Chapter 253: Meeting the Demonic Beast Emperor
Facing that unbridled scrutiny, although SongZhong remained impassive to it, he secretly began to muster his spiritual power, to activate the Blood River Pattern on himself. Following the cyan radiance, lines of mysterious and profound lines emerged.
The moment the sturdy man saw the Blood Patterns, he hurriedly retracted his own divine sense as his eyes gleamed. He immediately brought his hands together, cupping his fists as he politely spoke: "Forgive my lack of manners! I've unknowingly offended the little highness, please do not take offense on this little one!"
How would SongZhong blame him? This fellow was not like the Lightning Eagle King who relied on serendipity to transform herself, but on his own ability to take on a human form. From his imposing manner, one could easily see that he was at least a sixth-ranked Demonic Beast, and furthermore one of great combat strength. At least, he was comparable to Old Devil Feng. If you count the Golden Dragon Boat which he operated, he could even take on the entire Mystical Sky Yard! Facing this sort of demonic beast, how could SongZhong blame him?
Thus SongZhong also hurriedly replied, "I don't dare, don't dare. My appearance was too sudden, it is only right that Senior took precautions!"
Even though SongZhong spoke as though it was a small matter, he had actually broken into a cold sweat inside, laughing bitterly to himself as he thought: "How close. At least I managed to fool them! If he had seen through my disguise, then this day of next year would be my death anniversary!"
The demonic beast escort did not sense SongZhong's nervousness, instead laughing out in a direct manner, "HAHAHA! Actually you appearing out of a sudden is not any big matter, the main point was that you transformed far too early. Only at the fourth grade, this… is totally unprecedented! The purer one's Emperor Bloodline is, the harder it is to transform. For your type of Blood River Pattern, in general, one would have to wait til they're at least of Ninth Grade to transform! It is simply too unbelievable, and thus we originally thought that you are an imposter!"
"And what about now?" SongZhong asked with a bit of apprehension.
"There's naturally no problem now!" The escort laughed "With the Blood River Pattern as proof, coupled with the fact that your body is inundated with extremely pure demonic energy of the Black Tortoise, there's definitely no question about your bloodline!"
Hearing that, SongZhong could not help but sigh in relief inwardly, thinking, "That's great, that's great indeed!"
Seeing the situation, Lei Shan'er smiled as she spoke, "Senior Fang, didn't I tell you that little elder brother was genuine!"
"Haha, I didn't say that he was an imposter either!" The escort boomed heartily, then turned to address SongZhong, "Little Highness, His Majesty has sent me to fetch you, let's go!" As he finished, he made a formal bow.
At this point, SongZhong was left with no other alternatives. How could he reject? He could only grit his teeth and laugh bitterly, "Senior, after you!"
"Haha, this little highness is too polite, you are royalty, you should proceed first!" The escort spoke very amicably. "Furthermore, please don't call me Senior, I'm not deserving of that! If you don't look down on me, then please call me Old Fang!"
"This, how could I do this?" Seeing how polite he was, SongZhong could not help but be shocked.
"Can, this can be done!" Old Fang was very sincere. "In the future, Old Fang will still have to rely on you little highness for care, if you are always so polite to me, that means you look down on me!"
Seeing that the person in question was so demanding, he could not reject him as well, and as such could only laugh bitterly. "If that's the case, then I'll be presumptuous!"
SongZhong cupped his fists towards Old Fang, then flew up straight into the Gold Dragon Boar. Old Fang could not help but laugh happily at this, and followed directly behind him, followed by Lei Shan'er with a beaming expression.
The three of them quickly arrived at the uppermost deck of the Gold Dragon Boat. From afar, the 3000 feet Gold Dragon Boat doesn't seem very imposing, but upon nearing it, one would then know how big it actually was! 3000 feet, that was almost the distance of one kilometre! Such a huge dragon boat, made one look like ants on an elephant when they were boarding it, small and insignificant.
