The Portal of Wonderland-Volume 2, Chapter 451 The Sea Race’s Forbidden Land

"Oh ho, how did we get here…?"

The Azure Ape King chuckled dryly as he trudged toward a side of the black island and studied the area for a while. With a flick of his wrist, a greenish object appeared in his hand.

It was a green token, oval shaped, made from both jade and crystal. On its underside were engraved wave-like patterns, with an image of a majestic crystal palace masterfully carved above the waves.

The Azure Ape King held the token with one hand and mumbled some kind of incantation under his breath. As he did, the token scintillated with a deep emerald color before shining a light onto the area where the Azure Ape King had run his fingers across earlier.

Phhoo!

The ray of light sprayed onto the ocean, and suddenly—as if someone split the surface of the ocean with a knife—the sea parted ways, its water pushing out of the middle in large waves, revealing a single channel leading to the depth of the ocean.

Studying the channel before him, Shi Mu's heart throbbed. He turned to his technicolor parrot and said, "Cai, you should get into the Spiritual Pet Pocket now."

"Shi Tou, I—!"

Shi Mu did not wait for the parrot to finish its sentence before slapping onto the grey pouch hung around his waist, summoning a large drove of grey light to swoop in and grab Cai into its space.

The Azure Ape King turned and shot Shi Mu a meaningful, beckoning glance and turned to the channel. fr𝚎e𝙬𝚎𝚋𝚗૦ν𝚎𝒍.c૦m

After some brief hesitation, Shi Mu followed.

The floor of the underwater channel leading all the way to the bottom was transparent and lustrous, as if the entire oath was crafted by a group of master sculptors specialized in crystals. On the side of the crystal stairs were two walls made of rumbling, rolling ocean water. It was like the waves were crashing onto an invisible barrier that was so tightly-sealed that not even a single drop of ocean water dripped down. In fact, one could even watch schools of curious fish darting at the wall of water.

Shi Mu admired the world around him for a quick while before pulling his attention back to the path the Azure Ape King was leading him through.

They had not even reached the end of the crystal stairs when a small troop of twenty-odd soldiers of the Sea Race rushed towards them in hostility. All were covered in armor of silver scales, their hands holding onto a trident.

They moved in perfectly synchronized formation and motion, implying a training rooted in discipline and coordination, which could only mean the troop possessed quite powerful combat prowess.

The leader of the soldiers was a tall, gallant man with a mop of blue hair. He was wearing armor of gold with a single red saber hung onto his waist. As his men pointed the tip of their tridents at Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King, he bellowed, "Announce yourselves, intruders who dare step foot in the sacred land of the Sea Race!"

"Look at you, Meng Tu! You're almost like a splitting image of your old man," the Azure Ape King said, grinning as he recognized the blue-haired man.

A perplexed expression crossed the man's visage, but he did not lower his guard. "You… know my father?"

"Aww, don't tell me you have forgotten all about this uncle!" The Azure Ape King sighed. "Fine, I'll admit that no child should be asked to remember a face they haven't seen for four hundred years."

He produced the green, oval token once more. The token flashed, and the aura surrounding him heightened.

The walls of water enclosing the stairs suddenly crashed inward for a bit, causing the space they were in to shake violently. Losing their footing, all but one soldier stumbled—the blue-haired man was the only one who remained firmly planted on his feet the whole time, without a single sign of panic.

The turbulence only lasted for about two or three seconds. As the light on the green, oval token stopped and ceded, the troop once again turned their attention to the Azure Ape King, though this time their face showed a look of terror.

The blue-haired man whom the Azure Ape King had identified as Meng Tu looked sideways hesitantly before carefully asking, "Are you… Uncle Azure Ape?"

The addressed nodded with a grin. "Well, I certainly did not expect this little kiddo who used to fool around with me had now grown so big!"

"Uncle Azure Ape, I'm so sorry for our boorishness," Meng Tu quickly replied as he bowed apologetically.

"No offense taken," the Azure Ape King said. "But I do have some urgent matters to discuss with your father, Meng Ha. Would you please?"

"Bad news, Uncle… My father left a few days ago, and he hasn't returned home yet."

"He's not around…?" The Azure Ape King froze a little before asking. "Well, do you know when will he return?"

