Chapter 1074: Dare to Fight?
“Ka ca! Ka ca!”
Xiao Chen’s bones gave off crunching sounds. As they absorbed the True Dragon spine, they underwent a metamorphosis and rebirth.
When the entire set of True Dragon bones was absorbed, Xiao Chen’s body gave off a loud dragon roar. Dragon-shaped energy circled overhead, roaring ferociously.
Xiao Chen sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes as well as calmed his heart. Then, he started to break through to the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art’s second layer.
He already met the ten-Dragon-Force requirement long ago. Entering the second layer was just a matter of meeting the right conditions. With the assistance of the True Dragon bones, there would not be any surprises.
As he circulated the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art, ten azure-colored, dragon-shaped clumps of energy quickly flowed between his bones and the membrane covering them.
Various acupoints and connection points broke open. A cool breeze blew around Xiao Chen, setting his long hair and clothes fluttering gently.
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Three days later, every acupoint of Xiao Chen’s body emitted an azure light.
The azure dots connected to each other, covering Xiao Chen’s entire body. From its initial illusionary and transparent appearance, it slowly solidified and condensed.
The process was extremely slow. Only after another seven days did a complete set of battle armor covering Xiao Chen’s entire body form.
Pauldrons, greaves, bracers, breastplate, and everything else necessary appeared. Draconic patterns were engraved on the battle armor. With ten dragons gathered, it boasted extraordinary might, making him look very outstanding and powerful.
Xiao Chen opened his eyes and the draconic patterns etched on the armor immediately released a great light as if they had come to life.
When he walked, heavy footfalls were audible with every step. They sounded like dragons roaring. Cracks appeared on the ground underfoot, spewing out countless spurts of surging, hot lava.
Xiao Chen did nothing to resist. He simply let this horrifying lava spray onto the Azure Dragon Battle Armor.
When the lava fell on the armor, the armor shed bright flecks that disappeared into nothing. Xiao Chen did not feel anything at all.
This set of Azure Dragon Battle Armor had doubled Xiao Chen’s defense at the very least. The Law Energy that he sent out underwent a multiplier effect from the Dragon Energy, making its might much more terrifying.
Just the Small Perfection Azure Dragon Battle Armor was already so powerful. Xiao Chen rejoiced. After it reached Great Perfection, he could form the Azure Dragon Battle Shield that could surround his entire body.
At Consummation, Xiao Chen could even form the Azure Dragon Wings, which would complete the Azure Dragon Battle Armor.
According to legend, this Azure Dragon Battle Armor was an actual item. The Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art’s second layer merely imitated this item.
Compared to the original item’s might, the Azure Dragon Battle Armor that Xiao Chen wore now was much inferior.
However, he did not know where the original was. Perhaps the mysterious, old Item Spirit of the Azure Dragon Palace would know.
“Crack!” Crackling resounded. Xiao Chen looked to the front. Little Yellow Feather, who had consumed the Earth Heart Flame, broke out of its cocoon.
Little Yellow Feather had not grown larger. However, the feathers on its body were now completely golden yellow from the former faint yellow. They gave off a bright light, glowing with health and vigor.
The light flowed around the feathers like water. Little Yellow Feather now looked like an exquisite golden sculpture. However, no one would mistake it for an inanimate object due to the intelligent look in its eyes.
Only at this moment did Little Yellow Feather gain the noble and spiritual aura it should have as a Golden Crow Holy Beast.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Little Yellow Feather looked extremely excited. It opened its beak and shot out streams of golden holy fire, which were even more powerful than Xiao Chen’s Solar True Flame, burning space pitch-black.
That golden holy fire even managed to vaporize the surging lava in the lake of fire.
This created a strange scene of fire burning fire, forcing one to suck in a deep breath of air.
Little Yellow Feather spread its wings. When it looked at Xiao Chen, it raised its head proudly. Then it opened its beak and shot out a stream of fire.
Without the Azure Dragon Battle Armor, Xiao Chen would not dare to clash head-on with this. This was a golden holy fire made of condensed Solar True Flame.
