Don’t forget, what did the Dragon Venerable do a few years ago?
It deceived members of the Dragon Race onto the mainland, making them food for Longxueteng.
This was a massive taboo among the Dragon Race. Tricking and killing dragons was bad enough, but you also secretly kept Longxueteng?
If you don’t get taught a harsh lesson, you’ll really think you can turn the tables!
The Dragon Saint’s reason for acting was crystal clear, and on the other side, Hua Jian’s old acquaintance, the Lingcaifeng Master, also came bearing a Saint’s power.
Those Flying Petals that flew into the holes smashed out by the Dragon Claw weren’t meant to kill—they had only one purpose: to mark the path.
In terms of raw strength, even the Lingcaifeng Master and the Blue Dragon Venerable combined couldn’t inflict much damage on the Dragon Venerable, perhaps not even managing to sever the Dragon Claw it extended.
However, as long as the petals the Lingcaifeng Master launched reached the other end of the Spatial Tunnel, the Saint could use them to lock onto the Dragon Venerable’s position, then directly slay this black dragon.
Against a Saint, the Dragon Venerable’s strength was utterly insignificant.
Even if it managed to escape with its life, its breakout plan would suffer a massive blow.
The secluded breakthrough location it had prepared would become unusable, and it would need to find another hidden spot to break through, which would take a very, very long time.
Of course, all of this was contingent on it surviving the Saint’s attack.
The Dragon Venerable also realized this. It couldn’t let those petals invade its location, or everything would be over.
Layer upon layer of Black Fire Barrier manifested within the Spatial Tunnel, burning so hot that even the surrounding space became visibly distorted.
But the Flying Petals completely ignored these Black Fire Barriers, drifting toward the other end of the tunnel as if entering an empty land.
The Dragon Venerable realized that these petals also contained the Saint’s power; otherwise, it would have been impossible for it to fail to stop them.
It actually knew that the Lingcaifeng Master had been roaming the Beijing recently, but it never connected the matter to itself.
The intelligence in its hands told it that the Lingcaifeng Master had come to the Beijing to pursue a Spiritual Flower ranked in the top twenty of the Hundred Flowers List.
Rumors about that flower had been circulating for many years, and by now they were growing increasingly credible, so attracting the Lingcaifeng Master wasn’t surprising.
Who could have imagined this was all a cover, and that the Lingcaifeng Master had come because of it?
What a cunning bunch, and… Wanhuagu might also have a hand in this.
They’d long had it out for him, and to make the Beijing dominated solely by Wanhuagu, them selling him out wasn’t unexpected at all.
No wonder, no wonder a Demon Corpse Crystal appeared here.
All of this was their conspiracy! Wanhuagu, the Dragon Race, the Wanling Sect, and yes, probably the Jade Pool too.
These names, which could shake an entire region just by being spoken, had joined hands to deal with a single dragon. The Dragon Venerable truly felt honored.
“This time, you win!” the Dragon Venerable roared in fury, and without the slightest hesitation, it tore off its own arm.
The Demon Corpse Crystal was abandoned, and the claw it had extended was abandoned too!
The moment the claw was severed, it immediately closed the Space Passage it had opened, but those illusory Flying Petals still crossed the passage and arrived at its hiding place.
Now, that was truly bad news.
… All of this happened so fast that Youye hadn’t even registered what was going on before her master had already cut off the arm to save the body, closed the passage, and fled.
The two Venerables lying in ambush here also didn’t linger and immediately rose to leave.
They had already received the Saint’s message, learned of the Dragon Venerable’s hiding spot, and now had to go chase down and intercept that black dragon.
But before leaving, the Lingcaifeng Master still glanced toward a certain direction within the Secret Realm, her lips barely moving as she sent a voice transmission.
She was naturally looking at the place where Hua Jian was hiding.
From the very beginning, she had been outside the Secret Realm, watching Hua Jian cause trouble within it.
After watching Hua Jian’s entire performance, she had only one sentence to say to her.
“In a few days, I’ll properly teach you how to fight using plants.” Hua Jian’s current methods were far too crude.
Using plants to devour people was old calendar stuff from ages ago.
Now, we need to keep up with the times and learn some modern techniques, understand?
Hua Jian heard the Lingcaifeng Master’s voice transmission and her expression turned even more awkward.
How could she have imagined that the one handling this job would actually be the Lingcaifeng Master?
