Journey to the head

In the depths of the ocean, where sunlight could no longer penetrate, after passing through a dark expanse of sea and continuing downwards, a colorful halo of light appeared on the surface of the water.

It was a vast expanse of spiritual light emanating from all sorts of glowing insects, schools of fish, pearl shells, corals, jellyfish, and demons who had embarked on the path of cultivation and could be called "sea creatures."

"Tian Yuanzi, take care."

Inside the treasure ship, the deacon of the Sea Abyss Pavilion bid farewell to Lu Qian, who in turn expressed his gratitude to them. He then left the treasure ship's water-dividing formation with the Jade Dragon and went straight into the unfathomable deep sea.

The moment he touched the seawater, a deep blue light shone faintly in Lu Qian's arms. The surrounding seawater trembled gently, as if uttering a soft murmur, and then tenderly enveloped Lu Qian.

The intense water pressure and water elemental confinement I had previously felt vanished without a trace, leaving me feeling as comfortable and at ease as if I had returned to the womb. This was precisely the wondrous effect of the unique treasure, the Ocean-Bearing Pearl, crafted from Dragon Pearls.

When the treasure ship was completely out of sight, the Jade Dragon let out a cheer, and its true form unfolded.

A hundred-foot-long dragon coiled in the sea, its four claws outstretched, as if cast from steel, exuding a majestic aura. A single spiral horn on its head shone brightly, its precious light illuminating all directions.

Its entire body was rounded and slender, extremely graceful, radiating a sacred and beautiful light in the darkness.

Since entering the Nascent Soul stage, the Jade Dragon has acquired all four claws and has achieved the form of a dragon.

Lu Qian also had doubts about the Jade Dragon's growth. Although he had long since become a pure-blooded dragon by borrowing the blood of a true dragon, his body was still repeating the snake-to-dragon transformation process.

Once he achieves the primordial spirit, and his dragon body transforms into a true dragon body, will his pure dragon bloodline be further sublimated and evolved, making him the overlord among dragons?

"The overlord of dragons? What is that?" Jade Dragon was extremely excited.

“It’s still a dragon,” Lu Qian said calmly.

At this moment, the Jade Dragon revealed its true form, unleashing its natural allure. A group of luminous rays, their senses disrupted, froze, and collided in a chaotic mass.

Lu Qian and Yu Jiao skimmed across the trench where emerald hot springs gushed forth, while crimson bloodworms swayed gracefully atop the obsidian spire. Yu Jiao patted the spire, and the bloodworms instantly contracted, only to bloom again in the next moment like red spider lilies.

"My lord, look quickly—" Jade Dragon pointed to the abyss.

Countless golden jellyfish were rising from the rift valley, their semi-transparent caps resembling glass lanterns. Lu Qian raised his hand and lightly touched the surface; as the pearly light shimmered, the entire swarm of jellyfish danced gracefully at his guidance, illuminating the dark seabed with a golden glow.

A huge black shadow swam by suddenly, startling a school of fluorescent blue fish that scattered like fireworks. As the light scattered, it accidentally illuminated the mast of an ancient shipwreck on the seabed.

This is a mysterious and magnificent place, but unfortunately Lu Qian doesn't have time to leisurely explore it.

With only thirteen days left until the Dragon Palace opens, finding the Dragon Palace will take time, and getting there will take even longer. He could only hope that the Dragon Palace wasn't too far away; otherwise, where could he find the Refining Void True Lord to help him get there?
Moreover, the total area of ​​the Star Sea is larger than the six continents combined. If one were to search blindly, the chance of finding the Dragon Palace would be no less than if the Heavenly Lord of Wonderful Laws exploded on the spot and ascended to heaven in a spiral.

After traveling for a short while, Lu Qian stopped in the huge maze formed by the coral reefs. He combined the jade slip given to him by Hai Yiwei with the information provided by Haiyuan Pavilion and obtained a usable sea chart.

The Dragon Clan's waterways crisscross the seabed, dividing the Starry Sea into sections. Within these sections lie the Dragon Clan's watchtowers, fortresses, water palaces, and cities. The watchtowers and fortresses serve merely as garrison locations, while the water palaces and cities are the administrative centers that govern and manage the seas.

Strictly speaking, the Dragon Clan is also a member of the Sea Clan, but the Dragon Clan is the natural leader of the Sea Clan. Of their current eight Dao Integration Immortal Lords, six are from the Dragon Clan.

Therefore, in the cities of the sea, the dragons and the sea creatures lived together, but the dragons were the managers, leaders, and officials, while the sea creatures were the assistants, subordinates, and clerks.

Based on the intelligence we have gathered so far, and our experiences traveling through the waterways, the underwater world system is vast, bloated, and riddled with factions. It is deeply rooted in bureaucratic thinking, and formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance are rampant.

"My lord, where are we going?"

Yu Jiao poked and prodded here and there, chasing all sorts of animals in the coral reefs away. Finally, feeling bored, it ran back to Lu Qian's side.

