“So, he is Xiao Chen, the one who killed the quasi-Emperors of my Divine Dragon Palace? I actually did not recognize him!”
A murderous intent flashed in Hai Tian’s eyes. Then, he and his bodyguard quickly followed after Chu Yang, charging over.
The other outstanding talents reacted as well. Unleashing a strong killing Qi, they set out in pursuit without saying anything more.
Only the Young Treasure Master, Yi Ling, and the Great Perfection quasi-Emperor beside him did not hurriedly give chase. Instead, Yi Ling showed a contemplative expression.
Yue Bingyun smiled faintly and asked, “Young Treasure Master, are you not going to partake in the excitement?”
Yi Ling smiled and replied nonchalantly, “Miss Bingyun, by choosing this time to expose Mo Yun’s identity, you probably figured that Chu Yang and his group cannot catch up.”
“The Young Treasure Master is as smart as you were many years before. In terms of intelligence, probably only the Eastern Sea Divine Dragon Palace’s Young Palace Master, Leng Shaofan, can surpass you.” Yue Bingyun seemed to reveal a trace of a rather cute expression on her face, which could not be seen clearly.
Yi Ling laughed self-mockingly, “Haha! Unfortunately, even if the two of us were combined, we cannot match up to even ten percent of Miss Bingyun.
“Miss Bingyun, you seem to have something to ask this Azure Dragon King. What’s the matter? How about you tell me? Although I am not as dazzling as the Azure Dragon King, I would venture that I am still quite capable.”
Yue Bingyun smiled and replied, “Young Master Yi is being too humble. For you to become the Young Treasure Master out of the Treasure Master’s over one hundred grandchildren, how could you be just quite capable? You might even be able to compete with the Azure Dragon King.
“Furthermore, if this Azure Dragon King continues to temper his physical body, he will certainly have only ten years left to live. However, my matter has nothing to do with strength. Does Young Master Yi know anyone in the Heavenly Starry Ocean today who knows the Alchemy of the Immortal Epoch?”
Yi Ling was slightly stunned. He frowned and echoed, “The Immortal Epoch’s Alchemy? I hear that even the Penglai Sea does not have that preserved. No one knows it at all, and it is already long lost. Could it be that this Azure Dragon King knows it?”
“I am almost certain. Hence, Young Master Yi will not be able to help me with this.”
“Haha! Indeed, I am unable to help. However, I do have a request that I hope the Holy Daughter can help with.”
“What do you need?” Yue Bingyun revealed an expression of curiosity in her eyes.
Yi Ling replied unhurriedly, “I received news that a few major characters intend to work together and go to the heart of the ocean half a month from now.”
“If the Holy Daughter comes with us, I believe we have an eighty percent chance of returning unscathed.”
Yue Bingyun found the idea strange. She asked, “What major characters are so fearless, not afraid of death and even daring to barge into the heart of the ocean?”
“A few Martial Emperors whose lifespans are coming to an end, or are facing an impending bottleneck. Of course, they are preparing to risk their lives and go into the deep areas. We will just stay in the periphery.”
It turned out they were Martial Emperors facing impending death or preparing to break through. These people were desperate, so their planning such a venture was not hard to understand.
Yue Bingyun thought for a while before saying, “If we are only taking risks in the periphery, we should be able to leave easily. However, there are many entrances to the heart of the sea in the various sea domains. Which entrance are they planning to use?”
“The one in Despair City of the Southern Sea. Otherwise, I would not be able to get hold of this news.”
Yi Ling smiled faintly and added, “I will send Miss Bingyun back to Ten Thousand Treasure City first!”
Yi Ling stretched out his hand, and a resplendent light descended from the sky. Eight treasure horses with manes like flames pulled a magnificent, ancient, golden war chariot. It looked like a flying fireball lighting up the night sky.
“The Treasure Master really loves you. With this war chariot, even if I don’t go with you, your life will not be in danger,” Yue Bingyun said with a sigh. Clearly, she knew many of the secrets behind this golden war chariot before her.
