Such a powerful pulsation of energy that was not caused by a battle—that could only mean one thing. A legendary treasure had surfaced!
Judging from the energy that had been emanated, its value seemed to exceed even that of the Epitome Monarch Pill!
“Has anything like this happened in the previous Floods of Spiritual Energy?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Ao Feng, who was also dazed by the situation, shook his head in shock.
There were countless treasures lying in the Flooding Sea, but never had he seen any of them releasing such a frightening outburst of energy.
“Let’s head over to take a look!”
The three of them flitted ahead, and soon, they arrived at their destination.
The phenomenon had alarmed all the Conferred God Kings and God Kings that had entered the Flooding Sea, drawing them into the vicinity. Each and every one of them was staring at where the pulsation of the spiritual energy was the most violent with excited looks on their faces.
Their gazes were directed at a massive emerald lotus leaf that looked as if it had been sculpted by jade. It was floating in midair, emanating divine light.
“This is… Just how powerful is that lotus leaf? Its tier is far beyond what any of us can handle! However, if we can obtain it and present it to a God Monarch, we’ll surely be handsomely rewarded for that!”
“Indeed, the God Monarchs wouldn’t hesitate to take us in as their direct disciples and confer us if they could obtain the lotus leaf in exchange…”
“We’ll be able to rise through the ranks!”
Everyone was staring at the lotus leaf with heated gazes as they thought about the countless possibilities that could occur if they obtained the lotus leaf.
No one knew where the lotus leaf was from or what it was. However, the spiritual energy harnessed within it was so great that anyone who successfully assimilated it, even if the person was a God Monarch, would surely enjoy a tremendous surge in power.
Amid the discussion, a Conferred God King spotted Zhang Xuan and the others. “Conferred God King Ao Feng!”
“Ao Feng? You are referring to the Conferred God King of the Sky of Cloud Dragon?”
“Aren’t you asking the obvious? Who else could it be other than him?”
To Zhang Xuan’s surprise, the weak Ao Feng was actually highly respected among the God Kings and Conferred God Kings. Most of the female cultivators in the area were looking at him with eyes filled with reverence.
As it turned out, the Conferred God Kings of the Sky of Cloud Dragon, due to their noble and powerful bloodline, were viewed to be ideal spouses. There were many people who were more than willing to mate with them.
It was also for that reason that the descendants carrying the Dragon Bloodline were scattered all over the worlds.
“Conferred God King Luo Ying! Conferred God King Bai Zhi! Conferred God King Liu Yan…” Ao Feng also returned the greetings one by one like a true gentleman.
“Conferred God King Ao Feng must have been drawn here by the aura of the treasure as well! Oh, who are the two companions with you?” an elder asked as he looked at Zhang Xuan and Luo Qiqi curiously.
“They are God King Zhang Xuan and God King Luo Qiqi…”
Ao Feng had intended to introduce them formally, but the young man had shot him a look. Realizing that the young man was not willing to reveal his identity, he had gone ahead with a simple introduction instead.
The elder nodded before clasping his fist to greet them. “Paying respects to God King Zhang Xuan and God King Luo Qiqi. It’s amazing how you have managed to achieve so much despite your age. It seems like the era is really changing…”
News about how Zhang Xuan had killed Conferred God King Baiye Qinghong of the Sky of Linglong had spread across the Nine Skies, and practically everyone in the Flooding Sea had heard of that incident. There were even some who had been able to acquire a recording of the happenings back then.
Their evaluation of the incident was that the young man did possess the means to kill Conferred God Kings, but his strength was mainly dependent on artifacts. Nevertheless, that was still enough for him to be classified as one of the powerhouses of the Firmament, and it would be wise not to make an enemy out of him.
For that reason, none of them dared disrespect him.
“You’re too courteous!” Zhang Xuan returned the greeting.
However, the elder frowned in displeasure at Zhang Xuan’s greeting. He felt like the young man’s attitude was a little perfunctory.
In truth, the elder had watched the recording of the battle between Zhang Xuan and Baiye Qinghong, and he felt like he could have done the same with the weapons bestowed upon him by his God Monarch, though it would have taken a bit more effort.
