Chapter 508: Everything Depends on Military Power!
"Level 4 detox pill!" The elders surrounding the Third Prince of South Ocean brightened up at these words.
It was impulsive of the Third Prince to fight the level 8 demon beast, but the accompanying elders might get the death penalty if the Third Prince died here.
Likewise, the generals who came to the battle with the Third Prince would also take the blame.
"Cough! Cough..." The Third Prince of South Ocean put his hand on his wound, and his face turned even whiter.
With a smile, Premier Xia handed the elixir pill to Premier Liu of South Ocean who stood beside the Third Prince.
"Prince!" Premier Liu immediately brought the elixir pill to the prince.
The Third Prince of South Ocean frowned and glanced at Hao Ren who stood behind Premier Xia.
With a faint smile, Hao Ren steered the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting toward the troops of the North Ocean Dragon Clan.
The severely wounded Second Duke of North Ocean was North Ocean Dragon King's little brother, which was why he was in charge of the military.
It was difficult for dragon cultivators, especially the high-leveled ones, to have kids. The North Ocean Dragon King had only one brother, and their mother had died while she was giving birth to the Second Duke. Being motherless at a young age, the North Ocean Dragon King and his little brother were very close to each other.
If the Second Prince died here, no one knew how enraged the North Ocean Dragon King would be.
Among the four ocean dragon clans, Zhao Guang was the most kind-hearted dragon king. Zeng Xin of West Ocean had been cruel and bad-tempered. After the death of his son, he spoiled Zeng Yitao and punished and even killed the elders and generals who displeased him.
Although the North Ocean Dragon King and the South Ocean Dragon King were better than Zeng Xin, they put great emphasis on the royal family and never deemed the elders and generals as valuable in comparison.
After the Second Duke was poisoned, the elders around him were upset and frustrated when they found that their elixirs couldn't eliminate the deadly poison from the level 8 demon beast.
"Second Duke." Premier Xia slowly stepped down from the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting. "This is a level 4 detox pill, a gift to you from our commanding general."
The Second Duke of North Ocean took the elixir pill and immediately felt intense nature essence from it. He cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you very much!"
He tossed the elixir pill into his mouth and felt a refreshing sensation spread all over his body while the toxins which were moving toward his dragon core and heart were quickly dissolved.
"Level 4 detox pill..." The elders standing beside the Second Duke of North Ocean exclaimed.
Level 4 elixir pills were precious, and detox pills were even rarer.
With its limited usage and the complicated making process, the level 4 detox pills were extremely rare while the elixirs such as the Foundation Establishment Pills and Essence Replenishment Pills were quite common.
"I owe a big one to East Ocean!" the Second Duke cupped his hands and said.
"Our water-elemental dragon clans are a big family. There's no need to thank us," Premier Xia answered with a smile.
The Second Duke looked at Hao Ren on the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting and found this Fuma and Great General of East Ocean dashing, just like what the rumors said.
The Second Duke didn't believe the rumor that the Fuma of East Ocean demonstrated great strength during the general exams at Dragon God Shrine. However, after seeing how Hao Ren forced back the level 8 demon beast with his own eyes, the Second Duke was struck with many complicated feelings.
He had thought that East Ocean, with Zhao Kuo, was enough to overshadow the others and didn't expect that the Fuma of East Ocean would be so powerful as well.
Glancing at the Second Duke's mount, Hao Ren found that the magnificent-looking black panther hadn't even reached level 1! It was far inferior to Little White.
No wonder when the Second Duke fought the level 8 demon beast, his black panther didn't attack with him. It was because the black panther didn't dare to get close to a level 8 demon beast.
Hao Ren flew the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting back to the camping spot of the East Ocean soldiers.
After defeating the demon beasts, the soldiers of the East Ocean Dragon Clan received the order to rest where they were, but they still kept the defense array formation so that they could fight at any moment.
From this perspective, East Ocean's troops were more disciplined than those from South Ocean and North Ocean.
Seeing Hao Ren coming back, Liu Yi immediately reported the casualties. Among the 50,000 soldiers, only about 100 died, but they lost thousands of demon horses.
The 500,000 soldiers Hao Ren summoned were the main force of East Ocean's military, and they defended the outer range of East Ocean's territory. Tough and experienced, they had been engaged in constant battles with demon beasts all year round and had a deep understanding of the fierceness of the demon beasts.
Before they came here, they thought that there would be massive casualties. But to their surprise, under the leadership of the Commanding General and the Herald General, they had gained a complete victory. Silently, the soldiers all admired the Herald General for his miraculous military maneuvers and the Commanding General for his unrivaled courage.
The troops of the four ocean dragon clans organized themselves and marched toward the West Ocean Dragon Palace.
Now that East Ocean, South Ocean, and North Ocean had helped with the defeat the demon beasts, West Ocean didn't dare to dissuade them.
Having recovered from his injury, the Third Prince of South Ocean sat on his jade chariot and waved his fan, looking confident.
The Second Duke of North Ocean rode the black panther with his machete bound on the back of his black silk robe, looking strong.
Hao Ren also led his 50,000 black-armored soldiers toward the West Ocean Dragon Palace.
The current West Ocean Dragon Palace lost all its previous glory with collapsed buildings and walls everywhere.
After being burned down by Zhen Congming, attacked by Lu Linlin and Lu Lili, defeated pathetically by the East Ocean Dragon Clan in the war it started, and attacked by the demon beasts without warning, the West Ocean Dragon Palace had no resources nor energy to restore itself into its former magnificence.
