A Reckoning with the Dragon Clan

No one dared to touch the dried corpse. After a long while, they began to examine the sinister body with extreme caution.

"How can this be...?" a cry of shock broke out. Sha Polang had extended his bone blade into the void outside Paradise Lost, and found that the blade was not destroyed.

Everyone changed color, turning their heads to look at the dried corpse. Could it be that everything before had been because of him?

Several Angel Battle Generals also walked to the exit and thrust their bone blades outward; nothing happened. A bold Angel Battle General even flew out of Paradise Lost, safe and sound.

Now, when everyone looked at the dried corpse, they felt a chill run down their spines. This cold, withered cadaver was far too eerie and terrifying. The destructive power within the massive skull originated from him!

The little white beast blinked, scratched its head; it too did not know what to do. Finally, everyone carefully searched the enormous skull again but found no other artifacts.

"This… is a disaster-mess of an undead corpse. I think we'd better just leave it here," Sha Polang proposed.

Zhao Ying and Li Mu all wore grave expressions, but said nothing.

The Five-Colored Angel King pondered for a moment and said, "Let's take it outside and see."

"Ya-ya…" Little Keke looked at Xiao Chen, and seeing him nod, she immediately shot up out of Paradise Lost and quickly flew out of the enormous skull.

When they reached the high heavens, several Angel Battle Generals wanted to fly out of Paradise Lost. But the moment two of them left the divine garden, they instantly turned to ash.

Everyone was stunned on the spot. A chill rose in their hearts.

"Don't go out. Only this divine garden can block part of the dried corpse's destructive power…" The Angel King hastily stopped the other Angel Battle Generals. He now fully understood the horror of the dried corpse and the divine nature of Paradise Lost.

By now, everyone had recognized the dried corpse's terror. It clearly carried unimaginable destructive force. Paradise Lost could suppress most of it, but some power still leaked outside. Without the protection of the divine garden, near this source of annihilation, all living things would be wiped out.

"How can this be?!"

Everyone was dumbfounded. A mere dried corpse was so dreadful; if it were alive, how terrifying would its power be?

"Roar…"

At that moment, from deep within the golden sea came a series of dragon cries, shaking the nine heavens and ten earths. Even the golden sea itself began to rage. This was the Forbidden Sea. The aura of destruction was overwhelming. Although it could not be felt within Paradise Lost, one could see the sky changing color and the sun and moon losing their light.

Where the golden waves passed, the very sky was torn apart!

Far off on the distant sea, a mountain-like Ancestral Dragon Ship rode the wind and waves, charging straight toward the King Ship. As it passed, golden waves surged into the heavens.

Everyone was shaken. The massive skull drifting on the Forbidden Sea was already so sinister, and now an Ancestral Dragon Ship appeared. How could it not frighten?

Could it be that there was also a similarly terrifying corpse inside the Ancestral Dragon Ship? Everyone present could not help but think of this.

But things were far more complicated than expected. At that moment, dark clouds rolled in the sky, blood-red lightning split the air, and blood rain poured down over the Forbidden Sea. The sky was torn apart.

Vaguely, above the surging demonic clouds, an ancient castle loomed faintly, like a grim primordial beast, exuding a pressure that made heaven and earth tremble.

Xiao Chen drew a cold breath. When Dragon Island still existed, he had already seen the ancient castle hovering above the Dead City. He never thought he would see it again today.

The Ancestral Dragon Ship, the King Ship, the Forbidden Sea, Dragon Island, the Heavenly Stele, the floating castle—everything was inextricably linked.

"Close Paradise Lost! Quick!" Keke made such a decision.

Though the corpse did not move, everyone's hearts trembled. At this moment, they all felt an extremely sinister and terrifying aura surging within the peaceful Paradise Lost.

The divine garden that could seal half-ancestor powers faced its first challenge—and it was this dried corpse!

But to everyone's relief, nothing unexpected happened. Although the grim, terrifying aura made their spines run cold, the sacred and peaceful atmosphere of Paradise Lost, after a brief weakening, began to strengthen again.

In the end, Paradise Lost gained the upper hand and was able to suppress this cold, dried corpse.

The divine garden left to Keke by its parents—its potential was unfathomable. The wealth this little creature had inherited was incalculable.

"Ya-ya…" Keke muttered sleepily, then blinked her big eyes, circled the dried corpse, and tightly gripped the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree, as if she wanted to give the corpse a whack.

