"Your Highness, is the King here?"
In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, where not a single ray of light could penetrate, even a top-tier ocean hunter like the Yaksha spoke with extreme caution.
Because the seawater here is so cold, even colder than the North Sea Extreme Abyss, and it's also very deep. Hundreds of thousands of feet below the seabed, there's even a layer of rock. After breaking through it, you find yourself in another world of seawater.
It was so cold here that even it found it hard to bear.
Yaksha knew this location; it wasn't a good place. It was a forbidden area in the Dragon Palace used to imprison other ancient creatures, and few people could enter it on ordinary days.
Murong Yunji followed cautiously behind the two, not daring to even breathe loudly, because she was truly as fragile as an ant.
She was able to survive in this frigid water thanks to Princess Ao Zhen's help; if the foam covering her were to break, she felt she would freeze to death instantly.
Even under protection, the strange and terrifying annotations in the surrounding darkness made her feel extremely cold.
She didn't know when it started, but she had become completely unable to participate in the battle. She used to be a top-tier expert in the world, but now, she could probably die a horrible death if she encountered an ancient sorcerer here. Even with her allies by her side, without Chen Qing, she felt extremely uneasy and had no confidence at all.
Ao Zhen, oblivious to Murong Yunji's changing mood, gazed intently at her surroundings. "The address my father sealed has undergone at least nine hundred changes. In the end, many people probably don't even know which one is real and which one is fake. He has always been a suspicious person, and the one he guards against the most is me. You're asking me now if I'm sure he's here? I really can't give you a definite answer."
Yaksha remained silent upon hearing this. Throughout the four seas, elders are always proud and doting on any successful descendants. However, things are different in the West Sea. Ao Zhen his position through his own hard work and fighting, which made the old Dragon King of the West Sea extremely wary of him. He targeted Ao Zhen several times. If the Elder Council hadn't stood up for him, Ao Zhen might not have been able to rise to prominence.
The reason is actually known to most people, although it is somewhat difficult to talk about.
Regardless of the circumstances, the old Dragon King's original intentions towards Ao Zhen Ao Zhen be erased. Therefore, the more power Ao Zhen gained, the more wary the old Dragon King became. The frequent clashes between the Third Prince Ao Xin and the Eldest Princess were also secretly supported by the old Dragon King. He clearly wanted to find a successor who could resist Ao Zhen before Ao Zhen completely surpassed him.
This is blatant distrust.
He somewhat understood why the old Dragon King was hiding his whereabouts. Ao Zhen held a high position in the army, and with the Dragon Palace reopening, Ao Zhen 'Ao Zhen confidants were very likely to be the first to revive him. Once Ao Zhen was revived before him, his fate would be completely in Ao Zhen's hands.
Therefore, having a hidden location and providing ample buffer time for his trusted confidants to recover was the old Dragon King's strategy.
However, in Yaksha's opinion, the old Dragon King had already lost in terms of magnanimity, just based on this point alone.
Princess Ao Zhen also distrusted the Lord Wang, because if the old Dragon King were to recover first, he might take advantage of Ao Zhen's frozen state and completely possess her daughter.
The Dragon Girl serves only one man in her life. If she is taken by another, Ao Zhen must either choose death or completely submit to the Dragon King. Either outcome is what the old Dragon King has always wanted.
Despite this situation, Princess Ao Zhen still dared to expose herself in the most conspicuous position at the entrance of the Dragon Palace.
She was clearly confident that her subordinates wouldn't put her in that situation, while the old Dragon King was obviously less confident.
Inside the dark abyss, surrounded by impregnable cages, were enormous, Heaven-Swallowing Python, bizarrely shaped stone statues, and top-tier evil spirits that did not belong to the mortal realm and whose bodies were still in a ghostly state. These scenes made Murong Yunji feel disoriented, as if each of those imprisoned monsters, if they were to escape, would be a being capable of overturning the world.
Ao Zhen walked ahead and, unusually, began to introduce the situation.
"That giant python is the pure-blooded Heavenly Python of the Heavenly Python Palace. It is currently trapped in the spatial cage. When it fully unfolds, it is ten times larger than the Earth Mother and can fly and burrow underground. You can imagine the scene when the Heavenly Python Palace descended, with countless pythons larger than your human cities coiling in the sky."
Murong Yunji swallowed hard upon hearing this, feeling a pang of fear. Just thinking about the scene was thrilling!
