Chapter 581: Gold and the First Encounter |
"The Dragon Molt period lasts at least a century. You still have several decades of slumber left, sir, so don't try to fool this humble monk. Just obediently hand over your dragon body!"
Inside the great hall, Xia Hong walked near the high platform, looking at the Crimson Blood Demonic Dragon coiled around the golden pillar. The first thing that came to his mind were the words spoken by Master Wusheng five years ago when he was controlling this blood dragon's physical form.
Master Wusheng had said those words at Red Dragon Lake. Xia Hong was attacking his true body in Bashang at the time, so he hadn't heard them personally. They were later told to him by the Xia people who were present that day, as well as by Sun Manifestation Level experts like Mu Longhe who subsequently defected to Great Xia.
"The camps around the Qinghepu area have little established education, with no reliable records. We can only find some clues from the oral traditions passed down in the three villages from before. This Fiend Dragon arrived roughly fifty years ago. According to Master Wusheng's words, its Dragon Molt period still has at least over forty years left.
Now that we know the location of its true form, we have roughly another forty-plus years ahead. Figuring out how to completely resolve this problem will require some careful thought...
The Fiend Dragon's true body is right before our eyes. Five years ago, even when it was being recklessly manipulated by Master Wusheng, it didn't fully awaken. Just from this point alone, dealing with this dragon body doesn't seem like a difficult task.
But the actual situation is far from that simple!
Xia Hong was carrying the Yang Xu Cauldron. The moment he entered the palace, he discovered that this Fiend Dragon, along with the entire golden palace, carried not a trace of Abomination aura. This essentially confirmed that the Fiend Dragon before him was not an Abomination, but a Frost Beast of an unknown level.
Actually, judging by the strength it displayed five years ago, this Fiend Dragon was at most a Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperor. The problem was that it was in its dormant period back then, and it was forcibly awakened and controlled by Master Wusheng. Considering that when it was jointly besieged by fifteen Sun Manifestation Level experts, it showed almost no autonomy from start to finish, merely a dragon body without consciousness, yet it could still unleash such power... that makes the Fiend Dragon's true realm even harder to estimate.
"You little bastard from Lingyin Mountain, even your esteemed teacher, the Five Zang Tathagata, would have to bow his head in salute upon seeing this lord. How dare you, with your measly self, covet this lord's dragon body? Get out of this lord's body now!"
Many people heard these words spoken by the Fiend Dragon five years ago. Xia Hong learned of them later from others.
Regardless of the truth of these words, it can be basically concluded that, similar to the Dark Realm Qishan Demon Lord previously mentioned by Abominations, this Lingyin Mountain's Five Zang Tathagata is also an extremely powerful existence among Abominations.
Being able to recognize the Lingyin Mountain faction behind Master Wusheng, the Fiend Dragon's origins are clearly not simple either, further proving from the side that its strength must be extraordinary.
For lifeforms of the Ice Abyss, the contrast between strength and weakness is extremely clear. For example, a cultivator at the Warmth Realm has undergone a complete remodeling of their skin membrane once, gaining a tremendous increase in defensive capability. Unless a person at the Digging Realm wields a weapon that exceeds their own power level, they simply have no way of breaking through it.
This is even more true when applied to Frost Beasts!
For instance, right now, even with his Truth-Discerning Eye activated, Xia Hong cannot penetrate the Fiend Dragon's skin membrane to see inside its body. This proves that the toughness of the Fiend Dragon's physical body far exceeds his imagination.
"I've come into contact with quite a few Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperors, and none could block the probing of the Truth-Discerning Eye. That means this Fiend Dragon's strength is at minimum at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, which is the Venerable-level Frost Beast, equivalent to a human Revered Form Realm expert..."
The slumbering Fiend Dragon was still breathing. The scales on its tail trembled slightly along with its deep, slow breaths. Xia Hong took a heavy breath, a shadow of gloom floating between his brows. His right hand resting on the Cold Blood Blade's hilt twitched slightly, but he ultimately suppressed the impulse in his heart.
