Chapter 534: Opportunity in Danger

Not long after Sage Yellowbrow entered the cursed pit, another beam of silver light shot toward the island from afar.

The beam landed on Thousand-Spirit Island in a plume of dust, revealing a humanoid figure as it cleared—the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost.

The moment the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost descended, he saw the scattered corpses all over the island. Their features were unrecognizable, but their clothing bore an obvious provenance.

"The young master's subordinates—what could have happened to him?!" the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost exclaimed.

He hurriedly began to search around.

Afar, Ao Shuai and the rest of his subordinates, who had been hiding from Sage Yellowbrow, sighed in relief.

"Silverfrost, I'm right here!" Ao Shuai called out, rushing onto Thousand-Spirit Island.

His subordinates surrounded him protectively.

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost exhaled upon seeing Ao Shuai unharmed. "What happened here, Master? The situation here..."

One of Ao Shuai's subordinates immediately recounted what had happened.

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost's tone was tinged with ice as he replied, "Xiao Nanfeng really is devious. He claimed all the spirits on the island for himself?"

"He did! Not only that, as we expected, there was a superior draconic vein underneath the island. Silverfrost, I need that superior draconic vein!" Ao Shuai cried out urgently.

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost glanced into the cursed pit. "Xiao Nanfeng entered it, Sage Yellowbrow entered it, and even the superior draconic vein entered it? And what's with this cursed smoke? Something ominous lies within..."

"Should I seek help from my father?" Ao Shuai asked.

"There's no need for now. I'll go in and have a look," the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost replied.

"Let me have some of my subordinates enter with you," Ao Shuai suggested.

Ao Shuai knew how dangerous it would be within; he didn't want to enter himself.

"Very well. Have someone with an avatar enter—it might be dangerous, and it'll facilitate communication." The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost picked one of the candidates, then told Ao Shuai, "Just in case, you had better all hide."

"Got it."

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost and one of Ao Shuai's subordinates entered the cursed pit while Ao Shuai and his group fled from Thousand-Spirit Island.

Not long before that, the Moonlight Buddha in the limestone cave immediately detected when Ao Zhou returned to the cursed pit with the superior draconic vein.

"The superior draconic vein... has returned?" the Moonlight Buddha exclaimed in disbelief.

With a wave of its hand, a hole appeared in the limestone cave. Cursed smoke surrounded the hole, but was unable to seep in. A large cloud of cursed smoke had surrounded the superior draconic vein, but the Moonlight Buddha easily pulled it into the cave.

The moment the superior draconic vein was brought inside, the hole vanished.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What? There's a separate space in here?" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Just then, a silver palm descended from the heavens and squashed the superior draconic vein's body, rendering it immobile.

"Xiao Nanfeng, where are you? Come out here and help me!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't respond. Instead, a group of arhats floating atop golden lotus platforms smiled in relief.

"Buddha, we've reclaimed the superior draconic vein!"

"To think the superior draconic vein would have been so foolish as to return..."

The arhats were very pleased with this discovery.

When Ao Zhou saw who had been responsible for trapping him, he immediately called out, "Senior, I apologize for disturbing you unintentionally. I hope you'll allow me to go free."

"Since you've already come, why not stay? I'm curious as to how you were able to possess a superior draconic vein. You must possess important secrets. Why not reveal them and allow us to share the burden with you?"

Ao Zhou stiffened. Inwardly, he cursed, "Share the burden? More like you want to steal my secrets!"

"The Buddha's asking you a question!" an arhat shouted. "Responding to the Buddha is an honor. Answer the Buddha immediately!"

"Answer the Buddha immediately!" the arhats echoed.

Ao Zhou: ...

A group of cultivators had chased him in here, the superior draconic vein he had possessed was trying to kill him, and now there were a group of monks trying to rob him. How unlucky could he get?

Could he surrender? No—he would only be robbed and killed.

Ao Zhou smiled fiercely. "Everyone, I came bringing a gift: this superior draconic vein."

He gave up on possessing the superior draconic vein once again, returning freedom to it.

The superior draconic vein instantly glowed with golden light as it struggled free from the silver palm.

"Ao Zhou, you think you can possess me despite your lack of strength? Scram!"

The superior draconic vein didn't dare take him lightly any longer. Its whiskers shot into its mindscape and whipped Ao Zhou out of it.

"Now die!" the superior draconic vein shouted, making to swallow Ao Zhou.

"Save me, Buddha!" Ao Zhou cried out, flying toward the Moonlight Buddha.

"You released your hold on the superior draconic vein's consciousness and ruined my plans! Why would I help you?" the Moonlight Buddha demanded.

It slapped the superior draconic vein with one palm and caught Ao Zhou with the other, clutching him tightly as the superior draconic vein reeled, stumbling onto the ground.

The superior draconic vein hissed. It knew that Ao Zhou possessed an incredible secret, and it could hardly allow him to fall into another's hands. It roared and shot toward the Moonlight Buddha.

