Wayfarer

Chapter 666: The Four Golden Immortals of the Southeastern Aquatic Palace

The Eastern and Southern Seas met in a vast expanse of the sea with concentrated spiritual aether.

There were countless islands and Immortal sects that had set up on those islands. One of the many forces here was known as the Southeastern Aquatic Palace.

The Southeastern Aquatic Palace was located in a trench in the sea, with a huge underwater barrier encapsulating a scintillating draconic palace. All manner of dragons and their subordinate sea spirits approached and left the palace in pilgrimages of sorts. The palace was bustling with activity.

Within the palace, there were quite a few mysterious regions shrouded in fog.

In the main hall of the palace, Crystal Hall, sat two rows of men and women. At the head of the two rows were two hulking men with frustrated looks on their faces.

At the front of the hall was a bundle of mist. The cultivator shrouded in the mist was hidden from sight, but everyone seemed to treat that cultivator with utmost respect.

"Is there any word of Fourth Brother?" the man at the head of the left row asked.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, I've been checking all over these past few days. I even got in contact with Sage Green Lotus. There's no word of Fourth Brother at all. Could something have happened to him? "the man at the head of the right row said.

Clearly, these two men were none other than the second and third lords of the Southeastern Aquatic Palace, Long Er and Long San. [1]

The figure shrouded in mist, of course, was the premier lord of the Southeastern Aquatic Palace, Long Yi.

"I've summoned all of you here today to discuss Long Si. What's going on?" Long Yi demanded.

"Something must be wrong. Long Si's subordinates are hardly as important as Xia Yu'er. Rather than bringing Xia Yu'er back to us, he chose to seek out Sage Green Lotus in search of his subordinates. That's not a reasonable course of action."

"He knows that you urgently need Xia Yu'er, Eldest Brother, but he hasn't returned or contacted us at all. Either something happened to him, or he's intending to betray us!" Long Er said.

"Ha! Betray the Southeastern Aquatic Palace? Let's see if he can," Long Yi replied, scoffing.

"Eldest Brother, have you received any news?" Long Er asked.

"One of my scouts' avatars just reported that he saw him heading our way underwater," Long Yi said.

"Eldest Brother, do you think Fourth Brother could have betrayed us all?" Long Er asked, "Sage Green Lotus told us that something seemed amiss with Fourt Brother when he reached out to him. Could something really have happened?" Long San asked, though he seemed dubious of that possibility.

"We'll have to see. Since he's coming back, let's hear him out for now," Long Yi declared.

"Understood!" Long Er and Long San replied.

As for the other cultivators in the meeting, though they had the right to attend, none of them had the right to interrupt the four draconic lords or speak out of turn.

Before long, a raucous commotion could be heard from afar.

"We greet Lord Si!"

"Lord Si's back!"

"Lord Si, what happened?"

The commotion naturally drew the attention of the other three draconic lords.

"Where are my three brothers?" Long Si shouted.

"They're at Crystal Hall, Lord Si!"

"Good," Long Si replied.

He headed straight for Crystal Hall, only to see it packed to the brim with important members of the palace.

"Lord Si." A few of the lower-ranking cultivators stood up and bowed respectfully to him, but Long Si ignored them. He headed toward the cloud of white mist at the forefront of the hall, along with the two men seated at the very front.

"Brothers, I've returned," Long Si announced.

He was bedraggled, his clothing singed and scorched, his hair and brows burnt to a crisp, a sorry sight to behold.

"What took you so long?" Long Yi demanded.

Long Er frowned as well. "Fourth Brother, where's Xia Yu'er?"

"Why haven't you sent word to us, Fourth Brother?" Long San said coolly.

Long Si glanced at the cultivators in the hall. "Except for my three brothers, the rest of you, get out."

"Hm?" Long Yi seemed perplexed.

"What do you want, Fourth Brother?" Long San demanded.

Long Si ignored his third brother. He shouted at the rest of the cultivators, "Didn't you hear me? Get out!"

Long Si turned to Long Yi. "Eldest Brother, I have vital news to report. I'll provide the details later, but only among the four of us."

"All of you, leave," Long Yi said coolly.

"Understood!" The remaining cultivators retreated in an orderly fashion.

After everyone had left, Long Si waved an arm, sealing the doors to the hall.

"Eldest Brother, I've been ambushed. I just escaped," Long Si said, gritting his teeth.

"Oh?" Long Yi's attitude was surprisingly cold.

It was clear that he had become suspicious of his fourth brother after the latter's prolonged absence.

"When I fled from the Yuqing holy land, as a safety precaution, I kidnapped both Xia Yu'er and Zhao Yuanjiao. Because time was of the essence, I knocked Xia Yu'er unconscious, sealed her cultivation, and hid her deep within the Yuqing holy land. Then, I ran off with Zhao Yuanjiao. Fortunately, my preparations allowed me to escape from Xia Xingchen's pursuit."

"You caught Xia Yu'er and hid her within the Yuqing holy land?" Long San exclaimed.

