The Dragon King's Burden

This young existence that would one day cause even gods to retreat… many wished to possess it, to fight over it, but many had heard that this one was different from other Dragon Kings, that it seemed connected to the being in the depths of the Southern Wastes. Those with ulterior motives would surely bring disaster upon their clans.

Silently sweeping his gaze across the eight directions, the Little Defiant Dragon's eyes held not only loneliness but also a faint trace of sorrow. To kill one's own siblings, to advance over the corpses of other Dragon Kings—this was their fate! Only the strongest could survive! Otherwise, one could only withdraw and abandon the path of the Dragon King, let alone dream of becoming the Ancestral Dragon!

At this moment, only Xiao Chen understood the Little Defiant Dragon's grief. Such a cruel path it must walk, unhesitatingly! Not for itself, but for the entire dragon race. The dragons needed a true Ancestral Dragon, needed to break the seal! Each young Dragon King bore this mission. Even if only one could survive in the end, the fallen would have no regrets.

Xiao Chen knew that the Cyan Dragon King at home, if it fully recovered its wits, would become the Little Defiant Dragon's next opponent. They would duel at their peak, a life-or-death battle, killing a sibling of the same clan to absorb that trace of Ancestral Dragon qi.

Without any delay, Xiao Chen quickly left the VIP room to welcome the Little Defiant Dragon, wanting to bring it home as soon as possible.

"Congratulations! Congratulations! Little Defiant Dragon won the battle!" The fat man popped out, grinning cheekily. He seemed to already see the dazzling light of ten thousand gold coins.

"Enough of that. What about the grade-one heavenly spirit essence I asked you to buy? It's been so long and you still haven't gotten it? I need it now to save Little Defiant Dragon."

Mentioning this, Fatty Zhuge was furious: "That old geezer is too mercenary. When he learned I wanted to buy the Nine-Grade Lotus Platform, he raised the price from twenty-eight thousand gold to thirty-eight thousand. He thinks I'm a sucker! And even worse, the other families all raised their prices too. They want to bleed us dry! Damn it, I've been wearing out my tongue with them these past few days. These profiteers are really despicable!"

"Find a way as soon as you can."

Having said this, Xiao Chen ran straight to the back and picked up the blood-soaked Little Defiant Dragon, carrying it away.

As he left, he heard a man's furious and grief-stricken cursing: "I want to kill that silver dragon! I want to kill that brat! Pay for my Golden Dragon King! My Dragon King! How am I supposed to explain this to those old bastards…"

Xiao Chen had no time to bother with this man. He had neither the time nor the mood. Holding the grievously wounded Little Defiant Dragon, he soared into the sky and quickly returned home.

He shook awake Keke, who was sound asleep, and borrowed the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree from the little creature. Xiao Chen communicated with the sacred tree over and over until, after an hour, he finally established a natural and harmonious connection.

The sacred tree blazed with seven-colored light, then was transferred onto the Little Defiant Dragon's body. Seven-colored radiance flashed as the sacred tree slowly sank into the Little Defiant Dragon's body, beginning to regulate its injuries.

At this, Xiao Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Before long, Fatty Zhuge arrived, informing him that the damned profiteer had raised the price again. Nothing less than four hundred thousand gold would do, and he proclaimed that these were critical times—if any of the competing sacred beasts were mortally wounded, grade-one heavenly spirit essence would be a second life, a third life, a fourth life!

"Damn it, I wish a thief would visit that place and just steal it for us," the fat man grumbled.

Swoosh!

The snow-white little beast turned into a streak of white light and vanished.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The fat man yelled in fright. "Come back! I was just kidding!"

Xiao Chen couldn't stop it either.

The snow-white little beast had run off like that!

The fat man and Xiao Chen stared at each other in speechless shock, then both roared at the same time:

"Damn it! Chase her!"

The fat man jiggled his bulk and charged out of the courtyard. Xiao Chen shot straight up into the sky.

The snow-white little beast could not tolerate being wronged. Last time she went with the fat man, she had been restless. This time, there was no need to guess—she was going to take action.

The fat man was really scared. "It's over, it's over," he muttered. "If she gets caught, we'll have to pay double the price!"

Xiao Chen was speechless. The snow-white little beast was too fast; in just a moment she had disappeared. She truly was a handful! He wanted to give chase, but realized it was impossible because someone was already angrily smashing at the gate, nearly knocking over the fat man as he ran out.

