Dragon Dies Cannot Be Resurrected

East of the Compassion Sea.

A massive Nautilus is slowly crawling along on its tentacles, seemingly chasing the setting sun.

The seawater here is thousands of feet deep, so it is not considered a shallow sea area.

However, even though it was standing on the seabed, half of its body was still exposed above the water.

It exhibits a smooth, disc-shaped shell with reddish-brown stripes.

"The ruins are finished."

A middle-aged man dressed in a crane-feather cloak stood atop the Nautilus shell, his hands clasped behind his back.

His gaze was fixed on the sea, yet seemed to linger on something even further away. He spoke slowly and deliberately, "But Huang Er's life lamp still hasn't regained its sensitivity."

He will most likely never come back.

His words were devoid of emotion, neither sadness nor anger.

It was as calm as if they were reciting from a script.

However, the Nautilus beneath its feet paused for a moment, then quickly swung its arms to keep moving forward.

It's clearly just a mount, so why does it have such a useless organ as ears?

Fortunately, there was another unfortunate person nearby who could help distract him.

"Your subordinate has failed in his duty and has not been able to protect the Prince properly. Please punish me, Your Venerable One."

It was a lobster much smaller than Nautilus, only a little over 600 feet long.

At this moment, his entire body was completely arched, and from a distance, he looked like a blue sphere.

It had already advanced to the fourth rank a thousand years ago, and even in the sea it had almost lost all its natural enemies.

But at this moment, it only felt that the September evening breeze was a bit chilly, as if autumn had arrived early.

Unlike the Human Race, cultivators of the same level are relatively polite to each other.

In the sea, the phrase "survival of the fittest" is almost perfectly exemplified.

A difference of even a small level is enough to distinguish between superior and inferior.

"Huang Er has always been competitive, loves adventure, and enjoys challenging others to duels. This time, it was probably his own idea to run away; it has nothing to do with you."

The middle-aged man's tone remained calm and unwavering. "Dragon Dies Cannot Be Resurrected."

"But a king should not travel alone."

Without him making any move, a small token suddenly appeared in mid-air and fell onto the lobster's head.

"Take the token and go to Jin Luan. He will provide you with the necessary information. Then find all the cultivators who entered the ruins and have them Funeral Sacrifice with Huang Er."

"I'm leaving this to you. Do it well, make sure no one slips through the net, and don't drag it out for too long."

Go ahead.

The lobster immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, sir! I'll go right away!"

Before he finished speaking, he grabbed the token and rushed towards the Sea of the Compassion Sea at top speed.

He maintained full speed until he was out of the Divine Sense Range, not daring to relax in the slightest.

One of his targets, Xiao Chen, was currently on a secluded Desolate Island nearby.

After skillfully setting up the array plate, he began refining the Storage Ring in his hand.

Having explored the ruins, it's only natural to take stock of what you've gained.

"Well!"

While breaking the restrictions, Xiao Chen sighed softly, "There's no Nine Aperture Lucid Jade, no Sha Qi, just a few useless broken inheritances."

"I only managed to get a Small Teleportation Talisman; otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered coming."

"Hopefully, I can find something useful in the Storage Ring."

Logically speaking, it should take about 57 hours, or nearly five days, just to crack the nineteen Storage Ring.

Including the rest breaks to recover Spiritual Power, the amount is at least as much as possible.

However, thanks to the fact that this wasn't Xiao Chen's first time doing something like this, he skillfully finished processing all the Storage Ring in just three days.

It's almost twice as fast as it was initially.

As is customary, he first picked out all the Spirit Stone separately, sorted them, counted them, and sorted them.

It's worth mentioning that although this task seems rather tedious, it's actually quite engaging and not at all annoying.

"Hiss~, so many Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, what are they going to do?"

Xiao Chen found two thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, all neatly stored in small wooden boxes, in the Storage Ring carried by the burly men.

The ten people combined amount to a full 20,000 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

Strangely, they didn't carry even a single Low-grade Spirit Stone.

On the contrary, the Nine Human Traitors managed to gather a total of over 1,225,000 Spirit Stone.

