Chapter 0426: Return to the Four Seas Imperial City

In the Hengyuan Realm, atop the northernmost mountains of the Frigid Plains.
Youlei was sitting in meditation within his palace when he suddenly opened his eyes and was astonished to see colorful lights emanating from a teleportation array in the distance.
“Is someone teleporting to the Hengyuan Realm?!” Youlei’s heart tightened. He immediately rose and landed beside the teleportation array, only to see two ancient characters displayed on it—“Netherworld.”
“They’ve come from the Netherworld to our Hengyuan Realm!” Shocked, Youlei quickly composed himself and stood respectfully aside. Those who came from the supreme divine realm of the Netherworld to the mortal realm were all important figures; surely he, a mere realm guardian, could not afford to neglect them.
The light from the teleportation array continued to shine, and after a while, as the light faded, a group of people appeared.
“So many?!” Youlei took in the sight and was shocked to find that twenty-six people had been teleported from the Netherworld to Hengyuan Realm.
All twenty-six were stronger than him!
Thus, they must all be mid-tier gods at the very least.
Twenty divine beings above mid-tier god level arriving from the supreme divine realm of the Netherworld—how many trillion divine stones would that require?! Though shocked, Youlei quickly spoke respectfully, “Youlei, the guardian of the Hengyuan Realm, greets you, lords!”
At that moment, the light from the teleportation array completely vanished. Huang Long looked at the falling snow and the familiar sky, feeling a sense of nostalgia. Hearing Youlei’s respectful greeting, he smiled and said, “Youlei, it’s been two thousand years—already can’t recognize us so quickly?”
Upon hearing this, Youlei was stunned. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t recall who it was. He raised his head—earlier, due to the person’s status, he hadn’t dared to look closely and hadn’t realized it was Huang Long and the others.
“You… you’re Huang Long?!” When Youlei looked up and saw the person before him, he exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Huang Long—of course he remembered him.
Though nearly two thousand years had passed, Huang Long’s memories from those days in Hengyuan were deeply etched in Youlei’s mind as the realm guardian.
After confirming it was Huang Long, Youlei turned to look at Bog, Gusta, the orc Natt, and the others beside him, his eyes widening further.
“Bog, Gusta, orc Natt!” These once-familiar names awakened memories in his mind!
“Lord Youlei!” Bog said with a smile as he looked at Youlei.
This was how they used to address each other in the Hengyuan Realm.

Yet, in his shock, Yule was overjoyed upon hearing Bog’s address and hurriedly said, “No, no, I dare not, Lord Bog!” Due to their different statuses, Yule naturally dared not call himself “lord” in front of Bog and the others. Although he was a descendant of the Theodore family in the Earthly Divine Plane, he was merely a direct descendant of that family. It was astonishing that Huang Long and the others could return to the Hengyuan Plane from the Netherworld in less than two thousand years—this showed the strength of the backing forces behind them. Yet Yule couldn’t figure out which force would be bold enough to spend trillions of divine stones to help Huang Long and the others return to Hengyuan Plane. Seeing Yule’s panicked expression, Bog said nothing more, merely smiling. Huang Long said to Bog and the others, “Let’s go back to the Four Seas Empire.” Then he turned to Yule and said, “Yule, we can catch up again sometime in the future.” Yule quickly replied, “It would be an honor for me. Farewell, Lord Huang Long!” Huang Long nodded, then along with Bradd and Bog, they transformed into twenty-six beams of light and soared into the sky, disappearing in an instant. Watching them vanish, Yule had a complex expression. After a long while, he slowly sighed. Back then, before Huang Long entered the Netherworld, he remembered having tried to tempt Huang Long to join their Theodore family with five hundred divine stones. He had mentioned the Divine Transformation Pool to Huang Long—each powerful being who entered the Netherworld needed five hundred divine stones to consolidate their divine essence and transform their bodies. If Huang Long and the others joined the Theodore family, they wouldn’t need divine stones for that process. “Five hundred divine stones?” Recalling the cost of transporting Huang Long and the others from the Netherworld to Hengyuan, Yule shook his head self-mockingly, his face turning red. “I hope Lord Huang Long has forgotten about this.” By then, Huang Long and the others were already thousands of miles away. Bog said to Huang Long, “Master, back then, this Yule actually tried to use five hundred divine stones to get us to join their Theodore family.” As Bog brought this up, everyone started talking about it. Fat Lion laughed, “Back then, Yule really thought we were fools.” Everyone laughed. Amidst the laughter, it wasn’t long before Huang Long and the others arrived over the Endless Sea. Back when they entered the Netherworld, it took a day to travel from the Endless Sea to the far north of the Frost Plains, but now it only took fifteen minutes. “Is this the Endless Sea?” Bradd expanded his divine sense, instantly covering the entire Endless Sea. In his imagination, since it was called the Endless Sea, it must be very large—unfortunately, it was much smaller than expected.

