by Dragon King
“Wow!” When the scores were announced through the speakers, all the students in Zhao Yanzi’s class jumped up cheerfully.
Wu Luoxue also smiled happily. Although she rarely did sports, she found that it was enjoyable to see Zhao Yanzi race on the track.
Little White came out from somewhere and wriggled its tail happily as Wu Luoxue held it in her arms.
“Zi! You ran super fast today!” Ling took Zhao Yanzi’s hands into hers and said with a laugh.
Shaking her head, Zhao Yanzi answered with pretended modesty. “Not so fast!”
In fact, she had indeed run very fast today, and only she knew the reason.
She turned her head secretly and lowered her head when she met Hao Ren’s affectionate gaze.
In the past, she had run to get first place, but she ran for him today.
In the past, she had nothing on her mind, but now she seemed to be more thoughtful.
Led by the teachers, the elementary school students exited LingZhao Middle School since their day ended earlier, and their parents were already at the school gate waiting for them.
“Was I good?” While people leaving the field in chaos, Zhao Yanzi walked to Hao Ren’s side and asked with her face up to him.
“Good!” Knowing that many boys were watching him, Hao Ren still reached out to pinch her nose and said with a smile.
This gesture made many guys green with envy.
To make way for the students who were carrying chairs, Zhao Yanzi walked into Hao Ren’s arms.
Subconsciously, Hao Ren opened his arms and took her in.
Zhao Yanzi was in her sportswear, and she felt soft and warm due to the day’s exercise.
Seeing no teacher looking this way, Zhao Yanzi caught Hao Ren’s arms and kissed his lips on tiptoes.
She didn’t worry that the students saw them. Instead, she hoped more people could see them.
Immersed in the pleasure of Zhao Yanzi winning, Xie Yujia felt cold inside when she saw the scene.
“Oh…” Many students had seen it, but it happened so quickly that they couldn’t capture it with cell phones.
Besides, they didn’t expect that Zhao Yanzi would kiss Hao Ren in public where the students were busy exiting the sports field.
Wearing her deep blue sportswear, Zhao Yanzi looked very youthful and vivacious today, and the boys dreamed of holding and kissing Zhao Yanzi. However, Hao Ren realized their fantasy!
“Ling! Let’s go back!” Zhao Yanzi turned around swiftly. Carrying her chair, she pulled the dumbfounded Ling toward their classroom.
Hao Ren touched his lips, thinking that Zhao Yanzi had stolen his kiss in public.
“Little Xue! Little Xue!” A woman wearing a colorful dress stood at the gate of the middle school and beckoned.
629 Revenge!
“Mom!” Seeing her mom, Wu Luoxue smiled radiantly while she ran over.
Seeing that Zhao Yanzi had walked into the academic building, Hao Ren followed Wu Luoxue over.
Standing at the gate, Wu Luoxue’s mom had a simple and elegant style, wearing a grey sweater and black jeans.
Wu Luoxue’s dad was as old as Zhao Guang looked to be, but her mom looked younger than Zhao Hongyu.
Upon a closer look, she was a beautiful woman.
When Wu Luoxue ran out of the school gate, her mom caught her into her arms, giving her a slight mom’s smile.
“Aunt!” Following Wu Luoxue out of the school, Zhen Congming called out, afraid Wu Luoxue’s mom hadn’t noticed him.
“Congming, good boy!” Wu Luoxue’s mom reached out and touched Zhen Congming’s head affectionately.
In the past, if anyone dared to touch his head, Zhen Congming would get angry. However, when Wu Luoxue’s mom touched his head like a loving mom, he gave a silly smile.
Wu Luoxue’s mom raised her head and saw Hao Ren, the Lu sisters and Xie Yujia walk out of the middle school gate.
“Hello! Little Xue’s mom… Auntie,” Hao Ren greeted after a moment of thinking.
Although he wasn’t very close to Wu Luoxue, it was necessary to exchange greetings with her mom. Besides, Zhen Congming was his grandma’s ‘adopted’ grandson, and Wu Luoxue was Zhen Congming’s ‘sweetheart,’ so he was related to Wu Luoxue in some way.
“Well.” Wu Luoxue’s mom nodded with a smile. “Are you Zhonghua’s son?”
