“Huh?” Shang Hongyu’s face became deathly pale. She staggered for a bit, and then fainted on the spot. Fortunately, Zu An reacted quickly and immediately supported her.
Shang Liuyu also hurriedly reached out to help her. When she sensed that her big sister’s ki was still abundant and her aura stable, she immediately sighed inwardly.
Big sis’ acting fooled even me.
Zu An had one sister in each arm right now. However, the Ocean race subjects didn’t think much of it, because they were preoccupied by even more shocking news.
“What? The Dragon King is dead?”
“How could the Dragon King die with such high cultivation?”
….
They all looked at Zu An with suspicion, as if they were interrogating him.
Did you kill our Dragon King?
“This matter unfortunately cannot help but raise suspicion,” an Ocean race elder finally said. “I wonder if there is any proof?”
Shang Liuyu was the first to say, “I am a witness who can attest that what the regent said is true.”
Zu An gave her a smile.
She chose to stand at my side, as expected. “But…” The Ocean race subjects all whispered among themselves. They all looked really conflicted. Normally, with Shang Liuyu’s character and prestige, there was no reason for what she said to be a lie.
But all of them could see how she was cuddling up in Zu An’s arms with a gentle expression. It was hard for them to not think that they had some special kind of relationship.
“May I ask where master and the other elders are?” This time, someone under Ao Yong’s faction spoke up. They looked for their master everywhere, but apart from Zu An and Shang Liuyu, they didn’t see anything at all.
“That’s right, there were many others who followed the Dragon King into the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons. Why didn’t a single one of them come out?” An elder had been looking everywhere, but didn’t see anyone else. There were some good friends of his who had gone went inside for this trip, and yet now, not a single one of them remained.
Shang Liuyu gave Zu An a worried look.
The things that happened inside are too bloody. I don’t know how to tactfully explain it to everyone.
Zu An gave her a look as if telling her not to worry and said, “Those monsters were too cunning and set up a great suppression formation. However, Ao Yong and the many elders fought together with the Dragon King to defeat those monsters. In the end, they all lost their lives.”
Commotion filled the place as soon as those words were spoken. Shang Liuyu was speechless.
That really is tactful enough…
“All of them died? And you alone survived?” The expressions of the Ocean race elders grew more and more serious. Those who had lost family members on this trip were starting to get emotional.
As for Ao Yong’s subordinates, they were stupefied. The core members of the faction knew that it was actually Ao Yong who seemed to have set up a great formation to eliminate the Dragon King. Why was the story now that he jsf fought together with the Dragon King?
Could it be that when they were about to activate it, they discovered that the monsters were trying to destroy the Ocean races, so he decisively gave up on his hostility against the Dragon King and the brothers faced the monsters together?
He really… We're about to drown in tears!
But master and the Dragon King haven't been able to tolerate each other’s existence for so long. Even the chances of him cooperating with the monsters to kill the Dragon King seems to be a bit higher…
When she heard the surrounding clamor and noise, Shang Hongyu ‘conveniently’ woke up again. She quickly asked Zu An, “Which monsters were there? What was the battle like?”
Zu An knew that she was providing cover for him, so he used the chance to say, “There were five monsters in total. The Skin-Flaying King impersonated the court guard Ka Qier. There were also the Shadowhorror Devil, Bloodthirst Crocodile, Firedevil Sea Beast, Lord of Myriad Transformations…”
He explained the skills of the monsters while sharing the relevant events from within the tomb. His explanation was quite clear and rational.
As she listened, Shang Liuyu was full of admiration. She felt that, had she not personally experienced it herself, she might’ve been fooled too.
This guy is just too good at fooling others.
Hmph, I wonder if he frequently fools women too, and that’s why he’s so good at it.
When she heard the entire story, Shang Hongyu was full of surprise. She naturally knew that there was no Dragon King at all. When she compared the story to what she did know, she could more or less piece together what actually happened in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons. She couldn't help but feel grateful that Zu An was here. Otherwise, if it had been anyone else, they definitely wouldn’t have been able to deal with all of this.
Many subjects became quiet when they heard the explanation. What Zu An said made sense, and there weren’t any clear points of suspicion. It seemed things really had play out like that. But now that the Dragon King had perished, things in the Ocean races were probably going to change.
Just then, a trusted aide of Ao Yong’s faction said skeptically, “There are too many suspicious points in this story. How did Zu An alone manage to infiltrate the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons? Why did so many people die, and yet you two are still alive? Doesn’t this mean you can make up any kind of story you want?”