"No clue on that, Uncle. My father took off in a rush, as if something urgent had hit him. But, if you don't mind, Uncle, I would be glad to have you stay here in the Crystal Palace in the meantime."

Meng Tu may have made such an offer, but his eyes did not once lose any sign of wariness toward Shi Mu.

The Azure Ape King turned to Shi Mu, and his voice started to bubble in the latter's head via telepathy, "Sect Fellow Shi, Meng Ha is the Great Elder of the Sea Race. This ming met him four hundred years ago, and even then, he was quite close to retiring from the affairs of his people. In fact, I heard that he had not even stepped out of the Crystal Palace for hundreds of years. But now… if even a man of his stature rushed out of the palace, then surely something important has happened to the sea people. Now that we still have some time with us before our set deadline, why don't we stay here for a while and see what can we do next?"

"To be frank, sir… That arch nemesis of the White Ape… One of his clones—a golden Jiao dragon with Heaven-rank power—had arrived at Blue Cerulean Star. His powers were devastating, and I should know. We crossed swords a few times since my journey here and I have, many times, almost died at his hands," Shi Mu replied telepathically. "he has been stalking me for days now, which means any time now he could pop up again, stopping us from leaving Blue Cerulean Star."

"Holy—what? Why have you never talked about this?!"

The Azure Ape King was almost trembling at the revelation internally, but as someone who had lived for hundred of years, he had plenty of time to practice donning a pokerface on the outside regardless of his mind.

"Well, we couldn't possibly be a bother to you, especially when your father isn't around," The Azure Ape King turned to Meng Tu and said. "Instead, could we ask a favor from you, my kind boy? Uncle needs a bit of your help."

Meng Tu hesitated a bit before replying, "Whatever your wishes may be, Uncle, I'll do my best to meet them."

"Alright then, I'll be frank then: the reason of our visit this time was over something very urgent. We would like to borrow your treasured transporting portal to send myself and Sect Fellow Shi here out of the Blue Cerulean Star. Whatever it costs, Uncle would pay it completely… Can you help?"

"I…" Meng Tu looked downright apologetic. "I'm about to disappoint my Uncle now."

"Why?" The Azure Ape King's eyebrows creased a little.

"My mind is willing, Uncle, but the circumstance is tight. My father has always been the sole beholder to the key that activates that particular portal; And now that he isn't around, we don't have that key either," Meng Tu explained.

"Then where is your father now? I'll look for him right this instant," the Azure Ape King said with a tinge of subtle unhappiness.

Meng Tu's eyes twinkled. "I have no idea where Father has gone to."

"…Well, well. Boy, I heard that you have been stuck on early Earth-rank for a long time now, haven't you?" The Azure Ape King said, abruptly changing the subject. "You must be quite frustrated about your plateau, am I right?"

"Unfortunately, I am not gifted nor talented in cultivation. I'm sorry if my own staggering progress has troubled you, Uncle." Meng Tu's expression changed slightly, as if he was trying to force down bubbling rage. "Now, if Uncle does not want to stay in Crystal Palace for the time being, this boy here would not force you to, really."

"Pray tell, have you ever heard of something called the… Breakthrough Pill?" The Azure Ape King said behind a smile.

Meng Tu's eyes glinted. He masked it very quickly, but the Azure Ape King caught it.

"Well, I have a Breakthrough Pill with me, so I wouldn't mind showing you how it looks. In fact, now that I think of it… Your Uncle is getting rather old, so this thing isn't even going to be too useful for me," tthe Azure Ape King stopped before fixing Meng Tu with a meaningful glance, and then continued, "But if you need it, I guess I can consider giving it…"

Meng Tu's tense expression subsided. "Enough. There's clearly nothing threatening going on here, so you may leave us first," Meng Tu said to his own men, waving them away in dismissal.

"Understood!" the second-in-command replied with a cupped hand gesture before bringing the troop back home with him.

After making sure that they had truly left, Meng Tu asked, "Uncle Azure Ape, do you really, really have a Breakthrough Pill with you?"

The Azure Ape King smiled without answering. With a flash, a white porcelain bottle appeared in his hand. He took off the lid and a palatable, rejuvenating aroma quickly filled the air from the bottle.