Seeing the surprise on Hao Ren’s face, she smiled again. “Your parents are my friends. When your grandma was sick, she stayed in our hospital.”
“Oh…” Hao Ren looked at her while it dawned on him that Wu Luoxue’s mom was a doctor.
“I studied in Russia for several months and came back yesterday. Thank you for taking care of Little Xue lately,” Xu Luoxue’s mom said politely.
Obviously, she had known about Wu Luoxue’s visits to Hao Ren’s home and that Wu Luoxue had been depressed while she was away.
“You’re welcome. Little Xue is adorable,” Hao Ren said.
“Well. Today I’ll take these two kids to dinner, and I’ll thank your parents later.” With a smile, she opened the door of a nearby white car and waved goodbye to Hao Ren and the others.
The car drove smoothly to the crossing and disappeared after a turn.
Standing where he was, Hao Ren was a bit surprised. When Wu Luoxue and Zhen Congming were together, he could feel some demonic aura different from that of the dragon cultivators. But when Wu Luoxue’s mom stood there, this tiny trace of demonic aura vanished.
“Linlin, Lili, did you feel anything?” Hao Ren asked the Lu sisters.
“No. Everything was normal,” they said while blinking their eyes.
Hao Ren gave up. When Zhen Congming and Wu Luoxue were together, the demonic aura was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, but when Wu Luoxue went to buy drinks, and Zhen Congming was left alone by Hao Ren’s side, Hao Ren had felt no demonic aura.
While Zhen Congming wasn’t around, Hao Ren didn’t feel any difference in Wu Luoxue as well.
“Gongzi… A new Thai restaurant opened in Hongji Square!” Seeing Hao Ren staring into space, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili pulled at him.
While Hao Ren was pulled to Hongji Square by the Lu sisters, in the distant Taiyi Cave, a white-bearded old man wearing a grey Taoist robe was panting.
Bang!
His hand slammed onto a table made by thousand-year cold jade in the stone room, cutting off a corner of the hard table instantly.
He had been cultivating in the cave when he suddenly received the news of the death of Wang Shitong, his sixth disciple.
The metal-elemental dragons must reach Kun-level to leave their masters, which was why cultivators of Qian-level and Kun-level were quite common among the metal-elemental dragons.
However, Wang Shitong was a cultivator of peak Qian-level, a favorite disciple of Taiyi Cave Master.
Now that Wang Shitong was dead, Taiyi Cave lost an important force.
The Heaven-Reaching Shield was taken, Wang Shitong was killed, and Xu Ke had achieved no breakthrough in East Ocean City… Taiyi Cave Master could no longer keep calm.
“You may go now. From now on, you are a disciple of my Taiyi Cave,” Taiyi Cave Master said gloomily to the Xun-level cultivator in front of him.
With an ashen face, the cultivator backed out of the stone room with his head lowered. He was Wang Shitong’s disciple. Since Wang Shitong was a painter in the mortal world, he had stayed behind in Zixuan Cave.
When Wang Shitong’s life token dimmed suddenly, the Xun-level cultivator was frightened, and he immediately came to his master’s master.
Taking Wang Shitong’s life token in his hand, Taiyi Cave Master sensed it and found that Wang Shitong was indeed dead.
Wang Shitong had only told his disciple that he went to East Ocean City on business, and Xu Ke had asked Wang Shitong to help take back Taiyi Cave’s Heaven-Reaching Shield. For the sake of his master, Wang Shitong must have agreed, which meant that his sudden death was related to the Heaven-Reaching Shield.
> When that disciple backed out of the stone room, Taiyi Cave Master picked up the dimmed black jade life token and crushed it into dust with a cracking sound.
The feeling he had for Wang Shitong far surpassed the feeling he had for the current disciple Xu Ke. After Wang Shitong reached peak Qian-level and joined the Elders Council of metal-elemental dragon clan, he had stood firmly with Taiyi Cave on important issues, making Taiyi Cave Master who had taught Wang Shitong for 200 years very happy.
Before Wang Shitong, Taiyi Cave Master had five disciples. The first and the second had died, and their branches had grown distant from Taiyi Cave. The remaining three disciples were close to peak Qian-level and were flourishing with disciples.
