Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts-Chapter 418 - Do You Know You Almost Died Just Now! (Two in One - )

The man, towering a hundred meters tall in his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form, exhaled deeply. The seawater, having surged into his nostrils, flowed back out.

He looked at the Dragon Empress and grinned. “Little girl, surrender the North Sea throne to me, and I’ll spare your life. You look quite decent—being my consort isn’t out of the question either.”

“Hah, ridiculous.”

The Dragon Empress extended a finger and pointed at his heart.

The seawater at her fingertip rapidly condensed.

Before their very eyes, the water coalesced into a sharp drill-like spear, thrusting straight toward his heart.

Surrounded by the vast ocean, the water spear resembled a cyclone of compressed air.

But the man swung his fist, shattering the water spear into mist.

In the blink of an eye, his fist was already crashing down toward the Dragon Empress.

She didn’t even move.

Thin strands of seawater wove together around her, slicing through his fist completely.

Yet, this was Heaven and Earth Dharma Form—he could simply regenerate.

Flexing his fingers, the man looked at her and nodded. “Not bad, not bad. Your ancestor left behind a capable granddaughter. But still, compared to him, you’re lacking something.”

The Dragon Empress tilted her head slightly. “Then you can try me.”

She flicked her finger, and razor-sharp threads of seawater formed an inescapable web, slashing toward him.

Wherever the water threads passed, they even created brief pockets of vacuum in the sea.

The man struck forward with his fist, an eerie blue flame erupting outward from it.

The ghostly blue fire engulfed his entire body.

Even as the water threads slashed through, they failed to harm him in the slightest.

He punched again, and a blazing blue tiger lunged at the Dragon Empress.

She swung her arm, dispersing it entirely.

Then, placing her hands before her, she stepped forward.

Behind her, four dragon warriors manifested.

Clad in armor, standing upright on two legs, they each held a trident.

The Dragon Empress locked eyes with the man and, parting her lips, uttered a single word in Dragon Speech:

“Die.”

Dragon Speech Incantations—a power only true dragons could cultivate.

During training, a dragon must not utter a single word, akin to a monk practicing silent meditation.

The longer one remained silent, the stronger their Dragon Speech became.

And the Dragon Empress—she had not spoken a single word in nearly ten thousand years.

As her word fell, the seawater around the man churned violently.

This was not a spell of the Dragon Empress. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

It was the will of the Great Dao itself, executing her command.

Executing the decree that this man—must die.

The raging sea formed two enormous hands, gripping his arms tightly.

Countless blades of water descended toward his head.

Yet, they struck as though against an unbreakable stone, failing to harm his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form in the slightest.

The four dragon warriors thrust their tridents into his limbs.

“Hahahaha! Interesting!”

The man let out a roar of laughter, then suddenly exerted his strength.

All the restraints shattered instantly.

But the power of the Great Dao was not so easily erased.

From the void, chains emerged, latching onto his enormous body.

Above the North Sea, the clouds split open.

From within, a colossal sword emerged.

In an instant, the massive blade plunged downward!

“Boom!”

The gigantic sword crashed straight onto his head.

The violent surge of spiritual energy, along with the raging waves, erupted once more. One coral mountain after another in the North Sea was obliterated, and countless sea creatures were caught in the shockwave, losing their lives.

Where the man’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Form once stood, there was now only a void.

Under such an assault, maintaining Heaven and Earth Dharma Form was nearly impossible. He had no choice but to remain deep within the abyss.

But the Dragon Empress did not let her guard down in the slightest.

With a twist of her body, she reverted to her true form and flew toward the collapsed abyss.

From her mouth, she unleashed a blast of white dragon breath, striking toward where Heaven and Earth Dharma Form had been.

At the same time, within that dark abyss, the seawater rapidly froze. The Dragon Empress reached out, and from the depths of the North Sea Abyss, a luminous pearl shot into her grasp.

This was precisely the Linglong Pearl that Xu Ming needed.