With this three-way cooperation between the Jade Pool, the Qian Family, and Wanhuagu, who could have expected a Venerable from the Wanling Sect to suddenly appear as the executor?
Perhaps this was the Saint’s scheme.
The Dragon Venerable knew the Jade Pool, the Qian Family, and Wanhuagu were entangled over this Secret Realm, so it would naturally focus its suspicion on those three parties.
And according to its intelligence, none of those three parties’ main combat forces had shown signs of movement, which undoubtedly lowered its guard.
The Wanling Sect’s Lingcaifeng Master had a very solid reason for coming to the Beijing, her relationship with the Jade Pool wasn’t particularly good, and in recent years they’d even clashed in secret.
The Dragon Venerable could never have imagined that this time, the Lingcaifeng Master would cooperate with the Jade Pool.
As for the Blue Dragon Venerable, his appearance was unexpected yet reasonable.
It was natural for the Dragon Race to want to eliminate a traitor dragon like him, but cooperating this deeply with the Human Clan truly surprised the Dragon Venerable.
Those clansmen of his, whose brains moved like wood, could actually cooperate with humans to deal with him.
Now that was something. It was precisely because of these reasons that it so boldly tore through space to retrieve the Demon Corpse Crystal—after all, it didn’t require much time.
One extension and retraction of the Dragon Claw, just a few breaths, and it could take its prize away.
Yet its enemies seized that opening of a few breaths and successfully located its position.
Now the Dragon Venerable had truly lost both wife and soldiers.
Not only did it fail to obtain the Demon Corpse Crystal, but it also severed its own claw, and the Saint found its hiding place.
Its breakthrough endeavor had suddenly suffered an irreversible blow.
The Dragon Venerable had it rough, but the other person present had it even worse.
This was already the second time Youye had been used as bait to lure a Demon Path Venerable into a trap.
The first time, to save her, a Venerable from Tianmomen was gravely wounded and still hadn’t recovered.
This second time, her master cut off his arm to survive right in front of her, and it looked like the outcome wouldn’t be much better than the first.
She felt like she was nothing but a Jinny Star. Why was it that every time something went wrong, she was the bait?
Even if the Right Path wanted to shear sheep, they shouldn’t target just her!
At this rate, in her master’s eyes, she would definitely become a double crosser! But she was so loyal to Tianmomen and to her master—she would never betray them!
“Damn Wanhuagu, actually doing something like this to harm my master…”
Now, how could she not see who was behind all of this? Wanhuagu had been ill-intentioned from the very start.
Everything was to lure her master into the trap and cut off the rise of their Tianmomen.
And she hadn’t noticed a single thing, thinking Wanhuagu had changed their ways and wanted to be good people! Damn it, damn it!
The world before her eyes shattered bit by bit, countless Colored Foliage filling her entire vision.
She knew her fury would never be known by anyone again.
She, like her fellow sect members, would be completely buried in this Secret Realm by Wanhuagu’s schemes…
“Oh my, isn’t this my good sister? Why do you look like you don’t want to live anymore?” In the silent space, a lazy, carefree voice sounded by Youye’s ear.
Her eyes shot wide open, turning toward the direction of the voice.
Seven-colored petals formed steps beneath the girl’s feet, and a girl in a Colorful Skirt walked down toward her step by step from the shattered sky.
Boundless space turned into brilliantly colored fragments behind her, while terrifying Colorful Branches coiled around the girl’s sides, like loyal knights guarding their queen.
An aura that made people afraid to speak loudly pressed down on Youye, allowing her to truly understand the meaning of the word “Saintess” for the first time.
The Wanhua Saintess—this was the real Wanhua Saintess!
That petty person who loved taking advantage of others, that miser who would haggle over a single Spirit Stone, she did embody Wanhuagu’s characteristics, but she had absolutely nothing to do with the word “Saintess.”
But the Hua Jian before her now finally showed what a Saintess should look like.
It also made Youye understand that Wanhuagu truly hadn’t chosen wrong—Hua Jian was indeed fit to be the Wanhua Saintess.
“You betrayed us! Betrayed the Magic Path!” Youye took a deep breath, suppressing the fragmented thoughts rising in her heart, and lashed out with harsh rebuke.
“Oh? What makes you say that? You entered the Secret Realm of your own accord, took things of your own accord. I accepted your Spirit Stones and gave you corresponding goods in return.”
Hua Jian’s lips curved slightly, as if she’d heard something very amusing.
