Xiao Chen had experience in drawing talismans, and he also possessed strong Mental Energy. After a few attempts, he managed to carve out the diagram on the talisman seal perfectly.
According to what Ao Jiao said, he just needed to carve out eighty-one talisman scripts in the respective directions, and he could form a small Iron Defense Magic Formation.
Then, Xiao Chen tossed the talisman seal into the air and caused it to project eighty-one formation nodes on the ground.
He had copied it exactly, quickly drawing the talisman script on the node points. However, there was no reaction.
Strange. Why is there no reaction? I think I drew the diagram of the talisman seal correctly, right?
Ao Jiao criticized, How can it work the way you are doing it? It requires some grace. This is something that only Martial Emperors can do. When you draw it, you need to use the Heart of an Emperor to communicate with heaven and earth.
Xiao Chen’s comprehension ability surpassed others’. The moment he heard Ao Jiao’s words, he understood.
After trying three times, he successfully carved out the Iron Defense Magic Formation. Instantly, the formation nodes connected to each other, and a defensive formation with golden light flowing manifested.
This development astounded Wang Yuzhu, who was watching at the side. He was shocked at both Xiao Chen’s comprehension ability and the confirmation of his earlier speculation.
This mysterious masked youth before Wang Yuzhu had indeed condensed a Heart of an Emperor. He grasped the Primordial Energy that only Martial Emperors could.
“Done!” Xiao Chen said with a smile as he held the talisman seal and looked at the golden ring of light two hundred meters around him. This would make things much more convenient when he went out to adventure in the future.
Due to his elation, Xiao Chen had dropped his guard somewhat. This time, the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit caught hold of this opportunity and broke through Xiao Chen’s suppression, letting out a drawn-out roar.
The dragon roar surged out of his body like a reply to the call in the distance.
“What’s going on?!”
Caught off guard, Wang Yuzhu, who was rather nearby, got knocked away by the Dragon Might.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
An even more shocking thing happened next. Three even more horrifying dragon roars came from the distance. Dark clouds surged in the sky, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. All sorts of terrifying mysterious phenomena appeared.
As if summoned from the ancient past, a colossal Azure Dragon image hidden in the layers of dark clouds opened its eyes and stared at Xiao Chen.
The ground churned. It was like the entire Distant Sea Dragon Grave came to life. Wang Yuzhu wobbled, unable to stand stably.
Shock flashed in the eyes of Xiao Chen, the cause of all this. Before he could even brace himself, an extremely strong, irresistible force pulled at him.
Then, Xiao Chen vanished right before Wang Yuzhu’s eyes, leaving him very confused and wondering what happened.
After Wang Yuzhu calmed dawn, he nervously walked over and verified that Xiao Chen had indeed disappeared. Then, he could not help showing an expression of consternation.
“It’s over. He really disappeared.”
Now that Xiao Chen disappeared, how was Wang Yuzhu to leave the Distant Sea Dragon Grave? Regardless of the desolate plain of fire or the foggy area, he would not be able to travel through them safely with his strength.
After thinking about it, Wang Yuzhu carefully put away the sword in Old Hong’s hand. Then, he looked around, searching for a somewhat safe place to hide.
However, Wang Yuzhu’s face filled with worry that could not be eased. If Xiao Chen did not reappear, even if Wang Yuzhu could hide for a while, he could not do so forever. He would still end up waiting for death.
---
Although Wang Yuzhu felt depressed, there were people who were even more depressed than him.
Right before the Fire Dragon General’s burial ground, that ancient formation in the depression was already filled with blood and radiating a scarlet light.
Yi Ling calmly held the dragon-shaped key and slowly inserted it into the circular hole.
As he gradually put the key in, the Dragon Race puppets lining the two sides of the passage struggled even more intensely, shaking left to right, making the four Martial Emperors feel somewhat afraid.
“Young Master Yi, are you sure there will be no problems?”
Yi Ling did not even turn his head back as he replied confidently, “I already said it many times. This is the last time I’m repeating it. There are absolutely no problems!”
“Boom!”
However, right after Yi Ling spoke, a resonant dragon roar came from the distance. Before he could understand what happened, it was followed by another three even more horrifying dragon roars.
The entire Distant Sea Dragon Grave seemed to come to life. The two rows of Dragon Race puppets struggled free of Yi Ling’s suppression in an instant with these three dragon roars.
The key in the formation also shot out abruptly.
Surprise flashed in Yi Ling’s eyes. When he looked back, the hundred-odd Martial-Emperor-level puppets charged ferociously at the group.
The atmosphere turned incredibly cold, filled with killing intent.
Horrified expressions flashed on the five’s faces. They no longer cared about exploring the burial ground of this Fire Dragon General as they fled for their lives.
Then, Yi Ling thought of the masked youth and suddenly understood. Now, he finally realized who that person was.
Aside from Xiao Chen, the descendant of the Dragon’s Gate’s Azure Emperor, who else could cause such a huge commotion in the Distant Sea Dragon Grave?
---
At this moment, Xiao Chen did not know that the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit’s roar ended up spoiling the operation that the Dragon Slayer Yi Ling had prepared a long time for.
He also did not know that Yi Ling already guessed who he was. Even if he did know, he did not have the leisure to bother himself with it.
Right now, Xiao Chen himself was very confused and suffering an incredible headache. The words of the stone stele in front of him somewhat stunned him.