In other words, their strength was roughly on par with one another. In fact, if they put aside their artifacts, there was no doubt that he was the stronger one.
So, why was this young man acting as if he was some bigshot?
While the other Conferred God Kings who had gathered around did not say a thing, they also frowned slightly in disapproval toward Zhang Xuan’s lackadaisical attitude.
It was already extremely rude for a junior not to take the initiative to greet a senior first, but the young man’s attitude even appeared to be insincere on top of that.
“Conferred God King Liu Yan…”
Ao Feng was just about to explain things a little when the elder suddenly waved his hand and said, “Alright, let’s put aside the formalities for now. Conferred God King Ao Feng, since you are here, I believe that you are eyeing the lotus leaf as well. Since we share the same thoughts, why don’t we put our strength together?”
“Put our strength together?” Ao Feng frowned.
“Indeed. We are all veteran Conferred God Kings who have survived the previous Floods of Spiritual Energy, and every single one of us possesses our own means. While it would be stretching it to say that our fighting prowess is top-notch, I believe that we don’t pale too much in comparison to the others. We have all received orders from the God Monarchs to bring the treasures of the Flooding Sea back to our respective Skies, and there is no doubt that the greatest treasure in the Flooding Sea is the lotus leaf right before us. If we can bring it back, we will surely be generously rewarded by our God Monarchs,” the elder, Conferred God King Liu Yan, said.
Ao Feng nodded in agreement to those words.
While none of them could use the lotus leaf, there were great benefits to be earned if they could present it to their respective God Monarchs.
“May I know if you have heard of the newest Conferred God King of our Sky of Blazing Sun, Zheng Yang?” Conferred God King Liu Yan suddenly asked.
“Of course,” Ao Feng replied. “There’s no way I wouldn’t have heard of him.”
“Even though Zheng Yang is a Conferred God King of our Sky of Blazing Sun, he’s arrogant and conceited. He doesn’t show the slightest shred of respect for veteran Conferred God Kings like us. In fact, he has formed an alliance together with the other young Conferred God Kings of the other Skies to steal the valuable resources in the Flooding Sea that we have discovered…”
The more Conferred God King Liu Yan spoke, the more furious he got.
“He stole your resources?” Ao Feng was stunned.
A Conferred God King of the group harrumphed angrily. “That’s right! I found some Sealing Yang Grass that would have exceptional effects for God Monarch Zhuoyang, but he flew right into the ancient domain and claimed it for himself, not giving us the slightest chance at all!”
Two more Conferred God Kings chirped in with deep indignation in their voices.
“It was the same for me! I went through so much difficulty in order to find a Sea Originstone, but a person claiming to be his junior suddenly barged in and snatched it. It’s really as if they don’t have the slightest regard for us at all!”
“It’s the same for me. Just because they are a little stronger, they don’t show any respect for us at all. This is unacceptable!”
Having served the God Monarchs for so many years, they had contributed greatly to the growth of their respective Skies. Yet, instead of taking them as their students, the God Monarchs chose to groom a random bunch of youngsters instead. How could they possibly be happy about this?
But since it was the decision of the God Monarch, they could only swallow their indignation and grudgingly accept the situation.
But as if that was not bad enough, those youngsters were actually arrogant scoundrels who did as they pleased!
They took treasures as they deemed fit, not leaving anything for them. If they returned empty-handed, would their God Monarchs not think that they were utterly useless?
If so, they would be in a shaky position once they returned. Their God Monarchs might even find new people to replace them!
It was for this reason that they had gathered in such a hurry upon seeing the emergence of the lotus leaf.
“We, the veteran Conferred God Kings, have to unite together in order to protect our interests! If we can obtain this lotus leaf and deliver it to our own God Monarchs, it will prove that we are no weaker than those younger Conferred God Kings!” Conferred God King Liu Yan exclaimed.
“On the other hand, if those young scoundrels beat us to it, we will have tough days ahead of us. They will suppress us so badly that we’ll never be able to raise our heads again. We’ll lose even the final shreds of dignity that we have! So, Ao Feng, what do you say about that?”
“I…”
Ao Feng did not expect to suddenly receive such a proposal. So, he turned his gaze to Zhang Xuan to seek his opinion on the matter.
