Early the next morning, Xiao Chen’s group of four was respectfully sent out.
When the four saw the unfriendly expressions of the White Dragon Palace’s people, they smiled to themselves. They were probably the only ones who had managed to cause trouble in the White Dragon Palace and leave safely.
“How unfortunate. I find myself rather fond of that girl,” Murong Yan said abashedly when he turned his head to look back at the White Dragon Palace.
Liu Ruyun not only did not send them off but did not even meet with them one final time. Murong Yan felt slightly disappointed.
Wei Hongfei mocked, “You really must have taken pleasure in her beating you up. If you like it, I can beat you up again later.”
Wei Hongfei was referring to when the four got blocked from leaving; Murong Yan had been the one in the sorriest state from Liu Ruyun’s saber light.
At the mention of this embarrassing matter, Murong Yan did not flare up. He only grunted, “I’ll not bicker with you.”
Situ Changfeng asked, “Are we still going to the Green Dragon Palace? The Green Dragon Race is good at healing. The primary Cultivation Technique of the Green Dragon Palace is the Spring Wind and Rain Art, an extremely famous Cultivation Technique throughout the Central Great Realm.”
“There’s no need to go. I’ll just tell him to head straight to the meeting place.”
Wei Hongfei said, “My friend from the Green Dragon Palace has experienced life and death with me. He will not be as despicable as Zhong Li.”
“That’s good.”
The group left White Cloud City and traveled for about fifty kilometers. Then, a strong aura arrived with a surging saber intent, causing a strong wind to blow and leaves to fall.
“Be careful. There’s a strong enemy.” Wei Hongfei’s expression flickered as he took a few steps back and shielded everyone.
Murong Yan growled, “I just knew that the White Dragon Palace’s people would not leave things lying so easily.”
Who knew, tinkling laughter rang out, and a person flew out of the strong wind.
This person was dressed in tight azure robes, revealing a perfect figure. She looked heroic as her short hair fluttered about in the wind. It was the White Dragon King’s little daughter, Liu Ruyun.
Murong Yan laughed in pleasant surprise, “Little girl, you ran out?”
“Humph! You are not allowed to call me little girl. You are not that much older than me. You are not even stronger than me.”
Liu Ruyun glared at Murong Yan. Then, shifting her gaze to Xiao Chen, she smiled and said, “He promised to bring me to Desolate God Valley.”
“What?!”
Everyone felt greatly startled. Wei Hongfei turned to Xiao Chen and said, “Brother Xiao, you do not seem like a person who does things without a thought. You are aware of the consequences of bringing her along, right?”
Xiao Chen nodded and said, “Sorry for making the decision without discussing it with you all and causing you all trouble.
ChapterMid();
“She did me a great favor last night. So, to repay the favor, I’m taking her out for a while. That’s my plan. If the few of you find this problematic, then I will bring her around myself. If the few of you are willing, I will take responsibility for it. If there are any fortuitous encounters, I will give up my rights to choose once.”
Situ Changfeng and Wei Hongfei felt conflicted, not knowing what to choose.
Wei Hongfei looked at Xiao Chen and said, “Brother Xiao, sorry. I cannot take this risk, so I cannot go with you this time.”
Xiao Chen performed a cupped-fist salute and said, “You are too polite. I’m the one causing you trouble.”
“Hey, you! Stop treating me as a burden. Here, for you all.”
Liu Ruyun stepped forward and gave everyone an armband each. The armbands were of different colors and had a Divine Dragon drawn on them.
“This is…” Wei Hongfei prompted, finding it strange.
Xiao Chen received an armband and took a look. Then, he said seriously, “This is a simplified version of the Divine Dragon Four Divisions Formation. If we work together to bring it out, we will be able to fight against a peak Holy Venerate, even possibly trapping and killing the other party.”
[TL Note: The four divisions refer to the four holy beasts of Chinese mythology—the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise—basically, the Martial Spirits of the Kunlun Realm’s Holy Lands. The inspiration comes from the Chinese constellations. They are also known by a variety of names: Four Guardians, Four Gods, Four Auspicious Beasts, and a few others.]
