Down below, the temperature doubled at least. If not for the Great Perfection will of ice, while Xiao Chen’s bones might not melt, his skin and flesh would definitely have liquefied into blood.

Fortunately, there was also the Sea Monarch Headscarf. At the most crucial moments, it always sent out cooling energy through his entire body.

Not only did this alleviate the heat in his body, but it also allowed Xiao Chen’s mind to stay calm at all times, keeping his thoughts sharp.

Although the Sea Monarch Headscarf did not have any quantifiable offensive power, in Xiao Chen’s eyes, it was much better than most Secret Treasures.

The old man from the Eastern Sea Divine Dragon Palace had demanded that Xiao Chen hand over the Sea Monarch Headscarf the moment he spoke. Why was that?

Xiao Chen wondered what the intentions of the Eastern Sea Divine Dragon Palace were. The Divine Dragon Palaces of the other three seas only wanted the Sea Monarch Crown; only the Eastern Sea was different.

“Whoosh!”

Xiao Chen encountered air. As he sank in the lava, moving towards the source, he fell out of it and into air, ending up in a flaming karst cave.

Piercing, glittering, golden light entered and hurt Xiao Chen’s eyes everywhere he looked.

He adjusted his position and looked up into the air. The golden light came from Little Yellow Feather. It was currently in its battle mode, the same state it had been in when it made that mad dash across the Deserted Sea.

Currently, Little Yellow Feather was fighting an intense battle with a three-headed flaming Profound Beast. Most of the explosions earlier came from this battle.

That flaming Profound Beast was not famous; at least it was not something that Xiao Chen could identify or was in the map that he bought. Of its three heads, one was like a wolf, one was a lion, and one was a tiger. It exuded an extremely horrifying aura; it was at the very least a Superior Grade Profound Beast, something equal to a quasi-Emperor.

Even in its berserk state, Little Yellow Feather was at a disadvantage. The three-headed Profound Beast seemed to have a strong immunity to flames.

This immunity rendered Little Yellow Feather’s killing move somewhat ineffective. When the chick spewed the dense Solar True Flame on the Profound Beast, the attack did not do much damage.

If not for its advantages in size and speed, Little Yellow Feather would have fallen long ago.

“Thousand Frost Battle Snow!” Proud and upright to the bone.

Xiao Chen’s figure flashed as he entered the fight. Without hesitating, he executed a Profound Martial Technique, chopping down with it.

Frost spread out under Xiao Chen’s feet. The temperature in the entire flaming cave plummeted. Large snowflakes started drifting down. The three-headed Profound Beast bore the brunt of the attack. The flames on its body immediately extinguished under a white coating of frost.

Xiao Chen chopped down with the saber light. The pride in the bones appeared indomitable as it pressed forward, displaying the strong characteristic of defiance.

This attack directly struck the three-headed Profound Beast, whose defense was greatly lowered, chopping it in half and killing it on the spot.

The Profound Beast could just barely rival a quasi-Emperor. A sudden attack and a Martial Technique that used an opposing attribute were enough to kill it; there was no need to waste time.

Then, Xiao Chen sheathed his saber. Little Yellow Feather stopped radiating light and charged towards him with an excited glow in its eyes.

“Little fellow, this must have shocked you this time.” Seeing Little Yellow Feather fly towards him without showing off its power, Xiao Chen smiled to himself.

However, given the Golden Crow’s pride, it would never submit.

“Whoosh!”

Little Yellow Feather brushed by Xiao Chen and opened its tiny beak. After pecking around, it picked out the Profound Core in the three-headed Profound Beast and ate it with gusto.

Xiao Chen could not help looking depressed. This fellow ignored him once again.

Ao Jiao flew out of the Immortal Spirit Ring and landed beside Little Yellow Feather. After teasing it for a while, she asked why it was so rash.

“Flap! Flap!” After Little Yellow Feather ate the Profound Core, its feathers became much brighter. Then, it flew to Xiao Chen and proudly pointed its butt at him.

This is too much! What is it trying to do?!

Just as Xiao Chen prepared to dodge, three golden plume feathers suddenly gave off light. Flames circled them, flickering with a flowing radiance.

Then, one of the three plume feathers fell off. Little Yellow Feather turned around, picked up the plume feather with its beak, and brought it to Xiao Chen.

Ao Jiao gently drifted over and explained with a smile, “This is the Solar Plume Feather of the Golden Crow Holy Beast. Every Golden Crow has only three. Each one that drops is one less. This is the trump card that the Golden Crows use to protect themselves. You can use it to save your life at a critical moment. The little fellow wants to give it to you.”

Xiao Chen now understood. This little fellow had a conscience at least. So he stretched out his hand and accepted the small feather.

Then, he sent in his Spiritual Sense. Originally, he did not really care much for the feather, but his expression soon turned grave.

The energy contained within the plume feather actually inspired some fear in him. He sensed several ancient auras.

It was like the Golden Crows of every generation passed down their energy before they died. Xiao Chen wondered how strong this energy was since it contained the accumulations of all the generations.

He estimated that this energy could form a golden domain and easily kill a Martial Emperor.