But before it could leave the abyss, a streak of ghostly blue flame shot out like an arrow, striking the pearl dead center.

The Linglong Pearl shattered into dust, vanishing into nothingness.

The Dragon Empress’s expression darkened with fury.

“Roar!”

With a furious growl, her tail lashed toward the already crumbling Heaven and Earth Dharma Form.

The man threw a punch to counter.

The impact of their clash devastated everything within a several-mile radius, leaving no trace of life behind.

The Dragon Empress reverted to her human form, landing on the ground. Pressing a delicate hand to her chest, she coughed up blood.

Meanwhile, the man’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Form rapidly shrank, returning to a normal human size.

A spectral longsword in his hand, he strode toward the Dragon Empress step by step.

Even as his form flickered and began to fade, he was determined to unleash this final strike.

The Dragon Empress steadied herself.

A long whip appeared in her palm.

With a flick, the whip lashed out like a swimming dragon, aiming to tear him apart.

The man stepped forward.

As they closed in on each other, the tip of his sword was already thrusting toward the Dragon Empress’s brow—

Yet at the same time, her whip was piercing toward his back, straight for his heart.

Had this been his true body, the outcome would have been a mutual kill.

But this was merely Heaven and Earth Dharma Form!

He would suffer damage, but he would not die. With a mere ten thousand years of recuperation, he could recover.

The Dragon Empress, on the other hand, might not survive at all.

At that critical moment—

A crimson longsword suddenly blocked in front of the Dragon Empress.

Clang!

Xu Ming’s divine sword, Hongxiu, clashed with the man’s spectral blade.

The immense force transmitted through the sword nearly shattered Xu Ming’s right arm.

But that brief instant was enough—

The Dragon Empress stepped back, and her whip had already pierced through the man’s heart.

Xu Ming was sent flying.

Before he could hit the ground, the Dragon Empress caught him.

He felt a softness against his back.

As they both steadied themselves, blood dripped from their lips.

The man’s Heaven and Earth Dharma Form rapidly crumbled away.

Before it fully vanished, his gaze fell upon the sword in Xu Ming’s hand.

“So even Hongxiu has made its choice... Heh...”

With that final murmur, his Heaven and Earth Dharma Form disintegrated completely.

The Dragon Empress extended a finger toward the abyss once more.

She spoke again:

“Seal!”

The ice that had already begun to spread now surged outward at an alarming rate.

Not only did it seal the entire abyss, but it also continued expanding in all directions.

Centered on the abyss, the surrounding dozens of miles were frozen solid.

The seawater itself turned deathly cold, as though an eternal winter had descended.

“You realize you almost died just now?”

The Dragon Empress’s lips parted slightly as she glared at Xu Ming, her voice carrying a rare trace of anger.

A single “Die.” A single “Seal.”

She had exhausted ten thousand years’ worth of Dragon Speech power.

As long as she refrained from using Dragon Speech, she could speak normally.

Xu Ming, seeing the Dragon Empress’s crimson lips, pearl-white teeth, and the faint glimpse of her pink tongue, found himself momentarily dazed.

“I arrived long ago,” Xu Ming explained calmly. “I just didn’t dare to interfere in the battle. But toward the end, I could tell that the opponent was at his limit, far weaker than before—that’s when I made my move.”

He knew the Dragon Empress was worried about him.

“Besides, Your Majesty is fine, isn’t that right? And I’m fine too. Doesn’t that just prove I made the right bet?”

“You—”

The Dragon Empress seemed like she wanted to say more, but suddenly, a sweetness rose in her throat.

She coughed up blood again and collapsed straight into Xu Ming’s arms.

“Your Majesty?”

Xu Ming caught her and immediately flew toward the Dragon Palace.

This matter shouldn’t have involved Xu Ming in the first place.

But because the palace maids with high cultivation—such as Xiao Lan—had all entered the royal palace to activate some kind of formation, trusting that their queen could handle the crisis, Xu Ming felt uneasy.

That was why he had rushed over.

In the end, he hadn’t expected to arrive at such a critical moment.

