Chapter 898: Sea Monarch Palace
Qi Wuque walked over in a carefree manner, without any misgivings at all.
Xiao Chen recovered his wits and saw that these two were not giving off any killing Qi. He said calmly, “Since you are here, come in and have a seat.”
The three casually sat at a small table in the courtyard. Xiao Chen took out a flask of wine and poured out a cup each for the two.
Qi Wuque downed his cup in one go and frowned. He said, “This isn’t tasty. Brother Xiao, it appears that you do not know much about wine. Brother Long, take out a flask of your precious monkey wine.”
Monkey wine was a delicacy. Based on what Xiao Chen had heard, there was a kind of wild monkey in the world that lived on the difficult-to-climb Mount Wanren. It did not have many abilities. However, it had an innate talent for gathering wild fruits and spring water and brewing wine.
The wine that this monkey brewed was much more delectable than any wine made by the various races’ winemakers. Martial Emperor experts would frequently roam the mountains in search of this monkey wine but would return empty-handed.
Long Fei fanned himself with the folding fan, then took out a flask of wine. When he took off the stopper, a natural wine fragrance spread out, permeating the courtyard with an intoxicating aroma.
He poured out a cup for everyone before carefully capping off the flask of monkey wine like it was a treasure and quickly putting it back in his spatial ring.
Qi Wuque picked up the cup and sniffed it a long time before draining it in one go. After smacking his lips, he said, “You are really stingy. Even after seeing the White Robed King, you are willing to take out only one cup.”
Long Fei gently took a sip before putting down the wine cup. He said, “Qi Wuque, let’s talk about proper matters. Xiao Chen is probably getting impatient.”
When Qi Wuque heard that, he withdrew the smile on his face. He asked, “Brother Xiao, do you know about the trouble that the Merfolk Race is in and what they need us to help with?”
Xiao Chen replied gently, “Isn’t it to kill the evil Demon clones and fix the seal? Could there be some other issues?”
Qi Wuxue smiled and said, “Brother Xiao, in that case, do you know the location of the sealed evil Demon?”
“Where?”
“The Sea Monarch Palace!”
A cooling sensation came from the Sea Monarch Headscarf on his forehead, instantly settling Xiao Chen’s somewhat agitated heart. No emotion or expression appeared on his delicate face.
This was really surprising news. The evil Demon was actually sealed in the Sea Monarch Palace?
What was the Sea Monarch Palace? That palace was the Sea Monarch’s residence. There would be countless treasures and wealth in there. How could it have anything to do with an evil Demon?
Qi Wuque continued, “It is strange, right? In fact, this matter has something to do with you. It was the Azure Emperor who sealed the evil Demon in the Sea Monarch Palace ten thousand years ago. Originally, the Merfolk Race did not intend to publicize this secret. However, this time, they had no choice but to do so.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you still not understand? Why do you think the seal weakened? How could a seal the Azure Emperor placed weaken so easily? The Merfolk Race became greedy for the treasures within the Sea Monarch Palace and disturbed the seal. In the end, matters went out control, and they could no longer resolve the issue with their own power.
“The Sea Monarch Palace itself is an Emperor Grade Secret Treasure. The Azure Emperor specially integrated his seal with the Sea Monarch Palace, completely resolving the hidden dangers of the evil Demon. Haha! But people’s hearts are hard to fathom. The Merfolk Race disturbed the originally perfect seal,” Qi Wuque said somewhat mockingly, curling his lips in a slight sneer.
To think there was actually such a story behind this. Indeed, things were not as simple as Xiao Chen had thought. He looked at Qi Wuque and asked, “How did you learn of this?”
Smiling faintly, Qi Wuxue replied, “There is no such thing as an impenetrable wall in this world. Experts all over have heard about this. Which of them does not know? Which of them is not here for the treasures of the Sea Monarch Palace? Who here really cares for the life and death of the Merfolk Race?”
Long Fei added, “Brother Xiao Chen, we are all people with nothing to hide. Brother Qi and I are here for the Sea Monarch Palace’s treasures as well.
“Initially, we were not planning to ally with you. However, this time, we cannot handle this ourselves anymore. The seven great sects near the Chaotic Demonic Sea all sent their experts with lightning-attributed flames, some old loose cultivators came uninvited, and even the great sects in the Penglai Sea made a move.”
Qi Wuxue looked at the silent Xiao Chen and said, “Others do not know, but Brother Long and I know that Brother Xiao Chen possesses the Purple Thunder True Fire. Furthermore, with your strength, you can hold your own even against a grandmaster-level Martial Sage. We will definitely benefit a lot if we work together.”
Xiao Chen stood up and started to pace around the courtyard. Originally, he had just been prepared to repay a debt of grat.i.tude before leaving immediately. He had not expected to get dragged into so many matters.
Long Fei exchanged a glance with Qi Wuxue and stood up. “Brother Xiao, are you worried about the hard feelings between us? Although I, Long Fei, do not consider myself a righteous person, I still do things openly.
“That day, if I had not noticed that you were making a breakthrough with starlight falling to the ground, I would not have waited for you to finish your breakthrough to fight you. This time, when the three of us work together, Brother Xiao will have priority in choosing from the profits we obtain. Furthermore, you can have forty percent of all our gains.”
Seeing Xiao Chen remain silent, Long Fei continued, “Brother Xiao, if you agree, I can share with you the refining method of the trident in advance to demonstrate my sincerity.”