The stone stele had five ancient Dragon Race words.
While Xiao Chen did not know how to read the Dragon Race’s words, for some reason, he understood what they meant with one glance. It was like these five words had already been imprinted in his mind long ago, and all it had taken was one glance to unearth the memory hidden deep within his mind.
The Azure Dragon King’s Grave!
That was right. These five ancient Dragon Race words meant the Azure Dragon King’s grave.
Who was the Azure Dragon King? Was that not Xiao Chen himself? Could it be that this was his grave? Xiao Chen’s first reaction to this was so much terror, to the point where his hair stood on end.
However, after thinking about it for a while, he felt that his guess was somewhat impossible and that it was wrong.
While Xiao Chen was the Azure Dragon King, it was just a hereditary title. The Martial God Palace had probably bestowed this title to many people already. As long as one had the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit and attained a certain amount of military merits, one would be able to obtain this title.
Being conferred the Azure Dragon King did not truly mean that one was the Azure Dragon King. The Azure Dragon King here likely meant the true king of the Dragon Race’s Azure Dragons.
“Does that mean that the mysterious power pulled me into the main burial ground of the Distant Sea Dragon Grave?”
At this thought, Xiao Chen could not help feeling excited. The main burial ground was a place that even Sovereign Martial Emperors could not penetrate. Yet, he had entered it by some miracle.
The place behind the stone stele should be the Azure Dragon King’s burial ground. Ancient Dragon Race motifs were carved on the stone doors to the burial ground. There was a small recess at the center.
Xiao Chen took off the Azure Dragon King insignia on his chest and compared it to the niche. He found that it seemed to match perfectly.
Already familiar with the proceedings, he did not have to think twice. He placed the insignia in the recess—a perfect fit with no mismatch whatsoever.
However, the stone doors to the burial ground did not react at all. There was not even the slightest bit of energy fluctuation. It was like Xiao Chen had only placed an ordinary rock and not the Azure Dragon King’s insignia.
He rubbed his chin and thought for a while. He recalled his experience of opening the Dragon’s Gate’s Treasure Trove. Then, he took out a drop of his essence blood and infused it into the insignia before trying again.
This time, the heavy stone doors gave off rumbling sounds as they slowly opened.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and put away the Azure Dragon King’s insignia before entering with big strides. “Ka cha!” The stone doors closed, startling him.
Tall stone pillars with carvings of Azure Dragons lined both sides of the passageway. The carvings were exquisite and looked very realistic.
After continuing down the passageway, Xiao Chen arrived at a large hall. He tried to move to the left and the right but discovered that invisible barriers blocked him, stopping him from proceeding.
The corpses of many Azure Dragons laid in the hall in front. A rough count came to at least one hundred. However, looking farther on, there were many human corpses standing there. All of them wore the uniform of the Dragon’s Gate.
Xiao Chen thought to himself, These should be the Kings of every generation of Azure Dragons. After they died, they were buried here. As for the human corpses at the back, they should be the past Sect Masters of the Dragon’s Gate. They chose to inter themselves here after their deaths.
Below the human corpses, there were some words obscured by dust.
When Xiao Chen tried to go over to wipe off the dust and verify his guess, he discovered another invisible barrier blocking his way.
That was to say, in this godforsaken place, aside from going back, there was no other place he could go. The front, the right, the left were all blocked off by invisible barriers.
Xiao Chen could not help feeling suspicious. Since you brought me here already, why are you not letting me go anywhere?
Never mind. I will just walk around the area that I can freely move about in first.
The invisible barriers in the large hall split the chamber in half, not giving Xiao Chen a lot of places to explore.
Aside from a three-kilometer-tall azure stone pillar, there was nothing else around. Everything else lay on the other side of the invisible barriers.
Xiao Chen arrived before the stone pillar, where he sensed a vast and ancient aura. When he touched the pillar with his hand, the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit immediately turned solemn and dignified.
He vaguely felt like he was seeing another world. Thousands of Azure Dragons appeared in his mind, bowing and worshiping the azure stone pillar.
However, aside from this, there was nothing else. Xiao Chen felt like he was still missing something. This stone pillar should be of great help to him; it should not be as simple as this.
As he was busy thinking, a figure suddenly walked out of the passageway on the left that was hundreds of meters tall.
Xiao Chen’s acute Spiritual Sense immediately detected it. When he turned his head around, he discovered it to be a haggard old man wearing robes embroidered with azure dragons.
“Might I ask who Senior is?” Xiao Chen said with a serious expression.
This person had to possess an extraordinary identity. Why else would he be able to appear in the Distant Sea Dragon Grave?
This person did not answer Xiao Chen’s question. He sized up Xiao Chen and nodded his head. “It is indeed a descendant of the Xiao Clan. However, why did you run over to the Distant Sea Dragon Grave even before you refined the Azure Dragon Palace?”
The azure-clad old man showed a strange expression, evincing doubt on his face. “There is also the Azure Dragon King’s insignia, but you are not even a Martial Emperor yet. What is going on?”
The Dragon’s Gate had been destroyed for ten thousand years already, but this old man had been in the Distant Sea Dragon Grave all the while, unable to get out. So he did not know about the situation outside.
Speaking for a long time, Xiao Chen explained the destruction of the Dragon’s Gate and the Azure Emperor’s mysterious disappearance to this old man.