The Winged Dragon King and the Defiant Dragon

Just when everyone thought the matter had settled, the Red Dragon King suddenly erupted in fury and charged at Keke. Several blood-red energy blades shot from its twin horns, also targeting Xiao Chen in the process.

In truth, even Xiao Chen, whose cultivation had reached the seventh heaven of Mortal-Shedding, dared not be careless before a meter-long juvenile dragon king. For a Companion Dragon King, if allowed to grow safely, would make even the gods tremble. Though still young, it already possessed the power of six to eight heavenly tiers—an innate talent that inspired both awe and envy.

But before Xiao Chen could act, Keke grew angry. Earlier, though it had deliberately stepped on the Red Dragon King, it had not truly wanted to fight. Now the little white beast seriously waved its tiny claws. A seven-colored screen of radiance spread out, not only blocking the blood-red energy blades but also enveloping the Red Dragon King in a flash. Then, without any hesitation, it flicked its claws again and flung the Red Dragon King onto a towering ancient tree with a whoosh.

This result caused the Red Dragon King to roar in fury, sent the Green Dragon King and the Jade Dragon King exchanging glances, and left many cultivators dumbfounded. Of course, the few who had survived the ordeal of the City of the Dead were not overly surprised—they had seen Keke display its divine powers before.

The Green Dragon King and the Jade Dragon King rumbled lowly as they rushed to Keke's side, letting out repeated roars as if asking questions. Keke proudly waved its little paws, jumped onto King of Reincarnation's head, and 'ya-yad' with a showy tone—a truly speechless scene. An adorable little beast stealing the spotlight before several divine dragon kings. Only Xiao Chen, Liu Mu, Yizhen, Yan Qingcheng, Dugu Jianmo, and the others knew why the two dragon kings were crowding around Keke with their 'questions.' Last time, through the mysterious woman's communication with the Purple Dragon King, they had learned that Keke's divine art was actually a secret dragon technique. A snow-white little beast that knew even the secret arts of the dragon race—how could those in the know not marvel?

In the end, though the Red Dragon King was furious, it no longer took the initiative to attack Keke.

Finally, the chubby boy Niu Ren and the mysterious woman both arrived here one after another, accompanied by the Purple Dragon King and the Black Dragon King. The arrival of these two dragon kings nearly sparked another fierce battle among them. However, the Black Dragon King and the Purple Dragon King exercised considerable restraint. Their interest in Keke far exceeded their interest in the other dragon kings. Those who knew the inside story understood that they coveted Keke's sacred tree. But the snow-white little beast Keke could not have cared less.

'Perhaps things are not as dire as we imagine,' said the woman wreathed in rosy clouds to the crowd. 'I have communicated with the Purple Dragon King. The legendary Ancestral Dragon of the dragon race can break the island's seal, but it seems it must leave Dragon Island to do so. That is to say, the Ancestral Dragon and the Companion Dragon Kings are meant to leave this island anyway. We don't seem to have to force them. If we use the right methods, we might reduce many casualties.'

Liu Mu, the monk Yizhen, Dugu Jianmo, and Niu Ren each communicated with their dragon kings and received affirmative confirmation, giving everyone a glimmer of hope. It turned out that the future kings of the dragon race were originally going to leave this place; perhaps the Ancestral Dragon Divine Ship existed precisely for them.

Now five dragon kings had been gathered, and the goal of nine no longer seemed distant. When everyone truly understood where Liu Mu's and Yizhen's dragon kings had come from, they all felt a surge of exasperation—the earlier guess about Xiao Chen's 'dragon king cultivation plan' had actually come true. But no matter how much they envied and resented it, there was nothing to be done. Now the dragon race would strike ferociously at the slightest disturbance, slaughtering anyone who invaded their territory, completely closing the path for others to steal dragon eggs. In a sense, it was even safer to directly hunt down young dragon kings, because even though those savage dragons had lost their divine powers and their bestial nature outweighed their divinity, they still possessed bodies close to the divine—utterly cruel and terrifying.

The group set off under the lead of the five dragon kings, but Xiao Chen did not follow. Though many wished to borrow Keke's power to capture the young dragon king, Xiao Chen refused. After all, if these dragon kings ultimately survived, they would one day make even the gods tremble. Having Keke fight them now would only create powerful enemies for it. It was not that he failed to see the bigger picture—with five dragon kings involved, dealing with one should be sufficient. Of course, no one truly forced him; many feared that the demon who followed Xiao Chen would harm them.

The crowd gradually went far into the distance, while King Qin Guang, King Yan Luo, and King of Reincarnation remained behind, once again following at Xiao Chen's side.

The demon appeared in the forest. Gazing at the receding backs, he said, 'I daresay this time they will fail. If it were another dragon king, they might catch it, but this particular dragon king—even five dragon kings will have trouble trapping it.'

'Why? Could it be the legendary Ancestral Dragon has appeared?' Xiao Chen asked, looking at him with surprise.

'Though I have already seen eleven dragon kings, I have yet to set eyes on the legendary Ancestral Dragon. Perhaps it has not even been born yet.'

'What? As many as eleven dragon kings?' Xiao Chen felt extremely astonished.

'Of course. There may even be one or two more. However, summoning the divine ship you seek requires only nine dragon kings.' The demon's words confirmed the old woman's discovery about the divine ship records.

'I see... but you haven't yet said why even five dragon kings cannot trap the one discovered this time,' Xiao Chen said, looking at him with puzzlement. It was hard to imagine what kind of dragon king could stand against five Companion Dragon Kings.

'Heh, it's not that this dragon king is extraordinarily powerful in combat, but that its current ability is something no other dragon king can match. Because it can already fly. The other dragon kings will likely need a long time before they possess such a divine ability.'