Furthermore, the decorations on the Gold Dragon Boat were luxurious beyond belief! The floor was carpeted with high level spirit grass as a form of carpeting, and the floating lamps were all exquisite beyond belief. They looked like they were composed of gold and jade, and the oil used for lighting was even infused with spiritual energy! Walking along the pathway, every three step was a new scenery, and every five steps a new painting, as though one was in the celestial realm! To compare the imperial palace of the secular world with this would make the former look like a thatched cottage of a village, they were on completely different worlds!
Even SongZhong, who grew up in the Mystical Sky Yard and had seen the various elegant and beautiful facilities inside the Yard, could not help but be captivated by the opulence of the Gold Dragon Boat.
Lei Shan'er was similarly captivated, even though she was known as the grand Lightning Eagle King by the human cultivators, in the Eastern Sea Kingdom, she could at most only be considered of the middle class. A ride for the Emperor like this Gold Dragon Boat, this was also the first time she was on board one, and she felt as though both her eyes could not perceive everything fast enough! At this point, she hated herself for not having more eyes to see everything!
Seeing their expressions, Old Fang could not help but let out a gentle smile. "This Golden Dragon Boat was crafted by a LianXu cultivator, in this world, it's the only one of its kind! The first time I, Old Fang came in, my shock was not any lighter than yours!"
Only now did SongZhong come to his senses, and hearing that could only laugh bitterly: "Old Fang, you just drove a luxurious boat to fetch me, it really makes me feel overwhelmed with favour!"
"This was not my intention!" Old Fang hurriedly tried to explain, "This was His majesty's idea! Just base on your status alone, the fact that His Majesty could not make it down personally can already be considered disrespectful, thus he purposely ordered me to drive his personal carriage here, as a form of compensation!"
"This~" Hearing that, SongZhong could not help but feel his scalp turning numb. He chuckled mirthlessly and said: "Is there a need to have such a grand procession though?"
"Of course!" Old Fang laughed and replied, "You are a Black Tortoise with a Blood River Pattern! Even for this sort of Black Tortoise, nearly all of them all reached the tenth stage and resisted the heavenly tribulation, finally ascending to the Immortal World! Thus, your position in the Demon Clan is incomparable, whoever sees you have to show respect!"
"But, I'm only at the fourth grade!" SongZhong said with some fear.
"What are you so afraid of? Who doesn't improve bit by bit? The key point is that a progeny of an Emperor Bloodlines has extremely stable breakthroughs, the moment your strength reaches a certain point, you can automatically advance to the next grade. This is unlike us, stagnating upon reaching the sixth or seventh grades. To improve further would be a tall order!" Old Fang replied a bit emotionally.
At this point, Old Fang seemed to have recalled something, and hurriedly said, "Haha, look at me, why am I talking about such useless matters? Little Highness, hurry and enter the pavilion, that is the highest vantage point on the Golden Dragon Boat. There are many good things inside, so let me entertain you during the trip!"
As he spoke, Old Fang led SongZhong and Lei Shan'er to the pavilion. After which Old Fang shot SongZhong an awkward look as he laughed, "Little Highness, your current attire doesn't really suit you, there are clothes prepared inside, why don't you go in and have a change of outfit?"
When Old Fang spoke, his tone was careful, lest SongZhong took offense to his words.
But no one expected that SongZhong had long since entertained the idea of changing his current clothes out. He stood up joyously and say, "There's new clothes in there? Sure! I'll go get changed!" The moment he finished, his body flashed and was already inside the chambers. Quickly, he found a few stylish silk garments in the closet.
From young till his present self, SongZhong had always only worn Daoist robes. He had never come in contact with such gorgeous clothing. However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Furthermore, having such clothes was still better as compared to baring his bottoms. Thus SongZhong did not make a fuss, and chose the biggest sized clothings to wear.
Maybe it was because the Eastern Sea Demons typically had larger bodies, but they even had a fitting size for SongZhong's perverse body shape! In the secular world, his sort of size would require clothes to be custom made instead. He settled on a purple robe, trimmed with gold silk forming myriad patterns on the robes.
SongZhong did not scrutinise them but rather threw them on immediately before proceeding to the mirror for a look. He found out that the robes lent him a domineering air much like a King, and was definitely much better than his old Daoist Robes.
