Chapter 754: Still Went Too Light

Patriarch Xiao Mingli's hearty laughter gradually faded, eventually turning into a strained chuckle. Venerable Black Feather extended a claw, seizing Patriarch Xiao's shoulder, his eyes as cold as if looking at a corpse.

"Old, old ancestor... outsiders are still here. Don't let them see us make a fool of ourselves."

Patriarch Xiao used Lu Yang and the others as a shield.

Venerable Black Feather, who usually valued his reputation, no longer cared. He grabbed Patriarch Xiao by the neck.

Lu Yang, quick to learn and inspired by Patriarch Xiao's storytelling, had long since taken out his recording orb, hoping to capture the patriarch's final moments. Unfortunately, Venerable Black Feather didn't give him the chance. He directly dragged Patriarch Xiao to his higher-level lair.

Soon, a series of shrill bird cries echoed over the Kunpeng tribe. All the Kunpeng clansmen stopped what they were doing, looked up at the sky in confusion, not understanding where the cries came from. Suddenly, the bird cries ceased abruptly. Patriarch Xiao had died in pursuit of his inner desires, a death he deserved.

"Ahem, the old ancestor really strikes hard. He just knocked me out in the end." A moment after the shrill bird cries vanished, Patriarch Xiao, bruised and swollen with a golden feather still stuck in his head, stumbled back. "I wonder how long I was unconscious."

"Patriarch Xiao, are you alright? Venerable Black Feather hit you too hard," Meng Jingzhou asked, knowing the answer, out of politeness.

"Being alive means I'm fine. I just had bad luck this time; the old ancestor caught me revealing his past. So many in the tribe know about the old ancestor's embarrassing affairs, why doesn't he punish them?" Patriarch Xiao said indignantly.

"The entire Kunpeng tribe knows about Venerable Black Feather's youth?"

"Of course," Patriarch Xiao affirmed. "If I ask them if they know about the old ancestor and they say no, I tell them the whole story."

Meng Jingzhou gasped, thinking Venerable Black Feather had actually been too lenient.

Lu Yang guessed that Patriarch Xiao's strength ranked second among the Kunpeng tribe. If his rank had been any lower, Venerable Black Feather wouldn't have left him alive. In fact, Lu Yang's guess was correct; within the Kunpeng tribe, Patriarch Xiao's strength was second only to Venerable Black Feather, surpassing even the older generation of Kunpeng.

"Originally, I planned to personally show you around the Kunpeng tribe as your host," Patriarch Xiao said, rubbing his face with a hiss. "But these injuries on my face won't heal quickly, and taking you out while covering my face would look bad."

"Xinghai, stop cultivating and come here," Patriarch Xiao sent a telepathic message to his son.

Soon, a golden-winged roc several dozen *zhang* tall landed at Patriarch Xiao's doorstep. Seeing his father transform into human form, he also transformed, becoming a handsome young man with emerald eyes and golden hair.

"This is my youngest son, Xiao Xinghai."

Xiao Xinghai was startled to see his father's bruised and swollen face. "Dad, what happened to you?"

"Nothing, I just fell."

"Fell onto a Black Tortoise's shell, did you?"

"Scram, scram! Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Patriarch Xiao was furious and wanted to give the young Kunpeng whelp a good beating. "These six are friends from the Dao Seeking Sect. Their age is similar to yours, so please entertain them for me."

While on Kunpeng territory, Lu Yang and the others dared not incur Venerable Black Feather's displeasure, so they posed as disciples of the Five Elements Sect.

"The Dao Seeking Sect, one of the Five Great Immortal Sects of Daxia?" Xiao Xinghai was very surprised. At this time, only a week had passed since the clash between Dao Lord Han Hai and Dao Lord Wan Fa, and the news that the Dao Seeking Sect possessed a half-immortal had not yet reached the Kunpeng tribe, located deep in the northern East Sea. If Xiao Xinghai had known, he would have been even more surprised.

