Another drumbeat echoed from the distant Vast Sea, its ethereal sound carrying far and wide, signaling the countdown to the official start of the Leap Dragon Gate Ceremony to nearly everyone in the Cang Sea Domain.
People from all directions had gathered in Merfolk Moon City, making the streets somewhat crowded. Some took the opportunity to set up stalls along the roadside and do business.
“Miss, take a look at this hairpin! See how perfect it is for you!” The hawking stall owners were a couple, with several people gathered in front of their stall as the two enthusiastically introduced their wares.
“This isn’t just any ordinary magic tool. Look at that pearl on it—it’s a Golden Conch Pearl from the depths of the Vast Sea! They’re rare on the market. We only found this one by chance in the sea!” The stall owner lavishly praised the richly dressed young female cultivator from head to toe before extolling how well suited his hairpin was for her.
That female cultivator clearly wasn’t short on money. After carefully examining the golden pearl hairpin, she decided to buy it.
At that moment, a fair hand picked up another hairpin from the stall. This one looked relatively plain, made entirely of jade. Though it lacked the opulence of the golden pearl hairpin, it exuded a subtle immortal aura.
“How much for this one?” The woman who picked up the jade hairpin asked almost simultaneously with another cultivator nearby.
“It’s one immortal stone each. Don’t think they’re expensive—we used the finest materials when crafting these hairpins. Especially these ones; they’ve all been inscribed with defensive formations. One immortal stone is really a bargain,” the stall owner explained.
That female cultivator clearly wasn’t short on money either. She decisively placed down an immortal stone and left with the hairpin.
Then someone else squeezed forward. The jade hairpin had just been set down when another person picked it up and asked the price.
This one was also flush with cash. After hearing the price, they placed down an immortal stone and walked away.
“What a shame… I was planning to buy it,” Wen Qiwu sighed in slight disappointment.
“Let’s check other places. There are lots of interesting things here. If you really want a hairpin like that, Senior Sister can make one for you,” Yun Heng comforted her softly from her side.
A pale blue jade pendant hung from her waist. Its value might surpass that of the entire street, but in the Immortal Venerable’s heart, no treasure was more important than the seemingly ordinary feather dangling below it.
“I just thought that hairpin suited you perfectly, Senior But I hesitated for a moment, and someone else took it. Sigh, let’s look at something else,” Wen Qiwu said, a touch dejected. But this minor mood vanished quickly under her senior sister’s comfort.
“Senior Sister, isn’t the City Lord coming? I don’t think I’ve seen her,” Wen Qiwu glanced toward Guanhai Tower. According to past customs, the City Lord should have been standing atop Guanhai Tower to welcome the Demon Kings’ dragon carriages, but the top floor remained dark, as if no one was there.
“The Demon Kings say the dragon carriages should originally be pulled by True Dragons anyway. They’ve only been taking turns because there haven’t been any True Dragons in recent years. Now that a dragon has descended, it naturally falls to her,” Yun Heng explained.
Wen Qiwu suddenly chuckled. “I didn’t expect those Demon Kings to be so good at bootlicking.”
Hearing her junior sister’s laughter, Yun Heng’s lips curved upward slightly. “Once the True Dragon emerges, the powers in the Cang Sea Domain will surely reshuffle. Whoever gets closer to her will naturally reap greater benefits.”
“In the end, profit is the most tempting. It can even make those arrogant Demon Kings bow their heads,” Wen Qiwu remarked with some emotion. As she inadvertently glanced to the other side of the road, her gaze stuck there, unwilling to move.
Yun Heng followed her line of sight and saw a small stall surrounded by a group of children. The stall owner was a white-haired elder making sugar paintings.
The syrup must have come from some spirit materials, so the sugar paintings carried a faint trace of spiritual energy—thin enough that even children without cultivation could eat them without issue.
The elder made all sorts of small animals and set them aside. The children placed money down and picked their favorites. Some kids unhappy with the remaining ones urged the elder to make more.
“Want some sugar painting?” Yun Heng led her junior sister to the stall, paid for two, and let her pick.
Wen Qiwu chose a little rabbit, while Yun Heng selected a chubby chick.
Wen Qiwu felt her senior sister was being a bit intentional. She shot her a playful glare, then bit into the senior sister’s sugar painting.
The chick’s “tail” immediately lost a chunk.
Yun Heng froze for a moment, apparently not expecting her junior sister to suddenly take a bite. Then her junior sister offered her own sugar painting.
She smiled and took a small bite, leaving the rabbit’s ear missing a piece.
Wen Qiwu retrieved her sugar painting and bit right where her senior sister had, her eyes narrowing in delight. It was indeed very sweet.
Yun Heng turned her head slightly, using her hair to hide her reddened ears.
This sugar is too sweet.
Perhaps because the children were so noisy, the elder didn’t look up once when Wen Qiwu and Yun Heng placed money in the box beside him or took their sugar paintings.