"So, you weren't fooling me, Uncle?" Meng Tu exclaimed in glee.

"Oh please, silly boy. This king is an old man! There's no point in swindling a little lad like you, is there?" the Azure Ape King smiled.

Meng Tu's eyes twinkled brightly as he stared at the porcelain bottle. Then he started, "Alright. Father went to the land forbidden by my people. The key of that transporter portal is indeed with him. I didn't lie about that at all."

"Huh, and where would that be?" The Azure Ape King pressed on.

"Six hundred miles north of here. It's the part of the ocean where the currents are chaotic and untamed, with tidal waves high enough to eclipse the sky and stinging gales blowing through all day. There is a single island composed of black reefs there—and in fact, the transporter portal that you would like to use is near there too," Meng Tu answered candidly.

After making sure that Meng Tu had laid everything down, the Azure Ape King waved his hand, and the porcelain bottle flew right into Meng Tu's hand.

"Well, I wish you all the best in breaking through, boy. Alas, Uncle shall now take his leave." Just like that, the Azure Ape King climbed up the flight of stairs without once turning back to look at Meng Tu.

As soon as they broke through the surface of the sea, Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King took off with the Green-winged Flying Carriage.

"You sacrificed a lot for this, sir," Shi Mu started.

"Whatever. I planned to gift these sooner or later anyway… I just didn't know it would be this soon," the Azure Ape King replied coldly, quite obviously upset about Shi Mu hiding the fact about Ao Zu.

Shi Mu didn't say anything to that. In fact, they allowed the silence to hover around them as they travelled to the forbidden land of the Sea Race.

…

A black island towered above the sea. Around it, waves roared and rumbled, while the clouds above it hung low. The spiritual energy in this area was very turbulent, as if the island itself was a powerful magnet absorbing every single mote of spiritual energy into itself, which in turn caused the chaotic climate around it.

It was, indeed, the forbidden land of the Eastern Sea. Within a radius of ten miles, the island was surrounded and guarded by layers of sea troops, ensuring no trespassers could sneak in undetected.

At the southwest part of the island, a troop of sentries was patrolling the area. A single streak of green light shot towards them rapidly and landed close by.

Witnessing the light, a big, beefy man who appeared to be the leader of the troop instantly looked alarmed. "Alert, there's something going on there!"

Behind him, the soldiers pulled out their weapons and swords. Under the beefy man's lead, they rushed forward.

"State your name, trespassers! From here onwards to a radius of a hundred miles is taboo for anyone to cross, so please stop, whoever you are!" Sensing the aura of men, the beefy man cried loudly. Despite sensing that the intruders were more powerful than himself, he was not the slightest bit perturbed.

As the green light receded before their eyes, they found out that it was, in fact, a Green-winged Flying Carrier, with two men—an elderly man and a youth—standing on it. It was none other than the Azure Ape King and Shi Mu, respectively.

"The ancient transporter portal is just around here. Seeing that this is the Eastern Sea people's forbidden land, we better not cause a scene here," the Azure Ape King said telepathically, without actually addressing the man first. "However, as the Water Race is known for being stubborn, I would advise Sect Fellow Shi to follow my lead."

Shi Mu was wearing a very odd expression. He stared at the black island from afar, his eyes twinkling a slightly.

"Sect Fellow Shi, what's the matter?" The Azure Ape King asked, noticing the change in his expression and his lack of response.

Taken a little aback, Shi Mu shook his head as soon as he came back to his senses. "Oh, it was nothing. I'll do as your ask, sir."

The closer he was to the black island, the more… turbulent his blood became. It was as if they were roaring back to whatever was calling out to him. Not only that, the Black Meteoric Iron Blade hanging behind his back was shuddering slightly too.

The beefy man looked a little flushed as he repeated again, in a low growl, "Gentlemen, I beseech you to consider our advice. Not one step closer, please. This land is forbidden to outsiders."

Seeing Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King ignoring him completely as they talked to each other crossed the beefy man to no end. The only problem was that they also happened to be much, much stronger than himself, so he couldn't exactly challenge them.

"Our identities are not of your concern, soldier. We are here to look for Great Elder Meng Ha of the Sea Race," the Azure Ape King replied dully, producing the green token from before. "Take this to him."