"It's here! Smash it hard! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find that silver dragon! Make it pay for the Golden Dragon King!"

A middle-aged man led a group of underlings and smashed open the gate. He grabbed the fat man by the collar and slapped him five or six times in quick succession, leaving the fat man dazed and nearly toppling over.

"You little bastard—do you live here?"

"I fuck your second uncle! How dare you hit your Fatty! Do you know who I am? Let go of your dog paws!" The fat man immediately lost his temper. Although he wasn't a direct descendant of the Zhuge family, his exceptional ability had never allowed anyone to look down on him, let alone suffer such a loss.

"The man you're looking for is me. Let him go!" Xiao Chen unfurled his Undying Heavenly Wings and landed in an instant. He felt nothing but disgust. This middle-aged man's conduct was too shameless. He wasn't some reckless teenager—he was nearly forty—and yet he acted this way. It was impossible to feel the slightest bit of goodwill toward him.

"Fine, it's you! I remember your face from when you left!" The middle-aged man grinned ferociously, released the fat man, and strode over. "You little bastard made it impossible for me to explain to those old relics. Why don't you just give me that silver dragon and be done with it!"

"You are utterly shameless. Since you came to participate in the beast fighting tournament, you should know the rules: on the arena, life and death are one's own responsibility. Coming after me afterward—don't you feel ashamed?!" Xiao Chen wished he could slap this man to death. He had seen shameless people, but never one this shameless.

"I'm taking that silver dragon, no matter what. Either you kill it yourself in front of me!" The middle-aged man's smile was sinister and cruel.

"You want to kill the Little Defiant Dragon? You're bringing disaster upon the people behind you! If you want to kill it, go ask that being in the deepest part of the Southern Wastes if he'll allow it!" Xiao Chen tried to scare the man away.

"Who are you trying to fool? What could be in the deepest part of the Southern Wastes besides savage beasts? You want me to go ask a fierce beast?"

"Have you only been in the Southern Wastes a short time?"

"I arrived the day before yesterday. Traveled several thousand li."

Xiao Chen looked at him wordlessly. "I suggest you ask around about that being in the depths of the Southern Wastes. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died. There should be some old relics from your family here—you can go ask them."

"I'm waiting to take the silver dragon back to those old relics to report!" The middle-aged man grinned savagely. "Kid, why don't you do me a favor—give me the Dragon King, then kill yourself."

He clearly intended to finish Xiao Chen.

"I've seen shameless people, but never one as shameless as you. I've seen reckless people, but never one as reckless as you!" Xiao Chen was almost angered into laughter. This man really was outrageously savage. Xiao Chen wanted to grab him and slap him flat.

But before Xiao Chen could slap him, the man's big hand had already swung toward Xiao Chen's face. If it landed, half of Xiao Chen's head would be smashed. The palm wind was so heavy it produced a sound of wind and thunder.

Swish!

Xiao Chen flew backward, landing lightly like a fallen leaf.

"Spirit-Treasury?!" The middle-aged man frowned. "So young…" Clearly, he now had some hesitation. "Which sect do you belong to?"

"Asking now, don't you think it's a little late? Since you know I have a Dragon King with me, you should have asked this question earlier."

"Hmph, what's so great about having a Dragon King? We stole our Dragon King!" The middle-aged man's face darkened as he looked at Xiao Chen. "You may have manifested the Undying Heavenly Wings, but your profound art is definitely not from the Undying Sect. Though you conceal sword light and blade energy, you are certainly not from the Dugu lineage—you carry no iron sword on your back. In this Southern Wastes, those are the only two lineages I fear. But the Undying Sect already has old grudges with us. Even though I can guess you have some connection to them, I have no scruples about striking."

Swish!

The middle-aged man rushed forward. His palm strength was astonishingly fierce. The surging energy made the very space around him tremble. A domain directly enveloped Xiao Chen, trying to bind his movements.

Xiao Chen did not meet him head-on. He unfurled his Undying Heavenly Wings and soared into the sky, silently concentrating his mind to sense the two great killing weapons in his hands. After some days of exploration, he had discovered that although he could not control the Black Iron Seal or the Golden Divine Halberd, occasionally he could make his hands "transform into fierce weapons."

"Kid, get down here! If you don't, I'll go in and kill that silver dragon directly!" The middle-aged man shouted from the ground.

Unable to sense any trace of the Golden Divine Halberd, Xiao Chen felt the Black Iron Seal in his left hand tremble twice. A mass of black light engulfed his left hand.