“This was all a transaction. You give me something, I give you something back. Where’s the betrayal or selling out in that?”
“Twisting words! This was a trap all along—you planned to move against my master from the very start!”
Youye tried to continue her accusations, but Hua Jian suddenly burst out laughing, cutting her off.
“Hahaha, sorry, sorry, that sentence was just too funny. I couldn’t hold it in.”
After laughing for a while, Hua Jian wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, brushing away the tears of laughter.
Looking at Youye, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, Hua Jian tried hard to put on a serious expression, but the smile on her face simply wouldn’t be suppressed.
“I actually didn’t know about this either. In my eyes, this Secret Realm exploration was just a very ordinary Mission. Who would have known such a secret was hidden behind it?”
“You’re still trying to deceive me!”
“Deceive you? At this point, why would I still need to deceive you? Ah, let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Hua Jian shook her head, and with a gentle grip of her right hand, a Wooden Sword slowly grew out from her palm.
“Anyway, you’ll believe me eventually.”
Youye narrowed her eyes, sensing the battle intent radiating from Hua Jian. Was this… a desire to fight her?
“You want to humiliate me?”
“No, I just want to know how big the gap is between me and a Heavenly Talent of the Magic Path.”
Hua Jian raised her sword and pointed it at Youye, answering with a smile.
“Win or lose, I’ll bring you out of here alive.”
“After all, we’re good sisters, aren’t we?”
Still talking about good sisters?
Youye was so furious smoke billowed from her head.
Who treats their good sisters like this!
Her hands were wrapped in black flames, transforming into ferocious beast claws—somewhat similar to the black dragon’s claw from earlier, but far uglier.
“You probably haven’t fully mastered his cultivation method either.”
“I don’t want a good sister like you! Today, I’m definitely going to kill you!”
“Oh my, impressive momentum, but boasting isn’t a good habit.”
Hua Jian chuckled lightly, her body scattering into countless Flying Petals.
The Feihua Dun of Wanhuagu?
Youye recognized this signature Retreat Technique at a glance.
She scanned her surroundings warily and quickly located the spot where Hua Jian was most likely to appear.
Black flames turned into a dragon shape and pounced toward that spot, seeming to catch something in the air.
The next moment, a figure emerged from the black flames, slashing a few times to cut that black flame dragon into Fire Stars.
“Impressive. How did you find me?” This was the first time Hua Jian’s true body had been located by a cultivator of the same rank.
Youye seemed to know she would be there.
Did Tianmomen have some means to counter the Flying Flower Evasion?
She’d have to note that down—she’d need to be careful when fighting Tianmomen cultivators in the future.
“Hmph, a cheap trick like that still wants to hide from my eyes?”
Youye’s eyes had already turned into blood-red vertical pupils.
At this moment, she looked like a beast that hadn’t fully transformed into human form.
Her limbs were completely beastified, her face covered in layers of black scales, and a bloody light blazed in her eyes.
If Hua Jian hadn’t known what Youye originally looked like, she would genuinely suspect that Youye was actually a Spirit Beast that hadn’t completed its transformation.
She looked a bit like a dragon, but her appearance was too horrifying and twisted.
Compared to the half-dragon Hua Jian had truly seen, the difference in looks was like heaven and earth.
Linglong was what a Little Dragon Girl should look like.
Youye didn’t even deserve the title of Dragon Girl—she was simply an ugly mongrel.
“Why did you turn so ugly? Does your cultivation method really lower your looks like this?”
Hua Jian couldn’t help but mock.
“You still have the nerve to care about that? Die!”
Enraged even further by the taunt, Youye bent her knees and launched herself at Hua Jian like a cannonball.
Hua Jian stood in midair without dodging or avoiding, raising her sword for a heavy slash at the incoming Youye. Boom!
The pitch-black figure was forcibly slammed back to the ground, but Hua Jian was also pushed back two steps by the impact.
In this exchange, it was actually Hua Jian, the weaker cultivator, who held the advantage.
Youye stared in disbelief at her hands, now marked with a bloody gash.
She had actually lost a contest of strength to Hua Jian? How was that possible!
How could Hua Jian possibly match her physical constitution?
The Black Dragon Secret Art massively enhanced her strength—there was no way she could be overpowered in raw power.
“What kind of evil technique did you use?”
“Dark arts? I haven’t used anything like that. Though your strength is indeed considerable—I was actually pushed back by you.”