The main reason is that the Storage Ring, which is just as complex as the ' Tong Kui ', contained a full 430,000 Spirit Stone.

Such wealth easily leads one to believe that this was the money the Sea Race used to bribe him.

After putting away all the Spirit Stone, Xiao Chen chose to first count the ten Standard Storage Ring.

The main reason is that not only are they identical in appearance, but the contents inside are also almost exactly the same.

Apart from a few miscellaneous items that were clearly personal.

Each of them was equipped with a spirit shield shaped like fish scales, a Bone Spare Flying Sword, and three strangely shaped stones.

"No array plate?"

Xiao Chen found it a bit strange. Logically speaking, carrying so many Mid-Grade Spirit Stone should have been for activating the formation.

"Or rather, these stones are the array plate?"

He examined it carefully, and even tried to infuse it with his true energy.

However, no obvious runes were observed, nor was any special reaction of the stone to true essence found; it seemed to be just an ordinary sea stone.

"Never mind, I'll just keep it for now and have it appraised later."

Xiao Chen didn't investigate further. He tidied up the items and then began to check the other nine Storage Ring.

Compared to those trained assassins...

The Storage Ring of these traitors contained a significantly wider variety of items.

For example, some of them carried more than ten jars of different kinds of Third-Rank Spirit Wine in their Storage Ring.

Some people have collected the corpses of dozens of kinds of poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, toads, and spiders in their Storage Ring.

Some people also kept many dresses with scented powder, ribbons, sachets, and pink bibs embroidered with mandarin ducks in their Storage Ring.

There's no need to elaborate on some common elixirs, Talisman, and Cultivation Method.

According to Xiao Chen's estimate, he could probably sell it for over 100,000 Spirit Stone.

Crucially, among the first eight Storage Ring, there are only two Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

However, the last and most complex Storage Ring contained not only two Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

There were also two parchment scrolls, two booklets, and a letter.

Having learned from his previous experience with ' Tong Kui ', Xiao Chen opened the letter directly this time.

It still had that tone of someone in a superior giving orders to their subordinates.

The cultivator named ' Tong Lang ' was instructed to travel to a place called ' Zhi Yi Cave ' as soon as possible, based on the sea chart.

Then, using the Xin Metal Treasure Gourd and its accompanying Secret Method, they took the contents and delivered them to Jin Luan.

"The accompanying Secret Method?"

Xiao Chen picked up the two booklets without titles.

Upon opening the first book, one discovers that it does not contain any so-called Secret Method, but rather a book of insights into formations.

Moreover, this is not the complete text; rather, it seems to be a handwritten copy of a source text, recording the author's insights.

Basically, it's the kind of personal notebook where I jot down whatever comes to mind, with almost no connection between the contexts.

However, Xiao Chen noticed that the term ' Yang-Preserving Stone ' was mentioned frequently.

This means that several of the formations he comprehended used this special spiritual ore unique to the Ink Barrier Sect.

"Could this guy be a traitor to the Ink Barrier Sect?"

Xiao Chen asked curiously, "But they weren't recognized in the ruins before. Did they study the formations of the Ink Barrier Sect?"

Generally, such research serves two main purposes.

The first purpose is naturally to learn, since array formation is a rather popular Dao Arts.

As for the second purpose, it is nothing more than trying to find loopholes in the formation, or studying how to Break Formation.

This usually means that targeted actions will follow.

"I hope it's not the second scenario."

Xiao Chen offered his heartfelt blessing.

He immediately opened the second booklet and, unsurprisingly, saw the so-called Secret Method.

"Mirror Suspension Eight Directions, used to ward off evil spirits?"

"A knotted loop, to ward off evil spirits and dispel malevolent influences?"

"Qi Surrounding Nine Palaces, dispelling evil and turning to nothingness?"

Hiss~!

Xiao Chen was completely bewildered. "What kind of Secret Method is this? It can't be used to counteract Sha Qi, can it?"

"Could it be...?"

He immediately perked up and grabbed the two parchment scrolls.

