Chapter 667: Canghai Saves Zhou

High above the clouds stood three figures: Ao Canghai and two of his loyal Martial Aspects.

The three cultivators were staring at the sight unfolding beneath them. Long Er, Long San, and Long Si had appeared out of nowhere, catching Xiao Nanfeng off guard.

"Xiao Nanfeng's done for now!"

"Haha, to think he has such moments too!"

The two Martial Aspects roared in laughter.

Ao Canghai furrowed his brows, unconvinced. "Xiao Nanfeng's particularly careful and diligent. I don't think he'd be discovered so easily."

"Eastern Aspect, everyone makes mistakes at times. No matter how good Xiao Nanfeng is at scheming, he can get unlucky too," the two Martial Aspects replied.

Ao Canghai nodded, grudgingly accepting this viewpoint.

Xiao Nanfeng and his subordinates dove into the sea, causing a series of huge tidal waves as they were pursued by the draconic lords.

Ordinary cultivators wouldn't have seen what was going on underwater, but Ao Canghai could do so easily.

Xiao Nanfeng was the fastest to escape, but Long Si was no easy opponent. The two cultivators fought viciously against each other. Although Xiao Nanfeng had a number of strong techniques, he was ultimately only a True Immortal, whereas Long Si was a Golden Immortal. Xiao Nanfeng quickly found himself in the losing end of things.

Meanwhile, Long Er caught up to Ao Zhou.

Ao Zhou transformed into a black dragon wtih a roar as he sent the seawater around him surging toward Long Er.

"How dare you!" Long Er thundered.

He transformed into an ivory dragon, similarly manipulating the seawater around him in offense.

The two dragons caused such a huge commotion as they fought against each other that it felt as though tidal waves were ravaging the sea.

Ao Zhou had a large assortment of techniques from his inheritance, but Long Er's Golden Immortal cultivation was too great a gulf to overcome.

A few golden cultivators rushed forward to help him out.

They saved Ao Zhou, but the golden cultivators were sent flying.

"I won't let you run!" Long Er yelled out.

Ao Zhou had just dealt him a heavy blow. He yelped in pain, eyeing Ao Zhou in rage and doing everything in his power to prevent him from leaving.

Despite the fact that the golden cultivators continued to harass him and he sent them flying time after time, he refused to allow Ao Zhou to flee.

"Why are you only chasing me? Help!" Ao Zhou shouted in fear.

He was no match for Long Er; he had no choice but to flee.

Ao Zhou even activated a Golden Immortal relic, but Long Er had one of his own. Ao Zhou was forced to retreat.

"Explode!" Ao Zhou shouted.

His Golden Immortal relic exploded, causing Long Er's to do so as well. Long Er was sent stumbling back from the explosion, bleeding from his head.

Even so, he was wholly enraged. He shot toward Ao Zhou, ignoring his injuries, and beat him up until Ao Zhou was coughing out blood. The golden cultivators that flew at him from all around were unable to do anything to stop the brutal beating.

"Help!" Ao Zhou cried out again.

Up in the air, Ao Canghai and the others blanched.

"Eastern Aspect, they're going to capture Ao Zhou! He has an ancestral dragon's inheritance!"

"The Southeastern Aquatic Palace is led by four draconic lords. They're not such fools as to overlook Ao Zhou's secret. We can't let them seize him!"

The two Martial Aspects pleaded with Ao Canghai to intervene.

Ao Canghai frowned in distaste, but ultimately nodded. "The two of you, head down to save Ao Zhou—but only him."

"Understood!" the two Martial Aspects replied, diving down.

They quickly arrived by Ao Zhou's side.

By then, Long Er had caught Ao Zhou in his claws, rendering him immobile. He was struggling futilely when the two Martial Aspects made their move.

They forced Long Er back, freeing Ao Zhou.

"Golden Immortals? It's just like what Fourth Brother mentioned..." Long Er murmured.

"Martial Aspects, finish him off, quickly!" Ao Zhou was overjoyed to find assistance.

Long Er blanched as he turned to flee, diving into the depths of the sea and vanishing from sight.

The two Martial Aspects: ...

They had been planning to show off their strength, but Long Er had fled at the sight of them!

Not only that, Long Er howled, "Third Brother, Fourth Brother, disperse!"

Long Er's voice boomed throughout the sea.

Long San and Long Si, hearing their brother's words and sensing that something was amiss, turned and fled without any hesitation.

The fighting abruptly came to an end.

Within the Southeastern Aquatic Palace, Long Er was the first to return. The moment he made it through the doors of Crystal Hall, he shouted, "Eldest Brother, Fourth Brother was right! The Martial Aspects of the Imperial Court came prepared. If not for Fourth Brother's warning, we would have been caught off guard!"

Long Er manifested an image of the two Golden Immortals with his claw.

Long Yi glanced at the image and frowned. "We'll talk about this once they return."

Just then, Long San made it back as well.

He came back in dragon form, then spat out Ye Dafu and three of the golden cultivators from his mouth.

"Run!" Ye Dafu exclaimed.

"Do you think you'll be able to flee? Dream on!" Long San scoffed.

The four golden cultivators were quickly suppressed by Long Er and Long San. The two dragons sealed their cultivation and even their mouths.

"Second Brother, what happened? I was enjoying the chase. Why did you call us back?" Long San exclaimed.

"They had Golden Immortals," Long Er replied. "Fourth Brother was right."

