by Dragon King
At this thought, Hao Ren had zero regrets for giving Zhao Kuo the Seven-Core Five-Color Lotus. Instead, he felt more respect for Zhao Kuo.
Da! Da… Concerned for Zhao Kuo, Zhao Yanzi immediately turned and ran toward the palace.
Feeling uneasy, Hao Ren also hurried into the palace.
“Third Uncle! Third Uncle!” Zhao Yanzi called out.
Zhao Kuo paused and looked at Zhao Yanzi while a smile appeared on his black face. “Zi, your third uncle will be fine.”
“Third Uncle even survived the Heavenly Tribulation. I’m sure you’ll be fine!” Zhao Yanzi said confidently.
“Yeah!” Zhao Kuo nodded and glanced at Hao Ren who just jogged over. “Kid, I’ll fight you again after I plant the mystic crystal! And you must use all your strength!”
“Ok!” Hao Ren promised.
Elder Xingyue walked over and said. “I… will guard for you.”
The gentle words contained infinite care.
Zhao Kuo stared at her for a few seconds and cupped his hands. “Thank you.”
“Pu!” Even Hao Ren felt like Zhao Kuo was a bit too dull.
“You’re welcome.” Elder Xingyue waved her hand and walked toward the secret chamber in the Summer Palace with Zhao Kuo.
“Eh, these two…” Exasperated, Hao Ren followed them while holding Zhao Yanzi’s hand.
Zhao Kuo and Elder Xingyue entered the secret chamber while Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi had to stay outside.
One must make full preparations before using a mystic crystal, and the cultivator who would act as the guard must possess a high realm and a close connection with the cultivator they guarded. This way, the guarding cultivators could offer help at the critical moment.
Elder Xingyue was guarding for Zhao Kuo, which meant that their minds were in sync.
With the stone door of the secret chamber closed, Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren stood outside without any knowledge of the situation inside.
A while later, Zhao Guang, Zhao Hongyu, Elder Lu, and Elder Sun came to the door of the secret chamber one after another.
“Mom, will Third Uncle be Ok?” Zhao Yanzi asked anxiously.
“Silly girl, what are you talking about!” Zhao Hongyu glanced at her helplessly. “It takes at least one day to use the mystic crystal. I guess your third uncle will be fine since he did it before.”
She didn’t sound very convincing. After all, no one could be certain about what would happen during the process, especially when the mystic crystal had all five elements.
Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang didn’t plant mystic crystals into their dragon cores because they didn’t want to get to higher realms. Zhao Guang was busy managing the East Ocean Dragon Clan and didn’t have enough time for cultivation while Zhao Hongyu wasn’t sure if she could succeed and didn’t want Zhao Yanzi to lose her mom in the process.
Zhao Yanzi clenched her fist anxiously.
She hadn’t been born yet when Zhao Kuo planted his mystic crystal last time. However, Zhao Kuo’s failure while he charged at the Heavenly Dragon Realm left a deep impression on her mind.
She hoped that nothing would happen to her third uncle.
“Your majesty, we tripled the guarding forces around the Purple Bamboo Island.” Premier Xia came to the door of the secret chamber and reported to Zhao Guang.
“Ok.” Zhao Guang nodded gravely.
He looked at the stone door of the secret chamber anxiously.
After all, he had a deep brotherly bond with Zhao Kuo who was also the only master who could charge at the Heavenly Dragon Realm in the East Ocean Dragon Clan.
Most of the dragon cultivators who reached peak Qian-level were at least 800 to 900 years old. If they failed to pass the Heavenly Tribulation, they would be turned into dust. Even if they survived, they wouldn’t have another chance to charge at Heavenly Dragon Realm again.
However, Zhao Kuo was only two hundred years old when he failed, and he could start over again. What did the Heavenly Dragon Realm mean? It meant a transformation of the entire situation!
In any case, Zhao Guang hoped no accident would happen in the process while Zhao Kuo used the mystic crystal.
As time ticked on, the secret chamber remained quiet.
