Boom!
Suddenly, a whirlpool surged within the lake.
Outside, wind and rain raged, with countless lightning bolts crackling and roaring.
When a horned dragon becomes enraged, water will flood a hundred miles!
The dragon’s eyes, golden in hue, reflected its fury.
“Have you thought this through thoroughly…?” Facing this, Wu Ming remained fearless: “We have no enmity or grudge between us, yet you wish to seize my Dragon Pearl? Who is in the right here? Moreover… would you rather fall into your enemy’s trap than accept my help?”
“Roar! Roar!”
The white jade dragon roared furiously, only calming down after a while: “…There is another method, but it also requires the use of your dragon energy!”
It then explained the plan. Finally, understanding Wu Ming’s character of never acting without profit, it added directly: “Today I borrow your dragon energy to escape this predicament, and I shall surely repay you in the future!”
Wu Ming listened carefully, his eyebrows lifting slightly: “This method might indeed work! As for the repayment…”
A faint, eerie smile appeared on his face: “Actually… all I need is for Your Majesty the Dragon King to restrain yourself for a few days. When the time comes to break free, just do thus and thus…”
“Very well!”
After hearing the plan, the dragon grumbled in agreement, closed its eyes, and refused to speak further with Wu Ming.
But Wu Ming wouldn’t let it off so easily: “Since the plan is settled, we must swear an oath to Heaven and the Dao!”
The dragon’s temperament was fickle, and without a guarantee, Wu Ming would have been a fool to cooperate with it.
…
“Ah… Ahchoo…”
Who knew how much time had passed when the tent flap was lifted, and Wu Ming, gazing at the starry sky above, wore a smile: “What a dream! Who wakes first from a great dream? In my life, I know myself… truly a wonderful dream!”
The sky was still filled with stars, and the lake was calm and undisturbed. The previous underwater palace and the dragon seemed like illusions.
But Wu Ming clearly knew that what he had seen and heard was real.
“This ‘Spirit Guide’ technique essentially draws the dragon’s consciousness into my dream…”
Looking at the lake water, Wu Ming sighed slightly: “If I truly wanted to send my Yin spirit into the lake to communicate with the dragon, only a True Person could achieve that…”
Without further words, he dove straight into the water.
The lake water was emerald green and bone-chillingly cold, but to Wu Ming, such chill was nothing at all.
Slowly sinking deeper, he swam toward the stone tablet’s location he had seen earlier and immediately sensed a powerful magical barrier.
In the dimness, a massive stone tablet loomed faintly, its surface glowing with golden light.
Seaweed waved like outstretched arms, and the surrounding darkness seemed like the gaping maw of a giant beast, ready to devour anyone.
“No wonder no guards are needed. First, the depth of the water alone prevents ordinary people from coming down. Moreover, this magical barrier repels both cultivators and spirits, making it absolutely secure…”
Feeling the oppressive force, Wu Ming’s eyes flickered.
At this point, he had already completed internal refinement and was an innately cultivated martial artist. Even so, he still found it difficult to take a single step forward, let alone others.
“Fortunately, after being sealed for a hundred years, the white dragon found a slight flaw in the barrier. Following the path of life, I can enter directly…”
Wu Ming moved his hands through the water, swimming to another side while continuously calculating his position.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
At that moment, two eerie green flames suddenly appeared behind him, and a huge dark shadow rushed forth.
Gurgle!
Bubbles escaped from Wu Ming’s mouth as he glimmered with sharpness in his eyes, dodging the sharp teeth and striking the monster with his palm. His hand felt slippery and tough, covered with scales.
Quickly kicking his legs, he propelled himself several zhang away, finally getting a clear view of the attacker. It was a monstrous fish about a zhang long, dark green in color, covered in scales, with spines protecting some vital areas. Especially its mouth brimmed with sharp, white teeth gleaming with cold light, reminding Wu Ming immediately of a shark.
“Tsk tsk… this physique could already be considered a demon beast!”
A thought flashed through Wu Ming’s mind, yet he remained fearless, advancing again.
The monster fish swung its tail and shot forward like an arrow, suddenly opening its mouth wide.
Crash!
Even underwater, Wu Ming seemed to hear the loud snap of its teeth clenching shut, leaving no doubt that even a wild bull might lose its thigh in a single bite.
“This white dragon is really regressing. Instead of commanding the aquatic creatures, it’s allowing others to domesticate them into jailers…”
Shaking his head, Wu Ming beckoned at the monster.
Though it didn’t understand the gesture, the beast charged forward anyway. Wu Ming’s palm flipped, sparks flashing, and struck the scales, leaving a patch of charred blackness.
Taking advantage of the monster’s shudder, he quickly flipped over, his hand glowing as a dagger materialized, plunging into the soft white belly.
Simultaneously, the golden blade curse from the Black Gold Ring activated, delivering an internal cutting explosion to the beast.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
Blood spread in thin streams through the water as the monster flipped over, lifeless in its eyes, its massive body still twitching as it slowly floated upward.
Crunch! Crunch!
Suddenly, another five or six pairs of ghostly green eyes emerged around, drawn by the blood. They ignored Wu Ming and instead rushed at their companion, tearing it apart and devouring the flesh greedily.
