Chapter 1025: Dragon Palace

Chapter 1025: Dragon Palace

Qi Xuansu and Li Tianzhen did not get into a direct confrontation since this was no place for a fight.

Though they were at sea, this stretch lay between the Funan and Jawa Kingdoms, so it was more like an inland gulf, where reinforcements from either side could arrive in short order.

So, a good place for a fight would be the legendary Dragon Palace left by the Heavenly Empress. It was isolated from the world, the perfect site for murder and silencing witnesses.

To Qi Xuansu, the fact that Wu Guangbi so freely revealed the Dragon Palace’s location reeked of a trap, so he refused without hesitation.

His lack of interest in the Dragon Palace was because he was a manmade Banished Immortal. He only needed Xuan Jade and divine power to advance his cultivation, not the Heavenly Empress’s legacy. After all, natural-born Banished Immortals would benefit from perfected methods more than manmade Banished Immortals would.

Qi Xuansu believed that his five lineages were more than sufficient for now, at least until he faced his first tribulation.

By now, Qi Xuansu had nearly refined the Xuan Jade of Immortality gifted by Sage Qingwei, so it was time to seek the next one.

In his view, the manmade Banished Immortal path was heavily reliant on divine power. This was related to the Heavenly Immortal’s second ascension, as evidenced by Izanami, whose divine incarnation ascended as a Godly Immortal.

Qi Xuansu even felt that the Heavenly Empress’s case closely resembled Izanami’s. Both deities had descended to the mortal realm and ascended again with startling ease. The Heavenly Empress ascended before turning thirty, without ever facing a tribulation, which was a hallmark of the Heavenly Immortal’s second ascension.

It seemed every incarnation of a Heavenly Immortal carried a fatal limitation. Becoming an immortal was easy, but surviving a tribulation was not.

On that thought, Qi Xuansu once had a wild notion. If a Heavenly Immortal’s incarnation could ascend twice, could it also go rogue and become a separate being? What should I do if Zhang Yuelu ever loses control and splits off another self named Tantai Chu? Should I then sever my other self as Wei Wugui so that our rogue selves can make a pair?

In the end, Qi Xuansu and Li Tianzhen merely passed each other by.

Qi Xuansu caught a side view of the entire ship. Its prow and stern curved sharply upward, like the tips of a crescent moon. Along its hull were Western-style lamps, their glow casting warm light over the ship’s frame.

Though it was a sailing ship, it was armed with cannons. As the two ships passed each other, the dark muzzles of those cannons were already aimed squarely at Qi Xuansu’s flying ship.

Qi Xuansu’s expression did not change as he watched the sailing ship glide past.

Spirit Guard Ding Chou made no effort to hide his defensive stance and raised a massive shield in her left hand.

In truth, the White Carp that Qi Xuansu was on was ill-suited for combat. Should battle break out, their only real option was to ascend skyward. The White Carp’s protection was that it bore the emblem of the Daoist Order. To strike it down would be an act of war against the Daoist Order itself. Even an Ancient Immortal like Wu Luo would have to pay a price for an attack.

Li Tianzhen and Wu Guangbi both understood this perfectly well.

They were not far from the Nanting Protectorate, where Great Sage Lan’s right hand was stationed.

The Heavenly Court’s followers aboard the ship were far less restrained than their leaders. Some brandished weapons, while others pointed muskets mockingly toward the Daoist flying ship, engaging in shameless provocation.

Qi Xuansu’s brows knitted together.

One of the Heavenly Court members fired a shot, which struck near Qi Xuansu and ricocheted, bouncing harmlessly against his robe.

The shot was no threat at all, so Spirit Guard Ding Chou did not bother to raise her shield.

Qi Xuansu reached into his magical receptacle and retrieved the modified Sun-Shooting Rifle. He then leveled its muzzle at the man who had fired.

Before the man even realized what had happened, a single thunderous shot boomed. The Heavenly Court member who fired the shot and three other companions nearby were completely obliterated, their bodies reduced to mist and blood.

That was Qi Xuansu’s answer to those who dared provoke the Daoist Order. After all, these heretics were pirates, which made them fair game for slaughter.

However, the sailing ship itself was peculiar. Despite being struck by a Grade-A Series Six Dragon Eye Bullet, its deck was barely damaged, save for the well-sized hole.

As Sage Donghua had said, this modified Sun-Shooting Rifle was hardly a true weapon for someone of Qi Xuansu’s current power. It was little more than a toy, fit for hunting small game.

Qi Xuansu calmly loaded a Grade-A Series Seven Dragon Eye Bullet and aimed at the remaining pirates.

At that moment, he looked more like a hunter in the woods, idly shooting at rabbits with nonchalance.

This time, the pirates who had been mocking the Daoists moments ago scattered like frightened birds.

From start to finish, Wu Guangbi and Li Tianzhen stood at the bow of the ship, utterly unfazed. Wu Guangbi glanced back once and calmly turned away, while Li Tianzhen never even looked back. His gaze was fixed straight ahead, as if none of this concerned him at all.