Hao Ren’s heart was in his throat, and Zhao Yanzi grabbed Hao Ren’s wrist nervously as sweat began to seep from her slim fingers.
“Premier Xia, how much time has passed?” Zhao Hongyu asked suddenly.
“Dragon Queen, 12 hours have passed,” Premier Xia answered.
“12 hours…” Zhao Hongyu murmured to herself before glancing at the grey stone door tensely.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Huge noises suddenly came from the outside of the palace.
Startled by the noise, Hao Ren looked toward Zhao Guang.
“Ren, Zi, Elder Lu, Elder Sun, go out and help with the defense!” Zhao Guang issued the order.
Even though he didn’t understand the situation, Hao Ren followed Elder Sun and ran up to the ground through the stairs, and Zhao Yanzi followed Hao Ren closely.
When Hao Ren ran outside of the palace with Elder Lu, he realized that crazy wind and thick clouds were forming around the Purple Bamboo Island.
The heavy dark clouds swept toward the Purple Bamboo Island while ocean waves as high as five to six meters crashed against the edges of the island.
If the Summer Palace were built lower on the mountain, such giant waves would have swallowed the palace!
Under the crushing force of the ocean waves, the red energy sphere blinked. Since it was only built to block the sight of mortals, it couldn’t even keep the rain out.
When a storm came a few days ago, Hao Ren was drenched in the rain while he cultivated in the Purple Bamboo Forest.
The reason the energy sphere became unstable was probably that the spirit stones which were used to build it had been loosened by the crashing ocean waves.
“Elder Lu, what’s wrong?” Hao Ren asked.
“Demon beasts!” Lu Qing said two words while he looked around cautiously. “Third Lord is using the mystic crystal, and it has caused some special temporary changes in nature, attracting the demon beasts to this place.”
“Most of these demon beasts are very close to the Transformation Realm and are looking for chances to pass the Heavenly Tribulation. That is why they came here,” Elder Sun added.
Situated in the deep sea, the Purple Bamboo Island was not far from the Demon Sea. Therefore, the violent changes in nature attracted large groups of demon beasts.
However, if Zhao Kuo used the mystic crystal in the East Ocean Dragon Palace which was close to the coastline, the violent changes in the weather would affect the mortals!
“Don’t worry, Gongzi Hao. These demon beasts came here to seek thunder tribulation and usually won’t attack Purple Bamboo Island,” Elder Sun told him.
“Humph! We’ll kill all of them if they attack us!” Zhao Yanzi said with confidence.
After mastering the second chapter in the Big Dipper Constellation Scroll and forcing back Zhao Kuo together with Hao Ren, she felt very powerful, not having a clue about the so-called demon beasts at the Transformation Realm.
Boom! A huge whale emerged from the ocean.
More than 300 meters long, the huge whale opened its huge red mouth, and large amounts of ocean water poured in.
Astonished, Zhao Yanzi swallowed her boasting words.
The moment the huge whale appeared, another giant black fish came out of the ocean, and it was more than ten times bigger compared with the huge whale. It looked like a small island that suddenly emerged from the ocean.
The black fish shot out a black beam of light from its mouth and immediately cut the huge whale into two halves. The remains of the huge whale turned into a pile of flesh, and the gigantic black fish instantly swallowed its white internal core.
Dumbfounded, Zhao Yanzi was at a loss for words with the longsword in hand.
“Whole island on guard!” Premier Xia stood
on the high platform at the mountaintop and called out.
The troops there were under Zhao Kuo’s command. Since Zhao Kuo was planting the mystic crystal, Premier Xia took his place in this urgent situation.
“Yes!”
More than 5,000 soldiers all over the island answered in unison.
The soldiers lifted their long spears, pointing them outward of the island. They were ready to strike down any demon beasts that tried to attack the island.
Boom! Boom!
Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed in the dark clouds.
As a cultivator who had broken through several realms, Hao Ren knew that cultivators’ elevations of realms would cause special changes in nature, a symbol of communication between the cultivators, heaven, and earth.