The beefy man did not take it immediately. Instead, he studied the trespasser before him and asked, "How did you come to know that the Great Elder is here, sir?"

The Azure Ape King's face fell. As a Heaven-rank powerhouse, he was used to being deferred and revered by the people of the Western He continent. He was definitely not used to being questioned by a rank-and-file soldier whose power level didn't even surpass Xian Tian.

A dominating aura started to erupt from the Azure Ape King before pounding downwards onto the troop of soldiers before him. The beefy man's face instantly changed as he stumbled a few steps backward, a fine trail of blood streaming down the edge of his lips. The rest of his troop had it even worse—some of them were on the verge of blacking out.

"Sir, there is no need to resort to this," Shi Mu quickly extended his arm in front of the Azure Ape King. "They are just a bunch of ignorant, witless soldiers. It's unwise to cause trouble over something this trivial."

The Azure Ape King fixed Shi Mu a glance before sneering, but he did retract much of his pressure.

The beefy man, meanwhile, was almost completely limp from the encounter.

A streak of blue light dashed toward them from the black island. When the glow had receded, it revealed a graceful, ravishing maiden clad in a blue robe.

Shi Mu froze. The girl was none other than the Saint of the Eastern Sea, Xiang Zhu.

Her eyes panned all over Shi Mu in glee as she exclaimed, "It really was you, Big Brother Shi!"

"Lady Xiang Zhu, it's been a long time," Shi Mu nodded as he replied.

Judging from the powerful pulses emitted from the girl's body, Shi Mu could tell that she was already a Moon-ranked magician… and approaching Crescent Moon-ranked, in fact. That was very impressive progress in and of its own.

"It was no wonder that I felt my essential pearl close by. I had hoped that it was you, and it's great that it really is!" Xiang Zhu chirped excitedly. "Oh, right! Where have you been all these years, Big Brother? I've been trying to get some news on you, but I never seemed to hear any…"

"Well, well, well! Sect Fellow Shi, one would not expect you to be such a playboy—you even have a beautiful bosom friend in the sea, huh?" the Azure Ape King chuckled, clearly enjoying the chance to poke fun at Shi Mu.

Xiang Zhu's face was instantly reddened at his suggestion, yet that bashful expression made her look even more ravishing—so much that Shi Mu could feel his heart throbbing involuntarily.

Hearing the Azure Ape King made her notice that Shi Mu wasn't alone. But now that she noticed him, she also noticed the aura of Heaven-rank emanating from him, causing her to look quite stifled.

Shi Mu faked a cough. "None of that, sir. This is, uh, Lady Xiang Zhu, the Saintess of the Eastern Sea. She's someone I knew way back in the Dongzhou Peninsula. Xiang Zhu, this is the strongest among the Azure Apes on the Western He continent, the Azure Ape King."

"Western He continent?" A look of shock crossed her face before she bowed respectfully. "I apologize for not showing proper respect to a senior powerhouse of the Demon Race."

The Azure Ape King chuckled to himself as he nodded at Xiang Zhu wordlessly.

Shi Mu was just about to say something else when another bolt of blue light darted toward them from the black island. This time, it was a beautiful woman in a courtly blue gown.

The woman's eyes were quick to catch the Azure Ape King in the room. Just as quickly, she looked alarmed as she asked, "Who is this senior gentleman here who made his appearance in the sea people's forbidden land?"

"It is I, the Azure Ape King, acquaintance of the Great Elder Meng Ha of the sea people. I come to seek him today for an urgent matter," the Azure Ape King replied, waving the oval token in his hand.

The woman spied the token and her expression relaxed. "Ah, a friend of the Great Elder. Come this way sir," she beckoned.

The Azure Ape King did not say anything as he descended from the Green-winged Flying Carrier and strutted towards her in midair.

Shi Mu kept the Flying Carrier in, conjuring a small puff of smoke under his feet as he was just about follow when the beautiful woman's body blurred and reappeared before Shi Mu, her hand outstretched to block him on his path.

"You're a human, aren't you?" the woman's eyes stared at Shi Mu like daggers. "On account of your being the Azure Ape King's companion, I am willing to ignore the grave offense you've committed by breaching our people's forbidden land!"