He wasn't confident!
While the Cold Blood Blade certainly has an effect of restraining Frost Beasts, the Fiend Dragon before him was, after all, a genuine Venerable-level Frost Beast, possibly even above the Venerable level. Acting rashly now, if he failed to break through its skin membrane, or if after breaking through, the Cold Blood Blade couldn't unleash its usual might, and he failed to successfully slay the Fiend Dragon, instead prematurely awakening it...
The consequences would be disastrous!
At this moment, Li Xuanling and the two children had already been sent out by him. After all, the origins of this golden palace were unclear. Plus, up to now, he still hadn't figured out why Li Longyu had lured him here. Just in case, he had sent Li Xuanling and the other two out through the pool earlier.
Since he couldn't deal with the Fiend Dragon for now, Xia Hong simply stopped dwelling on it. He walked around the golden pillar on the high platform and headed towards the rear.
Reaching the back, seeing the scene before him, Xia Hong's breath instantly hitched. Surge after surge of intense delight and shock rose in his pupils.
Behind the high platform was a square plaza, twenty meters long and ten meters wide. Piled upon the plaza were over twenty... golden mountains.
That's right, golden mountains, literal mountains of gold!
Xia Hong had been in the Ice Abyss for nearly twenty years and had never seen gold, but that didn't hinder his recognition at all. Not just these twenty golden mountains, but even the golden palace he was currently in was likely mixed with a large amount of gold.
"After searching for so many years, to obtain it in such an effortless manner..."
A flicker of unreality passed through Xia Hong's eyes. He slowly walked to the golden mountain closest to him, picked up a gold nugget the size of a fist, and focused his mind.
[Resources: Wood 10.8 billion, Coal 8.7 billion, Iron 7.8 billion, Silver 600 million, Gold 412]
"As expected, the conversion rate for gold is 1:1. But this density is too exaggerated, at least five times that of silver, ten times that of iron!"
An iron ingot the size of a fist weighed about forty-some jin. A silver ingot weighed over eighty jin. Gold actually weighed over four hundred jin.
The gold in Xia Hong's hand had already disappeared. Looking at the gold resource in the system, which had long been at 0 units and now suddenly surged to 412, his pupils were filled with joy. Gazing at the over twenty golden mountains before him, his expression was one of immense shock.
Even though he sensed that gold likely had other special properties, Xia Hong didn't dare waste time now. Without a second thought, he began collecting the remaining gold.
[Gold 2,155,821]
2.155 million jin!
Who would have thought that after worrying about gold for so many years, he would obtain 2.155 million jin in such a bewildering, instant manner.
Xia Hong's expression was excited, his mind trembling uncontrollably.
Of the system's nine major buildings, only gold was needed to continue upgrading them. Looking back at previous building upgrades, which one hadn't brought Great Xia a leapfrog development?
The key point was that gold didn't just have the single function of upgrading buildings. Whether as a high-grade raw material for Artifact Forging or Alchemy, its potential role for Great Xia was absolutely limitless.
Looking at the twenty-four golden mountains behind him, Xia Hong's eyes shone with excitement. Without hesitation, he walked towards the second one and quickly began converting and collecting.
However, Xia Hong didn't notice that while he was gleefully collecting the gold, the blood-colored dragon tail at the base of the high platform's pillar gave an almost imperceptible twitch.
Soon, Xia Hong had collected half of the second golden mountain. The system's gold resource also broke through the 3.5 million mark.
But right at that moment, he suddenly stopped his actions, his brow furrowing sharply. A cold light flashed in his eyes as he drew the Cold Blood Blade from his waist and quickly rushed towards the innermost golden mountain.
*Slice...*
"The density is higher than silver, so naturally it's harder, but while being hard, it can still maintain such high toughness. It truly is a high-grade resource. If this could be used to forge armor, the strength of the Xia troops would surely multiply several times over!"