Yi Ling did not comment on those words. “Despair City frequently has quasi-Emperors adventuring there. Furthermore, there would definitely be others who obtained this news. It would be safer with an additional person.”
The two rode the war chariot back to the Treasure Master’s residence. As for the others, despite giving chase for thousands of kilometers in the night sky, over the sea, they failed to find any clues and could only return feeling vexed.
—
On a desolate island in the vast sea, Xiao Chen sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, having already escaped from everyone.
He stood in a place that seemed to be halfway between illusion and reality, at the rim of a huge chasm.
Bridge foundations had already formed at his two sides. The dragon heads carved on them were a dazzling sight.
With a thought, Xiao Chen’s Spiritual Sense sank to his dantian. Specks of Heavenly Laws became like liquid electricity, forming an extremely indistinct Azure Dragon Seal.
As he breathed, he absorbed the energy of the world.
This Heavenly Seal was the preliminary form of the heart of an emperor.
Because everyone possessed different physiques and cultivated different Cultivation Techniques, the Heavenly Seal varied a lot. Few Heavenly Seals were exactly the same as another.
A quasi-Emperor cultivated by condensing the Heavenly Seal and solidifying it with the Heavenly Laws to form the heart of an emperor and truly cross the chasm.
At that time, the dragon bridge at the huge chasm would reach the other side, and the Emperor’s Door would descend from the sky, appearing in reality.
This was easy to say, but the difficulty of it could not be clearly described within just two or three sentences.
Solidifying the liquified Heavenly Laws would take a tremendous amount of energy.
In any case, Xiao Chen had the impression that the Holy Spirit Vein in his Universe Ring would barely be enough to fill the gap between his teeth.
[TL Note: Fill the gap between his teeth is the Chinese equivalent of a drop in the ocean.]
He would need at least one hundred Holy Spirit Veins before he could solidify all ten thousand Heavenly Laws.
Since the Ancient Era ended, Holy Spirit Veins had become scarce. No one would use them to cultivate in such a luxurious manner. Most people would use time to slowly gather the energy needed.
Furthermore, solidifying all the Heavenly Laws was just to become a Small Perfection quasi-Emperor. One still needed to gather the resulting Heavenly Laws and form the Heavenly Seal before one could become a Great Perfection quasi-Emperor.
After Great Perfection, one needed to cultivate a soul for the Heavenly Seal to become a peak Consummate quasi-Emperor.
After that was the most crucial and dangerous step: undergoing a Great Tribulation and evolving the Heavenly Seal into the heart of an emperor. Then, one would be able to become a Martial Emperor and form the Golden Emperor Body, climbing onto the great Dao.
Each stage required a considerable amount of time. Many people remained alone and drained their lifespan but still failed to clear all three.
There were a few who managed to clear the three stages after much difficulty. However, the Great Tribulation of wind and fire burned them to death.
What was a huge chasm? This was it. One step across meant a world’s difference.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen only had five years!
Five years. If he did not become a Martial Emperor in five years, he would live for only twenty more years from now.
If he damaged his body again within these twenty years, his physiological lifespan would decrease even further.
Ao Jiao remained silent in the Immortal Spirit Ring. Since learning that neither the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art nor the Longevity Art could help Xiao Chen, she had not said anything more.
Xiao Chen tried teasing Ao Jiao a few times, but she did not respond.
“Little Ao Jiao, do you not have any confidence in me at all? Do you not believe that I can advance to Martial Emperor in five years?” Xiao Chen opened his eyes and smiled faintly.
Are you confident? the silent Ao Jiao suddenly asked.
Naturally, Xiao Chen was not. The Azure Emperor used a total of eight years. Even if Xiao Chen were at the level of the Azure Emperor, he would not escape death.
He had only five years of hope remaining. If he did not advance within that time, even if he cleared the wind and fire tribulation, his Heavenly Seal would not be able to evolve into the heart of an emperor.
However, confidence was not the most important thing. The most important thing was to never give up.
