Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Palace of the Dragon

Let us set aside, for the moment, the matters discussed between Xie Miu'an and Xi Chunxue deep within the cave of this towering mountain beneath the sea, and instead turn our attention to Duan Lingqi, who has just emerged from the coral crevice.

The instant he stepped out from the coral cave, countless streams of seawater flowed across the scales of his body, filling him with such a rush of pleasure that Duan Lingqi nearly lost control. Fortunately, the words of Su Yuanbai, who had earlier cautioned him, lingered in his ears, restraining his instincts. He compressed his dragon-serpent form, gliding through the boundless depths of the ocean.

First he glanced back at the mountain’s location, then swam along the cliff to its highest point, gazing out across a hundred miles to the dazzling, iridescent palace of glass and crystal—its cold radiance illuminated the sea. From this vantage, he could see the palace in its entirety.

The palace was truly magnificent and astonishing; its halls and towers stretched from south to north for more than a hundred miles, grand and imposing, with lofty pavilions rising in layers, and winding, intricate roads. On either side, enormous glowing jellyfish drifted, like lanterns held by maidens in mortal palaces. The eaves of every chamber were tiled with colored glass, and the golden, rounded pillars supporting the palace were carved with coiling, lifelike red dragons—spectacular beyond compare.

Duan Lingqi tore his gaze away from the splendor and focused on the palace’s main gate. Coral reefs and crystalline outcrops flanked the entrance, where two squads of perch spirits patrolled among the coral, leading shrimp and crab monsters. At the grand vermilion gate stood two armored guards: one black-eyed bream spirit, one white-eyed mackerel spirit.

Above the gate hung a plaque of black golden-thread nanmu wood, inscribed in exuberant calligraphy: “Dragon Palace of the Vast Sea.”

Within the palace, every corridor, passage, and avenue visible to Duan Lingqi was patrolled by squads of sea spirits, their vigilance so strict that not a gap could be found. What truly unsettled Duan Lingqi, however, was the terrifying shadow that drifted above the palace, ten fathoms overhead, passing by once every hour. The innate tremor from its bloodline oppression convinced him that, although he could not make out the creature’s full length, it was certainly a dragon—a true four-clawed dragon, not merely a dragon-serpent like himself.

It was time.

Duan Lingqi swam about for a while longer, ensuring there was nothing amiss, then prepared to return to the cave below. Suddenly, he sensed a subtle change in the currents nearby. As a wicked dragon-serpent, his affinity with water was exceptional, his sensitivity acute.

Yet Duan Lingqi made no sound. He altered his course quietly, slipping into the mangroves at the mountain’s foot. To his surprise, whoever was following him did not pursue into the red forest.

Were they not after him?

As he wondered, he saw the colored fish and shrimp darting swiftly through the mangroves, the currents growing turbulent, the faintly glowing jellyfish sinking slowly. The darkness of the mangrove canopy gradually brightened.

“Humans are unreliable—who knows why the little princess took a fancy to that pale scholar? She pampered him daily, sent people to fetch peaches from Yunpan Garden in Mountain Green Prefecture to extend his life and ward off sickness. Yet that white-eyed wolf colluded with outsiders to steal the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, then abandoned the princess, leaving her to suffer fire punishment in the palace. She even fed him her own dragon pearl to nurture his dragon aura, granting him a fire dragon’s body, immune to fire and lightning.”

A silver-scaled shad spirit, wielding a silver hammer, sighed as it spoke.

Behind the shad spirit, about seven blue shrimp soldiers drifted, their long whiskers floating, each bearing a spear and poking through the gaps in the red algae thickets.

“The Fourth Prince, too—if the South Sea Dragon Palace’s princess was not to his liking, there were still princesses from the other three sea palaces to consider. No need to seek wild dragons from rivers and lakes. Those wild dragons lack background, their bloodlines mostly impure. If not for that three-clawed dragon raising havoc in the Dragon Palace, the Fourth Prince wouldn’t have relaxed his guard over the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl. No matter how capable the pale scholar was, he couldn’t possibly let those cultivators in, nor steal the pearl.”

A gold-scaled carp spirit, holding a golden spear, shook its head in resignation.

Behind the carp spirit, likewise, about seven green-shelled crab soldiers followed. These crabs carried no weapons—their own pincers served as sharp arms. No branch or thorn could withstand a crab’s snip.

“We’d best hurry and track down the pale scholar who escaped. According to the old turtle, he fled this way.”

The silver-scaled shad spirit swung its hammer, smashing a nearby mangrove trunk, leaving a deep dent.

“That pale scholar can certainly run,” remarked the gold-scaled carp spirit.

“It’s only because of the princess’s instructions. Those who first pursued him turned a blind eye, refrained from killing, only sought to bring him back unharmed. Who could have guessed he’d not only show no gratitude, but use his fire dragon body to injure several officers?”

The shad spirit spat bitterly.

“This time, it’s different. The Second Prince has ordered us to kill the pale scholar when found—dismember him and grind his bones. As for the princess, the Second Prince will handle her.”

The carp spirit’s bulging dead-fish eyes fixed on the coral protruding from the cliff, his golden spear tilted as he spoke coldly.

“Shouldn’t we first ask about the whereabouts of the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl…?” the shad spirit asked hesitantly.

“The Second Prince says the pearl cannot possibly be in the pale scholar’s possession. The pearl weighs as much as the four seas and radiates five-colored light—one cannot look directly at it, and even if one could, it cannot be lifted. It must be in the hands of those powerful cultivators who slay dragons and turtles.”

The gold-scaled carp spirit shook its head.

“But what if the pearl is with him?” The shad spirit gazed at the carp spirit.

“Then kill him all the same.”

The carp spirit lightly waved its golden spear, twirling the tip, and swam toward the coral mouth of Su Yuanbai’s cave. The green-shelled crab soldiers followed sideways.

Seeing the carp spirit so murderous, the shad spirit hesitated, but quickly summoned a blue shrimp soldier with a long spear and whiskers, whispered instructions, then joined the carp spirit in pursuit. Yet, behind it, one shrimp soldier was missing.

Within the canopy of the mangroves, Duan Lingqi, entwined among the branches, his aura blending into the dead wood, watched the coldly glowing jellyfish ascend before daring to move. He glanced at the retreating blue shrimp soldier, then at the carp and shad spirits swimming purposefully toward the coral cave entrance.

A plan formed in Duan Lingqi’s mind—he had some skill in the art of transformation.

In a flash, Duan Lingqi shot toward the retreating shrimp soldier. Moments later, blue blood drifted through the frigid water, then slowly dissipated. All that remained were two nearly invisible shrimp whiskers, rising and falling with the ocean current.