The Cold Blood Blade cleanly split the golden mountain open, scattering countless gold nuggets. Xia Hong immediately sensed the special properties of the gold material. After a slight internal sigh of admiration, his gaze shifted to a corner of the great hall as he sneered coldly, "Playing tricks and acting mysterious before me? Show your true form!"
"Mid-stage Sun Manifestation Level cultivation, yet possessing such strength. It seems you are the Lord of Great Xia, Lord Leader Xia Hong, who recently defeated Caiqiu three times and shook the Mo'ao Chuan with your fame..."
Not long after the words fell, a crisp, delicate, and somewhat playful female voice rang out from the corner as if from thin air. Then, a woman in white clothes slowly materialized from nothingness at the spot where the voice originated, gradually taking shape.
Invisibility wasn't some particularly special skill. Xia Hong had encountered quite a few Abominations who used it. But to remain invisible for so long before he detected her, and with the woman holding a yellow silk bag in her hand, bulging and obviously stuffed full of gold...
That meant this woman in white had just been stuffing a large pile of gold right under his nose, and he hadn't noticed.
"Miss, are you from the Four Feudatories? Don't you understand the rule of first come, first served? This gold doesn't belong to you. Leave it behind, and I'll let you go!"
Second Turn, or even Third Turn of the Tribulation Body Realm. The moment the woman in white revealed her form, Xia Hong almost instantly sensed her strength. Yet even so, he didn't show a pleasant face. He merely gave a slight wave of his hand, summoning ten Beast Emperor-Level Puppets, then coldly issued an ultimatum to the woman.
A flicker of stunned surprise appeared on the exquisitely beautiful face of the woman in white. She was clearly taken aback by Xia Hong's attitude. Then she smiled and said, "This Fiend Dragon palace isn't part of your Great Xia. This gold isn't some ownerless property either. For Lord Leader Xia to just open his mouth and demand I hand it over is a bit too overbearing, don't you think?"
Xia Hong's brow furrowed deeply. Without further ado, the ten Beast Emperor-Level Puppets suddenly sprang into action, directly surrounding the woman in white.
Forget that this golden palace was located in Red Dragon Lake; even if this batch of gold had been discovered within Mo'ao Chuan territory, Xia Hong would never just let someone else take it. It simply came down to settling things with strength.
The palace space was limited, so the ten Beast Emperor puppets naturally couldn't manifest their complete forms. They maintained a miniature size as they swarmed to attack the woman in white.
The woman in white first drew the sky-blue long sword at her waist. Then her body actually vanished into thin air once again.
However, she hadn't been gone for more than three breaths when the ten Beast Emperor puppets moved in unison, directly pouncing towards another corner of the palace.
*Bang...*
The fastest white flood dragon arrived first. Its dragon claw tore through the air, but just as it was about to reach the palace wall, it was forced back mid-air by a blue sword energy.
"Miss Li, leave the gold behind. Great Xia bears no grudge against Wei Bo. This lord has no desire to make things difficult for you either!"
Xia Hong naturally wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. When the woman used her invisibility trickery, the energy fluctuation of the Abomination ability was extremely minute, likely concealed by something. He hadn't detected it earlier because the Sacred Cauldron within him wasn't activated.
Now that the Beast Emperor-Level Puppets were mobilized, it naturally meant the Sacred Cauldron within him had also begun to function. No matter how small the energy fluctuation of the woman's invisibility trickery was, it couldn't hide from the Sacred Cauldron.
As for the address "Miss Li," that was because Xia Hong had already guessed the identity of this woman in white.
Among the Four Feudatories of Mo'ao Chuan, only Wei Bo favored the color white. Combined with the sky-blue long sword and her confirmed Third Turn cultivation, the woman's identity naturally became obvious.
Ranked third on the Mo'ao Chuan Heaven Ranking, Wei Bo's Sky-Blue Divine Sword, Li Baobao!
