Chapter 32
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 32: Eastern Sea Dragon Palace
Ninth Prince and Elder Huang entered Heaven’s Secret Pavilion as Mu Yunsheng and his brother prepared to leave.
"It was you two who slaughtered the Azure Dragon God King in the Azure Dragon Sea Area?" Ninth Prince’s cold gaze fell upon Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng, his eyes carrying killing intent.
Mu Yunsheng and his brother froze in place.
"It’s been exposed…" Both simultaneously thought.
The Eastern Sea was under the rule of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. Though the Azure Dragon God King was a marginal figure, he remained a member of the dragon clan.
Mu Yunsheng had never imagined the death of the Azure Dragon God King would draw the attention of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.
"His Highness asks you a question. Will you not answer truthfully?"
Elder Huang snorted coldly, an invisible pressure bearing down upon the two men.
His Highness?
The brothers exchanged a look, terror flashing across their faces.
Within the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, those addressed as "His Highness" were sons of the Dragon King, their status utterly exalted.
Killing the Azure Dragon God King had actually drawn the notice of a prince?
Ye Xu’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Information about the two visitors surfaced in his mind.
"Eastern Sea Dragon Palace…"
He had read descriptions of it in the history of the Yuan Realm.
This colossal entity, dominating the Eastern Sea for a million years, led by the dragon clan and ruling over the Eastern Sea, ranked among the top powers in the entire Yuan Realm.
The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace had once given birth to a Dragon Emperor.
As for the identities of these two: one was the Ninth Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, cultivation at the early God King stage; the other was the prince’s personal servant, a semi-saint cultivator.
"Daoist friend, it was indeed we who killed the Azure Dragon God King. But it has nothing to do with the Tianxin Sect," Mu Yunsheng admitted immediately, knowing escape was impossible.
Before Ninth Prince, he seemed no more than an ant.
It couldn’t be helped. The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace was overwhelmingly powerful. While the Tianxin Sect dominated the Southern Wilderness, in the Eastern Region, it was merely a slightly larger ant.
The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace could crush it with a mere flick of the finger.
"Since you admit guilt, then accept execution," Ninth Prince said lightly.
"Your command."
Receiving the order, Elder Huang opened and closed his eyes. Two streaks of sword light slashed out, targeting Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng.
The brothers closed their eyes as if resigned to their fate.
Before a semi-saint, they held no power to resist.
"Senior, please save Grandmaster and Granduncle!" Ye Xian’er desperately shook Ye Xu’s left arm, crying like pear blossoms covered in rain, pitiful and heart-wrenching, her eyes filled with pleading.
Although she didn’t fully grasp the situation, she understood one thing clearly.
Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng were in grave danger.
"Daoist friends, killing my guests within my Heaven’s Secret Pavilion… have you grown tired of living?"
Ye Xu slightly furrowed his brows as the two rays of sword light suddenly vanished.
Elder Huang looked horrified; he knew the strange ways of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, so he had been on guard all along. Yet, when Ye Xu acted, he still easily broke his divine art. Moreover, he didn’t even sense a single surge of magical energy.
"Thank you for saving us, senior," Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng expressed their gratitude tearfully, kowtowing repeatedly. For Ye Xu’s intervention, they had actually held no hope, after all, the other party was from the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. But, strangely enough, it happened unexpectedly. Ye Xu acted.
In his heart, Ye Xu had his own considerations. Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng had bought information from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. Now trouble arose unexpectedly. As the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, he naturally wouldn’t idle by. Otherwise, lacking after-sales security, who would dare to buy information from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion later?
The two immediately scurried behind Ye Xu, like punished children hiding behind an adult, quite absurd and ludicrous.
"Are you the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion?" the Ninth Prince stared at Ye Xu with a half-smile. He still hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation.
Ye Xu nodded. "I am the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion."
"Do you intend to meddle in the affairs of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace?" The Ninth Prince stroked the jade ring on his right index finger, his tone calm but leaking killing intent.
"Ao Lie, you ought to think it through carefully. The cost to kill me would be beyond your ability to endure," Ye Xu said lightly. "Even though you are the Ninth Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace."
Whoosh! Ao Lie’s face changed instantly. He locked his gaze on Ye Xu. "You know who I am?"
"Have you forgotten that couplet?" Ye Xu said lightly.
"Predicting the heavens? Just you?" Ao Lie clearly disbelieved Ye Xu’s claims. Even his own father, a quasi-emperor, couldn’t see through the workings of heaven or grasp the shifts in celestial secrets. How could such a powerful figure exist in the desolate backwaters of the Southern Wilderness?
"Elder Huang," Ao Lie called out.
After several breaths, nothing stirred.
"Elder Huang." Ao Lie turned to look at Elder Huang. The old man stood utterly still, like a puppet, his eyes staring blankly ahead, devoid of any surge of magical energy. He seemed as if dead.
