Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 838: The Legendary Artifact Has Returned

Chapter 838: The Legendary Artifact Has Returned

After spending time recuperating on the quarrying island, which was rich in spiritual energy, Grand Ancestor Fuyou had recovered at least half of his former cultivation power. With no eighth-realm cultivators around, his red mist of mayflies became a weapon of mass control—an unstoppable force against the disciples of the Penglai Supreme Sect.

Whether they were trying to quell the chaos or stir it up, once they were engulfed by the red mist, both the Penglai Supreme Sect and the Penglai Secondary Sect disciples ended up on the same side. They all became Grand Ancestor Fuyou’s puppets.

Together, they worked to harvest spirit plants.

Harvesting mature spirit plants was perfectly reasonable, but pulling up the immature ones would normally be a terrible waste. However, Grand Ancestor Fuyou proposed an alternative method—uprooting entire mountains or groves along with the spiritual-energy-rich soil or the spiritual veins and channels running beneath them.

Of course, this wasn’t something one or two people could manage alone. However, with over a dozen cultivators working together, unearthing the spiritual veins became possible, even with some of them at lower cultivation levels.

The miners from Starhold Island were especially quick. After all, they had been digging for days and had grown quite skilled at it.

In groups of three to five, they excavated large chunks of the underground spiritual veins, leaving one massive crater after another across the three islands.

Du Wuhen was filled with such excitement as he led a group of puppets forward and shouted, “This way, this way! If you’ve dug up a spiritual vein, follow me!”

Everything happened so suddenly that the crowd fell silent. No one had expected someone like that to appear out of nowhere.

Even Lin Poyun was stunned. He couldn’t help but think to himself,

Well, damn. We were just here to snatch a few spirit plants and enchanted artifacts. But this old man? He’s ripping up their entire foundation. Now that’s what I call ruthless. Why didn’t I think of that? Guess I’m just not bad enough yet.

Meanwhile, the heavily injured Azure Dragon raised its head once more. A halo of jade-green light encircled the hole in its skull, pierced clean through by a devastating blow. Though black light tried to suppress the healing, the wound continued to mend with unyielding resilience.

Watching the events unfold across the three islands of the Penglai Secondary Sect, it was gripped by anxiety.

The Azure Dragon wasn’t foolish. Of course, it wouldn’t fight to the death for Penglai. Baize of the Mount Shu Sect would make the same choice. Though guardian celestial beasts had sworn oaths to protect their sects, not a single one would willingly throw its life away for the sake of the sect. That was absolutely impossible.

The Azure Dragon appeared to be sacrificing its life to push back and delay the actions of the enemies because it was powered by the Great Dao of Taiyi. Its primordial qi was nearly limitless, and even the True Form of Ksitigarbha couldn’t possibly kill it quickly.

It had sent word to Daoist Cangsheng at Mount Shu and believed that their legendary artifacts would return soon. Upon the return of the legendary artifacts, not only could the Azure Dragon hold off the True Form of Ksitigarbha, it would also be free to handle the powerful foe on the islands of the Penglai Secondary Sect.

The only question was... when would the legendary artifacts return?

"Huff."

It opened its mouth and exhaled a cloud of pure qi, enveloping Yang Shenlong within it. At the cost of a near-fatal wound, it managed to save the head disciple of the Penglai Supreme Sect and the top prodigy of his generation.

Yang Shenlong knew exactly what he had to do. Without a single glance back, he activated the Golden Path and vanished from Mirage Mountain in an instant.

To ensure his escape, the Azure Dragon paid the price, taking another devastating blow from the True Form of Ksitigarbha.

Boom!

The wound on the Azure Dragon’s head caved in even further, nearly collapsing half its skull. Scalding crimson-gold dragon blood burst forth, burning several deep holes into Mirage Mountain as it splashed down.

"RAAARRRR..." it wailed, unable to hold on any longer.

Lin Poyun didn’t want to waste any more time. Too much had already passed, and the several powerful cultivators from the Penglai Supreme Sect currently at Mount Shu could return at any moment.

He planned to deliver a crushing blow, either to kill or drive off the Azure Dragon, and then do exactly what that wicked senior was doing now—move Mirage Mountain back to his territory and slowly excavate whatever treasures lay within.

However, there was no need for Lin Poyun to strike again. The Azure Dragon had already chosen to retreat. If the legendary artifacts from Penglai didn’t return soon, it would die here. As a guardian celestial beast, it had already fulfilled its duty.

Just as the Azure Dragon decided to give up on protecting the islands of Penglai, a rift suddenly opened in the sky. A powerful aura from Mount Shu surged through, and half of an ancient, colossal enchanted wheel emerged.

It was the Celestial Cosmic Ring!

The golden irises in the Azure Dragon’s eyes flared with a blazing burst.

It’s back. It’s back! One of Penglai’s legendary artifacts has returned!

"RAAAAARRRR!"

The Azure Dragon let out a thunderous roar and turned toward the True Form of Ksitigarbha, unleashing its most powerful dragon chant.

Despite taking hit after hit, it never once retreated. But now that the legendary artifact of the Penglai Supreme Sect had returned, the time had come for these demons and evildoers to surrender!

