Outside the Ten Thousand Forms Pavilion, on the guest-receiving terrace.

The Jade-Horned Silver Dragon, winding like a river of stars, dropped suddenly to the ground and became a burly man in heavy silver-gleaming armor, a great crescent halberd in his hand, and drove the butt of it hard into the paving!

Qi Zhaoping's face was fierce and sullen, and his gaze swept coldly over the formation in front of him.

Ordinarily, when he came to a door in person, this crowd of base servants would have come out a thousand li to meet him, fawning.

And now here he stood outside their sect, and there was not the least stir inside it.

Had that old thing of the Ten Thousand Forms Pavilion burned his brains out when he merged with the Dao? Did he really think that shutting his gate and staying inside would put the business off?

Daydreaming!

"This King gives you the time it takes to count three. Come out, or This King will take your sect-guarding grand formation apart today!"

Qi Zhaoping closed his eyes, gripped the great halberd abruptly, and said in a chill voice, "One!"

Behind him the water-kin great generals drew their weapons together too. Breaking a sect-guarding grand formation took no small labor, certainly — but it should not be forgotten that of everything this crowd of idle West Dragon Palace princes lacked, time was the last of it.

Lord Qi the Seventh had plainly lost his temper in earnest today.

They stared grimly at the formation's mouth; and to their surprise, before the Seventh Lord had counted two, a faint light rippled across the formation.

Say this for these base servants: they knew what was good for them. Truly offend the West Dragon Palace, and sweeping them flat would take no great effort either.

But the next moment these Dragon Palace great generals, who had only just let go their hilts, changed color and gripped them again by instinct!

No figure appeared yet; the words came first.

There sounded only a low, coarse voice with a killing air in it, and the…