The Snowy Summit Confrontation

The bitter wind whipped Xiao Chen's robes like battle flags, his black hair streaming wildly behind him. His chiseled features were frozen in cold resolve, and the light in his eyes cut like drawn steel. In that moment, his tall, powerful figure—godlike and demonic—seared itself into the memory of every onlooker.

"Heavens, what am I seeing?!"

"Unbelievable!"

"A divine dragon shielding his body—impossible!"

The opposite snow peak erupted in noise.

Among the cultivators trapped on Dragon Island, Xiao Chen was not the only one who had been training relentlessly. Everyone was making rapid progress, driven by the immense pressure of survival. To stagnate meant death, for all knew that in this place, only strength gave one the right to live.

Recently, almost every practitioner had advanced—Xiao Chen was no exception. Yet when they saw the dragon shadow coiling around his body, their awe was tinged with dismay. That spectral vision told them how far he had climbed.

Perhaps they overthought it, for even Xiao Chen did not fully understand what had happened. The ferocious dragon shadows that had wreathed him were gone; when he tried to summon them again, the radiant beasts would not reappear.

He pondered silently. It must have been the release of accumulated energy upon breaking into the Sixth Heaven of Mortal-Shedding. After his breakthrough, he had remained in a state of ethereal emptiness—until their provocation stirred his fury. The dragon force hidden within his divinely transformed acupoints had burst forth, triggered by his surging emotions, creating that miraculous sight.

He had always known that the deified acupoints would eventually reveal their power. Perhaps this was an early manifestation of future divine arts.

Xiao Chen and the crowd of practitioners stood on two separate snow peaks, facing each other across the void. Silence descended unexpectedly. Morning sunlight spilled across the snowy crags as the primordial energy of heaven and earth flowed slowly around them. The earlier tension and noise faded into an uneasy calm.

"Xiao Chen, hand over the dragon eggs!" A sudden shout rang out—clearly a pawn's cry. Similar voices rose from different parts of the crowd, seven or eight in total, all inciting.

Xiao Chen's gaze was like a torch. The peaks were very close, and he clearly identified several faces: three from the Natural Alliance founded by the forest-clan strongman Yalode, and three from the Treefolk Valley Alliance founded by the Royal Celestial Maiden Zhao Lin'er.

Clearly, the dragon eggs were not their true target. Yalode and Zhao Lin'er aimed to turn the mob against him.

People are blind by nature. Though most were rational, a minority were stirred up and joined the clamor.

"Hand over the dragon eggs!"

"The eggs belong to everyone!"

"Don't think you can keep them all for yourself!"

Xiao Chen raised his right hand. A massive palm formed entirely of divine light shot into the ice cave behind him, seized the shattered Lion King Dragon egg, and hurled it with tremendous force toward the opposite peak.

The golden shell, infused with his energy, blazed with dazzling light like a meteor shower raining down upon the distant snow peak.

"Here are your precious dragon eggs. I already ate them for breakfast. If you want some, go fetch them from the dragon nests yourselves. Why expect to reap without sowing?"

The translucent shards were like fine jade. Though no longer as radiant as when whole, they still shimmered with an otherworldly luster—unmistakably a peerless treasure.

The crowd was stunned into silence by his words. Was this man utterly devoid of reverence? He had... eaten a dragon egg! The sheer waste left them speechless. He had devoured a future dragon alive.

Soon, they believed him. The shell was broken from the inside by human force, not by a hatching whelp, for frozen albumen still clung to the jade-like fragments.

Everyone felt the urge to vomit blood. Xiao Chen was driving them mad—eating dragon eggs like common food! Not even gods were so extravagant!

"Xiao Chen, you devil!"

"Xiao Chen, you've gone too far!"

Some even cursed him as a "wastrel," their hatred palpable. Dragon eggs! And he had devoured them for breakfast!

"I risked my life to take these eggs. How I consume them is my own affair. If you want to eat, go get your own."

The crowd could barely contain themselves. Even those who had not come for the eggs felt like vomiting blood. Who wanted to eat? The man actually thought they had gathered here because they craved dragon eggs! Everyone agreed that Xiao Chen was deliberately goading them.

"Xiao Chen, you absolute bastard!"

"Xiao Chen—do you think you're a god, eating dragon eggs like that?!"

The opposite peak was in uproar. At the same time, Yalode and Zhao Lin'er's agents resumed their agitation.

"Someone saw yesterday that Xiao Chen took more than one egg. There must be more in the ice cave behind him!"

"Make him hand over the rest!"

"Hand over the dragon eggs—they belong to everyone, to all of us!"

Xiao Chen turned and spoke to the three skeletons behind him. "Take the eggs and withdraw. Head deep into the snow mountains." Even though he had not previously entertained a "dragon-king raising" plan, the pressure from the mob was provoking that very thought.

The skeletons did not move. They stood silently, watching him. Xiao Chen shook his head. "You're not needed here. If I want to retreat, no one can stop me. What matters is that the eggs we risked everything to obtain aren't seized."

The skeletons no longer hesitated. Their soul-light shone through their bones, making them gleam like translucent jade. They dashed into the ice cave, seized the radiant dragon eggs, shattered the ice wall from the other side, and fled toward the back of the snow peak.

"Keke, you leave too," Xiao Chen called to the little white beast rolling in the snow behind him.

Keke seemed utterly oblivious to the impending battle, playing like an innocent child. It shook its head like a chubby snowman, blinking its large, bright eyes at Xiao Chen.

"Keke, don't you want to eat something delicious? Don't you want that round little belly to stop aching?"

"Ya-ya..." Keke huffed indignantly and dropped its head. Then it curled its plump body into a ball like a snowball and rolled straight down the peak after the skeletons.

The crowd on the opposite peak had only seen the skeletons enter the cave; they did not know the skeletons had already escaped through the back.

"Everyone, charge! What are you waiting for?" The hidden instigators resumed their incitement. But no one took the first step. The recent avalanche had been too shocking. If another occurred, dying would be utterly pointless.

"There's nothing to fear. The loose snow has already fallen. Let's rush them together!" At last, someone stepped forward. Where one led, others followed. Dozens of cultivators surged toward Xiao Chen's peak.

For such people, Xiao Chen knew words were useless. Everyone understood the situation. Only one solution remained—slaughter. He stared coldly at the charging practitioners, his gaze like a blade-edge sweeping over each face. But he did not see Yan Qingcheng or her allies among them.