“Lord Long Zhiming what is the meaning of this? What is this nonsense about the revival of the Sea Beast Sect?” Master Shan Jin roared angrily.

“Submit and you will be given a quick death. Try and resist us and you will suffer pain for an eternity.” Lord Long Zhiming said with a maddened glare as his usual calm demeanor was replaced savage aura.

“Rubbis.h.!.+ Only a fool would side with the Sea Beast Sect!” Master Shan Jin roared as his palm smashed the air, releasing a powerful shockwave at Lord Long Zhiming.

“Hah! We will see who is the fool once the sea is dyed red once again.” Lord Long Zhiming laughed, waving his hand and releasing a powerful shockwave of his own.

Signaling the start of what would definitely a fierce battle, the two shockwaves released by Master Shan Jin and Lord Long Zhiming collided, causing the air to quiver and shake as a piercing boom of wind embraced all of who were present.

As Master Shan Jin and Lord Long Zhiming, two high saint level experts began to battle each other, all of the remaining saints be they high saints, full saints or lesser saints, all found opponents of a similar caliber to fight.

“If the group didn’t split into three then the Dragon G.o.d Palace or shall I say the Sea Beast Sect would definitely be at a disadvantage. At least until whatever was trapped within that cauldron joins the fray.” Zhang thought before refocusing his attention toward the ma.s.sive cauldron that everyone had somewhat forgotten about.

Within the churning seven colored flames, the crystal skull that Lord Long Zhiming has tossed in and the air around was undergoing a tremendous unthinkable change.

Like an insatiable beast, the crystal skull absorbed a huge splint of the essence floating in the air and in turn slowly regenerated into a human-like form.

From a newly grown spinal column, a wide variety of bones and vessels had to branch out like the roots of a tree.

Once lifeless eye sockets were now replaced by reddish orbs filled with malice while a pair of devilish jet black horns came into view.

In a flash, the crystal skull was covered underneath a layer of sickly pale skin as a maniacal laugh reverberated into everyone's ears.

Despite having undergone what could only be called a miraculous change, the master of the Sea Beast Sect Long Jieshu still looked like he belonged apart of the dead more than the living. Other than his eyes which were full of life and vigor, the rest of his body was reminiscent of a shriveled-up corpse than that of a living being.

“I'm free! After all of these hundreds of years! Ahahahaha! Now my reign shall begin anew and blood will fill the sea once again!” Long Jieshu laughed in a maniacal manner as he levitated into the air.

Although it was unnoticeable at first, a strange pressure had filled the room and before long everyone present felt as if a mountain was pressing down upon their shoulders as if their feet were shackled to the ground and their bodies bound in place by the very air around them.

As quickly as it had started, all of the fighting and strugglings ceased and all eyes were focused upon the ancient terror that had once ruled over the Eastern Sea with an iron fist.

“My lord, your humble servant welcomes your return!” Lord Long Zhiming said humbly while kneeling on one knee, prompting all of the former members of the Dragon G.o.d Palace to do the same.

“Lord Long Zhiming, I hope that our prior agreement still stands!” Zhang said in a loud tone as he, his wives and the few subordinates that had accompanied them quickly kneeled on one knee.

There was now a clear division within the room, those who were a part of the Sea Beast Sect and those two oppose them, with one side kneeling and paying respect to Long Jieshu and the other watching silently with unyielding eyes.

“Of course! Without knowing it you had already done the sect a great service.” Lord Long Zhiming said as he flipped his hand and withdrew a familiar looking lily from his interspatial ring.

“My lord, to help speed up your recovery your humble servant has prepared a Phoenix Feather Lily for your use.” Lord Long Zhiming said in a subservient tone as the Phoenix feather lily flew out of his hand and into the air.

In the meantime, a few of those who had chosen to oppose the Sea Beast Sect had begun to curse at Zhang after realizing what he had done.

However, he ignored all of their piercing gazes and continued to stare into the air, toward Long Jieshu and the fiery spectacle that was still happening within the cauldron.

“You traitor!” A few people cried.

“If I can get my hands on those flames then I will have four of the seven heavenly treasures. One can only imagine the power that will be at my disposal.” Zhang thought as he eyed the seven colored flames, greedily wis.h.i.+ng to acquire its power for himself.

While everyone was incapable of doing a thing, the Phoenix Feather Lily that had left Lord Long Zhiming’s hand earlier arrived in front of Long Jieshu where it released streams of fiery energy from its petals.

Under the influence of the Phoenix Feather Lily’s regenerative powers, Long Jieshu’s shriveled up husk of a body started to look slightly healthier as his complexion became ruddier.

“Lord Long Zhiming, if I may offer our master a token of my loyalty.” Zhang said while remaining in a kneeling position with his head down.

“What is it that you wish to offer to his highness?” Lord Long Zhiming asked other a curious look on his face.

“First I would like to apologize to you my lord for lying, but during our trip through the Serpent's Shoal, perhaps because I was blessed by his highness’s greatness, I had actually managed to acquire more than one Phoenix Feather Lily. Sadly, at the time I allowed my greed to get the better of me. However now that we are in the presence of his highness, I would like to prove my loyalty by offering these two Phoenix Feather Lilies.” Zhang said as he flipped his hands and retrieved two fiery lilies from his interspatial ring.

Unlike Lord Long Zhiming who used his essence to levitate his Phoenix Feather Lily to Long Jieshu, Zhang got up from the ground and slowly walked into the air with his hands raised out in front of himself and his head lowered.

“That d.a.m.ned traitor!” A full saint from the Golden Pearl Sect cursed as he watched Zhang ascend into the air atop a flight of nonexistent stairs.

