Now it was the middle-aged man's turn to be truly shocked.
Lam Minh's words, especially the four words "Father King Lac Long Quan," struck his mind like a lightning bolt. The indifference, the sarcastic look on his face completely vanished, replaced by a shock, an disbelief that gradually turned into a frantic joy.
The descendants of the Dragon King still exist.
The noblest bloodline, the primordial lineage of this land, has not yet been extinguished.
"Finally... finally, humanity is saved!" he blurted out, his voice no longer calm, but filled with joy and hope.
After so many years, after hundreds of years of imprisonment in darkness, forced to helplessly watch as foolish descendants indulged in the search for the "Longevity Secret," forgetting the true path of cultivation left by the Dragon King, even selling out their own people to the damn Madakaros from outer space.
And now, the bloodline of the Dragon King had truly reappeared. And it was an outstanding descendant, young but already at the Late-stage Golden Core, with a steadfast will and an unfathomable mind. This was truly a gift, a surprising arrangement of fate.
"Ahem, listen to me," Lam Minh, still bound by the four iron chains in a 'Bát' shape, had to cough lightly to calm the man's excitement.
"It doesn't matter! You don't need to say anything!" the middle-aged man waved his hand, his face still filled with joy. "Your appearance, the blood flowing in your veins, is enough to make me completely convinced!"
"But..." Lam Minh tried to continue.
But the man cut him off again. "You don't need to say it! From now on, I will honor you as the new King, the new Dragon King of this era!"
As he finished speaking, he did something that made Lam Minh's eyes widen.
That man, the one with an extraordinary temperament, who had not been broken even after hundreds of years of imprisonment, slowly knelt on one knee, bowed his head deeply to Lam Minh, and shouted, his voice echoing throughout the cell.
"God Thuy Tinh, the God who rules the seas, pays his respects to the new Prince!"
As the words left his mouth, this time it was Lam Minh's turn to be completely petrified.
Thuy... Thuy Tinh?
The God who rules the seas?
The new Prince?
A series of earth-shattering titles slammed into his head.
No wonder.
No wonder this man's aura was so familiar and ancient. No wonder he had those emerald-green fish scales. No wonder he had a temperament similar to his uncle Lac Long Quan.
It turned out, he too was a living myth. A character straight out of the fairy tales that every Vietnamese child knew by heart.
But it was a sad story.
When the earth and sky were not yet settled,
The seas were still fiercely untamed,
A god was born from the water palace,
His name was Thuy Tinh – holder of the waves…
The story of Thuy Tinh was an epic of power, but also a sad love song of infatuation.
Thuy Tinh – son of the Sea God, born in the heart of the ocean. He was not just a god who governed water, but also a heroic warrior, possessing the infinite power of the sea. He could call rain to pour down like a flood, control water dragons, manipulate the white-capped waves, and his roar when angered could make the heavens and earth tremble.
One day, on a trip to the mainland, the heart of the proud sea god was moved for the first time by the beauty of Princess My Nuong – the daughter of the eighteenth Hung King. Her beauty was like the full moon shining on the night sea, gentle and serene, yet possessing an irresistible charm.
Thuy Tinh, along with another – Son Tinh, the lord of the Tan Vien mountains – both came to ask for My Nuong's hand in marriage.
The Hung King, faced with two talented gods, set an incredibly tricky condition for the betrothal gifts: "Whoever brings the gifts first will marry My Nuong." The gifts included: a nine-tusked elephant, a nine-spurred rooster, and a nine-maned horse.
All of those were products of the mountains.
The next day, Son Tinh, with his home-field advantage, brought all the gifts first and took My Nuong back to the mountains.
Thuy Tinh arrived later, only to see that the wedding barge had already departed. The heart of the sea god, in that moment, shattered like waves against a reef.
Pain turned into fury. Unwilling to accept defeat, Thuy Tinh summoned his aquatic army, roared across the seas, called the rain to raise the waters, creating torrential floods that attacked the Tan Vien mountains, where My Nuong lived.
An earth-shattering battle between water and mountain, between the sea and the highlands, took place, shaking the heavens and the earth. As high as the water rose, Son Tinh moved mountains and built up earth, raising his fortress just as high.