After adjusting his robes, SongZhong laughed heartily in satisfaction as he walked out. Old Fang and Lei Shan'er's eyes also brightened upon this scene.
"Haha, it is indeed true that a man needs clothes, just like the Buddha needs gold clothes!", Old Fang flattered. "Little Highness looks even more like an Emperor's descendant with such a setup!"
"En! Little Elder Brother looks impressive!" Lei Shan'er also smiled and complimented.
"Such flatteries!" SongZhong helplessly shook his head and laughed.
"How is that so, every word of mine is the truth! Alright, let's sit down and continue our conversation!" As Old Fang spoke, he began to assign seats to them.
Firstly, Old Fang directed SongZhong to the Seat of Honour, and took the host seat himself, leaving the Guest Seat for Lei Shan'er. After everyone was seated, with a wave of his hands, 10 odd plates appeared simultaneously in front of the three of them, and all of them were succulent and tender fruits which SongZhong could not recognise! However, just based on the rich spiritual energy each fruit was emitting, SongZhong could guarantee that all of them were top class spiritual fruits, even if they could not compare to the Five Elements Lotus or the Mystical Sky Fruit, it was definitely far above the spiritual mushrooms in his natal artifact!
Seeing the feast in front of her, Lei Shan'er's saliva almost drooled. "Aiyaya, I can't believe it. Fire dragon fruit, Clear Breeze Fruit and even the Silk Nectar Fruit, all these are the most exquisite spiritual fruits in the Eastern Ocean! So many of them, can Shan'er really eat them?"
"Eat up, eat up!" Old Fang laughed heartily in response, "Thanks to the little highness, this were all selected from the Imperial Palace, and even the Emperor himself would not bear to eat so many in one sitting! Little highness, please don't stand on ceremony and eat too, this is the Emperor himself expressing his goodwill to you!"
Seeing this situation, how could SongZhong remain polite? He immediately grabbed onto a green skinned fruit, stuffing it whole into his mouth. Immediately, he could feel a surge of aromatic flavours flooding his mouth, and at the same time, a special form of spiritual energy flowing down his throat to his dantian. His body felt as though it had underwent a bath, and was so comfortable that he almost started to moan.
Seeing this situation, Old Fang let out a loud laugh, "Little Highness, what you ate was the Clear Breeze Fruit. This particular fruit only blossoms and bears fruits once every few centuries! Not only is it tasty and fresh, the main point is that it can cleanse the body of impure Qi after eating it, allow them to feel purified, and is of great aid towards cultivation! It's a pity that the quantities are low, with only a few fruits. If your highness wants more, you can have Old Fang's share!"
As he spoke, Old Fang was about to send his own Clear Breeze Fruit towards SongZhong. The latter hurriedly waved his hands to reject, "No need, no need, these are enough, I still want to leave some stomach to try the rest!"
Old Fang had also spoken out of courtesy, and seeing SongZhong reject him, he retracted the plate of fruits and smiled. "This is good too, all the fruits there are the cream of the crop. If it wasn't for you, even for another esteemed guest, his Majesty might not bear to spend it so extravagantly!"
"Is that so?" SongZhong spoke with confusion, "Why would your emperor treat me so well?"
"Hehe, do you still need to ask? You're a missing descendent of the Imperial Bloodline, of course His Majesty has to take on the responsibility of nurturing you!" Old Fang laughed and continued, "If there is nothing wrong with this, there is a close to 80% chance of you becoming the Crown Prince of the Eastern Sea Kingdom!"
"It can't go to that extent, right?" SongZhong could not help but let out a bitter laughter. Originally he had heard Lei Shen'er speak of such, but never did he dream that even this Sixth Grade Demonic Beast Old Fang would say it with such confidence. This was simply unbelievable! Obviously, he was completely unaware of the modus operandi of the demonic beasts.
Seeing the situation, Old Fang could only give a wry smile and began explaining from scratch. After finishing the lecture did he finally realise what was going on.
As it turns out, the demonic beast clan actually cared more about relations than the humans. As a demonic beast with an Imperial Bloodline, if he lost his parents from young, even if he is to encounter other demonic beasts, they would stretch out their hands to help, regardless of race. This was even to the point of sacrificing their own lives!