It was sheer luck that his intervention worked—his timing was perfect, the enemy was already drained, and he had a celestial weapon at his disposal.

If any one of those conditions had been missing, Xu Ming knew he wouldn’t have been able to stop the opponent.

Upon returning to the North Sea Dragon Palace, Xiao Lan was already waiting anxiously for her queen.

She hadn’t expected Xu Ming to be the one carrying the Dragon Empress back.

Without saying a word, Xiao Lan took her from him and immediately returned to the palace.

When Xu Ming arrived at his own residence, he found that the others had also been escorted back to their courtyards under the arrangement of the palace attendants.

Listening to the envoys from the Wu Kingdom, he learned that while the North Sea Dragon Domain had been in turmoil for a brief period, the situation was quickly brought under control by the palace’s forces.

Now, everything had returned to peace.

Xu Ming nodded, instructing the Wu Kingdom’s envoys to stay put and remain in their quarters.

He also assured them that the Dragon Empress was unharmed and would soon return to oversee everything.

Even though his words weren’t entirely true, to everyone else, they were a much-needed reassurance.

As long as the Dragon Empress was safe, there was nothing to worry about.

So long as she remained, all would be stable.

Afterward, Xu Ming made his way to White Deer Academy.

Unlike the Wu Kingdom’s envoys, who were left leaderless, White Deer Academy still had Lu Xiaoliu and Master Liu holding the fort, keeping things in order.

When they asked Xu Ming about what had happened, he told them the truth.

There was no need to hide anything from them.

Only by knowing the full picture could they make the most informed decisions.

And Xu Ming trusted that they wouldn’t spread the news recklessly.

Sure enough, when the three of them stepped out of the room, even when Zhu Cici pressed them for details, both Lu Xiaoliu and Master Liu simply reassured her that everything was fine, the Dragon Empress would handle it all.

Hearing that the Dragon Empress was unharmed, Yu Wenxi and the others finally relaxed.

To outsiders, the words “The Dragon Empress is safe” carried immense weight.

To the people of the North Sea, they were everything.

—

The next morning, the North Sea Dragon Palace issued an imperial decree.

The decree stated that the forces of End Mountain had attempted to bring chaos to the Four Seas, seeking to disrupt the Four Seas Grand Ceremony.

However, the Dragon Empress had long since uncovered their conspiracy and thwarted their schemes.

Now, all was as it should be.

The Dragon Empress was safe.

The people needed only to continue their lives as usual.

This decree was transcribed and distributed across the various cities and islands of the North Sea.

At the same time, the Dragon Empress had already deployed troops to assist in reconstruction and to provide aid to those affected.

From Xu Ming’s perspective, the North Sea Dragon Palace’s swift response—issuing a clear decree and taking decisive action on the very next day—undoubtedly reassured the people, bringing them peace of mind.

Everyone knew this was an accident.

Since the Dragon Empress was unharmed, the entire North Sea would be fine.

Reconstruction was merely a matter of time—life would go on.

Of course, those who had died would not return.

Across the Four Seas, countless funerals would be held in the coming days.

And End Mountain, the mastermind behind this disaster, would be hated by the entire Four Seas.

It was likely that the arrangements following the Four Seas Grand Ceremony were not made by the Dragon Empress herself.

Her injuries were severe—she was likely still unconscious.

This meant that everything happening now was the result of decisions made by her ten handmaidens.

Clearly, their methods were highly effective.

As for the diplomatic envoys still in Dragon Capital, they were all being reassured by various officials.

Since the Grand Ceremony had concluded, some envoys, fearing responsibility, had already left, returning to their respective kingdoms to report back.

For those who chose to leave, the North Sea Dragon Palace handled their departure with the usual ceremonial formalities.

On the other hand, some envoys felt it was inappropriate to leave so soon and decided to stay a while longer.

For them, the Dragon Palace continued its usual hospitality.

For now, everything appeared normal.

But Xu Ming was worried—if the Dragon Empress remained absent, would this fragile stability hold?