The higher the realms of the cultivators, the more violent the changes in nature would be. The violent storm with lightning and thunder represented the violent reactions inside Zhao Kuo’s body!
Hua! Hua!
Two huge pythons shot up into the sky from the ocean
Whipping at the ocean surface with their tails that were as thick as a skyscraper, they flew up into the high sky with great efforts.
Crack! Crack!
Two bolts of heavenly lightning shot down from the dark clouds and struck the bodies of the two pythons.
After cultivating in the ocean for years, the two pythons would go through the Heavenly Tribulations in a few years before reaching the Transformation Realm. Feeling the special changes in nature, they had swum here from a distance since the streaks of heaven lightning caused by a high-level cultivator’s elevation in realm might give them a chance to transform into humans beforehand.
Even if they couldn’t transform this time, they would get a feeling of the heaven lightning, which could help them pass the future Heavenly Tribulation.
Bang! Bang! Struck by two streaks of heaven lightning on the heads, the two pythons fell into the ocean, sending up huge waves as high as 100 meters.
Having never seen such a view, Zhao Yanzi was stupefied while she watched.
“Princess, some demon beasts don’t dare to fight with the heaven lightning. But due to their grudges against the East Ocean Dragon Clan, they probably would take the opportunity to attack the Purple Bamboo Island. You must be careful,” Elder Sun warned her when he saw the dazed expression on her face.
499 The Magnificent Commanding General
The moment Elder Sun said the words, a fierce beast with a sharp horn rushed out of the violent ocean waves.
“Zi!” Hao Ren yelled while he shot out sword energies.
Zhao Yanzi retreated half a step and slashed out twice with her longsword
The Tianshu Sword Technique instantly cut off half the sharp horn from the demon beast.
The demon beast immediately retreated to the sea, and Zhao Yanzi broke out in a cold sweat.
Roar! Roar… Dozens of demon beasts leaped out of the ocean into the sky.
More than ten streaks of heavenly lightning struck on some of the demon beasts, and the low-leveled demon beasts were instantly killed!
Despite it, more and more demon beasts rushed out of the ocean!
This level of heavenly thunders was much less powerful than the thunder tribulation for transformation. While the low-leveled demon beasts got a taste of heavenly lightning bolts this way, the high-leveled ones tried to use these streaks of heavenly lightning as their heavenly tribulations to transform!
In the sky, dark clouds got even thicker, and the dim sky instantly turned even darker than night.
However, it was weird that no rain came from these dark clouds.
Roar… Hundreds of demon beasts that looked like white horses rushed together into the high sky.
Crack!
One lightning bolt crashed down and instantly destroyed and shattered these demon beasts. Their flesh fell into the water, and the demon beasts that were waiting in the ocean opened their huge mouths and swallowed the fleshes.
The bodies of demon beasts were nutrients to other demon beasts!
Xie Yujia used spiritual herbs to make elixirs, but some elixir masters used demon beast’s blood and internal cores to make certain kinds of elixirs.
Hua! Hua… With another surge of waves, several more demon beasts got close to Purple Bamboo Island.
Zhao Yanzi used Tianxuan Sword Technique, and her longsword released a sword energy. The demon beasts were fast and lifted their paws to block Zhao Yanzi’s sword.
The demon beast that tried to sneak-attack Zhao Yanzi a moment ago was a demon beast without a level, but these demon beasts were level 1 demon beasts with strength equivalent to that of Core Formation Realm cultivators!
This time, Zhao Yanzi understood the great power of demon beasts in the ocean. While she retreated, she yelled, “Hao Ren! Hao Ren!”
Hao Ren was surrounded by two demon beasts right now. He shot 60 sword energies into the belly of a demon beast that was chasing after Zhao Yanzi.
Severely wounded but with its internal core intact, that demon beast retreated in pain.
“Fuma, be careful and don’t kill too many of them!” Elder Lu warned.