"You…" Ao Lie finally felt fear. To subdue a semi-saint so silently required at least the strength of a Saint King. In other words, the young man before him, the so-called master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, was at minimum a Saint King.
"Don’t worry." Ye Xu chuckled. "He isn’t dead yet."
"It’s just he was being dishonest earlier. I plucked out his soul and dumped it into a purgatory to make him suffer a bit, so he stops always itching for a kill."
"I know you likely think I’m bragging. I’ll give you a live broadcast of it now."
The next second.
A scene materialized within the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.
It depicted a realm of carnage and torment, teeming with countless demonic asuras and malevolent spirits. Elder Huang’s primordial spirit, fragile as willow catkins in the wind, was being frantically torn apart, bitten, and devoured by vicious ghosts. Year after year, day after day, this torture seemed endless.
Each time his primordial spirit was completely consumed, the horrifying spectacle would reset, beginning anew.
"…"
Ao Lie’s legs went weak. Stripped of any shred of arrogance, he stared wide-eyed at Ye Xu, stammering, "Senior… w-who exactly are you?"
I am who I am, a flame unlike any other. The lyric surfaced in Ye Xu’s mind unbidden.
"Ahem…" He cleared his throat lightly, dismissing the fleeting thought, and stated, "I am the Master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. Under heaven, there is nothing I do not know; nothing escapes my grasp."
Ao Lie fell silent. Just moments ago, he would have scoffed at such a claim with derision.
But now, having witnessed Ye Xu’s terrifying power firsthand, not a trace of contempt or hostility remained within him.
"Those two old men are clients of my Heaven’s Secret Pavilion," Ye Xu continued, his smile warm and inviting like a spring breeze. "I was the one who provided them with the information leading them to the Eastern Sea to slay the Azure Dragon God King. For my sake, could we let this matter drop?"
Beneath the pleasant facade, his resolution was firm.
If Ao Lie refused, he would kill.
While Ao Lie held significant value, the reputation of the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion was paramount.
The news of clients coming to harm within its walls would ruin its standing.
At the very least, such incidents could not be allowed to happen right under his nose.
"The Azure Dragon God King was merely an aged, feeble remnant of the dragon clan, hardly worth mentioning," Ao Lie forced out a strained smile. "This matter ends here. I guarantee this humble junior will trouble neither them nor the Tianxin Sect any further."
"We thank you, Senior! We thank Your Highness, the Ninth Prince!"
The two old men, Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng, kowtowed repeatedly in profound gratitude.
"Still here?" Ye Xu glanced at them.
"Leaving immediately!"
Mu Yunsheng and Mu Chenfeng excused themselves and scrambled out of the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, seemingly terrified Ao Lie might change his mind.
Ye Xian’er’s eyes also brimmed with gratitude.
"Senior," Ao Lie bowed deeply, every ounce of his former pride gone, "I have acceded to your request. I beg you, release Elder Huang. Spare his life."
"Of course."
With Ye Xu’s words, the hellish scene vanished. Elder Huang’s eyes regained focus, still filled with primal terror. He looked around, dazed, realizing he was back in the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. The recent ordeal felt like a nightmare.
"You possess considerable mental fortitude. Otherwise, you’d be worthless now," Ye Xu remarked lightly.
He had restored Elder Huang’s primordial spirit, but if that terrifying experience had shattered his Dao heart, it would have left him a mere lunatic.
"This…"
Elder Huang was utterly bewildered by what had transpired.
Ao Lie frowned. "Don’t you think you should thank the Master for his magnanimity?"
"Tha… Thank you, Master."
Elder Huang, his body bent, performed the deepest bow possible until his head nearly touched the floor. He knew something momentous must have happened within the pavilion during the time his spirit was imprisoned. Such restraint and deference from the proud Ao Lie spoke volumes.
"Senior," Ao Lie respectfully presented a dark green turtle shell, covered in complex, mysterious Symbols, "this is the shell of a hundred-thousand-year-old Mystic Turtle, steeped in profound mysteries. As you are skilled in predicting the heavens, it should be of some use to you."
"In my hands, such a treasure is wasted, like dust obscuring a pearl. Only in your possession can its true worth be realized."
"Please accept it, Senior."
Elder Huang’s eyes widened in shock. This turtle shell was priceless; even a sacred artifact might not suffice to trade for it. The Ninth Prince actually gifted it to a man he had just met?
Ye Xu smiled subtly. A gift delivered to his doorstep? He absolutely would accept.
Exchange.
[Congratulations, host. Acquired eighteen thousand heavenly secrets points.]
Upon hearing this, Ye Xu’s smile grew noticeably brighter.
Truly fitting for a prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. Such magnificent generosity.
"Another major client…"
The thought made Ye Xu’s gaze towards Ao Lie grow noticeably… zealous.
