Chapter 839 – Purple-Blooded Jiao Dragon

After the Water clan patriarch retrieved the Black Emperor Key, he put it away in the storage ring on his thumb. Long Chen was only at the Eighth Earthly Martial Stage and did not have any experience fighting Heavenly Martial Realm opponents, so he did not dare touch the patriarch.

His main target was the Golden-Eyed Water Beast, so after he snatched it, he was satisfied. Long Chen did not care much about them being able to send additional people to search for the Five Emperors’ treasure, because having more people from a faction did not guarantee they would find the treasure. It depended on luck and capability.

The five patriarchs of the Five Elements Alliance were clearly only average Heavenly Martial Realm cultivators.

“So it was you, Long Chen! I killed the Golden-Eyed Water Beast, so its carcass should belong to me, but you took it for yourself. Bai Lan and I have a cordial relationship, and I am also an elder to you; have you got no manners? Return the beast carcass to me if you know what’s good for you. If not, I’ll teach you a lesson,” said the Water patriarch coldly, arching an eyebrow.

Long Chen was not afraid at all. He said, “I’m not a little kid. You can’t scare me with threats like that. I managed to take the carcass because I am capable. I didn’t ask you for the Black Emperor Key, yet you asked me for the Golden-Eyed Water Beast. Isn’t that a little too demanding of you?”

The Water patriarch knew that Bai Lan and the others were nearby. If they came here, it would become countless times more difficult to deal with Long Chen. Seeing as Long Chen refused to hand it over, he stretched his arms and darted at him, using his domain to restrict Long Chen’s movements.

The power of the domain came from all directions. It was invisible and could not be touched. This was the power of the universe harnessed by a Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator using his Martial Soul, and it was used to suppress Long Chen’s movements.

However, a First Heavenly Martial Stage domain was not enough to stop Blood Warp.

Long Chen immediately used Blood Warp and turned into a flaming blood-red ray of light, quickly disappearing from the Water patriarch’s sight. This was his first time using Blood Warp after achieving this cultivation level, and his speed left the Water patriarch stunned.

“There’s no way I’ll let you leave!”

But before he even finished that sentence, Long Chen was already gone.

The Water patriarch was left behind in a daze.

“This brat is slippery. If I get him alone again, I will teach him a lesson. But his warp technique is very fast. Where did Bai Lan find such a mysterious son-in-law?”

The Black Emperor Key was the true treasure, and it was the key for the Five Elements Alliance to rule the whole Ten Thousand Nations Territory in the future. The Water patriarch was worried about encountering the two super-masters, Bai Lan and Wu Lian, so he had no time to dwell on Long Chen’s matter. He immediately rushed to the surface of Tianyi Lake. Once he left the water, the Black Emperor Key would be truly his.

The moment the Water patriarch broke out of the water, almost everyone in the lake also rushed out and stared at him.

Does everyone know that I have the Black Emperor Key?

The Water patriarch was shocked at first, but then he thought about Long Chen and knew that Long Chen was surely the one who had leaked this information. Of course, that did not matter.

The Black Emperor Key was with him; other than the Divine and Demon clans, who would dare fight him for it? And if the five main patriarchs and Ancestor Jin were present, even Bai Lan and Wu Lian would not dare attack.

Several thousand people were levitating above Tianyi Lake, and the regular cultivators were all staring at him intensely with resigned looks. The people of the Five Elements Alliance quickly gathered by the Water patriarch’s side, including the five patriarchs who arrived quickly. The strongest member of the Five Elements Alliance, Ancestor Jin, also arrived quickly.

Hence, the key was confidently theirs to keep.

“Is it true you’ve found the Black Emperor Key?” Ancestor Jin asked anxiously.

Excitement was written all over the five patriarchs’ faces.

The Five Elements Alliance had a total of six Heavenly Martial Realm experts, and they only had one key in their hands. With one more key, they could send four Heavenly Martial Realm experts into the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm. They would take up almost half of the ten available slots.

And if they were as lucky as they were today, then their odds of getting the treasure far surpassed everyone else.

After the Water patriarch nodded excitedly, Ancestor Jin laughed loudly. “This is good news! Great news!” He patted the Water patriarch’s shoulder and said, “Good work! Your heroic deed today will be recorded in the Five Elements Alliance’s ancestral records so that your name will be remembered for generations to come!”

“Thank you, Ancestor Jin!” said the Water patriarch hurriedly.

As for the others ...

Ancestor Jin looked around, and his golden eyes shone like two small suns, radiating startling heat and intimidating power. The aura of a Second Heavenly Martial Stage cultivator scared the regular cultivators into stepping back!

“Everyone! If you do not wish to die here, get the hell out! We have found the Black Emperor Key, so I advise you to run for your lives. If not, you will upset me, and none of you will get to live!”

His voice rumbled in all directions.