Boom! Another drumbeat rang out. Though Wen Qiwu and the others might not have reacted yet, the eyes of those familiar with the Leap Dragon Gate Ceremony—both humans and demons—couldn’t hide their excitement. This was the penultimate drum. When the final one sounded, the Demon Kings would perform the Dragon Gate summoning ritual. If it failed, the dragon carriages would set off from there. If it succeeded… that place would be plunged into bloodshed, and no one would care about the celebration anymore.
The crowd surged toward the seaside nearest the altar. Yun Heng brought her junior sister to a rocky outcrop by the sea, right next to a ferocious sea beast’s lair. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare come here, so it was refreshingly uncrowded.
With the final drumbeat, nine towering pillars of light erupted from the sea altar, resonating with the damaged Dragon Gate remnant left by the True Dragon in the sea.
There was already a True Dragon, but it wasn’t one of the Demon Kings’. How could they not covet it after seeing Bai Jiao transform? Even knowing the Dragon Gate almost never opened twice in short succession, they summoned it under the pretext of tradition.
It didn’t require any effort from Bai Jiao anyway. She watched leisurely from the side as they bustled about. The Demon Kings exerted all their strength to sustain the Dragon Gate, but the result naturally disappointed them. The collapsing light pillars shattered their hopes.
The nine pillars extinguished one by one, and cheers faintly rose from the shore.
For those humans and demons not involved in the Dragon Gate business, obtaining the sea’s blessings was enough.
Not long after the pillars faded, a pale yellow glow lit up at the altar’s center. As it drew closer bit by bit, Wen Qiwu realized it was an extraordinarily luxurious carriage.
Dragon motifs adorned the carriage body everywhere, embedded with spirit treasures like crystals as if money were no object. Pulling it were phantoms of several jiaos.
“The dragon carriage is here! The dragon carriage is here!” someone shouted.
Wherever the dragon carriage passed, fine specks of light descended—those were the sea’s blessings. To grab more, unrest stirred faintly in the crowd.
Fights broke out soon after. This happened almost every Dragon Gate opening. To prevent damage on her turf, Bai Jiao had long arranged guards to maintain order.
Sure enough, before long, the City Lord Mansion’s personal guards arrived, binding the troublemakers. The rest didn’t dare cause more chaos and stood obediently, collecting the “blessings.”
Countless carp lanterns for prayers flew into the sky alongside the dragon carriage. The myriad lanterns flickering like fireflies formed a starry river in the heavens, as if the dragon carriage had carved open a path of stars—beautiful enough to hold anyone’s gaze.
Recalling the custom, Wen Qiwu closed her eyes and silently made a wish.
After passing over the skies of all the cities, the dragon carriage returned to Merfolk Moon City. Per the original procedure, the city’s people would release the dragon lanterns together.
But an accident occurred during the lantern release. For some reason, the lantern’s central frame snapped!
This was an extremely inauspicious omen. The Demon Kings and clan heads’ faces changed. The materials for the lanterns weren’t ordinary bamboo—they were thousand-year Thunder Pattern Bamboo, which cultivators below Earth Immortal Realm might not even chop down, let alone break spontaneously!
Whoever did this had slapped Bai Jiao in the face.
A quick-reacting Demon King immediately produced other spirit materials and hastily repaired the lantern. Fortunately, the issue wasn’t major; it could still fly.
They hurriedly released it, but the lantern wobbled unsteadily in flight, as if it might drop at any moment.
One Demon King followed to ensure no mishaps. When the fluttering lantern reached the sea with the dragon carriage, a pair of blood-red “moons” suddenly reflected from the depths.
Those “moons” had terrifying vertical pupils. What moon reflections? They were clearly eyes!
“Watch out!” Before Wen Qiwu’s voice could spread, the dragon carriage, lanterns, and escorting Demon King vanished into a suddenly appearing pitch-black abyss.
A colossal head emerged from the sea—a dragon’s head, but… a rotten one!
“Roar!” The Corpse Dragon threw its head back and bellowed. Thick, liquid-like curses spewed from its maw, instantly engulfing all of Merfolk Moon City.
Scorch marks from flames scarred the Corpse Dragon’s face—traces left by Qing Tuan on that Demon Jiao before.
The mishap unfolded in a flash. As the black “tide” swallowed the city, the festive clamor froze on people’s faces, smiles still lingering.
Yun Heng brought Wen Qiwu into the high air. The lively Merfolk Moon City turned deathly silent in an instant. From the surging “tide,” humanoid figures emerged one after another. A faint glow flickered in Yun Heng’s eyes. Using a special technique, she discerned their true nature: they were the city’s living inhabitants—humans and demons alike—ensnared by curses.
As Yun Heng prepared to act against the Corpse Dragon, these monsters blocked its path.
