The Black Gale Abduction

The waterfall around Xiao Chen briefly reversed flow, then seemed to stand still. Spiritual energy converged from all directions, condensing amidst the waves and mingling with the mist, forming streaks of sacred, hazy light.

Breaking through the water, Xiao Chen leaped into the mountain forest. Over these eleven days, his insights had deepened profoundly; his divine consciousness had further condensed and strengthened, drawing closer to the legendary treasure body. He felt himself infinitely approaching the peak of the Ninth Heaven of Mortal-Shedding!

Yes, although his physical body and divine consciousness were stronger, he still had not broken through to the Ninth Heaven. The legendary 'Great Realm Plain' already blocked his path—it was no easy feat to cross in a single charge.

The Five Great Realms—Mortal-Shedding, Spirit-Treasury, Sky-Mastery, Nirvana, and Deathless Longevity—each realm was divided into Nine Heavenly Tiers. Ascending within a major realm was like climbing to a higher peak from a lower one; difficult, but not insurmountable. Each breakthrough brought a quickened cultivation progress.

But crossing major realms was immensely hard. The difficulty of stepping from an ordinary master into Mortal-Shedding was unimaginable, and the leap from Mortal-Shedding into Spirit-Treasury was likewise.

Although Xiao Chen had entered the Ninth Heaven of Mortal-Shedding, seeming adjacent to the Spirit-Treasury realm, this time it was not simply a matter of climbing a higher peak.

He now had to cross a great plain as high as the Ninth Heaven 'peak' before he could truly charge into the Spirit-Treasury realm. From climbing a single mountain to crossing an equal-height plain—the road ahead was vast. That plain could be understood as a 'giant mountain', or many 'peaks'.

Every major realm's ninth heaven was like this—an extremely difficult checkpoint.

For others, prolonged training without a major breakthrough might bring frustration, but Xiao Chen's spiritual perception was sharp. Though unable to break into Spirit-Treasury, he still felt his cultivation advancing, purely in spirit and body, no longer focused on brute force.

This did not discourage him but rather delighted him. What could be more thrilling than the sublimation and evolution of spirit and body? This was the necessary path of transformation—only through the accumulation of quantity and potential qualitative change would he truly enter the Spirit-Treasury realm.

A peak Ninth Heaven expert undergoing continuous sublimation—this alone was enough to make him stand tall among the young elite of the Southern Wastes, one of the few finest trees on the summit.

After a brief rest in the wild forest, after several hours Xiao Chen found Keke, snuggled up to a pile of earthly spiritual treasures, fast asleep. The little snow-white beast was incredibly perceptive—no concentrated essence of heaven and earth could escape its eyes. The vast Southern Wastes were a treasure trove to it.

It was a scene that would make heaven jealous. Rainbow light flickered, and mouthwatering Purple-Gold King Ginseng, Seven-Colored Divine Zhi, and Golden Spirit Orchids nearly buried Keke. A sweet fragrance filled the air, and it slept as peacefully as a child.

Then, after several more hours, Xiao Chen found the Little Defiant Dragon, scarred and battered. For a dragon king at the Ninth Heaven to suffer such wounds, one could imagine the fierce battle it had endured.

But Xiao Chen was reassured, knowing that in the nearby mountains there was no absolute force that could kill the Little Defiant Dragon. Fatty Zhuge had once given him a map of the wilderness around Heavenly Emperor City, with red crosses warning of forbidden areas.

This was Fatty Zhuge's training plan for the Little Defiant Dragon—life-or-death combat in the wild, not confined to the beast-fighting arenas. The fat man truly had an eye for beast fighting and knew how to maximize their potential.

Fatty Zhuge believed the Little Defiant Dragon was different from ordinary beasts; only such training could help it continuously transform.

After a day of rest, Xiao Chen flew back to Heavenly Emperor City with Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon. His home had been ransacked—clearly visited by someone. He suspected Hoffman and Zhuge Kun.

Indeed, it was the work of their followers. The two scoundrels had been nearly suffocated by Xiao Chen over the past ten-odd days. They had power to use but no outlet. They had finally brought some older cousins from their families, only to find Xiao Chen had vanished.

Xiao Chen paid it no mind. He strolled out with Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon, but noticed something was happening in Heavenly Emperor City. Many practitioners had left; even Hoffman and Zhuge Kun were nowhere to be seen.

After some inquiries, he learned that shocking news had come from deep in the Southern Wastes: someone had discovered the ruins of a Divine Palace, and two young sacred beasts were roaming there.

In the vast Southern Wastes, only two or three sacred beasts could be found in a decade. Two appearing at once was sensational—and even more precious, they were young sacred beasts that could be raised safely. On top of that, the Divine Palace ruins made it even more earth-shaking.

Could young sacred beasts roaming the Divine Palace ruins be ordinary? Perhaps their ancestors were connected to Heavenly Gods—or perhaps they themselves were what was called Heavenly Gods.

So-called ancient Heavenly Gods were not necessarily human deities; as long as they were powerful enough to make even immortals tremble, even noble bloodline beasts or plant spirits could be so named.

If so, those two young sacred beasts were surely the highest-grade combat beasts among sacred beasts.

According to legend, there were several races that could contend with the dragon race—rare earth-shattering breeds! Once, Yizhen the monk had suspected Keke to be one of those races.