Liu Ruyun looked at Xiao Chen and said, “You really know a lot.”
“Just passable.”
Xiao Chen had inherited a Faux God Flame while in the Soaring Dragon Great Realm. Although the memories were incomplete, it contained many of the things that senior had seen. The Divine Dragon Four Divisions Formation was one of them.
Xiao Chen put on the armband and activated it with his Soul Energy. The purple Divine Dragon on the armband turned into a dim light and entered Xiao Chen’s body. Then, the armband slowly merged into his sleeve and vanished.
The others copied Xiao Chen and activated the armbands one after another.
“Interesting. This armband is actually perfectly compatible with the different attributes of the four of us.” Situ Changfeng discovered that after they all activated their armbands, the colors that appeared on their respective armbands were different.
These armbands seemed to coincidentally match their attributes.
Xiao Chen was lightning, Murong Yan was fire, Situ Changfeng was wind, and Wei Hongfei was light.
“Of course. The Divine Dragon Four Divisions Formation is famous. Although this is a simplified version, it has boundless uses. I saw your tacit cooperation yesterday. You each have different attributes but did not have a suitable formation for working together, so I found one for you all,” Liu Ruyun said cockily.
Then, she took out a jade bottle and gave each of the four a Medicinal Pill.
“This is a Rank 3 Heavenly Pill!” Wei Hongfei exclaimed in shock after receiving it.
A Heavenly Pill was the highest classification for Medicinal Pills in the Great Thousand Realms. There was a total of nine ranks among Heavenly Pills.
The Primeval Heavenly Pill, which they normally used for cultivating, was of the lowest rank and had only the most basic function of aiding cultivation. In reality, there were many types of Heavenly Pills of various effects. Even a Rank 1 Heavenly Pill was very rare for them.
Alchemists who could refine Heavenly Pills were greatly respected everywhere in the Central Great Realm, holding high status. They were known as Grandmaster Alchemists.
Grandmasters were also ranked. Those who could refine Rank 1 Heavenly Pills were Rank 1 Grandmasters. Those who could refine Rank 2 Heavenly Pills were Rank 2 Grandmasters, and so on.
Liu Ruyun nodded and said, “That’s right. These are Rank 3 Heavenly Pills, the Spring Sun White Dew Pills. They are Medicinal Pills for treating injuries. As long as you still have a single breath left, you can be saved.”
“To think that it actually is a Rank 3 Heavenly Pill. My master treated them as a treasure before he left, giving me only one. Hahaha! Ruyun, to think that you took out four in one go. Truly incredible!”
Murong Yan excitedly put away the Medicinal Pill. Then, he thought of something and asked worriedly, “You gave them to us. What about you?”
Wei Hongfei looked disdainfully at Murong Yan. “There’s no need to worry about her; worry about yourself. She is the White Dragon King’s daughter. It would not be up to you to worry about her.”
Murong Yan slapped his forehead and smiled. “That’s true.”
His three companions were already used to Murong Yan’s simple-mindedness, so they did not find this strange. Situ Changfeng toyed with the Rank 3 Heavenly Pill in his hand and said in a neutral tone, “It looks like we found a treasure. Hongfei, what do you think?”
Wei Hongfei thought for a while, then finally said, “Alright. I understand what you mean. Welcome to the team.”
Liu Ruyun smiled widely, causing her eyes to narrow, as she replied, “Thanks.”
—
Three days later, Duan Fei, a Green Dragon Palace heaven-class core disciple, met up with the group.
Now, that the team was complete, they set out for Desolate God Valley.
“Let’s go.”
Xiao Chen summoned the Demon Blood Vulture and got it to carry everyone to rush them on their way.
“A Demon Blood Vulture! Unexpectedly, Brother Xiao actually has such a rare demonic pet. This is really surprising.”