"Don't move," Xiao Chen stopped her, then signaled her to open Paradise Lost. Everything was as expected; the strange phenomena all originated from the dried corpse. When Paradise Lost was sealed, cutting off his aura, the Ancestral Dragon Ship vanished, and the ancient castle in the sky disappeared as well.

"Send this corpse back into the skull," suggested the Divine Tribe elder Li Mu.

The Five-Colored Angel King also kept his composure, saying, "To avoid a great disaster, indeed we must send it back, or the consequences will be beyond our ability to bear."

Keke was obedient. At Xiao Chen's signal, she sent the corpse back into the enormous skull floating on the sea. The little creature had never wanted to keep such a yin-ridden corpse in her divine garden.

"We… how do we go back?"

"Are we going to live in this new world?"

…

The fire seed beings were both joyful and disappointed.

"If you want to go back, it's simple: exhaust all your power," suggested the Divine Tribe elder Li Mu.

"Really?"

The results showed it was true. Although the spatial gate was somewhat different from the Bone Well, it was largely the same.

The Five-Colored Angel King and his Angel Battle Generals vanished from the sky one after another.

Before the Divine Tribe returned, Xiao Chen called Zhao Ying and Li Mu aside privately and told them to keep the secret of the Bone Well.

Finally, Sha Polang and the Divine Tribe experts all returned to the world of the dead. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore the new world, but that they first wanted to understand the mysteries of the spatial gate.

Without a doubt, within a short time, the fire seed beings and Divine Tribe experts who had appeared here today would come back to this sea and explore the strange Eternal Continent.

Everyone vanished. The mountain-like enormous skull also rode the wind and waves, rushing into the distance.

Xiao Chen stared at the pitch-black King Ship, lost in thought. He seemed to have gained nothing, but in truth, his heart was churning. This place was definitely a killing ground of the utmost caliber. Today, he had not come away empty-handed; on the contrary, he felt that this was a great harvest. He only hoped that he would never need to use any of this. If he were truly forced to that point, it would mean his situation was extremely dire.

"I hope I never have to deploy a world-destroying formation here…"

Xiao Chen and Keke shot through the air, racing toward the Eternal Continent. It did not take much time; a blurred landmass appeared ahead—an endless continent that exuded a majestic aura, shaking the soul.

Illusions had shattered. The Eternal Continent had shrunk many times over, leaving only the true lands.

Xiao Chen's first objective upon arriving in the Eternal Continent was naturally Heavenly Emperor City.

The dense Southern Wastes were filled with fierce birds and savage beasts. In the thick primeval forests lurked countless dangers. Heavenly Emperor City was located right in this region, surrounded by endless mountain ranges—lush and verdant, steep and perilous, with towering ancient trees and the cries of apes and tigers.

The majestic Heavenly Emperor City sat in the Southern Wastes like a sleeping Ancestral Dragon, its imposing aura shaking the surroundings, keeping even the fierce beasts of the primeval forests from daring to approach easily.

The bustling streets were crowded with people, their shouts and cries rising and falling. The roadside was lined with shops. Many merchants from across the continent came here to trade rare treasures, making this already famous metropolis even more prosperous.

Xiao Chen walked with a smile through the bustling streets, scattering money broadly to buy delicious treats for the little beast. The little creature ate happily, hugging a pile of snacks, not knowing which to try first.

Finally, they settled in a specialty restaurant on the snack street off Beast-Fighting Avenue. The little one's tiny claws were finally free, and it began to devour its food head-down.

"The happiest things in the world are: cats eat fish, dogs eat meat, and Fatty goes to beast fights every day…" A fat man, surrounded by attendants, passed by on the street, a cat in his left arm and a dog on a leash in his right—a typical playboy.

The fat man's eyes were sharp. As he passed the specialty restaurant, he spotted the little white beast burying its head in the food on the table and was immediately drawn to it.

"This little white tiger has good markings. Fatty likes it at first sight. No, it should be an unusual white lion, right?" The fat man sauntered in, clicking his tongue in wonder. "Good appetite. You bought so many snacks—can you finish them? Hey, it looks so familiar. A long time ago, a friend of mine had a similar snow-white little beast. Come to think of it, the more I look, the more alike they are."

Under the protection of a group of attendants, the fat man walked closer, staring at Keke. "Hey, what a coincidence. This little beast looks exactly like one I saw before. Fatty likes it. Whose is it? Can it be sold to me?"

