You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Chapter 158 Heavenly Princess Mazu, Deep Sea Dragon Palace!
"Sister Li, why do you call her a vixen?"

Chen Yang was very curious.

Could it be that Sister Li also knows that the beautiful owner of the dessert shop is a vixen?
Sister Li stuffed a dessert into her mouth and mumbled, "Her surname is Hu, and she's younger than me. What else should I call her if not Sister Hu?"

Chen Yang: "..."

Ok!

It's because Sister Li's accent is quite strong.

Hu Meizi and Hu Meizi sound quite similar, so it's normal that I misheard.

Chen Yang took a bite of the dessert, savored it carefully, and couldn't help but praise, "Hmm... this vixen's cooking skills are indeed quite good."

In the eyes of his neighbors, Chen Yang is still the same "Little Chen" as before. However, recently his business seems to have improved a lot, and he has made some new friends. All sorts of people come and go from the store, and most of them drive luxury cars.

After the press conference, the opening ceremony of the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament began.

According to the host, the opening ceremony was held in a stadium in the suburbs of Kyoto Prefecture. The stadium had been specially renovated, with a huge 100m x 100m arena built in the center.

At the opening ceremony, martial arts practitioners performed kung fu.

A master swordsman unleashed a sword aura several meters long with a single strike, while a swordsman sliced ​​through a ten-meter-thick iron plate with a single sword stroke. Martial artists also demonstrated their lightness skills, leaping across distances of over thirty meters with the grace of a dragonfly skimming the water.

"I go!"

"Really? This...this can't be some kind of illusion, can it?"

Sister Li and the others were all shocked and incredulous: "Can martial arts really be trained to such a level? If these martial artists went berserk and killed people, how could ordinary people stop them?"

Chen Yang said, "Everyone, don't worry. The spiritual energy has been recovering for so many years. There are people practicing martial arts and cultivating Taoism, and this kind of thing hasn't happened yet, has it?"

"Xiao Chen is right, we don't need to worry unnecessarily."

Sister Li's husband said, "Didn't they just say at the press conference that the government has established a special affairs bureau specifically to monitor those who practice martial arts and Taoist practices?"

He said regretfully, "What a pity, my body is too old, otherwise I would have learned a few moves... By the way, Xiao Chen, do you want to learn a few moves? I heard that a martial arts school opened in Wucheng. I even saw someone handing out advertisements yesterday. It's called Benlei Martial Arts School, and the owner's name seems to be something like 'Benlei Hand Zhao Tailai'."

"Zhao Tailai, the Thunder Hand?"

The name sounds awful, Chen Yang laughed, "I know my own limitations, let's not waste time... Hmm?"

Suddenly, Chen Yang's eyes lit up, and he looked up sharply at the sky.

In the distance, a figure shot towards the horizon and arrived above Yumin Street in an instant.

It's a river!
He hovered in the sky for one second, glanced around, and then landed.

"Master Chen!"

As soon as Jiang He landed, he laughed and said, "Master Chen, what a refined taste you have, sunbathing here?"

Chen Yang was both amused and exasperated. He said, "Minister Jiang... can't you be a little more discreet? It's broad daylight, and you just flew right down from the sky. What will the neighbors think if they see this?"

"We've already held a press conference, what's there to be afraid of?"

Jiang He, however, was completely unconcerned and pulled Chen Yang into the funeral home: "Master Chen, let's talk in private... To be honest, I came to Wucheng today specifically to ask you for a favor."

The two went inside, leaving Li Jie, Jin Jie, and other neighbors outside looking at each other in bewilderment.

Some pedestrians on the road also witnessed this scene, and they were all shocked on the spot, their expressions as if they had been petrified!
"That person just now...could fly?"

"My God, does that mean that martial arts cultivation, when completed to the end, allows one to fly and disappear into the earth? Wouldn't that make one a god?"

"He came looking for the owner of this funeral home, and he even called the owner 'Master Chen.' Could it be that the owner is also a master of flying and teleportation?"

A passerby was very excited and walked a few steps to the store entrance, craning his neck to look inside, only to find that the store was shrouded in mist and he couldn't see anything.

He took two steps back and looked into the store again, finding everything normal except for the two people who had just gone in.

He leaned over the doorway again, but it was still shrouded in mist.

"What's going on?"

The passerby looked completely bewildered.

Chen Yang's neighbors were even more bewildered than he was.

"Little...Little Chen...Little Chen knows people who can fly?"

not far away.

A dessert shop that just opened today.

