Sin Dragon Spear

With a thud, he crashed to the ground.

It was an enormous cave, flickering with a dim red glow.

An indescribably strange stench hung in the air.

Pale bone fragments littered the ground all around him.

There were human bones and demon beast bones, carpeting the ground layer upon layer.

Among the shattered bones were some strange objects. Xia Yu even spotted several rusty swords and sabers, along with a few fragments of armor.

Xia Yu picked up the weapons and tried to press them into his lower abdomen, but failed.

Suddenly, two messages appeared in his mind.

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"You're treating scrap metal without a trace of spiritual energy like treasure!"

For a moment, Xia Yu was speechless. A little furnace had mocked him.

Patting his belly, Xia Yu smiled and said, "Little furnace, care to make a bet? I think there's treasure here."

The Heaven-Incinerating Furnace did not react at all. It simply ignored him.

Xia Yu did not mind. His breakthrough had greatly increased his strength, leaving him in high spirits. Kicking aside bone fragments, he walked along the cave wall.

With so many bones here, there ought to be a way through.

Sure enough, after walking halfway around the cave, he discovered a round passage.

The passage extended upward, but he had no idea where it led.

The foul stench inside it, however, was even stronger than in the cave.

Xia Yu turned back, found two rust-covered longswords, and climbed into the passage.

After climbing upward for a short while, he spotted more shattered bones from unknown animals.

Continuing upward, he found several rusty weapons, though they were considerably better than the longswords in his hands.

He exchanged them for two better longswords and kept climbing.

The increasingly pungent stench made him dizzy with every breath. Xia Yu tore strips from his clothes and plugged his nostrils, which brought him a little relief.

After climbing for a long time, Xia Yu could barely keep his eyes open through the fumes.

Then, to his surprise, he discovered there was no way forward.

The passage ahead seemed completely blocked.

Moving closer for a careful look, he found bones with rotting flesh still clinging to them, along with foul-smelling things that resembled feces.

These were what blocked the passage.

Wrinkling his nose, Xia Yu hacked wildly with his swords.

Rumble...

The bones covered in rotten flesh and the dung-like matter rolled down the passage.

The way was clear!

At that moment, Xia Yu was speechless. Surely he had not ended up in some demon beast's dung pit?

Urgh!

Xia Yu wanted to vomit!

Enduring the foul stench and the flesh-covered bones, Xia Yu continued climbing.

A gleam of light lay just ahead.

At last, he emerged.

Without even looking to see where he was, he gulped down great breaths of air.

The air is so fresh!

It smells wonderful!

Xia Yu surveyed his surroundings. He was still in a cavern-a very large cavern.

He had emerged into a hidden corner at its deepest end.

His increased cultivation had sharpened his senses considerably.

By the faint, dim light, Xia Yu looked around and was surprised to discover stone chairs and a stone table inside the vast cavern.

Not far away were two smaller caves. In one stood a Pill Furnace covered in dust.

In the other was a stone bed, and there seemed to be a figure on it.

"Is someone here?"

Alarm rose in Xia Yu's heart, and he cautiously approached.

Once he got close enough to look, he jumped in fright. There really was someone on the stone bed.

An old man in long robes sat cross-legged on it with his eyes closed, his face looking remarkably lifelike.

Suddenly, a demon beast's roar came from outside, faintly mingled with human voices.

Immediately afterward, the cavern shook violently.

The old man on the stone bed swayed, seemingly about to topple over.

Xia Yu hastily reached out to steady him, only to discover in surprise that the old man had died an unknown length of time ago.

Yet his body showed no sign of decay.

The next moment, the Heaven-Incinerating Furnace began to tremble.

"A body rich in spiritual energy! Hurry and give it to me to eat."

Xia Yu froze, then immediately shook his head.

"Little furnace, this is a senior's body. He never wronged me, and I have no grudge against him. You can't devour him."

The Heaven-Incinerating Furnace trembled violently and repeated its demand.

"No. Absolutely not! I can't accept that. Little furnace, I'm warning you: if you recklessly devour humans again, I'll never find you any more heavenly treasures to consume."

The Heaven-Incinerating Furnace stopped trembling.

Xia Yu straightened the old man's body and bowed respectfully.

"This junior is Xia Yu. I did not mean to disturb you, Senior. Please forgive me."

Having said that, Xia Yu turned to leave.

Clang!

Suddenly, a clear metallic ring sounded, and a streak of silver light shot toward him.

Xia Yu hurriedly turned around. The silver light stopped abruptly before him.

It was a spear!

Its silver tip gleamed and had three ridges. Behind the tip was a dragon's head; at first glance, it looked as though the spearhead protruded from the dragon's mouth.

A lifelike, jet-black dragon coiled around the shaft, its tail forming the butt of the spear.

Two small seal-script characters were engraved by the dragon's tail: Sin Dragon.

Xia Yu fell in love with the Sin Dragon Spear at first sight.

After a moment's thought, Xia Yu asked, "Do you want to follow me?"

The Sin Dragon Spear did not respond.

Just as Xia Yu was wondering about it, the Sin Dragon Spear suddenly moved.

Its tip sliced across Xia Yu's hand.

A drop of blood flew out and landed on the spearhead.

The next moment, the Sin Dragon Spear flew into Xia Yu's hand on its own.

"Blood-binding is basic procedure. You're far too stupid! If I hadn't waited thousands of years, if you weren't the first human to come in here, and if I could leave without binding myself to a master, I'd have killed you with one thrust!"

The instant he grasped the Sin Dragon Spear, Xia Yu sensed its thoughts.

Upon receiving that message, Xia Yu immediately grew annoyed.

"Hey, you've acknowledged me as your master. Why are you still so arrogant?"

"If I didn't want to get out of here, would you be worthy of being my master?"

The Sin Dragon Spear immediately sent back another thought.

"Oh, damn it! You dare rebel? Little furnace, come melt it down for a little nourishment."

Turning his hand over, Xia Yu pressed the butt of the Sin Dragon Spear against his lower abdomen.

The Heaven-Incinerating Furnace immediately began trembling, seemingly thrilled.

At that very moment, the Sin Dragon Spear suddenly started shaking.

A thought filled with terror entered Xia Yu's mind.

"What is that thing? Get it away! Get it away! I'll die!"

Xia Yu sneered inwardly. Rather than pulling the butt of the spear away, he slowly pushed it inside.

"No! I really will die! I was wrong, little mas-no, Master! Spare me!"

"Master, I was wrong! Will you forgive me if I get on my knees?"

"Master, I'm begging you! Pull me away! I'm about to die!"

"Master, I've decided! Your Lord Dragon-no, this little dragon will obey your every wish for the rest of my life! I'll never defy a single word you say, or may five bolts of thunder strike me down and Divine Soul Annihilation befall me!"

The corners of Xia Yu's mouth lifted. "You said that yourself. I didn't force you!"

"Yes! This little dragon made his own decision. You are my greatest master."

"Master, there are good things in my previous master's Heaven and Earth Ring. I'll fetch it for you right away."

"Master, bind it with your blood and open it to take a look."

A ring rested on the tip of the Sin Dragon Spear.

After dripping his blood onto it, Xia Yu sent his consciousness into the Heaven and Earth Ring. The enormous space inside instantly stunned him.