Heavenly Flames Had Always Run Through Dragonkind

"Do you know who I am?"

Zhu Jin scrutinized Xie Dong, who knelt before him on six legs with both hands raised. He was no fool. This Purple Cloud Scorpion Snake had not addressed him as Dragon King or Dragon Lord, but as an ancient dragon. Clearly, he had said it deliberately for Zhu Jin to hear.

Feeling the gaze of the powerful ancient dragon before him, Deputy Chief Xie Dong had long been drenched in cold sweat, terrified that the other party would crush him with a single claw the next second. But for the lives of his entire clan—and his own—he had no choice but to demonstrate his value.

Xie Dong spoke with fearful reverence, his voice trembling. "This servant does not know. I only... only gleaned a little from a damaged ancient text. Several thousand years ago, the rulers of the Beast Domain were neither the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan nor the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan. Since ancient times, there had been a race that dominated the Beast Domain, feeding on the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan and enslaving the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan. Above, they plucked stars from the blue heavens; below, they swept through the void and cleansed heaven and earth. Their name: the Ancient Void Dragon Clan."

When Xie Dong spoke the four words "Ancient Void Dragon Clan," he subconsciously swallowed and glanced sideways with his compound eyes.

After all, the ancient book found within that ancient ruin had merely been an old children's reader, something like an encyclopedia. In other words, several thousand years ago, its contents had been common knowledge. Yet its description of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had simply been too terrifying.

Feeding on the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan and enslaving the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan. If he said that aloud, people would not just laugh at him—he might get killed!

What kind of clan was the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan? It was the most powerful magical beast race in the Beast Domain. Its strength could sweep through the Beast Domain without opposition; it was the absolute king of the Beast Domain. Although the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan was not as domineering and absolute as the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan, in terms of territory and numbers, the lands occupied by the Nine Nether Deep Earth Pythons were broader, and their influence somewhat greater.

Feeding on the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan and enslaving the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan. Just how powerful would the Ancient Void Dragon Clan have to be to be described this way?!

At the time, Xie Dong had only thought that perhaps some weak dragon race called the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had made it up in ancient times to amuse itself. After all, the Beast Domain was enormous, and over seventy percent of the magical beast clans on the Dou Qi Continent were gathered here. Forget clans named ancient dragons—there were plenty of Sky Dragon Clans, Flood Dragon Clans, True Dragon Clans, Flying Dragon Clans, Earth Dragon Clans, and so on.

Yet although some of those dragon-type magical beast clans were powerful, most were merely glorifying themselves. Their strength was far inferior to the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan.

But now, it seemed he had seen a real one!

After Xie Dong finished speaking, he furtively glanced over and found that the ancient dragon said nothing, his expression cold as iron, as though he did not care in the slightest.

At that moment, Zhu Jin, wearing an inscrutable expression, thought, Fuck! A magical beast finally recognized that I'm from the Ancient Void Dragon Clan! That idiot Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun got tricked by Tou She Ancient God and trapped for thousands of years, while those three idiot Dragon Kings split apart, causing their strength to plummet. If Zi Yan had not appeared and Xiao Yan had not come to the rescue, the mighty Ancient Void Dragon Clan would not even have been able to defeat the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan, and would have handed over rulership of the Beast Domain. The Ancient Void Dragon Clan had vanished for thousands of years. And now, I finally get to show off!

Zhu Jin slowly lowered his head and looked at Xie Dong. "Yes, I am indeed of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan."

Hiss! Hearing Zhu Jin admit it, Xie Dong abruptly raised his head. Light flickered in his compound eyes, as though he had seen his idol. He nearly screamed, "Ahhh!" and shouted, Family, who understands? I actually got to see a real Ancient Void Dragon!

"This servant presumptuously asks: how old is Lord Dragon King?" Xie Dong gathered his courage and voiced a small curiosity in his heart. After all, the ranks of the Dou Qi Continent were common knowledge. Magical beasts were ranked from one to ten; while the fourth rank was not particularly weak in the Wild Mountain Range, it was not strong either. Moreover, Zhu Jin's body had not even reached twenty meters in length.

Among those peak magical beasts, twenty meters was considered tiny, far removed from the legendary Ancient Void Dragons that were ten thousand meters long.

Zhu Jin did not hide it. After all, one could tell a little about age from appearance. "Eleven."

"No wonder... Then, Lord Dragon King, your elders..."

Zhu Jin shot him a glance and said in a deep voice, "That is not something you should ask. I can only tell you this: within twenty years, my clan will return to the Beast Domain and ascend to its summit."

"Return to the Beast Domain..." Xie Dong's pupils trembled. Those four words signified mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

After all, the current order of the Beast Domain had already been established. The Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan and the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan ruled over most of the Beast Domain, while several powerful magical beast clans and hidden magical beast clans occupied the rest. There was no spare territory at all.

If the Ancient Void Dragon Clan truly returned, the Beast Domain would inevitably be plunged into a great war!

"You know how to read the situation. I can spare you all from death." Zhu Jin glanced at Xie Dong and did not intend to slaughter the entire Purple Cloud Scorpion Snake Tribe. After all, the magical beasts here spoke pleasantly enough.

Hearing that Zhu Jin had spared his clan from death, Xie Dong finally let go of the weight in his heart. "The Purple Cloud Scorpion Snake Tribe will surely swear loyalty unto death to Lord Dragon King and to the ancient dragon clan."

Zhu Jin nodded inwardly. By his count, he had already subdued two fourth-rank magical beast clans. However, clans like these did not even qualify as vassal clans; they could only be regarded as servant clans. After all, the Purple Cloud Scorpion Snakes and Flame Wolf Unicorns had no bloodline connection to the Ancient Void Dragons.

"Take me to your treasury."

Zhu Jin had also ransacked the Flame Wolf Unicorns' treasury before. It was the cave where he had roasted chicken wings—the place where the Flame Wolf Unicorn chief had once lived. In the end, that fourth-rank Flame Wolf Unicorn treasury had contained nothing at all. Nothing like the scenes he had imagined, with Purple Spirit Crystals and Companion Amethyst Source stored in the Amethyst Winged Lion King's cave, had happened.

At those words, Xie Dong awkwardly pointed toward the mountain peak that Zhu Jin had smashed into rubble with one punch from the very beginning. "That would be the one Lord Dragon King shattered with a single punch."

Zhu Jin could not help frowning. Then, he swept the pile of dirt and stones with Dragon Sense. While Zhu Jin did not possess Zi Yan's treasure-hunting superpower, his Dragon Sense could still scan for high-energy objects.

After probing with Dragon Sense, Zhu Jin discovered that beneath that pile of rubble, let alone pills, there was not even a single spiritual herb above the third rank.

Still unwilling to give up, Zhu Jin asked, "No pills? Not even pill formulas or anything like that?"

Hearing the question, Xie Dong shook his head. Afraid that Zhu Jin would not believe him, he even had the entire clan dig through the earth and excavate the buried cave. "Lord Dragon King may not know this, but for magical beasts, pills are exceedingly precious and extremely difficult to obtain. The one dragon power... ah, Beast Power Pill the chief obtained was already the only pill we had. Back then, the chief sacrificed many clansmen and risked his life to explore the location of the Heavenly Flames, only to receive it as a reward from an expert of the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan."

!!!!!

"Mm?!" Zhu Jin snatched Xie Dong up, bringing his face nearly against the other's. Excitement made him blast scorching breath from his nostrils, and he could not hide the thrill on his face. "What did you just say? Heavenly Flames? There are Heavenly Flames here?!"