Of course, this sort of help wasn't fully out of goodwill. In actual fact, those who helped would always reap huge rewards in return. The Imperial Bloodline who was being taken care of would of course develop deep feelings for the caregivers, and after they matured, would definitely take the chance to repay the gratitude shown. If they did not return the favour, then there would be a black mark on their reputation as people who knew not of gratitude.
Therefore, there were many cases where a few mediocre demonic beasts were propelled to the upper echelons after nurturing and taking care of an Imperial Bloodline. Sometimes, they could even use this sort of relationship to obtain those heavenly treasures, allowing them to overcome the problem of their bloodlines, to achieve further breakthrough in their cultivation!
As such, to the demonic beasts, finding a lost imperial bloodline was equivalent to obtaining a treasure bowl! After allowing them to mature, they could just sit back and reap the rewards. Currently, the Emperor of the Eastern Sea Empire was as such. In their eyes, someone like SongZhong, who was a young black tortoise with the Blood River Pattern, was a treasure that had no limits to their future. While a normal demonic beast would find it difficult to cultivate past the eighth grade, most Blood River Patterned black tortoises could reach the tenth grade. At that point, even the dregs given out by it would allow ordinary beasts to raise their grade by at least one!
Not only that, even if they couldn't raise their grade, with such a hegemon supporting them, who would not give way to them? So when the Emperor heard of the Blood River Patterned Tortoise appearing, he immediately deployed a sixth grade demonic beast with his Golden Dragon Boat, as well as large amounts of spiritual fruits, hoping to rope in SongZhong.
After ironing out all the details, SongZhong secretly felt more relieved. However, he was afraid that the Emperor could see through his cover. Hence he was a little worried during the journey.
Old Fang did not know the exact reason as to why SongZhong was unhappy, and even thought that his service was not up to standard. Old Fang was deeply afraid of this future powerhouse, because even though he was at sixth grade and SongZhong was at fourth, after a few more centuries, SongZhong would ascend to the Sixth, Seventh or higher grades while he remained at the Sixth. This was the benefit of possessing the Imperial Bloodline. Thus Old Fang did not dare to be negligent towards SongZhong.
Sensing his unhappiness, Old Fang immediately began to narrate the interesting points of Eastern Sea to SongZhong. Though this did not alleviate SongZhong's sense of worry, it gave him a brief idea of the circumstances surrounding the Eastern Sea Empire.
As in turns out, although the Eastern Sea Empire was a famed country, in actual fact there was no sense of a country nor a government. There was only one Emperor, which was another Imperial Bloodline that was elected for the position. It was said that the person was a descendant of the Azure Dragon, but the bloodline was not very pure, and the final form was inclined towards becoming a single horned black dragon.
Other than the Emperor himself being publicly acknowledged, the Eastern Sea Empire did not have any other names that were well known. There was no imperial court nor were there any officials. The Eastern Surveillance Corps like Lei Shan'er were a result of the Emperor's random musings.
Although the Eastern Surveillance Corps was just a small tribe on the Eastern Sea, close to Mount CangMang, due to the respect for the Emperor, everyone conceded to the position of Eastern Ocean Surveillance Corps. However, such a title was only called by the human cultivators, and not by the inner circle of the demonic beasts. Most of them were still more used to living under their own clans.
However, do not think that the Eastern Sea Empire was like a basket of loose sand. On the contrary they were extremely united. Even though the Emperor did not interfere most of the time, the various tribes still gave yearly tributes to the Emperor.
Furthermore, any disputes between the clans were settled by themselves, and only in the extreme cases was the Emperor asked to perform arbitration. This sort of arbitration was final, and with the Emperor's authority and prestige, no one dared to go against it. The crucial point was that once the Emperor gave an order, he could immediately gather all the different clans, to defend against any siege. This was also the reason as to why the demonic beast hordes were formed.
The only problem was that the Eastern Sea Emperor was an expert, and would usually be cultivating, and no one would be out of their mind to cause trouble. Thus the Emperor was more of a symbolic totem for the demonic beasts, and typically did not appear in their everyday lives.
