Chapter 474: Nemesis
Chapter 474: Nemesis
All of them were stunned. Turning their heads to take a look, they noticed a figure slowly walking out from among the trees.
The figure wasn’t all that large or tall. It was an old man with gray hair, who ambled forward with the aid of a walking stick. This elder looked just like any ordinary old man. However, for him to appear so deep within the mountains, there was no way anyone would mistake him for an ordinary person.
The two horns peeking out from beneath the hair on his temples brought shocked recognition to their faces. In an instant, they remembered who he was.
This was the one who had neutralized the Embroidered Envoy’s most powerful weapon with just a single word. He was the reason why the Embroidered Envoy had then been taken out one after another, before eventually being exterminated.
It’s that dragon race elder! Zu An was horrified. What the hell is going on? Didn’t they say that the dragon race didn’t like getting too involved in the affairs of the world? He was supposed to leave after using his Soulspeak! Why is he still here?
This old man had probably seen the red dragon that he’d whipped out, and came here to investigate.
Why is all of this shit happening today?!
His mind was racing, but he still had a smile on his face. “You must be joking, elder! How could one of your clansmen be here?”
The dragon elder gave him a look, then swept his gaze over the others. His eyes flashed with surprise. “It’s you guys.”
His eyes continued to rove around, clearly looking for those dark elves. However, he didn’t see any sign of them.
Zu An chuckled and said, “What a coincidence! I didn’t expect us to meet again. Respectfully, how should I address you?”
The dragon elder said, “This old one is Ao Quan.”
Zu An was stunned. This elder actually had the surname ‘Ao’! It was quite similar to the surnames of the dragons in the fantasy novels of his previous world. Was it really just a coincidence?
He calmed his thoughts quickly, Clasping his fist, he said, “Greetings, Elder Ao. Didn’t you leave earlier?”
Ao Quan laughed and said, “This old one sensed an abundance of natural ki in this place, and decided to take a stroll around the mountains to further my cultivation. I didn’t expect to suddenly sense my clansman’s aura, let alone an aura of death.”
Like hell I’d believe you! You can cultivate anywhere you want—why would you choose to cultivate in these mountains? That stuff about remaining indifferent towards worldly affairs is probably all fake. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are just biding their time on the sidelines, waiting for the opportunity to snatch up everything in the end!
Pei Mianman walked over to Zu An’s side. “Elder Ao, if my suspicions are correct, you should be a member of the dragon race, right? Why would any of your clansmen be here?”
Zheng Dan stood on the other side of him, clearly watchful for any sudden attacks.
“Is that so? Perhaps I really was mistaken, then.” Even though Ao Quan said this, he made no move to leave. His eyes continued to wander about their bodies.
A disgruntled voice suddenly rang you. “Is this clansman you’re talking about a giant red dragon?”
Everyone turned to face Sang Qian. A dangerous glint flickered in Pei Mianman’s eyes.
“Indeed. Young junior, do you know anything about that?” Ao Quan asked, favoring him with an amicable expression.
Sang Hong frowned. He sent his son a warning via ki transmission. “Qian’er, be careful what you say.”
Sang Qian pretended not to have heard a thing. He pointed straight at Zu An. “He has it. He activated some Dragonslaying Eighteen Palms skill, and that massive red dragon appeared instantly.”
The sight of Pei Mianman and Zheng Dan both flanking Zu An was enough to drive him mad with jealousy.
He had always looked down on this rat from the streets, and always felt that this brat was far inferior to himself in every way. However, the battle against Ding Run had clearly demonstrated that Zu An had already overtaken him a long time ago.
He absolutely could not stand the idea that there was such a huge difference between them. What made it even harder to accept was the knowledge that this gap would only grow wider and wider in the future.
The situation with Zheng Dan had already made it so that the two of them could not live under the same sky. The only thing in his mind right now was to get rid of Zu An!
This was the perfect chance. He would borrow the dragon elder’s strength to fulfill his goal.
A frown carved deep furrows along Sang Hong’s brow. He had still hoped that his son could somehow get along with Zu An. However, the intimate way that Zheng Dan was behaving around Zu An had dashed any possibility of that happening.
Even if that were the case, though, his son wasn’t making the smartest of decisions right now. Even if you want to turn hostile towards him, you should at least wait until I recover! We don’t even know if this dragon elder is friend or foe. What if he comes after us after he takes out Zu An?
