Chapter 65: The Dragon Palace of the Huai River

Mu Changge said calmly, "Wuzhiqi, you have already gone mad."

Hearing this, Wuzhiqi, who was at the foot of Turtle Mountain, stopped in his tracks and sat back down on the ground.

"Mad... That's right, this deity has gone mad. Only after witnessing that sight could I truly understand how insignificant I am."

"There is simply no way to contend with that absolute existence..." Wuzhiqi muttered to himself, recounting in a low voice his thoughts from the day he personally witnessed the great dragon god.

"Wuzhiqi, although this seat would love to continue enjoying your performance, I cannot afford to waste any more time here."

"This is the final chance this seat will give you."

Wuzhiqi's eyes widened instantly. He lowered his head in thought for a couple of breaths, then raised his head to look upward.

"This deity has wasted many years here and has no idea what the Huaxia Realm is like nowadays."

"Since the Heavenly Emperor appreciates this deity so much, I am not one to be ungrateful."

"If you can rescue me, this deity is willing to acknowledge you as my master, follow your lead, and harbor no disloyalty whatsoever!"

Having said that, Wuzhiqi immediately swore a solemn oath.

Amidst the clouds, Mu Changge nodded with satisfaction and drew out the Aurora Dragon-Patterned Spear, which had absorbed two Tianyuan Yinglong dragon scales.

With a single sweep of Mu Changge's spear, the divine powers of the Tianyuan Yinglong and the Great Yu Seal embedded within Turtle Mountain were instantly erased. That same strike from Mu Changge also knocked down the divine chains and bells that had imprisoned Wuzhiqi.

"Ah!!!"

Feeling the divine powers and divine artifacts that had bound him leave his body, Wuzhiqi roared at the top of his lungs, causing the earth to shake and mountains to tremble.

"Boom!"

Wuzhiqi burst out from Turtle Mountain, soared straight up into the firmament, and stood high in the sky, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air.

"Hahaha! This deity is out! This deity is finally free! I can soar between heaven and earth once again!"

"Huaxia Realm! Heavens and earth! I, Wuzhiqi, have returned!"

Before Wuzhiqi could revel in his joy for long, a supreme, transcendent divine power of the Heavenly Emperor enveloped the entire realm.

The colors of heaven and earth faded, all living things paused, and the Huaxia Realm was as if someone had pressed the pause button; all laws were frozen and locked in that exact moment.

Before the demon god Wuzhiqi, the sky cracked open like a shattered mirror. Then, with a crisp "crack," the sky ruptured, and a colossal spatial rift materialized out of thin air.

A youthful Heavenly Emperor, his entire body radiating brilliant, magnificent aurora, stepped out from the heavenly rift. That dazzling aurora illuminated the entire silvery Huaxia Realm, and the rift in the sky slowly closed behind him.

Everything returned to normal as if nothing had ever happened. The colors of heaven and earth were restored, living beings resumed their activities, and the Huaxia Realm rolled forward like a turning wheel.

Yet! Right in front of Wuzhiqi, a person had suddenly appeared—an incomparably handsome youth carrying an inviolable majesty.

The youthful Heavenly Emperor looked with great satisfaction at Wuzhiqi, who was too shocked to speak. "This seat is the Heavenly Emperor who set you free, Mu Changge!"

"This seat is the master of the Tianshan Primordial Pavilion. You may address me as the Pavilion Master."

Only then did Wuzhiqi snap back to his senses, immediately dropping to one knee in mid-air. "Wuzhiqi expresses his deepest gratitude to the Pavilion Master for his boundless grace!"

"From this moment on, Wuzhiqi is willing to serve the Pavilion Master as a loyal hound!"

Mu Changge nodded, then produced the demon heart and demon core of the Demon Emperor Wu Shisan.

"Wuzhiqi, take these. Consider them a welcoming gift from this seat."

