Chapter 631: Seeking the Dragon

In the end, it was the royal uncle who first returned to his senses.

His expression darkened with rage as he looked at Chu Liang. "Young Hero Chu! You openly attacked someone in our palace hall. That is rather improper."

The royal uncle activated his seventh-realm cultivation power. His aura was dozens of times more powerful than Tian Mingtai's earlier display.

Chu Liang, however, seemed completely unfazed.

He withdrew his foot and put on a small smile. "I merely wanted to show Shopkeeper Tian that I am fairly skilled. I had no idea this would happen. Before I even exerted any strength... he went flying."

Despite facing the oppressive aura of a powerful seventh-realm cultivator, Chu Liang stood firm.

Of course, the great amount of strength he had gained over the past six years was part of the reason for that, but the main reason was that his experiences ranged far and wide like great rivers and seas. He had seen a lot and encountered many powerful cultivators—monstrous seventh-realm beings like his teacher. He had even encountered some eighth-realm Hallowed Ones, so the pressure from the aura of a mere seventh-realm cultivator was not enough to faze Chu Liang in the slightest.

Moreover, even if they did end up fighting for real, he wouldn't be afraid. It didn't matter if he wasn't a match for the royal uncle. He now had the ultimate trump card for survival—the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm.

If it were in the past, he wouldn't have been able to use Shattering the Void even if he used up all of his cultivation power, but things were different now. Chu Liang possessed much greater spiritual energy. If he exhausted all of his power, he could successfully return to the dragon lair once. In other words, he could return to the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm at any time and from anywhere.

As long as he wasn't fighting until he was utterly drained or facing an opponent capable of killing him instantly... Chu Liang didn't have much to worry about regarding his safety. That meant he could act boldly even against a stronger opponent.

Of course, the royal uncle didn't dare to attack Chu Liang. In terms of power, the Grand Wind Hall was roughly on the same level as the average mid-sized sect, placing them at an absolute disadvantage when facing sects from the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten.

Han Lu, who had accompanied Tian Mingtai there, was alarmed as well. He glared at Chu Liang and inhaled fiercely, condensing two white dragons of smoke in his nose. It seemed that he was preparing to unleash them on Chu Liang.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang had no intention of attacking Han Lu again, and Han Lu didn't dare provoke him either.

Tension filled the air.

The king of the High Moon Kingdom finally broke the deadlock and said, "Young Hero Chu and Shopkeeper Tian, I know both of you mean well. I do not wish to disappoint either of you. I'll entrust the task of finding the princess to both of you. No matter who finds her, you will be doing a great favor for the High Moon Kingdom."

A group of palace attendants busied themselves rescuing Shopkeeper Tian, while Chu Liang stepped back.

Tian Mingtai lay limp amidst the rubble. His chest had caved in, as his ribs were heavily broken. The sky seemed to spin around him, and he fainted. However, after being rescued, he quickly regained consciousness.

Chu Liang's kick had been powerful, but he hadn't used anything to boost the force of the kick. If the target of the kick was strong enough to survive the kick, then it wouldn't cause them significant lasting harm.

Tian Mingtai returned to his residence to recover by cultivating. By evening, more than half of his injuries had healed.

When he emerged from his residence, his face was filled with hatred. "So, Di Nufeng's not the only boorish and barbaric person in the Mount Shu Sect. They are truly detestable! The City Lord has already secured the Penglai Supreme Sect's cooperation. I'd like to see how long they can remain so arrogant."

Upon returning to the residence, Han Lu informed Tian Mingtai, "I've already collected the traces of qi in the palace. We can begin the search now."

"Then, hurry up and get going. It will be bad if that guy finds the princess first and secures an alliance with the High Moon Kingdom," Tian Mingtai said grimly.

In the past, he worked as a shopkeeper for Taotie City, but he didn't have much authority in the city, as he only managed a few large stores. Many mid-level managers like him were only promoted in the recent years, during Taotie City's aggressive measures to combat their decline in popularity.

If Tian Mingtai could find the High Moon Kingdom's missing princess, then he would gain significant authority in the Western Regions. He would get to oversee the business operations in more than a dozen small kingdoms.

With the terms he offered, this shouldn't have been a difficult task for him to gain the king's favor. However, no one could have expected that a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect would suddenly interfere, throwing a wrench in his plans and even giving him a beating.

Nevertheless, Tian Mingtai had to push forward with his plan—finding the princess and securing the deal for the Crimson Moon Celestial Grass. He couldn't afford even the slightest mistake.

At Tian Mingtai's command, Han Lu opened a small bottle. A fragrance wafted out. It was mixed with the faint smell of something greasy.

Han Lu inhaled deeply with his eyes closed, then his nose twitched slightly. He turned in a certain direction and opened his eyes.

Han Lu told Tian Mingtai, "It seems to be over there. Follow me."

Leaping forward, he shot out of the residence.

