Chapter 1090: Traces of Holy Spirit Veins
Footsteps resounded. Two more old men had arrived at the lonely island. The newcomers glanced at Xiao Chen before ignoring him. Then, they calmly said, “We found the traces of that evil dragon. We have to be fast. Otherwise, in less than three days, it will find the first King Spirit Vein.”
“Let’s go!”
Beiming Feng and Jiang Tian reacted quickly. They immediately stood up and left, together with the two other old men.
The four old men moved like the wind, appearing to be one with the heavens. Their speed seemed even faster than Xiao Chen’s.
Xiao Chen, these people are all hidden Geomasters. The matter of the ten-star evil dragon mentioned earlier should be true, Ao Jiao said from the Immortal Spirit Ring.
Xiao Chen nodded, agreeing with Ao Jiao’s conclusion. These four Geomasters were all incredible and inscrutable; they were much superior to him.
How trustworthy do you think Jiang Tian is? Xiao Chen asked.
Ao Jiao thought for a while and then replied with some dismay, This old fellow is really incorrigible. I find him totally unfathomable and unreadable. However, I feel that his words still have some credibility.
It was best to believe in something than nothing at all. After this matter was over, perhaps Xiao Chen might be able to figure out some principles from this.
“We’ve arrived,” the two old men in front said after stopping.
Xiao Chen looked around and saw nothing. It was all flat sea. The horizon was a line, the ends of the sea beyond view. There was not a single island in sight.
“You, stand to the side. When that Hou ghost smells you, it will definitely give chase. Remember, just prevent that thing from obstructing us.”
Jiang Tian gestured for Xiao Chen to stand far away. Then, he and Beiming Feng explained the plan to the other two old men, dispelling any misgivings that they might have.
“Open!”
The four old men all formed hand seals and shouted. The seawater parted like curtains, starting from the middle and soon exposed the seabed for the group to see.
A huge scarlet Roaming Dragon lay quietly at the bottom of the sea, coldly eyeing the four Geomasters in the air.
The great battle immediately began!
Far away, Xiao Chen sighed at the means of these Geomasters. When they worked together, they actually easily drew the sea like curtains and planned to subdue this dragon by themselves.
The four Geomasters all chanted an incantation in the sky above the boundless vast seabed. With a wave of their hands, the appearance of the seabed changed rapidly.
It looked very mysterious. Tall mountains of various shapes soared into the air, forming different geographies that suppressed the blood dragon.
After Xiao Chen figured out what these old men were doing, he could not help admiring them. These four old Geomasters actually intended to build an artificial dragon cave to bury this dragon.
“Blurp! Blurp! Blurp!”
The sound of bubbles appeared. Xiao Chen looked down, and his expression changed slightly. Here comes trouble.
It’s here!
The sea frothed, and a thick fog rose up from it.
Xiao Chen looked into the distance and thought to himself, The natural enemy of dragons, the ancient mutated beast, the Hou. A creature that eats dragon brains and dragon marrows, killing dragons like killing earthworms. Let me see what exactly you look like.
A green figure stalked out of the fog. Before Xiao Chen could clearly see what it looked like, that green figure brushed by him and pounced at the blood dragon at the bottom of the huge pit in the water behind him.
It was like the Hou ghost saw something extremely delectable, prompting it to pounce out without a care for anything else.
The four great Geomasters were currently using their Dragon Seeking Arts to construct a dragon cave, forging tall mountains and creating long rivers. The chains of mountains in the space crisscrossed and suppressed this ten-star evil dragon.
The two sides exchanged moves continuously in an intense fight. After the Hou ghost appeared, the evil dragon trembled and revealed an expression of horror in its eyes.
However, the four Geomasters ignored the approaching Hou ghost entirely. They just continued to proceed anxiously with what they were doing as if they did not see it at all.
The Geomasters even used the opening that the evil dragon’s fear exposed to send towering mountains over, piling them up on the blood dragon like pieces of building blocks and suppressing it.
Tens of kilometers away, Xiao Chen, who was above the sea, was currently mulling over what was going on.
Suddenly, the Hou ghost that was flying towards the evil dragon paused in midair and turned around. Then, it stared at Xiao Chen, and its eyes glowed jade-green.
The Hou ghost’s gaze was filled with boundless hatred. Due to this surging hatred, it even ignored its favorite food, not caring about it at all.
Xiao Chen finally got to see the appearance of the Hou ghost. Its body was like a horse, and it was completely jade-green, but instead of hooves, it had four slender beast paws with incredibly sharp, knifelike claws on them.
The Hou ghost’s head was like a lion’s, revealing sharp and vicious fangs. Although it was a soul, the might and pressure that it exuded did not give the impression of an ethereal soul.
Xiao Chen felt that something was off—especially when the four Geomasters disregarded the Hou ghost entirely as if they were sure that the Hou ghost would not cause any trouble for them.
“Damn, I’ve been cheated!”
After Xiao Chen reacted, he could not help cursing as he turned and ran.
How could these Geomasters be relying on Xiao Chen to deal with this Hou ghost? They were just using him as bait to distract it.
The Azure Emperor was the one who destroyed the physical body of the Hou ghost. Xiao Chen was the Azure Emperor’s descendant and had even awakened the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit. For this Hou ghost, seeing Xiao Chen was like seeing an enemy who killed one’s father.
[TL Note: The ancient Chinese were big on family and ancestors. Killing one’s father is like the greatest level of hatred for one.]
