Skypiea

--- Chapter 420 ---

Huo Yuhao, Raikou, and Fujitora stood on a shadow dragon. They flew to Skypiea and approached the entrance quickly. 

"This is Yuhao-sama's shadow summon?" Fujitora cautiously looked down on the shadow dragon and felt immense power coming from it. This giant dragon made of purple-darkness was much stronger than him.

Fujitora's mouth twitched in helplessness. No wonder Huo Yuhao called him weak, though not directly. 

"Skye, use your wind-breaking barrier." Huo Yuhao ordered the sky.

"Understood!" The shadow dragon roared gently, and a dark green barrier materialized quickly, protecting them from the destructive power of the Nine Deadlock Lightning Dragon Formation. 

Fujitora became pale because they were about to enter the "Deadlock" range and felt the anger of thunder. His demonic red eyes could catch "destructive power" coming from thin air, about to hit them mercilessly.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!

Sword-shaped lightning appeared one after another, bombarding the dark green barrier like no tomorrow. 

Huo Yuhao calmly stared at this and commented, "It's not the formation I know. Liu Mei has upgraded it to be much stronger." 

Raikou looked around and added, "Honey, I think we have entered an Illusion Array, too." 

Huo Yuhao also realized the sword-shaped lightning rain became faster each second, turning tangible quality into illusory that could ignore the wind barrier.

"Skye, are you okay there?" 

"Don't worry, my liege. I can handle this much!" The shadow dragon let out a piercing roar. Then, its streamlined body transformed into a spear-like shape and pierced through the lightning field.

SWOOOSH!

BAM!

They successfully broke through the deadlock and appeared in another air space. The surrounding area is nothing but white clouds. 

"This is... Skypiea?" Fujitora was amazed. He forgot how dangerous it was to enter this area because of how beautiful this sight was before him.

Huo Yuhao used his fortune sense and replied, "No, this is just the border of Skypiea." 

"Skye, go to the west." 

Skye adjusted the state of its body before flapping its massive wings and rushing to the west of the white clouds sea. 

After a few seconds, they finally saw a gathering of islands on the sea of white clouds. Huo Yuhao scanned every island on the way and noticed one with a temple. 

Huo Yuhao also noticed the "core" of the Nine Deadlock Lightning Dragon Formation not far away, a beautiful "sword" faintly shrouded in lightning embedded into a floating island.

Of course, he didn't pay much attention to this sword. After all, it's just one of the swords Liu Mei conjured with her divine power. 

Yes, it's not her real weapon.

"Intruder! Intruder!"

"Everyone, surround and shoot the intruder!" A commanding voice echoed from the temple. 

"Hmm, Skypiean?" Huo Yuhao looked down to see several white-winged people throwing spears at Skye. Their attempt to protect this place amused him a little.

"Skye, don't hurt them." 

Skye roared at the Skypiean and landed on the temple with ease, glaring at them with dragon's eyes. Dragon's fear seeped into Skypiean's mind as they witnessed a massive dragon raid their head.

Every Skypiean fainted on the spot as Dragon's Fear Skye released is no weaker than a full-blown Haoshoku Haki from Yonko. Of course, a few people are still standing firm.

"You shall not pass!" Gan Fall crossed his arms tightly, feeling his calf was about to explode by resisting this pressure. Behind Gan Fall are Skypiean Warriors that the Lightning Goddess blessed as they summoned several "spiritual" weapons from their bodies.

Gan Fall also summons a weapon. It was a golden spear with a twisted wing-like spear blade.

"Honey, those are..." Raikou's eyes widened.

"Yes, Martial Soul." Huo Yuhao nodded calmly. "It seems we are in the right place." 

"Liu Mei must have awakened their Martial Souls." 

"But their Spirit Rings Configuration is a bit lacking." 

Gan Fall and others have awakened their Martial Souls and achieved the cultivation levels of Soul Emperor and Soul Kings. However, their Spirit Ring configurations resemble the standard configuration found in the Douluo Continent, consisting of two yellow rings, two purple rings, and either one or two black rings.

Dragon Nest's members won't have yellow spirit rings. Their physique, mental power, and spirit allowed them to have one thousand years (purple) spirit rings from the start of a bottleneck.

