Chapter 34 Zero Vs. Wyvern

- Several Minutes Earlier, Outside the Cave -

"

As the Golden Wyvern laughed and taunted, continuing to play with its prey, the human masters were slowly running out of energy to keep up. The Ninth-Order Magic Beast seemed to have an infinite amount of Qi and vitality, and the longer that the battle dragged on for, the weaker the humans became. They outnumbered the beast, sure, but what did that matter? It was like a swarm of maggots trying to take down an elephant—worthless.

"… This is not looking good, City Lord Yun Liao," an elder from the Sky Cloud Sect muttered, who had also came here to help. "We've hit it with so many attacks, but most of them didn't do any damage to its stupidly tough scales…"

"… And the few that did were instantly regenerated back with its natural self-healing powers," the old elder from the Stealing Heart Sect muttered, stroking his beard. "Apologies, city lord, but there does not seem to be any hope of winning this fight. As such, my sect's disciples and I will be taking our leave h…"

Before he could finish his statement, he trailed off, interrupted by the Golden Wyvern's next words.

"

Apparently enraged by the thought of the old elder trying to run, the Wyvern began charging up a powerful golden supernova inside its mouth, blazing with flames. The Origin Transformation and above masters gritted their teeth and covered their eyes using their arms to avoid being blinded by its radiance, but they were out of options.

"Quick—we must run!" Another elder yelled, attempting to back away, but Yun Liao could not take it anymore and roared in response.

"I'd like to see who dares to run!"

At this, all the other masters present fell into silence briefly, while the Wyvern continued preparing his attack and Yun Liao activated a defense array that he'd set in place beforehand in preparation for a situation like this.

"… My city is in that direction," Yun Liao said quietly. "If we run away here… it will be the city that gets destroyed. The hundreds of lives there that will be lost. I cannot allow it."

The supernova was blindingly bright and enormous, no doubt powerful enough to burn an entire city to the ground. Yun Liao was right.

"As such…" the city lord continued, bowing his head. "… This Yun humbly requests that all the other masters present help me in fueling this defense array. It probably will not be enough, but… at the very least, I can say I tried."

"This…"

The other masters still seemed hesitant, but Sky Cloud Sect's elder then stepped forward beside Yun Liao and activated his own Qi to supply the array.

"I will support you, City Lord. Your loyalty has moved me—not to mention the good relationship my sect and your city have held for the past many years."

Yun Liao made a solemn martial arts salute with his hands in response. "Thank you, Elder Kun."

Following this, many others decided to do the same, stepping forward and offering their assistance. After all, their respective sects' reputations were on the line here. If they just ran away like cowards when others offered to stay and defend, it would not reflect well on them when word got out.

"I will assist you as well, City Lord."

"Brother Yun, how can we just run after you said that? I will lend you my full strength!"

"That's right. My Glacial Heights Pavilion will remain as well."

Even Stealing Heart Sect's Origin Monarch stage elder was forced to stay behind as a result of this, though he did so very reluctantly.

"… Very well. As one of the strongest cultivators present, I cannot leave either."

Yun Liao, seeing this, smiled in gratitude.

"This Yun offers everyone his sincerest thanks. In that case… let us face this threat together."

At once, the masters poured their Qi into the defense barrier, forming a massive translucent wall between themselves and the Wyvern, who was nearly finished charging its attack.

"Prepare yourselves—it's coming!"

The supernova grew brighter and brighter, and the Golden Wyvern's eyes shone intensely red as its energy reached peak levels. The charging completed, and the Wyvern reared its head back, about to fire it.

But then…

… It suddenly stopped.

It froze in place, as a thought flashed through his head.

'

Swallowing the supernova back down into its stomach with no time to waste, it spun around and ran back into its cave as fast as it could go. It couldn't fly due to the cavern's dimensions, so it was forced to run—but that didn't matter. All that was on its mind at that moment was the safety of the Divine Dragon Egg.

If the elders back at Dragon Island Temple found out that it had lost the egg or got it damaged somehow… this Wyvern was going to face a fate worse than death.

Meanwhile, the human masters outside were left stunned, wondering what the hell was going on. They stopped pouring energy into the defensive array, and under Yun Liao's orders, remained idle, awaiting further instructions.

The Golden Wyvern could feel sweat forming on its forehead—something that should not happen considering how used to heat it was—but this sweat was not the type born from exercise. It was cold, born from fear. Fear at what would happen to it once it got back to the island. Worse yet, would it even be able to return at all, or be instead cast into exile as punishment?

No matter—it couldn't afford to be thinking about that right now. The situation was not yet hopeless—the trap had just been triggered. There was still time.

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After several minutes, the Wyvern came across the trap it had laid down beforehand—a golden prison that confined anyone who stepped past it, and lifted them up to the ceiling to hold them there until the Wyvern could return to finish off the perpetrators with a horrible death. Contained within were three humans—two old, one young. None of them had cultivation levels worth mentioning, and the Golden Wyvern narrowed its red eyes.

"

Upon spotting the massive creature before them, the three imprisoned humans gasped in fear, but the youngest one amongst them actually managed to speak—impressively so.

"A-Ahem… great Wyvern, forgive us for our trespasses. However, the reason we are in here is actually to protect your treasure. In other words, we are helping you."

At this, the Golden Wyvern slowly lifted an eyebrow in suspicion.

"...

"Y-Yes. You see, a while back, we spotted a suspicious figure heading in the direction of your greatness's cave, so we decided to follow to see what he was up to. As it turned out, he was searching for something in here, and tricked us into triggering the traps you set in place for him… resulting in what you see now."