Xia Hong glanced briefly at the white flood dragon puppet that had been forced back by a sword strike, then continued looking at Li Baobao. A wave of intense shock flashed through his pupils.
The white flood dragon was the only Triple-Element Five Luminaries Realm Beast Emperor-Level Puppet in his possession. For her to force it back with a single sword strike showed just how formidable Li Baobao's strength was.
While inwardly shocked, a trace of anger also rose within Xia Hong's heart.
Great Xia and Caiqiu were about to cease hostilities. Wasn't Wei Bo currently supporting Caiqiu in resisting Chencang?
Even if they weren't sending troops, just offering verbal support, why would they send such a powerful Tribulation Body Realm expert to Great Xia at this time?
To spy on Great Xia's true situation? Could it be that Wei Bo wanted to extend its reach into the Southern Foothills region while Chencang and Caiqiu were at war?
That wasn't all. The key issue was that this batch of gold in the dragon palace was now known to Li Baobao. Once she returned to Wei Bo and Feudal Lord Li Gangfeng learned about the gold, it was almost inevitable that he would take action against Great Xia.
"This is troublesome!"
Xia Hong looked at Li Baobao with a gloomy expression. Seeing her continuously trying to break through towards the pool at the center of the palace, his expression grew even more somber.
This woman clearly also knew that the pool was the palace's exit.
"She cannot be allowed to escape..."
"Lord Leader Xia has quite the temper, but your strength truly isn't up to par. These ten puppets probably can't keep this princess. The batch of gold in this hall shall be entrusted to Lord Leader Xia for safekeeping for now. Farewell!"
Just as this thought rose in Xia Hong's mind, Li Baobao's voice, tinged with a hint of laughter, came from within the Beast Emperor encirclement.
Entrusting it to him for safekeeping meant Wei Bo would definitely come to collect it later.
Xia Hong's pupils were filled with gloom. A faint light flashed in his left eye as he stopped concealing it. He retrieved the Star Shattering Sword from the Yellow Mustard Bag, quickly rushed near the puppets, and planned to join the attack to keep this woman here.
However, the moment he moved...
Li Baobao, who was being besieged by the puppets, suddenly erupted with a blue glow from her body, then vanished on the spot. The next second, she directly appeared above the pool.
"Trying to run? Dream on!"
This wasn't the invisibility trickery from before. It was likely Li Baobao using Tribulation Qi combined with her Golden Body to unleash her maximum speed for a short burst.
Xia Hong sensed it immediately. He still didn't give up on stopping her. Turning his head, the Shattering Divine Light from his left eye shot out, heading straight for the space above the pool.
Li Baobao had indeed manifested her Golden Body at this moment. But unlike the thirty-zhang Golden Body of Chu Tianxu that Xia Hong had seen before, her Golden Body remained roughly the same size as her original form. Only a dense Wood Element Tribulation Qi circulated around her, exuding a holy and noble aura like a heavenly maiden.
Seeing the Shattering Divine Light shooting from Xia Hong's left eye, Li Baobao felt an inexplicable tremor in her heart. Sensing she couldn't dodge it, yellow and golden Tribulation Qi erupted from within her body once again, completely enveloping her form.
*Clang...*
The Shattering Divine Light ultimately struck the Golden Body. Li Baobao's body visibly staggered backward, nearly retreating beyond the pool's edge. Sensing that although cracks had begun to appear on her Golden Body, the situation was still under control, her brow first furrowed sharply. Then she turned her head and let out a cold laugh towards Xia Hong.
*Plop...*
She directly plunged into the water.
Xia Hong naturally wouldn't let her escape so easily. Leading the ten Beast Emperor puppets, he jumped into the water and continued the pursuit.
However, what Xia Hong didn't know was that after he jumped into the pool, the originally clear water within began to bubble and boil.
A hint of blood-red color slowly emerged from the depths of the pool, then rapidly rose. In less than a moment, it dyed the entire pool a deep crimson.