'Why is it so special? Do dragon kings also have such clear disparities in strength?'

The demon shook his head with a smile. 'No. This is its innate divine art. Because it is a Winged Dragon King.'

'Winged Dragon King?!' Xiao Chen was greatly shocked. As far as he knew, the winged dragons were the only dragon clan not sealed. There seemed to be only one foreign winged dragon on Dragon Island. He still clearly remembered the Light Sacred Dragon that had been defeated by the Fallen Angel and had crashed onto the island. Could it be that it was a female, and had laid an egg on Dragon Island shortly after? That guess was very likely correct.

'So that's it. Truly unexpected,' Xiao Chen sighed.

At that moment, from the distant forests came repeated dragon roars and the shouts of cultivators. Clearly, they had discovered the Winged Dragon King's trail.

'Actually, if you find one more dragon king, you will have gathered nine,' the demon said with a faint smile.

'What do you mean? Have others already subdued dragon kings?' Xiao Chen's heart raced with excitement.

'Of course. Three other dragon kings have long been subdued. In fact, those three were the first to be captured.'

Hearing this, Xiao Chen quickly thought of the group that had first ventured deep into Dragon Island—the batch of older generation experts.

'You've guessed it, haven't you? The older, the wiser. Though they number only a little over thirty, they are far stronger than you young ones. If not for their excessive greed—wanting to enter the sacred mountain of the dragon race in search of the legendary Ancestral Dragon—they might have subdued even more Companion Dragon Kings.'

The demon's news was startling. Without anyone realizing it, the nine dragon kings were nearly assembled. It was as if the hope of leaving Dragon Island was already in sight.

'Leaving Dragon Island is entirely possible now. It's as good as nearly accomplished,' the demon sneered. 'Have you made your decision? If not, you may regret it for the rest of your life. I don't want to kill you either. You can just stay on Dragon Island and keep me company.'

Keke, who had been pretending to sleep, jumped up in annoyance and glared at the demon with its large, lively eyes. But the little beast knew its limits; it had no offensive spells and could not deal with the demon for now. Its immobilization art was still slower than the demon's transcendent speed.

Xiao Chen drew in a sharp breath. If everyone left and he was the only one stranded on Dragon Island to grow old alone—the thought was truly terrifying.

'Eh, these three skeletons... they have no small origins!' The demon seemed to have only just noticed King Qin Guang and the others. He sounded somewhat surprised. 'They must have grown up in recent years. I have never seen them before. And their growth rate is so fast. Having fallen on Dragon Island for so many ages, why have they only awakened now?' To receive such praise from him spoke volumes about the potential of the three kings. He circled around the three white skeletons and said, 'Could they have some background from before their deaths?'

'They can grow into kings,' Xiao Chen said, hoping to draw out more comments from the demon so he could understand the future potential of the three skeletons.

'Kings? Heh... that's an exaggeration. Even if a dead spirit or undead being grows to its ultimate state, how many throughout history have broken into the realm of kings? A king is an existence equivalent to a dragon king. Don't be fooled by the Undying King that appeared in the Death Swamp—it is still as far from a true king as the heavens are from the earth.'

These words gave Xiao Chen a comprehensive understanding of a king's power. Yet he was still puzzled and asked, 'I once entered the City of the Dead and saw several skulls of what seemed to be kings. If they were so powerful, how could they have died tragically in that city?'

'Impossible!' the demon said with absolute certainty. 'A king can only be sealed, never killed. Hmm, now that I think of it, the fact that a dozen or so cultivators of your level managed to escape the City of the Dead is truly a miracle.'

'The skull with the complete lotus imprint—was that not a king?'

'Far from it.' The demon gave a cold snort and said no more.

At that moment, the dragon roars in the distant forests were gradually fading. Xiao Chen wanted to see the results for himself. He glanced back at the demon, then strode toward the forest. This time, the demon did not follow.

The forest was littered with broken branches and fallen leaves—clearly this area had seen a battle. Most of the people had already left, with only Liu Mu and Yizhen's group still searching nearby.

'It's a Winged Dragon King. That little dragon was very alert. After fighting with the other dragon kings for just a moment, it shot into the sky and fled,' Liu Mu sighed helplessly. 'When we first spotted its tracks, we were already puzzled because its speed through the forest was too fast. We only knew it was a silver dragon king, but we never expected it to have a pair of wings.'

This outcome was truly unexpected. After all, among the entire dragon race, the winged dragons were hardly a strong bloodline. Yet a dragon king had appeared precisely in this race. It forced one to believe that the legends were true: the birth of a dragon king was not limited by race—even the weakest dragon lineage might produce an Ancestral Dragon.

Not far off, faint low moans came from what seemed to be an injured animal. As Xiao Chen turned his head, a look of astonishment immediately appeared on his face. He saw again that small black-brown dragon—the one that was tenacious, stubborn, and proud.

At this moment, it lay in a pool of blood, staining the grass and flowers beneath it red. The agony made it moan involuntarily. Keke's large eyes instantly went wide, and it shot over with a whoosh.

Xiao Chen felt it was almost unbelievable. Last time, when he had seen this little dragon fighting two dragon kings, it had been mortally wounded, its chest and abdomen ripped open so that its internal organs were visible through the wound. He had never imagined it would survive.

He walked over and found that the little dragon's previous wounds had nearly completely healed. But this time it had suffered another fatal injury: a huge bloody hole in its neck, and its ribs were nearly pierced through. By normal standards, such injuries should be unsurvivable.

'Truly a strange little dragon,' Liu Mu remarked beside him. 'When we arrived here, we found it fighting the Winged Dragon King. Though it was utterly defeated, daring to fight a king of its own race takes real courage.'