Deep Dive

"Keep moving." Qing Zhengyue drew his long blade. "Yunlan's sixth soul ring is still unaccounted for; we are not at the point of turning back yet."

Liu Yunlan stood up as well, brushing the dirt from her robes. The sixth soul ring—a forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon—was something she was determined to obtain.

The five figures continued to advance deeper into the Hurricane Wood Mountain Range.

The further they went, the richer the wood-attribute energy in the air became, to the point where every breath carried the scent of grass and trees. The fallen leaves on the ground grew thicker, piling higher than knee-height in some places. Towering trees blotted out the sky, their canopies so dense that sunlight could barely penetrate, leaving the forest as dim as twilight.

Qing Mufeng kept his Azure Dragon Pupil active, the golden light within his pupils standing out sharply in the gloom. He could clearly sense that this forest was unlike any he had seen before—the trees here were simply too old. Any one of these ancient giants was hundreds, if not thousands, of years old, their trunks too thick for several men to embrace, their bark covered in moss and unknown vines.

"We're almost there." Qing Zhengyue suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed ahead.

The terrain in front began to change. The flat forest floor gradually vanished, replaced by undulating hills. The slopes were not high but were steep, covered in tall trees with layered, overlapping canopies.

Most striking was the energy flowing through the air. Wood and wind attributes converged and fused here, forming visible cyan currents that wove through the trees with a faint, whistling sound.

Wind Wood Dragon.

Only where Wind Wood Dragons gathered in large numbers could such a degree of energy resonance occur.

Qing Hongyuan's Azure Snake Dragon Wing trembled slightly as he sensed the dense attributes in the air. Sharing both wind and wood attributes, he felt an unusual affinity for this valley.

"We hold here," Qing Zhengyue ordered. "Spread out and conceal yourselves."

The five quickly dispersed, each finding a hidden position. Qing Mufeng rose silently into the air, hovering beneath the canopy of a large tree. His Azure Dragon Pupil surveyed the entire valley from above, his Wind Perception blanketing a radius of a hundred yards; no creature entering this range could escape his scrutiny.

Time ticked by, second by second.

One hour. Two hours. Three hours.

They waited from noon until dusk, and from dusk until nightfall.

Qing Mufeng had consumed a fair amount of soul power, but he did not slacken. His Azure Dragon Pupil remained lit, tracking every inch of the valley floor.

Just as the moon climbed over the ridge, the target appeared.

Not one, but two.

Two figures, one large and one small, emerged slowly from the shadows deep within the valley. The smaller one walked in front, less than ten meters in length with an aura around the ten-thousand-year level, seemingly scouting the path. The larger one followed behind, exceeding fifteen meters in length; with every step, the ground trembled slightly, and the soul power fluctuations radiating from its body were so tangible they pressed the surrounding vegetation flat.

Qing Mufeng's Azure Dragon Pupil locked onto the larger one.

Size—fifteen meters.

Scales—deep cyan, with edges shimmering in dark gold.

Horns—the dragon horns on its forehead had grown into complete, branch-like structures, the tips gleaming with a cold, cyan light.

Spines—extending from the back of its neck to the tip of its tail, each spine as long as an adult's forearm.

Soul power fluctuations—as vast as a mountain.

Forty thousand years.

If anything, more.

Qing Mufeng descended silently, landing where his grandfather was hidden.

"Grandfather, there are two," he whispered, his voice extremely low. "The small one is around ten thousand years, the large one is forty thousand."

A sharp glint flashed in Qing Zhengyue's eyes. Forty thousand years—exactly the target Liu Yunlan needed.

"Are you confident?" the old man asked.

Qing Mufeng thought for a moment. "We drive the small one away first and focus all our strength on the large one. For the ten-thousand-year one, if you release your pressure and Father drives it from the air, we should be able to scare it off."

Qing Zhengyue nodded and signaled quickly.

Liu Yunlan received the signal and gripped her short dagger. A forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon was higher than she had anticipated. With the foundation provided by the Whale Glue, she could handle it. With her grandson by her side, the absorption process would be even more secure.

Qing Hongyuan received the signal and rose silently, his Azure Snake Dragon Wing fully unfurled as he hovered above the canopy.

Shen Wanqing received the signal, and the phantom of her Jade Orchid Martial Soul slowly lit up, her auxiliary soul skills prepared.

Qing Mufeng also rose high into the air, his Azure Dragon Pupil locked onto the forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon.

Everything was ready.

Qing Zhengyue slowly drew his long blade, releasing the full, unreserved soul power of a level 70 quasi-Saint. Above the canopy, Qing Hongyuan beat his Azure Snake Dragon Wing, the cyan light illuminating half the valley. High above, the pressure of Qing Mufeng's Azure Dragon Martial Soul poured down like a collapsing sky. Three forces simultaneously bore down on the two Wind Wood Dragons in the valley.

The smaller one turned and bolted. Under the triple suppression of a level 70 quasi-Saint, a level 56 soul king, and the Azure Dragon's pressure, the ten-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon didn't even have the courage to fight; it clawed at the earth and fled frantically.

The larger one did not run.

A forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon already possessed considerable intelligence and pride. It sensed the threat, but its choice was not to flee, but to fight.

It raised its head toward the figure hovering in the sky, opened its mouth, and let out a deafening roar.

The roar echoed through the valley, shaking the leaves until they rained down.

Qing Mufeng hovered high in the sky, looking down at the roaring behemoth.

The forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon's aura was at least twice as strong as the one they had encountered before. But his dragon pressure weighed heavily upon it, preventing it from concentrating its full power and allowing fear to override its battle intent.

This was his battlefield.

His battlefield alone.

On the ground, Qing Zhengyue watched the small figure high above and the roaring giant below, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

His grandson, only six years old, was already qualified to stand before a forty-thousand-year spirit beast.

The old man gripped his long blade tightly, his gaze returning to the Wind Wood Dragon.

"Strike!"

Qing Zhengyue slashed his blade into the Wind Wood Dragon's front right leg.

Empowered by the black spirit ring, the blade sliced through the deep cyan scales, leaving a wound on the muscle that reached the bone.

Blood gushed out, staining half of his robes red, yet he did not even blink.

The spirit power of a level seventy quasi-Saint surged through his body at high speed, and his second strike followed immediately in the same spot, deepening the wound.

The Wind Wood Dragon let out an enraged roar. A forty-thousand-year spirit beast was nearly at the top of the food chain on the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

Yet today, it was surrounded by a group of humans, and what angered it even more was the pressure bearing down from above, pinning it so firmly that it could not focus its full strength.

Every one of its attacks was a beat slower than usual, and every movement was a fraction more hesitant than normal.

Liu Yunlan charged out from the side, her level sixty quasi-Spirit Emperor power fully unleashed.

With her Emerald Jade Snake spirit possessed, her arms were covered in a layer of emerald green snake scales, and her hands transformed into sharp claws.

She did not attack the Wind Wood Dragon's scales head-on, but instead focused exclusively on its joints and wounds.

A poisoned short dagger stabbed into the joint gap of the Wind Wood Dragon's rear left leg, and as the toxin seeped into the wound, the Wind Wood Dragon's movements slowed by another half-beat.