"The most dangerous location is often the safest, after all. Who would have expected me to hide her there? After the commotion, I laid low and waited in the vicinity of the Yuqing holy land. Three days later, I disguised myself and sought out Sage Green Lotus' subordinate to arrange for a private discussion. It was then that I brought Xia Yu'er out with me."

"Oh?"

"Then, since I was feeling good, I met with Green Lotus. I'd already caught Xia Yu'er by then, so there wasn't much to discuss with him. I talked about some nonsense, then asked him to help look for my missing subordinates. I left thereafter."

"No wonder he said you were acting funny," Long San murmured.

"Silence, Third Brother. Listen to Fourth Brother for now," Long Er hissed.

He didn't seem pleased that Long San had divulged some information.

Long Si didn't seem to mind. "After that, I was ambushed."

"Who did it?" Long Er asked.

"Xiao Nanfeng and Zhao Yuanjiao. They were tailing Green Lotus all this time—that idiot! He didn't even realize what they were doing. They caught me as a result," Long Si said, hissing.

"Xiao Nanfeng might have a few Golden Immortal relics, but he shouldn't have caught you easily," Long Yi said.

"There were other Golden Immortals with him, all with powerful relics of their own. I couldn't hold them back," Long Si said wryly.

"And what of Xia Yu'er?" Long Yi asked.

"Xiao Nanfeng rescued her. I really am sorry, Eldest Brother."

The cultivators all frowned. Long San was the first to believe in their youngest brother. "That idiot, Green Lotus. How dare he try to tell us you were responsible?"

"How did you escape?" Long Yi asked.

Long Er and Long San looked toward Long Si.

"That's precisely what I wanted to report to you about, Eldest Brother," Long Si said. Xiao Nanfeng has summoned Martial Aspects from the Imperial Court to uproot the Southeastern Aquatic Palace. He's heading over to lay the groundwork for his plans. He sealed my cultivation, bound me, and tossed me into a furnace, intending to forge my body into pills. I overheard their conversations from within the furnace."

"Oh? So these burns are from that furnace?"

"That's right. I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to escape because Xiao Nanfeng and his party had already set off. The flames from the furnace broke my seals and allowed me to escape. I killed those forgemasters Xiao Nanfeng left to guard me and rushed back immediately."

"Do you have any proof?"

Long Yi wouldn't be tricked so easily.

"Eldest Brother, I don't know whether any of those forgemasters have any avatars, but I know where Xiao Nanfeng is located. They're planning to attack the Southeastern Aquatic Palace right now, and we need to launch a counter-attack immediately."

"Xiao Nanfeng's close by?" Long Yi asked.

"He is. I was afraid that I'd draw attention to myself, so I didn't dare fly toward the palace. Rather, I swam underwater to get here instead. If you don't believe me, Brothers, I'll lead you to him right now."

Long Yi fell silent. There was nothing unusual he could pinpoint from Long Si's claims.

"Eldest Brother, I'll go verify Long Si's claims," Long Er volunteered.

"Me too," Long San added.

Long Yi hesitated.

Long Si sighed in exasperation. "Eldest Brother, I know all of you must be suspicious of me because of my prolonged absence, but I'm not lying. I'll prove it to you—just follow me!"

After a moment's hesitation, Long Yi finally said, "Second Brother, Third Brother, follow Fourth Brother's lead. Be careful."

"Understood!" the two cultivators replied.

"We'll set off right away, Eldest Brother. Time's of the essence, and I'm afraid they'll run off before we can get to them," Long Si said immediately.

"Go on," Long Yi said.

Although he was suspicious of Long Si, he couldn't be certain of his suspicions just yet.

The three dragons left the hall.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, let's go right away!" Long Si urged.

The two Golden Immortals nodded without any hesitation.

They emerged from the Southeastern Aquatic Palace and swam some distance across the sea before they surfaced by the side of an island shrouded with fog.

"It's right here. Hurry!" Long Si shouted.

He struck at the fog in the vicinity, dispelling it. Shockingly, there was a formation on the island that shattered as a result of Long Si's attack.

"Who's there?!" Shouts came from the island.

"Xiao Nanfeng? And Ao Zhou and Ye Dafu, too? The Imperial Court really did send its Martial Aspects over," Long Er exclaimed.

Long Er was already aware of Xiao Nanfeng; even if he weren't, Long Si's disappearance meant that he had familiarized himself with just who Xiao Nanfeng was and what forces he had at his disposal.

"Has Long Si escaped? Damn it. We have to flee!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

The cultivators dove into the sea, intending to escape underwater.

"Brothers, don't let any of them go! Leave Xiao Nanfeng to me. I'll make him regret what he's done to me!" Long Si roared.

He transformed into an ivory dragon and swam off in the direction in which Xiao Nanfeng escaped.

Long Er and Long San likewise transformed and shot toward Ao Zhou and Ye Dafu.

The cultivators scattered across the sea. Trying to get them all would be somewhat troublesome, but they were all Golden Immortals, ivory dragons, and underwater no less. How could they lose to those cultivators in their own domain?

Huge waves surged across the sea.

1. Yes, their names are just 'dragon-two' and 'dragon-three'... ☜

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