Boom!

The massive Celestial Cosmic Ring emerged fully from the rift and came crashing down onto Mirage Mountain, blasting open a huge crater as it embedded itself deep into the mountainside.

After that, the rift closed, and all fell silent. Nothing else happened.

The Azure Dragon froze mid-roar, its body suspended in the air. Even without turning its head, it knew exactly what had just happened.

The good news was that the legendary artifact had returned. The bad news was that it had returned alone.

Uh... How awkward, the Azure Dragon thought. A Celestial Cosmic Ring has just fallen from the sky... and no one is controlling it.

Had it known the legendary artifact would return without a master, it would’ve caught the legendary artifact itself, which would have been far better than what just happened.

Currently, Lin Poyun and the Azure Dragon simply stared as the ownerless Celestial Cosmic Ring crashed to the ground.

After a moment of shared confusion, both sides lunged for it at lightning speed.

Clap!

The True Form of Ksitigarbha seized the Celestial Cosmic Ring with one hand.

Bang!

The Azure Dragon immediately coiled its body around the artifact, and a fierce tug-of-war broke out as they fought for control of the ring.

None of them were masters of a Great Dao that resonated with the Celestial Cosmic Ring, so neither held an advantage in compatibility. But when it came to raw strength, the True Form of Ksitigarbha was clearly superior.

The Azure Dragon’s tail was on the verge of being ripped off, yet it still couldn’t stop the Celestial Cosmic Ring from being dragged toward the opposing side.

In its heart, the Azure Dragon had already cursed out Daoist Cangsheng and the rest of higher-ups of the Penglai Supreme Sect several hundred times. Who handles things like this?! This is one of the rarest legendary artifacts in the world, and they just tossed it over like that? What a bunch of wasteful fools!

Lin Poyun, on the other hand, was ecstatic. If he could seize the Celestial Cosmic Ring today, then his Dark King Sect would possess two legendary artifacts.

The days of hiding and skulking would be over. They could walk openly in the world and speak with authority!

With a single raise of his arm, the diabolical sects across the four seas would rise to answer and even the land of the nine provinces would tremble.

Boom—

While the two sides wrestled for control, a red mist crept up the Celestial Cosmic Ring and began tugging it in yet another direction.

“You old bastard, what are you doing?!” Lin Poyun roared. He continued screaming inwardly, I respected you as a wicked senior and now you’re ruining my plans?!

Grand Ancestor Fuyou sounded apologetic as he said, “My apologies. I simply couldn’t resist the urge. There are only a few legendary artifacts in the world. Since the Penglai Supreme Sect does not value loyalty, courtesy, or camaraderie, I thought it would not be considered impolite if I tried to take their treasure. If this act of mine has offended either of you, I’ll be sure to kowtow and offer a sincere apology later.”

Well, aren’t you polite, you bastard? thought Lin Poyun. He was so furious that he actually burst out laughing.

Originally, this Celestial Cosmic Ring that fell from the sky was practically in his grasp. He only needed a moment more to shake off the Azure Dragon. But now that a second force had joined the struggle, the pressure on his side multiplied. Though the True Form of Ksitigarbha still held the advantage, it wasn’t easy to deal with two opponents at once.

With a legendary artifact at stake, of course none of them would let go.

Boom... boom... crackle... clash!

And so, the strange standoff became frozen in place.

High above the sky, the three Eminent Ones were fighting for control of the Celestial Cosmic Ring. On Mirage Mountain, evil entities rampaged and looted without restraint. Across the three islands of Penglai, crowds were busy digging up spiritual veins.

Everyone was busy in their own way, and for a brief moment, it almost felt... peaceful.

The only similarity between what was happening at the three locations was that the things that belonged to the Penglai Supreme Sect were being stolen.

Just as the deadlock dragged on, the clouds above swirled open, revealing a massive hand descending through a mist of cyan light.

A voice rang out, “If the three of you can’t come to an agreement, how about letting this old one hold onto it for now? There’s no need to harm the harmony between us.”

Then, another gigantic hand appeared, and a third...

Boom... boom... crackle... clash!

Each of the hands bore a golden seal. All three struck out—one toward Grand Ancestor Fuyou, one toward the Azure Dragon, and one toward Lin Poyun.

The hand striking at Grand Ancestor Fuyou unleashed the Flaming Bodhi Seal. Golden holy flames tore through the red mist, instantly incinerating countless Mayfly Seeds.

The hand aimed at the Azure Dragon carried the Mountain-Moving Seal of Arhat. It created this force that was too great to resist and sent the dragon hurtling a thousand zhang through the air.

The one targeting Lin Poyun bore the Vajra Seal of Righteous Thoughts. It summoned divine lightning with a single thought. Although the True Form of Ksitigarbha was not afraid of lightning at all, Lin Poyun recoiled like he was about to be bitten by a snake and quickly dodged.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the fourth hand struck while the others reeled. It seized the Celestial Cosmic Ring and lifted it in one swift motion.

As the clouds dispersed, a towering thousand-armed Buddha appeared in the sky, radiant with golden light, majestic and supreme.

Lin Poyun looked up and shouted in fury, “Dharma, you bastard! How dare you steal my opportunity!”