No wonder Beiming Feng was laughing so strangely, saying things like only Xiao Chen could handle the Hou ghost. This was what he was thinking.
Fortunately, it was like Jiang Tian had said. After experiencing the initial fear once, Xiao Chen was already acclimatized to facing this natural enemy of dragons, the Hou ghost.
Otherwise, he really would have been tricked to death by this bunch of geezers.
A strange roar came from the rear, and a shock wave surged over. The seawater below him split apart, and loud rumblings echoed everywhere.
Xiao Chen did not dare to look back. The shock wave chased closely behind as he raced away. The sea continued parting at his back, maintaining its pursuit.
“Bang!”
The shock wave finally caught up with him, blasting him into the air and making him vomit a large mouthful of blood.
Xiao Chen did not have any time to begrudge this. He unfurled the Freedom Wings and soared into the air, fleeing frantically and not daring to fight this Hou ghost at all.
This Hou ghost could already injure him with just one roar. If he continued to believe in Jiang Tian’s words, he would really be a fool.
Something like the Azure Emperor could kill the Hou at its peak strength, so how could Xiao Chen not be able to handle its soul as the Azure Emperor’s descendant—that was simply a joke. This was not at all anything Xiao Chen could handle. It was simply on an entirely different level.
This Hou ghost possessed more than ten thousand years of experience and had swallowed many Roaming Dragons transformed from Spirit Veins. Even if it was not at its peak strength, it would be at least one percent of that. Dealing with it was beyond Xiao Chen’s capabilities.
When faced with the Hou ghost chasing after him, Xiao Chen had no other choice but to escape as far as he could.
As Xiao Chen ran, he noticed a strange thing. Several times, the Hou ghost was clearly about to catch up. He could already feel its heavy breath on him.
However, the Hou ghost would suddenly stop. Struggle and confusion appeared in its eyes as if it was trying to resist some command.
As Xiao Chen was fleeing for his life, he did not have the leisure to think so much. When he heard the roar, it felt like his heart would leap out of his body at any moment.
The roar shook his internal organs, rupturing them. The sound waves directly inflicted internal injuries. If this continued, even if the Hou ghost could not catch him, it could use its roars to shake him to death.
Use the Reincarnation Lamp! Ao Jiao quickly reminded from the Immortal Spirit Ring.
This advice startled Xiao Chen to his senses. No matter how strong the Hou ghost was, it was ultimately a soul without a physical body. The Reincarnation Lamp should have a suppressive effect on it.
Xiao Chen flipped his palm, and the Reincarnation Lamp soared into the air. Then, he spat out some essence blood and lit the lamp wick.
The image of an Immortal appeared in the indistinct flame and started to chant some scriptures, clashing against the horrifying sound waves of the Hou ghost.
The Reincarnation Lamp was somewhat effective. The ear-splitting roars disappeared. Xiao Chen heaved a sigh of relief and swallowed a Medicinal Pill for treating internal injuries. Then, he kept the Reincarnation Lamp hovering in the air as he continued to flee.
Xiao Chen covered a long distance as he ran for his life. After he became too tired to continue, he stopped above a patch of sea, panting endlessly.
Before he could heave a sigh of relief, he vomited blood, having sustained great damage to his spirit. The Reincarnation Lamp that was helping him block the Hou ghost’s attacks actually shattered.
Just at this moment, the four Geomasters appeared at the same time, all of them significantly injured. Jiang Tian pulled Xiao Chen to his feet and said, “Let’s go!”
The four Geomasters executed their techniques simultaneously, and the seawater opened like a huge mouth and swallowed the five. Then, it was once again as smooth as an intact mirror.
When the Hou ghost rushed over and saw that Xiao Chen had vanished without a trace, it flew into a rage and roared wildly. Like a mirror, the seawater shattered.
“Boom!”
When the five reappeared, they were already five hundred kilometers away on an uninhabited island that no one could find; they were completely safe.
Jiang Tian put Xiao Chen down and revealed a rare smile. He said, “That was pretty good. You successfully allowed us to suppress that evil dragon. You are truly deserving of being the Azure Emperor’s descendant, the Azure Dragon King that the Thunder Sovereign favors.”
However, Jiang Tian’s extremely pale complexion made this smile very unsightly.
The other three looked debilitated as well. Beiming Feng said, “Jiang Tian, we already helped you resolve the problem you caused. As for the rest, you explain to this little fellow yourself.”
After Beiming Feng said that, he immediately left. The other two exchanged a few simple words before departing as well.
Jiang Tian tossed a sheet of vellum to Xiao Chen and said indifferently, “You should go as well. The answer that you are seeking is on that.”
Xiao Chen received the vellum but did not look at it. Instead, he stared coldly at Jiang Tian, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
“Why, you want to attack me? Haha! I advise that you give up on such thoughts. Otherwise, you will die a miserable death. Oh, wait, that’s wrong. You won’t die. On account of the Thunder Sovereign, no major character would really dare to kill you.”
In the face of Xiao Chen’s gaze, Jiang Tian did not show any fear. He said calmly, “You’d best look at the parchment first.”
Xiao Chen unfurled the vellum with an uncertain gaze. It was a complete sea chart. When he looked at it carefully, he found that it indicated dragon caves that contained Holy Spirit Veins.
However, these were all marked in a ghastly red, looking very eye-catching and shocking.
Jiang Tian asked unhurriedly, “Now do you understand what I said to you? Do you now know why you won’t survive more than a year if you go around the world searching for Holy Spirit Veins?”