Dragons, born alongside spirits from chaos.
If Qiongqi could be called a divine beast, then dragons could be called the emperors among divine beasts.
In terms of nobility, only the phoenix race could rival them.
Little Qiongqi pondered these thoughts, his mind a jumble, then suddenly realized something.
βHe had been stunned by Xu Mu's words, so when the latter climbed onto his back, he had forgotten to resist.
"Can't you walk? Why are you riding on me?"
His tone was displeased, causing Xu Mu to scratch his head.
"Ah... well, actually, I injured my leg."
"Just this once, I promise."
"Hmph!"
Qiongqi snorted coldly and carried Xu Mu towards the mine.
Along the way, he remained silent, his mind occupied with the matter of the dragon egg.
He didn't doubt Xu Mu's words in the slightest.
After all, this was his only friend; if he said he had a dragon egg, then he had a dragon egg.
Qiongqi spent the entire journey wondering where Xu Mu had obtained the dragon egg. Hadn't the dragon race gone extinct long ago?
He couldn't figure it out and remained silent. Xu Mu was happy to have peace.
Thus, soon, man and beast arrived at the cave entrance.
"There's a risk of collapse at any time," Qiongqi said.
He hovered in the air, observing that around the mine entrance, in all directions, there were cracks stretching for kilometers, all caused by the sword energy.
Originally, this mine should have collapsed long ago, but after rounds of freezing and tremors, it had somehow maintained a delicate balance, appearing as though it wouldn't easily cave in.
However, no one knew if it would collapse once they went down.
"I left a mark here, I can traverse space at any time. You'd better mark it too."
Xu Mu was startled. Mark? Was he referring to spatial dao techniques?
But he didn't know any!
"Just one mark is enough, isn't it?" Xu Mu said, his face unblushing. "You can just bring me up, I'm on your back anyway."
Qiongqi was enraged upon hearing this.
"How long do you plan to ride me!"
"Besides, transporting people through space is tiring. I'm already this depleted, can't you make some effort yourself?"
"Uh..." Xu Mu scratched his head. He wished he could make an effort, but he genuinely didn't know spatial dao techniques.
"Actually, I'm also very depleted. Spatial dao techniques are temporarily unusable."
Xu Mu had to lie again, feeling a bit guilty.
He wondered if using the same excuse twice would work.
Qiongqi paused upon hearing this.
He seemed to recall Xu Mu asking for help when he first arrived.
"This guy, holding a demonic sword, yet asking me for help. It seems he's truly severely injured," Qiongqi sighed inwardly, then said with a hint of disdain, "I really can't do anything about you."
Xu Mu chuckled. He hadn't expected to get away with it so easily. However, it was thanks to Qiongqi's willingness to trust him.
Otherwise, even if he had to amputate a limb, Qiongqi wouldn't have let him push his luck this far. After all, he was a divine beast with his own dignity.
"Be careful."
Qiongqi cautioned, and his body was swallowed by the ground as he burrowed into the mine.
...
On the mountaintop, the various ability users remained silent.
They watched Xu Mu's disappearing figure, feeling somewhat lost.
Xu Mu had killed Fang Jia in front of everyone and then suddenly followed the white tiger into the mine. What should they do now? How should they interact with each other?
Changsun Wuji's thoughts stirred. He had a bold idea, such as ambushing Nan Feng.
But it was merely a thought, as they were all injured.
Nan Feng's face was as dark as if water could be squeezed from it.
"Damn it!"
He had nowhere to vent his frustration, so he could only growl.
Nan Tong, with a terrifying expression, walked up to Nan Feng and whispered, "Big brother, do you think we should..."
As he spoke, he fiercely squeezed his right hand, clearly indicating his intention to kill Xu Mu.
"No," to everyone's surprise, Nan Feng's answer was firm and swift.
"Setting aside these people from the alliance, just that tiger with fire in its eyes, we can't defeat it."
Nan Tong was taken aback, then clenched his fist reluctantly.
"Then did third brother die in vain?"
Nan Feng turned and glared at him.
"Or what? Do you want to die with him too!"
Nan Feng's eyes were cold, scaring Nan Tong into a shiver.
In truth, he didn't care about the life or death of Xi Du or Fang Jia. He only cared if he and Nan Tong could maintain their previous status after leaving.
With two of the Northwest Four Freaks gone, their reputation was tarnished. Their brothers would likely face many troubles, and their old enemies would swarm them.
Nan Feng's face was grim. His eyes swept across the surroundings; many people were staring at them with burning gazes, their points were still substantial.
"As long as the green hills remain, there will be wood to burn. This place is no longer suitable for us. Farewell!"
Nan Feng snorted coldly and quickly left with Nan Tong, without any lingering attachment.
"Heal your wounds here and await the Alliance Leader."
Changsun Wuji withdrew his gaze, cleared his throat, and announced loudly.
The others exchanged glances, temporarily suppressing their burning desires.
They had just narrowly escaped death and truly understood the preciousness of life.
Even the greatest opportunities were useless if one didn't have the life to enjoy them.
Therefore, everyone sat down cross-legged to heal.
The mountaintop returned to its previous silence, perhaps waiting for Xu Mu's return to break it.
...
Inside the mine, thanks to his familiarity with the terrain, Qiongqi descended much faster than last time.