Under Old Fang's narration, SongZhong felt less gloomy. As for Lei Shan'er, her tiny mouth had never stopped, fully engrossed with eating and nothing else.
In general, the three people ate and talked for nearly an hour before they finally reached their destination.
Old Fang stood up as he laughed, "We've finally reached, Little highness, please, our Emperor is waiting for you!
Hearing this, SongZhong dare not tarry, and immediately got up, saying "Good!". As for Lei Shan'er, she was still reluctant to leave all the remaining fruits on the plates.
Faced with such a scene, SongZhong did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He stretched out his hands and gathered all the fruits together, before giving the bundle that was few jins heavy to Lei Shan'er, saying, "Keep them!"
Seeing such a loot, Lei Shan'er was obviously moved, but with Old Fang on scene, she could only question worriedly "This, is this ok?" She even shot Old Fang a look of worry.
With how shrewd Old Fang was, how could he not be tactful? He turned behind and pretended that he did not see anything.
Seeing him do as such, SongZhong let out a slight smile and told Lei Shan'er, "Take them, no one is looking anyway!"
Lei Shan'er comprehended Old Fang's intention, and estatically nodded her head, hurriedly stowing the fruits into her own natal space. She then followed behind SongZhong in jubilation.
After settling everything, SongZhong pretended that nothing was wrong as he followed Lei Shan'er and Old Fang out. Upon coming out, he was surprised to find that the area was actually unlike the Imperial Palace that he expected, and instead a barren island of about 10 odd li in circumference. There were no grass on that island, only debris. A tall and sturdy woman, with a figure similar to SongZhong stood there alone.
"A woman?" SongZhong spoke out in surprise.
"Hehe, that's right!" Old Fang laughed softly. "The Eastern Sea Empire's sovereign is actually an Empress!"
Having heard this, SongZhong stood rooted to the spot. Never in his dreams did he expect that the grand and stately Eastern Sea Empire's monarch, who had no opponents on their level, and inspired fear in all the demonic beasts to be the messy haired, buff woman who was dressed completely in a leather suit in front of him! Though she looked above average, with delicate features, her muscular body completely undermined her looks, making her look like a feminine dinosaur no matter how she looked.
Just as SongZhong sized her up warily, the female Empress was also doing the same to him. After a few seconds, her brow furrowed as she started to have suspicions. "You're that person with the Imperial Bloodline of the Blood River Pattern Black tortoise? Get your ass here!"
As she spoke, the Empress hooked her arm, and SongZhong only felt the surrounding air around him warp. The next thing he knew, he was being grabbed by an unknown strength and dragged towards that female dinosaur. In just a blink of an eye, SongZhong seemed to have soared across the skies to land beside the Empress, almost face to face with each other.
The Empress first gently put him down before furrowing her brows as she said, "The demonic air on you is geniune, it is exactly the clan of the Black Tortoise, and the azure pattern you released cannot be faked. But why are you in human form? If memory serves me right, the Black Tortoises with a Blood River Pattern, never had a case where someone could take on human form without first reaching the Ninth Grade!
"Cough cough!" SongZhong cleared his throat and directly rebutted, "Obviously, now you have a living example!"
"Ha! You definitely know how to talk!" The Empress's lips curled before she coldly smiled. "I heard from Shan'er that lass that you survived a blow from a YuanYing cultivator, and even managed to wound him twice, is there such a matter?"
"Should be the case!" SongZhong shrugged his shoulders non-committedly.
"But I don't believe!" The Empress continued coldly smiling. "Who knows if you're actually playacting?"
"I have no need to act out anything!" SongZhong hurriedly forced out a smile. "If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do!"
"Hehe, it's alright, I have an idea to prove that you're not lying!" The Empress smiled in a sinister manner.
SongZhong felt that something was wrong, and could feel cold air brush against his spine. "You, how are you going to prove it?"
"Haha! Simple, One punch from me will reveal everything!" The Empress broke into laughter as she send a fist towards SongZhong without uttering another word!
Chapter 254: Frightening Dragon
SongZhong never expected this one horned dragon female emperor to be so crazy. After just talking to him for a short while, she directly took action.