If the two young sacred beasts truly belonged to such races and could be tamed, the future would be unimaginable.

The strongest races—just thinking about it made one's blood boil.

Many great powers in the Southern Wastes had mobilized. Even some old experts could not sit still. Many young disciples followed their family's masters.

And many foreign experts who had come for the beast-fighting tournament also headed into the millions of mountains deep in the Southern Wastes.

Without doubt, many would die for this; blood would stain the wild mountains. Recall when the Ancestral Dragon Ship returned, it triggered months of bloody battles, dyeing the sand red. When Xiao Chen returned months later, people were still fighting at the seaside.

Dragon Island had divine power suppression; old experts dared not land there, but the Divine Palace ruins in the Southern Wastes had no such restriction. Many masters rushed over immediately.

Of course, the Divine Palace ruins themselves were the main draw; perhaps there would be astonishing discoveries within.

"Let's go, we'll join the excitement too. Only watch from behind, observe but not participate."

Almost all the young generation in Heavenly Emperor City had gone. How could Xiao Chen not go? He believed many exciting things would happen.

Destination: deep Southern Wastes!

No need to ask directions—the trail on that road was obvious.

The Southern Wastes spanned thousands of miles. Millions of mountains, dense forests, towering ancient trees blotting out the sun, apes howling and tigers roaring, all kinds of fierce beasts roaming, and many rare earth-shattering breeds and primeval beasts.

Xiao Chen walked unhurriedly through the primal mountain range. At first he did not spread the Undying Wings to fly, because he had no intention of contending for the two young sacred beasts—doing so would get people killed!

The struggle for the dragon kings had lasted months, until the parties accepted their final ownership. These two young sacred beasts would not be decided easily. At the very least, several great powers in the Southern Wastes would compete. Given his current strength, Xiao Chen could not shake them.

It went quite smoothly. There were no unexpected incidents along the way. Sometimes he flew, sometimes he walked through the mountains. After a few days, he entered the depths of the mountain range.

Of course, 'depths' was relative—two thousand li from Heavenly Emperor City. They could not truly enter the legendary forbidden zone; no one dared enter the deepest part of the Southern Wastes.

Ancient trees rose hundreds of meters, blocking out the sky. Vines as thick as water barrels could coil around half a mountain peak. This was the most pristine wilderness, normally devoid of human tracks.

The Divine Palace ruins appeared!

A huge broken stone stood in the wild forest, carved with several bold, vigorous ancient characters. Every stroke seemed to have traversed time, bearing the sediment of endless ages.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chen did not recognize those characters, but he was certain they were from the same era as the characters on the black chain binding the white-shelled turtle—the same script, ancient divine writing.

In this area, he could see figures moving in the ancient forest, meaning he was infinitely close to the destination.

After crossing several more mountains, Xiao Chen finally arrived at his destination.

The scene before him was astonishing. An island floated silently in the air, not more than five or six square kilometers in size, but it hung so abruptly over the mountain range, seemingly impossible.

The gray-brown island was like a giant meteorite, bearing no sign of life. It hovered only a hundred meters above the ground, far lower than the surrounding mountains.

Xiao Chen soared into the sky, gazing at the floating island from nearby. No greenery on it—only a stretch of barren ruins. In the distant past, there must have been a magnificent palace—the divine residence of a Heavenly God. This should be the so-called Divine Island.

Endless ages had passed; it was hard to imagine why it still floated in the air.

The ground below the Divine Island was also a field of rubble, clearly disturbed. But now there were few figures—everyone had gone to hunt the two young sacred beasts.

Xiao Chen descended, bringing Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon to the ruins on the ground.

Broken tiles, shattered boulders—everything spoke of a once-grand building complex here.

He did not know whether the others had found anything in the ruins. He did not fret; he strolled casually.

Suddenly—terror!

A terror from the soul!

An incredibly sinister aura instantly enveloped Xiao Chen!

It all happened in an instant.

A violent wind swept up all the rubble from the ground, raising a terrifying black whirlwind near the ruins, charging over with astonishing speed.

Xiao Chen was stunned. The black wind was too fast—it swept in instantly. He pushed his power to the limit, but before he could act, he heard Keke's angry cries and the Little Defiant Dragon's roars.

The black gale, carrying rubble and shattered wood, swept away Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon, passing right by Xiao Chen but not touching him—its target was only the two little beasts.

In that split second, Xiao Chen caught only a glimpse of a huge beastly shadow and shining black scales within the furious black wind—nothing more.

Extremely shaken! It seemed to be a terrifying beast. Xiao Chen immediately spread the Undying Wings and gave chase.

Beyond his imagination, the black wind was too violent and fast. After smashing through several miles of forest, it left the ground, rushing away at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, then changed direction several times and vanished completely.

Too fast! Even with the Undying Wings, Xiao Chen could not catch up, and he did not know where the furious black wind had swept to.

"Damn it!" Xiao Chen was furious. To have Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon taken—what sort of creature did this?

He flew through the sky, spreading the Undying Wings to maximum speed, crossing mountain after mountain, trying to find traces of the black whirlwind.

But he was disappointed. He could not find it.

They had taken Keke and the Little Defiant Dragon! Xiao Chen's anger blazed, but then he calmed down. Thinking back to that fleeting glimpse, the huge beastly shadow and the coldly gleaming black scales seemed to suggest it was not human! He thought of many things—the matter was likely very complicated.