Chapter 379: Beat Them Until They Surrender
Hao Zhonghua drove the van back to the house by the beach with a car full of beautiful girls.
A dozen fishes were jumping around inside the water bucket at the back of the car...
Hao Zhonghua hadn't take Hao Ren out for a long time. Therefore, he was shocked to find that although he was once a skilled fisherman, he was no longer a match to his son.
Even Lu Linlin and Lu Lili, who made fishing rods from tree branches, caught fishes that weighed almost two to three pounds. Hao Zhonghua wanted to teach Hao Ren a lesson through fishing, but his self-esteem was shattered.
"Dundundundun, dundundundun, red flowers, green grasses, and a little ducking..." Lu Linlin and Lu Lili sang happily.
The warm sunlight shined through the window and brought in the fragrance of flowers.
Yue Yang leaned back in the passenger seat and looked at the road that was continuously changing ahead of her as she felt very relaxed. Because of their work, Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang rarely had any relaxing days like this.
After they returned to the house, they had dinner together, and the house was bustling with noises and excitement.
Then, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili had to return to the city, but Grandma urged them to stay for the night.
"Ren, give your room to Linlin and Lili. You can sleep on the couch in the living room tonight," Grandma held the Lu sisters' hands and said to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren put on a bitter face and said, "Okay, Grandma."
"Grandma, we can't do that." Lu Linlin waved her hands immediately.
"Why not?" Grandma put on a straight face and gave Hao Ren an order, "From now on, when Linlin and Lili come to visit our house, you will sleep in the living room."
"Yes, Sir," Hao Ren stood up straight and said.
It was evident that Grandma loved the Lu sisters 'more' than she loved and cared about Hao Ren. Also, Grandma cared about Zhen Congming way more than Hao Ren as well since the latter was a lot younger.
Hao Ren, who used to be Grandma's greatest treasure, started to fall in ranks in Grandma's heart after Zhao Yanzi, Xie Yujia, Zhen Congming, and the Lu sisters arrived.
"We are sleeping in Gongzi's room tonight. Are you happy?" Lu Linlin whispered into Lu Lili's ear.
"What, no!" Lu Lili's face immediately turned red.
Although that was what she said, she blushed even more after thinking about the fact that she was going to sleep in the bed that Hao Ren had been sleeping in for the past few days.
Zhao Yanzi wanted to stay in Hao Ren's room. However, after she learned that Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were going to take over Hao Ren's room for the night, she changed her mind and decided to stay in Grandma's room instead.
Since Zhao Yanzi, this cute little girl in Grandma's mind, was going to stay with her for the night, Grandma was delighted as she gently rubbed Zhao Yanzi's pink cheeks.
Since it was getting late, everyone went to their rooms to get some rest.
Xie Yujia sat in her room and cultivated the Qi Refinement Realm. After running the nature essence through her body for 16 times, she opened her eyes slowly.
The entire house was quiet except the noises of the sea waves coming in regularly.
Xie Yujia stretched her body, walked to the door, and opened it quietly.
The couch in the living room was empty.
Xie Yujia was a bit surprised. Then, she walked back to her room quietly and felt a little jealous.
She was worried that Hao Ren would feel cold in the living room, and she wanted to let Hao Ren rest in her room. However...
At the moment, Hao Ren was at the front entrance of the East Ocean Dragon Palace instead of sneakily staying in another girls' rooms as Xie Yujia suspected.
The defense walls all around the dragon palace were full of arm-sized cracks and big holes.
Even the tiles on top of the gate were slanted and shattered.
Hao Ren could imagine how intense the war was between the East Ocean Dragon Clan and the West Ocean Dragon Clan.
From the bottom of the sea that was a few thousand meters below the surface, a dozen hurricanes were created and even almost struck the coast that was more than a dozen kilometers away. The intensity of the battles must have been insane.
"Who's there,"
Hao Ren's appearance had caught the attention of the patrolling soldiers of East Ocean.
"Forgive me for being rude; I didn't know that it is you, Mr. Fuma!" the leading general cupped his hands in front of his chest as he saw Hao Ren.
"How was the situation last night?" Hao Ren asked.
"Last night, the soldiers of generals of our East Ocean were motivated, and we guarded the palace and fought off all the invading enemies with the help of the grand protection array formations," the general in golden armor replied.
Hao Ren saw a new scar on this general's face and thought that East Ocean must have suffered some losses.
However, if East Ocean suffered some losses, West Ocean must have suffered more casualties.
[Kill you while you are weak!] Zhao Haoran's way of handling things almost drove the West Ocean Dragon Clan up the wall.
"Are the elders alright? Elder Sun, Elder Lu, and Elder Xingyue... Are they okay?" By looking at the soldiers' expression, Hao Ren guessed that Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu were both fine. Therefore, he directly asked about the elders.
"A few elders were, unfortunately..." The general slightly raised his hands as his eyes got a bit red. Then, he continued, "However, the elders that Fuma mentioned are all in good shape."
After hearing the second half of the sentence, Hao Ren was a bit relieved.
This time, both dragon clans fought against each other to the death. Both sides had sacrificed elders and had started a deadly feud.
Although Hao Ren wasn't here on the battlefield, he could sense the intensity of the war by observing the condition of the collapsed gate and defense walls as well as the extreme sea condition.
