Little Daoist Zhen struggled up. He had a palm print on his cheek with a big bump on his forehead.
Zhao Guang looked at Oldman Zeng quietly with a bit of sympathy on his face.
And the East Ocean elders standing behind Zhao Guang all had pity in their eyes.
It was pathetic. Not only was the 16 senior elders and the Crown Prince of West Ocean held hostage by the East Ocean Dragon Palace, but he had hit the only disciple of Qiu Niu, one of the ancestors of the Dragon Tribe.
Gritting his teeth, Little Daoist Zhen didn’t speak; he held his cheek and looked up at Oldman Zeng with hatred.
“Humph!” Oldman Zeng was still angry. “Even a little kid of East Ocean dares to look at me this way! Do you really think you are invincible?”
Zhao Guang cleared his throat. “Elder Zeng, the kid is not from our East Ocean.”
“Whoever he is, he deserved the beating for talking to me like that!” Oldman Zeng found it was worthless to talk about such trivial things. Instead, he pointed his finger at Zhao Guang. “I’ll forgive your Fuma for hurting Zeng Yitao, but today you must release Zeng Yitao…”
“Old man, I won’t forget you!” Rubbing his face, Little Daoist Zhen said in a vicious tone.
Seeing the kid was still arrogant after the beating, Oldman Zeng was enraged. He lifted his hand and wanted to send him flying with one palm.
Bang!
Elder Lu suddenly stepped up and blocked the strike.
Oldman Zeng’s strength was so great that it forced Elder Lu to back off four steps.
“Your East Ocean elders are so weak!” Earning back some face, Oldman Zeng withdrew his palm.
Ignoring Oldman Zeng’s mocking words, Elder Lu bent over and leaned toward Little Daoist Zhen, asking genially, “Little Daoist Zhen, are you hurt?”
Elder Lu had been with Zhao Guang for many years as one of his most important assistants. Although his cultivation strength was not the greatest, his rank in the Dragon Palace was very high. That was why Oldman Zeng found his concern for this kid in the Taoist robe quite unsettling.
“I’m fine!” Little Daoist Zhen waved his hand, his eyes staring at Oldman Zeng hatefully. Abruptly, he turned and went into the Dragon Palace.
“I forgot to introduce him to you.” Seeing the weird look on Oldman Zeng, Zhao Guang took half a step forward. “That was Little Daoist Zhen, the disciple of Grandmaster Qiu Niu who is temporarily living in East Ocean Dragon Palace.”
Boom!
Although they were on the bottom of the sea, Oldman Zeng felt as if thunder exploded on his head.
Who was Qiu Niu? He was the oldest son of the legendary Godly Dragon! In the Nine Dragon Palace a few days ago, one roar of his had killed thousands of cultivators.
Even the affluent four ocean dragon palaces wanted to host this ancient ancestor!
And he slapped Qiu Niu’s last disciple to the ground!?
Oldman Zeng shivered all over, wishing for a quick death!
All the members of the five-elemental Dragon Clans knew that among the nine ancestors, only Qiu Niu was still traveling in the mortal world, and this ancestor’s temper was peculiar.
In the world of cultivation, the older the cultivators got, the more protective they were.
If Qiu Niu vented his anger out on West Ocean, the result would be disastrous. Looking at the furious Little Daoist Zhen, Oldman Zeng was stunned into speechlessness.
“I’m busy. If you have nothing to say, I’ll send your Crown Prince back to you in three days when his injuries somewhat recover.”
With that, Zhao Guang didn’t wait for Oldman Zeng’s answer and went back into the Dragon Palace.
The elders followed him while the generals guarding the gate stood before the entrance.
With 16 senior elders and the Crown Prince of West Ocean under his control, Zhao Guang was tough. He didn’t even allow the aggressive Oldman Zeng into the door!
Oldman almost lost his temper, but he knew it would get him nothing.
He had demanded East Ocean to hand over Hao Ren in three days, or he would run wild in the East Ocean’s Dragon Palace with 16 senior elders. But now East Ocean turned the table and gave him an ultimatum of three days; if the West Ocean behaved well, East Ocean would release Zeng Yitao intact in three days.
With his lifeline in the hands of East Ocean, Oldman Zeng had no choice but to give in.
He had ordered the 16 elders to protect Zeng Yitao and didn’t understand how such a powerful team, which consisted of 6 Qian-level cultivators and 10 Kun-level cultivators, had been captured by East Ocean.
Zhao Guang was also puzzled about the same question. He had been sitting in the East Ocean Dragon Palace discussing with the elders about how to handle the emergency when 16 elders and Zeng Yitao dropped into the sea around the Dragon Palace like dumplings. The patrolling soldiers easily captured them.
He thought hard and concluded that it was the grandmaster of the Soul Formation Realm in East Ocean City who made an exception and sent the East Ocean a big present, solving the crisis for East Ocean.
He would never imagine that it was, in fact, a gift from his son-in-law!
