The Celestial Venerable Cannot Enter
Ao Sheng was the son of the Dragon King of the West Sea.
Dragon kings are energetic and long-lived, and they spend the most time on reproduction when they are young, which is almost no different from the behavior of emperors in the mortal world.
Whether they were young female demons or mortal women, the Dragon Kings had all come into contact with them during their philandering.
Inevitably, some unplanned dragon sons and daughters will be born.
These dragon sons and daughters are not of pure dragon blood, and some of them have strange and ugly appearances, but the dragon kings do not mind. After all, it is not a problem for the dragon palace to raise more water demons, let alone their own sons and daughters.
Raising children is one thing, but educating and nurturing them is another.
Even as the eldest son of the West Sea Dragon King, Ao Sheng did not receive any special treatment.
On the contrary, he has been the subject of much gossip because of his status as the eldest son, with some aquatic creatures worrying that the future successor of the West Sea Dragon Palace might be a non-pure-blooded dragon.
The glory of his status and the inferiority of his bloodline brought Ao Sheng immense pain. Even though he strived to improve himself and possessed the strongest power among the younger generation in the Western Sea, he could not change other people's opinions.
Competition with a pure-blooded dragon like Ao Li brought endless humiliation.
He suffered a crushing defeat in the competition.
At the moment of defeat, Ao Sheng felt as if all the aquatic creatures were mocking him.
Defeating Ao Li became his sole belief, and Ao Sheng always sought to find the inheritance and Law Treasure that would allow him to defeat Yinglong.
The top schools of thought on human decline also became Ao Sheng's target.
After overcoming numerous hardships, he finally found the Mohists's Mechanical City in the vast ocean.
He painstakingly defeated the foolish Kun and then forcefully broke into the Mohists's mechanical city.
But his miserable life did not end there.
For four whole months, he stormed into the Mohists's mechanical city, and for four months he also endured the humiliation and ridicule inflicted by Ao Li.
Things improved slightly with the arrival of three unexpected humans, but only slightly.
He finally entered the Mohists's mechanical city normally, but the ensuing fight left him seriously injured, and the resulting fire forced Ao Sheng to flee for his life.
If he could escape, that would be fine, but Ao Sheng had nowhere to go and eventually came to the other side of the ravine, where he met the father of a living Yama in this palace.
He knelt on the ground, listening to the rebuke of the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable, not daring to raise his head.
What does it matter if he's the number one among the younger generation in the West Sea or the Dragon King's prince? In terms of both combat power and status, these are insignificant compared to the Celestial Venerable.
If the other party were to move even the slightest finger, Ao Sheng would be silently wiped out.
"What are you doing here, you wicked dragon? Your meddling has caused me so much suffering!"
"I want to defeat Ao Li, so I've come to the Mohists's Mechanical City to find a powerful treasure!"
Hearing the questioning from the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable, Ao Sheng had no choice but to come up with his own thoughts.
"Then how did you find me and even eat me?"
"Little Dragon was starving for four months, and he was so hungry that he didn't recognize the Heavenly Venerable, which is why he offended him!"
The three, who were both friends and food, entered the mechanical city. Ao Sheng thought that these three might be burned to ashes in the fire, so he couldn't help but take the initiative to eat the others first.
He didn't even notice the misty aura emanating from the old man's head; he only felt that his body was exhausted, hungry, and severely injured, and he needed to quickly replenish his Kongxu energy.
With a quick shake of his head, Ao Sheng took a bite.
Before he could even savor the deliciousness of the food, a thousand golden flowers appeared in his mouth, and the sound of dangling beads echoed continuously.
As if he had bitten into a thousand lumps of iron, Ao Sheng couldn't help but spit it out.
He had never met the Celestial Venerable, but Ao Sheng had heard his elders talk about a technique called "Qingyun" that the Celestial Venerable used to defend against attacks. It was said to be unparalleled in defense and difficult to break through, no matter how powerful the attack.