Seeing the dilapidated palace, the Third Prince of South Ocean and the Second Duke of North Ocean frowned slightly. They knew that the West Ocean Dragon Clan lost pathetically both in business on land and in the battle under the sea after they messed with the East Ocean Dragon Clan, but neither of them had imagined such a pitiful sight.
The irony was that the East Ocean Dragon Clan which had stepped on the head of the West Ocean Dragon Clan now had its soldiers enter the latter's ocean area without care together with the soldiers of the South Ocean Dragon Clan and the North Ocean Dragon Clan!
"Well... I almost can't recognize it." Zhao Yanzi looked around in disbelief.
It had been a long time since she last came to the West Ocean Dragon Palace, but in her impression, the West Ocean Dragon Palace was no less impressive than the East Ocean Dragon Palace, Besides, the West Ocean Dragon Palace had a back mountain and thus was more significant than the East Ocean Dragon Palace.
But now, the walls of the West Ocean Dragon Palace collapsed, and the buildings inside were on the verge of falling as well. Some guards ran around in alarm when they saw the troops coming near.
Being accompanied by dozens of guards and more than ten elders, Zeng Yitao in his robe came to the main gate to welcome the troops.
Pale-faced and shivering with fear, he lost all his previous arrogance.
The so-called main gate of the dragon palace only had two big pillars left, and the plaque with the words, West Ocean Dragon Palace, was nowhere to be seen.
Zeng Yitao looked like a king who had lost his kingdom and was coming out to surrender.
At the sight of this, Zhao Yanzi felt pity for him but also despised him even more.
"Zi! Zi!" Seeing Zhao Yanzi, Zeng Yitao seemed to have found his savior. He rushed up without caring for his status as the prince as he shouted, "Help me! Help me!"
Seeing him rushing up, Zhao Yanzi immediately took several steps back.
However, Zeng Yitao didn't give up. He reached out to catch Zhao Yanzi's arm and continued, "Zi, take me to East Ocean! Take me to East Ocean!"
"What are you doing?" Zhao Yanzi stepped behind Hao Ren in a hurry.
Without Zeng Xin spoiling him, Zeng Yitao became groundless and worthless. Sensing the danger around him, he tried to find some support from Zhao Yanzi, who had some connections with him after all.
He once had an ok relationship with Zhao Yanzi until Zeng Xin ruined it by wanting Zhao Yanzi to marry into West Ocean.
Zeng Yitao tried to find some help through Zhao Yanzi, but she ignored him and clung to Hao Ren.
"Crown Prince! Crown Prince!"
Seeing Zeng Yitao acting so shamelessly before the commanding generals of the other three ocean dragon clans, Premier Lu of West Ocean hurried over to stop him.
Like a frightened bird, Zeng Yitao suddenly turned to Hao Ren. "Help me! Take me out of the West Ocean Dragon Palace!"
Hao Ren looked at him quietly and remained silent.
He still remembered the scene when Zeng Yitao ordered Black Wolf to catch Xie Yujia and also couldn't forget that the West Ocean Dragon Clan sent its elders to launch a sneak attack on Grandma and others.
He remembered all these and didn't think that Zeng Yitao had forgotten them as well.
A sword energy rose suddenly, and the intense chilliness it released stopped Zeng Yitao.
"Humph!" With a dark face, Liu Yi dashed forward from Hao Ren's side.
Startled by Liu Yi's fierce look, Zeng Yitao immediately retreated four to five steps.
"In the past thousands of years, the four ocean dragon clans have been allies, and we should help West Ocean when it's in need," the Second Duke of North Ocean said suddenly.
"You're right. The Demon Sea holds a grudge against the West Ocean Dragon Clan and will come back to attack again. South Ocean offers to station 300,000 soldiers around the West Ocean Dragon Palace to help guard the palace," the Third Prince of South Ocean said immediately.
"North Ocean will send five senior elders here to help the West Ocean Dragon Palace rebuild the palace," the Second Duke of North Ocean said earnestly.
His tone didn't leave any space for discussion or opinions of the West Ocean Dragon Clan.
Among the four ocean dragon clans, the East Ocean Dragon Clan took first place due to Zhao Haoran's efforts. Then, the West Ocean Dragon Clan took the second spot with its overall strength of its elders.
Now that the West Ocean Dragon Clan's strength was substantially damaged, the South Ocean Dragon Clan and the North Ocean Dragon Clan wanted to take the opportunity to surpass it.
"Since South Ocean and North Ocean will take the responsibility of rebuilding the West Ocean Dragon Palace, East Ocean Dragon Clan will guard the sea area between the West Ocean Dragon Palace and the Demon Sea," Hao Ren said calmly.
The Third Prince of South Ocean and the Second Duke of North Ocean exchanged a look. With his casual words, Hao Ren had put the vast sea area from the boundary of the Demon Sea to the center of the West Ocean Dragon Clan under the control of East Ocean with the good excuse of guarding against the demon beasts.
"The East Ocean Dragon Clan has a bigger appetite than us! Do you think we only brought small troops with us?" the Third Prince of South Ocean and the Second Duke of North Ocean thought.
Boom! Boom... The nearby ocean waves suddenly surged up.
"Wu Rang, the Zhenguo General of the South Ocean Dragon Clan, arriving with 250,000 troops to aid West Ocean!"
Boom! Boom... Almost at the same time, rough ocean waves surged up again.
"Liu Qingshan, the Huya General of the North Ocean Dragon Clan, arriving with 250,000 troops to aid West Ocean!"
The Third Prince of South Ocean and the Second Duke of North Ocean smiled light-heartedly.