Tao Yaoye’s face blushed fiercely as she rapidly contemplated what to do next.

What was the script supposed to be, after being saved by Elder Brother Lu Yang, how should she have acted?

She nervously looked into Lu Yang’s eyes and noticed an almost imperceptible excitement hiding within their depths.

Could it be that Elder Brother Lu Yang, while claiming to act sincerely, was actually just as flustered when he held her?

Lu Yang gently put her down on the riverbank, his movements tender, as he tried hard to conceal the excitement in his eyes and turned briskly to run back towards Xiao Xinghai.

"Hold, demon! Fight with me for three hundred rounds!"

Xiao Xinghai, unwilling to be outdone, retorted, "Who dares to spoil my good deeds!"

"You’re not even worthy of knowing my name!"

"Since you want to save her, then stay behind yourself!"

"We’ll see if you have the ability to make that happen!"

Lu Yang, wielding the innate treasure sword that came with the congenital gourd, without any formal instruction, yelled ’wah yah yah’ as he fiercely dueled with Xiao Xinghai.

Tao Yaoye lay on the riverbank, tilting her head to watch Lu Yang who was getting into the heat of the act, wondering if there was no more of her role left in the scene?

The Immortal Herbs Fairy emerged from Tao Yaoye’s clothes and kindly suggested, "Why not eat one of my leaves, gain a few hundred years of strength, and overpower that Lu Yang."

Tao Yaoye seriously considered this suggestion.

"Kun Peng Nine Transformations!"

Xiao Xinghai’s aura surged, and his body swelled to several times its size, like a golden wall hurtling towards Lu Yang, sending a flurry of water splashing!

Lu Yang kept retreating, but with Xiao Xinghai executing the Kun Peng Nine Transformations, his massive form was unexpectedly agile and light, not something that could be overcome by merely stepping back.

"Tianshan Seven Swords!"

Lu Yang struck a sword gesture with form and grace, inventing a random name for a sword technique, and with a gentle wave, illusory shadows became countless true swords, forming a sword array that blocked Xiao Xinghai’s charge.

This was a simplified version of One Sword Becomes Ten Thousand.

"Transform, Peng!"

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Xiao Xinghai transformed into a great Peng, and Lu Yang seized the opportunity to flip over and mount its back. Xiao Xinghai tried to shake Lu Yang off, flying high into the cold ether before plunging into the icy East Sea, continuously spinning, but Lu Yang clung stubbornly to the feathers and would not let go.

The two battled fiercely in the sky.

"Foul beast, with a thousand years of cultivation, why do you choose to commit evil!"

"The world is unkind, treating all beings as straw dogs. If I feed on all creatures, what’s wrong with that!"

Xiao Xinghai became more excited as the battle waged on, letting out a long cry, the sound of his call gradually becoming smooth and deep.

He began to change, transforming into a golden True Dragon, tens of zhang in length!

"No way, the Dragon Transformation Manual?" Lu Yang recognized Xiao Xinghai’s move; he wasn’t acting, he was genuinely shocked.

Lu Yang had learned ancient Divine Abilities that appeared famously powerful from Immortal Fairy Eternity in order to impersonate a being from the Ancient Heavenly Court, and among them was mention of the Dragon Transformation Manual.

Although for various reasons, Lu Yang did not learn the Dragon Transformation Manual but instead learned Devour the Sky and Swallow the Earth.

"You’re from the Kunpeng Clan and yet you learn the Dragon Transformation Manual?"

Up to now, Lu Yang had always thought that only the Human race would learn the Dragon Transformation Manual.

"It’s about leveraging strengths to cover weaknesses. The Long Clan is indeed stronger than our Kunpeng Clan; this has to be acknowledged," Xiao Xinghai said with a grin, speaking nonchalantly.

"Just look at the Long Clan with their Dragon Ancestor, a Semi-Immortal. The rumors from the Demon Territory suggest that just like the Phoenix Ancestor, they’re both spouses of the Qilin Immortal, capable of strutting around among the Semi-Immortals."

