Ye Chenyan and the others surrounded Scarlet on all sides. The snake demon carried a remarkable number of treasures, and his strength was no small matter either. Even under their combined assault, he was still managing to hold out.
The two groups had different objectives, but neither attacked the other. By unspoken agreement, they dealt with the snake demon first.
Yu Qingtang was playing the Battle-Entering Melody when he suddenly turned his head warily.
“What are you doing?”
The Young Dragon King had actually taken two steps toward him.
The Young Dragon King narrowed his eyes. “A minor cultivator who only just formed his Nascent Soul dares come here to rob us? It seems my Great Wilderness Mountain is being looked down upon these days.”
The demonfolk and humans followed different cultivation systems, but human cultivation levels were often used as a rough measure of strength.
Yu Qingtang could sense the pressure coming off him and had a general idea of how strong he was.
“You’re not much better,” he muttered.
“Hah.” The Young Dragon King looked utterly disdainful. “I belong to the dragon lineage, one of the most illustrious demon clans on Great Wilderness Mountain. Back when the Dragon God of the Great Wilderness still reigned, all twenty-three kings beneath him had to defer to my dragon lineage!”
“My Nascent Soul is naturally nothing like yours.”
“You said it yourself—back then.” Yu Qingtang was unmoved. “People usually brag about how glorious their ancestors were when they themselves have nothing worth bragging about.”
Besides, Scarlet had already exposed his embarrassing secret at the auction. The Young Dragon King was now famous throughout Great Wilderness Mountain as a useless rich brat with no real ability.
“Hmph.” The Young Dragon King narrowed his eyes, looking faintly tempted to attack. “You’re only a human Nascent Soul cultivator. You look pretty weak. I should be able to beat you.”
Yu Qingtang fell silent.
He knew perfectly well that he was weak, but hearing it said to his face still left him strangely annoyed.
Could you make it any more obvious that you only bully the weak and fear the strong?
With Ye Chenyan and the others nearby, Yu Qingtang was not afraid in the slightest. Even so, he remained committed to peace and tried to talk the Young Dragon King down.
“We’re the weakest members of our respective groups. There’s no need for us to show off by fighting each other.”
The Young Dragon King flew into a rage. “Who are you calling the weakest?”
“Me, me, me.” Yu Qingtang nodded cooperatively, changing course without hesitation. “I’m the weakest. Please spare me.”
The Young Dragon King’s advancing foot froze.
“You truly are a human bold enough to come here and commit robbery. Shameless beyond belief.”
“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue, looking both disgusted and conflicted. “But now that you’ve begged for mercy, I really can’t bring myself to attack you.”
While the two of them loafed around under cover of the chaos, the battle nearby was vicious. Scarlet was sent rolling across the ground again and again. Even with his second uncle’s snakescale armor protecting him, he was nearly beaten hard enough to cough up his snake gall.
“You!” he shrieked furiously. “You dare attack our auction house? Aren’t you afraid the Demon King behind me will kill every last one of you?”
“Ah!”
Scarlet screamed. A vicious glint flashed through his eyes as he tore a storage ring off his finger and hurled it into the middle of the crowd.
Everyone faltered.
The dragon-lineage fighters immediately split into two groups. Some scrambled for the storage ring, while the rest moved to block Scarlet’s escape.
Ye Chenyan’s group exchanged glances.
Canglang shot into the air, abruptly changed direction, and raked his talons across the cage holding Ziyun, tearing it open in a single strike.
She must have been unconscious all this time. Only now did the commotion finally begin to rouse her.
She struggled to open her eyes, then suddenly felt her body grow light. Still dazed, she awoke to discover that she was being carried through the air in the talons of some enormous bird of prey, with no idea where it was taking her.
Ziyun’s eyes flew open.
Even though her limbs were weak and numb, she immediately began struggling with all her strength.
“Let go of me!”
“Tsk!” She had no strength, and her attacks posed no threat at all, but they were still a nuisance. Canglang barked, “Stop moving unless you want to die!”
Ziyun only struggled harder. She forced herself back into her true form as a Thundercrest Leopard, prepared to fight them to the death.
She was tossed through the air and into a hovering spirit boat.
Under ordinary circumstances, her agility would have allowed her to land lightly on all fours. In her current state, however, she could only crash down ignominiously on her back, all four paws in the air.
A pleasant voice spoke beside her.
“Why are you being so fierce? Anyone who knows what’s happening can tell you’re rescuing her. Anyone who doesn’t would think you were the kidnapper!”
Rescuing her?
Ziyun shook her head unsteadily and tried to rise. She crouched low, bared her fangs, and released a warning growl.
