The atmosphere in the palace instantly became tense, thick with hostility.
Xu Rong clenched his fists tightly. Ever since the spiritual energy resurgence, he had absorbed the genes of numerous evolved creatures. The genes from this new era were incomparably stronger than those of ordinary creatures from before. Naturally, his power had skyrocketed as a result.
One could say that within the Shattering Heaven stage, he was practically invincible. Across the entire Blue Star, there were only a handful of beings who could threaten him.
But the problem was... he had Chen Hao tagging along with him!
That damn troublemaker was nothing but bad luck!
Xu Rong had been screwed over by him more than once. The last time, in the depths of a certain mountain in Dragon Country, he had been about to devour a highly evolved Devil Vine Tree—only for Chen Hao’s presence to turn a sure victory into a complete disaster!
He had suffered severe injuries because of it.
The worst part? Chen Hao stuck to him like a piece of stubborn gum—impossible to shake off!
With tensions this high, it seemed a fight was inevitable.
And right at that moment—
"B-b-b-big trouble! Invaders! Invaders! We’re no match for them!"
A massive shark crashed into the palace gates, its body drenched in blood, its fins completely missing.
The tense atmosphere shattered instantly.
Qiu Lin stood up, his eyes gleaming with ferocity.
"Invaders?"
The Megalodon’s eyes flickered with an almost human-like intelligence. "You must avenge me, my lord! The invader is too brutal—he sliced off my fins..."
"Your Majesty, help me!!!" The shark, highly intelligent, pleaded.
But the response it received was a merciless palm strike from Qiu Lin!
The Heaven Origin-stage shark died instantly.
"Damn trash! You ruined the underwater palace I painstakingly built for Her Highness the Dragon Maiden? You deserve death!"
The palace was still under construction—he had planned to recruit millions of sea beasts to craft a breathtakingly luxurious underwater palace, one that would surely earn the Dragon Maiden’s admiration.
Qiu Lin glanced back at Chen Hao and Xu Rong. "I’ll deal with you two later!"
With that, he summoned his trident and strode out to face the enemy.
The aura of a Half-Step Divine Transformation expert radiated from him, crushing the surrounding waters under its pressure.
In the Nine Heavens, Qiu Lin might have been nothing more than a weakling everyone bullied—but in the Mortal Realm? Who dared challenge him?
Chen Hao and Xu Rong exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other.
They would wait and observe. Once the fight started, they’d strike when Qiu Lin was weakened—finish him off for good!
......
Trident in hand, Qiu Lin exuded an overwhelming presence.
But the moment he stepped out of the palace, the sight before him nearly stopped his heart.
The seabed was a scene of utter devastation.
His appointed Octopus General—its tentacles all severed.
Every shark had lost their fins. The sea turtles had been decapitated. The sentient abalones had been drained of moisture, turned into dried abalone...
Was this the distortion of morality or the collapse of humanity?
Finally, his gaze landed on Jiang Che—and his fury erupted.
"A human? Another human?! Hahaha..."
Qiu Lin’s aura surged violently, even emitting a radiant glow.
But Jiang Che merely yawned, casually releasing a trace of his Martial God-stage aura.
Qiu Lin: "???"
In an instant, his scales trembled uncontrollably.
M-M-Martial God?!
Impossible!
How could a Martial God exist in this world?
Even in the Nine Heavens, Martial Gods were considered formidable experts!
Thud—
The little dragon-man dropped to his knees without hesitation.
Just then, Chen Hao and Xu Rong rushed out—only to see Qiu Lin kneeling.
What the hell? This guy had been so arrogant a second ago... why was he kneeling now?
But when they looked at Jiang Che, everything became clear.
Ah... Jiang Che had arrived. Well, that explained it.
With Young Master Jiang here, the Dragon Palace was at peace. With Young Master Jiang here, justice was served.
Qiu Lin was shaking like a leaf, too terrified to even register his own humiliation.
Jiang Che glanced at Chen Hao and Xu Rong.
Thanks to his divine perception, he already knew everything.
"So... all this grand preparation was just to summon the Dragon Maiden to the Mortal Realm?"
The moment Jiang Che spoke, Qiu Lin’s soul nearly fled his body.
How did he know about Her Highness?!
Could it be... this man had also descended from the Nine Heavens?
But the current spatial rifts shouldn’t allow a Martial God’s body to cross into the Mortal Realm!
Jiang Che smirked. Special effects truly were a divine skill.
He leisurely walked up to Qiu Lin and patted his shoulder.
"I... I..." Qiu Lin was too stunned to form words.
"You want to ask how I know so much?" Jiang Che chuckled.
Qiu Lin nodded instinctively.
"Ask me in your next life." Jiang Che’s voice was soft—yet it carried the weight of a demon’s whisper.
Qiu Lin: "???"
"No... don’t kill me!!!"
In that one second of desperation, Qiu Lin’s brain worked at lightning speed.
This Martial God knew of the Dragon Maiden—he must also be from the Nine Heavens. Perhaps he was one of Her Highness’s countless admirers.
The Dragon Maiden, the most prestigious princess of the Dragon Palace, possessed the purest dragon bloodline. Before even reaching a century in soul-age, she had already ascended to the Martial God stage, ranking among the Ten Great Beauties of the Southern Abyss Heaven!
Her descent to the Mortal Realm was said to be in search of lost dragon treasures.
The Martial God’s murderous intent must stem from jealousy—he had sensed Qiu Lin’s own ambitions toward the Dragon Maiden. After all, the geniuses of the Nine Heavens were notoriously possessive.
"Lord Martial God! I was wrong! Spare me... I swear I have no ill intentions toward Her Highness! I’ll build the Dragon Palace for you! I can even briefly communicate with the Nine Heavens’ Dragon Palace—I’ll tell you everything I know!!!"
Dragon dignity? A goddess’s honor? None of that mattered in the face of death!
Human Overlord, right this way!
Chen Hao and Xu Rong were dumbstruck by Qiu Lin’s shamelessness.
This guy had zero principles!
Jiang Che was speechless. The little dragon-man’s survival instincts were so strong, he almost felt bad killing him.
Fine. He’d keep him alive—use him to extract more information about the Nine Heavens’ Dragon Palace.
Besides... Jiang Che did have some thoughts about that mysterious Dragon Maiden.
What man hadn’t dreamed of becoming a dragon rider?