Shi Mu froze.

"M-Master, wait! He's Shi Mu—the same man I've been telling you about before: the man who had saved my life, and the same person who had helped me multiple times back in the secret land during the trials with the barbarians," Xiang Zhu said hurriedly.

"It can't be!" The woman's expression stifled at her explanation before she eyed Shi Mu once more, sizing him up.

Shi Mu masked the flash of defensive hostility in his eyes quickly and flashed her a smile as he cupped his hand forward in salutation, "Xiang Zhu's mentor, I see. This lowly one pays his respect."

He knew that she was only a Moon-ranked magician and was in fact not afraid to tussle with her, but he was the one who was asking for favors from the sea people today. He was reluctant to cause any sort of trouble that would only jeopardize his own plan.

"Hmph! You humans are all vile backstabbers—miscreants who cannot be trusted with any pledge or vow, no matter how oh-so-noble and oh-so-dramatic they were when they hooted about trust… Then, suddenly, when it benefits them, they murdered countless sea people without batting an eye!" Tlthe beautiful woman said severely. "These humans… have long become nothing more than the enemies of our people. Xiang Zhu, you're not to ever contact this human male again!"

"But Master, Big Brother Shi already severed all ties with every single one of the seven sects in the Dongzhou Peninsula! He never harmed even one of us… I can guarantee this with my honor!" Xiang Zhu's pretty face was wrought with panic as she hurriedly defended him.

The woman seemed to hold Xiang Zhu close to herself. Her expression relaxed a little more after hearing those words. Nonetheless, she was still eyeing Shi Mu with wariness and suspicion.

"Xiang Zhu speaks the truth. This lowly one has been spending much of his time travelling through the Western He continent. Together with the Azure Ape King, this lowly one is only here because he needed help on an urgent matter," Shi Mu added. "Breaching the forbidden land was never part of any malicious plan, so please excuse this lowly one if he committed any offense."

"Hmph, human. Just that alone compels me to take no chances. By the honor of the Azure Ape King, the most I can do for you is to have you wait here for the news… no further," the woman concluded, her voice still stoic.

Shi Mu frowned. He looked up and met the Azure Ape King's eyes—who was also frowning at the decision. The Azure Ape King was just about to say something when suddenly, a dart of black light shot toward them from the black isle, even faster than Xiang Zhu and the beautiful woman had. Within milliseconds, the new glowing black light was standing before them already.

A somber, serious expression instantly crossed the Azure Ape King's face at once.

"Heaven-rank!" Shi Mu was just as shocked as soon as he picked on the aura of this newcomer.

As the black light ceded, it revealed an elderly man in a black robe bearing a lucid, sober countenance. A flowing, snow-white beard hung from his chin all the way to his chest.

The elderly man in black turned to the Azure Ape King instantly. "Sect Fellow Azure Ape, it's been such a long time, no? I would never have expected you to travel a thousand miles just to get to this restricted, rustic place of mine."

"Brother Meng Ha! It's been long indeed. Look at you—you've broken into the crux of Mid-Heaven-rank. Much congratulations!" the Azure Ape King replied with a laugh.

"Alright, enough with your flattery. I still haven't forgotten what happened last time… the conclusion of that incident is still pretty much open for debate, isn't it?" Meng Ha said. "Now, what would be the impetus of you looking for me today?"

The Azure Ape King smiled faintly, eyeing the beautiful woman and Xiang Zhu wordlessly.

Meng Ha eyed them briefly before saying, "Leave us, please."

"As you wish," the woman answered, bowing respectfully to the Great Elder before pulling Xiang Zhu by the hand and flying back to the direction of the black island. At the same time, the beefy soldier also took his leave with his troops after a curt bow.

As Xiang Zhu was being whisked away by her mentor, she turned her head and looked at Shi Mu wistfully, as if she had much, much more to talk to him about, yet couldn't get them out of her mouth purely because of the situation right now.

Shi Mu sighed quietly and lowered his head, his eyes deliberately avoiding Xiang Zhu's.

"So, this human lad… Is he with you, or should he leave us too?" Meng Ha said, pointing at Shi Mu.

