Pearl completed his visit to the second artifact, successfully recording it with the artifact on his chest. The brooch-like artifact hummed slightly for a second, letting him know he was ready to move on to the next one.

The thought did occur to Pearl that maybe he was going about it too quickly. Maybe he didn't have to go find another monolith so soon. Maybe he could stay around for a while, cultivate, and improve himself.

But there was sadly no improvement to be made while he just sat around, and it was more favorable if he found new people to fight. He needed to finalize the sort of destructive Intent he wanted to use with his Spear Domain.

More and more, he was liking the idea of using a domain where the spear Qi spun around like the fourth form of the Five Heavenly Forms of Spear. It increased its destructive power quite a bit, but making such a thing happen required him to have a clear understanding of the technique, or at least the intent that went into making it happen.

Only then could he turn it into his Spear Qi and use it in his domain. Mixing it with his Spear Aura would prove slightly more tedious if he went down this route, but what was a bit of trouble later on if it improved his skill and techniques by leaps and bounds?

Pearl made the plan to keep using the fourth form henceforth as much as he could and understand everything he could about it.

Pearl met three more people after leaving the second artifact, two of whom were defeated easily, while the third one proved to be a bit of trouble. Still, the beast's cultivation base wasn't high enough, so Pearl defeated him after a while, and that too without using any White Tiger techniques.

Most beasts were incapable of dealing with a fighter that constantly teleported around while they fought.

The fight still drained Pearl's Qi, causing him to take a break. He found shelter on a tall tree, where he sat on its crown, absorbing the Qi from the surroundings and refining it.

He wasn't looking to fully cultivate, just to gain some Qi.

Pearl was halfway done when he sensed movement in the area. The formation he was using was supposed to keep him hidden entirely from external senses, but it appeared he had overestimated the formation.

A man walked up to the tree he was staying at and looked directly at its crown. He couldn't see Pearl clearly, but he could see the formation.

"Show yourself!" the man demanded.

Pearl stared down at the man, his heart beating faster at the implication of who he was. With blue hair and blue eyes, the man below him was no doubt another Azure Dragon. His meeting with the last one hadn't been so long ago, so this one's presence couldn't have been coincidental.

Pearl thought for a moment about what he could do, but given his lack of understanding of his own situation, he decided to tackle the problem head-on.

The formation shut down, and Pearl showed himself to the dragon below.

The man looked at Pearl, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of him. A smile formed on his face, devoid of any warmth whatsoever, and he spoke with a louder voice.

"I'm here to fight you," the man said. "Come down."

Pearl looked at the man, his mind racing to find answers to questions he didn't even know yet.

"Just so I'm not confused here, you are an Azure Dragon, correct?" Pearl asked.

"Qing Guzou," the man said. "And you?"

Pearl was about to say his name, but something about this situation made him want to speak his other name instead.

"Qing Shouchuang."

Pearl noticed the imperceptible change in the man's expressionless face. Naming himself 'Qing' before an Azure Dragon should have made the man surprised or confused. Instead, the man looked pleased, as if he had found what he had been looking for.

"Good!" the man said. "I won't beat around the bush. I'm here to fight you specifically, junior."

"And why is that?" Pearl asked.

"To find the truth you are hiding."

Pearl narrowed his eyes. "And what is it that I'm hiding?" he asked. Questions piled upon one another in his head even as he spoke. An Azure Dragon had come to fight him because they thought he had something? What did he have?

The only thing that belonged to the Azure Dragons that he had was the broken spear that was made up of dragon scales and the two teleportation artifacts that required one to mark a checkpoint to teleport back directly.

However, those two were his keepsakes, inherited directly from his father. They could not ask for them back. Not that those things were of any value to a regular Azure Dragon.

The man flicked his wrist, green aura surrounding him suddenly. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Wind constructs appeared from the man's palm, like green snakes slithering toward Pearl.

Pearl's rosesteel spear appeared at the same time, energy revolving around it as he quickly used the fourth form of the spear technique.

His attack struck the wind serpents, the resulting explosion knocking Pearl out of the tree's crown. He flipped through the air and landed gracefully before immediately charging toward the Azure Dragon.

The Azure Dragon was ready, his fingers stretched out like talons. Electricity crackled within the fingers, and the man shoved them forward, sending out a bolt of lightning.

Pearl struck the lightning before, using the same fourth form. At the same time, he teleported, arriving behind the man in this moment that would certainly be overwhelming, and stabbed forward.

However, the man had been ready for it.

The Azure Dragon teleported at the same time, his teleportation much less disruptive than Pearl's. Pearl's senses were active, searching for the man, and noticed him to his side, the man's other palm shoving forward with the lightning bolt he had prepared along with the first one.

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