Wayfarer

In Dazheng's imperial study at Yongding, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar was reading through a series of documents while You Jiu reported to him.

"Mr. Wen's actions might be shrouded in secrecy, but his subordinates aren't as skilled. We were able to identify everything that they did," You Jiu said.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't even lift his head. "No. Mr. Wen never intended to hide their actions from you."

"Oh?"

"Continue. What did Mr. Wen do?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, even as he continued perusing his paperwork.

"He established a large formation over the islands all around the ancient draconic palace in the Eastern Sea. He labored extensively over the formation and simultaneously spread the news to some of the larger Immortal sects across the Eastern Sea, stating that the ancient palace contains an endless amount of treasure. The Immortal sects have all sent many batches of disciples toward the palace, but the majority perished."

"Mr. Wen's trying to make a big move. Show me the formation he laid out," Xiao Nanfeng said, smiling as he put down his brush.

You Jiu proffered a map. "This is an approximate chart of the formations based on what we were able to see. Each node of the formation is shrouded in fog, and he even laid out many fake nodes to cover up the real ones. He's truly meticulous."

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the map seriously. "The Formation of the Complete Heavens..."

"Oh?"

"It has to be. I once studied the Star Map of the Complete Heavens, and I won't be mistaken about this. He must have used the star map as the basis for laying out this formation. It's rather comprehensive preparation." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Is this formation particularly astounding?" You Jiu asked.

"It's the strongest formation of the spirits' Imperial Court. How could it be anything but? That said, I suspect Mr. Wen won't be able to draw out its full strength."

"Oh?"

"Formations are easy to pick up but near-impossible to master. Mr. Wen is skilled, but his skills lie in a different domain. I'll likely have to send Blue Lantern out this time."

"Do you intend to help Mr. Wen, Your Majesty? It seems like he's rather guarded against us..." You Jiu worried.

"No, he isn't guarded against us anymore." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Oh?"

"The fact that you were made aware of his plans means that he's feeling rather helpless at the moment. The cultivator he has to take down is far stronger than he anticipated. He too can sense that something is amiss; that's why he wants our assistance."

"He's communicating with you through me?" You Jiu exclaimed.

"More or less. Furthermore, Ao Zhou hasn't returned from his expedition to the ancient draconic palace with Croak and Warble. I'm worried about their safety, and was intending to head there myself regardless.

In the Eastern Sea, within the ancient draconic palace surrounded with black fog, the commotion of fighting could be heard from all over as a large group of cultivators fought off countless cursed slaves.

"The cursed slaves here bear Immortal relics, just like the rumors said!"

"Senior Brother, I saw other Immortal sects' disciples find an Immortal sword over there, and now they're heading over here!"

"Those bastards! We already established our respective domains. They'd better not fight us for this relic. Come on, we have to claim this one before they get here!"

"Kill!"

The fighting grew more and more intense.

Behind a large boulder was a group of people. In the lead was, of course, Ao Zhou. Thirty of his subordinates followed behind him, all currently humanoid in form. Beside Ao Zhou was a couple in black.

Ao Zhou frowned at the couple. "Xiao Nanfeng's a scoundrel. He said he'd send a batch of his subordinates to help me investigate the ancient draconic palace, but all he sent were the two of you! I shouldn't have agreed to a fifty-fifty split initially!"

"Talk to Xiao Nanfeng about it, not us. We're not responsible for negotiating the terms," the woman in black said.

"Right, that's none of our business. We're just here for the spoils!" the man in black added.

Ao Zhou's face twitched. "Croak, Warble, is what I'm saying that complicated? Don't you understand what I'm implying? Later, when we split up the treasure, why don't we keep a portion for ourselves and tell Xiao Nanfeng there wasn't that much to be found?"

The couple in black was, of course, Croak and Warble in human form.

"You mean that the three of us should each take a share of the treasure, and then to split your share evenly with Xiao Nanfeng?" Croak asked, surprised.

Ao Zhou frowned. "Are you a fool? I was going to get half the treasure. Under your scheme, I'd only get a sixth! Why would I ever consider that?"

"What do you mean, then?" Croak continued.

"I'll take 80% of the treasure. You can take 10%, and I'll split the remaining 10% with Xiao Nanfeng. The two of you have to help vouch for me." Ao Zhou looked at the two spirits expectantly.

"Just 10%? How shameless you are. Do you think we're beggars?" Croak replied immediately.

Ao Zhou pursed his lips. These two spirits were harder to fool than he expected. What was he going to do?

"What's more, are you crazy? Why are you already trying to distribute loot when we haven't gotten a single piece of treasure yet?"

"Right, right! Why don't you bribe us first and get you on our good side before we continue negotiations?" Warble advised.

Ao Zhou frowned. He subvocalized to himself, "I haven't even gotten a single piece of treasure yet, and they want me to pay them in advance. Are they pretending to be fools and trying to scam me?"

After a moment's silence, Ao Zhou took a deep breath. "Forget it. Let's find some treasure first."