"No no, he's part of the matter," the Azure Ape King waved, conjuring a green barrier enclosing the three of them inside.

Meng Ha's snowy white eyebrow creased a little, but he said nothing.

"Brother Meng Ha, let's not waste our time being indirect about it. The two of us are here today because we need to use the ancient transporter formation to leave the Cerulean Sea Star," the Azure Ape King began.

"What? You're planning to leave here?" Meng Ha's expression changed abruptly.

"Without a doubt, yes," the Azure Ape King nodded.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember that you are the one who took up the command of the White Ape Demon King to guard Heaven Ascension Peak with your life," Meng Ha said, his eyes twinkling. "Tell me, are you abandoning your oath?"

"It's… well, a long story. I wouldn't have resorted to this if the situation hadn't been so dire," the Azure Ape King sighed.

He tossed a black plate toward Meng Ha as Shi Mu studied it. It was a nondescript black plate that doesn't emit any kind of spiritual pulse, with a picture of a turtle—or something like that—engraved in silver.

Meng Ha's eyes glimted knowingly as he hurriedly caught the plate. He turned it over in his hands then nodded, "As this object is with me, I will fulfill what I've promised long ago, and initiate the ancient transporter formation. Follow me."

With that, he turned quickly.

Shi Mu watched him as a thought occurred in his mind, stopping him from following.

Then, in his ear, he could hear the Azure Ape King explaining, "Once you've reached Heaven-rank, you are no longer confined to the thinking of your own race and species, nor would you be interested in the affairs of mortals. Don't worry about your identity, just follow his lead."

Shi Mu nodded and breathed a sigh of relief before following his footsteps.

With Meng Ha's lead, Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King flew to the eastern side of the black island until they stopped above a single area above the sea.

As they got closer to the black island, the chaotic turbulence of primordial energy became more and more pronounced.

Shi Mu was deadpan the whole time, but the blood essence coursing through his veins rioted more and more violently. Even the hilt of his Meteoric Iron Black Blade was shaking while heat emanated from it.

If he had not taken mind to conceal these minute motions, the Azure Ape King and Meng Ha would have noticed the strangeness by now.

"Elder Meng, may I ask? What is going on with that black island? Why is it causing the primordial energy of the area to be so… chaotic?" Shi Mu's gaze fell onto the island, asking inquisitively.

Even the Azure Ape King looked very interested in the topic.

Meng Ha eyed Shi Mu before answering, "It has nothing to do with your matter, sir. I would be most grateful if you two gentlemen do not poke your nose into the secrets of the sea people."

Shi Mu flashed him an embarrassed smile and kept quiet.

"Let's go. The transporter formation lies underneath the ocean, so follow me," Meng Ha said and flew closer and closer to the surface of the ocean, while Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King followed suit.

They dove into the water, feeling the pressure crushing onto them; Perhaps it was because it was close to the black island, which caused the water to fill with so much primordial energy that the water itself had become more than ten times denser than any other parts of the sea.

The water rumbled, delivering untamed forces at the three, causing their bodies to shudder despite their powers.

However, as someone who belonged in the water, Meng Ha stabilized himself easily. No matter how hard the ocean waves tried, he was as still as a sinking rock. Meanwhile, though Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King were not of the sea, they did have their own means to cope with the environment.

Shi Mu unleashed a little of the totem powers he had, covering himself with a black luster. Water just glided over his body as if repelled by his skin.

Meanwhile, the Azure Ape King's body flashed green as he enclosed himself within the barrier.

"Ho, it seems that you're no ordinary human after all. That's the Art of the Totem used by barbarians," Meng Ha remarked with a surprised tone after eyeing Shi Mu.

"It's nothing much, especially compared to what the Great Elder had seen before."

Meng Ha let out a low chuckle—no one could tell for sure if it was out of being impressed or out of scorn—and continued downward to the bottom of the ocean.

The water was unnaturally deep here. It took the three of them, despite their speed, half an hour to finally see the bottom.

A look of surprise crossed Shi Mu's visage as his eyes caught sight of a gigantic palace.

It was a pretty large complex, about twenty to thirty acres wide, made from an unknown material that looked superficially similar to green jade stones. Under the sea, they let out a beautiful, dazzling green glow. Schools of fish swam around them, hence completing what looked like an astonishing portrait of life much different from anything seen on land.

