“Stop complaining! If you want, blame yourself for being stupid. Now, quickly regulate your breath and energy. I’ll need your help later.”
Yunxiao looked quietly at the exploding chariot in the distance and the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon, who rushed out of the explosion and sped in their direction. His face was devoid of emotion like an old monk in meditation, as if nothing in the world could stir him.
That startled Duan Yue. The calm air was by no means fake; instead, it was a instinctive quiet one gained after going through all the hardships and experiencing all the vicissitudes of life.
He could not understand how this regal air could appear in a fifteen-year-old one-star Great Martial Master. It was an aura that was not possessed by any of the Martial Emperors and even Martial Supremes he had seen before.
‘How is he going to deal with it?’
No matter how hard Duan Yue racked his brain, he could not figure out Yunxiao’s plan. Sulkily, he poured all medicinal pills out of the bottle and gulped them down. A cooling sensation went into his stomach, and he felt refreshed in an instant. Wisps of power nourished his internal organs while his messy energy began to straighten out.
His eyes gleamed with amazement. He was a seven-stars Martial Grandmaster, and there were very few medicinal pills that could work on him. Basically, only fifth-tier medicinal pills were useful for him now, and fourth-tier ones were barely effective. But, the pills he had just taken were clearly not fifth-tier, and might not be fourth-tier either. What kind of medicinal pills were they?
Duan Yue was once again extremely curious about Yunxiao’s mystery, and slightly confident that the latter could deal with the flood dragon. The lad’s means were always unexpected; perhaps he really had ways to deal with the beast.
The Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon was very fast. Yunxiao’s chariot hovered merely several miles away, and it took the sea beast almost no time at all to catch up.
After suffering Duan Yue’s full-force attack, being injured by the explosion of a fifth-tier chariot, and attacked by the desperate disciples of Flying Sword Sect when it slaughtered them, the flood dragon, even with its tough fleshly body, was already scarred, with blood flowing down the purple patterns on its skin.
As it was about a hundred meters away from the chariot, Yunxiao took a deep breath and gave a loud cry, unleashing the Cauldron of Five Elements from his hand, which expanded rapidly under his control. In the blink of an eye, an illusory purple cauldron that connected the sky and the sea emerged. When the flood dragon rushed into the illusory cauldron, the symbol of a flaming cloud flashed upon his forehead, and then an illusory Phoenix True Flame emerged over the Cauldron of Five Elements, as if it were about to melt the whole cauldron.
“Roar!”
The Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon, who was moving through the illusory cauldron, suddenly roared in horror, and its frightened eyes stared at the power that came from over the actual cauldron, which struck fear into its heart. Flood dragons were water-element True Spirits who were innately afraid of fire, let alone the illusory flame that possessed the aura of a True Spirit Fire Phoenix. Although its power was not great, the hierarchical repression still terrified the flood dragon.
It was the hierarchical repression among demon beasts.
Yunxiao immediately understood what was going on when he saw that, and he was overjoyed. His original plan was to use the Cauldron of Five Elements to trap the flood dragon for a short time, but he did not think that the True Spirit aura in the illusory phoenix flame could frighten such a mighty sea beast. If he could use the complete Phoenix True Flame, Yunxiao had the confidence to thoroughly subdue the beast, but the flame was too powerful, and he could only conjure up its illusory form. So, he did not think he could trap it for too long. When it got used to the flame, it would break out of the cauldron.
“Shrink!”
He gave a soft cry, and the Cauldron of Five Elements conjured up in the void began to shrink rapidly, overlapping with the actual cauldron and trapping the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon inside. Then, he performed an incantation gesture with one hand again and shot out several streams of Fire Phoenix aura from between his eyebrows, which transformed into runes and branded on the cauldron. He hoped that those could trap the beast for a longer time.
Whoosh!
After trapping the flood dragon, the cauldron turned back to its normal size and flew into Yunxiao’s hand.
The whole process was seen by Duan Yue, and it completely rooted him to the spot and froze his brain!
‘A sixth-tier sea beast, which I couldn’t kill even with a desperate strike, has just been captured so easily? And he did it with ease, without shedding a drop of blood, using just a cauldron? This…’
Just as his brain froze and could not think, several light beams suddenly shot over from the sea in the distance, and several figures landed in the chariot in a flash. They were none other than Ma Wendi and the others who had disappeared, a total of six of them, with not even one missing.
“Haha! Congratulations, Brother Duan and Young Master Yun! You two are so amazing! I can’t believe you have just captured the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon alive! This trip is not fruitless after all, and we should celebrate!”
Ma Wendi was the first person cheeky enough to laugh, but his eyes rested on the purple cauldron in Yunxiao’s hands, and he looked dubious. At a glance, he recognized the purple cauldron’s level, which was no more than fifth-tier. He did not understand how it could capture the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon. But no matter what, he could not watch and do nothing as the two of them took the flood dragon away.