This was Duan Fei’s first time seeing the Demon Blood Vulture, so it slightly startled him. The Demon Blood Vulture was a mutated beast that naturally did not suffer much from bottlenecks and limitations, something with infinite growth potential.
For one to be able to subdue a Demon Blood Vulture, one had to be strong, aside from being lucky.
When Duan Fei saw this Demon Blood Vulture, he could not help viewing Xiao Chen in a new light.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat depressed. Unexpectedly, this stupid bird can improve others’ opinions of me. When the stupid bird heard someone praising it, it immediately became very happy.
Just as Xiao Chen was thinking this, the Demon Blood Vulture let out a prolonged screech and blew away the clouds for five thousand kilometers around. Then, it turned into a dim scarlet light, flying even faster.
Desolate God Valley was located at the borders of several empires; it did not belong to any of them.
There was a town outside Desolate God Valley, known as Ancient Desolate Town.
This town was not big, but its traffic was comparable to that of huge cities in the various empires. When the cultivators of the various empires wanted to go to Desolate God Valley to adventure, they would come here first to rest up and organize themselves.
Aside from that, all the famous merchant associations of the Central Great Realm had permanent shops here as well.
These shops would purchase the treasures that cultivators brought out from Desolate God Valley.
The peak factions of the Central Great Realm also reached out to this place, establishing branches of various levels of strength.
“This Ancient Desolate Town is really busy. I’ve heard a lot about it, but hearing stories still does not compare to seeing it for myself.”
The people walking around the town were all at least Star Venerates. Just a casual glance around would already garner many Holy Venerates and Sovereign Personages.
There were even a few terrifying auras hidden in the town, inspiring fear in others and deterring them from checking out these auras.
There had to be terrifying existences that surpassed Sovereign Personages guarding the town in secret.
The Demon Blood Vulture became docile even from a few hundred kilometers away. It withdrew its aura and flew carefully.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The Demon Blood Vulture landed and turned into a flash of red light going to Xiao Chen’s finger. Such a scene made the eyes of the rest light up.
They did not know what trick this was. To think that Xiao Chen did not use a Demonic Pet Pouch.
“Do you have any plans for when we enter Desolate God Valley?” Liu Ruyun asked.
Duan Fei did not know Liu Ruyun’s identity. He smiled and replied, “This is our first time going to Desolate God Valley. We know nothing. What plan could we have? We can only remain cautious at all times and try to go as far as we can, to see if we can run into any fortuitous encounters.”
Wei Hongfei and the others nodded. This was the plan, or rather, there was simply no plan at all.
Liu Ruyun frowned and said, “How stupid of you all! If you just try your luck like that, it would be strange if you receive anything. You have to take the initiative before you can grab any fortuitous encounters.”
Wei Hongfei realized that he really could not underestimate this Liu Ruyun. He asked, “What do you think? How should we grab the initiative?”
Liu Ruyun replied, “Desolate God Valley is boundless with countless forbidden lands. It is incredibly dangerous. However, the many empires have frequently explored it for so many years. The places that should be explored have mostly been covered already. There must be some useful information.”
“What useful information can there be? Before I came here, I asked around but did not find any valuable information,” Wei Hongfei said with a frown.
“Watch me.”
After saying that, Liu Ruyun slipped out. Wei Hongfei’s expression changed slightly as he gave Xiao Chen a glance.
However, he discovered Xiao Chen already ghosting after Liu Ruyun.
When Wei Hongfei saw this scene, he relaxed slightly. Xiao Chen was indeed reliable. With Xiao Chen looking after Liu Ruyun, there was no need to worry too much.
Xiao Chen secretly followed Liu Ruyun into Ancient Desolate Town. When he saw what she was doing, he realized that this girl was looking for the local tyrant.
She is rather smart, Xiao Chen praised in his heart. Wei Hongfei had organized this trip, so Xiao Chen had not put much thought into the details.
Now, it looked like Wei Hongfei was indeed lacking in some areas.
Seeking out the local tyrant had a certain amount of danger. However, if they could obtain useful information, they would be much better off than if they just tried their luck.