This lady was obviously someone who loved those perverse in bodily cultivation technique. Following her punch, a wave of air gushed forward, sending the surrounding stones and rocks flying. If it was anyone else instead of SongZhong present, just the winds generated from the fist would cripple them.
Thankfully, SongZhong was no weakling, the protective divine light on his body activated on reflex, to block the winds from the fist at the nick of time. Hence, SongZhong managed to endure the fist.
However, while SongZhong was able to endure the fist, the might in the fist was just too frightening and was not something which he can hope to block. As such, SongZhong was sent flying like a cloud, smashing into a large boulder, which was a hundred feet high, before finally stopping.
However, SongZhong indeed had thick skin and muscles. After the refinement from the Primal Natal Fire, the might of his body was strengthened to a frightening degree, completely comparable to a magical artifact. As such, while he seemed to be extremely pitiful from this blow, he did not sustain many injuries. He managed to climb out from the rubble quickly, only looking slightly pathetic.
When the Empress saw that, her eyes lit up and burst out into laughter, "Haha, not bad, not bad. I used 50% of my strength in that attack and you are not injured at all. I originally thought that you would end up puking blood at least!"
SongZhong did not puke blood from the attack but almost puked blood from those words as he thought to himself, "Where did this crazy lady come from? Trying to make me puke blood the first time she sees me. Is this how she receives guests?"
Not to mention SongZhong, even Old Fang and Lei Shan'er by the side was also extremely anxious. However, they knew that while the empress may act unbridled, she definitely held restraint and definitely won't beat SongZhong to death. Thus, they only stared on with a bitter laughter, without any intention to interfere at all.
But at this moment, the empress seem to have gotten addicted to playing. She did not wait for SongZhong to protest as she flashed in front of him and laughed, "Since you are so good at receiving hits, then come play with me!"
As she said that, the crazy empress began to unleash a flurry of fists and kicks at SongZhong. At the start, Songzhong would only remain on the defense. But, he would not be able to endure the frightening power of the attack everytime, being sent flying with every blow. Even if he does not get injured from the attack, he would also feel the pain from the attacks. SongZhong was depressed. Finally, he could not take it any longer; with a loud roar, he unleashed his counterattack at that crazy lady. Furthermore, he did not treat her as a lady at all and sent out two fists flying to her chest.
But it was a pity, while SongZhong learned divine lightning and refinements of armanents, he had never learned any fists techniques in his life before. However, the empress was obviously an expert. As such, she had easily defused his attack, not allowing him to even touch the corner of her clothes. Furthermore, she even increased the force of her attacks.
Now, SongZhong was in huge trouble; he was like a punching bag, being sent flying all over by the empress. The whole island was then filled with rocks which had been destroyed by SongZhong and many craters, which was caused by his bodily impact.
This vicious beating lasted for a full hour before finally ending. At this moment, Songzhong was no longer in the shape of a human anymore. His clothes was destroyed yet again, leaving behind a well made pair of underpants. His body was filled with bruises all over, making him feel ache all over. After all of these, he did not even have the energy to stand up anymore.
Contrary to SongZhong's pathetic looks, the empress was enjoying herself. After beating SongZhong like a dead dog, she stretched her body in enjoyment as she smiled, "I haven't enjoyed myself for like that for such a long time already! While you look pretty weak, you are unexpectedly able to endure beatings! With just your bodily strength, Old Fang, he isn't any much weaker than you! You are a 6th grade demonic beast already, why are you incomparable to a 4th grade junior?"
As she said that, she turned over and looked at Old Fang with a face full of disdain.
As Old Fang heard that, he said with grievance, "Majesty, are you joking? While Old Fang isn't talented, I can't be that bad right?"
"It's true!" The empress placed her hands behind her back and said seriously, "Especially the last few attacks of mine, I had used almost 70% of my strength to injure him a little. If it was you, I don't think you would be any much better right?"
As Old Fang heard that, he exclaimed, "It can't be right. He...he's really so perverse?"