The first one was exactly the same as the one he had sent out before, marking the movement route of the Giant Sea Beast.

The second image resembles Ancient Sea Chart, with a prominent island marked by a red circle amidst a large expanse of black and white.

Overall, the island is located in the middle of the Compassion Sea, very close to Universal Salvation Temple.

No wonder the Sea Race needed to hire a traitor to infiltrate, because it was almost impossible to get there without the nearby monks.

From a directional perspective, the Center Belongs to Earth, so this could potentially be considered an inauspicious Earth Sars.

"Oh no, we have no choice but to go now."

Actually, after receiving a similar task before, Xiao Chen didn't really want to get involved.

He didn't know much about the Sea Race, nor did he really want to get involved with them.

The problem is that it was mainly because he wasn't very interested in the Ancient Cave Residence. Now that it involves Sha Qi, it naturally needs to be considered differently.

It's unclear what the Sea Race intend to do with the collected Sha Qi.

But that's not important. Now that Xiao Chen already knows this information, he naturally can't just give it away.

While the Sea Race find it inconvenient to travel near Universal Salvation Temple, he has no such taboos.

Besides, Sha Qi, being something naturally generated by nature, is ownerless; whoever gets it first gets to keep it.

"Very good!"

Xiao Chen examined the sea chart again carefully before storing it in his Vast Sea Ring.

"As expected, participating in various Secret Realm or ruins is the best way to get new clues!"

Although this clue isn't directly related to the ruins, it was still obtained from within the ruins, wasn't it?

"Whew!"

Xiao Chen took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and turned his gaze to the last four Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

He picked up the first two treasure boxes and opened them one by one.

The first thing you see is a crystal clear Dao Comprehension Crystal, but unfortunately, Five Elements Water Attribute.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen currently has a considerable number of Wood Element Dao Comprehension Crystal, so although there are some minor regrets, it's not too bad.

Then he saw three thick, Rich Turtle Coin Armor.

This object is a small piece from the very center of Sea Turtle Shell, and its most distinctive feature is that its shape is almost identical to that of a large copper coin.

It is one of the very rare Artifact Refining Material.

"Sigh!"

Xiao Chen sighed softly. Every time this happened, he felt a pang of regret that he wasn't a weapon refiner.

In fact, theoretically speaking, alchemy, artifacts, runes, and arrays should not conflict with each other.

A cultivator can learn whichever they like; theoretically, they can even embrace all of them and develop comprehensively.

The only challenge is whether you can learn so many things at the same time.

The problem is that Xiao Chen doesn't actually have much free time to cultivate these things.

He spends most of his time either cultivating or collecting spiritual items that can aid his cultivation; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to achieve such a rapid Cultivation Speed.

Faced with this rather troublesome problem.

Xiao Chen chose to make a wish directly. "I hope I can draw another Hextech related to the Hundred Arts of Cultivation of cultivation in the future, so I can master all the skills directly."

This is much better than him struggling to learn it all from scratch.

Open the Three Spirit Accumulating Treasure Boxes.

In the very center was a Miniature Umbrella, no more than three inches in size.

Although the items are small, they are made with exceptional care.

The umbrella is decorated with colorful Spiritual Pattern, when combined, resemble a beautiful painting. At the very edge, where the ribs are, fine silver threads hang down, strung with tiny pearls.

"What's this?"

Xiao Chen originally thought that this might be some kind of special Spirit Artifact.

But as soon as he got his hands on it, he immediately realized that it was actually a Defensive Talisman Treasure!

Although it differs in form from the Imitation White Jade Vajra Bracelet he acquired at the Listening Wave Sea Auction, both possess the unique tactile feel of a talisman.

"I just don't know what grade of talisman this is?"

Xiao Chen carefully examined it, but unfortunately there were no particularly conspicuous markings on it.

Judging from the details alone, the quality shouldn't be too bad.

It seems I'll need to have it appraised.

The sea stones we got earlier were also going to be identified, so we might as well process them all at once.

"Then the last one left should be the Xin Metal Treasure Gourd."

Xiao Chen put away the small umbrella-shaped talisman and opened the fourth Spirit Accumulating Treasure Box.

