Chapter 223 - 223 - Money, Money, All For Money

Far away in the silent forests of Nevada, Long Ki peacefully spent his loving time with his family. The little red egg was always super enthusiastic and loved causing mischief. He had to be supervised 24/7. Both he and Yukiya took turns in taking care of their child. It became almost impossible to tame that wild streak in their little red egg.

Long Ki once again fished out the little red egg out of the water hole and out the river. "Baby, you can swim yet! If you jump in, you will only drop to the bottom and you know what is in the bottom...a ghoul....it will eat you," he said with the most serious look he could muster.

The little egg paused, but after just second it jumped into the small watering hole again.

He helplessly fished him out again and glanced at his lover. Yukiya smirked at him and nodded. "baby listen to daddy it's too risky down there. When you hatch I will swim alongside you to the bottom and let's explore this river yeah?" she softly whispered, patting the smooth surface of the egg. The egg had become quite translucent from the day he was born and the red inside had also expanded, showing his rapid growth.....

"Why won't he listen to me?" Long Ki muttered with a pout. He sadly sat next to the hole and sloshed at the water.

Yukiya swam over to him and cupped his face softly. "Darling, it's because you fuss too much.."

"I don't fuss so much.. He is just an egg he can't swim in this fast-flowing river..what if he gets washed away? What will we do then?...or what if he gets eaten by something....no, no, I can't allow it," he said firmly shaking his head.

Yukiya sighed. "He is not so delicate. See, this egg membrane does not break that easily. Even if something chews on him, it will not break." She said softly.

"What if the predator swallowed him whole? What then?" he said with a challenging gaze.

She was unable to convince him, so she laid her head on his lap and softly hummed a tune. The little egg in her arms snuggled against her and went to sleep.

Right at this moment, a huge roar sounded shaking the entire underwater place.

Startled, Yukiya securely held her child and peered out. "What was that?"

Long Ki shot up and rushed over to the glass window. Even though he was not able to see anything, he was able to hear the huge roar vibrating the water surface..... "It's Raijin.....he...he is in his complete beast form,"

"Raijin? Your beast pet, Raijin? Is he close by?" Yukiya whispered anxiously.

Long ki walked over to her and cupped her face. "wifey.....I think he is in grave dagger...I—I"

"go...go to him. He might need your help," she said without any hesitation.

Long Ki peered into her clear eyes and nodded. "I will be back as soon as I can...till then stay here and don't come out,"

Yukiya nodded. Long Ki went about packing few essentials in his ring. "Will...will you be okay?"

"I will be fine..but will you...." she gestured to her ring finger. Till this day they had not separated even a few feet from each other, now her lover was going to travel far away. She feared that the ring might claim his hands.

Long ki glanced at his left palm and clenched it into a fist. "Even if I have to lose my hand, I will still go to him. For almost five thousand years he had always been close to me, staying behind as my shadow. Now, because of me...he is in danger. I have to save him, I have to"

"Then go soon and come back safely. Besides, I think you will look good with one hand as well," Yukiya said cheerfully.

Laughing out loud, Long ki kissed her softly and hugged her tight. He then kissed his little egg and rushed out the house.

Yukiya made a huge air bubble around him. "This will take you to the surface. Be safe, okay," she whispered, clenching his hands tightly.

Long ki nodded, hugged them both again and jumped out the hole in top of the ceiling. It took him directly into the river. The bubble floated up on its own and he reached the surface safely. He swiftly swam over to the bank and dried his wet clothes with his flame. He then pulled out a small red jade. He softly caressed the red dragon carved on it and broke it into pieces..

Then his figure disappeared from there without a trace.

Inside the underwater castle, Yukiya sadly leaned against the walls. The egg in her hand anxiously jumped around. "It's...it's going to be fine. Everything will be fine...your dad will come back safely," she murmured, hiding her tear-stained face with her palm.

Simultaneously in the far west, Hales.

Smoke filled the main streets of the kingdom and a huge roar vibrated though making the buildings shake and tremble.

Long Aotian smirked. "Brother, hold your breath. Don't fall for the illusion spell," he said and jumped into the fog. The ghoul followed after him.

Inside, many disoriented human cultivators wearing a golden robe stood frozen. Some had a stunned look on their face and some had tears running down their cheeks. It was the effect of the illusion spell. Xia's illusion seal was only as powerful as his cultivation. Just below sky level. So Long Aotian suggested that he add his dragon blood as the ink to make the seal. This advanced the seals to advance sky level.

Most sky level cultivators fell into illusion, leaving only a few vigilant ones. Long dashed past them and rushed over to the chariot. Just as he reached closer, a huge sword light flashed in front of his face. Stunned, Long stumbled back with his whip ready in hand. "Show yourself!" he shouted.

A huge man wearing a black cape walked up front.

Long peered at him with his eyes vigilantly. 'This is the heaven level cultivator....'

"Cultivator, why are standing by the golden tribe's side?" Long Aotian whispered curiously. This man felt strong, almost in par with him when he was a black dragon.

The man pulled won the hood to reveal a cute baby like face. "Money!!" he said cheerfully. "They give me moneyyyyyy!!! Ah so much money and they also promised me a vial the dragon's heart blood,"

Long stepped back a little further. He did not want to convince him any further. If this man's purpose was only money, he would have paid him a lot of god, but when he said the second sentence Long knew that their alliance was impossible. He firmly gripped onto his whip and glanced at him. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Wait, wait time out," the man shouted and held his hands out.

Long paused with a frown.

Noticing his hesitation, the man smirked mysteriously. "aww, why are you so cute? If I say stop, you stop. You are like a pet, ah!" he said and pulled out a paper fan from his waistband. He waved it around. Strong winds arose from it, dissipating the fog and smoke. "And do you think this cheap illusion trick would work? I was expecting more ahh! Where is the challenge? Its getting boring," he said with a sneer.

Long growled out loud and rushed towards him, his whip turned into a long spear and launched at him right at it his face.

The man dodged to the side and pulled his own blue sword out. A blue sword light rose from it and he clashed it with Long Aotian's dragon fire.

Both forces clashed.

Long Aotian recoiled from the force and took two steps back. His feet borrowed into the road from the force.

"wow, you are good....I think it might be interesting after all. You guys don't interfere," he said.

The nearby sky cultivators, who had come out of the illusion, stood in a circle around him, completely enveloping him in all directions.

"Oh, don't worry. Hey won't act unless I say so. I just want to fight you, is that okay?" the child like man said with a wide smirk.

Long weirdly glanced at him and then around him at the cultivators. His eyes lingered on a spot, but he did not make it noticeable.

The ghoul who had dressed up in a golden robe stood along with the other golden tribe members. He slowly but surely moved through the crows closer to the chariot.

Meanwhile, Long Aotian and the mysterious man were in a stand still. Both attacked and retreated. It was not because they both were equally strong. It was because both were testing their strengths.

After two moves or so, their attacks became so vicious and swift that they could not be tracked by naked eyes. Only a few fiery flashed of gold and blue were seen occasionally.

Long jumped forward and tried to kick his legs, but the man noticed it and threw a punch at his face. He leaned back and dodged it easily. He jumped back and held his sword.. His eyes were not on the energy rather it was on the ghoul who was right behind him untying the roped subtly. 'Few more minutes than we can retreat successfully,'