Chapter 1123: Heaven Is Watching
Lan Shaobai's figure flashed as he jumped off the Dragon's Gate's warship and appeared in midair in the next instant, catching Yue Chenxi. As he looked at Yue Chenxi, who was unconscious but still obviously in a lot of pain, his face sank and filled with rage.
"My apologies, Young Master Lan. I was a little heavy-handed. This little girl is probably crippled," Fu Lianyun said sinisterly as he revealed a smile on his crafty face.
Lan Shaobai growled coldly, "Heaven is watching. You will receive retribution for this sooner or later."
After Lan Shaobai said that, he carried Yue Chenxi back to the Dragon's Gate's warship. The Metal Blood Sect's flagship was already charging forward, leading the three hundred Sage Grade warships.
Clearly, the so-called three matches to determine who would leave was just a sham.
No matter who won or lost, the eight factions would not be leaving. They just wanted to strike at Heavenly Star Island's morale.
"Brother Lianyun, that was good. The moment you appeared, you crippled one of them. This is going to rattle Heavenly Star Island's group and undermine their morale. We will surely succeed in conquering Heavenly Star Island this time!"
When Fu Lianyun returned to the warship, Chen Ming showered him with praise.
Fu Lianyun said, "This time, we have thrown all caution to the wind by attacking Heavenly Star Island. One side must die."
Chen Ming patted Fu Lianyun's shoulder, saying, "Rest assured, as long as Xiao Chen appears, Zhuang Zhenghe will definitely show up to help us block him. Now, just focus on killing these greenhorns. Don't leave even a single one of them alive."
On the Dragon's Gate's warship, Lan Shaobai showed a calm expression as he did his best to suppress the rage in his heart. Once he regained his cool, he made a decision: retreat, activate the Dragon's Gate's Heaven Locking Formation, and then defend the island to the death.
Mo Chen had repaired a portion of the Dragon's Gate's Heaven Locking Formation, which would be impossible to break without a Consummation quasi-Emperor. It would be sufficient for blocking the eight factions.
However, since only a portion of this formation was repaired, they could not keep it activated for that long—a mere three days for certain. Unless they were forced into a bad situation, they would not activate it.
Originally, Lan Shaobai planned on using the advantages of their King Grade warships to fight it out with the eight factions and buy as much time as possible for Xiao Chen.
However, due to the injuries Yue Chenxi sustained, the people on his side were all enraged, unable to calm themselves. Fighting a war in that state would be extremely dangerous. All it would take was a moment of carelessness or rashness, and they could die.
Lan Shaobai had no other choice but to abandon his initial plan. Now, he could only hope that Xiao Chen would come out of the Dragon's Gate's secret realm within three days.
His only consolation was that the faction from Black Flame Island was nowhere to be found.
The two most crucial people—Xiao Chen and Zhuang Zhenghe—were both absent.
From a certain perspective, whichever one of the two appeared first would be able to tilt the battle in their favor.
However, who would appear first?
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Zhuang Zhenghe was moving from island to island to conduct purification ceremonies, forcefully purifying all the people on the island without exception—which included the families of the faction leaders. His means were cruel and bloody; these islands became like hell on earth.
How could these ordinary people be a match for cultivators? No matter how many of them there were, they were just like ants. This was an incredibly wretched sight.
---
As for Xiao Chen and Mo Chen, they walked for a long time after entering the secret realm before they finally reached where they suspected the treasures were stored.
Along the way, the two discovered many broken restrictions and remains of various traps and combat puppets—proof that someone had come here before.
However, when Xiao Chen and Mo Chen reached the foot of the mountain where they believed the treasure lay, they heaved a sigh of relief.
There was an ancient stone door at the side of the mountain, and it looked to be tightly sealed without any cracks in it; it should not have been opened before.
Of course, the exact situation could be determined only after entering.
Xiao Chen looked at the tightly sealed stone door before him and calmed himself. He decided to try attacking.
His figure flashed and arrived before the stone door. Then, he threw a heavy punch at the stone door. Mo Chen did not even have time to try to stop him.
"Bang!" The stone door did not budge at all. Instead, it reflected the huge force and knocked Xiao Chen back. Tears appeared in his internal organs, which showed how puissant the rebound was.
In terms of physical body strength, Xiao Chen would be hard-pressed to find an opponent within quasi-Emperor.
If another person were this rash, that person would have died already.
"Are you alright? Why are you so impetuous?" Mo Chen quickly went over and asked out of concern.
Xiao Chen circulated his energy for the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art. After a few breaths, the tears in his internal organs had all healed, without any injuries left behind.
He spat out some turbid Qi and frowned. "I was somewhat rash. I feel that it is impossible to open the stone door with force. Even if a Martial Emperor came, it would be useless. I am sure that no one has touched the things inside."
Mo Chen nodded and said, "It looks like this stone door blocked the Three Holy Lands. However, you are the Azure Emperor's descendant. Despite that, it still blocked you. Perhaps you need some kind of token to open this door."
As the two spoke, they slowly arrived before the stone door. Then, they carefully examined it for clues.
Azure Dragon motifs were carved on the ancient stone door; they looked very tyrannical and extraordinary.
