Walking on a lake floor was a group of seven demons, but they were unlike any demon Tianyi had seen before. It was a group of six crab-shaped demons and one lobster-like demon. Each one of them wore silver armor that seemed strangely perfect for them and wielded a spear.
"They remind me of the tales of the lobster and crab soldiers of the Dragon Palace that Sun Wukong encountered from Journey to the West," Tianyi said, still finding the scene strangely funny. It was like watching a crustacean acting like a human.
"You mean Son Goku?" Daoyi asked.
"That's the Japanese translation of the name, so it's actually Sun Wukong," Tianyi replied.
"What are you two talking about? What is Journey to the West?" Xi Ri asked, not understanding what Tianyi and Daoyi were talking about.
"You've never heard of Journey to the West?" Tianyi said, surprised. Even if people haven't heard of the original epic, the story had inspired countless modern media such as a famous shounen manga. Tianyi summarized the story for Xi Ri.
"Oh, that's it?" Xi Ri said.
Tianyi sighed. "I guess you would have to grow up with it to understand the feeling. I remember impatiently waiting for the broadcast on my family's television during my younger years."
Thinking back, those days were so peaceful, and he didn't need to have any worries either. "What about you, Daoyi?"
"Me?" Daoyi said. "I just know a bit about it, and the general gist, I didn't grow up with it at all. Oh, but I did watch the movie about an American teen returning the Monkey King's staff and defeating the evil warlord. I don't remember much about that, only the two actor's fight scenes, though."
"Oh," Tianyi said with slight disappointment. It seemed he was the only one excited about seeing the scene before them.
"Still, none of the demons that attacked Azure Leaf City wore any armor or carried any equipment. I wonder why they do." Xi Ri commented.
"I guess we'll find out soon," Tianyi controlled the immortal boat towards the seven demons.
The seven demons raised their guard and brandished their weapons threateningly upon seeing the immortal boat. Tianyi ignored them and struck out with his palm. Instantly a large hand-formed of black qi emerged and captured the seven demons in one fell swoop. The demon didn't even have a chance to resist.
Inside the immortal boat, Tianyi inwardly sighed in relief. He held fear towards Nascent Soul Realm experts, but that didn't mean he liked to show fear in front of others. Tianyi frowned and squeezed his fingers, and the hand formed of qi copied his actions. Muffled screams could be heard in response to Tianyi's actions.
Daoyi and Xi Ri soon discovered why the seven demons were deposited onto the deck of the immortal boat. All seven demons had their limbs severed from their body, making them immobile. The orb-like eyes of the crustacean demons stared at the three humans with unconcealed fear.
"W-who are you! Why have you attacked us!?"
"Do you not know who we are!?"
"You will regret this!"
Tianyi unleashed his aura and caused the seven demons to be silenced by the crushing pressure. Seeing as the demons finally calmed down, Tianyi reigned in his aura. "I'll be the one asking the questions. Understand?"
Seeing the demons nod or attempt to nod, Tianyi continued. "First, what are your identities?"
"My lord, I am Gammarus, a Sea Commander of the Leviathan Clan. I am on a vital mission for the Leviathan Clan!" The first one to answer was the lobster-like demon, who was at the Nascent Soul Realm level, so Tianyi internally named him the Lobster Commander.
"I-I am Ocellatus, a soldier of the Leviathan Clan." Surprisingly, the crab-shaped demon had a rather feminine voice. Tianyi called her Crab One because the names were too weird to remember.
The rest of the five crab-shaped demons also introduced themselves with weird names, and Tianyi just named them like Crab One, so they were Crab One, Crab Two, Crab Three, Crab Four, Crab Five, and Crab Six.
"My lord, I beg you to consider letting us go. If we cannot complete our mission, the patriarch definitely won't let you go." The Lobster Commander said. Although his words seemed to be pleading, in reality, he was threatening Tianyi.
Tianyi wondered why the demons weren't worried about their amputated limbs, but he just guessed that they had methods to regrow them like molting or something. "Do you not know who we are?"
"My lord is probably one of the demons of the surface. I heard that on the surface, there are numerous demons warring for supremacy. But I want to convince you to give up on the water. The Leviathan Clan has long dominated all territory here. You will only suffer." The Lobster Commander continued.
Tianyi felt his lips quirk up. "How do you know we are demons?"
Tianyi got the distinct impression that the Lobster Commander was staring at him weirdly. "How can you not? Although most demons prefer to be in their natural forms, the patriarch and his elders take on forms like you. With your strength, you must be on the same level as the elders."
"Oh?" Tianyi said. "So, what is your mission?"
The Lobster Commander instantly became silent. "I can't say. If I tell you, you'll be hunted by the patriarch. My lord, I sincerely advise you to try your luck elsewhere. The water is the territory of the Leviathan Clan. You're better off conquering the surrounding land."
