The master entered a local Daoist temple and was compelled to transform into a door knocker, vowing to protect the temple for three hundred years on behalf of the Celestial Master.

Finally, the Celestial Master personally carved a deep well and cast an iron tree beside it, suppressing the chief monstrous dragon within.

Only then did the Celestial Master journey to the Dragon Palace of the Great River, to question the aged dragon for failing to properly oversee its brood, a dereliction of duty.

The aged dragon lamented its plight, having no choice but to beg for mercy from the Dragon Lord who governed the entire Eastern Sea region. It is said that this dispute between mountains and waters eventually reached the Wen Miao of the Central Earth.

Beneath Mount Hao Ran, many tales are spun, with ink painting strange and wondrous events, legendary cases, ethereal fox spirits, spectral marriages, divine anomalies, and encounters with immortals…

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Scholar Xue, if you have the chance in the future, you could try your luck in the Great Spring Dynasty, starting with the Imperial Archives or the Ministry of Rites, to see if you can extract and borrow any files.”

Xue Huai nodded and said, “I will heed Mountain Lord Chen’s words. If I happen to uncover the main ruins of that Dragon Palace of the Great River, I will certainly notify Mountain Lord Chen immediately. We can explore the Dragon Palace together, and afterward, all the spoils will be divided between Ruopo Mountain and Pushan, with a ratio of four to six.”

Ye Yunyun retorted, “Xue Huai, what are you dreaming of? Times have changed. The Vast World now has Four Seas Dragon Sovereigns once more. Even if such ruins were to miraculously reappear, they should rightfully belong to the true dragon of Treasure Bottle Continent. If you dare to embezzle the Dragon Palace’s treasures, aren’t you afraid she will ascend from the Eastern Sea and demand retribution, perhaps even inundating Pushan with a flood if she disagrees?”

Speaking to this point, Ye Yunyun curiously asked, “Mountain Lord Chen, I’ve heard that the true dragon’s cultivation ground is precisely the Li Zhu Grotto Heaven where your Ruopo Mountain is located. Doesn’t that mean she’s your close neighbor?”

Chen Ping’an treated people with sincerity and nodded, “She is a neighbor.”

Ye Yunyun pressed further, “I’ve also heard that this newly ascended Eastern Sea Dragon Sovereign is already in the Ascension Realm. Are you familiar with her, Mountain Lord Chen?”

Aside from sulking last night after their farewell in the pavilion, Ye Yunyun hadn’t been idle. She had quickly crammed information from the mountain and water gazettes, even going down the mountain to visit Kou Xuanqu’s Water God Temple and the Azure Flood Water Lord’s Mansion at the river mouth, requesting a large stack of gazettes related to Treasure Bottle Continent, especially Ruopo Mountain. She was shocked by what she learned; the small grotto heaven that had fallen and been downgraded to a blessed land grade had unexpectedly produced so many “young geniuses”: besides the woman who became the world’s only true dragon and ascended to the Ascension Realm, there was Ruopo Mountain’s Chen Ping’an, Dragon Spring Sword Sect’s Liu Xianyang, Ma Kuxuan, who was among the candidates for the top ten young cultivators, and Zheng Juzhong’s direct disciple from White Emperor City, whose Daoist name was “Canran” and nickname “Madman”…

Chen Ping’an had no choice but to say, “Next-door neighbor.”