After seeing the customers off, the beautiful shop owner turned and glanced at the funeral home, her brows furrowed with helplessness.

She hurriedly closed the shop door, locked herself inside, and tried her best to suppress her breathing.

"Damn it!"

"It's Jiang He!"

"How did this god of death end up in Wucheng, this godforsaken place?"

"And that Chen who deals in dead people, didn't Sister Li say he was just an ordinary person...? How come he knows Jiang He and is even called Master Chen? Could he be some kind of extraordinary expert?"

...............

Inside the funeral home.

With a thought, Chen Yang set up an "illusion" in the shop and said, "Minister Jiang, you can tell me what it is now."

Rivers and streams are not the path to cultivation.

With his martial arts cultivation, he could naturally sense Chen Yang's spiritual fluctuations. Knowing that Chen Yang had shielded himself from external perception and isolated the sounds inside the shop, he went straight to the point: "Master Chen should know that our intelligence department has dispatched many experts to sea to keep an eye on that island overseas that has been polluted by heretics."

"You mentioned this last time."

Chen Yang asked, "Has something happened to that island that was corrupted by the heretical path?"

Jiang He shook his head.

"The pollution from the otherworldly energy sources on that island is spreading, but at an extremely slow rate, and it's been stabilized for the time being... Just three days ago, our people detected a peculiar energy fluctuation in a sea area near that island that was polluted by the otherworldly energy sources."

"Later, after exploration, they discovered a ruin in that sea area. Based on the photos sent back from the site, it is highly likely that the ruin was a blessed land in ancient times, but something happened later and it was sealed at the bottom of the sea, never to see the light of day again!"

A hidden paradise on the seabed?

Chen Yang had long heard that the Great Xia government had unearthed many "secret realms and ruins" in recent years and obtained a great deal of benefits from them, such as ancient martial arts weapons, pill formulas, cultivation techniques, and so on.

The so-called "secret ruins" are actually ancient "paradises and blessed lands," forming their own space. In ancient times, they were often occupied by powerful forces and families, and contained countless riches.

Chen Yang: "Is that ruin unclaimed?"

Jiang He: "Perhaps it existed in the past, but it's probably gone now." "So, what does Minister Jiang mean?"

“The ruins are located deep in the ocean. I have heard that Master Chen is proficient in the ‘Severing Flow’ technique of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, which can open waterways. I would like to invite Master Chen to explore the site together.”

To be honest, Chen Yang was very interested in these cave ruins.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, "When do we depart?"

Jiang He said, "It depends on Master Chen's schedule."

Chen Yang said, "Shall we eat first? We can leave after lunch?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang He laughed and said, "I heard that Master Chen's cat is a superb cook, proficient in all eight major cuisines and various delicacies. It looks like I'm in for a treat today."

It's approaching noon.

Cat Master had already started preparing lunch. Upon learning that Jiang He was going to eat at the shop, it immediately chased Yang Shuai to buy more vegetables and stir-fry a couple more.

At the dinner table, Master Cat treated Jiang He with utmost respect.

After dinner, while Cat was washing the dishes, Yang Shuai sidled up to the kitchen and asked, "Cat, don't you usually look down on everyone except Old Chen? What's gotten into you today?"

"You know nothing!"

Cat Master cursed, "Minister Jiang holds a high position and wields great power, and he is also surrounded by auspicious purple energy. If this person were in ancient times, he would have the appearance of an emperor... But times have changed. Perhaps in the future, his status will be even more extraordinary."

"........."

Yang Shuai, however, didn't quite understand.

He's just a mortal... nothing more than someone skilled in martial arts. If he doesn't die, he might ascend to heaven and become an immortal. If he dies, he'll be a ghost, and I, Master Yang, might have to personally go and claim his soul.

And this moment.

Chen Yang and Jiang He have already left the store.

Outside the shop, the passersby had left, but Chen Yang's neighbors were still there.

As soon as Chen Yang came out, Sister Li was the first to approach him, her face full of doubt, and asked, "Little Chen, who is this?"

Chen Yang smiled and said, "Let me introduce you all... This is Jiang He, the number one martial arts master in our Great Xia. Do you remember the National Special Affairs Administration mentioned at today's press conference?"

"Minister Jiang was the founder and head of the State Administration for Special Affairs."

The neighbors gasped, their eyes filled with respect as they looked at Jiang He.

Chen Yang's neighbors are all ordinary people. In their eyes, the director of the street and community is already a leader. County magistrate and mayor are even more unapproachable high-ranking officials!
The sudden appearance of a high-ranking leader on this street naturally caused shock!
"Minister Jiang... welcome to Wucheng."