Around the palace was a dome of green light—most likely a protective barrier.

Shi Mu's gaze suddenly converged on a single large, circular space hidden inside the green dome of light, in the middle of the palace. An altar-looking object stood tall in the middle of the court, emanating a pretty hot glow which then formed the outline of a gigantic, white formation.

Although they were outside of the dome-shaped barrier, Shi Mu could still feel the intense energy pulses from it.

"Yep, that's it: the ancient transporter portal that can send you out into other worlds in the galaxy," the Azure Ape King's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Let's go," Meng Ha said, producing a single green token and sending a ray that melted into the dome around the palace.

The dome cracked open a hole, and he flew in.

Shi Mu turned to the Azure Ape King inquiringly.

"It's fine," the Azure Ape King's lips moved as he replied telepathically. With a blur, his figure shot into the dome as well. Shi Mu followed.

Once they crossed the barrier, the pressure of the ocean subsided instantly.

Shi Mu was aghast—the amount of primordial energy in this place was astounding! It was even more concentrated than the amount back in the very best spot within the Western He continent.

The Azure Ape King's eyes glinted at the revelation and smiled. "No wonder Brother Meng Ha could progress so quickly. This place is filled with primordial energy! Anyone who picks this place to cultivate would have progressed much faster than anywhere else."

Meng Ha gave a sly chuckle, but he said nothing. Soon, he brought the two to the middle of the altar.

An expression of shock crossed Shi Mu's face once more as he looked at the altar and the formation on top of it. It was so much larger than he had ever expected! Just the area of the formation itself was about ten to twenty yards wide, where eighteen pillars of stone stood, carved into the likeness of dragons. They looked about the color of azure green, but no one could really tell what was the material.

Every single pillar had a dragon engraved on it, their mouths ejecting a sort of concentrated ray of white light toward the center of the formation.

"Huh? There's no spirit stone supplying it energy, but the formation works nonetheless?" Shi Mu scanned the surroundings before blurting out in amazement.

"An Intergalactic Transporter Formation would need an innumerable amount of Spiritual Energy that no Spirit Stone would ever be sufficient enough to maintain. Hence, the great builder of this formation used their power to forcefully break open the spiritual vessels around the sea and channel its energy to these eighteen pillars here. In other words, the formation was powered by the earth's own vessels," the Azure Ape King explained.

A look of realization dawned on Shi Mu. No wonder this area was so full of primordial energy!

That wasn't the only thing that struck him with awe—whoever created this formation managed to forcibly channel the earth's spiritual vessel, which means this person was very, very powerful, more than anyone he had ever met.

"Hmph, you done with your nagging? Get into the formation if you want to leave Cerulean Sea Star," Meng Ha said, a little bit too unkindly. "I'll be initiating the formation from here."

The Azure Ape King gave a laugh, obviously not taking that stoic remark to heart. With that, he pulled Shi Mu into the center of the formation.

Meng Ha walked toward the middle of the eighteen pillars and started to mutter an incantation, his hand delivering a flash of light with a wave. Then, with the sure sounds of "ke-rack, ke-rack", a black pedestal slowly rose.

Meng Ha placed two star stones onto the pedestal and continued his chanting as he made a flurry of handsigns, which a mirage of each of them melted into the pedestal.

The black pedestal started dazzling brightly with white light, encasing the two star stones.

Ke-rack!

The stones shattered instantly and released lights as bright as the stars before they merged into the Intergalactic Transportation Formation.

One of the dragon pillars started to light up with a bright white light, as if someone had ignited a gigantic flame. Then, the next pillar lit up in the same fashion, too. One by one, white lights lit up from one to another like a passing of torches—soon, half of the eighteen pillars had lit up.

The formation underneath Shi Mu's feet was humming louder and louder.

Shi Mu's lips quivered into a smile of relief. A moment later, he would be out of here—and he would finally be out of the Golden Jiao Dragon's pursuit—

It was then when something unexpected happened.

There was a long cry breaking through the humming ambience. It came from above.

Then there came a single golden spark emerging from a distance. In milliseconds, the spark became an orb that grew larger and larger… at an alarming speed.