Tian Mingtai ignored his remaining injuries and led his men to follow Han Lu.

...

During the time that Tian Mingtai spent tending to his injuries, Chu Liang had already arrived at the outskirts of the High Moon Kingdom's capital, where the princess had last been seen.

The princess had snuck out of the palace to have some fun roaming around, but her carriage had gotten attacked at the outskirts, and she disappeared.

According to the people passing by, a demonic dragon had descended from the sky at the time of the attack.

Chu Liang carefully examined the site of the attack and found that much of the surrounding grass had withered, scorched dry without the slightest sign of life. This wasn't the result of getting burned by flames; it had been caused by dragon breath.

That was the main reason Chu Liang had dared to take on the task. His ability to sense dragon breath was now exceptionally strong. Although he couldn't track down the princess' qi, he could detect the dragon's breath.

As Chu Liang detected the traces of dragon breath on the ground, the Dragon God Mark on his forehead flickered slightly. He found traces of dragon breath on the surrounding plants and living creatures, extending the trail of dragon breath.

Chu Liang flew forward, following the trail all the way to the edge of a seemingly endless desert land.

The Western Regions were mostly deserts and dry, rocky barren lands. The cities of the various kingdoms in the Western Regions were established around oases, so Chu Liang didn't fly too far before reaching a boundary zone.

At this point, the trail of dragon breath that he was following had become very faint.

Chu Liang pondered for a moment, then he closed his eyes. The purple-gold mark on his forehead flickered into a radiant glow, and he unleashed a wave of intense pressure.

It swept out like ripples on the surface of the water, and in an instant, the draconic descendants within a hundred-li radius felt an innate fear that ran through their blood. All of them prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to move.

Chu Liang then took off, flying straight toward the strongest presence he sensed.

With a whoosh, he arrived at a desolate hill in the quicksand, but the hill was trembling continuously, shaking off the sand to reveal a gloomy, scaled form beneath.

Chu Liang stood suspended in mid-air. He looked down from above and said, "Lift your head."

The response he got was a creature's timid cry. "

Rawr...

"

Cracks rang out as the desolate hill turned and stretched out its massive head.

It turned out that the hill was actually a massive, lizard-like demonic beast! It disguised itself as a hill to catch its prey. The demonic beast would wait for prey to pass by and then devour them in one bite.

Unfortunately, under Chu Liang's keen perception, there was nowhere the lizard-like demonic beast could escape to.

"You are the strongest draconic descendant within a hundred li. I assume you've lived here for a very long time, so you must be familiar with the area. I have a question to ask you. I hope you can answer it," Chu Liang said.

Trembling in fear, the lizard draconic descendant replied in human language, "Exalted True Dragon, I will tell you everything I know."

Like Tian Mingtai, this lizard draconic descendant was at the sixth realm. However, the difference was that it could sense the power of the dragon breath that Chu Liang exuded, so it knew just how powerful Chu Liang truly was.

"Is there a descendant of the lightning dragon bloodline in this desert?" Chu Liang asked.

He asked that because the dragon breath he had been tracking earlier carried some lightning spiritual qi.

The lizard draconic descendant thought for a moment and then answered, "There is a sand cave two hundred li to the west. Inside it lives a draconic descendant with quite a pure bloodline, and it seems to carry the lightning bloodline."

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Chu Liang nodded politely. "Thank you."

Then he leaped into the air and disappeared like the wind.

The lizard draconic descendant stood still like a tower for a moment, watching Chu Liang leave. Once Chu Liang was far into the distance, the lizard draconic descendant suddenly stood on all fours and ran off at full speed! This massive sand-colored creature caused the earth to shake and rumble with every heavy step, looking like a large fleeing mountain.

It wasn't running away because it had lied; rather, it was because it was worried that i t might have made a mistake. What if Chu Liang didn't find the lightning dragons' descendant? The lizard draconic descendant wasn't certain it had remembered the location accurately.

What if that humanoid True Dragon were to return to get revenge for that mistake? His wrath was not something that this "tiny" hill could withstand.

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

The lizard draconic descendant was weak, pitiful, and helpless.

But it ran incredibly fast.

...

Chu Liang traveled westward two hundred li.

This area was near the Ancient Dragon Lair, and the descendants of many dragon bloodlines had been left there during ancient times. However, no True Dragons had appeared there for a very long time, so the bloodlines gradually diluted overtime with each new generation, leaving very few descendants with pure bloodlines.

The dragon breath of the lightning dragon was significantly more intense than that of most other dragons, making it even rarer. That was why Chu Liang decided to investigate the lightning dragons' descendant. A being that powerful should be known among its fellow draconic descendants living nearby.

As Chu Liang flew, his divine sense detected a fairly concealed sand cave.

Chu Liang suppressed his aura and shot down toward the cave with a whoosh, swiftly arriving at the entrance of the sand cave.

Just as he stepped inside, he heard an angry yell.

"Fine! If you won't leave, I will!"