With the help of the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, Dragon-Qilin and Annie, along with the six Heavenly Dragons, quickly escaped from Black Tortoise Palace. Looking back, the palace was still shrouded in mist.
Dragon-Qilin and Annie hugged the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, jumping and cheering with joy. The six Heavenly Dragons danced and sang around the world's greatest treasure, utterly delighted.
Suddenly, Dragon-Qilin stopped and said, "It feels like we're missing someone... Oh no, the Cult Master is still in Black Tortoise Palace!"
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
The six Heavenly Dragons coughed repeatedly, glancing around and whistling.
Annie stomped her foot and said, "We were so busy fighting Yin Tianzi and stealing things that we forgot the young master in Black Tortoise Palace. Now he's still gravely injured and can't use his divine sense—what should we do?"
Dragon-Qilin's expression shifted from worry to frustration as he paced back and forth. "The reason we stole the Glass Azure Firmament Banner was because the Cult Master was badly hurt and we needed this treasure's power to protect us. Now we've got the treasure, but we've lost the Cult Master..."
One of the young Heavenly Dragons stopped whistling and whispered, "Stop it, I'm about to pee myself from fright..."
The whistling stopped.
Everyone froze above the Celestial River. Beneath their feet, a pitch-black fish swam leisurely by, croaking out strange calls.
"The Cult Master will definitely be fine."
Dragon-Qilin glanced back at Black Tortoise Palace, seeing countless Black Tortoise clansmen pouring out in pursuit. He made a snap decision: "The Cult Master is always clever—he takes care of us, but we rarely look after him. Let's go first; he'll surely turn disaster into fortune on his own!"
Annie and the six Heavenly Dragons nodded repeatedly.
The group fled in a panic.
"You left the Dragonblood Treasure Tree for the Cult Master, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Is there a lantern hanging on the tree?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Then that's good. If worst comes to worst, the Cult Master can just extinguish the lantern and return to the Ghost Ship."
......
In the guest room at Jade Capital City, Quinn heard the commotion outside and felt puzzled: "What's going on? Could it be that Bruno and Annie are stealing the Glass Azure Firmament Banner?"
After a while, Quinn wondered again, "Why haven't Annie and Bruno come back yet?"
After a long time, Quinn finally realized: "Those two—after stealing the Glass Azure Firmament Banner, they just left me behind and ran off! Ungrateful brats!"
Right now, he couldn't fight anyone, and if he ran outside and was discovered, he'd surely be caught as a thief. All he could do was endure.
Crown Prince Yooming finally woke from his drunken stupor, and when he learned the Glass Azure Firmament Banner had been stolen, he was dumbfounded. "Who stole it?" he exclaimed.
When he heard it was Dragon Mountain Wanderer and the princess of the Southern Emperor's family, he was even more stunned, unable to speak for a long time.
After a moment of silence, he came to his senses and ordered, "Tell the clansmen not to pursue them—everyone return to the palace. The Glass Azure Firmament Banner is valuable, but our people's lives matter more. We must return to Northern Pole Heaven at once; no more delays!"
The Black Tortoise clansmen returned to the palace. Crown Prince Yooming steadied his Dao-heart and wholeheartedly piloted the palace along the Celestial River toward Northern Pole Heaven. Still, the Glass Azure Firmament Banner was a unique treasure forged by his parents over a lifetime, and the thought of losing it left him aching with grief.
"Those shameless thieves!" Crown Prince Yooming cursed out loud, furious and indignant.
Quinn carefully adjusted the lantern light, staying where he was and continuing to circulate the Overlord Three-Core Art to restore his divine sense, using the Taichu Primal Stone to help himself recover to peak condition as quickly as possible.