“Grrr—”
Yu Qingtang reacted swiftly and shoved a piece of dried meat into her mouth. It was some of what Flamelet had shared with him earlier.
Ziyun instinctively chewed several times. By the time she tried to spit it out, it was already too late.
She cursed herself inwardly. She had been captured the first time because she ate food left in a trap. How had she fallen for the same trick again?
But the dried meat was wonderfully fragrant. It was not particularly salty, but the quality of the meat was excellent, and she had been starving for a long time.
In the end, she wolfed it down.
Clinging to the side of the spirit boat, Yu Qingtang called out, “We have her! Retreat!”
The others had no intention of prolonging the fight. They abandoned Scarlet and fled without so much as glancing at the storage ring.
The Young Dragon King’s eyes widened.
“What? You’re just going to...”
He turned instinctively and stared after Yu Qingtang as the spirit boat sped away with the Thundercrest Leopard aboard.
“Did they truly come here to seek justice?”
Ye Chenyan landed at the stern of the spirit boat and slung his silver battle spear across his back once more.
Meeting the Young Dragon King’s gaze from afar, he flashed him a brilliant smile and cupped his fist.
“We’ll leave the rest to you.”
The Young Dragon King froze. “What does that mean?”
On the spirit boat, Yu Qingtang wore a solemn expression.
“Everyone, I’m about to begin. I have no idea how long my bad luck will last afterward, so I’m counting on all of you.”
“Don’t worry!” Chi Yantian thumped his chest with great loyalty. “You rescued someone. You did a good deed. Your luck shouldn’t get too bad!”
Canglang still did not understand. “What exactly are you planning?”
Scholar Xiao smiled smugly.
“We’re going to make the treasures grow legs and follow us on their own.”
Yu Qingtang took out the Treasure-Gathering Basin and closed his eyes in pious concentration.
He poured his spiritual power into it without holding anything back. The basin was like a bottomless pit, capable of swallowing as much spiritual power as he could feed it.
For the first time in ages, he stuffed several Spirit Recovery Pills into his mouth. Only then did he gently shake the basin three times and recite the incantation.
“Treasure, treasure, enter my basin!”
...
The Young Dragon King had brought the finest fighters of the dragon lineage with him. After spending a little time on it, they finally subdued Scarlet and stripped every storage ring from his fingers.
One of his subordinates presented the rings to him.
The Young Dragon King leisurely picked one up between two fingers, weighed it in his palm, and asked Scarlet, “Which one contains the Dragonbone Jade?”
Scarlet closed his eyes and remained silent.
“Hmph.”
The Young Dragon King could not be bothered interrogating him further. He simply opened one of the storage rings.
A moment later, he clenched his hand in disbelief and hurled the ring at one of his subordinates.
“Young Master!” The subordinate caught it, staring at him in alarm and confusion.
“It’s empty!” the Young Dragon King roared.
Refusing to believe it, he snatched up another ring, inspected it, and threw it away just as furiously.
“This one’s empty too! They’re all empty!”
He suddenly remembered the human cultivators who had appeared halfway through the battle and went still.
“Could it be... No. Impossible!”
“They clearly never touched these storage rings!”
Grinding his teeth, he pointed toward the cave.
“Go down and check! See whether everything was hidden below!”
“The rest of you, chase them! That group can’t have gone far. After them!”
The dragon-lineage fighters immediately split up.
One of them glanced cautiously at the Young Dragon King and asked in a low voice, “Young Master, what if we can’t catch them?”
The Young Dragon King narrowed his eyes, tightened his grip on his folding fan, and sneered.
“Can’t catch them? I remember their faces.”
“Bring me a brush! I’m going to paint their {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} portraits.” A vicious light filled his eyes. “Cover Great Wilderness Mountain, the Pleasure Sect, and Nanzhou City with their likenesses. I’ll hunt those lunatics down across a thousand miles!”
The subordinate opened his mouth hesitantly.
“Young Master, are you sure your paintings will... work?”
The Young Dragon King slowly turned his head toward him.
The subordinate immediately lowered his gaze. “Yes, Young Master!”
He reached into his storage ring to take out paper and ink—then froze.
The paper and ink were still there, but his Myriad-Gold Brush, which had brimmed with spiritual power, had vanished without a trace.
“Young Master, this...” His expression changed. “The spirit stones, pills, and magical artifacts are all gone!”
“Ours are gone too?” The Young Dragon King’s eyes widened in disbelief. “They...”
Overcome with rage, he launched himself into the air and transformed into his true form, preparing to charge after the thieves.
“Those—ah!”
With a loud thud, he slammed into an invisible wall and was stopped dead.
One of his subordinates cried out in alarm.
“Protect the young master!”