Tianyi continued to question the Lobster Commander and even the Leviathan Clan soldiers, but the Lobster Commander refused to say anything while Crab One to Six didn't know anything. In the end, it was Daoyi who took action. With Tianyi's aid, Daoyi was able to control the demons into answering all their questions.
It turned out that within Dragon Palace, the core of the Leviathan Clan, existed a dragon egg, and the Lobster Commander led one of the many squads sent out to procure food for the egg. Tianyi felt his eyes alight with interest when he heard this. Wasn't acquiring a dragon as a mount one of his goals for the Demon Slaying Expedition?
However, he soon thought better of it. As the core of the Leviathan Clan, how could it not be protected? Furthermore, Tianyi was clear that the patriarch spoken of by the Lobster Commander was a demon that had entered the True Demon Realm, Leviathan Ancestor. He had many treasures and talismans from his mother that could kill true immortals and true demons, but Tianyi didn't want to confront one unless absolutely necessary. Too many things could go wrong, especially with Daoyi and Xi Ri.
To Tianyi's joy and surprise, he learned that the Leviathan Ancestor was not at Dragon Palace. After deliberating for a while and asking Daoyi and Xi Ri's opinion, the trio decided to check out Dragon Palace.
Naturally, they made sure to ask the Lobster Commander information about the layouts and defensive strength of Dragon Palace. There were three Unity Realm level demons within Dragon Palace, one hundred Nascent Soul Realm level demons, half of whom were sent out, and an uncountable number of demons who had formed their demonic cores.
On a side note, the reason they wore armor and used weapons was because they were copying the Leviathan Ancestor. Hearing the tales of how brilliant the patriarch was for using weapons and armors that other demons didn't, Tianyi felt that the Lobster Commander described a human instead of a demon.
Once they were done questioning the demons, Tianyi wanted to let them go after trapping them but decided otherwise in the end. Although the demons thought Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri were demons who took a different form, that didn't mean the elders of the Leviathan were so clueless. If word reached the patriarch, he would definitely be able to piece together the truth. Tianyi crushed the seven demons into dust after making sure there was no way to trace their death back to him.
Tianyi controlled the immortal boat to move towards the Dragon Palace according to the Lobster Commander's information. He made sure that all the stealth features of the immortal boat were in the highest state. Since the immortal boat was created by his mother, Xi Mengfei, most true immortals or true demons would not be able to detect it at all.
A week later, the immortal boat arrived at Dragon Palace. Upon seeing the actual structure, all three of them couldn't help but gasp in amazement. Dragon Palace was an underwater palace that was situated on a coral reef and encased in a giant bubble. The walls were formed of white marble, the roof formed of gold, and the coral reef radiated a rainbow light that illuminated the surrounding waters.
It was akin to a fairy tale come to life.
However, no matter how mesmerizing it was, it was still enemy headquarters, and the trio had to be wary of being discovered.
"The bubble seems to be a formation used to detect intruders," Tianyi said upon observing the situation. This was the first formation he had seen in the Demon Cage Realm. "But it shouldn't be a problem for my immortal boat."
"Your immortal boat is really nice," Daoyi commented with slight envy.
"You probably can't get one like mine, but you should have no problem purchasing one," Tianyi said.
Daoyi rolled her eyes. "I'd rather spend it on resources for my cultivation. An immortal boat costs a lot of money. It's like buying a house back on Earth. Sorry, but I'm just too poor."
"Oh," Was all Tianyi could say. He just had the feeling of figuratively rubbing his wealth in Daoyi and Xi Ri's faces. "Maybe that will change after we ransack Dragon Palace. Didn't the Lobster Commander say that Dragon Palace had a treasure room that was filled with the rarest treasures of the waters?"
"Mhmm, probably won't be able to compare to the contents of your spatial ring, though," Daoyi said, causing Tianyi to fall silent again. He had no rebuttal for that.
The Dragon Palace had numerous guards patrolling the premises. Tianyi even spotted a few upright shrimps he called shrimp knights, but that wasn't the main point. Using the cloaking feature of the immortal boat, Tianyi and his passenger sneaked into the Dragon Palace.
Once inside the formation, the immortal boat was too large, so Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri had to disembark to search the palace on foot. Even without the immortal boat, Tianyi had another treasure that could hide their presence. It was a mantle that allowed anyone who was under it to become invisible and undetectable through sight, smell, sound, and even immortal sense. He had used it as a blanket on the beach. It was a piece of fabric that was even better than a certain boy wizard's!
"Tianyi, doesn't this artifact allow you to go anywhere in the Demon Cage Realm unhindered?" Xi Ri asked, having long gone numb to the number of treasures Tianyi had. It was like Tianyi's spatial ring was a particular pocket of a robot cat from the future, having all the solutions to every problem.