"I'm going to kill Ao Zhou for hurting me! Return him to me!" the superior draconic vein roared.

"Hm?" The Moonlight Buddha seemed surprised.

It expected the superior draconic vein to immediately flee, but it was trying to snatch Ao Zhou from his grasp. Could Ao Zhou really possess some tremendous secret?

How lucky he was today—first, someone cultivating the Imposing Avatar of Rulai, and now, treasures one after another.

The Moonlight Buddha shouted, "Take the superior draconic vein down!"

"Understood!" all the arhats replied.

They rushed forward and began to attack the superior draconic vein.

The sounds of fighting echoed within the limestone cave. A howling tempest formed, but the cave seemed exceptionally sturdy and showed no signs of collapsing.

The superior draconic vein sent more and more arhats flying, but they continued to attack it. Before long, another figure in gold appeared—Sage Yellowbrow.

"Moonlight Buddha, what's going on?" he exclaimed.

The Moonlight Buddha was investigating Ao Zhou, rather than participating in the fight.

"Yellowbrow, suppress the superior draconic vein alongside them. Let me study this little dragon and see what secrets he possesses, secrets that the superior draconic vein wants even at risk to its life."

"Understood!" Sage Yellowbrow replied.

With Sage Yellowbrow participating in the melee, the superior draconic vein was quickly subdued.

Seeing that it had been caught once again, it cried out, "Release me and give me Ao Zhou. I'll listen to you, guard you, and continue supplying you with spiritual aether!"

"Oh? You're willing to cooperate with us now?" Sage Yellowbrow exclaimed.

"Only if you hand me Ao Zhou!" the superior draconic vein cried out anxiously.

The more eager the superior draconic vein was, the more intrigued the Moonlight Buddha and Sage Yellowbrow became.

The Moonlight Buddha caused Ao Zhou to faint. A cloud of black fog emanated from his body, resolving into the shape of a dragon.

The dragon roared, causing the entire cave to tremble violently.

Everyone was caught off-guard. They froze; incredible draconic might seemed to arrest them for a moment, preventing them from even taking a breath. Even the Moonlight Buddha and Sage Yellowbrow had been affected. Their eyes widened as they took in the draconic smoke around Ao Zhou.

"The quality of this draconic soul is..."

"Could it be an ancestral dragon? The ancestral dragons of legend?"

"He bears the inheritance of an ancestral dragon?!"

The cultivators' eyes widened. Their nostrils flared. Although the ancestral dragons had perished long ago, these supreme cultivators had heard of them. The ancestral dragons were the pinnacle of all dragonkind.

How could someone like Ao Zhou possess an ancestral dragon's inheritance? No wonder the superior draconic vein was even willing to be subjugated to access it.

"It's mine! The ancestral dragon's inheritance belongs to me!" the superior draconic vein cried out.

No one paid it any mind.

The Moonlight Buddha and Sage Yellowbrow were both attracted to that draconic smoke. Their eyes filled with greed.

No one noticed that an icy, crystalline hole had appeared in the cave, leading out to the cursed pit.

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost entered, sensing the draconic might as he did so. He raised his head to see the draconic smoke that the Moonlight Buddha was examining from Ao Zhou's prone body.

His eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. He was incredulous and simultaneously ecstatic.

Ao Shuai's subordinate attempted to head in from behind him, jolting him out of his reverie. He immediately sent the cultivator flying back into the cursed pit.

An ancestral dragon's inheritance was an incredible secret that would even tempt the likes of the Eastern Aspect. He was loyal to the Eastern Aspect, but the inheritance was so tempting to him that he didn't dare divulge any news of it whatsoever, not even to one of his subordinates.

He sealed the hole he had created as he shot toward Ao Zhou. He had to retrieve the inheritance at any cost.

"Who is it?" The Moonlight Buddha, sensing that something was amiss, turned around.

The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost moved rapidly, flashing over to the Moonlight Buddha's side and attempting to seize Ao Zhou.

"Insolence!" the Moonlight Buddha roared, slamming a palm toward the Martial Aspect.

The two Golden Immortal cultivators struck each other palm for palm. Shockwaves of energy filled the cave.

"The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost?" Sage Yellowbrow exclaimed.

The next moment, the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost transformed into a huge silver dragon, surrounded by a frosty aura. The limestone cave froze over. He was working against time—he had to claim Ao Zhou before anyone else could do so. He shot toward the Moonlight Buddha again.

The Moonlight Buddha frowned, sweeping Ao Zhou into a storage pouch before meeting the Martial Aspect's onslaught with a fist.

The two attacks clashed in a flaming tempest.

"That's mine! Return him to me!" the superior draconic vein cried out, struggling anew.

The four supreme cultivators began to fight madly for Ao Zhou.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng quietly poked his head out of the Divine Seal of Dazheng as he considered his surroundings.