Sure enough, inside was a bright white gourd, with special runes engraved on it that resembled swimming fish.

The purpose of this thing is naturally to collect Sha Qi.

After all, not everyone is like Xiao Chen, who can directly absorb Sha Qi.

For most cultivators, including demonic cultivators, tools are needed to collect and store Sha Qi.

In the Five Elements theory, there is a concept that Xin Metal benefits earth.

Based on this gourd, it can be inferred that it was most likely a custom-made gourd specifically crafted to collect Earth Sars.

"How thoughtful of them, they've even prepared the Secret Method and tools for you."

Those fish-like runes were very similar to those Xiao Chen had seen in the ruins before.

Therefore, this gourd was clearly made by Sea Race weapon refiner.

"Wait a minute, but this thing looks pretty good, I'll take it."

Xiao Chen originally intended to put it directly into his Sundries Ring and exchange it for Spirit Stone.

But then I thought, I might actually need this thing.

Firstly, such Custom Spirit Tool are difficult to sell for a high price, since they are practically useless to cultivators who don't need them.

Rather than selling it cheaply, it's better to keep it for yourself.

If there's enough Sha Qi in that Zhi Yi Cave, he can use this gourd to collect it.

It might come in handy sometime in the future, or even have a surprising effect.

Secondly, although there is a saying that Xin Metal earth, it does not mean that it cannot contain other kinds of Sha Qi.

Even if Xiao Chen didn't encounter any extra Sha Qi this time, there will always be other opportunities in the future.

Even after he has gathered Five Elements Sars, he may encounter the same Sha Qi again.

Therefore, after careful consideration, he still stored the Xin Metal Treasure Gourd in his Vast Sea Ring.

"All done!"

After reviewing all the New Ruin, Xiao Chen lay down on the spot and rested for a while.

Then he took out the detailed sea chart of the Compassion Sea that he had bought earlier and began to study his route of action.

The original plan was for him to go to Armored Dragon Island to hunt Dragon Turtle after leaving the ruins.

The problem now is, do the Sea Race already know that the ' Tong Lang ' and his companions perished in the ruins?

Considering that there seem to be quite a few cultivators who have defected to the Sea Race, this news should not be kept secret.

In that case, would they switch to someone else to collect the Sha Qi?

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Xiao Chen considered it for a moment. Similar tools and Secret Method shouldn't be so common, even for the Sea Race.

In other words, this shouldn't have any impact.

"No, you can't think like that."

After careful consideration, Xiao Chen realized that he didn't actually know much about the Sea Race.

In case the other party takes this very seriously and has already prepared a backup plan, it is likely that they are prepared in advance.

Or rather, from the very beginning, the other party may not have simply assigned one person to carry out this task.

"Hiss~, could it be that someone has already tried to steal my Sha Qi?"

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen suddenly felt a jolt, and without thinking any further, he quickly glanced at the route on the sea chart.

Then he put away the array plates around him and, without saying a word, headed straight for Zhi Yi Cave.

At this moment, we must act quickly and take the initiative to eliminate the Sha Qi.

As for that Dragon Turtle, well... let it live a few more days.

The hunting plan has already been postponed several times, so one more time won't make a difference. Right now, the Sha Qi intent is more important.

Back when Xiao Chen was busy cracking the Storage Ring...

The special circumstances that occurred in the New Ruin were promptly relayed back to the Great Powers through a variety of means at the fastest speed.

Inside the Cloud Wave Sword Abode.

Lord Die Lang, who had just prepared to go into seclusion in the Spirit Vein to comprehend the Surging Wave True Monarch of the Sword, had not yet activated the formation.

Suddenly sensing something, I turned around and saw a Small Sword hurtling towards me at high speed.

However, once the Small Sword reached the outer edge of the Spirit Vein, it couldn't find a specific target and immediately began to circle around like a headless fly.

"Hmm, is that Distress Flying Sword from True Disciple of the sect?"

Immediately Surging Wave True Monarch reached out and beckoned, and the Small Sword landed in his hand.

