The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

On Shenyue Island at the Xianyu Prefecture.

Lord Shen Ying stood in the air, looking coldly at the unpleasant Duke of Xianyu beneath him. His expression was even less pleasant than the Duke's.

"If I find out that you are harboring Su Yu, I'll exterminate nine generations of your family!" screamed an indignant Lord Shen Ying. "Let's go!"

Below him, the Duke of Xianyu broke into a cold sweat, his face full of worry. He waited until Lord Shen Ying was long gone before muttering, "What happened to Yu'er? Why is he wanted by an organization called the Empire of Darkness?"

The Duke of Xianyu sat deep in thought.

A slender lady walked out beside him. She was dressed in a blue, billowy dress and a yellow belt strapped around her waist, accentuating her shapely figure. She was exceptionally beautiful, gentle, and elegant. The ripples in her cold eyes showed grace and gentleness.

"You need not worry too much, Duke," the lady said softly, her voice divine and melodious. "We both understand Su Yu's character. He is not an evil person. He might not be wanted by the Empire of Darkness for committing a heinous sin. There may be some other reason."

The Duke of Xianyu was respectful. "Miss An, I understand full well Yu'er's character. I am merely worried about his safety."

The gentle lady smiled. "You need not worry, Duke. If they are still searching for him, it naturally means he is safe." But despite her words, she could not suppress the unease in her eyes.

The Duke of Xianyu let out a sigh of guilt. "I am useless, unable to give the children the protection they deserve—letting him take the Zhenlong Continent alone without anybody to depend on."

"Duke," said the lady, "I think I shall have to bid you farewell. There are still many things to settle on the Zhenlong Continent. Plus, I can also search for Su Yu."

The Duke was elated. "Are you leaving now?" he asked.

Gently nodding, the lady said, "My injuries have all been cured. I cannot impose on you any longer. It is about time I left."

The Duke thought for a moment. He did not stop her as she took her leave.

******

On the vast ocean, the two inspectors behind Lord Shen Ying wore strange expressions.

"Lord," said one of them, "we have searched from the continent to the alliance to the Liuxian faction. Now we have even come to search for Su Yu's father in law and yet still have no clue where he was. Why not just capture his relations and made an announcement. Would Su Yu not come to us?"

Lord Shen Ying raised his brows. "Humph! Do you think that would be smart? Use your head! The Heavenly Offering Ceremony is nearing. We do know whether the king is really dead or not! If he is dead, Lord Bai Luo can give the order, and we can do whatever we want. But if the king is still alive, how do you think he would react if I committed an act that humiliated the empire?"

The two inspectors were speechless, embarrassed.

Finally, one spoke up. "Then what should we do next?"

Lord Shen Ying rubbed the stump of his severed left arm, a sad aura gathering between his brows. "We obviously cannot let this go! But the Heavenly Offering Ceremony is before us. We do not have much time and must return quickly! After this, we search the entire continent for Su Yu!"

The two respectfully agreed and flew back along with Lord Shen Ying.

On the other side of the vast ocean was Mo Wu. She had experienced much hardship before finding out where her teacher was. Now, she flew toward Shenyue Island joyfully.

******

In the Dragon Abyss at the central region of the Banished Abyss.

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu had been brought before an ancient ruin that spanned 10,000 miles. Many of the artifacts here were still preserved rather well, but the Yin energy surrounding them was extremely strong. Su Yu felt the chill pierce his bones. It was quite uncomfortable to feel the spirit energy in his body being rapidly devoured by the Yin energy.

As they approached the center of the vast ruined palace, two white humanoid figures flew up into the sky. They were a White-Faced Asura and a Black-Faced Asura.

"Our deepest respects to the Heavenly Demon!" they declared.

The two of them scanned past Su Yu and Xia Jingyu, their expressions strange in their own way.

"These two people are under the Heavenly Ghost Mind Planting Technique," said Sheng Ge. "Bring them to the Dragon Sealing Well. After that, bring them to see me immediately."

Sheng Ge threw Su Yu and Xia Jingyu to the two Asuras before leaving.

The two Asuras did not dare defy her. They waved at them to follow, commanding, "Follow us!"

Su Yu's heart jumped as he silently flew with the two Asuras to the deepest part of the ruins. It was a massive courtyard. Su Yu's eyes went wide. Below, tens of thousands of Rakshasa surrounding an ancient well 10,000 zhang wide! The mouth of the well was sealed by nine ten-zhang thick black chains. Banks of churning, oppressive black fog welled up from within the ancient well.

What shocked Su Yu even more was that there were 999 members of the human race being imprisoned in the courtyard. They were all tied to a giant cross displayed at the side of the ancient well.

Suddenly, a soft bark came from within Su Yu's sleeves. It was Long Feiyu's spiritual pet!

Secretly scanning the surroundings, Su Yu suddenly sensed Long Feiyu's presence. But Su Yu feigned ignorance. He silently followed the two Asuras as they descended to land beside the ancient well.

The Black-Faced Asura looked at Xia Jingyu, showing a strange expression as it said, "Come."

The White-Faced Asura let out a cold laugh, then jumped into the ancient well. Sometime later, it emerged with two black crystals. It crushed the two crystals, and a black liquid sprayed out from the liquid, splashing onto the two of them.

Right away ,the Yin energy in Su Yu's body was forced out through his pores, and the black liquid formed a transparent, black veil, enveloping both of them. The rich Yin energy of the world outside the veil was dispelled.

The White-Faced Asura laughed and grumbled, "Lord Heavenly Ghost seems to have taken a particular fancy to these two of the human race—not only acting personally to retrieve them, but using the rare Heavenly Ghost Crystals of the ancient well to prevent the Yin energy from entering their bodies."

The Black-Faced Asura was unfazed. He dragged the two of them back without revealing an expression.

At this moment, the White-Faced Asura's gaze flickered. "Hei Luo, do you not have any qualms about Lord Heavenly Ghost? She placed a restraint in our bodies and can kill us at any time! More importantly, Lord Heavenly Ghost is about to be released from her shackles and leave the Dragon Abyss, but she has not hinted at any intention of releasing our restraints! Without Lord Heavenly Ghost to personally maintain this restraint every two months, we would be utterly destroyed. If she leaves without us, we will surely die!"

The Black-Faced Asura's expression soured. He scolded in a deep voice, "Bai Luo! We owe what we have today to Lord Heavenly Ghost! Otherwise, we would certainly have died at the hands of the human race in the city while we were still Rakshasas! All these years, Lord Heavenly Ghost has only ever ordered us to organize the blood sacrifice every hundred years to appease the sealed demon dragon. She has never once mistreated us! I shall do you the courtesy of taking into consideration that we have known each for many years; I'll pretend I did not hear what you just said. But if there is a next time, I shall claim your head!"

The White-Faced Asura went rigid. "Humph! I was merely reflecting. How could I ever betray Lord Heavenly Ghost?"

After saying this, it flew away to leave.

Once out of earshot, the White-Faced Asura's expression turned sinister. "Humph! Black Face! I have tolerated you long enough!"