To the north, in the Huang Cang Kingdom.
The Lord of Huang Cang looked toward the south and nodded with satisfaction.
The first mountain soul had been ignited so quickly. It seemed that his years of nurturing and indulging the East Factory had not been in vain.
To the south, the Sect Master of the Lihuo Sect felt the exact opposite of the Lord of Huang Cang.
Sensing the flood dragon's aura and its resonance with heaven and earth, as well as the sheer speed of its progress, he couldn't help but wonder if there were imperial spies within the sect alliance.
Otherwise, how could everything be going so smoothly?
The Sect Master of the Lihuo Sect clenched his right fist, pondered for a moment, and finally sighed before heading toward the back mountain.
...
Chen Xu and Xiang Longwu were rushing to their next destination: Twin Sword Peaks.
Twin Sword Peaks was about fifteen kilometers away from Kuya Mountain.
The mountain was split into two peaks, left and right. The terrain was steep, and the peaks towered into the clouds like two sharp swords. Legend had it that in ancient times, a Sword Cultivator attained the Dao here and ascended to the upper realm. Upon ascension, he left behind two personal swords that transformed into these two great mountains for future generations to admire.
On the way, Chen Xu opened his class panel to check his spoils.
These were kill drops from an ultra-tier dungeon with an additional buff. The drops were guaranteed to be at least epic-tier, and Chen Xu was eager to see what he had gotten.
【Killed an East Factory guard of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Obtained 10 Medium Experience Capsules (10,000 points each). Obtained Volume 1 of the technique 《Yin-to-Yang Art》.】
【Killed an East Factory guard of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Obtained 10 Medium Experience Capsules (10,000 points each). Obtained Volume 2 of the technique 《Yin-to-Yang Art》.】
...
【Killed an East Factory guard of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Obtained 10 Medium Experience Capsules (10,000 points each). Obtained Volume 5 of the technique 《Yin-to-Yang Art》.】
【All five volumes of the Yin-to-Yang Art collected. Obtained earth-rank technique, 《Yin-to-Yang Art》.】
【Yin-to-Yang Art: Solitary Yin does not grow, and lone Yang does not live. All things in the world exist in a balance of Yin and Yang. Yet, as the heavens derive forty-nine paths and one escapes, there are paths to the heavens beyond balance. One enters the Dao with an extreme Yin body, generating supreme Yang from extreme Yin. By following the law of dual polarity transformation, one achieves a heaven-defying fruit.】
【Cultivation Requirements: An innately Mystic Yin body or a natural eunuch. Artificial eunuchs can also practice it, but they cannot reach the realm of supreme Yang.】
It seemed he had looted the eunuchs' manual. The rank was surprisingly high—a legendary-tier technique.
However, the cultivation requirements were a bit harsh.
【Killed the Director of the East Factory of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Obtained 10 Large Experience Capsules (100,000 points each). Obtained mythic-tier technique, 《Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art》.】
【Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art: Humans are the spirits of heaven, hiding treasure apertures within their bodies. These apertures can contain qi and generate spiritual intent. When the apertures connect with the organs, blood qi is born. When blood qi takes form, the divine dragon appears, its majesty shaking the four corners of the world.】
【Modify the major apertures of the human body to nurture the seeds of snake spirits. Upon reaching mastery, the meridians serve as rivers and the apertures as mountains. Mimicking the Flood of the Flood Dragon, the snake spirit breaks free and the dragon spirit emerges, completing the divine art. When spiritual blood merges, the spirit can be manifested into reality, functioning like one's own limbs.】
After reading the panel information, Chen Xu's eyes widened. Was this the power of an ultra-tier dungeon? A random elite mob on the roadside dropped a mythic-tier technique.
This wasn't just a dungeon; it was a goddamn treasure trove.
But Chen Xu wasn't a cultivator, and he didn't know if this Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art was good or bad for its rank. So, he extracted the manual and looked at Xiang Longwu beside him.
"Brother Xiang, that grand eunuch from earlier dropped a mythic-tier technique for me. Help me take a look. Is it good, and how much is it worth?"
Xiang Longwu took the manual. He first opened his class panel to read the description, then flipped through the manual, reading it page by page in detail.
After a while, Xiang Longwu finished reading and returned the manual to Chen Xu with a look of joy.
"Brother Chen, you've found a real treasure! This Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art is incredible. Truly incredible. Whoever came up with this technique is a genius."
"Brother Xiang, from your tone, is this divine art very powerful?"
"No. Based on my experience, mythic-tier techniques that focus on Daoist intent are top-tier, those focusing on techniques are mid-tier, and those focusing on external objects are low-tier. Strictly speaking, this Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art can only be considered a low-tier technique among mythic-tier ones."
Chen Xu was puzzled. If it was low-tier, why was Xiang Longwu so happy?
As if sensing Chen Xu's confusion, Xiang Longwu continued his explanation.
"The key to this Spirit Nest Dragon-Nurturing Divine Art isn't its power. It's the effect of nurturing the dragon."
"Nurturing the dragon?"
