Chapter 397: Run. Go Ahead and Run. (I)

It was the Blue Dragon's Orb.

The essence of the ancient Blue Dragon's cultivation was condensed into an orb. It served as the key to the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm and all of its power. As long as the person wielding the orb was strong enough, they could become the god of the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm.

Be it in terms of how vast the hidden realm was or how much spiritual energy it contained, the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm surpassed Python Belly City by a hundredfold. It was just like the difference between the ancient Blue Dragon and the Heaven-Devouring Python.

Chu Liang's current cultivation level was not high enough to activate many of the Blue Dragon's Orb's powers. Nevertheless, he could at least do one thing: connect to the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm and let the aura contained in there flow out.

All he could do at present was open up a gateway for aura. However, if he reached a higher cultivation level one day... perhaps the sixth or seventh realm, he could even open up a portal that could transport him into the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm whenever he wanted! Then he would never be trapped in situations like the one he was stuck in inside Python Belly City.

It would be like having a Shattering the Void jade talisman that can be used at any time, but unlike Shattering the Void, Chu Liang would be able to set the destination. The portal to the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm would be an incredible life-saving tool. If he were to encounter danger, he could simply open the portal and teleport to his backyard.

Of course, Chu Liang had to get through today's challenge first for him to even have a chance at acquiring that power.

In front of him right now, there was an extremely vicious beast that looked like it had gone mad. Yet, under the light of the Blue Dragon's Orb, the beast gradually calmed down.

When the Divine Dragon Fire descended from the sky like rain earlier, it had, for some reason, avoided Chu Liang. That led Chu Liang to suspect something. Considering that this maddened Inferno Dragon had killed even the draconic descendants, it surely did not feel any affinity for the faint dragon breath that lingered on Chu Liang. So, what could be the reason for the difference in treatment?

The Dragon Soul in Baxia's tomb had been derived from the Dragon God's throne and had no consciousness. Therefore, the City Lord of Python Belly City had been able to refine it very easily, making it entirely his own. He then killed the soul of the South-Sea Inferno Dragon and integrated Baxia's Dragon Soul into the South-Sea Inferno Dragon's body. With that, the City Lord had made a vicious beast that killed on sight, and he was its only master.

Nevertheless, if there was anything in the world that could control this Dragon Soul, it would only be its origin—the Dragon God's throne! And the Dragon God's throne was within the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm.

I'm linked to the Blue Dragon's Orb, so I've long been stained with the aura of the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm. Could this be why the Inferno Dragon treats me differently?

Chu Liang decisively turned back and raised the Blue Dragon's Orb toward the Inferno Dragon.

As the Inferno Dragon basked in the magnificent radiance of the Blue Dragon's Orb, its rage gradually died down, just as Chu Liang had expected.

The Inferno Dragon let out soft growls, "

Raar...

"

It sounded like a child whispering helplessly to its mother.

Chu Liang slowly directed the orb's light toward the Inferno Dragon's head.

Then he softly gave an order. "Withdraw your flames, and stop harming others."

The Inferno Dragon raised its head and let out a long cry. "

Raaaaaaaaar.

"

Chu Liang was so surprised that he nearly turned and ran, but when he looked closely, he realized that the Inferno Dragon's roar was one of elation. It was happily wagging its super long tail and even accidentally knocked down several black-rock buildings in the process.

Chu Liang noticed there was a figure buried under one of the collapsed buildings and wondered who the unlucky person was. They had gotten knocked out by the Inferno Dragon when it was mad and then suffered from its playful actions too.

Such a small action caused such great harm...

While Chu Liang experienced an emotional rollercoaster, the Inferno Dragon drew a very deep breath, and the fierce, scorching Divine Dragon Flames around them suddenly vanished. The Inferno Dragon had sucked them all up into its mouth!

The Inferno Dragon's chest swelled up. Moments later, the Inferno Dragon slowly exhaled two streams of dense smoke from its nostrils.

The absence of flames revealed a scene of broken and crumbling walls, with bodies strewn about. It was unclear how many of them were still alive.

Chu Liang was just about to check on the others when he saw one of the bodies move. The person flipped over and stood up.

"Is everything okay now?"

That person was Lin Bei.

"Are you all right?" Chu Liang asked.