Wang Shitong’s Zixuan Cave was less powerful than his three senior brothers, but it was a good force.
Sitting in the stone room, Taiyi Cave Master thought for an hour before shooting out several scrolls from his palms.
Three circles of lights appeared on the stone wall in front of him.
“Master!”
“Master!”
“Master!”
Three old men’s figures appeared on the smooth stone wall while they stood in their respective caves.
“Your sixth junior brother was killed,” Taiyi Cave Master said calmly to the stone wall.
“What!”
The three cultivators all looked horrified.
Wang Shitong was their junior brother, but he had the highest realm among them. Besides, Wang Shitong was a member of the Elders Council of the metal-elemental dragon clan and thus had a standing almost as high as his master. Due to his focus on cultivation, Wang Shitong only had three official disciples who were only Kun-level cultivators.
“He was killed in East Ocean City, the territory of mortals,” Taiyi Cave Master continued.
The three cultivators remained silent, but they looked astonished. They had thought that their junior brother of peak Qian-level had been killed when he broke into forbidden areas such as the Demon Sea or the Kunlun Mountain.
“Despite his high realm, Shitong’s cultivation strength was not solid since he relied too much on elixir pills and techniques. Although he was killed due to the inferiority of his skills, he was a member of my Taiyi Cave, and I must avenge him,” Taiyi Cave Master said coldly as he glanced around.
The three Qian-level cultivators on the stone wall didn’t speak.
Since Wang Shitong wasn’t keen on taking in disciples, he had only three Kun-level disciples who had finished training.
According to traditions, when a cultivator such as Wang Shitong who had established himself in the world was killed, his disciples were supposed to revenge for him. However, since Wang Shitong’s disciples were not powerful, Taiyi Cave Master had to avenge him from the perspective of a master.
“Your sixth junior brother was close to you, and his death makes his Zixuan Cave an ownerless cave. If any of you can revenge for your junior brother, Zixuan Cave will go to you as a thank-you gift from him.”
Since he had Taiyi Cave, one of the five top-tier caves, Taiyi Cave Master had no interest in Wang Shitong’s Zixuan Cave.
However, the three cultivators changed their expressions after hearing that. Although they and Wang Shitong had the same master, they didn’t have great relationships with Wang Shitong due to their different training periods.
They knew clearly that anyone who could kill Wang Shitong was no ordinary rival.
However, Wang Shitong’s Zixuan Cave was one of the 36 greats caves with abundant nature essence and countless natural treasures and materials.
They were tempted by the reward offered by Taiyi Cave Master.
The blessed lands were not all taken by metal-elemental dragons since the other four elemental dragon clans took some of them. Wang Shitong’s Zixuan Cave could house more than ten cultivators and thus was a perfect place for cultivation.
These other three disciples of Taiyi Cave Master had many disciples, and they had wanted to move into a bigger cave. The empty Zixuan Cave was a perfect choice.
“Don’t worry, Master! We’ll find the killer and revenge for our junior brother!” They cupped their hands and said to Taiyi Cave Master in a loud voice.
“If you meet a man named Hao Ren, don’t kill him. Bring him to me alive!” Taiyi Cave Master said immediately.
“Yes, Master!” The three cultivators answered as one. With a flash, their figures on the stone wall disappeared.
Taiyi Cave Master was silent for a few seconds, and one corner of his mouth twitched suddenly.
Among the metal-elemental dragons, there were altogether eight peak Qian-level cultivators. With one dead, there were only seven left.
In the past dozens of years, Wang Shitong had grown arrogant and became distant to Taiyi Cave. However, due to his small number of disciples, he generally had to rely on Taiyi Cave.
Wang Shitong’s sudden death probably wasn’t a bad thing for Taiyi Cave Master. The remaining peak Qian-level metal-elemental dragons were now more precious.
“Humph! I told him not to be so arrogant, or he would receive blows sooner or later.”
Taiyi Cave Master waved his hand slightly, and the flames on a copper oil lamp on the stone table was cut off by his fingertips.
His goal was still the set of Mystic Water Sword Techniques.
630 Herb King Master Showed Up!
The morning came after dawn.