"Look at our Kunpeng Clan, we don’t even have a single Semi-Immortal. It’s only natural for me to learn from the strengths of the Long Clan. If we don’t learn from other races’ strengths, how can we make the Kunpeng Clan stronger?"

Lu Yang felt Xiao Xinghai made quite a bit of sense.

He felt he had fought Xiao Xinghai enough and, admitting defeat, stepped down to let the next ’gourd brother’ take the stage.

"Ahhhh—" Lu Yang screamed as he fell to the shore, lying next to Tao Yaoye.

The orange gourd split open, and Meng Jingzhou, dressed in bright orange shorts, made a sparkling entrance.

"You beast, how dare you harm my brother, you’re looking for death!"

Meng Jingzhou, like a rocket taking off, stomped on the ground fiercely and leapt into the sky, inheriting Lu Yang’s will to battle the dragon-transformed Xiao Xinghai.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye lay side by side, resting on their arms as they watched Old Meng slay the dragon, or the dragon slay Old Meng.

With Nirvana True Fire to boost him, Meng Jingzhou transformed into a fiery phoenix and battled with Xiao Xinghai.

Xiao Xinghai, after transforming into a dragon, indeed performed better than when he executed the Kunpeng Nine Transformations. The Long Clan was famous for their formidable physiques, and Meng Jingzhou was equally renowned for his, making it hard to determine the winner between them.

"When we create the Dream Mirage, let’s remove the smiles from both of their faces," Lu Yang reminded Tao Yaoye as Meng Jingzhou and Xiao Xinghai fought, barely holding back their laughter, which seemed like a struggle to contain.

Then Old Meng too screamed miserably and fell beside Lu Yang. Next, Man Gu leapt out from the yellow gourd and Li Haoran from the green.

The four gourd brothers lost in succession, lying on the ground, their fates uncertain, while Xiao Xinghai laughed wildly in the air.

"It seems that this time not only will I devour a genius cultivator, but I will also obtain four congenital treasure gourds!"

Just then, the gourd vine gleamed with a hopeful light, uplifting the spirits, and the four gourd brothers radiated red, orange, yellow, and green light.

They floated into the air, wrapped and merged by the light, becoming a brand-new being.

Mini Lu Yang, his body shimmering with the four colors of light, made his entrance!

The moment mini Lu Yang appeared, he put immense inexplicable pressure on Xiao Xinghai, who broke into a cold sweat.

Meng Jingzhou and the others exited, watching Lu Yang covered in four colors of magic-created light fly up into the air, grabbing Xiao Xinghai’s tail, and smashing him into the water, drawing dragon tendons, as Xiao Xinghai stuck out his tongue languidly towards the sea surface.

A perfect ending.

After all, it was just a play; they couldn’t really draw dragon tendons. These were props provided by Xiao Xinghai, sturgeon tendons.

To celebrate the end of the first play, Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu lit a fire, grilling the sturgeon tendons to share with everyone.

"What a delicious taste," Xiao Xinghai exclaimed after biting into the steaming grilled sturgeon tendon, his eyes lighting up.

The Sea Clan rarely used barbecuing as a way to cook.

"Well, let’s take a break and then perform the second act. How about ’The Kunpeng Floods Penglai Island, the Gourd Brothers Suicidally Split Heaven and Earth, and the Gourd Immortal Comes to the Rescue’?"

Considering the Eldest Senior Sister wasn’t very fond of appearing in the spotlight, when discussing the script, everyone decided to change her role to that of the Gourd Immortal who had planted the congenital gourd seeds.

"Okay," everyone was in high spirits, getting more invested the more they performed.

Suddenly, Su Yiren pointed to a patch of mist floating on the sea not far away, her expression one of confusion, "What is that?"

Xiao Xinghai turned to look and his expression changed drastically, "Not good, it’s the Sea City mirage, run!"

"The Sea City mirage?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yiren summoned her magical power and pulled everyone to run in the opposite direction, utilizing her power over the rules.

"Here I establish the [Rule: The Mist Disperses]!"

The mist remained completely unaffected.

The mist moved too quickly, and before Su Yiren could lead them far away, the mist shrouded everyone, engulfing them completely.