"Where's all the treasure? It's pitch-black. I can't see a thing!" Croak said.

Ao Zhou felt as though asking Xiao Nanfeng for help was an incredibly foolish decision. Xiao Nanfeng had only sent Croak and Warble out, and the two demons were unable to do anything. They had asked all sorts of questions along the way revealing their utter lack of knowledge, and they might as well be burdens instead of allies. Not only that, just because of their presence, he'd have to split half the treasure with Xiao Nanfeng! He could feel his heart bleeding.

"Let me lead the way," Ao Zhou said.

"You know the way?" Croak asked.

"I don't, but I can sense the draconic aura unique to the dragon race. I initially asked Xiao Nanfeng for help because the draconic aura surrounding the palace was too intense, but many Immortal sects' disciples have appeared here recently and lured out a significant number of cursed slaves. Each batch of cursed slaves contains a portion of this draconic aura; with the draconic aura dispersed, there are far fewer guards where it used to be most concentrated."

"And what if the strongest guards are still there?" Croak asked in worry.

"The draconic aura there is likely too diffuse to support anyone strong. Furthermore, with the two of you here, we have nothing to fear."

"Xiao Nanfeng told us not to take the initiative when fighting against the enemies," Croak said.

Warble immediately grumbled, "What nonsense are you spouting now? Why say that out loud? Just keep it in your head!"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I got a little excited. Ao Zhou, pretend I didn't say anything," Croak immediately added.

Ao Zhou sighed. Perhaps he should simply have hired two bodyguards instead.

Although the revelation of their 'allegiance' was rather upsetting, Ao Zhou knew that Croak and Warble were particularly strong cultivators who paled only in comparison to him. Later, there was a good chance he would need their help; he'd bear with them for the moment.

"Follow me," Ao Zhou said.

The spirits avoided the cultivators and cursed slaves all around them as they headed deeper into the fog.

The fog seemed to hide a particularly potent formation that misdirected all cultivators from its depths, but Ao Zhou quickly found his way to a series of halls by following the draconic aura directly.

"To think someone would have found this place," an icy voice called out from the halls.

Ao Zhou and the spirits' eyes widened. They turned toward the source of the sound to see that one of the halls was open. A man in a draconic robe with golden motifs on black brocade walked out, a crown on his head that gave off an overwhelming aura.

"We've been discovered!" Croak cried out.

"Don't worry. He's the only one around. We simply have to get rid of him. I can sense that there's a particularly valuable treasure in the hall he came from." Ao Zhou's eyes lit up.

"Ao Zhou, don't lie to me. How would you be able to sense that?" Warble clearly didn't believe his claims.

"Dragons make the best treasure hunters, and I'm even more impressive. I can sense treasure with just a sniff. Believe me—take him down!" Ao Zhou cried out.

Croak and Warble clearly remained dubious. Just like Xiao Nanfeng told them, they took a step back.

Ao Zhou stiffened. Were these two spirits really going to go against him? He thundered, "Take them down! Otherwise, I won't split any of the treasure with you!"

"Tell Xiao Nanfeng about it. We won't concern ourselves with the distribution of spoils," Croak replied, shaking his head.

Ao Zhou thundered in outrage.

Not far away, the man in the draconic robes stilled, not expecting the group to start fighting among themselves.

"All of you, charge and attack!" Ao Zhou commanded his subordinates.

The dragons roared, transforming into giant dragons as they charged at the man in black brocade. The dragons were fierce and exuded strong killing intent.

The man's eyes brightened. "Dragons? How timely. You'll all be useful to me." [1]

The man reached out for them. A giant paw of black fog condensed and caught the dragons swarming toward him.

"Save us, King! We can't move!" the dragons shouted.

The man still wasn't satisfied. He launched another hand at Ao Zhou, Croak, and Warble.

"Run!" Croak croaked.

Almost immediately, the three spirits were caught by the hand. None had managed to escape.

"What? How could this be?!" Ao Zhou howled.

"Ao Zhou, didn't you say there wasn't going to be anyone strong? For him to have caught us so easily, he has to be at least a Heaven Immortal. What did you expect us to do?!" Croak croaked.

"Ao Zhou, if you don't know what you're doing, don't pretend you do. Look at what you've done!" Warble warbled.

"How was I to know?!"

"I was wondering where I would find new dragons, only to have all of you appear. You should be honored to serve me." The man in black brocade smiled.

Before them, as the ground rumbled, a hall rose into existence from underground in hissing clouds of black smoke.

"What dense cursed spiritual power!" Croak exclaimed.

"That hall's called... the Yanluo Court?" Warble murmured.

With a creak, the door to the Yanluo Court opened. The interior was an abyssal black. The spirits felt a preternatural fear.

"Senior, I only passed by unintentionally. Please spare us!" Ao Zhou cried out.

The man in black brocade ignored Ao Zhou's pleas as he tossed them all inside.

The door to the Yanluo Court swung shut.

1. He refers to himself as an emperor. ☜

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