Ancestor Jin was one of the strongest masters of the Ten Thousand Nations Territory, so people shuddered just from hearing his name. Those people had only dared to search for the key because he wasn’t present. Now that the Five Elements Alliance had the Black Emperor Key in their possession, Ancestor Jin took the initiative to intimidate everyone. The regular cultivators looked at each other and gave up.

Many people had already been killed in secret at the bottom of Tianyi Lake, so quite a few outsiders had already snatched combat techniques, King Crystals, pills, and even divine weapons.

Those were the spoils of today’s battle.

But even more people had lost their lives due to their greed.

Few people had effective life-saving techniques like Long Chen.

The regular cultivators gradually left the region. Although they were unwilling, they did not show it.

Very soon, only the three main factions remained above the vast lake. Feng Qing and Wu Lian of the Divine Wind Faction stood together, with Feng Qing clearly levitating behind the woman. As for the Thunder Demon Faction, Bai Lan and Lei Ji stood shoulder to shoulder, while Long Chen stood next to Bai Lan.

After Long Chen emerged from the water, he went straight to Bai Lan and Lei Ji. He had been the one to leak the news that the Black Emperor Key had been found. Tianyi Lake had descended into chaos, and since the Black Emperor Key had been found, Long Chen used this method to stop the killing.

His compassion was effective. After Ancestor Jin’s threat, the regular cultivators all retreated to outside the lake.

The Long-Bearded Guest was the only remaining individual who did not belong to any faction.

“You all may return too. Search for the location of the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm. Whoever finds the entrance, inform the others. When we have all five of the Emperor Keys together, we will open the realm!” said Ancestor Jin loudly after looking around. Since he had gotten two keys, he had become the de facto leader.

All five of the Emperor Keys had been gathered. The next thing to do was search for the secret realm.

No one other than Long Chen knew where it was.

Long Chen recalled what he saw at Confounding City.

The people of the demon race in Confounding City said that the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm will only open in five months, which is also one month before the Ancient Graveyard closes. They were the ones who tossed the keys out so that we could find them. In that case, they should also tell us the location of the entrance, as well as the time!

Suddenly, a terrifying aura descended upon them. The regular cultivators hadn’t gone far yet, but they were so terrified that they turned around to look.

Bai Lan and Lei Ji’s expressions turned into panic. Without a word, Bai Lan grabbed Long Chen and flew to the shore of Tianyi Lake. Bai Lan moved extremely quickly, as fast as Long Chen’s Blood Warp. It only took a moment for them to arrive on the shore.

The Divine Wind Faction and the Five Elements Alliance also anxiously sprinted to the lake’s bank.

This was because they had sensed that the terrifying aura was coming from the bottom of Tianyi Lake!

“What a terrifying demonic beast aura! I didn’t know that such a terrifying demonic beast would be in the Ancient Graveyard!” Bai Lan stabilized himself and looked towards the boundless lake in horror.

“Demonic beast?” Long Chen had a different thought. He felt like the timing of the beast’s appearance, and the fact that Bai Lan was afraid of it, were suspicious.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The regular cultivators stared in a daze. Under everyone’s shock and confusion, the surface of Tianyi Lake, which was already chaotic enough, shook even more violently. Then the water exploded up into the sky and a gigantic shadow gradually emerged from the bottom of the lake.

The shadow was several hundred meters wide, making it much wider than the length of the Golden-Eyed Water Beast. And this estimate was just based on the size of the shadow.

Even Long Chen could sense the demonic beast’s aura—it was terrifying. He was sure that it was at least at the Emperor-tier, and seeing as Bai Lan had decided to get away from it, it was likely at the Category Three Emperor-tier or above.

The problem was, did such powerful demonic beasts exist in the Ancient Graveyard?

Long Chen already knew the culprits behind the scenes of this game.

All would be revealed the moment the beast broke out of the water. Everyone watched in shock as Tianyi Lake’s water shot up into the sky, forming tall waves. Then the gigantic silhouette erupted out of the lake. A gigantic beast’s head appeared before them.

“Is that a ... Jiao dragon?”

To Long Chen’s shock, the head was a Jiao dragon’s head. It was a deep purple Jiao with menacing features. It was gigantic, and its black eyes were like black holes. Its head was much larger than Tianyi Water City itself.[TL Note: The Jiao dragon (蛟龙 jiao1 long2), or just Jiao, is an aquatic creature from Chinese mythology. It is not a true dragon, and it is considered ranked below dragons / less evolved / not as intelligent. Jiaos must cultivate for a long time before evolving into true dragons. They are found in water bodies such as rivers.]

Destructive power radiated from the purple Jiao dragon’s body. Even Long Chen could barely stand in the face of such strong pressure, let alone Xiaolang, despite being in the Primordial Realm. This powerful demonic beast exerted a powerful pressure on beasts weaker than itself.