The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 666 Advancement to Half-Step Celestial Being (Part 1)

"Death to the witch!"

As Zhao Du'an left a blur, he charged forward wielding his Zhen Dao (a type of ancient Chinese sword).

Li Wushang's emerald pupils flashed, and he pulled out two gold hairpins from the top of his head with his hands, one on the left and one on the right, and held them in his palms.

The heavy gold hairpin fell into my hand and, in the blink of an eye, stretched and extended into two golden blades.

"clang!"

At that moment, Zhao Du'an's slashing blade was blocked by the snow-white lotus arm of the enchantress in front of him, which held two hairpins crossed.

"What a strength!"

Li Wushang let out a low cry. As a sorcerer, he was ultimately at the level of hand-to-hand combat and was several steps behind the martial artist. He felt as if his arms had been electrocuted, tingling and numb, and his legs were weak. His two huge golden hairpins almost slipped from his hands.

"what happened?"

Zhao Du'an was also secretly surprised. Logically speaking, the force of his strike should not have been something this demoness could withstand.

But strangely, at the moment he brought his blade down, a strong feeling of "pity for the beautiful woman" welled up inside him, as if his ruthless act of destroying the flower was against his true inner will.

Therefore, he absorbed about 70-80% of the force of the blow himself.

"This witch's magic can affect my mind! I can't look into her eyes!"

Zhao Du'an reacted quickly. He closed his eyes, relied on his gaze to guide him, raised his sword with both arms, stepped out with his right foot, and delivered a perfect "Kunshan lean" to his shoulder, aiming for the enchantress's beautifully shaped jawline!
Li Wushang reacted even faster. Realizing he couldn't win in close combat, he immediately used the momentum to gracefully retreat, his long legs under the veil leaving footprints on the sand.

"What a ruthless man!"

Li Wushang narrowly avoided a blow that could have shattered her entire jawbone, and suddenly threw the two gold hairpins from his hand at Zhao Du'an.

After the hairpin broke free of control, it seemed to have a life of its own, pulling the golden light from the left and right, and strangling towards Zhao Du'an.

However, Zhao Du'an could even block flying swords, and easily knocked the two hairpins off, dispersing the magic covering their surfaces, causing them to fall like scrap metal.

Immediately, Zhao Du'an coldly raised his eyes, and deep within his eye sockets, an illusory lotus flower bloomed. In the center of the lotus, a transparent "Dragon Girl" slowly opened her eyes.

At this moment, the Dragon Girl's gaze met Li Wushangdao's "seductive eyes".

Li Wushang and the Dragon Girl were both momentarily stunned, and neither of them was able to shake the other—

In this battle between gods, the two sides fought to a draw.

But Zhao Du'an seized the opportunity to rush forward and deliver a knee strike, flipping the mysterious female sorcerer onto her back amidst Li Wushang's painful groans, and pinning her to the ground.

Immediately, the cold blade pressed against her delicate neck.

Zhao Du'an said coldly:

"Tell your men to stop, or I'll kill you."

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Wushang's forehead. He remained silent, but the sea god sorcerers who were fighting with Tuoba Weizhi were already panicked and made a move to rush over and snatch back their "Great King".

Seeing this, Tuoba Weizhi clenched his fists, ready to strike...

At this critical moment, on the nearest sunken ship behind them, Jin Jian, with her petite frame carrying a huge, bulging cloth bag, stood up.

The young priestess, witnessing this scene, gaped in astonishment, dropping the cloth bag from her hands, and cried out in surprise:
"Third Senior Sister?!"

Upon hearing the voice, Li Wushang was also startled, and the surging dark green light in his eyes quickly dissipated.
"Jin...Jin Jian?"

……

……

After a while.

In a clearing of a huge coral forest.

The two sides, who had stopped fighting, stared at each other, or more accurately, watched the "demoness" and Jin Jian embrace and reminisce.

"So, this woman is your senior sister? Zhang Tianshi's third disciple?"

Zhao Du'an looked at Jin Jian speechlessly, as if to confirm.

Jin Jian turned around, nodded seriously, and took the demoness's hand:

"Yes, it is."

The woman, adorned with a gold hairpin and exuding a seductive aura, also looked over, her eyes gleaming with admiration. She smiled and said proactively:

"Li Wushang said, 'I have long admired Lord Zhao's name. Meeting him today, I can see that he is indeed a man of great talent.'"

Li Wushang said... What kind of name is this? It's comparable to Gongshu Tianyuan's... Zhao Du'an thought to himself, feeling quite helpless. Although he knew that this official was in the East Sea, he did not expect to meet him here.

He nodded, feigning indifference.

"I have often heard the Celestial Master mention you."

Li Wushang was taken aback for a moment, then covered her mouth and giggled uncontrollably:

"Haha, that old geezer will never bring me up. When I was in the Celestial Master's Mansion, he scolded me a lot for being immoral and was always eager to send me out to train. Hehe, but I'm a 'Goddess of Beauty' cultivator, and wherever I go, I'm admired. What can I do?"