Sang Qien bit her lip as well. To be honest, she didn’t approve of her brother’s decision. They had all fought together, and Zu An had even given them three precious pills. Stabbing him in the back right away like this was a truly despicable act.
However, he was still her big brother, so she couldn’t really go against him.
Zu An narrowed his eyes and gave Sang Qian a look. How could he not decipher this man’s true intentions? Looks like I really can’t be lenient with him anymore.
“Dragonslaying Eighteen Palms?” Ao Quan’s expression grew cold when he heard this. He turned to look at Zu An. “Aren’t you an arrogant fellow!”
Zu An quickly clasped his fist and said, “That was just something I made up to intimidate an opponent. It’s not real. I didn’t expect to have offended the dragon race. I sincerely apologize.”
Ao Quan sneered. “So, you made that up? Then tell me, was that red dragon also something you randomly made up?”
“Red dragon? What red dragon? How big was it?” Zu An feigned ignorance.
Ao Quan said indifferently, “Even though it was just a lower-class dragon who hadn’t cultivated for many years, he was still pretty strong. He would probably have been about a hundred zhang in length.”
“A hundred zhang?” Zu An laughed and said, “I’m sure you’ll agree with me on this. Forget about a giant dragon a hundred zhang in length for a moment—we wouldn’t even be able to hide a snake a single zhang in length.”
“Perhaps you’ve hidden it within some spatial artifact.” Au Quan said with a snort.
“Spatial artifact?” Zu An smiled. “What sort of spatial artifact can possibly store a massive dragon like that?”
The others agreed that this made a lot of sense. A spatial artifact that had a few rooms of storage would already be quite large. How could there be one that could possibly hide such a massive dragon?
Despite this, they couldn’t deny what they had seen with their own eyes. What was really going on?
Ao Quan frowned. He clearly didn’t believe that there was a spatial artifact capable of that either.
“Don’t listen to that fellow’s nonsense. I used an illusion just now. His eyes were playing tricks on him,” said Zu An.
Sang Qian began to panic. “How could I possibly…”
Ao Quan cut him off. “I don’t know if his eyes were deceived or not, but I wouldn’t make that sort of mistake. Besides, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize the aura of a fellow dragon.”
Zu An let his smile fade. “Since you don’t believe me even after all these explanations, what do you want to do?”
Ao Quan said indifferently, “Hand over my clansman’s corpse, and return with me to meet with the rest of the dragon clan. The clan leader will judge this matter himself.”
Zu An laughed and said, “After all that talk, it seems like you’re just coveting my spatial artifact and the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra! You guys really have some nerve, acting as though you don’t care a whit about the affairs of the world, then pulling a stunt like that. Hypocrites! Piss off!”
Ao Quan roared in anger, “Brat, you dare humiliate the dragon race?!”
You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 999 Rage points!
Zu An sneered. “Drop the act already. I’m clearly humiliating you, and you only! You alone do not represent the entire dragon race.”
Ao Quan was so angry that he burst out laughing. “Excellent! It’s been quite a while since someone dared to talk to me like this, let alone a human with such pitiful cultivation!”
Sang Qian was so happy that he almost cheered. Kick his ass! This Zu An really did crawl out of the trash. A dog like you dares to raise your tail sky high just because you got lucky and found a way to raise your cultivation a little? Remember who you are!
Zu An snorted. “Wasn’t the dragon race beaten back to the northern wastelands by us humans? What do you have to brag about? If you really have the guts, go say hi to our emperor in the imperial palace.”
Ao Quan’s breath caught. Clearly, he knew of the emperor’s strength. Leaving himself aside, not even the leader of the dragon race stood a chance against that man. There was no way he would dare to start trouble in the imperial palace.
He snorted. “Brat, I will make sure you regret your arrogance.”
Pei Mianman immediately cried out in warning. “Be careful!”
She knew that this elder was about to make his move, and she struck first to seize the advantage. Ferocious black flames surged outwards.
Ao Quan didn’t move at all. He gazed dispassionately at the black flames racing towards him, and said slowly, “Dragon Soulspeak—extinguish!”
Just as the words left his mouth, the onrushing flames vanished.
Shock was written all across Pei Mianman’s face. She raised her hand several times, yet there were only sparks. She could not summon her flames at all.
Ao Quan turned his gaze on Zu An. “Youngster, I am most displeased with how foul your mouth is. I’ll make you strike your own mouth a hundred times. I don’t feel like doing it myself. Dragon Soulspeak—Strike…”
Before he could finish, he heard a taunting voice. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”