When 'Qingyun' is released, it appears as a thousand golden lotus flowers, accompanied by the continuous sound of dangling beads.
Ao Sheng never imagined that the top-tier defensive technique 'Qingyun' would one day be unleashed because of him.
Even if he reacted slowly, Ao Sheng knew that he had bumped into someone he shouldn't have.
The dragon was almost paralyzed with fear, and involuntarily muttered a few words. By the time Yuanshi Tianzun opened his eyes, Ao Sheng had already knelt down on the ground with a thud, begging for mercy.
"What a tragedy!"
Outside the main hall of Zixiao Palace, a golden lotus flower fell onto Yuanshi Tianzun's body and clung to him, as if he were wearing a layer of golden armor.
The strongest defensive technique has been activated, which is not a bad thing.
It can withstand the most lethal spells, and 'Qingyun' can also dispel illusions and hallucinations.
After being bewildered by the formation for months, he finally recovered at this moment.
As a top-tier cultivator in the Three Realms, there are almost no people who can defeat and trap Yuanshi Tianzun, but this does not include his teacher.
Even the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable had to be extremely careful in this Purple Cloud Palace, lest he fall into a trap at any moment.
He never fully understood his teacher, nor did he ever figure out the other party's background or how many methods the other party had.
In short, Yuanshi Tianzun needs to strictly abide by the rules in Zixiao Palace.
Being clear-headed at this moment is not a bad thing; on the contrary, Yuanshi Tianzun should thank this wicked dragon that broke into Zixiao Palace.
If the opponent hadn't been so vicious as to devour him, his body's crisis protection technique, 'Qingyun', wouldn't have been activated.
Although Yuanshi Tianzun valued killing and warfare, he also had principles: the evil of the other party should indeed be punished, and the kindness of the other party should also be repaid.
Having thought through the cause and effect, he reached out and retrieved his jade ruyi, also abandoning his intention to kill Ao Sheng.
"You will stay by my side until I have settled this matter. Then I will release you, and you can eat as much as you want!"
Yuanshi Tianzun stood up, looking with lingering fear at the purple gem in the center of the Zixiao Palace.
The gem is so close, yet so far away, like the stars in the sky—visible but untouchable.
This is the application of top-level spatial Divine Ability. Even though the strength of the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable continues to increase, he still finds it difficult to break through the arrangements of the Purple Cloud Palace.
He reached out and pinched his hand, feeling that he had wasted too much time and was unsure if he could make it to the agreed time.
Holding the jade ruyi, Yuanshi Tianzun strode forward.
He wasn't far from the main hall entrance; the distance of ten meters or so was just a few steps.
But the feeling of hitting the wall with the jade ruyi overwhelmed him, and Yuanshi Tianzun couldn't help but kneel down quickly.
"This student is slow-witted and did not enter the main hall on time. I hope the teacher will forgive me!"
Only because there were people inside the main hall of Zixiao Palace, and the other party was blocking the entrance, was he unable to enter while holding the jade ruyi.
In the view of Yuanshi Tianzun, only his teacher could enter the Zixiao Palace without a token.
"The student is filled with trepidation, wondering what instructions the Master has given upon His divine presence?"
Yuanshi Tianzun bowed three times, then raised his head.
Only his teacher could accept his kneeling obeisance, which further confirmed his answer.
He looked at the empty hall that appeared after the space folded, and then pricked up his ears to listen.
The silence made Yuanshi Tianzun extremely uneasy; he was caught between kneeling and standing.
His lofty position in the Three Realms was of no use at this moment, and his unparalleled strength was far from matching that of his teacher.
Like an ordinary student who has made a mistake, Yuanshi Tianzun seemed somewhat uneasy.
He knelt at the entrance of the main hall for nearly a quarter of an hour, until an unusual firelight several miles away illuminated the Zixiao Palace, which prompted him to quickly rise.
As if the sun had descended upon the earth, enormous flames several miles away engulfed the entire world, followed by a deafening roar.