Tianyi shrugged in response. He had no use for the treasures most of the time, but when he did have use for the treasures gathering dust, they were handy.
The three of them continued to explore the vast palace. The corridors and rooms were far larger than Jade Peak Palace, most likely to accommodate the demons that roamed the palace. The three had several close calls in which they almost bumped into the patrolling demons due to how much space the demons took up but always managed to pass untouched in the end.
After what seemed like hours, the trio finally managed to make it into the place the Lobster Commander described. In front of a colossal door carved with relief sculptures of a dragon stood eight guards, each equal to a nascent soul grandmaster.
As it would be suspicious if the door suddenly opened by itself, the three waited for feeding time. Once enough "food" was brought back, the caretakers would feed the egg periodically. Thankfully, it wasn't long until the next feeding time.
A group of ten turtle demons with large baskets carrying what seemed to be some sort of blood approached the door. After the lead demon talked to the guard, the door to the incubation room opened, revealing what was inside.
Inside, there was a large pool with four miniature waterfalls pouring into it. And in the center of the pool was a small platform where an azure egg stood upright. Just from the door opening, the dense spiritual qi within blasted everyone who was near the door. Even Tianyi was surprised as the density of spiritual qi could even compare to his Jade Lotus Clear Pond.
Not letting themselves be stunned too long, Tianyi and co quickly trailed behind the turtle-like demons and successfully entered the room. However, just as the three entered, one of them accidentally stepped on one of the demon's back flippers while trying to move out of the closing door.
"Ow!" The demon who had its flippers stepped on said as he looked behind him to see what had stepped on him.
"Old Seven, what are you doing? You know we can't be here too long. We have to do our job and quickly leave." Another demon called out to him.
Scanning the surroundings one last time with suspicion, the demon continued to move towards the pool at the center of the room. Tianyi sighed in relief and ignored the pointed looks Daoyi and Xi Ri were giving him.
Ignorant of the three intruders, the ten turtle demons took turns approaching the pool and pouring the contents of their basket into it. With each content poured into the pool, the originally clear water took on a more bloody color. The scene reminded Tianyi of the time he absorbed the Dragon Emperor's blood essence using the Blood Absorption Ritual.
When the turtle demons finished pouring the contents of their containers into the water, the pool was almost opaque red. Soon after, the symbols carved into the pool walls and floors began to shine as the water began to produce a red string that was absorbed by the azure egg. With each passing moment, the egg became deeper and deeper in color.
"Boss, how long do we have to do this? I cannot even remember when we've started to feed the dragon egg with monster blood. We must have poured enough to fill the pool over a thousand times by now." One of the turtle demons asked.
The "boss" looked around the room before glaring at the demon who spoke. "Quiet! Do you think making this a true dragon egg is such an easy thing to do? Do you know how thin the dragon blood in the monsters hunted is? If you really want it to be faster, why don't you jump in? Although you don't have much dragon blood inside of you, it should be more than the monsters the squads brought back."
The turtle demon who spoke shrunk his head back into its shell. "Aha, I was just joking. Although refining the blood essence is hard work, it's also a stable and easy job with many rewards. Why would I wish for it to end?"
After that small episode, the turtle demons left the incubation room, leaving Tianyi, Daoyi, and Xi Ri alone inside.
"I didn't think the dragon egg would be real. At most, I thought it was a mixed-blood dragon egg." Tianyi said and clicked his tongue in surprise.
"Is it really possible to create a dragon egg this way? It seems so unscientific." Xi Ri said.
"You remember that this isn't Earth, right? Lots of things that can't be done with modern science can be done with qi here. Although, you're right that it is weird. This isn't a demon upgrading its bloodline but trying to change the very nature of the egg. I'm not sure the soul of the original creature within the egg can withstand a dragon's body." Tianyi said.
Tianyi brought the three in front of the egg and observed it. Although he could sense the increasingly powerful life force within the egg, Tianyi couldn't sense any soul fluctuations. "Daoyi, can you sense a soul within the egg?"
Daoyi held her hand against the shell before shaking her head, answering Tianyi's question.
"Strange. At most, it will be a lifeless baby dragon. What use would such a tiny body have?" Tianyi muttered, but then his eyes alighted. Soulless bodies were perfect materials to create clones from. He even had the idea to make this dragon egg his dragon clone!
Tianyi reached out his hand and patted the egg carefully not to raise any alarms. But the moment he did so, the golden pill that had been quietly slumbering within his robe started causing a ruckus. Before Tianyi could do anything, the pill shot out of his sleeves.
CRACK!
There was now a pill-sized hole in the incomplete dragon egg.
Lovely