As fellow Sword Abode Cultivator, the restrictions above naturally posed no challenge to him.

He flicked his index finger and the information it contained was instantly absorbed into his ears.

"Hmph!"

Upon hearing the Sea Race ' plan, Surging Wave True Monarch immediately sneered, "They're nothing but a bunch of sea beasts, yet they dare to rebel against the heavens."

As Newly Promoted True Monarch, and especially as a Sword Cultivator.

He was not afraid of this sudden change; on the contrary, he was somewhat eager to try it out.

It should be noted that since Surging Wave True Monarch Nascent Soul, he has only sparred with his senior brother twice, and both times he only touched the opponent's hand.

As for fighting outsiders, there's simply no chance of it.

After all, he was Nascent Soul True Lord, and he was coming to challenge them with his Flying Sword.

Even if you say you simply want to learn from others, they still have to be willing to believe you.

If things go wrong, it could escalate into a hostile conflict between two major powers.

If the Sea Race thing is true, then he will undoubtedly have many more opportunities to fight.

"Buzz~!"

As if sensing the surging Battle Intent within its master, the sword at his waist emitted a clear hum.

"Hehe, don't worry, your day of drinking blood will come."

Surging Wave True Monarch chuckled and reached out to stroke his Natal Flying Sword.

As Sword Cultivator, one must, of course, use Flying Sword to drink the blood of an opponent of the same level in order to truly hone one's skills.

"And this young friend Xiao, his performance is indeed astonishing."

After hearing the whole story, Surging Wave True Monarch's expectations grew even higher.

Last time, he hoped that Xiao Chen could break through to the Nascent Soul Nascent Soul as soon as possible and become his Sword Whetstone.

Now it seems that the other party's potential is indeed ridiculously high, and their background is also quite impressive.

That's good; having connections makes it relatively easy to make breakthroughs.

He looked forward to having another young comrade and rival like this, so that he wouldn't always have to compare himself with those old guys who broke through to the Nascent Soul hundreds of years ago.

at the same time.

Esteem Truth Temple, which is closer to the New Ruin than Cloud Wave Sword Abode, also received the intelligence.

The disciple responsible for guarding the Message Pavilion immediately ran to deliver the message to the Sect Rear Hall.

"How... how could it be so fast?"

After carefully reviewing the intelligence, Crane Cry True Monarch frowned.

"Senior brother, what happened?"

Upon seeing this, Purple Sun True Monarch immediately inquired with concern.

Because Esteem Truth Temple was newly established, they did not follow the practice of other sects where one person would take the opportunity to go into Closed-door cultivation while the other was on duty.

Instead, they worked together to handle the various affairs within the sect during this period.

For small matters, they each take half the responsibility; for big matters, they discuss and handle them together.

"Hey, take a look at this first."

Crane Cry True Monarch handed over the intelligence.

"Sea Race? Giant Sea Beast?"

Purple Sun True Monarch was immediately taken aback. "What's going on?"

According to Esteem Truth Temple's original plan, after establishing its authority initially...

The next thirty to fifty years should be a period of steady development for them to cultivate three generations of new disciples and strive to catch up with the strength gap between themselves and the Five Great Sects.

The best-case scenario is that in thirty years, we will have a new batch of Golden Core Disciple.

At that time, there will be enough manpower for both managing formations and exploring ruins and competing for the Secret Realm.

But now, this plan is about to be disrupted.

"Senior brother, judging from this situation, it's unlikely we'll get through the next three years safely."

Purple Sun True Monarch frowned as well. "We only recruited new disciples a few months ago, and I'm afraid they haven't even reached the Foundation Establishment yet."

Crane Cry True Monarch was also troubled by this. "Yes, such a short time is really too short."

"I originally hoped to select a few more promising talents who could break through from the Qi Refining First Layer to the Foundation Establishment within five years."

"It now seems that we may need to reduce the time by half again."

However, Purple Sun True Monarch couldn't help but worry. "Isn't this request a bit too difficult?"

"Besides those two Heavenly Spirit Root, is there really anyone who can possess such a fast Cultivation Speed?"