"Before I even had the chance to react and run, they got hit by the fireball. I knew I couldn't escape, so I just played dead on the spot," Lin Bei said, scratching his head with a smile.

"Same." The vice-chief, who was nearby, got up as well. "When it went beserk, it seemed like it would attack anyone who moved, so I figured it might be best to just play dead.

"Good thing you subdued it, or else we'd have all been burned to death by the Divine Dragon Fire in no time."

The members of the Blazing Fire Gang all stood up one by one.

Well, then.

Chu Liang couldn't help but smile.

It turns out that the huge fire didn't do much harm.

The Divine Dragon Fire was incredibly mighty, but it was not as powerful as the Samadhi True Fire, which could obliterate everything. Almost everyone present was a martial artist at the fifth or sixth realm, so their corporeal bodies were strong enough that they had managed to endure the fire, instead of dying instantly. They had not been able to avoid getting burned all over, but they had all survived in the end.

As for the third-realm cultivator Lin Bei, it was fortunate that, although his body had been slow to react, his mind had worked quickly. If that fireball had hit him, he would have been burned to ashes and scattered all over the place by now.

The vice-chief said, "We're very lucky that everyone is okay..."

"Really?" Lin Bei pointed at the collapsed buildings. "Earlier, it looked like several people got buried under the rubble."

"

Ah!

"

The Blazing Fire Gang members exchanged shocked glances and rushed toward the still scorching rubble, shouting, "Chief! Hold on! Chiiiiiiief!"

In that large charred pit lay Xu Bashan, who was now pitch-black from head to toe. Hearing the voices calling for him, his eyelids twitched slightly.

...

Amid the vast East Sea, where there were boundless rolling waves... there was an island, and the mood there was quite tense.

Di Nufeng sat with her arms crossed over her chest, looking imposing. She did not say a single word and only occasionally glanced at the little fatty beside her.

The little fatty had his gaze fixed on her, and whenever their eyes met, he would give an awkward smile.

"It should be here soon."

"Don't be afraid. I trust in the abilities of the Celestial Pivot Pavilion. I'll wait as long as it takes, until we find the Heaven-Devouring Python," Di Nufeng said softly.

Zhou Yijian sighed in relief. "That's good then..."

Di Nufeng added, "But you'll have to wait here with me. For each day that the Heaven-Devouring Python doesn't appear, that's one more day you'll have to stay."

Zhou Yijian wore a pained expression. "Big Sis Feng, I'm swamped with tasks..."

Di Nufeng shot him a sidelong glance. "Are you the only one that's busy? Am I not busy?"

Zhou Yijian blinked, feeling rather puzzled.

Is that not the case?

Seeing Zhou Yijian's expression, Di Nufeng sheepishly paused for a moment. Then she said in a much quieter voice, "I have a huge fruit garden at home..."

...

The day before, Di Nufeng had gone to find Zhou Yijian, wanting him to help her divine Chu Liang's whereabouts. Zhou Yijian had no choice but to agree to do as she asked. However, he had not known how huge a task that would be until he actually tried to locate Chu Liang's whereabouts.

Zhou Yijian first performed a simple divination to find Chu Liang, but all he saw was a blur.

Noticing something was up, Di Nufeng questioned him, "Can you do it or not?"

Zhou Yijian broke out in a cold sweat.

He then tried to divine the cause of Chu Liang's disappearance and the vicious beast responsible, but he was once again met with a blur.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Considering Zhou Yijian's skills, it might just be a coincidence that he got one blurry reading. But it happened a second and then a third times... The only explanation was that someone had obscured the secrets of heaven!

Someone had indeed cast spells to obscure the secrets of heaven concerning the Heaven-Devouring Python, and it had been done long before Zhou Yijian's attempt to locate Chu Liang. Otherwise, how could the Whale Gang have been unable to find Xu Bashan for so long? They had already asked divination experts to locate their chief ages ago.

Regardless, Zhou Yijian had already agreed to help find Chu Liang, so he could not bring himself to say that he could not divine Chu Liang's whereabouts. He was too afraid to say it.

So, Zhou Yijian had no choice but to grit his teeth and return to his sect. He had to request for permission to the use his sect's legendary artifact, Omniscience.