"These are Outer Heaven Demon Statue, the most mysterious forces of antiquity. No one has yet figured out the true nature of their power. These things are adept at bewitching people, creating slaughter, hatred, bloodshed, and pain. In return, they can grant power to those who create chaos. Many evil gods today seem to be trying to emulate them, but none of them quite capture their essence. Even the ancient powers of the past were extremely wary of these things. I heard that your human dynasty produced a King of Qin who sealed these Outer Heaven Demon Statue back then?"
"Huh?" Murong Yunji was taken aback. How did the other party know about this? Wasn't it said that it had been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years?
"Although we have frozen the Dragon Palace, we are not completely ignorant of the outside world," Ao Zhen explained softly. "There's a reason why those ancient sorcerers outside the palace gates can remain there. They still have their own families in the mortal realm who support them. They use Divine Transmission Technique to convey information about the current situation in the mortal world and report information to us. This is also a manifestation of their value. Your King of Qin's actions back then were too enormous. The coexistence of humans and demons, the Heavenly Moon Plan —these are things I dare not even imagine. It's hard for me not to know such a person."
"Such a thing is true?"
Murong Yunji narrowed her eyes. It seemed that not only the Dragon Palace, but perhaps many ancient forces had placed spies in the human world, but no one knew about them usually.
Now that I think about it, there's always been a place in my Murong Family that even I, who almost became the head of the family, couldn't approach at will. Could it also be related to ancient times?
" Earth Spirit Revival, more and more ancient forces will reactivate. You'll soon realize that this world has never been simple."
Murong Yunji nodded upon hearing this.
"That King of Qin was shrewd but also naive; some of his actions were based on wishful thinking."
"But he was a great man," Murong Yunji said earnestly.
Ziyue and the others altered her memories, instilling many of her previously disapproved ideas. After her memories returned, she naturally resented Ziyue and the others, and she scoffed at many of their beliefs. However, she still admired the King of King of Qin.
Regardless of the outcome, he was indeed a person worthy of respect.
"Is it great?" Ao Zhen smiled. "It's rare for a human to think that way. You agree with the idea of humans and demons coexisting."
"I think it's unrealistic, but the direction he's striving for is admirable."
"But the path Chen Qing is walking now is almost the same as that of the King of Qin back then, no. Perhaps it's even more difficult!"
Murong Yunji remained silent. She didn't know how far Chen Qing, this extraordinary person, could go. She hoped that he could go further, so that she could see more different things in her lifetime. That way, perhaps her life wouldn't have been in vain.
"What do you intend to do by collecting these monsters from other ancient forces?"
"Research," Ao Zhen smiled. " The Dragon Palace values the human race's spirit of exploration the most. Inspired by them, the Dragon Palace has many unique traditions. These traditions have led us down a different path. Formations, object investigation, and runes all actually originated from the human race, but later became ours."
Murong Yunji: "."
This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. She had always assumed that these items were the Dragon Palace's own heritage, never expecting that they actually belonged to the human race.
"Surprised?" Ao Zhen laughed. " The Dragon Palace may not be the strongest among the ancient forces, but it is definitely the best at utilizing the human race. Chen Qing's choice to cooperate with us is the right direction."
" Chen Qing is not cooperating with you!" Murong Yunji said coldly, " Chen Qing is trying to make you submit to him as your master!!"
"Insolence!" roared the Yaksha beside him.
But this shout immediately drew more attention from the darkness, causing Yaksha's anger to falter, and he lowered his voice, saying, "Don't talk nonsense, human!"
"Whether I'm lying or not, Your Highness knows best." Murong Yunji sneered, "I've seen that Divine Seal on your hand. It's one of Chen Qing's methods. Anyone who has it on their hand is his subordinate. You can't be wrong about that, can you?"
"That's right," Ao Zhen immediately laughed, "I've never denied it."
"So you still want to take advantage of the human race?"
"Isn't Chen Qing also using the human race?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Murong Yunji frowned. "How can he be compared to you outcasts?"
"An outcast?" Ao Zhen looked at the other person with amusement. "So in your eyes, Chen Qing and you are the same kind?"
These inexplicable words made Murong Yunji's heart skip a beat, and an intense unease welled up inside her. "What do you mean?"
"You don't think that just because Chen Qing looks exactly like you, he's one of you, do you?"
Murong Yunji: "."