Confrontation of Wills, Blood Pact with the Earth Dragon (Two-in-One)

Inside the Grotto-Heaven, streams babbled through the mountains, and the leaves of the peachwood and pear trees had turned lush green.

The whole Grotto-Heaven presented a vibrant scene of early summer.

The Ye Family members had grown used to life in the Stone Spirit Grotto-Heaven. Some cultivated in seclusion, some tempered their bodies, and others raised spirit beasts. The place bustled with activity.

After all, apart from the few members from Soaring Cloud Peak, those from Hidden Island and Hidden Peak had long been accustomed to this life.

And besides the central mountain spring's spirit vein, the Grotto-Heaven now held more than a dozen others.

Five of them were five-element spirit veins, all nurtured to the second rank.

A closer look revealed quite a few spirit herbs growing on them.

The water-, wood-, and fire-aspected veins had developed best, each nearly reaching the upper grade of the second rank.

The earth- and metal-aspected veins lagged behind, barely reaching the middle grade of the second rank.

Nurturing spirit veins required not just spirit-attracting stones and Spirit-Gathering Formations, but vast quantities of spirit stones. Only because the Ye Family now had so many members could it afford such extravagance.

And since these were pure spirit veins, they gave cultivation efficiency an extra boost.

The Purple Palace members and the Earth Dragon Demon King, meanwhile, relied on the original third-rank supreme-grade spirit vein.

It was not that they did not want to nurture a fourth-rank vein. They simply lacked a suitable Spirit-Gathering Formation and spirit-attracting stone.

For all the upper-grade spirit stones they had, they could only wait.

"Rooar!" With a thunderous bellow, the Earth Dragon Demon King suddenly assumed his true form and rose into the sky, blotting out the entire Grotto-Heaven.

The Golden Giant Lizard's enormous body had grown ever closer