"Strangeness."
Looking at the fog that had stopped spreading in the distance, Shen Laoda looked puzzled.
He could understand why the mist didn't spread. After all, the larger the scale and the more complex the formation, the more energy-consuming it would be for those ancient sorcerers. There was no real need for it; they just needed a safe environment to wait for their own family's Dragon Transformation sorcerers to hatch.
But why hasn't the formation been broken yet?
"My lord, is there something you don't understand?" the Yaksha beside him couldn't help but ask.
"Didn't your Yaksha body sense the Crown Prince of the West Sea?"
"Yes," Yaksha nodded, "He's nearby!"
"Since he's nearby, he shouldn't have waited until now to break the formation." Shen Laoda frowned in confusion.
He knew very well how troublesome that guy was. The woman who sealed them back then was able to obtain the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley thanks to that prince's efforts. He had personally witnessed that guy's judgment and scheming ability; after all, he was the one who was personally brought to power by him.
When Chen Qing gave him the choice, he chose the West Sea, perhaps out of a desire for revenge, and he had always hoped to meet that guy again, but now...
Isn't that guy a little too quiet?
"My lord, perhaps he can't do anything!" Yaksha whispered. "Since something happened to the Heavenly Dragon Palace, it means he has no chance of reviving. Most likely, like the West Sea Princess, he's frozen in time."
Shen Laoda nodded, agreeing with this point, because if the other side had already lifted the lockdown, the situation wouldn't be like this now.
But Shen Laoda didn't believe he couldn't do anything. He shook his head. " Nine Heavens Mirror Valley is a magic array in the East Sea, but he wouldn't hand it over without absolute knowledge of it. That guy definitely has a way to break the array!"
"That"
"It is indeed strange. Logically, he should have broken the formation just as those ancient sorcerers had successfully transformed into Dragon Transformation, forcing me to eliminate those guys and then taking advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters."
"Then we have no choice but to follow its plan?" Yaksha frowned.
"This is an open conspiracy," Shen Laoda sighed. "This place is his home turf, so he naturally has certain advantages. From the moment we couldn't find him, we've been led by the nose. Our only chance of winning is to find his location in the chaos, when he makes a move, and kill him before he breaks the ice!"
"Is the Lord confident?"
"I'm confident!" Shen Laoda grinned. "As long as he dares to make a move!"
Another half hour passed, and although the scene was quiet, Shen Laoda's mood grew increasingly worse.
He's not afraid of being led by the nose, because that's within his expectations. What he fears is the unexpected happening, like what's happening now.
" Ao Xin... is probably dead!"
Upon hearing this, the two Yaksha around them widened their eyes. Having inherited the Yaksha's body, they were well aware of that prince's reputation. Such a great figure, just like that, dead?
"My lord, are you sure?"
"Uncertain, but very likely," Shen Laoda frowned, "Because I can't think of any chance he has to turn things around. Chen Qing destroyed the Heavenly Dragon Palace, and without enough blood essence, he can only refine it from the Dragon Transformation artifacts here. But once he misses this window of opportunity, his opponent won't be me anymore, but hundreds of Dragon Transformation artifacts. Do you think those guys who have been waiting at the Dragon Palace gates for hundreds of thousands of years don't hate the Dragon Palace?"
Shen Laoda sneered, "If they had the power, they would use the most vicious methods in the world to wreak havoc on this Dragon Palace!"
"Could it be that the Crown Prince of the West Sea has some other method, using mechanisms, to kill the Dragon Transformation creature?"
"If he could do that," Shen Laoda's sneer deepened, "We would have been dead long ago."
"But the lord also said that's that guy's territory. He's hiding somewhere no one can find him. Who could kill him?"
"We can't find anyone." Shen Laoda gazed silently towards the direction of the mist, "But there's one person we might not be able to find!"
"Is the one Your Majesty referring to Chen Qing?"
"He's the person I can't understand the most." Shen Laoda recalled all his interactions with Chen Qing: "He's a lot like that woman from back then, both so confident, as if everything is under control. Nobody knows where the Crown Prince of the West Sea is hiding, but he might just know."