Han Zhao is a gambler, and this Li Wushang Dao is just like a female hooligan... No wonder these two priests were chased far away and rarely showed their faces. They are a disgrace to the Celestial Master's Mansion... Zhao Du'an clicked his tongue in amazement.

Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, the twenty-odd sea god sorcerers are both wary and curious as they look at Zhao Du'an.

Clearly, the name "Lord Zhao" was also very well-known.

"Senior sister, I heard that a 'demon' has appeared in Thousand Islands, is it you?"

Jin Jian was quite happy to see an acquaintance and asked him questions out of curiosity.

Li Wushang smiled, put his arm around the girl's slender shoulders, and said softly:

"Demon? That's just slander from those sorcerers on the Thousand Islands. I just came to the East China Sea to sightsee, visit the various islands, and chat with people. As a result, some local sisters took the initiative to follow me."

Unexpectedly, I was slandered by the Island Lord of Tianyuan Island and Elder Qingmu, who even threatened to hunt me down. Left with no other choice, I had to go into hiding.

As she spoke, she snorted again, indignantly saying:

"Sisters, you are born as human beings, and you should follow your own heart when you choose to stay or leave. How did you become the property of the Lord of Tianyuan Island and others? You can't even decide who to follow?"

Upon hearing this, the twenty-odd sorcerers nodded like chickens pecking at rice, united in their indignation, and loudly condemned the "Tenth Elder's" domineering and ruthless behavior.

Zhao Du'an was speechless, thinking to himself, "Are you sure they followed us willingly?"

Instead of you using charm magic to seduce me?

He sighed softly, too lazy to care about such things, and then said seriously:

"Then why are you here?"

Li Wushang did not answer immediately, his eyes darted around, and he chuckled foolishly:
"It seems like the magistrate is interrogating a criminal. He hasn't even said how he came to the East Sea, and why he brought a golden tablet with him?"

Jin Jian, a man of few words, said:

"Master has also come; we've come together to carry out this mission."

Li Wushang's expression suddenly stiffened, his big eyes widened, and his tone rose several decibels:
"Master is here too?!"

She suddenly felt a little guilty, like a wicked scoundrel who had been causing trouble outside, only to find out that the master of the house was coming.

Zhao Du'an sighed and pointed to the sky above:
"If nothing unexpected happens, the Celestial Master is currently on the sea, fighting with Wu Xiankui. The Sea God's attention should also be there. We have another purpose in infiltrating the Silent Sea."

Wu Xiankui has also arrived?

The battle between celestial beings and humans... At this moment, Li Wushang's expression finally turned serious.

She toned down her teasing and flirtatious manner, and frowned:

"It seems something big has indeed happened. Actually, I don't know much more than you, sir, nor did I arrive much earlier."

Two days ago, I learned that the elders of the Thousand Islands were planning to hunt me down, so I went into hiding. Because the sea was blocked, I decided to hide in the Silent Sea and find a safe haven in the dark…”

Hehe, just hiding?

They're probably after the treasures in the Silent Sea too... Zhao Du'an didn't expose her. Li Wushang continued:
"But today, after entering the Silent Sea, I unexpectedly came to this mysterious space. I have been to the Silent Sea many times before, but it was never like this."

We were quite surprised, which is why we started exploring in this direction. We noticed the commotion on your side, so we came to investigate. What followed was a misunderstanding between us.

She pointed in a direction.

Their route was somewhat different from where Zhao Du'an and the others landed on the island.

Zhao Du'an nodded, accepting this explanation, and said:
"Since it was a misunderstanding, let's let it go. Fortunately, no one was injured. Now that time is of the essence, I'm going to the dragon's remains to find out what happened."

Li Wushang nodded: "I also intend to go."

Hmm... She was curious about the island and also wanted to know what Zhao Du'an and his group's purpose was.

Once the conversation started, the group decided to head towards the skeleton together.

Zhao Du'an then looked at Jin Jian and said irritably:
Where did you run off to?

If Jin Jian hadn't left, the fight wouldn't have started, and it almost turned into a disaster.

Jin Jian knew she was in the wrong, so she avoided his piercing gaze and silently dragged the bulging cloth bag with both hands as she walked away.

Tuoba Weizhi walked over, his tone calm:

“Master, I see that the bag is full of pearls, gold and silver treasures that I have collected.”

“…Just as I suspected.” Zhao Du’an wanted to facepalm. He had guessed that Jin Jian was greedy for money and had gone to search for treasure in shipwrecks.

At this moment, everyone simultaneously sensed that the invisible pressure between heaven and earth had increased once again.

The sea near the island is becoming increasingly turbulent.

This means that the battle on the sea has likely reached a fever pitch.