Lu Qian was engrossed in organizing the intelligence, his thoughts racing under the pressure of the tight deadline, ignoring him.

Yu Jiao said to himself, "The intelligence clearly states that all the dragons in the sea, whether they are pure-blooded nobles or deformed creatures that evolved from scaled races, have been summoned to the Dragon Clan Holy Land."

"What are so many dragons doing in the Holy Land? There aren't enough toilets to spare them all! Oh—the Dragon Holy Land must hold some secrets; the Dragon Palace might very well be located there!"

The jade dragon suddenly sprang up, thrilled with its own cleverness, and as it spun around, it knocked down a section of giant coral.

The loud noise made Lu Qian look up and glare at him irritably.

"Nonsense, do you even need to guess? I told you not to read the book. This intelligence clearly states that the Holy Land is where the Dragon Palace is located!"

"However, this is a secret of the Dragon Clan. Even now, the Immortal Fallen cultivators still haven't figured out where the Holy Land is."

Yu Jiao angrily turned the tables and said, "So you had already written it down? Why didn't you say so earlier!"

Lu Qian ignored him, fiddling with a piece of broken coral, slowly sorting out his thoughts.

"However, the situation is different now... Our opportunity lies in the fact that the dragons, for some purpose, need to gather together and actively expand the scope of knowledge of this secret."

"Oh!" Yu Jiao nodded vigorously. "So as long as we capture a dragon, we'll have a chance to extract the sea map leading to the Holy Land from it!"

Lu Qian looked at him as if he were an idiot: "The dragons have all gathered at the Holy Land, so where are we supposed to capture dragons?"

“Of course it’s the Holy Land!” Yu Jiao looked at Lu Qian as if he were a fool.

Lu Qian: "Then how do we get to the holy land?"

Yu Jiao: "Why don't we just catch a dragon and ask it?"

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
Lu Qian: "You're playing the chicken-and-egg game with me!"

After receiving three sharp raps on the head, the Jade Dragon finally behaved. He transformed into human form, sat obediently to the side, and listened to the lecture. He also pushed a giant crab that had just escaped back under the collapsed coral.

Lu Qian: "Listen carefully, the key is to find the key issue. As for the specifics of the situation, we need to look at the specific circumstances."

Jade Dragon: (д)b
Snapped!
Lu Qian: "You bastard, you've influenced me!"

Yu Jiao, who had been hit again, had tears welling up in his eyes.

Lu Qianqing cleared his throat: "The key to the problem lies in to what extent the location of the Holy Land Dragon Palace has spread." "I believe that, given the dragon race's obsession with bloodline theory, those 'hybrids' who later evolved into dragons would certainly not have the location of the Holy Land revealed, and even 'mixed blood' with weak bloodlines would be excluded."

"So, how can the Dragon Clan achieve a large-scale gathering of holy lands? Only by gathering dragons from a region, like the team of the Six Fallen Immortal Pillars heading to the Dragon Palace, and then being led by a high-ranking dragon who has mastered the Dragon Palace sea map, can they all go to the Dragon Palace together."

"And these high-ranking dragons who possess the Dragon Palace Sea Chart may not only have one copy!"

"Because Wei Shuai said before that the Dragon Palace Sea is full of turbulent currents and whirlpools, with many traps and winding waterways, and that a nautical chart is always needed to guide the way. If the nautical chart is lost, it will be a big problem. If I were a high-ranking dragon leading the team, I would also make two extra copies of the nautical chart as backup."

"So, as long as we can identify these leaders, find their cave dwellings, and search them, we might be able to obtain a copy of the Dragon Palace Sea Chart!"

Lu Qian's voice slowed down: "So, the key now is three things. First, identify a team leader; second, enter the team leader's cave; and third, may God bless us and there really be a sea chart in this water mansion."

Yu Jiao raised his hand: "Then how do I locate the team leader?"

Lu Qian pondered, "That's the key issue. Moreover, the caves of these high-level dragon clans might all be located in large cities, heavily guarded, teeming with sea creatures, and heavily armed with naval forces, making them difficult for us to enter and exit freely—"

Lu Qian's expression suddenly changed. In an instant, the Jade Dragon had sensed Lu Qian's silent command through the "Reverse Scale Blood Seal". The two of them flashed and disappeared into the seabed, concealing their spiritual energy and mental power, like wooden figures or clay sculptures buried deep in the silt.

At the same time, Lu Qian's cloud-like avatar rose up and shot off in another direction.

A few breaths later, the water trembled, and a rustling, frictional sound arose as the waves passed.

The endless stars lit up in the deep, boundless seabed, like countless eyes of wild beasts. A dark, surging tide of wild beasts, like dark clouds overhead, drifted forward on the seabed!
They moved aimlessly, not even noticing the cloud avatars that Lu Qian had deliberately released to lure the enemy away. They slowly advanced forward, extinguishing all life wherever they went, and any living creature was devoured by the wild beasts.

After a long while, the great river formed by the wild beasts finally flowed out of this place, and Lu Qian and Yu Jiao emerged from the seabed once again.