Xiao Chen crossed his arms and took the stance for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. A tiger howled and a dragon roared.
The golden holy fire struck the bracers on his two arms. “Bang!” The golden stream scattered, and Xiao Chen took three steps back. This holy fire had burned off most of the Azure Dragon Bracers.
After thinking to himself that this fire was ridiculously strong, Xiao Chen circulated his Vital Qi and slowly regenerated the destroyed Azure Dragon Bracers. Soon, a new pair of bracers appeared.
Seeing that Little Yellow Feather still wanted to test its strength, Xiao Chen said in a calm and serious voice, “Wait for when you have to struggle for your life. Right now, you should save your energy. Let me ask you this: do you dare to fight alongside me?!”
Little Yellow Feather seemed to understand Xiao Chen’s words. It spread its wings and raised its head. There was no cowardice in its eyes but a blazing flame—the flames of a desire for combat.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and pushed off the ground, soaring into the air.
Relying on the Azure Dragon Battle Armor, Xiao Chen did not feel any discomfort this time as he forcibly emerged from the mouth of the volcano. There was a loud explosion as lava spewed out with him.
He looked at the road, which had buried many Martial Emperors, disdain flashing in his eyes. Those four old fellows had persistently chased after him previously. Now, it was time to face them in battle.
As of now, Xiao Chen was not even a Small Perfection quasi-Emperor. The disparity between him and Great Perfection quasi-Emperors was immense even if he materialized the Azure Dragon Battle Armor.
His odds of victory remained slim, like before, when facing four Great Perfection quasi-Emperors. However, continuously running away would not truly solve the problem.
Only suffering the consequences and experiencing pain would daunt this group of old fellows from their fearless pursuit. They would note that Xiao Chen was not someone to offend.
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On this road that buried Emperors, the gateway between the first and second rings showed a clear divide—one side had flames while the other side was a glacier.
Between the two rings was a faint light screen functioning as a barrier. Only an opening at the road led to the second ring.
Beside the gateway was an ancient transportation formation that led back to the outside world. Similar transportation formations could be found at the gateways of every ring.
However, once one had passed through the seven rings and entered the heart of the ocean, there would be no more retreat.
The four old men of the Divine Dragon Palaces stood guard at the transportation formation, idly chatting with each other.
“Speaking of which, why is your Eastern Sea Divine Dragon Palace so fixated on Xiao Chen’s Sea Monarch Headscarf? Compared to the Sea Monarch Crown, the value of this Sea Monarch Headscarf is much lower, right?” asked the black-clad old man from the Western Sea Divine Dragon Palace.
The old men of the Northern Sea and Southern Sea Divine Dragon Palaces appeared curious as well. The matter of the Eastern Sea Divine Dragon Palace wanting just the Sea Monarch Headscarf was indeed too puzzling.
The blue-robed old man smiled and retorted, “Isn’t that good? It means the three of you will have one less competitor for the Sea Monarch Crown.”
Seeing that the blue-robed old man was not willing to say more, the other three old men laughed it off and changed the topic.
“I wonder how long that fellow can hold himself back? If he does not come out for an entire year, doesn’t that mean we’ll have to stand guard here for an entire year?” one of the old men grumbled.
These old men were all Great Perfection quasi-Emperors; wasting time like that would cause anyone heartache.
“Don’t worry. He has to become a Martial Emperor in five years. He will be in even more of a rush than we are; he will not stay for long.”
“Becoming a Martial Emperor in five years is simply too ridiculous. The Azure Dragon King is fated to be only like a meteor.”
As Great Perfection quasi-Emperors, these people had already formed the Heavenly Seal. They were only short of condensing a soul before reaching Consummation and waiting for the Great Tribulation to descend.
A quasi-Emperor needed to solidify all the liquefied Heavenly Laws to attain Small Perfection, and to make the Heavenly Seal take form to reach Great Perfection.
These two steps sounded simple but required a lot of resources. Without sufficient resources, one could only spend time cultivating slowly and eventually accumulate the necessary amount of energy.
