Xiao Chen turned into a lightning bolt and moved five hundred kilometers away. After that, the army of the dead in relentless pursuit gave up the chase. They just stood where they were and looked at him coldly.
“Whoosh!”
Xiao Chen appeared in his true form and landed. Then, he turned his head back and saw overwhelming flames coming from the group of dead soldiers.
These dead soldiers showed no signs of life, manifesting only a pair of scarlet flames in their helmets.
Some sort of formation should be maintaining these dead soldiers. Although they were horrifying, they could not give chase beyond five hundred kilometers.
Xiao Chen removed his mask and took a long draw of air. He just had a close brush with death, nearly dying at the city wall.
He had not expected the statue at the city gate to discover his presence even though he wore the Death God Mask.
What kind of city was the ancient Azure Dragon city? Xiao Chen frowned heavily as he looked at the distant city in incredible puzzlement.
This should be the old lands of the Azure Dragons. However, why did the Azure Dragons’ old lands turn into this, occupied by a group of evil and unclean things while he, a member of the Azure Dragon Race, could not enter?
When combined, the army of the dead, the eighteen dragon souls, and Desolate Slave Soul Reaper shrouded this ancient dragon city in mystery.
“How come there is a palace there?!”
Xiao Chen felt somewhat surprised to discover a palace halfway up the mountain in the north.
The slightly dilapidated exterior could not hide the palace’s majesty and splendor, allowing one to make out the shocking grandeur it once had.
Since Xiao Chen could not enter the dragon city, he had nothing else to do. After thinking for a while, he headed for the palace.
---
At the same time, Qin Zhuolin also managed to reach the same pool of water after escaping mortal danger.
Blood had covered Qin Zhuolin by the time he arrived here. He was in no better state compared to Xiao Chen then.
Qin Zhuolin was on his last legs. Although no Demonic Qi Veritable Essence Energy turned restless in him, he jumped into the pool without thinking, after the initial shock.
“Splash!”
Like Xiao Chen, when Qin Zhuolin entered the water, his heartbeat increased uncontrollably. Just as it pushed him to the verge of death, a drop of heart’s blood seeped out and merged with the blood moon. Then, he immediately fainted.
When Qin Zhuolin woke up, he was lying beside the ancient well. When he looked up, the sky was bright, the midday sun blazing high in the sky.
The fierce sun shone on Qin Zhuolin’s body. The sunlight instantly swept away the cold Qi in his body with a sizzling sound.
“I came out?” Qin Zhuolin muttered, somewhat confused as the sunlight dazzled his eyes.
After managing to survive the fatal danger, he did not dare to believe the scene before him. He did not know if it was reality or an illusion.
Qin Zhuolin was the best Geomaster of the Desolate Sea. Even if he added all his past experiences together, the sum total would not be as dangerous as this time.
“Where’s Xiao Chen?”
A voice rang out beside Qin Zhuolin. When he turned to look, he saw that it was Sang, Xiao Chen’s mysterious friend.
This person was young, but his lifeforce accumulation was terrifyingly strong.
To Qin Zhuolin, Sang was even more mysterious than Xiao Chen.
On seeing Sang, Qin Zhuolin felt sure that he truly returned. However, these words also startled him awake.
“Xiao Chen did not come back?”
Qin Zhuolin was shocked. Before he jumped into the pool of water, he had noticed marks on the ground despite being distracted.
Someone had arrived at that pool of water with the blood moon before he had.
Yet, Sang now told Qin Zhuolin that Xiao Chen had not returned. In that case, where did Xiao Chen go?
“He did not. I waited by the ancient well the entire night. There were no movements at all.” Sang’s calm tone held a trace of worry.
Qin Zhuolin thought for a while before saying, “Don’t worry. He should not be in danger of dying. However, this ancient well is too mysterious. There are many things I can’t say for sure.”
Since Qin Zhuolin could leave via the blood moon pool of water, Xiao Chen logically should be able to, as well.
However, why did Xiao Chen not come out? Perhaps he ran into a fortuitous encounter for himself.
Actually, Qin Zhuolin had also realized that many of the things here were related to the Dragon Race.
Perhaps the Heavenly Dragon cultivator could leave fifty years ago because of his identity.
That blood moon pool of water might be an opportunity for Xiao Chen.
“Are you sure?” Sang asked.
Qin Zhuolin nodded and replied, “He will be fine. I’m sure.”
Sang sighed softly and said, “I hope so.”
---
In the land of the blood moon:
Xiao Chen headed for the mysterious palace at the waist of the northern mountain. The closer he got, the more aged and dilapidated it looked.
Thousands of holes covered the exterior of the palace. Extremely clear signs of battle were obvious all over the grounds.
Shattered pieces of all sorts of material lay at the entrance, looking extremely strange.
Xiao Chen picked up a piece and took a look. He saw that it was metal that a blacksmith had tempered several times.
The metal’s form was already set and could not return to being a divine material, so it did not have much value.
Xiao Chen did not feel any danger from the palace. Compared to the pressure from the dragon city, the dragon souls, and Desolate Slaves guarding it, this palace did not seem special, aside from it being more dilapidated.