In the end, neither could defeat the other. Thuy Tinh, exhausted, had to withdraw his troops.
Later generations only remember a ferocious Thuy Tinh, who, because he couldn't get the wife he wanted, raised the waters every year to wreak havoc, submerging villages.
But who knew that after each flood, he would quietly retreat, leaving behind fertile silt for the fields.
Who knew that each rainy season was not an act of destruction, but a desperate cry of remembrance, the scream of a broken heart that could never be healed.
Thuy Tinh could not have My Nuong, but his love for her, like the ocean, was never-ending.
And now, the man with the elegant temperament, the handsome face, and those emerald-green scales, was the legendary Thuy Tinh himself. A god, kneeling before him, a descendant from thousands of years later.
This event was truly too surreal.
....
Lam Minh broke free from his rambling thoughts about the legend of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh. Until now, in both his lives, he had always thought it was just a myth, stories passed down by people to explain natural phenomena, or just fairy tales told to children before bed.
But he could never have imagined that it was real.
A living witness, a god from legend, was kneeling before him like this. What more could he doubt? Sometimes, the truth is more absurd than fiction.
"So," Lam Minh tried to keep his voice calm, "you worked for that silver-haired uncle for thousands of years, yet you didn't know where your master went?"
Thuy Tinh looked up, a smile that was both respectful and a little proud hanging on his lips. "That's right. Even without any instructions, I will always be loyal to him. Because, thanks to the Father King, I am who I am today. It was he who taught me how to control the power of the sea, how to cultivate to become stronger. It was he who bestowed upon me the title 'God who rules the seas'."
"Oh, so you want to follow me just because I possess the bloodline of the Father King?" Lam Minh raised an eyebrow, a slightly probing smile on his face.
"Precisely," Thuy Tinh said with a firm tone, without a hint of hesitation. "As long as you agree, you and I will immediately sign a soul contract. I will become your guardian deity and fight alongside you."
Lam Minh still had some doubts. "Why do you trust me so unconditionally?"
"Because," Thuy Tinh looked straight into Lam Minh's eyes, his gaze incredibly sincere, "everything in this world can be a lie. Power, promises, even love. But only the bloodline of the Father King is real. It is a testament to integrity, to absolute power, and to the will to protect the Earth. That has been proven by thousands of years of history."
It was true. Since ancient times, the existence of Lac Long Quan, through stories and tales, had saved humanity countless times. It was not for no reason that he became a myth, an immortal symbol in the hearts of the people.
"Alright. I trust you," Lam Minh said, the doubt in his heart completely dissipated. "But first, tell me how to solve this damn dark qi problem in my soul."
He spoke, his face contorting again as the pain from the dark qi flared up once more.
"Haha, easy," Thuy Tinh stood up, his expression more relaxed. "This so-called 'dark qi' is not actually a pure form of energy. It comes from the 'Dao Saint's' blind faith in a non-existent 'Saint.' In reality, it is their inner demon, built and nurtured by false beliefs over thousands of years."
He paused for a moment to let Lam Minh digest this information, then continued. "They can attack your mind not because they are stronger than you, but because... within your heart, an inner demon still exists."
"My inner demon?" Lam Minh frowned, his face full of confusion. "I once meditated on the surface of the water for months without a single ripple in my mind. I don't believe I have an inner demon."
"Meditation can only help you find tranquility within," Thuy Tinh slowly explained, his voice now gentle, like a teacher guiding a student. "It helps you suppress the suffering, the worries in your heart, but it cannot eliminate them. They are still there, in the deepest corner of your soul, just becoming more obedient, no longer bothering you."
"But once there is an external force, once you encounter a desperate situation, they will rise again, and even stronger than before. That is the opening they exploited."
Thuy Tinh looked straight at Lam Minh, his eyes deep. "To eliminate the dark qi, you must first face your own inner demon. You must ask yourself, what are you truly worried about, and what do you fear the most?"
Thuy Tinh's question, like a bell, echoed in Lam Minh's mind, stunning him.
What am I worried about?
What do I fear?
Me, someone who has died and been reborn, someone with an immortal system, what else could I possibly fear?