It was impossible to appear extremely confident when hope was slim. That was no different from cheating one’s self.
“There is a saying, ‘Worry about it when it happens.’ This saying is right. If we break down even before we arrive at the problem, we won’t be able to proceed. Ao Jiao, you know what I mean, right?” Xiao Chen thought about the words that one used to console oneself when one entered desperate straits.
That was right: there was no such thing as a dead end. There was always be a way for those who were prepared.
Even if Xiao Chen did not have any confidence, he could not give up, could not stop working hard. Once he gave up, that would be a true dead end.
Ao Jiao pondered for a long time before understanding what he meant. Then, she smiled and said, What do you intend to do now? Is the plan going to change?
The original plan was that after selling all the miscellaneous goods and Profound Martial Techniques on hand, he would purchase Secret Treasures containing dragon souls and finish cultivating the first layer of the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art.
Then, he would go to the forbidden land and retrieve the Despair Throne before going to the Northern Sea to see Long Fei, to find a backer for Heavenly Star Island.
Finally, he would return to Heavenly Star Island and meet up with Jin Dabao, Lan Shaobai, and the rest. He would focus his efforts on developing Heavenly Star Island, which was the first step in reviving the Dragon’s Gate.
However, too many surprises had occurred along Xiao Chen’s path. Now that he had found news of the Dragon’s Gate mountain tablet, he would definitely not return so early.
This was the last mountain tablet of the Dragon’s Gate extant in the world. No matter what, Xiao Chen needed to take it back.
“We will go to Despair City first and retrieve the Despair Throne before doing anything else.”
Xiao Chen stood up and took out the sea map to look for his position.
During the previous night, he had left in a rush without checking which way he was going. After consulting the sea map, he discovered that his continuous use of the Freedom Wings had brought him to the far reaches of the Southern Sea.
If Xiao Chen kept going forward, he would enter the Deserted Sea, a boundless sea where signs of human habitation were rare.
Just as Xiao Chen put away the sea map, a cracking sound came from his body. With a thought, he opened his mouth and spat out the Dragon Phoenix Cauldron.
He stepped forward and looked. Within the Solar True Flame, cracks spread at a visible rate on the Golden Crow Egg, which was as smooth as jade; the egg was breaking quickly.
What a surprise! The Golden Crow was hatching one month before Xiao Chen expected it. This was the legendary divine bird that could turn into the sun. Now, he would finally see what it was like. He revealed an expression of joy on his face.
Ao Jiao reacted immediately, calling out in an urgent tone, Quick, send in your essence blood. Otherwise, it will fly away!
Xiao Chen’s expression changed, and he flicked out a drop of blood from the tip of his finger. The blood turned into a beam of red light and flew towards the Golden Crow Egg.
“Crack!”
However, it was too late. Just as the blood was about to come in contact with the Golden Crow Egg, the shell cracked completely, and dazzling golden light spilled out of it.
This brilliance caught Xiao Chen off guard, blinding him temporarily and trapping him in darkness.
Xiao Chen circulated his Law Energy to recover his sight quickly. Then, he looked into the sky and saw a clump of light no less bright than the sun, flying hastily to the east.
He seemed to have a faint and indistinct connection to the Golden Crow in the sky, picking up the fear, panic, and alarm in the Golden Crow’s heart.
It looked like that drop of essence blood had entered the Golden Crow’s body in the end.
Xiao Chen’s flames had nourished the Golden Crow Egg for a long time, establishing an unbreakable bond between them.
Once the Golden Crow got tired and calmed down, the essence blood would completely merge with the Golden Crow’s blood, making it see Xiao Chen as family. Such a situation would not happen again.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s expression changed when he noticed the direction the Golden Crow was taking.
The Golden Crow was flying towards the sun—a place that Xiao Chen would not be able to enter without the strength of a Sovereign Martial Emperor.
However, the Golden Crow would be like a fish in water when it was in the sun. Xiao Chen’s essence blood would evaporate in the sun before it could merge with the Golden Crow.