The elders of West Ocean self-detonated their own dragon core to destroy the grand protection array formation of the East Ocean Dragon Palace. On the other hand, the elders of East Ocean dashed into the army of the West Ocean Dragon Clan and died in battle.
The road of cultivation wasn't as peaceful as it seemed on the surface; it was filled with danger.
Hao Ren truly understood this at this moment.
He also understood the reason why some elders of East Ocean asked Zhao Guang to sever ties with him.
Even though the West Ocean Dragon Clan faced many setbacks and experienced a drastic decrease in their overall strength in the last several months, this dying beast could still take a massive bite out of the East Ocean Dragon Clan.
"Lead me inside and show me around," Hao Ren said.
"Yes," the general turned around and led Hao Ren through the broken gate of the dragon palace.
Most of the buildings were in good shape except for the tiles on top of the palaces. Hao Ren guessed that the residual forces of dharma treasures damaged them.
Judging from this, Hao Ren guessed that West Ocean's army and elders failed to enter the interior of the East Ocean Dragon Palace, and the main battlefield was located outside the defense walls.
It was important to know that the families of the elders of East Ocean were living inside the dragon palace. If West Ocean's army broke through, the results would be...
"I can't go any further inside." The general who was leading the way suddenly stopped.
Each patrolling general had areas that they were responsible for, and they were only allowed to walk in those areas when they were on duty. This general was responsible for looking after the area around the inside and the outside of the city gate.
"Uh, please continue with your job," Hao Ren cupped his hands in front of his chest respectfully as he said to that general. Then, he walked toward the main palace with heavy steps as he tried to find Zhao Guang.
The East Ocean Dragon Clan and the West Ocean Dragon Clan opposed each other due to the power struggle between them. However, there was a subtle balance between them, and nothing overboard occurred. The fact that Hao Ren destroyed half of the West Ocean Dragon Palace pushed them over the line and triggered them, causing a full-on battle between the two dragon clans.
If they sacrificed Hao Ren, the whole situation would have been solved more peacefully. However, with Zhao Haoran's return, he firmly decided to clear the situation in the toughest way possible. The West Ocean Dragon Palace fell in the process, and their army was almost completely wiped out. The East Ocean Dragon Palace, on the other hand, also lost a lot of soldiers and elders.
"This isn't your fault."
A loud voice sounded behind Hao Ren.
Hao Ren turned around and saw Zhao Haoran, who was dressed in a clean suit, walking toward him.
"Sir." Hao Ren saluted.
"In this world, war is the last resort, but it is also a tool that is necessary to restore order. We must always be prepared for it," Zhao Haoran said as he stood in front of Hao Ren and raised his thick white brows.
Hao Ren forced a smile and nodded at him.
Zhao Haoran grabbed Hao Ren's shoulder with his steady hand and looked at latter approvingly. "When we were fighting against them in front of the dragon palace, you attacked their home base. That was great."
"Huh?" Hao Ren was confused.
"Zeng Xin took his entire army out and left his dragon palace empty back in West Ocean, and you took the opportunity and razed the West Ocean Dragon Palace to the ground. I like your style of doing things and your thinking."
Zhao Haoran patted Hao Ren's shoulder forcefully.
During the intense war between the East Ocean Dragon Clan and the West Ocean Dragon Clan last night, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili went to West Ocean to vent their anger because of what had happened to Hao Ren. They obliterated the West Ocean Dragon Palace.
A day after, the news was passed to Zhao Haoran. He couldn't think of anyone who would have done that until he remembered that Hao Ren once destroyed half of the West Ocean Dragon Palace. Therefore, he automatically assumed that it was Hao Ren's doing and was greatly pleased.
What would Oldman Zeng's expression be like when he led his defeated army back to West Ocean and saw the ruins of the dragon palace?
With great joy, Zhao Haoran thought that Hao Ren was reliable, ruthless, and was well aware of the art of war.
Crossing the sea under camouflage; signaling the east but attacking the west; luring the tiger from the mountain...
Zhao Haoran was impressed by Hao Ren.
He never paid much attention to Hao Ren in the past. Now, Zhao Haoran started to observe Hao Ren carefully.
With his careful observation, he was surprised to find that Hao Ren leveled up to Gen-level within a day. The glow of Zhen-level was completely different from the glow of Gen-level.
Hao Ren had, indeed, reached Gen-level.
"Good, good, good."
Zhao Haoran said 'good' three times.
"Zhao Guang is not good at other things, but he is good at picking people." Zhao Haoran grabbed Han Ren's shoulder firmly.
Since Zhao Haoran was at top-tier Qian-level, Hao Ren, who had just reached Gen-level, could not possibly break loose from Zhao Haoran's hand. With such power, Hao Ren's shoulder bone was almost crushed.
Zhao Haoran suddenly changed his position. His hand was still grabbing onto Hao Ren's shoulder, but his arm was now wrapped around Hao Ren's neck. Then, he pushed Hao Ren toward the main palace.
The elders and soldiers, who were patrolling inside the dragon palace, looked at Hao Ren and Zhao Haoran in shock.
"How come the overlord of the dragon palace, who is extremely majestic, is walking with the Fuma this intimately?" they thought.
"Even when the war between East Ocean and West Ocean got so intense, Zhao Kuo still didn't come back. From now on, the 100,000 elite soldiers and 800,000 marine soldiers are yours to command," Zhao Haoran said.