Zhao Haoran, the old dragon king, was a great candidate to elevate to the Heavenly Dragon Realm in the Dragon Tribe. However, in the sudden war in the cultivation world, Zhao Haoran had killed dozens of Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from the cultivation sects to protect the East Ocean Dragon Clan, which resulted in his intense murderous spirit and the inability to advance into the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
Although Elder Lu and Elder Sun didn’t expect Hao Ren to get into the Heavenly Dragon Realm, having an intense murderous spirit would have an adverse effect on his future cultivation.
“Great!”
Hao Ren released 120 sword energies which broke the feet of the two demon beasts that had rushed to his side before pushing them into the sea.
In fact, he didn’t like to kill as well.
With his current strength of mid-tier Gen-level, which was equivalent to the top-tier Core Formation Realm, it was easy for him to force back these level 1 demon beasts with Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll.
If Little White were here, its level 2 demon beast aura would have frightened off these weak demon beasts.
Seeing that she couldn’t defeat these demon beasts, Zhao Yanzi ran back to Hao Ren’s side and fought together with Hao Ren.
Her Tianshu and Tianxuan Sword Techniques were quite effective working together with Hao Ren’s sword array formations.
The morale of the generals and soldiers who were guarding the palace increased greatly when they saw Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi fighting the demon beasts courageously.
At the same time, the generals and soldiers’ loyalty to the East Ocean Dragon Clan rose to a new high instantly!
While more and more demon beasts tried to get close to the powerful heavenly lightning, the number of demon beasts that were trying to get close to the Purple Bamboo Island also rose.
Guarding a region of the beach where the demon beasts could easily crawl up from the ocean, Hao Ren eventually felt like his 320 sword energies were not enough to block the demon beasts.
With her nature essence running out, Zhao Yanzi began to feel tired as well. However, seeing Hao Ren still fighting, she clenched her teeth and wouldn’t retreat.
“Fuma Hao! Let’s retreat!” Elder Sun called out.
Around the palace, there was another array formation. Once they were inside, they could block the level 1 and level 2 demon beasts.
Swoosh! Hao Ren’s hand released a grey sword energy into the clouds.
Waves of silver lightning flashed.
After a pause about half a second, the bolts of heavenly lightning crashed down from the high sky like raindrops in a storm.
Those demon beasts that entered the outer edges of the island were all hit by the dense heavenly lightning without any time to react.
Hundreds of demon beasts were died or injured!
Elder
Sun and Elder Lu who had retreated into the array formation were stupefied, and the spirits of the generals and soldiers around the palace rose immediately.
“Magnificent Commanding General! Magnificent Commanding General! Magnificent Commanding General!” Standing in the key positions around the palace, they raised their long spears and chanted together.
Those demon beasts that were close to the Transformation Realm had intelligence, and they were shocked at the sight of dancing heavenly lightning bots around the Purple Bamboo Island.
The level 1 and level 2 demon beasts were their food, and they didn’t care about them. However, the stunning scene of the many heavenly lightning bolts attracted their attention.
The level 4 and level 5 demon beasts that were lurking in the sea around the Purple Bamboo Island all fled when they sensed the approach of level 8 and level 9 demon beasts.
Hao Ren felt goosebumps spread on his skin when the level 8 and level 9 demon beasts stared at him.
A level 6 snow lion was equivalent to a mid-tier Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, so the level 8 and level 9 demon beasts’ strengths were…
Just before these powerful demon beasts rushed to Hao Ren, the necklace around his neck released a faint light.
At this sight, the high-leveled demon beasts shivered all over with fear and turned to flee as if they had seen something more terrifying than heaven lightning bolts.
“Who dares to mess around in the territory of the East Ocean Dragon Clan?!”
With a huge noise, Zhao Kuo in his grey robe broke three floors and shot up into the high sky from the secret chamber.
Hua! Hua… 1280 sword energies spread to all directions.
The demon beasts that were still challenging the streaks of heavenly lightning were all pierced by the sword energies and dropped into water, creating huge splashes.
Those demon beasts lurking in the sea couldn’t escape either, and the sword energies shot into the water and pierced big holes in their bodies!
Boom!
The 1,280 sword energies reacted to each other and created a huge crater in the ocean that had a diameter of 50 kilometers!