"My lord, isn't this a bit too mythologizing of him?" The two Yaksha looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I hope so." Shen Laoda took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and asked, "How's the blood refining progress?"
" The Blood Guard have sent word that it will be about three hours."
"Three hours?" Shen Laoda nodded. "The thing we found is extremely well-hidden. The Dragon Transformation creature here will most likely be weak for two hours. As for Chen Qing, if I'm not mistaken, he deliberately lured us away earlier; he's probably also refining the dragon seed."
"There's enough time; it just depends on who has the stronger hand by then."
"Then naturally, it can't compare to our Lord." Yaksha grinned and said, "Our Lord's secret technique is unique, and it controls the very same War God of the West Sea!"
"Shut up." Shen Laoda glared at him. "Don't say it so casually. Here—" As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly turned extremely horrified because he smelled an unprecedented stench of blood!
"My lord?"
"Blood" Shen Laoda's eyes flashed red, staring intently eastward!
It is a monster forged with blood magic, and its sensitivity to blood is no less than that of a genuine Blood Guard. Therefore, it can smell the exaggerated, overwhelming scent of blood even from a great distance.
That can hardly be called qi and blood anymore, it's called a sea of blood!
What's coming from here?
"My lord!" The two Yaksha beside him sensed it a moment later and stared wide-eyed in horror.
This overwhelming surge of blood and energy was something they couldn't even imagine; it felt like a sea of blood was rushing towards them!
What exactly is it? And how can it have this effect?
Soon the group saw it—enormous, incredibly enormous. The shadow, even before it reached the Dragon Palace, caused a huge commotion, plunging the entire Dragon Palace into darkness in an instant!
"What did Chen Qing do?"
Shen Laoda swallowed hard, staring at the indescribably enormous thing. It wasn't that he hadn't seen big things before. The eldest son of the Shen Family cultivated the Xiushe Technique, and he could fully activate the snake form and circle around West Sea City.
But if we're comparing, my size at full strength is probably about the same as an earthworm's in front of this guy!
How could such a thing exist in this world?
In an instant, Shen Laoda understood what had happened at the Heavenly Dragon Palace.
--
What is that?
"Damn it, it's the Heavenly Ghost Octopus! Who released it?"
How could it be so huge?
"Ha, now I understand why the Dragon Palace's blood provisions are gone; it turns out this thing ate them all."
"This thing must be as big as an island nation, right?"
"You're overthinking it. Ten island nations probably couldn't withstand even one bite from it now!"
Above the mist, a terrifying shadow loomed over everything, and almost without a doubt, everyone held their breath, choosing to communicate with their minds.
These things, let alone them, even if the Dragon King Breed were to revive now, they'd probably end up as food!
For a moment, no one thought about how they would wreak havoc on the Dragon Palace after Dragon Transformation; all they wanted was to find a chance to escape this place as far away as possible!
At this moment, Chen Qing, who was on the third floor, also saw the huge shadow and frowned.
How did this guy get here so fast?
Murong, standing nearby, stammered, "Wasn't it seriously injured because of your scheme? How did it become so big?"
"Once the Heavenly Dragon Palace's barrier collapses, that place will become this guy's paradise. As for his injuries," Chen Qing shook his head and said, "A monster like it can recover as long as it successfully devours another creature full of vital essence. Judging from its current size, it's likely that it has already eaten all of the Heavenly Dragon Palace's biological weapons!"
"But how did it come to the West Sea?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing sneered, "Of course they've come to see me!"
The Heavenly Ghost Octopus will not let its first prey escape; this was a setting that lured this monster out. Once players enter this place and are targeted by the Heavenly Ghost Octopus, it will find them no matter where they are.
Imagine this: deep in the ocean, a gigantic, terrifying man-eating monster is chasing you. After you finally manage to escape back to land, thinking you've escaped death, you open your eyes to a strong, stench of blood and a scene of carnage all around you. The entire continent and its cities have been plunged into the monster's slaughter because of you.
Of course, all the terrifying creatures in the Dragon Palace share this characteristic, so the panic caused by that wave was a fear that spread in all directions, which was also the original design idea to create a sense of horror for the players.
Chen Qing really wanted to smash the head of the guy who came up with the idea.