The two looked around the stone door for a long time but found no clues whatsoever. Xiao Chen could not help feeling somewhat discouraged.
After putting in one month of effort without sleep or rest, he ended up getting blocked outside the treasure trove, unable to enter. His depression was easy to imagine.
Back then, the Azure Emperor led the Dragon's Gate around the Heavenly Starry Ocean and fought many battles. He destroyed an unknown number of sects and killed plenty of experts.
One could easily picture how vast the war trophies were. However, Xiao Chen could not enter.
"Big Brother Xiao, come and take a look at this." Suddenly, Mo Chen called out. It seemed that she discovered something on the mountainside not far from the stone door.
Xiao Chen quickly went over and saw that she had cleared out an area to reveal a rhombus-shaped indentation. The mountainside had all sorts of protrusions. If one did not pay proper attention, one would not discover the recess.
Revealing an expression of joy, he asked, "How did you find it?"
Mo Chen smiled and replied, "You forget. I'm an expert at finding hidden mechanisms. You saw my capabilities during the trip to the treasure mountain. The stone door before us is not very complicated. You just need the token to open it. If you do not have the token, then even if you were extremely powerful, you won't be able to open it.
"It looks very simple, but it is actually very tyrannical. Big Brother Xiao, think very carefully. See if you have any token of the Dragon's Gate that could fit this recess."
Xiao Chen thought for a moment and immediately recalled an item. He took out the Azure Dragon Medallion and said, "Mo Chen, see if this is the item."
Mo Chen received the Azure Dragon Medallion and compared it to the indentation. Then, she exclaimed joyfully, "It should be right! It is it!"
Right after saying that, she placed the Azure Dragon Medallion into the recess. Indeed, it fitted perfectly.
When the Azure Dragon Medallion was seated, the Azure Dragon motifs carved on the tightly shut, ancient stone door slowly glowed. Rocks fell off, exposing the stone door's true form.
The stone door now revealed its original appearance: two great bronze doors and a signboard with "Dragon's Gate Treasure Trove" written on it.
The light on the doors did not fade away. Xiao Chen and Mo Chen exchanged glances and saw joy in each other's eyes. The doors were about to open.
However, for some reason, one hour passed, and the bronze doors still did not move, despite revealing their true form.
The two's expressions slowly turned somewhat unsightly. Unexpectedly, the doors did not open yet.
What's the problem? Why are these doors not opening?
They both found the situation strange. Given that the doors revealed their true form, the Azure Dragon Medallion should be the right token. However, why are the doors not open yet?
Mo Chen took out the Azure Dragon Medallion and started to think quickly. The design of the stone doors was basic. It did not contain much mystery to it.
As long as one had the token, one should be able to open the doors.
Xiao Chen frowned, not knowing what to do or what was going on. The treasure trove was right before them. Even with the key, they still could not enter. This kind of depressing feeling was suffocating.
It was one thing if one could not enter. What was the point of giving someone hope, then taking it away?
Suddenly, Mo Chen thought of something. She said, "Big Brother Xiao, how about placing a drop of your essence blood on the Azure Dragon Medallion and trying again?"
Although Xiao Chen found the suggestion strange, he still did as she said and dripped his essence blood on the Azure Dragon Medallion before placing it back in the recess.
"Ka ca!"
This time, there was nearly no delay. The large bronze doors instantly opened, and a cold wind blew out, carrying a lot of dust.
The doors opened so fast that Xiao Chen did not manage to react. After a moment, he asked in pleasant surprise, "Mo Chen, how did you think of it?"
A smile appeared on her face as she replied, "This is a contingency plan that the Azure Emperor set up, a method prepared as insurance. If the Azure Dragon Medallion ended up in the hands of someone else and not his descendants', they would not be able to open this Dragon's Gate Treasure Trove.
"It is a very simple method, but it guaranteed that this Dragon's Gate Treasure Trove would not end up in the hands of others in case something happened."
Xiao Chen understood. So that was what was going on. Now that he grasped the reason, he discovered the answer was actually very simple.
"Come, let's go and take a look at the war trophies that the Azure Emperor collected, see what good things there are."
The two showed expressions of anticipation. Then, they calmed themselves and strode into the Dragon's Gate Treasure Trove.
The first thing that entered their eyes was a large mound of Spirit Stones. There were piles upon piles of them, each one looking like a small mountain.
Xiao Chen glanced around casually. Unexpectedly, they were all Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
Spirit Stones were the foundation for cultivation. Superior Grade Spirit Stones held a great attraction for weaker cultivators.
A regular sect normally gave out Superior Grade Spirit Stones as a stipend.
Before Xiao Chen advanced to grandmaster-level Martial Sage, the primary resource he used had also been Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
However, as his cultivation rose over time, the aid Superior Grade Spirit Stones could provide him declined. Eventually, he gave up on them.
Mo Chen said in shock, "There is a total of a hundred piles here. Each pile probably has five million Superior Grade Spirit Stones. Which is to say, there are at least five hundred million Superior Grade Spirit Stones before us here.
"Such a large sum is more than enough to start up a Rank 9 sect."