It took him only a moment to reach the bottom.
Xu Mu climbed off Qiongqi's back, his expression solemn.
The cave was too deep. When they reached the middle section, the sunlight would completely disappear. However, the reason he could maintain visibility was entirely due to the corpses of the great demons and the cold frost.
According to his rough estimation, there were at least a thousand tier-four great demon corpses in this mine.
Almost all of them had died by that sword.
Xu Mu stared at the center, at the ice-sealed Lycoris radiata, and couldn't help but shake his head.
He was still too weak. In battles of this caliber, he walked on thin ice. Even if he did his best, he still had to rely on luck at crucial moments.
If that Gan Jiang sword had attacked them just now, there was no doubt that ninety-nine percent of the people on the mountaintop would have become corpses under the sword, vanishing into thin air without even a trace.
"Is this thing dead or not? I have a feeling it's still alive."
Xu Mu regained his senses, remembering the main task.
He crossed countless great demon corpses and finally arrived before the ice-sealed, giant Lycoris radiata.
Xu Mu carefully sensed it. The reason he asked that question was because he sensed too much death within the Lycoris radiata's body.
"Although it is indeed dead, it shouldn't be dead like this."
Xu Mu suppressed his inner astonishment and shook his head.
He merely sent his divine soul over, and it felt like being in purgatory. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood lay before him, and a chilling intent pierced straight to his soul, daring him not to look a second time...
Qiongqi also sensed that something was wrong. He cautiously stepped forward, using his claws to cut off a section of the root and study it carefully.
"Lycoris radiata. Haven't seen one in many years."
The voice of the demon god also sounded from the sword in Xu Mu's hand.
"Right, you're a demon god."
Xu Mu suddenly remembered that the sword in his hand still contained the divine soul of a demon god.
Lycoris radiata grew in the Yellow Springs, which, in mythology, was one of the realms governed by the demon god.
The demon god recalled the Lycoris radiata and then said,
"Lycoris radiata. Although I have never seen it with my own eyes, I know of its existence."
"The four hundred and twenty-first million demon general once described the profoundness of this flower to me and explained that it is a symbiotic entity of extreme life and death forces, hence it has two main bodies."
Xu Mu's spirit was lifted. He automatically ignored the absurd number and asked,
"Two main bodies?"
Demon God:
"Yes, one symbolizing life and the other symbolizing death."
Afterward, when Xu Mu looked at the corpse of the Lycoris radiata again, his eyes were completely different.
According to the demon god, the Lycoris radiata had two main bodies. The one symbolizing life had already been taken by Ji Chang, so the one in front of him must be the one symbolizing death.
Since they were both main bodies, their value should be the same. If the body of life could revive the dead and facilitate reincarnation, what use would this body of death have?
"It probably doesn't have much use."
"Keeping it by your side might allow you to comprehend the Great Dao of Death."
The demon god concluded, making Xu Mu's heart pound.
No use, meaning the Great Dao of Death?
The Great Dao of Death!
Although Xu Mu didn't understand the strength of this Great Dao, just by its simple and direct name, he knew this Dao must be powerful, incredibly powerful.
If he could comprehend this Dao, his combat power would at least increase several times over!
"Every part of it contains unimaginable death energy, as well as inscriptions of the Great Dao."
"You can cut off some pieces to keep with you for easier comprehension of the Dao."
Qiongqi also reached a conclusion, the same as the demon god's.
He stored the section of root with the long tail in his spatial artifact.
Xu Mu also nodded. This corpse was so large, he could take more back. In the future, if he was short on money, he could sell it...
So, he swiftly cut off fifty pieces of the Lycoris radiata corpse, each about the size of a calf's leg, mostly taken from the roots.
After completing all this, Xu Mu took a deep breath.
Then, under Qiongqi's unwavering gaze, he slowly took out the golden egg from his spatial artifact. It was adorned with vine-like patterns, exuding immense nobility.
Sensing the aura emanating from the egg, Qiongqi's body involuntarily arched.
For the second time in his life, he felt a pressure from a higher life tier.
Other divine beast clans, after thousands or tens of thousands of years of reproduction, might not encounter this even once, yet he had encountered it twice.
The bloodline of divine beasts was inherently noble. They were always the ones to exert pressure. Setting aside cultivation realms, even the bloodline of human emperors was not as noble as theirs.
Yet, despite such a noble bloodline, Little Qiongqi had experienced overwhelming pressure twice.
The first time was from Xu Mu.
Qiongqi recalled their first meeting, when Xu Mu had brandished his demonic sword and attacked him, which had terrified him to his core.
That was not due to cultivation realm, but a genuine perception of pressure from a higher life tier. But now it was gone. Was it because he had first encountered the demonic sword back then?
Qiongqi shook his head; that was uncertain.
But the golden egg before him now truly gave him an indescribable pressure, stemming from his soul and bloodline.
The life gestating within this egg was perhaps several times more noble than his own.
Therefore, even Qiongqi, who believed Xu Mu wouldn't lie, couldn't help but be shocked upon seeing this golden egg.
"You really do have a dragon egg!"
Qiongqi's eyes blazed with fervor, then he said pitifully,
"Good sir, where did you get the dragon egg? Can you give me the whole thing? I want to take it home and raise it!"
...