Zhao Du'an quickened his pace, and soon the group passed through the coral forest and climbed the hillside, where the complete skeleton of the giant dragon that had died a thousand years ago finally appeared before their eyes.

The pale skeleton, dozens of feet long, was nestled at the top of the hillside in a "prone" position.

The tail curves downwards along the hillside, while the dragon's head rests on the hilltop, its eye sockets appearing as huge hollows. The entire surface of the dragon skeleton is devoid of scales and flesh; nearly half of the skeleton is buried in the soil, having become one with the hillside, or...

To describe it more vividly:
"The dragon skeleton looks as if it were planted on this hillside."

Li Wushang looked up at this ancient and mysterious life form and murmured to himself.

"Look!"

Suddenly, Jin Jian raised his finger and pointed to the dragon's head. Inside the skull, a plant emitting a faint glow was growing.

“It’s Dragon God Grass!” a sorcerer exclaimed, revealing its origin.

Is this the holy medicine for healing?
Everyone was taken aback, but no one went to pick the fruit; instead, they all looked at Zhao Du'an.

Clearly, everyone knows that the Dragon God Grass should belong to the most powerful Zhao Shijun.

At this moment, Zhao Du'an didn't even glance at the plant; instead, he stared blankly at the massive skeleton.

Within his dantian, the dragon soul had almost awakened, and he could hear the echoes of illusory waves.

It was as if a will was guiding him.

The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Zhao Du'an strode forward and walked straight toward the skeleton.

At the same time, a phantom "divine dragon" suddenly shot out from his dantian.

"Ah! It's a dragon!"

"He has a dragon on his body!"

The sorcerers gasped as they watched the dragon's soul coil around Zhao Du'an and then dance around the massive skeleton.

Finally, it plunged back into Zhao Du'an's belly and disappeared.

Zhao Du'an stepped into the massive skeletal cavity, then suddenly turned to face the crowd, sat cross-legged, and said:

"I need to go into seclusion for a while. Tuoba and Jin Jian, protect me."

After saying that, he closed his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep.

"This……"

Everyone was taken aback, not understanding what was going on. Only Tuoba Weizhi stepped forward first, turned to face everyone, and stood in the position of a bodyguard with a blank expression.

Jin Jian, with immense willpower, turned his gaze away from the Dragon God Grass, gripped his staff tightly, and stepped forward to protect the Dharma.

Li Wushang said speechlessly:
"Why are you two staring at me? Although I fought with him, it was all a misunderstanding. Besides, Master is right outside. How could I possibly disturb him? Come to think of it, there are only a few of us here. No one else would bother him... right?"

Tuoba Weizhi suddenly raised his head, his gaze passing over the towering trees and landing on the sea:

"somebody is coming."

……

Near the island, on the turbulent sea.

"boom!"

A wave exploded.

The Lord of Tianyuan Island, whose hair and eyebrows were all blue, emerged from the water, stood in mid-air, and stared in astonishment at this mysterious sea.

Immediately afterwards, one figure after another burst out of the water behind him.

All nine elders were both surprised and delighted:

"Where...is this place? Could the legend be true? That when the sea god is angry, a hidden immortal mountain in the silent sea will open a gate to the mortal world?"

There are many legends in the East China Sea, especially those related to the mythical mountains.

"Something's not right!" The Lord of Tianyuan Island was the first to calm down and said:

"I'm afraid the Sea God is acting strangely this year. The arrival of Zhang Yanyi and Wu Xiankui is not for the Divine Dragon Grass."

The woman, with a bamboo basket slung over her elbow, exclaimed in surprise:

"You mean, this is their destination?"

The middle-aged man dressed as a fisherman also said solemnly:

"Zhao Du'an rushed into the Silent Sea, probably just to get into this place. Gentlemen, whatever the purpose of these outsiders, this is our territory, and we absolutely cannot let these outsiders cause trouble."

Otherwise, if a major disaster occurs, they might leave, but we'll be left behind to bear the consequences.

The other elders nodded as well, though their thoughts inevitably differed. Some even looked at the island with intense anticipation and greed in their eyes.

Without hesitation, the nine elders quickly landed on the island and rapidly approached its center.

In this place, they, as sea god cultivators, experienced almost no suppression.

Soon, the nine people rushed out of the coral forest and arrived at the foot of the hill where the dragon's remains were, where they saw a group of women who looked as if they were facing a great enemy.

"Ah, it's that devil!"

An elder pointed at Li Wushang and shouted, "It really is related to her!"

The Lord of Tianyuan Island stared at the handsome young man sitting cross-legged on the hilltop, a strong sense of unease rising within him for no apparent reason.

"Oh no! They might be trying to steal the gods' treasures. Stop them!"

Li Wushang's face twitched as he looked at the nine menacing elders. He turned and glared angrily at Zhao Du'an.
"You slept at just the right time!"

-

First update of the day, 4k words, still 4000 words needed...

(End of this chapter)