun's courtyard.
"Someone actually lives here?"
Guyue was utterly astonished.
It was a simple courtyard, with many strange and unusual things growing inside.
"These... these are all heavenly materials and earthly treasures?"
Guyue was shocked.
Just like Li Chenyuan and the other two who had visited before him.
The courtyard full of heavenly materials and earthly treasures frightened Guyue so badly that his entire expression changed.
As an expert from the imperial palace, Guyue had seen his share of the world.
Yet the sight before him still made his heart pound.
Guyue forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart and was just about to step inside.
But then a bald rabbit suddenly hopped out.
"Such powerful Yao Qi!"
The sight of this bald rabbit made Guyue's expression change, and wariness immediately appeared on his face.
This was clearly a rabbit yao.
Moreover, its Yao Qi was powerful enough to make Guyue feel threatened.
"Who are you?"
The rabbit spoke in an icy voice, a woman's voice at that.
"I am a personal guard to His Majesty the Martial Emperor. An insignificant yao beast like you had best not act insolently!"
Guyue barked in a deep voice.
Upon hearing that he was a personal guard to His Majesty the Martial Emperor, any ordinary yao beast would certainly have given him a wide berth.
But this bald rabbit was not afraid in the slightest.
"This is my master's territory. Leave at once."
The bald rabbit spoke indifferently.
"Your master?"
Guyue was startled again.
He had thought this rabbit was the master of this place.
He had never expected that even this rabbit yao, whose cultivation was far from low, actually belonged to the master of this place.
Then who exactly was the master here?
Could they be connected to the Dragon Qi His Majesty had sensed?
At that moment, Guyue sensed a trace of Dragon Qi.
It was right nearby!
He immediately followed that Dragon Qi.
Soon, he reached the pond in the back courtyard.
"The Dragon Qi is actually coming from here!"
Guyue gazed at the small pond before him, growing somewhat doubtful.
Why would there be Dragon Qi inside such a small pond?
Could the remains of a dead true dragon have been left inside it?
Just as Guyue was puzzling over this, the water in the pond suddenly surged.
A vortex shot straight into the sky.
Greatly alarmed, Guyue released a powerful presence around himself to guard against the unexpected.
Within the water, an enormous, elongated figure flickered in and out of sight.
"A dragon?"
Guyue was horrified.
The being within that water was definitely a dragon.
Moreover, it was far beyond comparison with a flood dragon!
This was a true dragon!
The water came quickly and subsided just as quickly.
When the pond returned to calm, Guyue had yet to recover from his shock.
Not until footsteps sounded behind him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
"Why did you come running into someone else's home without saying a word?"
Ye Qingyun's displeased voice rang out.
Guyue abruptly turned around.
"You're the master of this place?"
Ye Qingyun curled his lip and walked to the edge of the pond.
"Who else?"
He glanced at the pond, then looked at Guyue.
"Were you planning to go down there and steal my fish?"
Steal fish?
Guyue was speechless.
Steal your granny's leg!
This mortal before him was truly beyond reason.
This man has no cultivation whatsoever. He can't possibly be the master of this place.
Guyue stared coldly at Ye Qingyun.
"An ant like you should get the hell out of my way."
He was just about to act and push Ye Qingyun aside.
But then a head suddenly emerged from the water by Ye Qingyun.
A dragon's head!
Its icy dragon eyes were fixed on Guyue.
It seemed that if Guyue dared make any unusual move, this dragon would attack him.
Guyue's hand immediately froze.
To his utter terror, he discovered something.
The way this dragon looked at Ye Qingyun was as docile as a pet looking at its master.
"Am I dreaming?"
Guyue could not help questioning his life.