"Then do you know Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou?"

"I am Lu Yang, and this is my junior brother Meng Jingzhou," Lu Yang quickly introduced himself.

"No, I saw your portraits; you two don't look like this."

"Our Dao Seeking Sect has many enemies in the East Sea, so we've disguised ourselves."

Xiao Xinghai recalled that eight of the Dao Seeking Sect's Nine Sons had bounties on their heads, and he understood Lu Yang's meaning.

"Alright, let's go. I'll show you around."

Encountering renowned geniuses from Daxia, Xiao Xinghai became extremely excited. He willingly transformed into his golden-winged roc form, carrying Lu Yang and the others. His golden feathers shimmered like gilded glass in the sunlight.

Leaving Patriarch Xiao's home and sitting on Xiao Xinghai's back, everyone finally had the chance to witness the Kunpeng tribe's living environment. Vast swathes of Xumu trees rooted in the East Sea, towering thousands or tens of thousands of *zhang* high, with half their trunks submerged and half above the water. Their dense branches formed a continuous canopy, blocking the overhead sunlight, creating a refreshing and pleasant shade.

The Kunpeng tribe had two types of dwellings: one involved hollowing out a section of a Xumu tree, and the other was building nests. Patriarch Xiao's home was of the former type. Due to the enormous size of the Kunpeng, their dwellings were likewise exaggeratedly large. The entrances to the tree hollows were typically several dozen *zhang* high, making Lu Yang and the others feel as if they had stumbled into an ancient giant kingdom as they stood at the entrance. From time to time, great rocs flew past them, casting curious glances.

"Prepare to enter the sea!" Xiao Xinghai called out, his feathers transforming into golden scales, resembling a mythical golden dragon.

Lu Yang and the others rode on the back of the golden great kun, clutching tightly to its dorsal fin. Cold seawater rushed in from all directions, submerging them. Their water-repelling pearls activated, nullifying the water pressure and allowing them to move freely underwater.

The underwater world presented a completely different scene from the surface. Countless great kuns glided through the water; many were even larger than Xiao Xinghai, though none had scales as perfect as his. The number of kun fish was noticeably greater than that of roc birds.

"Most of our clansmen prefer living in the water," Xiao Xinghai explained. Besides the kun fish, there were many other sea creatures here, consisting of nearby marine races coming to the Kunpeng tribe's sea market to trade goods. The sea market's scale was comparable to that of Penglai Island's. In this regard, the Kunpeng tribe truly lived up to its reputation as one of the East Sea's Ten Great Races.

This was a place even Qin Haoran and Su Yiren had never visited. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and Tao Yaoyao gazed at everything intently, wanting to use it as a setting for future illusionary bubbles. *What a beautiful scene:* she falls from the boat, Senior Brother Lu Yang leaps into the sea, sees her stop breathing, and gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"Senior Brother Lu Yang, if I fell into the sea, would you save me?"

Lu Yang looked Tao Yaoyao up and down in surprise. Seeing her move freely in the water, he didn't understand why she would ask such a question. "Junior Sister, has your brain filled with water too?"

"...I mean, I want to film an illusionary bubble with the East Sea as the background, and one scene involves me falling into the sea and you coming to save me."

Lu Yang suddenly understood and said excitedly, "Ah, so that's it! If you fall into the sea, Junior Sister, it must be the East Sea Dragon Clan causing trouble. After I save you, I'll battle the East Sea Dragon Clan for three hundred rounds, pluck out their tendons. Then, to retaliate, the East Sea Dragon Clan will try to flood Penglai Island. I'll bravely appear and sacrifice myself before the dragons."

"Afterward, Senior Sister will appear, collect my three souls and seven spirits, create a lotus root body, and I'll be reborn through it. I'll then wreak havoc among the Dragon Clan and restore peace to the East Sea."

"Junior Sister, is this how you want to film it?"

"...And what about me?"

Man Gu, listening nearby, was confused: "Weren't you saved?"