His Majesty the Celestial Emperor’s Fifth Son

"You’re my dad. How could a son order his father around?"

"Exactly! Same logic. Lord Noctis’s cultivation is unfathomable, and his seniority is sky-high. If you claim Leo Li ‘ordered’ him around, even Lord Noctis himself wouldn’t accept it." Immortal Faustin said. "It’s a matter of pride."

Nine Li: "Ah..."

"So basically," Lily Bai asked, "we came all this way for nothing?"

Immortal Faustin thought for a moment. "Not exactly for nothing! At least they probably won’t have the nerve to attack the Tribulation Storm Array again anytime soon..."

"I wouldn’t bet on it," Lily Bai pouted. "What if their skin is even thicker than yours, Master Faustin? Even if this dirty trick got exposed, they’d still chase after Damian Black (alias Sean Shaw) like rabid dogs!"

"That’s impossible!" Immortal Faustin said flatly.

"Why not?" Lily Bai said. "From the way they talk, it sounds like Damian Black (alias Sean Shaw) committed some huge crime. Like they absolutely have to catch him, no matter what..."

Immortal Faustin: "I mean, their skin can’t possibly be thicker than mine."

Nine Li: "..."

Lily Bai: "..."

"Master Faustin, you still haven’t told me—why do they call Damian Black ‘Sean Shaw’? And why do they call him Fifth Highness?"

Immortal Faustin glanced at her, lost in thought. At last he said, "Actually, Damian Black—his everyday alias is Sean Shaw—is His Majesty the Celestial Emperor’s fifth son. His real name is Ethan Xiao, also known as Fifth Highness."

Lily Bai’s jaw dropped.

No wonder he always hides his true body.

So he’s a dragon.

"Dad! Are you saying the Demon Emperor is actually a prince?" Nine Li exclaimed.

"Not just him," Immortal Faustin said. "Azure Flame used to be Divine Lord Grace Summers’s personal mount! Baxa was once a Divine General! Both followed Fifth Highness and rebelled from Dragon Abyss."

"Why? What happened back then?" Nine Li asked.

Lily Bai looked at him, a little nervous too.

"That, I really don’t know," Immortal Faustin said. "Dragon Abyss secrets."

Lily Bai: "You really don’t know?"

"I swear, I don’t," Immortal Faustin said. "Come on, let’s go home! Don’t stress out so much—if a soldier comes, we’ll block him; if a flood comes, we’ll dam it! You’ve got me as your master!"

Lily Bai shot Immortal Faustin a look.

Master Faustin sure sounds confident.

Like someone with a powerful backer.

Speaking of which...

That hot potato, he handed it to the Qilin Divine Lord—and the Qilin Divine Lord took it, without dragging us into the mess at all...

And then, that secret sound-transmission promising to take her away...

Lily Bai was still pondering her master’s relationship with the Qilin Divine Lord when Nine Li asked, "Dad, Senior Sister—everyone keeps talking about ‘Lucia Lu,’ and saying Senior Sister is her reincarnation. Who is she, anyway?"

Nine Li had always been super curious about this.

Immortal Faustin waved him off. "Don’t ask, don’t ask! I don’t know even if you do!"

"So is Senior Sister really her reincarnation or not?" Nine Li pressed. "Did Divine Lord Tanya Quinn actually lie?"

"Who do you think Divine Lord Tanya Quinn is? How could she possibly lie!" Immortal Faustin said.

"But Senior Sister went to beg her with that ragged phoenix feather, didn’t she? What if she lied to help out?"

"What ragged phoenix feather?" Lord Faustin looked totally lost. "What are you talking about? I don’t get it! Did you dream it last night and think it was real?"

Nine Li: "..."

Lily Bai: "..."

The three of them drifted slowly toward the Dragon Abyss exit on a cloud.

Suddenly, someone chased after them, shouting, "Little Fish!"

Lily Bai turned to look—it was Fourth Highness, Henry Xiao.