Wuzhiqi received them with both hands. "Thank you for the bestowal, Pavilion Master!"

Mu Changge smiled, then vanished from this realm as though he had never been there at all. Only his supreme divine voice lingered between heaven and earth before he departed: "Wuzhiqi, this seat will return to the Tianshan Primordial Pavilion first. Come over once you have made your preparations."

"Respectfully sending off the Pavilion Master!" Wuzhiqi shouted loudly.

Dozens of breaths later, Wuzhiqi slowly stood up, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and shook his simian body.

"Phew, that scared the wits out of this deity. My Pavilion Master is truly extraordinary. Was the Pavilion Master manipulating the time of the Origin Ancestral Star just now? A Heavenly Emperor capable of wielding the laws of time?"

"Wait, could the strange phenomenon triggered by the Pavilion Master's sudden appearance just now mean he wields both the laws of time and space?"

"Hiss... It seems this deity truly was a frog at the bottom of a well. I never imagined the Huaxia Realm possessed a Heavenly Emperor this powerful."

What Wuzhiqi did not know was that Mu Changge had not used the laws of time and space; rather, he had employed the even more supreme law of spacetime.

---

Wuzhiqi returned to the foot of Turtle Mountain and picked up the divine chains and bells that had fallen to the ground. The chains were forged from extraterrestrial divine iron, and the bells were crafted from dragon-patterned black gold.

Wuzhiqi decided to use these chains and bells to forge his own exclusive divine weapon.

Having retrieved the chains and bells, Wuzhiqi soared into the sky and hurried back to his Huai River Dragon Palace.

The Huai River Dragon Palace was a magnificent palace built by Wuzhiqi back when he was still a great demon, created simply to please his wife.

In the past, as Wuzhiqi wandered the four seas, he encountered a dragon maiden of peerless grace and stunning beauty.

The moment he laid eyes on her, Wuzhiqi was transfixed! It was love at first sight! He immediately set out to pursue this graceful dragon maiden, alternately displaying his might, his wit, and his tender care. Under Wuzhiqi's relentless advances, the dragon maiden finally consented.

The dragon maiden was named Pingxin, a dragon who roamed the South China Sea. After uniting with Wuzhiqi in marriage, Pingxin followed him to the Huai River.

When Wuzhiqi was suppressed at the foot of Turtle Mountain by Tianyuan Yinglong and the Great Yu, Pingxin did not leave; she remained faithfully inside the Huai River Dragon Palace.

Pingxin bore Wuzhiqi three sons, all of whom possessed extraordinary abilities. Even though none of the three sons returned to the Huai River Dragon Palace after Wuzhiqi was suppressed, Pingxin harbored no resentment. Instead, she quietly waited within the palace for the return of her husband.

What allowed Pingxin to persevere through all those years was nothing more than the memories she had shared with Wuzhiqi.

Returning to his Huai River Dragon Palace, Wuzhiqi looked upon the palace, now devoid of a single maid or guard, and felt a swirling vortex of emotions in his heart.

Wuzhiqi walked through the Huai River Dragon Palace he had built with his own hands, gazing at halls that looked no different from his memories, hoping his beloved dragon maiden was still here.

Wuzhiqi seated himself once more upon his dragon throne. Looking out over the empty hall, he could not help but cry out loudly, "Is anyone there?"

Only echoes answered Wuzhiqi. Unwilling to give up, he called out a few more times, but they all vanished like stones dropped into the sea.

Just as Wuzhiqi felt his heart sinking into despair, a slender, graceful figure flew straight into his embrace.

After a tempestuous whirlwind of passion, Wuzhiqi and Pingxin lay side by side within the hall.

"Xin'er, your husband has returned!"

"Mm! I have been waiting right here for you, my husband!"

"Xin'er, this time, your husband never wishes to be separated from you again."

"Mm! Me too! I never want to be separated from my husband again either!"

The monkey and the dragon indulged in yet another tender embrace...