Something was heading toward them.

Shi Mu's face was twisted with a dread rooted in recognition. He didn't even need to see the face of that incoming thing to know who that could be. There was only one individual he knew who could possess such speed and such bloodcurdling roars

The Azure Ape King and Meng Ha heard the same cry. With a shock, they turned to face the golden light.

"Sect fellow Shi, don't tell me this…" The Azure Ape King's face was pale as he asked Shi Mu telepathically.

Shi Mu was already wearing a horrified grimace as he nodded.

Within that exchange, the golden orb had already grown large enough to reveal the silhouette of a person.

Shi Mu's face was completely possessed with terror. He turned to the pillars around him, and saw that six of them had yet to light up—the formation would be activated once all eighteen pillars had lit up, right?!

But they won't be able to make it if the pillars kept this pace. The golden Jiao dragon was faster than them!

"What… is that bizarre thing?" Meng Ha's eyes narrowed under his furrowed eyebrows as he watched the golden glow zooming in.

Panicked, Shi Mu gritted his teeth and his body erupted with a dazzling golden burst. He had pushed every single mote of his Real Qi into use as golden scales surfaced on his skin.

A powerful force coursed through Shi Mu's body and into the space around him—it was a hair's breadth away from Heaven-rank itself.

The Azure Ape King and Meng Ha were aghast.

Right now, within Shi Mu's veins, his already roaring blood was boiling. He ignored them, pulling out his Meteoric Iron Black Blade from the scabbard, casting a chilling black glow from its edge.

"Sir Azure Ape King, for the sake of our plan, we have no choice but to team up and hold him off while the formation initiates!" Shi Mu cried hoarsely.

The Azure Ape King's eyes twinkled. He nodded, and with a brief glint of green in his hand, a long green rod was now in his grip. It emanated such a terrible aura that it could only be a sort of special instrument.

The golden light inched closer and closer to them

Its accompanying aura had hit the area. Meng Ha and the Azure Ape King's face were twisted into grimaces of their own.

"Sect Fellow Azure Ape, and you, human—is this thing after the two of you?!!" Meng Ha turned his head, his eyes boring into the two of them as he raised his voice.

They had yet to answer him when the space close to the golden light shook violently until suddenly, the golden light vanished.

The three of them were completely wrought with alarm.

The next second, standing close by the altar after a ripple in space, was a man in dazzling golden light. It was Ao Zu.

"Don't even think of escaping me!"

The moment his eyes caught Shi Mu in the corner, Ao Zu immediately boomed, realizing Shi Mu's plan quite instantly. His body flared up in dreadful gold as he quickly elongated into a golden Jiao dragon and dashed at the transportation portal itself.

Shi Mu roared back as crimson light flared from his own body. His left hand once again blazed with white flame before mixing into the red light of his body.

He brandished the blade in his hand and it elongated into pure light energy sweeping toward Ao Zu.

Similarly, the Azure Ape King gave a low growl, the green rod in his hand scintillating in brilliant emerald as it expanded to ten times its original size. He swung, projecting ten thick mirages of the green rod. Like a deluge, they went toward the golden Jiao dragon in an even more terrifying fashion than Shi Mu's attack was.

Booom!

With a loud racket, the golden Jiao dragon's body shuddered… and shot backward from the force.

Meanwhile, Shi Mu and the Azure Ape King stumbled, their feet pounding against the floor seven times before they managed to regain their footing.

The Azure Ape King was beyond stunned. He fixed Shi Mu with an incredulous look, as if he couldn't understand how this little human punk before him managed to even escape such a terrifying pursuer.

Little did he know that Ao Zu was wounded severely twice, which meant that, by now, he did not even possess forty percent of his original powers when he first descended to Cerulean Sea Star.

With a brilliant glow, Ao Zu's body stabilized as he scanned the pillars around the transporter formation.

There were only three unlit ones left.

The golden Jiao dragon's pupils constricted and opened his jaw wide. A golden shower shot out from within, hurling toward one of the corners of the formation.

At the same time, the horn on his forehead glowed before shooting out a single ray of golden light at the other side of the formation.

Once the formation was damaged—Shi Mu would have absolutely no way to go.