This batch of wild beasts probably numbers in the tens of millions!
With a scale like that, anyone who hasn't reached the Void Refinement stage must retreat, and there's no telling if there are any powerful wild beasts among them!

It is evident that without the continuous suppression of the dragon race, the wild beasts are multiplying rapidly and merging with each other. After this, the wild beast tide will only become more and more terrifying, and it will be difficult to control in the deep sea!

What exactly is the Dragon Clan plotting that would make them take such a huge risk?
Lu Qian gazed at the dark clouds in the sea, then turned to the still-frightened Yu Jiao.

"I have a plan. Would you like to be an inspector for once?"

"...Du Chashi?"

"It's an inspector, not an inspector. Anyway, it's different in this world. You can investigate however you want, just stuff everything into the inspector's bottle."

After Lu Qian explained further, even though Yu Jiao was excited and eager to try, she couldn't help but ask, "My lord, can they believe me?"

Lu Qian smiled slightly: "If we rush to the big city, I'm afraid it won't work. So we should go to smaller places like the fortress and the water palace first. They're not used to the world, so we won't easily give ourselves away. Then we can use the rumors to create momentum. In less than two days, no one will believe you if you say you're not the real one."

"First, let's start from where we are. This place is relatively close to the Immortal Fall Islands, so it will be easy to retreat even if there is any danger."

"Don't worry, these corrupt officials of the sea tribe are most afraid of inspections and supervision!"

Within the underwater mountain range stands a colossal and dazzling city.

The entire city is not built of bricks and stones, but rather by the natural growth, accumulation, and construction of enormous corals of various colors and shapes. The city's streets are crisscrossed and its buildings are filled with living corals, mother-of-pearls, and pearls, radiating a soft and dreamy seven-colored halo.

The enormous, transparent bubbles, like a dome, filtered in the outside seawater, creating a clear, warm, and stable body of water. Strange-looking sea creature cultivators moved about bustling about, creating a vibrant and prosperous scene.

A huge tridacna shell plaque hangs at the city gate, with three large characters engraved on it: Coral City.

It is the largest and strongest city in the surrounding tens of thousands of miles of sea. Even now, with wild beasts appearing frequently, Coral City remains stable and peaceful.

On the city wall, two orca village chiefs were whispering to each other.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, the Inspector General went to the three water mansions of Anzhu, Jingui, and Jiaoshaji and thoroughly investigated them!"

"That's right. The captain of Anzhu Water Prefecture was stripped of his hat on the spot for embezzling military funds. The registrar of Jin Gui Water Prefecture wanted to hide some account books, but the inspector said that he had lost his ideals and beliefs and resisted the organization's investigation. He was given a more severe punishment and was directly imprisoned."

"The most outrageous one was the chief secretary of the Shark Clan. Just as the inspector arrived at the door, he slit his own throat and committed suicide. Tsk tsk, how much do you think he must have embezzled?"

"Oh my god, these inspectors are terrifying! In just three days, four fortresses and five water palaces have been investigated, and they'll be here soon!"

"Hey, what are you worried about? What does it matter to us common soldiers? I might only take three of those bribes and extortions, earning just a little bit of the city entrance fee. Compared to the adults in the city, it's just a drop in the ocean."

"Furthermore, when imperial envoys come down from above, they are always given advance notice. I guess these water palaces have never heard of the 'inspector' and, without the Dragon Lord in charge, they have all been negligent, which is why they have brought this disaster upon themselves."

"This time is really different; the Inspector General arrived without warning." Suddenly, a voice rang out, belonging to a Whale Shark Captain who had been listening for who knows how long.

The two platoon leaders quickly apologized, but the captain didn't seem to mind and waved them off. Seeing his amiable demeanor, the two men pressed on, "Why did you just come like that? Shouldn't you have given us a heads-up?"

The captain sighed: "You know nothing! Have you ever heard of 'four no's and two direct's?"

The two village chiefs stared blankly: "What do you mean, 'straight'?"

The captain lowered his voice: "Four No's and Two Directs! This is the latest work requirement conveyed by the Inspector General. It means no prior notice, no greetings, no reports, no accompaniment or reception—go straight to the grassroots and directly to the scene! Understand?"

"They might just cut right up to us—uh!"

The captain felt as if his throat had been gripped instantly, and he stared straight ahead.

A beam of light descended from the gates of Coral City.

It was a chubby little boy dressed in magnificent white scale armor, covered with a long, snow-white silk cloak, with a jeweled belt around his waist, star-shaped boots on his feet, and a phoenix-winged platinum crown on his head.

He had a youthful face but a stern expression, hands on his hips, staring intently at the signboard of Coral City. Suddenly, he waved his hand, and the aura of a pure-blooded dragon radiated outwards without any concealment. The whale shark captain's legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.

Their appearance and clothing, already widely known, indicate they are still high-ranking dragons with pure bloodlines.
There's no mistake, it really is the Inspector General!

The two orca village chiefs were so frightened that they scrambled to their feet, shouting, "Four no's and two straight! Four no's and two straight!" (End of Chapter)