Xiao Chen had not turned around, but hearing the familiar voice, he already knew who was behind him.

"Hey, the more I look, the more pleasing it is." The fat man crouched down to inspect Keke closely and reached out a chubby hand to touch her. "It's exactly like the one I saw before."

Keke's little face darkened, her frown deep. She threw a rice cake directly at the fat man's face.

"Damn it! That one threw one at me before too." The fat man wasn't angry; instead, he laughed, scraping the sticky rice cake off his face. "Excellent! Even the personality is the same."

Keke was a little frustrated. Seeing that fat hand coming again, she mashed all the snacks on the table onto his face and then, with an angry swipe of her small paw, tossed the fat man out onto the street.

The crowd was stunned. The fat man's attendants were about to rush in.

"Don't mess with me!" The fat man, who had been thrown flat onto the street, jumped up with a bounce and rushed back in wildly. He drove away his attendants, stared at Keke in disbelief, and then scrambled to the other side of the table to see Xiao Chen's face.

"I f***ing… it really is you?!" The fat man showed an expression of utter shock, his voice choked. "I heard… you were no longer in this world… I really never expected it!"

"Fatty Zhuge, you haven't changed a bit. After all these years, you're still a perfect playboy," Xiao Chen said with a smile, turning around to face his old acquaintance, Fatty Zhuge.

"You're really… alive? Am I not dreaming?" The fat man stammered incoherently, "It's… it's too unbelievable!"

It took a long time before he calmed down and pressed Xiao Chen about what had happened over the years.

Some things were hard to explain. Xiao Chen smiled and glossed over them with a few words; if he told the whole truth, it would be far too shocking.

"Fatty Zhuge, I don't see you cultivating, but you haven't aged either?"

Fatty Zhuge now looked as young as he had back then, even with a few pimples on his face—clearly an eternal youthful fatty. He rolled his eyes and said, "What era is this? Haven't you heard that money can make the devil push the millstone? Fatty might not have much cultivation, but I have plenty of money. What elixir can't I buy? As long as you have money, even living ten thousand years is possible."

Fatty certainly had methods. He was not a direct descendant of the Zhuge family, yet in the end he had vied for power and become the current clan head.

"You really know how to enjoy life. When you have free time, you tease cats and dogs; when you want excitement, you go to the beast fights—truly carefree and happy." Xiao Chen indeed envied him; for so many years, he had gone through life and death, never enjoying the pleasures of an ordinary man.

Hearing this, the fat man sighed deeply. "Alas, I'm just drifting along. The Southern Wastes Dragon Clan has forced me to swallow my anger, so I have no choice but to find my own fun."

"What's going on?" Xiao Chen frowned at the mention of the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan. Little Keke puffed up angrily, glaring wide-eyed.

How could they forget what had happened back then? The Dragon Clan expert Long Teng had exacerbated the conflict, imprisoned Keke, and strictly speaking, everyone had been toyed with by the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan. In the end, Keke had escaped, but to save Xiao Chen, her soul had shattered and fallen into hell. Xiao Chen had fought a bloody battle in Heavenly Emperor City, but Keke had not come to his aid, and finally Long Teng had intercepted Xiao Chen, nearly annihilating him body and soul.

"In recent years, the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan has changed their low-key stance and emerged forcefully, shaking the entire region. Now they're the sovereign kings of Heavenly Emperor City. Damn it, my Zhuge family's Xuanhuang Beast Arena has been taken over by them. Even a lowly dragon clan servant dares to yell at me."

At these words, Fatty Zhuge was furious, but he dared not shout loudly, keeping his voice low.

Most of the strong experts of the Eternal Continent had entered the Nine Provinces. Now the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan seemed truly able to claim supremacy. Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, "Let's go take a look at the Xuanhuang Beast Arena."

Fatty Zhuge shook his head. "Let's go to the Drunken Beauty Palace instead. There's some excitement there today. You probably still remember Ice Qin and Fire Dance. That damn dragon clan servant wanted to take them by force. They say two mysterious experts have come to the Drunken Beauty Palace, and the legendary Flower Emperor has arrived as well. They won't let them have their way."

Xiao Chen naturally had not forgotten Ice Qin and Fire Dance. He asked, "A dragon clan servant, that arrogant?"

"Of course. I can only swallow my anger. That damn lackey grew up playing with Long Teng's son. He's insufferably arrogant."

Some things needed to be settled. Xiao Chen laughed, pinched Keke's nose playfully, and followed Fatty Zhuge to the Drunken Beauty Palace.