However, condensing a soul for the Heavenly Seal was rather ethereal. It required extremely high comprehension ability. Without it, one would not succeed even after spending a hundred years.
These four old men were stuck at this step. Their Heavenly Seals did not contain any soul, so they could not reach Consummation.
However, even if one had extraordinary comprehension ability and managed to reach Consummation quasi-Emperor, there was still the extremely dangerous Great Tribulation of wind and fire waiting for one.
Difficult, the road to becoming an Emperor was simply too difficult. In the opinions of these four old men, completing this within five years was impossible.
The blue-robed old man smiled coldly and said, “Right now, he is just like a cripple. Even if we kill him, the Martial God Palace will not kick up a big fuss over it!”
The other three nodded in agreement. “That’s right. He is just a genius that lost his value. There is no need to fear too much.”
“Hu Chi!”
Right at this moment, a piercing sonic boom resounded. The four’s expressions changed as they looked at the white figure in the air.
Xiao Chen, who was in the air, clearly heard the final bits of discussion between the four. His lips curled up into an icy smile as he said indifferently, “Trying to kill me? That would depend on whether you four geezers have the capabilities.”
He landed firmly on the ground. Then, he looked coldly at the four, not showing any fear.
The four old men were somewhat surprised. Based on Xiao Chen’s expression, it was like he already guessed why they were there, yet he took the initiative to come.
The blue-robed old man said coldly, “I will repeat the same words: hand over the relics of the Sea Monarch, and we will not make things difficult for you. Otherwise—”
Xiao Chen interrupted, “Otherwise, what?”
The blue-robed old man’s gaze turned glacial as he glared at Xiao Chen. He said in a frosty voice, “Otherwise, don’t blame us for not giving face to the Thunder Sovereign. Right now, you are just a cripple. Even if we kill you, that will be it.”
These old men really thought that Xiao Chen feared them. However, even if Xiao Chen had not advanced the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art to the second layer, he was confident of bringing the fight to the point where both sides were severely injured; no one would benefit from that.
Now that he had condensed the Azure Dragon Battle Armor, he definitely did not fear fighting it out with them.
However, the other side acted like this was already a done deal, like they could squeeze him to death at any moment, declaring his life or death at their will.
Xiao Chen met the blue-robed old man’s gaze fearlessly. He said calmly, “Don’t think that I’m afraid of you all. If you’re not worried about the consequences, then come on and fight!”
“How arrogant! This old man will defeat you in one move!”
The blue-robed old man laughed coldly and charged over right away. He drew his sword out of its sheath and shot out a sword light that flew quickly at Xiao Chen.
As the blue-robed old man moved, a vast sea materialized behind him. Many flood dragons leaped out of it, manifesting a vast scene of a thousand dragons bursting out of the sea.
Incomparably grand, majestic and imposing. This sword used the momentum of a thousand dragons soaring to stab, along with the bravery to face a huge army—an extremely straightforward and berserk eruption of power.
The other three standing guard at the side, quickly scattered to block off Xiao Chen’s path, trying to seal off all routes of retreat. At the same time, they could seek opportunities to attack.
The moment the other party attacked, he used his best Profound Martial Technique. Xiao Chen did not dare to underestimate it. The Azure Dragon Battle Armor instantly appeared, the draconic patterns engraved on it radiating a brilliant light, illuminating Xiao Chen and making him look powerful.
Xiao Chen drew his saber out of the sheath for the Flawless saber Dao, Subduing Dragon Profound Slash!
In the time it took for a spark to fly, he did not hesitate to use his Profound Martial Technique with the strongest explosive power, Subduing Dragon Profound Slash.
Azure dragons appeared. Eighteen strands of azure-colored saber lights layered over each other. Dragons roared, each sound wave louder than the one before.
The instant the eighteen dragons roared together, the aura that exploded out surpassed the aura from the blue-robed old man’s thousand dragons leaping out of the sea. This gave the blue-robed old man a bad feeling for some reason.
However, the sword was already drawn, and the momentum formed. It was already too late to change moves.