Long San's eyes widened. "It's only thanks to Fourth Brother that we managed to catch these cultivators. This Ye Dafu is a Martial Aspect of the Imperial Court too, isn't he?"

Long Er nodded. "That's right. The two Golden Immortals I fought against were Martial Aspects from the Immortal Court too."

"Eldest Brother, I'm sure Fourth Brother is still loyal to us. You can't imagine he would ally himself with them, could you?" Long San exclaimed.

Long Yi had largely dropped his guard against Long Si, but just in case, he said, "We'll talk once Fourth Brother returns."

Long Si arrived in just a few short moments, but he seemed almost as battered as before. He was bleeding all over, but had managed to catch Xiao Nanfeng. Xiao Nanfeng was in a sorry state, his clothing disheveled, his cultivation sealed, his mouth taped shut. Long Si tossed him on the ground.

"What happened, Fourth Brother?"

"You really managed to catch Xiao Nanfeng? I heard he was a sly cultivator!"

Long Er and Long San were very impressed with their brother.

"Ahem! Eldest Brother, Xiao Nanfeng detonated a Golden Immortal relic and dealt me significant injury. I almost let him escape—but luckily, given my past experience, I forged forward and managed to catch him. I'll be able to restore my reputation now, haha!" Long Si laughed even as he coughed out blood.

Long Yi nodded in praise. "Well done, Fourth Brother."

Long Yi's suspicions that Long Si had betrayed them was founded on Xiao Nanfeng's involvement. Now that Long Si had caught Xiao Nanfeng, however, it was clear that he remained loyal to the Southeastern Draconic Palace. Fortunately, he hadn't expressed his doubts directly to Long Si just yet.

"I was lucky enough not to encounter any of the Golden Immortals while taking him on. Perhaps they thought that I was an easy opponent after he managed to behead me last time—their loss, clearly." Long Si smirked.

"You might not have encountered any, but I met two," Long Er said.

"Oh?" Long Si was taken aback.

Long Er explained what had happened.

"Those damn bastards! They really ought to die. If they had launched an attack on us, we really might have lost," Long Si cursed.

"You're right, Fourth Brother. You've done very well this time," Long Er said.

"Of course I'd do my part, Brothers!" Long Si replied.

Long Er's laughter boomed throughout the hall.

"It's a pity that Xiao Nanfeng was sly enough to toss all his treasures into the depths of the sea right after I caught him. I heard that he managed to acquire plenty of treasure from that divine empire—Dayin, was it? But I didn't manage to get any of it." Long Si hissed.

"These cultivators I caught did the same, too," Long San said. "They'd rather throw away all their treasure than let us have any."

The two dragons fumed in shared anger.

"Brother, we might have caught Xiao Nanfeng and his accomplices, but the situation still doesn't look good for us. Who knows how many Golden Immortals are waiting outside? Just how many did the Imperial Court send?" Long Si asked in worry.

"Interrogate the prisoners. I'll ask around," Long Yi said.

"Understood!" the three dragons chorused.

Long Er, Long San, and Long Si left with Xiao Nanfeng and the four golden cultivators in tow.

As they emerged from Crystal Hall, Long Si said, "Brothers, I have a debt to repay with regards to Xiao Nanfeng. Let me interrogate him myself."

"Very well." Neither Long Er nor Long San seemed to mind.

"As for Ye Dafu and the others, I'll have to trouble you with them, Brothers. Please keep them alive for now. They might still be useful as bait, after all—but feel free to beat them within an inch of their lives. Use the strongest poisons you have," Long Si hissed.

"Fourth Brother, you really do hate them, don't you?" Long San laughed.

"Don't worry, Fourth Brother. We'll avenge you. Their mothers wouldn't recognize them by the time we're done." Long Er smirked.

"Thank you, Brothers," Long Si replied.

The three dragons brought Xiao Nanfeng, Ye Dafu, and the others down to the dungeon.

Within Crystal Hall, Long Yi beckoned for a subordinate to approach. "Have your avatar contact Martial Aspect Tu Feng immediately."

"Understood!" the subordinate replied. Before long, he reported, "My avatar has met with Martial Aspect Tu Feng. He'd like to have a direct conversation with you. I shall serve as intermediary."

Long Yi nodded, recounting what had happened to date. He manifested an image of those two Martial Aspects as well.

The subordinate was silent for a moment before he parroted back Martial Aspect Tu Feng's words. "Xiao Nanfeng? Ye Dafu? Ao Zhou? And those two Martial Aspects? Something doesn't seem right."

"What's the matter?" Long Yi asked.

"Those two Martial Aspects are Ao Canghai's loyal confidantes. Ao Canghai hates Xiao Nanfeng, so why would they work together? Hold on. Let me find out what the situation's like."

"Very well." Long Yi waited patiently.

Two hours later, the subordinate began speaking once more. "Damn it, Ao Canghai secretly issued a Martial Aspect mission to destroy the Southeastern Aquatic Palace! Ao Zhou accepted that mission and even borrowed the Cage of the Sea from the Hall of Martial Aspects. It specifically targets Eyes of the Sea!"

"What? How do they know about the Eye of the Sea?!" Long Yi exclaimed.

"Long Yi, something's wrong. Be careful regarding Ao Canghai. I'll report to the Immortal Emperor and Empress immediately. They'll send reinforcements to help you out."

"Very well," Long Yi replied uneasily.