Meanwhile, regardless of the contribution he had made, Hao Ren was massaging Grandma’s feet in her room.
At her age, Grandma was easily sore in her legs and feet. Hao Ren massaged the acupoints and muscles on her legs while chatting with her.
“Ren, kind-heartedness is your biggest virtue,” sitting in a wicker chair, Grandma looked at him genially and said in satisfaction.
“Grandma, you work so hard, and it’s my duty to give you a massage.” He dumped the cool water and placed another basin of hot water to soak her feet in. Then he stood behind her and pounded on her back, massaging it.
“I think Lu Linlin and Lu Lili are very nice girls,” with her eyes closed, Grandma said abruptly.
“Of course they are. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have invited them to stay the night here,” Hao Ren said.
“They live with their grandpa downtown, but he is busy and always not home. They have no other relatives in the city, and I regard them as my own granddaughters. You must pay more attention to them,” Grandma caressed the jade bead in her palm and said.
“Got it.” Hao Ren could do nothing but nod.
“And how is little Zi lately?” Grandma continued to ask.
“She’s fine. She has lagged behind in her studies recently, and I’m tutoring her. Oh, I will go shopping with her tomorrow,” Hao Ren reported, gently massaging her shoulders.
“Good. Zi is still a little girl, so you must be lenient on her. I have the company of Linlin and Lili, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Ok…”
“And how is Yujia lately?” Grandma asked again.
Exhaling lightly, Hao Ren wondered if Grandma was doing a roll call.
But he couldn’t voice his thoughts. Instead, he answered immediately, “She’s fine, too. She had meant to visit you this weekend, but she is quite busy, and I don’t know her exact schedule.”
“Well, Yujia is a good girl, and you must do well with her,” Grandma said meaningfully.
She continued after a pause, “Thinking about it, Yujia’s quite pitiable being left alone in East Ocean City while her parents are both out of the country.”
Hao Ren nodded his agreement. With Xie Wanjun gone to the U.S. a couple of days before, she must be even lonelier living with her auntie and uncle who ran some small businesses.
“You must invite Yujia to our home on the weekends. She can make here her own home.” Grandma looked back at Hao Ren. “Look at Linlin and Lili. They are easygoing and warmed up to me very quickly.”
“Linlin and Lili regard me as their master. Of course, they warm up to you quickly,” Hao Ren thought to himself.
However, he agreed to Grandma’s sentiments. Xie Yujia was indeed lonely; she had made up her mind to go to the U.S. to reunite with her parents but was stopped by Hao Ren.
“Ok, ok. You’ve massaged me for more than half an hour now. My entire body feels relaxed. I’m ready for bed, and you go back to your room and rest,” removing Hao Ren’s hands from her shoulders, Grandma said genially.
“Ok. Have a good night, Grandma.” Hao Ren bent to pick up the basin and backed out of the room.
In the next room, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were frolicking with each other, and their crisp voices came through the door.
“They are so carefree…” Hao Ren lamented in a low voice. Dumping the water, he returned to his room to wash up for the night.
Tomorrow, he would go shopping with Zhao Yanzi, and it would be a torturous day for him…
Deng! Deng…
Suddenly, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili appeared before him in peach-colored pajamas.
Seeing Hao Ren’s surprise, Lu Linlin walked toward him pulling Lu Lili behind her. “Gongzi, our pajamas are very pretty, aren’t they?”
Hao Ren’s mind became blank.
“In the late night, they walked into a guy’s room in pajamas and asked him if their pajamas are pretty! This is…” he thought.
“We forgot something important.” Lu Linlin walked over and picked up his right hand. “It’s been a while since we last measured your five elements.”
Lu Lili walked lightly to the other side and picked up his left hand. The peach-colored pajamas accentuated the pink on her face.
Lu Linlin was radiant, and Lu Lili was shy. Even with their hair down, Hao Ren could immediately tell them apart.
“Gold, 21; Wood, 18; Water 22; Fire, 19; Earth, 20.”
After a moment, Lu Linlin reported the numbers.
“Gongzi, the five elements in your body are almost balanced,” Lu Lili said in a low voice.
Hao Ren nodded. Only he knew the hard effort he put in to gain the balance of the five elements. Of course, without the Lu sister’s tips, he would never have achieved it.
With the five elements in his body moving toward equilibrium each day, he found it was easier and smoother for him to circulate the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll.
Especially after he reached Zhen-level which was equivalent to the Core Formation Realm, he could control the sword energies at will and could even form sword array formations. The power of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll was beginning to show.
It was indeed hard to cultivate the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll. But with Lu Linlin and Lu Lili helping him with the balance of the five elements, his progress was quite good.
“Linlin, Lili, if you are not ready for bed, please do me a favor.” Hao Ren withdrew his hands and looked at them.
“What favor?” They blinked and looked at him with their big, innocent eyes.
“Guard me while I try the Lightning Cultivation,” Hao Ren said.