“Haha, the Endless Sea is only a term relative to the Constant Yuan Realm; of course, it can’t be compared to the seas in the divine Realm of the Netherworld,” said Huang Long with a smile.
Brod nodded.
“Let’s go. It’s been two thousand years—I wonder what’s become of the Four Seas Empire now,” said Huang Long, then led everyone eastward toward the Endless Sea.
The island where the imperial city of the Four Seas Empire was located was originally Chishui Island, east of the Endless Sea back then.
After just a dozen breaths, Huang Long and the others appeared on Chishui Island.
Chishui Island had not been large originally. Later, before Huang Long entered the Netherworld, he brought four other islands from other parts of the Endless Sea and connected them to Chishui Island, forming a large island with five islands centered around Chishui Island.
After landing on Chishui Island and seeing the four islands surrounding it, Huang Long couldn’t help but recall the time when he carried those four islands back on one hand, shocking everyone.
Huang Long stood there, while Bog and the others remained silent, lost in memories of the past.
Brod, on the other hand, calmly observed the local customs and scenery, occasionally seeing groups of soldiers in armor patrolling the island.
The commoners here had calm expressions and happy smiles. Seeing this, Brod nodded in approval.
“Let’s go inside the imperial city and take a look,” said Huang Long after a while.
Bog and the others replied respectfully, and Brod also followed behind Huang Long as they headed toward the gates of the Four Seas Imperial City.
However, as Huang Long and the others approached the gates, they saw soldiers stationed there stopping passersby for detailed questioning and checking their imperial residence cards before allowing them in.
“Stop! What are you doing?” a soldier who seemed to be the captain shouted at the group in front of Huang Long from a distance, then glanced suspiciously at those people with strange attire.
“Please show your residence cards of the Four Seas Empire,” the captain added as the soldiers surrounded the group.
“Residence cards of the Four Seas Empire?” Seeing the situation, Bog asked Huang Long, “Young master, should we enter from above or simply disappear and go in?”
The residence card of the Four Seas Empire was a symbol of identity for its residents. But people like Huang Long and Bog, who held lofty statuses in the empire back then, naturally didn’t need such cards.
Of course, for Huang Long and the others, there were countless ways to enter the Four Seas Empire, so they weren’t worried about being questioned.

Huang Long said, “Just follow me into the city.” With that, he raised his hand and waved lightly. A flash of light appeared instantly, and the air around them trembled strangely. Then Huang Long said, “Let’s enter the city.” He led Bradd, Bog, and the others toward the city gates. As they passed by the guard troops, Huang Long and his group were like transparent air—the guards showed no reaction at all.

After entering the city, Huang Long waved his hand again, and everything returned to normal. Bradd, Bog, and the others had followed Huang Long for some time and were no longer surprised by this.

“Young master, shall we head straight back to the Four Seas Imperial Palace?” Bog asked.

“Heh, no need. We’re already here. It’s not urgent to rush for another hour or two. Let’s stroll around and take a look,” Huang Long said, looking at the bustling streets ahead.

So, Huang Long and his group began to wander, walking along the wide streets of the Four Seas Imperial City. Watching the busy shops on both sides and listening to the noisy crowds around them, Huang Long felt lively. Nearly two thousand years had passed, yet the Four Seas Imperial City hadn’t changed much—only become more prosperous.

This city was created by Huang Long using the red water mineral veins from Chishui Island, refined within the Five Prison Divine Cauldron, forming a unified whole. That’s why, even after two thousand years, its structure hadn’t changed much.

Of course, compared to the main city of this divine realm—the Netherworld—this Four Seas Imperial City was nothing but a drop in the ocean. But mortals had their own realm. Huang Long didn’t intend to make any changes this time he returned.

After strolling for a while, they passed by an inn. Seeing it, Huang Long had an idea and went inside with Bog and the others. He remembered visiting this inn several times before entering the Netherworld.

“Young master, this Four Seas Imperial City is quite lively,” Bradd said after they sat down on the second floor.

“If you like it, stay for a few more days,” Huang Long replied with a smile.

Bradd was the king of the Ni Meng Mountains in the Ancient Forest of the Netherworld. Though he had lived for over ten or twenty eons, he rarely left the Netherworld.

“Good,” Bradd said with a smile. It was rare for him to leave the Netherworld and come to this mortal realm where his master used to live. He wanted to stay longer and see what made this mortal realm capable of producing talents like Huang Long and Bog.

“Do you know? I heard the Sea Tribe army is preparing to attack the Phoenix Clan.”

“Oh, really?”

“Of course. I heard that Lord Sea God Kaoer will lead an army to Phoenix Island during next month’s Sea Tribe Festival!”

At that moment, voices of discussion came from a table nearby.