It was clear that this high-born scion of the Li family cared nothing for the lives of a few pirates. He did not even spare them a glance.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The strange Western-style ship gradually sailed away, trailed by dark clouds, roaring winds, and crashing waves. Meanwhile, Qi Xuansu’s flying ship continued steadily toward Lion City of the Jawa Kingdom.

Qi Xuansu had been eagerly seeking another piece of Xuan Jade, yet he had no leads. However, the thing he had no interest in—the Heavenly Empress’s so-called legacy—had come seeking him.

That very evening, a sudden storm swept across the sea, striking his flying ship without warning.

Qi Xuansu and Spirit Guard Ding Chou stepped back onto the deck, unmoved before the howling winds and raging waves.

Suddenly, Spirit Guard Ding Chou murmured, “Some of the crew have begun calling out for Niangniang.”

Qi Xuansu was curious. “Is there some meaning behind that?”

She replied, “It’s said that when one faces a shipwreck and calls to the Heavenly Empress for aid, the form of address matters. If you cry out Niangniang, her maiden name, she comes bare-faced to save you without delay. But if you call out, ‘Heavenly Empress,’ she will take time to adorn herself in full regal splendor before saving you. By then, it may be too late. So sailors never dare call her ‘Heavenly Empress’ especially at sea. They will call her ‘Niangniang’ and pray that she arrives at once to save them from a shipwreck.”

“I see...” Qi Xuansu chuckled. “What if one whispers both names in a panic?”

Spirit Guard Ding Chou answered dryly, “It’ll probably count as ‘Heavenly Empress.’”

Of course, Qi Xuansu did not pray for the Heavenly Empress to guide them through the storm. The Daoist flying ship would not be torn apart by a mere storm, as its hull was forged from the bones of a flood dragon, which was the ruler of the seas and the master of wind and rain. As such, the flying ship inherited these divine properties. Even if it was dragged beneath the waves, it would rise again. Moreover, the protective formations sealed out both the strong winds and the encroaching seawater.

Just then, a towering wave struck, and the flying ship lurched violently.

Qi Xuansu had no intention of contesting nature’s fury. Such resistance was futile. Instead, he swayed perfectly in sync with the ship’s motion, achieving an uncanny stillness within the chaotic movements.

Spirit Guard Ding Chou stamped her foot hard. Her entire body was like a ballast that instantly steadied the ship’s swaying.

However, in the next instant, another mighty wave surged from below, pushing the flying ship skyward before vanishing, sending it crashing down.

Any ordinary ship would have split in two from such force, but the flying ship remained unscathed.

Qi Xuansu sighed softly. Just as he was about to issue an order to ascend and escape the storm, he suddenly noticed a vast stretch of black shadows emerging across the waves in the distance.

Puzzled, he asked, “What is that?”

Spirit Guard Ding Chou also saw the stretching dark silhouette and smiled. “Second Deputy Qi, your luck is extraordinary. This is your first voyage at sea, yet you’ve already encountered the Heavenly Empress’s Dragon Palace.”

“That’s the legendary Dragon Palace?” Qi Xuansu gasped. “The one that appears only during typhoons?”

Spirit Guard Ding Chou nodded. “Yes. It’s said that those who come across the Dragon Palace are blessed by the Heavenly Empress herself. Legend says that a humble fisherman who received her blessing rose to become the lord of the seas. Even the ancestors of the Wang, Zheng, and Liu families were said to have prospered due to her blessing.”

As they spoke, wave after wave ushered their flying ship swiftly toward the mass of dark shadows.

Suddenly, the storm subsided. The shadows came into focus, revealing a chain of palaces that were splendid and exquisite. Their walls glistened like crystal, inlaid with coral and agate, like the Crystal Palace in legends.

Yet unlike the Dragon King’s Crystal Palace beneath the sea, this Dragon Palace floated atop the waves. It was a majestic yet ethereal drifting island, like a mirage born of the storm.

Staring at the spectacle before them, Spirit Guard Ding Chou sighed with quiet awe. “The last time I saw the Dragon Palace was thanks to Great Sage Lan. He needed something from within. Though he calculated the tides for months in advance, even with his Immortal powers, it took around half a month before the Dragon Palace finally appeared. I never thought I’d be so fortunate to see it again. This time, it’s all thanks to your luck, Second Deputy Qi.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “What’s inside the Dragon Palace? How do we get there?”

Spirit Guard Ding Chou pondered for a while before replying, “I can hardly describe its interior. It’s like another world entirely. Getting in is quite simple. There’s no physical key or anything. All you have to do is let your spirit wander within.”

Qi Xuansu was startled. “Let my spirit wander within?”

She clarified, “To put it bluntly, it’s like Dream Entering.”

That immediately reminded Qi Xuansu of the Qingping Society’s Dream Meeting, True Lord Taiyin’s Palace of Cold Light, Wu Luo’s divine kingdom, and even the Lingshan Mountain in his dreams.

All of them required one to be in a dreamlike state to gain entry.

If so, did that mean the Qingping Society’s Dream Meeting was also a Godly Immortal’s divine kingdom?