When Duan Yue saw the six of them and heard what Ma Wendi said, he was so angry that he almost coughed blood. While fuming, he said, “Your trip is fruitless or not is none of our business! We are going back now, and the six of you can scram back to where you came from!”
“Hehe! It’s inappropriate for you to say that, Brother Duan. You have drunk the water and quenched your thirst, so how can you forget us, the well-diggers?” Lord Coldcrow said with an eccentric tone as he moved his feet lightly and blocked Duan Yue’s escape path. Meanwhile, his hands flickered with energy, a clear sign that he was ready to strike at any time.
“Well-diggers? Bah!” Duan Yue almost fainted from anger, and he really admired their cheekiness. When he saw the six of them move quickly and block all the escape paths, he knew there was no way he could escape, so he did not speak again but hurried up to recover his Primordial Qi.
Situ Xing sneered as well, “If it were not for the Seven Stars Array the seven of us had laid out together, which greatly consumed the flood dragon’s power, do you think you could stay alive after being hit by it? And do you think your little brother, who is merely a one-star Great Martial Master, could capture it so easily?”
Tang Qiaoqiao gently leaned against Situ Xing’s arm, putting on a charming look as she giggled and said, “Duan Yue, let’s be frank! Split it into seven portions according to our agreement, and you may choose first.”
“What? Seven portions?” Ma Wendi looked angry as he said in a cold voice, “Auntie Tang, what we agreed upon was eight portions, and Flying Sword Sect would take two portions. Since when did it become seven portions?”
Upon hearing the way he addressed her, Tang Qiaoqiao’s face turned pale with fury. “Eight portions? We agreed that on the basis that Flying Sword Sect will contribute the most, but we all saw you contribute nothing apart from luring the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon out of its lair. What makes you think you can take one more portion?”
“You!” Ma Wendi was livid with anger, and his killing intent broke out. This Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon was a rare treasure, and the difference between one portion and two portions was too huge.
Yan Feiyue said coldly as well, “Take it easy, Brother Ma! Fairness is very important when sharing the prize. I think what Miss Qiaoqiao said is very reasonable.”
Tang Qiaoqiao immediately smiled charmingly and gave Yan Feiyue a wink, which made his flesh creep. Although Tang Qiaoqiao’s appearance was petite, cute, and charming, everyone present knew she was a granny in her eighties or nineties. And no one could stand it when a granny gave him a wink.
Lord Coldcrow and Shi Hongcai voiced out their agreement as well, which made Ma Wendi tremble with rage. But, he also knew that if he displeased the crowd, he would not get even a single portion, not to mention two. So, he could only wear a livid face and choke back his anger.
Looking at them, Yunxiao could not help but laugh in his heart. With a smile on his face, he said, “What you all said is reasonable, and I, too, think we should be fair. This Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon was trapped by me with my cauldron, so I wonder can I get a portion?”
That stunned everyone. When it came to contribution, no doubt Yunxiao, who captured the flood dragon, had the greatest credit. But, the crowd would never agree to give this Great Martial Master a portion as well.
“You?” Shi Hongcai showed an exaggerated expression of surprise and mocked, “Little brother, you can’t be thinking it is your own credit when you had captured the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon with a fifth-tier cauldron, can you? Without the Seven Stars Array we had laid out before that, do you think you could do that with your strength? Hah! One must be down to earth and never have exaggerated opinion of himself!”
“Yes!” Everyone echoed their agreement while Tang Qiaoqiao smiled and said, “When you captured it, the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon was already extremely weak. Even a Martial Master could take it down, not to mention you. You know what? Come here, handsome boy, I have a third-tier mystic weapon. Take it as your reward!”
Yunxiao was speechless, but he waved and said, “Never mind! This Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon is not something an existence like me can think of owning. It is harmful when one is too greedy.”
“Tsk, tsk, you are so sensible at such a young age. Brother Duan, you do have a good little brother. No wonder you are willing to give him the bloodfish ganoderma,” Lord Coldcrow praised and laughed eccentrically.
Duan Yue snorted coldly with an angry look as he turned around and did not say anything but kept recovering his energy. Meanwhile, Yunxiao smiled and said, “However, the previous sharing method is based on a dead Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon, so of course it doesn’t have any problem. But, what is trapped inside my purple cauldron now is a living Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon. Are you going to cut it apart?”
This…The six people immediately froze!
He was right. Were they going to cut it apart? In the beginning, no one thought they could capture a living one, so they thought they could just share it by cutting it apart. But, the value of a living Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon was a few times higher than a dead one, especially an existence like this who possessed the bloodline of a True Spirit and could advance by itself in the future. It was totally a priceless treasure.