"Greetings, Minister Jiang!"

Everyone greeted each other cautiously.

Jiang He smiled and nodded.

The neighbors had many questions they wanted to ask, but Chen Yang said, "I know you are all very curious and have many questions... But don't rush, Minister Jiang and I have some business to attend to at sea, we'll talk about it when we get back."

After saying that, he looked at Jiang He and said, "Minister Jiang, please!"

Jiang He: "Master Chen, please!"

The two took a step, and with each step, a strong wind blew around Chen Yang. He rode the wind and instantly flew into the sky.

Jiang He also leaped into the air, his figure turning a corner on the horizon and speeding off towards the southeast.

The two flew towards the southeast, traversing the Western Xia Prefecture, Qinghai Prefecture, Sichuan and Chongqing Prefecture, Guizhou Prefecture, and Guangxi Prefecture, finally arriving in Guangdong.

Further ahead lies the South China Sea.

As they ventured deeper into the South China Sea, a cluster of islands soon came into view.

After Jiang He's introduction, Chen Yang learned that this group of islands was the "Dongsha Islands", and the most famous one in the Dongsha Islands was naturally "Dongsha Island". This island was developed as early as the Ming Dynasty and is the earliest island in the history of development of the South China Sea Islands.

During the late Qing Dynasty, Dongsha Island was occupied by the local people led by the businessman Nishizawa Yoshiji, who arbitrarily renamed it Nishizawa Island. Later, it was taken over by the military and was recovered on September 12, 1946. The national monument was re-erected, and it came under the jurisdiction of the Kaohsiung City Government!
After more than fifty years of arduous construction and preparation, Dongsha Island has become the most important fortress for the Great Xia in defending its southern border.

After leaving the Dongsha Islands and traveling approximately 180 kilometers south, an island shrouded in mist came into Chen Yang's view.

"Is this the island that was corrupted by heretical practices?"

Chen Yang did not land on the island, but observed it from a distance.

There were several powerful life energies on the island. These life energies felt the same as those of the Turbid Tide Heretic Path, which were disgusting and abhorrent. Clearly, the creatures on the island had been completely corrupted by the Heretic Path!
Chen Yang carefully sensed it.

The murky fog on the island was slowly expanding. Where the fog covered, the "fish and shrimp" in the sea seemed to have been invaded by a strange force. First, their body shape began to change, and then they became extremely aggressive, even attacking and devouring their own kind.

It is conceivable that if left unchecked, the heterodox path could continue to spread and the murky fog could continue to spread over several years or even decades, potentially enveloping the entire Dongsha Islands!

This does not rule out the possibility of other changes or accelerated intrusion from other channels.

Jiang He was well aware of this.

Seeing Chen Yang's solemn expression, he asked, "Master Chen, do you have a way to stop the spread of the turbid mist on the island?"

Chen Yang asked, "I wonder if Minister Jiang has ever heard of the Heavenly Empress?"

Jiang He: "You mean Mazu?"

Chen Yang nodded and said, "Mazu is the goddess of the sea. Even in this era, she has a great many followers. In addition to the coastal areas of our Great Xia, there are Mazu temples in places like Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. She is a Taoist deity worshipped by countless boatmen, sailors, travelers, merchants, and fishermen!"

"If we just ask Mazu to come out of the mountains, not to mention solving the problem of the turbid tide and strange channels in this place, it will be very easy to stop the spread of the turbid tide and strange channels."

Jiang He asked, "Then how can we persuade Mazu to come out of seclusion?"

Chen Yang smiled and said, "Let's not rush that... Let's go and see that underwater ruin you mentioned first."

The two turned around and flew more than 300 kilometers in another direction.

There are no islands here; the sea is calm and offers a panoramic view.

Jiang He hovered above the sea, determined the direction, and pointed to a spot on the sea, saying, "Master Chen, that ruin is located on the seabed here."

The two dived into the water and quickly descended to a depth of over 3000 meters.

The pressure at this depth is equivalent to 309 standard atmospheres. Even conventional submarines would struggle to withstand such high pressure, and even rivers have shown signs of strain.

Chen Yang immediately activated "Severing Flow," one of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Techniques. He stretched out his hand and opened a waterway from the seabed.

The two descended along the waterway, and the pressure indeed decreased.

After diving nearly 1000 meters, he landed on the seabed, where he found ruins and broken walls everywhere. Chen Yang found a broken stone tablet.

The upper half of the stele is missing, but the lower half has the words "Dragon Palace" written on it!
(End of this chapter)