There were only three such lifesaving opportunities, yet this little fellow was willing to give him one, which was really unexpected.

When Little Yellow Feather saw Xiao Chen grasp the Solar Plume Feather, it flapped its wings, radiating obvious joy in its eyes. It seemed to be extremely happy that Xiao Chen accepted its plume feather.

“I asked it already. There is a pool of Earth Heart Flame under the lake of fire. After Little Yellow Feather swallows this flame, its strength will definitely soar,” Ao Jiao continued.

Earth Heart Flame. No wonder Little Yellow Feather became so rash. That’s one of the peak Yang-attributed flames.

Xiao Chen carefully put away the Solar Plume Feather and said, “There should be more Profound Beasts in there. I will go down alone and help him extract the Earth Heart Flame.”

Ao Jiao nodded and watched as Xiao Chen entered the lake of lava. Then, she sat down on a rock while cradling Little Yellow Feather. The expression in her eyes was complicated.

Little Yellow Feather felt excited all the while, chirping nonstop.

Ao Jiao showed a faint smile at all times. While her eyes remained fixed on the calm flaming lake, her mind readily wandered.

Naturally, she was not worried about Xiao Chen’s current safety. The Profound Beasts in there should be Superior Grade Profound Beasts. No matter how many of them there were, he should be able to deal with them.

What Ao Jiao worried about was Xiao Chen’s having to become a Martial Emperor in five years; it was like a demonic curse plaguing her.

The Thunder Emperor became a Martial Sage at the age of thirty and a quasi-Emperor at the age of thirty-five. He became a Martial Emperor after another ten years.

Ao Jiao knew better than anyone else the arduous journey of becoming a Martial Emperor.

Just advancing to Small Perfection quasi-Emperor would take an ordinary person at least ten years as they slowly cultivated.

Xiao Chen’s situation was even worse since his accumulations were much deeper. The resources that he required to reach Small Perfection quasi-Emperor would be exceptionally vast.

Should I tell him where Sang Mu’s inheritance is? Ao Jiao wondered, feeling conflicted.

If she told Xiao Chen about the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance, he would have to shoulder the burden of the Thunder Emperor’s death.

However, the person who killed the Thunder Emperor was definitely not the Eternal Heavenly Sword Emperor or a regular Prime. Given how strong the Thunder Emperor was, even though he was injured, someone like the Eternal Heavenly Sword Emperor, a second-rate expert, could not have killed him.

A faction that dared to kill even a Prime, what kind of backing did such a person have? This was someone that could not be underestimated.

“Boom!”

Rocks flew out of the center of the lake. Xiao Chen leaped out of it while waving a clump of hot flames. The Golden Crow cried out happily and quickly flew over to swallow the flames.

Ao Jiao smiled faintly and collected her thoughts. Then, she flew over and asked, “Did you get injured?”

“It’s fine. They were mostly Medial Grade Profound Beasts. Aside from a king-type Profound Beast, there was no threat.”

Xiao Chen circulated his energy and shook off all the lava on his body. He did not discover anything wrong with Ao Jiao’s expression. “Little Yellow Feather will need some time to refine the Earth Heart Flame. Coincidentally, I can use this time to break through to the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art’s second layer.

“After reaching the second layer, I can condense the Azure Dragon Battle Armor. At that time, if Little Yellow Feather has improved, even if those four old men dare to stop us, we can fight it out with them.”

Xiao Chen already achieved ten Dragon Force, reaching the peak of the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art’s first layer. He could have already broken through.

It was just that he had not wanted to use that damaged Emperor Grade Secret Treasure to do so. That was why he had put off breaking through until now.

Now that Xiao Chen was being pursued by the four old men from the Divine Dragon Palaces and could not shake them off, he had no other choice but to fight them head-on.

Even if he could not defeat those four old men, he had to, at least, put some fear of him in their hearts, to make them think twice the next time. He had to show them that the Azure Dragon King was not someone they could chase after as and when they wanted.

Back then, Xiao Chen’s riddance of the Emperor Grade Secret Treasure containing a dragon soul had delayed his breakthrough of the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art.

However, even after thinking about it, he did not feel any regrets. That dragon soul had lost all its pride. He simply disdained to use it.

Xiao Chen sighed as he took out the True Dragon King’s backbone from the Universe Ring with a thought.

The soul remained in the long True Dragon spine, its Dragon Might intact. When he brought out the bones, a vast Dragon Might spread throughout the entire flaming cave.

The cave reverberated and shook. Rumbling resounded, and rocks fell continuously.

Previously, Xiao Chen had intended to use this set of dragon bones to anchor the Luck of Heavenly Star Island. Now, under force of circumstance, he could only use it for himself.

Actually, there was an even better choice for the anchor—the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet. If Xiao Chen could suppress all the outstanding talents in Bright Moon City one year hence, he could bring the mountain tablet back to Heavenly Star Island.

Xiao Chen’s gaze sank as he circulated the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art. A strong suction came from his palm.

The True Dragon spine soared into the air, obeying the suction, and got absorbed slowly into Xiao Chen’s body.

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