In the gilded Drunken Beauty Palace, a group of arrogant cultivators strutted about. One of them, especially cocky, walked over and said, "Hey, Fatty Zhuge, what are you here for?"

At that, Fatty Zhuge's face fell.

Xiao Chen asked, "Is that the servant?"

"No, it's the servant's servant," Fatty Zhuge said through gritted teeth, keeping his voice low.

"Hey, what a perfect dragon cat! My master will surely like it. I'm taking it." That dragon clan servant immediately reached for Keke, who was on Xiao Chen's shoulder.

The little white beast was instantly furious, but before she could act, Xiao Chen slapped out.

"Pfft!"

As if slapping a lump of mud, half of the servant's body was wiped away, turning into a mist of blood.

"Ah…"

With only a single scream, the servant fell unconscious.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Figures flashed as people surrounded Xiao Chen.

Among them, a young man in purple strode forward, coldly glaring at Xiao Chen and Fatty Zhuge. "Boy, you're dead!"

"How dare you strike against the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan! Don't you know who you're messing with? You must be tired of living!"

The attendants, emboldened by their master's presence, showered Xiao Chen with abuse.

"Is that man in purple Long Teng's son, or the servant you mentioned?" Xiao Chen asked.

Fatty Zhuge knew that today wouldn't end peacefully, but since it had come to this, he wasn't the type to be afraid of trouble. He said angrily, "He's the servant who grew up playing with Long Teng's son."

"Friend, where do you hail from?" The young man in purple was very composed, acting as if everything was under control.

Xiao Chen smiled and raised a finger, shaking it. "Call your master. No, better yet, call Long Teng himself."

"Who are you?" The young man in purple tried to look profound, as if he were some great schemer, glaring at Xiao Chen. "Remember, sickness enters by the mouth, disaster exits by the mouth. Some people who think too highly of themselves are as weak as ants before the Dragon Clan."

Xiao Chen was speechless. Could it be that the more someone was a half-bucket, the more they pretended? Seeing the young man in purple act so affected, Xiao Chen didn't find it laughable; instead, he felt goosebumps all over.

"What's the point of wasting words with him? Seize him!" Someone nearby shouted. He seemed to be an expert, charging first, and the other attendants followed in a rush—clearly a pack of villainous thugs.

Xiao Chen didn't want to waste words either. With one slap each, "pfft, pfft," sounds rang out as the thugs fell one after another. Those who realized the danger and tried to retreat couldn't avoid it.

The young man in purple finally showed fear. He shouted, "Who are you? Do you know who I am? I am…"

"You're nothing but a wicked servant trying to take Ice Qin and Fire Dance by force. Call Long Teng here!"

Xiao Chen pointed a finger. With a "pfft," one of the young man's arms completely disintegrated.

Shua! The young man in purple had already reached the Deathless Longevity realm, not weak by any means. Seeing Xiao Chen's terror, he endured the pain and shot into the sky. But waiting for him was a palm as huge as a house, crashing down from above.

"Bam!"

A single slap sent him—body and soul—into oblivion.

"Go get Long Teng," Xiao Chen said to one of the trembling servants.

The only servant still standing screamed and turned, fleeing headlong out of the Drunken Beauty Palace.

"Xiao Chen?!"

Just then, two people rushed out from the depths of the Drunken Beauty Palace. One was handsome but sickly; the other had a pair of huge ox horns on his head. It was the sickly Liu Mu and the chubby Niu Ren.

"You're alive?!"

Both wore expressions of utter incredulity. The Inverse Dragon King had not told them about Xiao Chen.

They rushed over, and the group embraced.

Only after they had excitedly talked for a long time did they finally walk shoulder to shoulder into a hall of the Drunken Beauty Palace. All were filled with emotion, reminiscing about the events of years past.

"Get out here, you inside!" A roar came from outside. A young man in white with dragon horns had brought many experts and barged to the hall entrance.

"Are you Long Teng's son? Get your father here. You're not qualified," Xiao Chen said coldly from behind the jade curtain.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The young man in white roared. "Get out here!"

Without a word, Xiao Chen vanished on the spot. In the next moment, he appeared before the white-clad dragon, striking down.

"Bam!"

The young man's body shattered, his words cut short. The surrounding Dragon Clan experts were stunned, their faces changing dramatically.

Xiao Chen returned to his seat and said coldly to the outside, "Call Long Teng. I'll wait for him here."