The rebirth of the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea usually followed a certain pattern. After a typically fixed period of time, they would show themselves to the world again. Even though the exact timing was unknown, a rough estimation could be made within a range.
Typically, the estimated timing of the reappearance of the mountains would be within the next year or two. Their reappearance at this point was undoubtedly earlier than expected - possibly on the very border of the estimated time range.
In the East Sea, the powers and cultivators that had their own ideas about the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea were only beginning to make their preparations. The sudden showing of the three mountains took everyone by surprise, but did not affect the speed of their reactions too much.
In a moment's notice, many powerful cultivators in the Divine Lands and even some in the Barren Expanses began to make their way towards the tunnel connecting the Ying Sea and the center of the East Sea.
Rather than the sudden reappearance of the Three Mountains, what pressured the others more was the information that originated from the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
One of the mountains, the Abbot Celestial Mountain, was already in the hands of the Great Zhou Empire. Everybody knew what this meant.
The Great Zhou Empire's power was far superior to most people, but there were many who were unwilling to let go of the Ying Sea just like that. Just because of that, the Great Zhou Empire became something of a public enemy and attracted antagonizing attention from a great many people.
The Great Zhou Empire was prepared for such a 'worst-case scenario', however. They began to manipulate the people around them and form coalitions and alliances to correct their dire position.
The reappearance of the Three Mountains simply meant searching for them was now possible. They were still hidden within the boundless vastness of the Ying Sea, and triangulating their exact location was still a challenge for most. Therefore, when the Ying Sea first began to tremble with monstrous waves and tides, the general public stayed their hands for the moment. The main directors of the rhythm and the flow of events was the Great Zhou Empire and several other great powers; they were conducting their own trials and errors and confronting each other as well.
There were some relatively weaker parties that did not harbor any hopes to take control of a Celestial Mountain for themselves. All they wanted to do was take the chance and rummage for some rare and exotic items from the Ying Sea. The time when the greater powers were challenging each other presented the perfect opportunity to smoke their way into the Ying Sea and retrieve a few rare items for themselves.
Lin Feng felt the surge of spiritual energy coming from the tunnel at the Ying Sea as well, and it was not difficult to infer that the it was due to the precocious reappearance of the Three Mountains.
After he received Xiao Yan's voice-projected message and confirmed his suspicions, Lin Feng was not so hasty to make his way there.
His attention was still focused on Luo Yao. It was not because he disregarded the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea - he was simply more concerned about the unnatural changes of the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl.
After all, Lin Feng's journey to the East Sea was not for vacation or for some sightseeing at the Ying Sea. He was here for the Penglai, Yingzhou and the Fangzhang Celestial Mountains.
His target was not just to find the Celestial Mountains or to retrieve magic treasures from the Ying Sea. His aim was the same as Liang Pan, Zhu Hongwu and the other powers - he wanted to take control of the Three Celestial Mountains.
This was not something that could be done simply by getting there first. Controlling the Celestial Mountains required careful planning, intricate methodology and even a little bit of luck.
Therefore, Lin Feng's attention was still trained on Luo Yao. Based on the unusual circumstances that he had just witnessed, Lin Feng's intuition told him that this tall youth that seemed as average as every could get was one of the keys to coming out on top in this chaotic scene.
Naturally, he would not waste too much time on this. He ran the risk of letting someone else take control of the Celestial Mountains before he could even react, and nothing more could be said or done then. Furthermore, the various powers had limited time to act. If they could not gain control before a certain date, the Celestial Mountains would return to obscurity into the Ying Sea - and everybody would have to wait for the next time they showed themselves again.
However, the Celestial Mountains had just appeared and Lin Feng still had enough time - preparations were important, after all.
"After I complete the task at hand, I will make my way over there. You guys can proceed into the Ying Sea without me, but do watch out for each other," Lin Feng passed a voice-projected message to Xiao Yan. "Once you're inside, it will be difficult for you communicate with anybody in the Divine Lands via voice-projection crystals. I won't be able to triangulate your position that quickly as well, so please take care of yourselves."
Lin Feng's original body was training on Mount Kunlun and this endeavor required the entirety of his mana and abhijnas. Therefore, he was unable to imprint his physical spell bodies upon his avatars or on any of his disciples.
The confrontation at the Ying Sea would have far-reaching consequences. Many powerful individuals would be involved, and it was quite clear that there were some people that even Xiao Yan and company would not be able to handle.
Still, Lin Feng's incessant nagging was a result of his habitual concern for his disciples as their master.
Lin Feng was not actually that worried about their safety. For hot-headed and daring people like Xiao Yan and Zhu Yi, Lin Feng could already count himself lucky if they did not take the heads off other people instead.
The true colors would only be revealed in the crucial moments. The more complicated the situation or the greater the conflict, the happier these guys would be. They had big hearts and great ambitions and were all destined to be major players in the world.
After listening to Lin Feng's orders, Xiao Yan laughed in response. "Don't worry master, I understand. I will take care of myself and the others."
He cut off his connection with Lin Feng and passed another message to Zhu Yi. "Second Junior, we will proceed into the Ying Sea first without you. The fun is about to start - don't be late for it."
Zhu Yi smiled and answered, "Please go ahead. We will be there shortly." The Celestial Sect of Wonders had a secret marker for communicating with and sharing leads with each other, especially in a place that was difficult to communicate normally such as the Ying Sea.
At this moment, Xiao Yan and his company - including the Kui Cow King and the Spiritual Horse King - entered the tunnel and into the Ying Sea.
Immediately after entering the Ying Sea, Xiao Yan produced a tiny crystal the size of his fingernail in front of his eye. He fixed it in place with his mana and attached the thin crystal onto his eyeball.