"En, indeed so. However, he has the Blood River Pattern; that is something which is extremely mystical, capable of shaving away 30% of my attack. Furthermore, it even absorbed my strength and converted it into spiritual Qi for him. I have to admit that the black tortoise clan is incomparable in its defences! Even I from the azure dragon clan, concede defeat in this aspect!"
Hearing this, Old Fang replied, "Why? Has Majesty confirmed his identity?"
"Of course, only those old tortoise from the black tortoise clan will be able to endure such a beating from me! Thus, while he looks a little odd on the surface, he definitely has the bloodline of the black tortoise!"
SongZhong also heaved a sigh of relief. After hearing that, he did not know whether to laugh or cry, "You beat me up like a dead dog just to confirm my identity?"
"Hehe!" As the empress heard that, she said with an awkward laughter, "Indeed! After all, the royal bloodline is extremely important and I have to check clearly, right?"
"Can't you check it with a more gentle method?" SongZhong could not help but grumble.
"Isn't this pretty good? You trained your body and I solved my problem of having itchy hands. We killed two birds with one stone!"
After SongZhong heard that, he was almost angered to death. But since he was in her household, he could only lower his head as he replied with a bitter laughter, "You're good!"
"Hehe!" Seeing Songzhong like that, the empress knew that he was resentful in his heart. As such, she said with a laugh, "Alright alright, didn't I just have a little exercise? What's the big deal about that? You are just too petty. How about this, why not I compensate you by making you the crown prince!"
"I don't need it!" SongZhong curled his lips and said, "I am not willing to be a crown prince or emperor! I only want to enter closed-door cultivation. When I surpass you one day, I will beat you up to vent my anger!"
"Haha!" As the empress heard that, she burst out into laughter, "Good, you are ambitious indeed! But, you have no choice but to be the crown prince, because you possess the royal bloodline. Those with the royal bloodline have a duty to lead the demonic beasts. In the Eastern Ocean, we are the only two remaining with the royal bloodline. If you're not going to become the crown prince, who is going to?"
"Don't we have you as the emperor? Then I can naturally lead my free life!" SongZhong replied immediately.
"I'm sorry, you can't escape for long!" The empress then said, "In another two hundred years, I will be undergoing the Lesser Heavenly Tribulation! If I do not succeed, my body will be destroyed and there will be nothing left of me. If I am to succeed, I will leave to another world because this world is no longer suitable for me. Thus, no matter what, this Eastern Ocean will be handed over to you after a hundred years!"
"What?" As SongZhong heard that, he said with doubt, "After a hundred years, I would only be of the 5th grade at most, you want me to lead so many demonic beasts of the 6th grade? Aren't you joking? It would be a miracle if they would listen to me!"
"Don't play fool with me! With your strength at the 4th grade, you are already able to harm a human YuanYing cultivator. If you are to have another hundred years and be in the 5th grade, you will definitely be able to beat someone like Old Fang."
As Old Fang heard that, his face revealed an awkward expression. As for SongZhong, he knew not whether to laugh or cry, "How can things be so exaggerated?"
"It isn't at all!" The empress said solemnly, "You are different from the others who has the royal bloodline. With the Blood River Pattern, you are the strongest fighter in the black tortoise clan. You are blessed by the heavens. Your cultivation is uncommon, and your combat strength is capable of fighting cultivators with a higher cultivation base! You are a walking testimony of being the strongest fighter. In any case, the future of the Eastern Ocean can only rely on you!"
"But~" SongZhong wanted to reject but was interrupted by the empress, "There are no buts! As one of the royal bloodline, your glory and responsibility will be to lead the demonic beasts! You do not have a choice but to agree unless you want to be seen as a coward in the black tortoise clan!"
Now that the empress had already given her ultimatum, how would SongZhong dare oppose her? If he were to continue opposing her, this violent dragon will probably kill him on the spot. Thus, he could only nod his head bitterly, "Alright, alright. I agree!"
"Haha! That's the way!" The Empress burst out into laughter, "Are you guys still not going to pay respects to the crown prince?"
"Paying respects to crown prince your highness!" Old Fang and Lei Shan'er who were by the side bowed in unison.
Hearing how they called him, he felt extremely awkward in his heart. He was obviously a pure human being who was just at odds with demonic beasts a few days ago. But a few days later, he had already become the crown prince of the Eastern Ocean Empire! The rate at which his status changed was far too fast!