"...

"Deeper in, your greatness," Zhou Hai replied, as politely as possible. "He appears to have found whatever it is he was looking for…"

"...

"D-Don't worry! I promise I am not lying. He is in there—he must be!"

Anger lining its flaming scarlet gaze, the Golden Wyvern stepped deeper into its lair and sniffed the air.

'...

Approaching the direction the smell was coming from, the Golden Wyvern slowly peeked its head over the pit in the ground, where the Divine Dragon Egg was stored. As expected, beside it sat a human, who smiled happily after seeing the Wyvern.

'

Confused, the Wyvern furrowed its brows and demanded an answer.

"

In response, the human—Xuan—let out a soft chuckle.

"A mere Wyvern wants to make me quake in fear? Serpent, even if your Dragon Emperor came here himself, I would not spare him a second glance."

Narrowing his eyes in caution at this arrogance, the Golden Wyvern began to notice a strange familiarity coming from this man. It wasn't just his appearance, but rather, his aura and demeanor. That forever calm and cold tone that stated such conceited words as if they were simply facts.

"...

Xuan smiled before bending down, picking up the Dragon Egg, and jumping straight out of the pit with his now-enhanced physical attributes. With the Divine Dragon Body, he landed solidly on the edge of the hole, pausing for a moment before straightening up and staring the Wyvern fearlessly in the face.

"Perhaps you'll recognize me more… once I do this."

Taking out Ruo Xi's brooch from his pocket, Xuan disabled the appearance changes he'd used on himself. In an instant, any blemishes on his face went away—the freckles and the shifts in his facial features. The beauty mark he had beneath his right eye was revealed, and the signature red runic mark on his forehead appeared once more.

At this sight, the Golden Wyvern nearly fainted.

"????-????-

"Mm. Long time no see," Xuan replied calmly. "Or was it your ancestor I met…? Ah, I can't remember. Tell your Dragon Emperor I said hello."

In response, the Golden Wyvern gulped, quickly taking a few thunderous steps back. "????-

"And if I insist?" Xuan interrupted with a warning tone, narrowing his eyes. "… Did you forget what I did to the Dragon Emperor when he opposed my wishes?"

"

"… Hmm?" Xuan lowered his voice even further, and the Golden Wyvern suddenly burst out in awkward laughter, scratching behind its ears.

"????-

Xuan smiled. The Wyvern just told him what to do without making it seem like it was telling him what to do and being impolite. Clever indeed.

"Good. I will take care of this egg for you," he replied, tapping on the surface of the egg as the Golden Wyvern gulped nervously. "Relax, I will not harm your Dragon Island's next heir… that is, as long as you don't make any more trouble for me."

"????-

Immediately, the Golden Wyvern spun around and attempted to leave, but Xuan wasn't done yet.

"Wait. Right after calling me 'human' so condescendingly, you want to leave?"

"????-

"Beast Cores. As a member of the Dragon race, you have nine inside your body, don't you? Each representing 1,000 years of lifespan. I want five."

"

"Alternatively, I could kill you right here, right now, as painfully as possible. Lose 5,000 years off your life, or lose it altogether in a real gruesome manner. Your choice?"

The Golden Wyvern immediately got into a genuflecting position and slammed his head into the ground to kowtow.

"

Saying this, the Golden Wyvern extracted five beautiful white pearl-like orbs from his chest, and handed them over to Xuan respectfully. Xuan inspected them in his hands, nodding in satisfaction, before sending them all to his inventory and waving the beast off.

"Satisfactory. You may leave now—but before you go, finish off those three for me."

"????-

"The three you captured with your trap," Xuan clarified. "Give them horrible, painful deaths, but don't destroy their Souls. Understand?"

"????-

Obediently and immediately, the Wyvern crawled back towards Zhou Hai and the two Origin Transformation stage elders, while Xuan sat down underneath the golden fire chandelier and began his breakthrough process to the Core Formation stage.

The quest requirement to break through was 10 Beast Cores or 5 Magic Beast Cores, so since he'd just obtained 5 of the latter—not to mention the highest level of them all—there was no reason to dawdle any longer. The golden flame above his head also provided incredibly pure World Qi, so there was no better time than now to do this.

Meanwhile…

Zhou Hai and the two old men, who saw the Golden Wyvern return unscathed, lit up their eyes.

"Your greatness has returned! How was it? I didn't lie to you, right? You caught the thief, correct?"

What came out of the beast's jaws next, however, was not something any of them expected, and left them in shock.

"

"Wha-?! Zero…? The legendary figure, rumored to be the strongest cultivator under the heavens?" One of the old masters yelled in shock. "Impossible! They say he's in a higher world, not in Asphodel!"

"Zero? Who's that?" Zhou Hai raised an eyebrow, ignorant.

"...

"Wait, your greatne- AHHH!"

With screams of agony, the three were consumed whole by a ray of golden fire, leaving nothing behind but wisps of their Souls. Their bodies were completely reduced to black ash, and any sign of their existence was erased, just like that.

Then, without turning back, the Golden Wyvern immediately dipped—by dashing straight through the top of the cave, nearly completely destroying it in the process. He did not want to stay even one second longer here—who knew when Xuan would call him back again for another task?

The Wyvern wanted to get away from this horrible monster called Zero as fast as possible—he needed to report this matter back to the elders at Dragon Island.

'

Those were the Wyvern's thoughts as he flew, high into the sky and out of sight.