“Let’s go in and take a look.”
Xiao Chen made up his mind after thinking for a while.
“Rattle! Rattle!”
However, the countless shards on the ground gathered together like a dust devil just as Xiao Chen raised his foot.
This formed two puppets—one black and one white. The white one held a saber, and the black one held a spear. Their metallic bodies flickered with a faint light. “Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!”
“Master left orders that anyone who wants to enter has to defeat us first.” The two puppets spoke at the same time, sounding somewhat robotic, feeling somewhat awkward.
Xiao Chen now understood. No wonder there were signs of battles around the place. Others must have come here before.
Who could it be?
Xiao Chen could not be bothered with this for now. Right now, the important thing was to defeat these two puppets first.
“Sorry for the offense.”
Xiao Chen stepped forward and took the initiative to charge at the two puppets.
He used the Supreme Dragon Fist from the get-go. As he moved his feet, winds and clouds gathered, and dragon roars rang out in the surroundings.
Xiao Chen started his attack off with Leaderless Dragons.
His Veritable Essence Energy gushed, and his Qi and blood surged. Now that Xiao Chen had advanced to Small Perfection Sovereign Personage, his Supreme Dragon Fist’s might soared significantly. His entire body trembled, and countless strands of Veritable Essence Energy merged with his Sovereign Personage Will, turning into thousands of dragon images charging randomly at the two puppets.
“Insignificant paltry tricks!”
The two puppets seemed to be mechanical living beings, boasting sentience and intelligence.
On seeing the thousands of dragon images, the two puppets gave off disdainful sounds as they made their moves.
The puppet holding the saber stomped on the ground, and a force field immediately spread out into the surroundings. This was a Saber Dao Domain.
“Crack! Crack!”
The thousands of dragon images got slaughtered miserably in the Saber Dao Domain, presenting a cruel sight.
“Whoosh!”
The black puppet held its spear with one hand. Then, it quickly spun the spear on its palm.
A whirlwind appeared under the black puppet’s feet, preventing the thousands of dragon images from approaching.
Slight shock appeared on Xiao Chen’s face. Initially, he had thought that these two puppets were not incredible due to their Great Perfection Sovereign Personage auras and assumed that he could easily defeat them.
However, one grasped a Saber Dao Domain, and the other showed astonishing spear skills. With their metallic bodies, they posed something of a challenge.
The two puppets broke the dragon images. Not waiting for Xiao Chen to change moves, the two charged over like phantoms. They coordinated with each other perfectly, continuously attacking with saber and spear.
Hard-pressed, Xiao Chen drew his Tyrant Saber to fight. Having to contend against two made this even more difficult.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
Xiao Chen’s arm numbed from the impact. The other party’s Saber Dao Domain thoroughly suppressed his Sovereign Personage Will and Azure Dragon’s Dragon Might.
With each exchange of moves, Xiao Chen vomited a mouthful of blood. After ten moves, Xiao Chen crashed into a mountain peak. The mountain peak shattered and buried him.
Xiao Chen lost after merely ten moves.
The loss was so miserable; it was a sorry sight.
Xiao Chen climbed out of the rubble with some difficulty. When he raised his head, he saw the black and white puppets standing before him. What are they doing?
Are they going to take advantage of this opportunity to kill me?
“Trash,” the black puppet said with a cold smile.
The white puppet quickly followed up, “Trash!”
“I used only five moves.”
“I used only four and a half moves.”
“I knocked his weapon away in three moves. Furthermore, I did not even use my strength yet. How boring!”
“I could have exploded his head with a spear if not for Master’s instruction. His head would have an additional hole now if not for that.”
“How boring. Quickly scram. You should not come to this place. You are too rubbish.”
Xiao Chen was stupefied, genuinely stupefied. He had thought of many possibilities, but he never thought that the two puppets were here to scorn him.
To think that puppets could humiliate others.
Veritable Essence Energy erupted from the furious Xiao Chen’s entire body. The mountain of rocks on his body immediately shattered.
“Boom!”
Xiao Chen soared into the air and hovered there. Then, the God Shadow Bow appeared in his hand, and he spread Heart Flame over the arrow.
Initially, Xiao Chen had not planned on using a Soul Tool. However, these two vicious-tongued puppets were too overbearing.
“Young man, why did you not focus on your training? To think that you brought out a treasure.”
“Hah, perhaps the world has changed. The youths nowadays don’t bother studying the Martial Dao properly.”
Right after the two puppets spoke, they put away their weapons, and each took out a Soul Tool.
The puppets’ Soul Tools were also bows. They were Soul Tools that were not inferior to the God Shadow Bow. More importantly, the two puppets could bring out the full might of the Soul Tools.
The sky immediately changed color. Dark clouds even covered the blood moon hanging high in the sky.
Xiao Chen immediately felt like crying but lacked the tears to do so as despair washed over him. Hence, he quickly put down the God Shadow Bow and withdrew the Heart Flame. Then, he smiled and said, “Seniors, let’s be civil. Let’s not play with this…”
“It’s too late. We tried to be civil, but you did not listen. Since you want to use treasures with us, we have to see it to completion.”
“Whoosh!”