In actual fact, when SongZhong was daydreaming, that empress laughed out loudly and waved her hands, "Brat, this Gold Dragon Boat isn't too bad right? I will give it to you as a gift for our first meeting!"
"Ah?" SongZhong was dumbfounded on the spot. This golden boat is such a powerful treasure and she just gave it out like that?
As the empress saw how SongZhong was dumbfounded, she could not help but laugh, "Little brat, don't think that you are the one with benefits. After using this thing, you will understand how this darn thing makes you go crazy. In any case, I will definitely not use it!"
As SongZhong heard that, he thought to himself, 'Don't tell me there is something dubious about the Gold Dragon Boat?"
That Empress could not be bothered to explain everything to SongZhong and turned behind to Old Fang, "The crown prince is of the black tortoise's bloodline, and likes water. Who is using our Pure Water Palace?"
Reporting to your majesty, AoTian is the one using it!" Old Fang hurriedly replied, "He still has 100 years to use it!"
"Ask him to scram. From now on, the Pure Water Palace will have its name changed to the Crown Prince Palace. It will belong to this brat!" As the Empress said that, she pointed to SongZhong.
As Old Fang heard that, he took a bow and said, "Roger! I will inform Old Ao and evict him!"
"Of course, he is also an old tortoise and is of the same family tree as this fellow. Of course, he will have to bootlick him a little." The Empress then said helplessly, "It is just a pity that his bloodline is too thin, not even 10% of this little brat. No matter how hard he cultivates, the 7th grade would be his limit!"
"Yes, yes, that can't be helped!" Old Fang added on.
"Forget it, let him go have a headache over these matters himself!" As the Empress said that, she took a lazy stretch as she said comfortably, "I had a good time fighting today, time to go back and sleep. You are not allowed to call me for 10 years, if not you shall bear the consequences on your own!"
As she said that, she turned around and disappeared from their sights. Following which, SongZhong saw a gigantic one horn dragon which was 1000 feet long and filled with black scales, in the sky. After making a round in the sky, she disappeared into the clouds and not a trace of her could be seen.
She was only at the peak of the 6th grade and did not have a pure azure dragon bloodline. Just how frightening will a 7th or 8th-grade pure azure dragon be then? In any case, SongZhong was shocked by this gigantic dragon, looking at the direction she disappeared in, without saying anything.
Only until Old Fang gave a cough did SongZhong wake up. Following which, Old Fang laughed as he cupped his fists, "Congratulations, crown prince. Congratulations for obtaining the biggest treasure in the Eastern Ocean, the Gold Dragon Boat.
As SongZhong heard that, he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, "Don't be too eager to congratulate me. Let me ask you, just what is it with this Gold Dragon Boat? Why doesn't the empress use it?"
"Hehe!" Old Fang smiled, "It actually isn't much, it is just that this thing exhausts too much money!"
"Exhausts money? What do you mean?" SongZhong asked in doubt.
"It's simple, this Gold Dragon Boat exhausts a large amount of spiritual stone and requires the use of minimally high-grade spiritual stones. Thus, every time this thing is used, a large amount of money has to be exhausted! You should also know that high-grade spiritual stones are much rarer, not a single piece can be seen in a hundred mines. It is usually something which only more powerful cultivators would use for cultivation. Who would be willing to use it for traveling? At the very least, our own two legs are not as precious as the high-grade spiritual stones!"
As SongZhong heard that, he could not help but be stunned as he asked, "But she's the Empress? Don't tell me she can't afford these little spiritual stones just to travel?"
"These little?" As Old Fang heard that, he replied with a bitter laughter, "My little highness, the Gold Dragon Boat burns a thousand spiritual stone every 10 minutes, traveling about 3000 kilometres of distance! The Eastern Ocean is so big, with at least tens of thousands of kilometres from place to place. Just how much spiritual stones will be exhausted? The Empress is someone who cannot sit still and will have to run all around. Even if we were to give all the high-grade spiritual stones on the Eastern Ocean to her, it would not be enough!"