“Shut up or I'll turn you into a mute…” Lingqi grumbled as a murderous aura enveloped her, causing the few who were cursing Zhang to s.h.i.+ver and cease talking.

“For this gift of yours, I shall grant you the privilege of ruling over a vast portion of the Eastern Sea.” Long Jieshu laughed in a hoa.r.s.e and ancient voice that possessed traces of a long-forgotten dialect.

“There is no need for such a thing, the honor of being of use to a being such as yourself is enough for me, your highness.” Zhang said humbly with his head down, trying to avoid eye contact with Long Jieshu.

“Good! Good! I foresee a great future awaiting you.” Long Jieshu laughed. At present, even though only a fraction of his power had returned, Long Jieshu was without a doubt the strongest being in the room and had nothing to fear, paired with the fact that he had just been freed after being sealed away for centuries his mood was quite ecstatic.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, Phoenix Feather Lilies wouldn't even receive a glance from Long Jieshu, a being who had surpa.s.sed sainthood and was in the process of ascending to G.o.dhood, however, due to his current mood he watched Zhang with eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with delight.

“My lord these are for you.” Zhang said respectfully as he arrived in front of Long Jieshu and presented the latter with the two Phoenix Feather Lilies in his hands.

Without speaking Long Jieshu had quickly taken the two Phoenix Feather Lilies from Zhang and began to refine them, causing his body to slightly bulge as his muscles and flesh were restored.

“My lord I have another gift for you. If you could please honor me and accept it.” Zhang said as a gla.s.s sphere filled with what appeared to be blackish liquid slid out from his sleeve and into his palm.

“What is this?” Long Jieshu asked while focusing most of his attention on refining the two Phoenix Feather Lilies that he had gotten from Zhang.

“This is what I call a distraction.” Zhang said with a laugh as he finally rose his head and looked at Long Jieshu with a fierce expression on his face while employing the power of the Underworld Heart to launch the gla.s.s sphere in his hand through the air.

Like a speeding arrow, the gla.s.s sphere shot toward Long Jieshu at high speeds.

“Hmph, I do not know what kind of trickery you are trying to pull but I am not amused.” Long Jieshu said as the smile on his face disappeared and was replaced with a stern look that would send s.h.i.+vers running down most people's spines.

Once the gla.s.s sphere was inches away from him, Long Jieshu waved of his hand in an uncaring manner and caused it to explode into countless hundreds of pieces while releasing the hundreds of Black Thorn Corals trapped inside.

“What is this!” Long Jieshu yelled as he was completely caught off guard and allowed the Black Thorn Coral splattered onto his body and burrow under his skin, feasting upon everything that they came in contact with.

“Escape first and locate the Ethereal Point! I will meet you guys there!” Zhang said, signaling the beauties and his subordinates to leap into the air and fly toward the exit.

Although quite a few things had occurred, bit too much time had pa.s.sed at all. Everything had happened in but a few brief moments, causing quite a few people to be caught off guard when the beauties and their subordinates began to flee the room.

“d.a.m.ned pests!” Long Jieshu roar angrily as a powerful force was released from his body.

Using the Black Thorn Coral as a distraction and as a way to disrupt the suffocating pressure that Long Jieshu has enveloped the room in, Zhang was able to create an opportunity by only for his wives and subordinates but also himself. Diving head first into the ma.s.sive fiery cauldron filled with severed colored flames while sending out many streams of purple colored essence from the Underworld Heart.

Having encountered and claimed owners.h.i.+p of three of the Heavenly Treasures already, Zhang had realized a certain trick. Maybe it was because these treasures resonated with each other or perhaps it was because of the power of the Underworld Heart but he found that as long as he released the purplish essence into the air it would awaken the other heavenly treasures. At least that was what he thought.

“Everyone escape!” Master Yu Xiu yelled before taking off into the air after the beauties.

“Slaughter all who flee!” Lord Long Zhiming commanded.

As the two sides clashed yet again, rivers of blood began to flow, stone walls were turned to rubble and a deafening echo of explosions acted as if they were the beats of a war drum.

“Insolent bug! Come out this instant!” Long Jieshu roared as he levitated above the ma.s.sive cauldron filled with seven colored flames.

Having just escaped from this cauldron after a few centuries of imprisonment, it was as if a subconscious fear was implanted within Long Jieshu making him afraid of charging into the sea of flames after Zhang despite there being no danger in doing so.

Within the cauldron, covered from head to toe in a blend of different colored flames, Zhang began to channel the Underworld Heart’s purplish essence and cause it to swirl about and mix with the fiery sea.

After mere moments contact with each other the multicolored fire and the purplish essence started to resonate, unexpectedly dozens of strands made out of black colored essence were released from Zhang’s Abyssal Cape.

Unknowingly Zhang was about to witness the creation of something never before seen. For the first time since they came into existence, the Abyssal Cape, the Underworld Heart, and the Eternal Flame had met.

A cape allows one to bring their dreams into reality, a fire that is said to be able to spark the creation of a soul, and a heart shaped stone that is able to bend the and shape the essence of the world. One could only imagine what would happen if these three treasures were used at the same time.

Acknowledging Zhang as its new owner, the Eternal Flame poured into Zhang’s body, congregating within his soul where a dancing wisp of Soul Devouring Flames resided.

And for the first time again since mankind came into existence, a flame that can devour and destroy souls came in contact with a flame that can mend and create souls.

“I did it! Four of the seven are mine!” Zhang thought as a smile crept onto his face, happy with the harvest that he had managed to acquire while ignoring that fact that there was an angry half deity waiting to skin him alive.

“h.e.l.lo there! It looks like someone finally managed to obtain my inheritance.” A voice echoed in Zhang’s mind.