Chapter 617: Confronting the Five Dragons

Above a stretch of the Eastern Sea, the black dragon fought intensely against the Buddha Mahakasyapa in a surge of tidal waves.

Although the Buddha Mahakasyapa was a late-stage Golden Immortal, the black dragon was infused with the power of five superior draconic veins. He suppressed the Buddha Mahakasyapa and dealt him more and more injuries. Fire and wind lashed out above the surface of the sea.

Gradually, the Buddha Mahakasyapa became so heavily wounded that he couldn't exert any more of his strength. He was sent smashing onto a barren island, his body crashing into the countless rock mountains on it.

He spat out a mouthful of blood as he slumped over.

The black dragon hurriedly approached him and used the ancestral dragon's techniques to seal his cultivation.

"It took significant effort, but we did manage to finish off this cursed effigy. Thank you for your assistance," the black dragon said to the superior draconic veins.

With a pop, the five superior draconic veins emerged from his body and transformed into human form.

The five draconic veins exuded incredible strength, causing tidal waves to rise up all around the island.

"Yin Shenhua has left a mark on all your bodies. Xiao Nanfeng and I have manors in the Imperial Court in which you may temporarily reside, and Yin Shenhua wouldn't dare head there to hunt you down. Would this arrangement be acceptable to you?" Ao Zhou asked.

"Head to the Imperial Court to avoid Yin Shenhua? There's no need for that," one superior draconic vein laughed.

The five superior draconic veins had spread out around Ao Zhou and were staring covetously at him.

"What are you thinking of doing?" Ao Zhou frowned.

One superior draconic vein said, "There's something wrong with your bloodline. It was able to stimulate my draconic might multiple times over. We already took advantage of it to destroy the marks that Yin Shenhua left on our bodies."

"In other words, Yin Shenhua won't be able to track you down? That's good to hear," Ao Zhou said.

"What's the secret behind your bloodline?" the superior draconic vein demanded.

"Tell us!" the other superior draconic veins echoed.

The five superior draconic veins eyed Ao Zhou with greed.

"What are you planning?" Ao Zhou asked again, furrowing his brows.

"Your bloodline is attuned to mine," a superior draconic vein suddenly said.

"No, it's mine!" another superior draconic vein said coldly.

The five superior draconic veins instantly started to glare at each other. All of them wanted Ao Zhou at any cost.

Ao Zhou said in warning, "Everyone, I'm allied with Xiao Nanfeng. Don't forget that we were the ones who saved you from captivity. Do you intend to return our kindness with malice?"

The superior draconic veins all turned to Ao Zhou as one.

"Xiao Nanfeng did free us, but so what? Even if we had remained trapped in Dayin's capital, we wouldn't have perished. We would only have our freedom restrained until there was an opportunity to escape. What Xiao Nanfeng did for us was unnecessary."

"We allied with Xiao Nanfeng not out of gratitude, but because we didn't want Yin Shenhua to capture us again."

"What's more, we already helped Xiao Nanfeng deal with that Buddha and repaid that favor. We're hardly obliged to let you go."

The five superior draconic veins stared maliciously at Ao Zhou, who chose to give up talking to them. He turned and dove into the sea.

"You think you can run? Where can a True Immortal like you hide? Show yourself!"

The five superior draconic veins slapped at the sea with their tails simultaneously in a huge surge of water that exposed countless sea spirits.

However, Ao Zhou wasn't among them. The five superior draconic veins were taken aback.

"Damn it, he really does have all sorts of secret techniques, doesn't he?"

"Don't let him run."

"We can fight after we catch him. At worst, we'll split his bloodline into five portions."

"We have to catch him first!"

The five superior draconic veins roared as they shot into the sea toward Ao Zhou.

Just then, incredible blue light glimmered from under the sea, surrounding the five superior draconic veins like a net that had bound them.

"What?" the superior draconic veins exclaimed.

They furiously struggled to break free from the net, but only ended up being bound even more tightly.

Just then, 361 stars appeared in the air, shining brightly. Beams of light shot into the net, which quickly closed up to form a blue spherical barrier that completely trapped the five superior draconic veins within.

"This is a formation. An ambush!" the five superior draconic veins cried out.

Then, they saw figures approach from the sea all around them, formation flags in hand.

Among them were Ao Zhou, Zhao Yuanjiao, Croak, Warble, You Jiu, and others. They staked their flags into the ground, securing and stabilizing the barrier.

Blue Lantern approached from the sky, invoking the power of the stars and infusing them into the formation flags.

"Damn it. Break!" a superior draconic vein shouted.

The dragon crashed into the blue barrier, causing it to shake. A crack formed.

"Blue Lantern, there's a crack in the barrier!" Ao Zhou shrieked.

"I'm aware. It's alright," Blue Lantern replied.

He waved a hand. Starlight surged into the barrier, restoring it rapidly.