“Tsk tsk… indeed a malevolent creature…”
Just as Wu Ming felt alarmed, his expression suddenly shifted slightly as he received a mental message from the white dragon below, and he stood still.
Boom!
Then, an even larger dark shadow lunged forth—a giant black-headed turtle, its shell over a zhang wide, paddling with four short limbs, covered in moss and seaweed. It approached Wu Ming, seemingly bowing in invitation for him to mount.
Without hesitation, Wu Ming climbed onto the turtle’s back.
Strangely, though the other creatures were fierce and vicious, upon seeing the turtle, they dared not approach, parting ways respectfully.
The giant turtle carried Wu Ming to the stone tablet but refused to go further.
Wu Ming stepped forward, reaching out slightly. Before even touching the tablet, a thin layer of golden light appeared.
“This is… not only the Daoist seal of fortune but also dragon energy!”
Arriving here, seeing the glowing golden inscriptions, Wu Ming now understood the terrifying power of the seal even more clearly.
“If I were to forcefully attack it, even with the earth-dragon energy from the Su Hou Pearl, I might have to expend a significant portion just to completely break the seal…”
Opening his spiritual eye, Wu Ming sighed.
To break this seal, even a True Person would have to proceed cautiously. For Wu Ming at this moment, the only way was to gradually erode it using dragon energy.
“But… this seal was already loosening originally, and with the Wang family’s arrangements, I only need to follow along, push it forward, and at the critical moment, ensure its failure…”
Wu Ming sneered coldly, then summoned the Su Hou Pearl in his hand.
Immediately, threads of violet-blue dragon energy transformed into a dragon-shaped shadow, clinging onto the stone tablet, causing the golden inscriptions to flicker.
A dragon roar echoed from below.
Within the white light, the white dragon emerged, greedily absorbing the dragon energy. Moments later, it let out a long, discontented roar.
“With this as a lure, it should be enough to grant you some freedom…”
Ignoring it, Wu Ming observed that the serpent-like shadow within the Su Hou Pearl had shortened slightly, then immediately retracted his energy.
With both hands emitting white light, he gently stroked the tablet, and the golden glow quickly stabilized, as if nothing had happened before.
“I’ve already given you something. What you do next is up to you…”
At this time, Wu Ming, using his Celestial Eye, could see faint streams of aquatic spiritual energy being subtly drawn in by the white dragon. Smiling slightly, he mounted the turtle and departed.
Forcibly breaking the seal now would not only consume massive energy but also risk alerting the enemy.
Naturally, Wu Ming wouldn’t be so foolish. His actions merely created a small breach in the ancient seal.
Because this seal had been formed by the late Governor Wang Zhong through imperial authority, even such a minor act required the consumption of dragon energy.
Yet, once this hidden crack was created, there were many advantages.
First, the white dragon could now draw in some spiritual energy from the Nu Long River within a radius of 300 li. Then, it would gain a certain degree of autonomy.
Don’t underestimate this slight autonomy; as the saying goes, a small deviation leads to a great divergence.
The Wang family believed that after a hundred years of imprisonment, the white dragon was nearly exhausted and could be easily manipulated.
In reality, however, the white dragon still retained its former might and even possessed the strength to counterattack. How amusing would the Wang family’s expressions be then?
Not to mention, having been sealed for a century, the white dragon was intimately familiar with the seal and had developed a certain influence over the fortune and especially the dragon energy bound within it. The Wang family’s attempts to reclaim this fortune would inevitably face many obstacles.
“But most importantly… the credit for helping the dragon escape would largely go to me! This means that the Wang family’s elaborate schemes have fundamental flaws and have been undermined at their very foundation…”
The bright moon hung in the sky, and the lake shimmered with its reflection.
Wu Ming’s figure slowly emerged from the lake, steam rising from his drenched body.
After cultivating for a short while, his clothes dried naturally, and he returned to his tent, lying down as if nothing had happened.
…
The sun rose in the east.
Wu Ming, never neglecting his daily cultivation, completed his morning practice and then took Wu Tiehu with him, descending the original path.
“Master, look…”
When they passed a flat area, Wu Tiehu pointed toward a crowd of people setting up platforms and clearing roads, showing some surprise.
“They must be the ones preparing for the Dragon Gate Gathering. Pay them no mind!”
Without even glancing, Wu Ming directly descended into the canyon.
The master and servant duo looked just like idle gentry out for a leisurely outing, drawing little attention.
More importantly, shortly after Wu Ming left, an old Taoist priest, draped in flowing robes and exuding an air of immortality, arrived at the entrance of the Dragon Gate Gorge with several young disciples, carefully inspecting the surroundings.
Deep beneath the lake, beneath the stone tablet, the white dragon under seal slightly moved its claw, then disdainfully closed its eyes again.
The gathering spiritual energy in the water veins immediately calmed down.
“Master, what do you think?”
After observing for half the day, one of the young disciples asked.
“Hmm! Although slightly damaged, the Daoist seal is mostly intact, especially… the fortune-stabilizing stone tablet remains undisturbed. There’s no major issue…”
The old Taoist stroked his beard, a flicker of strange light in his eyes, then sighed in relief.
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