If I had come any later, once that Fourth-grade Middle-stage Peak Dragon Beast Clan Leader grew to Fourth-grade High-stage, it would be almost invincible within the fourth-grade.
Unless a great cultivator of the Mahayana realm intervened, the Dragon Beast Clan Leader could completely dominate this sea area.
The Fourth-grade Middle-stage Peak Dragon Beast Clan Leader was the fastest and returned to the Dragon Beast lair first. Once it rushed into the lair, it discovered the corpse of the guard that had been poisoned to death.
It couldnât sense its treasure, but still desperately rushed into the room, finding it completely empty.
The treasure crucial to the entire clan had just vanished like that.
It let out a deafening dragon roar, its aura full of tyranny, pushing the Fourth-grade Lower-stage Dragon Beasts in the Dragon Beast lair out with its breath.
Fortunately, these Fourth-grade Lower-stage Dragon Beasts had tough skin and thick flesh, suffering little harm.
Pushed out of the lair, they didnât dare to get angry, only lowering their bodies, waiting for the Dragon Beast Clan Leaderâs wrath.
The Dragon Beast Clan Leader snapped back to clarity from extreme rage, not leaving the lair normally, but rather breaking open a channel from its own room, flying out of the Dragon Beast lair.
While flying, the Dragon Beast Clan Leader tried to find the thief who stole the treasure and simultaneously sent orders to other Dragon Beasts to help search.
It had already realized the culprit was that human cultivator, who had lured away it and most of the Dragon Beasts, taking the opportunity to steal the Dragon Beast clanâs treasure.
How could the Illusion Spirit Dragon be discovered by the Dragon Beast Clan Leader? As long as itâs not too close to the Dragon Beast Clan Leader, its invisibility is unbeatable.
Moreover, its dragon bloodline was more intense than that of the Dragon Beast Clan Leader, making it superior in all aspects, only behind in combat power due to shorter cultivation time.
Li Shiming, controlling the Living Dead Zhao Qingfeng, set up a Concealing Array a thousand miles away from the Dragon Beast lair.
The further the Illusion Spirit Dragon was from the Dragon Beast lair, the faster its speed, quickly reaching the Concealing Array, entering within it.
Within the âHeavenly Human Daoâ hall, Li Shiming, with a thought, opened a spatial gate, bringing the Illusion Spirit Dragon into the Grotto Heaven.
The Living Dead Zhao Qingfeng put away the Fourth Grade Array Flag, letting the Water Thunder Nascent Soul use âMiles Apartâ to escape again.
The aura of the spatial gate here, even with the concealment of the array, was still sensed by the Fourth-grade Middle-stage Peak Dragon Beast Clan Leader, which quickly flew toward it.
Yet it was still a step too late; by the time it arrived, the presence of the Living Dead Zhao Qingfeng was long gone.
With bloodshot eyes, the Dragon Beast Clan Leader nearly lost its rationality.
From memory, it recalled a human cultivator had appeared nearby before, but that human cultivator, with some escape technique, had wisely fled before danger arrived.
Unable to find the Living Dead Zhao Qingfeng, it targeted the previous human cultivator.
It needed a place to vent its anger, and since the âHidden Phoenix Jade Talismanâ on the Living Dead Zhao Qingfeng left no aura behind.
As for the previous human cultivator, the Dragon Beast Clan Leader distinctly remembered the aura.
At the time, it couldnât afford to stray far from the Dragon Beast lair, and without any losses, it ignored the human cultivator.
Now itâs different; it could confirm that the previous human cultivator leaked the lairâs news, and it must find the human cultivator to find out who stole its treasure.
The Fourth-grade Middle-stage Peak Dragon Beast Clan Leader roared, and Dragon Beasts flew in from all directions.
Even the injured Fourth-grade Middle-stage Dragon Beast was among themâfourteen Fourth-grade Middle-stage Dragon Beasts and over eighty Fourth-grade Lower-stage Dragon Beasts.
Following the Dragon Beast Clan Leader, they departed the Dragon Beast lair without any attachment; without the âDragon Vein Source Crystal,â the Dragon Beast lair was just an ordinary cave with no significance.