“That’s right. No one knows whether what you said is true or not. Maybe you colluded with the monsters to silence the others!” someone else from Ao Yong’s faction said noisily.
Shang Liuyu’s expression changed. “Are you all saying that I’m lying?”
“Who knows if you are or not? Judging from how you two are hugging each other, you’re clearly close,” said an Ocean race official with a sneer. “That’s right. I heard that you were already friendly with this Zu An while you were on the human side. There were even some scandals in your relationship. We naturally can’t believe your testimony with that level of a relationship!” said someone else.
Even though Shang Liuyu had been the sweetheart in everyone’s dreams, she was single back then. That naturally granted her an additional halo of glamor. Now that she was together with another man, their rose-tinted lenses were shattered. Out of shame and anger, they only wanted to destroy anything they couldn't obtain.
When she saw that the atmosphere was turning sour, Shang Hongyu quickly said, “The regent and I have previously discussed this. He sneaked into the troop precisely to work with the Dragon King against the monsters. This is something that both the Dragon King and I knew about. Could it be that you are all suggesting I am lying as well?”
“We naturally wouldn’t, but your respected self didn’t see what happened in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons. Furthermore, Shang Liuyu is the queen’s little sister, so you would naturally choose to speak up for them,” another elder said.
“You…!” Shang Hongyu was panicky and furious, while inside, she was incredibly worried. The situation was gradually slipping out of control!
She was about to say something when Zu An stopped her. He calmly looked at those present and said, “All those who question my words can step forward now.”
When they heard those words, the noisy area immediately quieted down. All of them had more or less heard about some of the things that had taken place in the Fiend King Court.
An elder under Ao Yong gritted his teeth and stepped forward. “What, are you going to oppress the people with force? Even though your cultivation is high, the Ocean races are full of powerful individuals. You alone can't win against us all!”
He had no choice but to speak up here. He had invested everything he had into Ao Yong. If Ao Yong had ascended to the throne, he would have achieved meteoric success and risen up to the peak of the Ocean races' authority. Now, all that was gone, so how could he not at least figure out what happened?
“Is that so?” Zu An sneered. No one saw him do anything, but a trace of sword energy flew out, and then the official’s head shot into the sky.
The head's eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.
He actually really dared to kill me!
With that, the place immediately erupted into commotion. Many Ocean race experts took a step back. They drew their weapons and surrounded him vigilantly.
“Mister Zu, are you going to make our entire Ocean races your enemy?” an Ocean race elder of good moral standing and reputation asked after gathering his courage. His voice was shaking a bit.
The elder who had spoken up just now had similar cultivation to himself, and yet no one even saw how Zu An had attacked before that elder was killed instantly. If it had been him in that place, his end would likely have been the same. His only source of confidence was that the Ocean races' territory was his home field, and there was an army here too. No matter how high Zu An’s cultivation was, how could he make an army his enemy?
Sure enough, the army rushed over when they heard the news and completely surrounded the area. The harsh atmosphere made it seem as if, as long as they were given the order, they would make sure to erase all traces of Zu An’s existence.
The Ocean race elder was about to give the order to arrest Zu An when a mysterious pressure suddenly descended. All those present felt a trembling from their very souls and couldn't control themselves from kneeling down.
This was like the legendary aura of a deity! It was vast and incomparable, making all of them feel just how insignificant they were.
There were some formations in the army that specialized in resisting the pressure of their enemies, but this pressure was on an entirely different level of existence, so the formation didn’t do much at all. The formation users all fell to their knees too.
Everyone present looked at Zu An in the air in horror. All of them were shaking in fear. How was this person so absurdly powerful?!
In that instant, they suddenly realized something. He seemed to have become one with this entire area of the world. His will was the will of the world.
Forget about the Ocean races, who could defy the will of the world?
Only Shang Liuyu and Shang Hongyu didn’t kneel, but it was because they were in his arms, and their hands were intertwined with his.
Shang Hongyu opened her red lips slightly, her expression filled with shock. It had just been a few days since they last met, so how had he become this powerful already? Even though she knew he was strong, that had still been within her realm of understanding.
But his power now exuded a kind of divine might. It wasn’t on the same order of magnitude as the other experts of the world anymore. No wonder he had remained so calm from start to finish!
She was a bit happy. Their encounter at the seaside restaurant seemed to have been dictated by fate. Otherwise, she really didn’t know how she could have faced the horrifying events that came after…