Under the control of his abhijna and mana, he managed to connect his own vision to the mystical powers of the crystal. He was now able to see the myriad of illusions within the Ying Sea and could tell the correct path from the wrong.
This was a remnant piece from the Heaven-Reflecting Stone that was left behind when Lin Feng re-forged it. The several bits and pieces that remained were processed to become tiny mirror-like crystals. Even though they were only remnants pieces of the original Heaven-Reflecting Stone, they still possessed the mystical abilities of the stone to break deceptions and see through illusions.
Everybody else, including Yang Qing, Zhu Yi and Li Yuanfang had a piece as well.
It was the first time they were inside such a vast and open foreign space like the Ying Sea by themselves. Lin Feng warned them about the Ying Sea, which was full of dangers and deceptive chicanery, but made preparations for them as well.
The more powerful and dangerous illusions were the most difficult to break. Some could not even be countered by the original Heaven-Reflecting Stone itself, let alone the remnant pieces of it. Still, these dangerous illusions were ultimately rare occurrences. Xiao Yan and the others took special care in their venture, and they were able to dodge a great majority of the various illusions.
The company proceeded forward across the white mist-covered Ying Sea. Their speed and efficiency were far greater than most common cultivators.
The only problem was that they still had no headway in their search for the Three Celestial Mountains.
"We might as well seek out the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain first, which is currently under the control of the Great Zhou Empire, and wait for an opportunity to present itself. At least our target is clearer." Xiao Yan remarked with a tinge of hostility in his voice. The Kui Cow King and the Spiritual Sea Horse King were both shell-shocked at his comment, however. "I don't think we can do anything to the Great Zhou Empire."
Xiao Zhener giggled and said, "That's why he said we have to wait for an opportunity to present itself. The Great Qin Empire will have their eyes set on the Great Zhou Empire without question. They won't just sit by and do nothing even if just one of the Celestial Mountains is being controlled by the Great Zhou Empire."
Xiao Yan chuckled and chimed in. "That is correct."
His expression changed a little as he spoke and he glanced downwards at the mist-covered surface of the Ying Sea.
Xiao Zhener and the others followed his eyes and looked downwards as well. Yang Qing began to get a little excited but said nothing.
It was Xiao Yan that spoke first. "What a rare sight. The bottom of the ocean has a spring with a vein of the Shaoyang Mystical Water."
He turned towards Yang Qing and continued, "This will be greatly beneficial to your line of cultivation, Fifth Junior."
Yang Qing nodded his head in agreement. "However, collecting the Shaoyang Mystical Water will take a lot of time. The Three Mountains of the Ying Sea are what's important. If we can take control of the Ying Sea, then searching for and retrieving the Shaoyang Mystical Water will be easy."
Xiao Yan shook his head but the smile on his face was still as warm as ever. His voice became a little more serious, however. "What if someone else retrieves it when we leave? If that person departs immediately after, then we won't be able to retrieve it even if we end up controlling the three mountains."
"Look further and don't lose sight of the big picture over small details. If we take too long to retrieve the Shaoyang Mystical Water, I won't agree to it either, but since you have the Grand Moon Primordial Water in your possession, retrieving the Mystical Water now will be a piece of cake. How can we turn away from something served on a silver platter?"
"We have to control the present to even think about controlling the future. If our slight delay causes us to miss our chances with the Celestial Mountains, then that will be due to our weakness, and also because we are not fated with them."
"We need to know how to compromise and give and take if we wish to survive in the world. However, we need to learn how to grasp opportunities presented to us. Who knows if this stroke of luck will lead us to even greater fortune? Our master is not even making his way here yet due to his tasks at hand. The completion of his task is probably going to be greatly beneficial to our endeavors."
After listening to his speech, Yang Qing pondered momentarily before answering, "You are right, Eldest Senior. Then may I request everyone to wait for me for a little while - I'll be right back."
He hesitated no longer and dived deep into the ocean. He could see a stream of light-green spring water flowing out from the seabed. The spring water and the ocean water did not mix together, and the spring water exuded a certain degree of warmth and flickered with golden light in the dark depths of the ocean's abyss.
Yang Qing pointed a finger and a stream of jade-green water flowed towards the spring of Shaoyang Mystical Water. The Water to rule all waters, the Grand Moon Primordial Water, swept up the Shaoyang Mystical Water spring and caused the seabed to shake and tremble.
Flashes of jade-green light surged around within the Shaoyang Mystical Water stream, and the entire vein began to fall into Yang Qing's grasp. The only problem was that the vein was a little too vast, and Yang Qing needed a little more time to be able to completely control it as he channeled more and more of the Grand Moon Primordial Water within.
However, at this very moment, a frightening force of demonic power barreled forth and pummeled Yang Qing's Grand Moon Primordial Water and detached him from the vein of Shaoyang Mystical Water.
Yang Qing was slightly taken aback as he felt a grand draconic aura envelop his body in the next moment, and he began to feel the movement of mana around his body slow down.
He had not felt such a powerful draconic aura before - not even from Jieyu, who was in the demonic lord advanced stage. He recovered quickly and thought to himself, "A dragon king with the Undying Demonic Soul?"
A giant black shadow emerged in the dark waters. Its entire body was deep blue and it was over a thousand feet long, and had a grand and intimidating appearance. Limitless demonic forces exuded from its body and seemed to stir up the entire ocean - it was a Sea Dragon King.
Xiao Yan detected the arrival of the Sea Dragon King even before Yang Qing's encounter. He frowned a little and was about to dive down into the ocean as well when his heart skipped a beat - he could feel that there was someone around him observing him from the shadows.