Recovering the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ was their most crucial task.
Li Shiming had no idea what was happening next; at that moment, he was in the âHeavenly Human Daoâ hall, inspecting the treasures the Illusion Spirit Dragon brought back.
The Dragon Beast Clan Leader had used over a hundred tons of dark red rock as a bed; the Dragon Beast Clan Leader didnât care about cleanliness, so some filthy matter remained on the dark red rock.
Dragon Beasts are a type of spirit beast; expecting spirit beasts to care about cleanliness would burden them; at least, most spirit beasts wouldnât pay attention to such details.
With a wave of his hand, Li Shiming cleaned the filth off the surface of the dark red rock.
He approached the dark red rock, scrutinizing the treasure closely.
The dark red rock carried the aura of the âDragon Vein Source Crystal,â but this aura differed from the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ he had previously obtained from the Four-clawed Dragon, bearing traces of deep-seated antiquity.
Itâs certain that the dragon leaving behind this âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ aura was beyond the level of a Four-clawed Dragon; even the dragon blood of the Five-clawed like Illusion Spirit Dragon could not compare to the aura on the âDragon Vein Source Crystal.â
The dark red rockâs âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ aura was so strong that it rendered the Dragon Beasts unable to absorb it easily.
The Dragon Beasts achieved their current strength by residing near the dark red rock, absorbing the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ aura it emitted.
If they could absorb the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ within the dark red rock, they might all reach the fourth-grade high-stage, or even ascend to the fifth-grade.
Li Shiming had a hunch the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ within the dark red rock might be the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ left by ancient dragons.
Only this hypothesis could explain the immense power within this âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ; though he hadnât seen a pureblood dragon in the current Cultivation World, he could make a relatively accurate judgment.
Considering Little Feng, the Red Gold Phoenixâs bloodline as a comparisonâbeing a pureblood Phoenix, its Phoenix Clan bloodline offered the best reference.
The âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ within the dark red rock far exceeded the pureblood dragonâs bloodline.
While Li Shiming was studying it, the Illusion Spirit Dragon already lay atop the enormous âDragon Vein Source Crystal.â
He chuckled, letting the Illusion Spirit Dragon rest on the enormous âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ without any longer considering dealing with those Dragon Beasts; with this treasure, why care about those Dragon Beastsâ Demon Cores?
Even if the Illusion Spirit Dragon had no other resources in the future, merely resting atop the enormous âDragon Vein Source Crystal,â its power would continually increase.
Of course, his research of the enormous âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ wouldnât stop; if he let the Illusion Spirit Dragon merely rest and slowly absorb the âDragon Vein Source Crystalâ aura emitting from it, the Illusion Spirit Dragonâs growth would be extraordinarily prolonged.
By the time the Illusion Spirit Dragon grew powerful, it would likely be millions of years later.
Li Shiming took out a Fourth-grade Flying Sword, attempting to cut a piece for research from the dark red rock.
No matter how he tried to cut, the seemingly ordinary dark red rock showed not even the slightest trace, much less would a piece break off.
He glanced at the Fourth-grade Flying Sword in his hand; though it was only a Fourth-grade High-stage Flying Sword, with strength surpassing the Peak of Mid-stage Nascent Soul Body Refining Cultivator, it was unfathomable that he couldnât handle a mere rock.
He put away the Fourth-grade High-stage Flying Sword, summoning his Lifebound Flying Sword, the âTraceless Illusion Sword.â
The âTraceless Illusion Swordâ boasted nine million sharp runes and a million sharp formations, unmatched in sharpness among Fourth-Grade Magical Treasures.
He further enhanced the âTraceless Illusion Swordâ with âVoid-Slicing Sword Intentâ; feeling it still wasnât enough, he infused his Gold Element Spiritual Power into the âTraceless Illusion Sword.â
At this moment, the âTraceless Illusion Sword,â in his estimation, could harm even a Great Cultivator. However, when it slashed at the dark red rock, it was still deflected and sent flying back.
On the dark red rock, not a single trace remained; even if the âVoid-Slicing Sword Intentâ could slice through space, it couldnât cut through the rock before him.