Fujitora, who started cultivating as Spirit Master a few days ago, already has a 10,000-year-old (black) spirit ring. Although Fujitora only has three black spirit rings as he's only Spirit Elder, the accumulation of essence is better than Gan Fall and other Skypiean warriors.

"Raikou-san, please..." Huo Yuhao gave Raikou a calm look.

Raikou nodded and jumped off the shadow dragon. She activated her Martial Soul, and Spirit Rings appeared one after another in the sky. 

Twelve Spirit Rings manifested in the sky, corresponding to Raikou's cultivation realm of level 129. Nine were red, the tenth was crimson-gold, the eleventh was purple-gold, and the twelfth was green-gold.

The first nine Spirit Rings are 999,999 years old, Raikou's foundation as Mortal Cultivator. Meanwhile, the last three Spirit Rings are Divine Rings that contain her concepts of the universe, which was her foundation for becoming a God. 

Seeing Raikou's Spirit Rings configuration, Gan Fall and others were stunned. 

"G-Goddess." 

"H-How is that possible!" 

"How could someone possess the same radiant as our GODDESS!" Gan Fall doubted the world at this very moment. 

As Lightning Goddess's worshipper, Gan Fall witnessed her glory two years ago. 

But now? Looking at Raikou, Gan Fall's faith couldn't help but falter.

Raikou smiled, "Don't be afraid. I'm not your enemy."

"We are here looking for a person. Our comrade, who got stranded in this world." 

"This temple must have been built by her, right?" 

"This..." Gan Fall doesn't know how to reply to Raikou. He felt answering this was blaspheming his faith. 

However, Gan Fall knew his "pitiful" strength was nothing before this god-like figure.

Huo Yuhao appeared beside Gan Fall and asked, "Where is Liu Mei?" 

Although Huo Yuhao showed no presence or cultivation, Gan Fall's body unconsciously trembled when this handsome, blue-haired man appeared out of nowhere.

"I-In the temple." Gan Fall answered somewhat unwillingly.

Huo Yuhao patted Gan Fall's shoulders, "Thanks." 

"Raikou-san, let's go." 

"Skye, Fujitora, you two stay here and protect the perimeter." 

Skye lowered its body to the ground and said, "Understood, my liege. I will be waiting here." 

"..." Fujitora felt his presence was redundant here.

Huo Yuhao and Raikou walked into the temple. They saw a statue-like woman meditating on the far end.

"It is her." Raikou's eyes lit up. 

"Mm, Liu Mei must be in a pocket dimension. This one is just a puppet with her weak will." Huo Yuhao commented casually.

After Huo Yuhao said that, the statue shone with purple light, and beauty appeared before him. 

It's none other than Liu Mei, but her appearance has become more mature and lonely.

"Master." Liu Mei's will smiled at Huo Yuhao. 

"I have been waiting for you." 

Huo Yuhao's heart pained seeing Liu Mei like this. He sighed, "I'm sorry for making you wait so long, Mei." 

"No, don't be, Master." Liu Mei's will shook her head. 

"Being yours is my greatest desire and wish." 

"Although there are twists and turns, meeting you here already makes me so happy." 

Liu Mei's will gave Huo Yuhao a warm look, "But at the end of the day, this is just my will." 

"My "real" self is currently in the pocket dimension in this temple." 

"She's holding a dangerous creature that could destroy this world." 

"A dangerous creature?" Raikou tilted her head.

Liu Mei's will nodded, "Yes. I don't know what this creature was, but it was able to manipulate the conceptual power of time and corruption." 

"My "real" self has killed the dangerous creature's subordinates, but the creature itself is nearly immortal..." 

"Two years have passed outside, but inside..." 

"Two thousand years might have passed..." 

Huo Yuhao frowned because the description given by Liu Mei's will only pointed to one suspect. "Phantom Lord." 

"I have been searching for the Phantom Lord in this timeline." 

"Who would have thought Liu Mei held Phantom Lord all by herself in a pocket dimension with such an extreme time dilation." 

"I hope she's fine." Huo Yuhao couldn't help but clench his hand. He was worried for Liu Mei's wellbeing. 

...