When Xiao Chen heard all this, he knew that the two misunderstood him, thinking that he was trying to make use of this opportunity to raise the price.
“This is a major concern. I cannot make a decision based on one side of the story. Before this Xiao came here, I really knew nothing about the Sea Monarch Palace. I am merely here to repay an old debt of grat.i.tude. If things are really as the two of you say, I do not have any problems with allying with you two to fight the enemy.”
Qi Wuxue’s eyes lit up. He smiled and said, “So, does that mean Brother Xiao agrees? Hehe! I did not spread your name everywhere in vain.”
Finding the comment strange, Xiao Chen frowned. He asked, “What name?”
“The White Robed King! Brother Xiao, you probably don’t know, but the Primal Chaos Domain has people from all trades gathered there. As long as there is any big news, it can spread from there to the entire Kunlun Realm immediately.
“For the sake of making your t.i.tle of White Robed King known, I sent out two thousand people of my sect to over a thousand cities of various sizes to spread your story. Haha! Now, the entire world knows about the White Robed King Xiao Chen.”
Qi Wuque spoke very leisurely, appearing quite pleased with himself. He did not notice that Xiao Chen’s face had turned black at some point in time.
In the end, the tacky t.i.tle of the White Robed King originated from Qi Wuxue.
“Bang!”
There was an explosion, and Qi Wuxue flew out of the courtyard and landed on the road, his head cras.h.i.+ng heavily into the ground.
When Long Fei walked out the courtyard doors and saw Qi Wuxue lying on the ground in a sorry state, his lips cannot help but curl up a faint smile.
“Strange, is the t.i.tle of White Robed King not good? Brother Xiao, why are you suddenly so angry?”
Qi Wuxue stood up and rubbed his head. He could not understand, so he looked at Long Fei and said, “White Robed King, that is a graceful and elegant t.i.tle. Long Fei, don’t you agree?”
Somewhat appalled, Long Fei said, “Serves you right. What do you think a King t.i.tle is? How could one just casually give such a t.i.tle? He is the descendant of the Azure Emperor. Naturally, he has to inherit the Azure Emperor’s t.i.tle.”
“What is the Azure Emperor’s t.i.tle?”
“Azure Dragon King!”
Qi Wuxue mumbled to himself for a while. Then, he suddenly seemed to see the light, saying, “Indeed! Azure Dragon King sounds more tyrannical. However, adding the words ‘White Robed’ in front sounds pretty good too: White Robed Azure Dragon King!”
Now, Long Fei was completely appalled. The King t.i.tle was something that would accompany a cultivator for life. It concerned his glory and dignity. This Qi Wuxue was simply too casual about it, treating this as a lark.
In the courtyard, Xiao Chen held a jade strip in his hand and closed his eyes. After he reviewed all the information inside, a look of enlightenment appeared on his face. He said, “So that is how you refine the throne into a weapon. One requires a Mental Flame to directly refine it, and then one can change its form in an instant.”
Before Long Fei left, he had handed over the refining method of the throne to Xiao Chen to show his sincerity.
Xiao Chen put the jade strip away. He could not help but feel somewhat restless. Now that he thought about this matter carefully, he discovered that this simple matter contained many complications.
Why did Princess Yao Yan not explain the issues to me first?
Thinking of the Sea Monarch Palace, Xiao Chen took off the Sea Monarch Headscarf on his forehead and examined it. It looks like this Sea Monarch Headscarf must have come from the Sea Monarch Palace.
He set the headscarf aside, then took out a wine cup from the Universe Ring and placed it at the seat opposite him. He believed that someone would come and give him an explanation.
Xiao Chen looked up. There were several manmade gems above, flickering like stars. Looking at them made one forget that they were more than ten kilometers underwater.
However, it still felt like something was missing. So after a few sips of wine, Xiao Chen raised his hand.
A pure and bright moon rose up behind him, giving off gentle moonlight and filling the entire courtyard with a faint radiance.
Xiao Chen revealed a satisfied smile as he continued drinking. When the moonlight fell on his white figure, it threw a lonely shadow on the ground.
Cup after cup, Xiao Chen drank alone.
At some point in time, an exquisite figure appeared in the cold courtyard. Yao Yan landed across him. When she saw the prepared wine cup, a look of shock flashed in her eyes.
“Young Master Xiao knew that Yao Yan would be coming?”
Xiao Chen put down his wine cup and revealed a faint smile on his delicate face. He said warmly, “Naturally. My eye for people is good. Princess Yao Yan, there are some things that were inconvenient to say along the way. You probably feared that after you said them, I would not help you. However, now that I’m here, I guess that Princess no longer has any fear.”
Yao Yan was not sure if she was seeing wrong, but she felt that although Xiao Chen was clearly smiling, his eyes were cold and still like well water, with no ripples in them. It seemed like there was nothing in this world that could arouse his interest.
Hearing what Xiao Chen said, Yao Yan felt somewhat guilty. She drained the cup and smiled bitterly. She said, “I’m afraid that Young Master Xiao’s eye for people was wrong this time. Yao Yan did indeed hide something from you. The tragedy of the Merfolk Race was our own fault.
“The Merfolk Race’s Race Head along with the five Supreme Elders personally released the seal on the outer layer themselves to enter the Sea Monarch Palace. None of them came out; they all died inside. The three elders standing guard outside paid with their lives in the end, to patch up the seal on the outer layer. However, the seal on the inside is completely broken.”