Chapter 1103 — Secretly Devising a Poisonous Scheme Against the Nether Lord

"Hold on!

" Dragon Qilin's eyes flickered. "Brother, Yin Chaojin has grown very close to the Heavenly Venerable Hao. That man has never meant well. This time he's come most likely to block your journey north—who knows, he may be leading the heavenly army here against you!

" Crown Prince Youming hesitated, then walked to the palace gate and peered out. There was Yin Chaojin racing toward the Black Tortoise Heaven Palace, the heavenly army at his back—tower ship after tower ship, banners streaming. It was plain that, as Brother Dragon had said, Yin Chaojin had indeed come at the head of the heavenly host! Crown Prince Youming flew into a rage.

"Yin Chaojin! I took you for a brother, but you take me for a fool! If I let you in, won't Heaven's tiger-wolf legions stamp my Black Tortoise Palace flat?

" The Nether Lord looked back and smiled. "So you thought I was in league with them—that's why you've been so wary. Brother, I came to warn you, but the Heavenly River Navy spotted me and came hunting at my heels. If you don't let me in, I'll die out here!

" Crown Prince Youming was at a loss. He looked at Dragon Qilin. "Brother, he says he came to warn me.

If I don't let him in, won't he die out there? " Mischief welled up in Dragon Qilin's gut. "The Black Tortoise Heaven Palace is a weighty matter. If you mishandle it and let the palace fall into enemy hands, even the Dark Emperor and the Martial Emperor will be caught in the ruin. We must be cautious—first have the Nether Lord kill some of Heaven's army to prove he's not in league with them.

" Crown Prince Youming praised him: "You're the clever one, Brother. Yin, my friend, if you truly mean to help me, kill some of Heaven's gods and demons. Otherwise you've brought them here to destroy me!

" The Nether Lord's face went blank.

"Since when did this turtle grow so clever? " He glanced back and saw the Heavenly River Navy had arrived. At the prow of the lead vessel stood a great general, a saber laid crosswise before him.

"Crown Prince Youming! " he called. "His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor commands your return to the Jade Capital! " Crown Prince Youming saw that the Nether Lord had made no move against the Heavenly River Navy—and the navy had made no move against him either.

He flew into a rage at once. "Yin Chaojin! So you really meant to trick me into opening the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass and seize my Black Tortoise Heaven Palace!

" The Nether Lord, furious and frantic, gritted his teeth and charged at the navy. In his heart he thought, 'If it weren't for all the treasures packed away in the North Emperor's house, would I risk my own skin? ' He struck with a cruel hand.

Countless white banners flew out and swayed before one naval tower ship. The gods and demons aboard felt their primordial spirits shake, then one by one were dragged from their bodies, sucked into the banners. A few powerful figures, their spirits firmly anchored, escaped his poisonous work—but the next moment the gourd on the Nether Lord's back opened.

From its mouth a swarm of mosquitoes and insects buzzed out, pounced on the ship, and drained those experts dry! His blow succeeded, and he called out: "Brother Youming, now you can see my sincerity!

" Angry shouts rang out from the surrounding tower ships. The Navy's formation activated; the Heavenly River nearly came to a boil, and countless formation lines soared up, locking down the river on every side. Shwish—uncountable divine weapons flew along the lines.

In that single strike, the Nether Lord was gravely wounded.

Vomiting blood, he was hurled backward and slammed into the barrier of the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass. Crown Prince Youming was about to open the barrier to let him in when Dragon Qilin raised his hand.

"Brother, won't you wait a while longer?

What if it's a trick of self-inflicted pain? " Crown Prince Youming hesitated. And in that moment of hesitation, the Navy's second strike came crashing down!

The Navy's formation was savage beyond measure. Tower ship after tower ship drove through the flood, divine artifacts appearing without end, their power redoubled once joined with the formation.

Even the Nether Lord's primordial divine insects were ground away by the formation—who knew how many perished. He summoned his Nether Capital Heaven Gate, but the gate had never been completed; no sooner was it raised than it burst into pieces under the formation's awful might!

"Nether Sea, rise! " Blood in his mouth, the Nether Lord howled: "I may not be a Heavenly Venerable, but I am no man of empty fame! " Whoosh—a vast Nether Sea came surging out of the void, waves churning, blood-light roiling within. One towering corpse of god or demon after another rose slowly from the deep, howling in fury, ready to tear into the Heavenly River Navy.

Though the Nether Lord's cultivation had not yet reached full maturity, the future form of his divine arts was already visible in what he did now.

He commanded the Great Way of the Nether Capital with mastery over soul-craft that was terrible to behold. Whether the Nether Sea or the Nether Capital Heaven Gate, both drew upon an immense body of nether-capital lore, even reaching into the path of reincarnation.

One could say he had broken beyond the traditional Great Way of the Nether Capital and built a towering edifice of his own.

Aboard those great naval vessels, mighty demigod commanders sneered. They lifted their palms and slashed them down as one: "Sacrifice the Sea-Calming Divine Needles! " Thud!

Thud! Thud!

Giant iron pillars dropped from the sky and drove into the Nether Sea, stilling it at once. The divine and demon corpses that had just risen halted; pressed down by the weight, one by one they sank beneath the waves. The Nether Sea was smooth and calm—not the faintest ripple stirred. The Nether Lord spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees with a thud.

He was just about to plead for mercy from the Navy when the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass opened a crack. Crown Prince Youming reached out a huge hand and pulled him inside.

Dragon Qilin said with regret, "Brother, we should have waited a little longer.

. . " "If we'd waited any longer, Brother Yin would have died!

" Crown Prince Youming was full of apology.

Blushing, he said to the Nether Lord: "I wronged you, brother. I never dreamed you were so loyal and righteous, so ready to lay down your life for my Black Tortoise Heaven Palace. Your courage puts me to shame.

" The Nether Lord gave him a feeble glare, blood surging from his mouth in gushes; he nearly choked and fainted.

The Nether Sea he had painstakingly refined for more than a hundred thousand years had been suppressed by the Heavenly River Navy, and his Nether Capital Heaven Gate had been smashed by them too.

One could say he had lost the better half of all he owned. 'If I can't squeeze a fat load of spoils out of that fool son of the Black Tortoise, I'll have lost everything,' he thought. He tried to rally, but his wounds were too heavy; his breath flagged and faltered.

Crown Prince Youming hastily supported him and introduced Dragon Qilin and the others. "This is Brother Dragon.

These are descendants of the East Emperor. And this is my cousin, a princess of the South Emperor's house.

" The Nether Lord fixed his gaze on Dragon Qilin and sneered: "Brother, your friends here won't even speak their true names. I suspect treachery.

" Yan'er grew anxious.

In later days, when Shen Mu paid a visit to the North Emperor, Crown Prince Youming had met them—but he had never seen Dragon Qilin in his human form, and the Yan'er of that age had been neither plump nor thin, her figure graceful, nothing like the plump girl before him now. If they gave their true names now, wouldn't the Crown Prince recognize them in the later age? Dragon Qilin, however, was perfectly composed.