The light around them abruptly changed.
A black wind swept through the forest, howling eerily and raising goose bumps across their skin.
Scarlet began struggling involuntarily.
“Master, save me!”
The next instant, his eyes widened in terror.
Agony tore through his abdomen, and he released a piercing scream—someone had ripped his demon core out of his body while he was still alive.
The Young Dragon King narrowed his eyes. Holding the swelling bump on his forehead, he demanded gravely, “Who’s there?”
The enemy had casually killed a demon right before their eyes without revealing even the faintest trace of himself.
The black wind howled.
The guards regrouped around the Young Dragon King and formed a defensive circle, prepared for anything.
Their leader lowered his voice.
“A restriction has been placed over this area. It was laid in haste. Young Master, when the opportunity comes, I’ll strike with everything I have. You must flee.”
The Young Dragon King flew into a rage.
“Ridiculous! You expect me to abandon all of you and run away with my tail between my legs? Who do you think I—”
The wind suddenly changed direction.
One of his subordinates was dragged away as though an invisible enemy had seized him by the throat.
The Young Dragon King’s expression tightened. He reached toward his waist to draw his weapon, only for his hand to close on empty air.
He cursed furiously and charged forward barehanded.
The enemy immediately discarded the subordinate and grabbed the Young Dragon King instead.
Now that the enemy was right in front of him, the Young Dragon King finally saw his face.
His eyes widened, and he ground out through clenched teeth, “It’s... you—”
“Young Master!”
“Shh.”
The enemy clamped the Young Dragon King’s mouth shut, then seemed to notice something strange.
“Hmm? You didn’t bring that protective dragon scale with you?”
The Young Dragon King could only make muffled noises. Otherwise, he would certainly have shouted a furious rebuttal.
It wasn’t that I didn’t bring it! Someone somehow stole it!
The enemy reached toward his abdomen, moments away from carving out his demon core.
Suddenly, a silver battle spear came roaring through the air with force enough to shatter heaven and earth.
“Hmm?”
The hidden enemy’s expression shifted slightly. He tilted his head and avoided the strike.
It was not that he was afraid to receive the attack. His instincts simply warned him that there was something strange about the spear.
Ye Chenyan stood aboard the spirit boat and raised a hand, recalling the weapon.
Yu Qingtang poked his head out from behind him.
“Fellow professional! We’re back!”
The Young Dragon King struggled to speak.
“Who are you calling—”
Behind them, the tiger demon Huayi announced triumphantly, “The Snow-Treading Fox King is here! You little demons had better surrender at once!”
Yu Qingtang could not help giving her a second look.
He had seen plenty of foxes borrow a tiger’s might before. This was his first time seeing a tiger borrow a fox’s.
“Great Wilderness Mountain has been remarkably lively lately.”
The Snow-Treading Fox King laughed.
“Old thing, there’s no need to keep hiding in front of me, is there? Why don’t you show yourself?”
The enemy holding the Young Dragon King finally revealed his form.
He had long, curly black hair that looked especially thick and fluffy.
Of the two spiraling ram horns that should have crowned his head, only one remained. The other appeared to have been snapped off, leaving behind a rough, uneven stump.
Huayi, who had been swaggering triumphantly only moments before, immediately ducked back behind the Fox King.
“Why is it another Demon King?!”
Canglang’s expression grew grave.
“The Four-Square Ram King!”
He lowered his voice in warning.
“This Demon King isn’t particularly famous, but anyone who has earned the title must possess extraordinary abilities.”
“Interesting.” The old Fox King narrowed his eyes. “So you’re the one behind the auction house that’s been causing such an uproar lately.”
The Four-Square Ram King slowly raised his eyes.
“Mind your own business.”
His voice was slow and low, without much force behind it.
“How is this none of my business?” The old Fox King arched a brow. “Ever since news of the auction house spread, demons have been spouting all kinds of nonsense. They say we foxes are cunning and skilled at seducing people with our beauty. One look at that auction house, they say, and it simply has to be my handiwork.”
“I’ve taken plenty of blame on your behalf. We ought to settle that debt.”
The Four-Square Ram King’s expression did not change. His face remained as drowsy as if he had only just awakened.
“What do you want?”
The old Fox King smiled slyly, then suddenly pointed.
“Little Ye, go teach that black-hearted old ram a lesson for your Uncle Fox.”
Ye Chenyan arched a brow. “Me?”
“What? Didn’t that old snake tell you?” The old Fox King’s eyes curved with amusement. “This is how things work on Great Wilderness Mountain. Whoever has the biggest fist makes the rules.”
He pointed toward the opposing side.
“That’s a Demon King. Do you dare fight him?”
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