Without hesitation, Xiao Chen immediately swooped down, because the time was limited—the black light mass would only last for an instant.

Seeing Xiao Chen dive straight down, the middle-aged man raised his palm and struck upward.

Black light blazed. Xiao Chen's left palm seemed to have enlarged several times. A pitch-black great hand brought a howling wind, directly smashing through the middle-aged man's domain, then collided fiercely with the upward-striking palm.

"Crack!"

"Ah…"

The middle-aged man screamed. The pitch-black great hand crushed his right palm to pieces!

Xiao Chen swept his hand sideways, and the great hand fiercely swept across the middle-aged man's chest. With a bang, it sent him flying backward, leaving a long trail of blood in the air.

At this point, the Black Iron Seal completely lost contact with Xiao Chen.

The middle-aged man had suffered unimaginable trauma—seven or eight ribs directly broken. Xiao Chen felt refreshed and clear-headed. He had wanted to give this man a good beating anyway, and he hadn't expected his wish to come true.

After all, he was a Spirit-Treasury realm expert. Though severely wounded, the middle-aged man quickly stood up. Despite his sunken chest and crushed right palm, his fighting strength was still considerable.

"Kid, what was that just now?"

"Why so much nonsense? Didn't you want to kill me and take my silver dragon? Come on, then!" Now Xiao Chen had the upper hand.

The middle-aged man laughed harshly, stepped forward, and swung his remaining arm.

Xiao Chen no longer retreated. He met it with his right palm.

Bang! The two palms collided. Xiao Chen stepped back half a pace. The middle-aged man spat a mouthful of blood. Already severely wounded, he couldn't use his full strength. Even using only three-tenths of his power made him cough up blood.

Since he had the advantage, Xiao Chen naturally showed no mercy. After fusing the two ancient killing weapons into his body, although he couldn't use them directly, their presence made his hands like divine weapons, allowing him to clash directly with the middle-aged man.

A series of "bang bang" sounds followed, and the middle-aged man was beaten until he had no temper left, coughing blood continuously, his expression listless, his face pale to the extreme.

Finally, Xiao Chen knocked the middle-aged man unconscious and was about to kill him immediately when Fatty Zhuge spoke up: "Seal his cultivation and let me vent a little!"

Xiao Chen sealed the middle-aged man's cultivation, then woke him up and threw him in front of the fat man.

The fat man was utterly unsparing. He mounted the middle-aged man's already broken chest and delivered seven or eight resounding slaps.

"How dare you hit your Fatty! Do you know who I am? Zhuge Liang! Never heard of you? I despise you, you illiterate! Haven't you read that Romance of the Three Kingdoms that was transmitted from the Mortal World? It's a classic! Now you know who I am, right? Still don't know? You'll be the death of me! Illiterate! I hit, hit, hit…"

Smack! Smack!

The fat man knew Xiao Chen had murderous intent; this man would not live. He was just slapping him to vent his anger, so he didn't worry about retaliation.

Swish!

A figure moved. An old man suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Chen's courtyard.

"Spare him when you can!" The old man looked to be fifty or sixty, with an air of immortal bone and Taoist spirit.

Xiao Chen's heart immediately sank. Could this be the middle-aged man's teacher? If so, the trouble would be enormous.

"I am Liu Qingfeng, an elder of the Undying Sect, a senior uncle of Yan Qingcheng. Although this man is not connected to our sect, he and I both emerged from the Demon Sect. Ordinary grudges are one thing, but killing him is not permissible." The old man flicked his sleeve lightly, sending the fat man flying. He helped the middle-aged man up and said to Xiao Chen, "No need to worry. I will explain the situation to his elders."

Watching all this, Xiao Chen couldn't say a single word.

Just as the old man's figure was about to disappear, Fatty Zhuge shouted, "The Undying Sect owes Xiao Chen a wife!"

The old man's body tilted sideways, almost falling. He turned back and gave a deep look, then flew away.

Xiao Chen nodded and muttered to himself, "Good. Today I will visit the Undying Sect's branch in Heavenly Emperor City."

Just then, a white light flashed. Keke peeked out, then shot from the rooftop into the courtyard with a swish.

"I, you!" the fat man exclaimed. "It, it, it…" He was so excited he could barely speak.

Xiao Chen's jaw nearly dropped as well. He quickly rushed into the courtyard.