"You deliberately headed to this stretch of the sea while trying to chase that Buddha down, didn't you? Did you have a trap prepared here beforehand? What despicable scumbags you are!" a superior draconic vein howled.

"Who asked you to turn against me? We were just protecting ourselves. If you hadn't tried to make a move, we wouldn't have activated this formation," Ao Zhou retorted.

"Do you really think a puny formation like this will be able to trap us? We'll be able to break out in no time!" a superior draconic vein roared.

The five superior draconic veins smashed into the barrier simultaneously as they spat out bolts of lightning from their mouths.

The cracks on the blue barrier grew more and more numerous until it spread across the entire barrier like a spiderweb.

"Blue Lantern, is this formation going to hold?" Croak croaked in worry.

Ao Zhou was fretting anxiously as well. "I said the Cursed Earth Formation wouldn't be good enough, but you insisted on it! All it could do was trap a bunch of True Immortals back when we used it on Thousand-Spirit Island. These five superior draconic veins are like five Golden Immortals. We won't be able to hold them all off!"

"I had His Majesty borrow the Cursed Earth Formation specially from the Hall of Martial Aspects. It's true that it alone wouldn't be able to trap Golden Immortals, but I was able to combine it with the Formation of the Complete Heavens to augment its strength. It'll be able to trap even Golden Immortals," Blue Lantern said.

"You're trying to trap not a single Golden Immortal, but five of them! This barrier is about to break!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Blue Lantern frowned, but he was restricted by his cultivation. This was as strong as he could make his formations.

"Just be patient and wait a moment," he said. "Xiao Nanfeng will be here shortly.

"If the five superior draconic veins escape before Xiao Nanfeng arrives, we're all done for!" Ao Zhou shouted in exasperation.

Warble scowled. "Shut up, Ao Zhou. If you have enough energy to talk, you might as well infuse more of it into the formation instead!"

"Right. Even though you've grown so large, you don't seem to have matured at all. You're far worse than my dear Warble!"

"I'm talking to Blue Lantern, not to the two of you!" Ao Zhou grumbled. Then, he frowned. "I haven't seen either of you for some time. When did the two of you become True Immortals?"

"We're guardian spirits of Dazheng, and part of the treasure that Dazheng acquires goes to us. Some True Immortal pills were concocted from the carcasses of some Golden Immortal spirits, and we got one each. Didn't you?" Croak asked.

Ao Zhou frowned. He certainly hadn't. He couldn't help but feel a sudden bout of disappointment.

"Of course he wouldn't have. He's not a guardian spirit like us. He's just a mercenary! Why would he get any of our benefits?" Warble said.

Ao Zhou: ...

Why did he feel so weary whenever he chatted with Croak and Warble? He worked himself half to death to reach the realm of a True Immortal, but Croak and Warble viewed their ascension as a matter of course! How much more frustrating could they get?

Just then, the five superior draconic veins shattered the formation trapping them.

"We're done for! They're out!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

The five dragons roared.

"You dare entrap us? Die!" The five draconic veins shot toward Ao Zhou simultaneously.

"I wasn't the only one responsible for the formation. Why are all of you rushing toward me? You're crazy!" Ao Zhou yelled back.

Just then, a praying mat descended from the heavens and began to suppress the superior draconic veins. However, they were strong enough that three managed to escape. Only two remained underneath the praying mat.

"Xiao Nanfeng?" the superior draconic veins exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng and Zhang Lingjun had arrived. Zhang Lingjun had manipulated the praying mat to suppress two of the superior draconic veins.

"You've gone overboard," Xiao Nanfeng declared, looking at the superior draconic veins.

"You laid a trap for us here. Haven't you gone overboard, too?" a superior draconic vein challenged him.

"Ao Zhou told me that his bloodline would be particularly effective to superior draconic veins as well. I was only guarding against you, not trying to plot against you. If you hadn't chosen to attack Ao Zhou, I wouldn't have targeted you with this formation," Xiao Nanfeng retorted.

The superior draconic veins snorted as Ao Zhou hurried behind Xiao Nanfeng.

"Don't waste time talking with him. He won't be able to withstand our combined strength!" another superior draconic vein stated.

The three superior draconic veins thundered in anger as they charged toward Xiao Nanfeng.

"Xiao Nanfeng, we're done for. What now?" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned as he retrieved his Divine Seal of Dazheng.

Just then, a golden figure appeared before Xiao Nanfeng.

It unleashed three successive palm strikes, grievously wounding the three superior draconic veins and sending them flying.

"Who dares?" the three superior draconic veins roared.

They raised their heads to see the black lotus, now in the form of the Past Buddha, hovering before Xiao Nanfeng.

"Yin Mingwang took me a while to deal with, so I'm late," the black lotus explained.

"No, Senior, your timing was perfect," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.