"Yes. Once the art is mastered, the dragon spirit can merge with your blood qi, turning from illusory to reality. Heh, even if it's an artificial dragon and lacks some of the charm of a natural dragon, it's still a dragon."
"Brother Xiang, you mean?"
Chen Xu suddenly thought of a possibility. Dragon spirits were illusory, converted from spiritual energy. When a person died, the spiritual energy would dissipate, and the dragon spirit would naturally vanish with it.
But once the illusory became reality and the spirit merged with the flesh, things changed.
Even if the person died, the dragon would remain. That meant one could kill a person to harvest their dragon.
"Could this be a fishing technique?"
A so-called fishing technique was like actual fishing. The creator would leave a back door in the technique. Their goal wasn't to nurture juniors, but to cultivate resources.
Those who practiced a fishing technique became the creator's fodder, waiting to be harvested and refined when the time was right.
Such things were not uncommon across the myriad worlds.
Regardless of the transcendent path, cultivation consumed heavenly materials and earthly treasures as fast as flowing water.
Therefore, some powerful beings chose to open grotto-heavens, using great magic to control the flow of time and grow rare treasures for their cultivation.
Others advocated for the law of the jungle, relying entirely on plundering for resources.
And then there were those who chose to spread fishing techniques, treating others as their cultivation resources. After all, bullying the weak was much safer than competing with peers.
"Exactly," Xiang Longwu confirmed Chen Xu's thought.
"But it's hard to say for sure. Once we reach Twin Sword Peaks, we can ask Old Wu to take a look. He's probably the only person in all of Daxia who has actually bitten the hook before."
"Old Wu has that kind of history?"
"Those of the older generation learned all sorts of things. Besides, in the early days of dungeon exploration, information wasn't as complete as it is now. It's not strange to have bitten a hook."
Amidst their conversation, the two approached Twin Sword Peaks.
Ahead were two mountain peaks towering into the clouds.
On the northern peak were the forces of the Huang Cang Kingdom's royal family. On the southern peak, facing off against them, were the sect forces.
"That's strange. I don't see Old Wu and the others."
Chen Xu's mental power swept across the area, but he found no sign of Wu Xiuyuan or the others.
"They should be underground."
"Underground?"
At Xiang Longwu's reminder, Chen Xu remembered the route map for the Flood of the Flood Dragon.
"Don't tell me there's some kind of tomb beneath Twin Sword Peaks."
Chen Xu extended his mental power into the earth. Sure enough, about two hundred meters beneath Twin Sword Peaks, there was an underground palace. Wu Xiuyuan and the others were all inside.
However, a statue in that palace looked somewhat familiar to Chen Xu.
"Brother Xiang, don't resist. I'll take you straight there."
He wrapped Xiang Longwu in his mental power and used a teleport, arriving directly in the underground palace.
The two of them appeared so suddenly that they startled everyone inside who was currently changing clothes.
The others reflexively drew their weapons to attack, but quickly stopped when they realized it was Chen Xu and Xiang Longwu.
Chen Xu looked up at the nearby statue. Okay, his intuition had been correct. He was certain this was a Kunpeng. Although the 'beauty filters' were cranked to the max and it didn't look as ferocious as the original, Chen Xu could recognize that look of stupidity anywhere.
"Old Wu, you guys didn't carve out this palace yourselves, did you?"
"Of course we did. Kuya Mountain back there was too close to the marsh and had no villages. Only the area below Twin Sword Peaks is a gathering place for the people of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Building a palace here is perfect."
The others nearby had also finished changing into their costumes.
They wore ornate crowns and masks, dressed in grayish-white robes, and held banners and lanterns. They looked exactly like ghost messengers of the Underworld.
"Old Wu, are you sure this is what divine messengers look like? I'm afraid the people of the Huang Cang Kingdom will think their lifespan has reached its end and the reapers have come for their souls."
"Hmph, kid. You might be stronger than me in terms of realm, but when it comes to clearing dungeons, you still have a lot to learn."
"When people are afraid, their psychological defenses are at their weakest. The more they fear, the less they can think, and the easier it is to deceive them."
Chen Xu shook his head. He really didn't have much experience in this regard.
"So, are we just going to ignore those two groups of people up there?"
"What's the rush? Let them fight it out first. We'll make our move once they're crippled. It's safer that way."
"But the drops in this ultra-tier dungeon are pretty good. I killed an elite mob at Kuya Mountain and got a mythic-tier technique. Letting them kill each other seems like a waste."
"What did you say?!"
Wu Xiuyuan flickered and appeared in front of Chen Xu. The others in the room also turned to look at him in unison.
"Uh, I said letting them kill each other is a waste."
"Not that part. The sentence before that."
"I killed an elite mob and got a mythic-tier technique."
As soon as he finished speaking, a light shone in Wu Xiuyuan's eyes.
"I also got a mythic-tier technique, though it's just a fragment."
Xiang Longwu's words made the light in Wu Xiuyuan's eyes shine even brighter.
Rate on N.U.