After having dinner in the Thai restaurant with the Lu sisters and Xie Yujia last night, Hao Ren had gone to the sports field and practiced the fundamental boxing techniques 200 times. His movements were as fierce as dragons and tigers.
If one didn’t work hard, he or she would fall behind. Only the cultivators who could keep cultivating like Su Han would reach peak Qian-level.
Standing on the sports field, Hao Ren gave a straight punch.
His fist whistled in the air, and the muscles on his arms bulged distinctly as if he had practiced boxing for a long time.
He practiced late into the night until the dorm buildings had closed for the night. Not wanting to wake up the dorm manager to unlock the door for him, he had spent the night in the sports field.
Hao Ren jumped with all his force and reached a height of more than two meters. Without using any nature essence, he had entered the realm of a martial arts master.
If students saw it, they would be frightened.
He wondered what was happening on Fifth Heaven.
Yesterday, he had made an appointment with Zhen Congming to go to Fifth Heaven to repair the array formation. While he was thinking, he jogged back to the dorm room to get his textbooks for the classes.
Grandma would return to East Ocean City this weekend. Hao Ren would go pick her up and keep her company, so he guessed that he wouldn’t have time to go to Fifth Heaven then. That was why he asked Zhen Congming to go to Fifth Heaven today and come up with a repair plan for the array formation.
Zhen Congming had been angry at Hao Ren for the damage of the array formation. However, he was in a good mood yesterday and had agreed to Hao Ren’s proposal.
Hao Ren didn’t like Zhan Congming’s arrogance, but he needed his help on array formations.
The four classes in the morning finished in the blink of an eye.
Wearing brand-new white sneakers, Zhen Congming showed up at East Ocean University as agreed. From the happy look on his face, Hao Ren knew the new sneakers must have been purchased for him by Wu Luoxue’s mom.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Zhen Congming strode over and yelled.
His posture showed his eagerness for Hao Ren and others to notice his new sneakers.
Shaking her head with a smile, Xie Yujia walked to the little forest behind the dorm buildings with the group before creating a red energy sphere.
Zhen Congming’s black disk flew out of his storage space to carry Hao Ren and Xie Yujia, and Little White changed into its snow lion form to carry Lu Linlin and Lu Lili.
Hua… Two lights flew i
nto the high sky.
Very soon, they reached Fifth Heaven. Before they got close to Ethereal Summit, they saw many flags waving around Herb King Valley as if there were a battle going on.
“Fly over and have a look!” Hao Ren yelled.
Zhen Congming flew the black disk forward at a greater speed.
Sky Mountain Sect! New Sun Sect! Qingcheng Sect! Chongxu Sect! Jinghua Sect! All kinds of flags!
The dozens of small hills around Ethereal Summit were all taken!
On the colorful flags were the names of different sects!
Hundreds of tents spread across the hills and valleys densely.
The three small sects around Ethereal Summit had built several big buildings in a few days!
Some of the sects on Six Heaven were camping around the three small sects like [stars surrounding the moon!]
“Herb King Master is here! Herb King Master is here!”
Some cultivator yelled on a hill suddenly.
Boom… Thousands of cultivators flew up from all directions toward Hao Ren.
Lu Linlin and Lu Lili immediately shot out their black and white bracelets from both sides, and the two bracelets grew as big as hills, knocking back the cultivators.
Then, they escorted Hao Ren and Xie Yujia into the valley.
The cultivators who were struck back by the Lu sisters’ Yin-Yang Bracelets were not angry. Instead, they were happy when they landed on their respective camps.
Meanwhile, the area around Ethereal Summit was boisterous.
The past couple of days were a total disaster for the sects on Sixth Heaven. There were almost no Nascent Soul Realm cultivators on Sixth Heaven since Old Grandma struck the ones who were around Ethereal Summit were turned into Core Formation Realm cultivators. In order to break the essence-locking note, some of them even killed themselves in the process of trying, but none could return to their previous realms.
When they traveled to Ethereal Summit to ask for help secretly, about six cultivators who were previously at the Nascent Soul Realm were killed by others in ambushes.
After battling for a while, the Nascent Soul Realm masters thought it wouldn’t solve their problems. They returned to the sects and brought lots of disciples to station near Ethereal Summit, hoping that Herb King Master in the valley would show up.