Chapter 353: Yinxiu's Campaign History, Two Rare Treasures, The Power of Moyun Vine

Guding Kingdom, Li Palace.

Li Palace is Yin Li's royal palace, situated on the cloud-shrouded Fangzhang Mountain. The palace stands majestically, like a colossal beast from a fairyland, radiating an aura of grandeur. It is built into the mountain, which appears to be its natural base, almost merging with the palace itself. The palace's peaks, like long spears, pierce the sky, with dragon skulls adorning their tips.

There are many such peaks, and the dragon skulls atop them are all trophies from Yin Li and Yin Xiu's battles. Each dragon skull belongs to a Dragon King! Their varied colors match the hues of the Five Elements, wind, and thunder. The Dragon Crystal Towers surrounding the palace have also increased in number. These serve as energy foundations for teleportation arrays, leading to the Central Dragon Court. Originally, there was only one central teleportation array here, but now there are dozens.

In the central square of Li Palace, a lifelike Dragon Crystal statue stands. It appears enraged yet serene, its dragon whiskers swaying in the wind, as if it could come alive and soar into the sky at any moment. Compared to other Great Dragon Kings, its stature is quite small, yet it exudes divine essence, bearing a resemblance to the Ancestral Dragon, though it is not the Ancestral Dragon itself. This statue is modeled after Zhao Xing's appearance when he transforms into the Ancestral Dragon, created by the brothers Yin Li and Yin Xiu.

Descending upon the Dragon Court once again, Zhao Xing felt a pang of emotion: "The first time I entered the Dragon Court, I was only in my forties. Now, on my fourth visit, I'm over three hundred years old." He mused, "The ancient Dragon Court is finally nearing its end."

Upon entering the Li Palace area, Zhao Xing immediately activated his Ancestral Dragon Transformation. A dragon's roar echoed into the royal palace. Hogg, resting in the main palace, suddenly opened his eyes, filled with excitement. "It's the Dragon Emperor! The Dragon Emperor has returned!" A phantom immediately emerged from Hogg's dragon head—his dragon spirit. "Hogg, Dragon King of Guding Kingdom, greets Your Majesty." Hogg prostrated himself on the ground.

"Hogg, why are you the only one in the palace?" Zhao Xing asked, using the Eastern Emperor's Golden Script. Hogg had appeared during Zhao Xing's second visit to the Dragon Court, awakening voluntarily. His awakening was due to two reasons: Zhao Xing's arrival and the concurrent war in Guding Kingdom, which led to the capture of two territories. Hogg's power surpassed Yin Li's but was weaker than Yin Xiu, the inheritor of the Eastern Emperor's Golden Script. Since then, Guding Kingdom entered an era of three-king governance.

"Dragon Emperor, Yin Xiu and Yin Li are both campaigning in the Dragon Abyss Kingdom. One is in the Thundercloud Territory, the other in the Sea Territory.""I sustained a minor injury during a previous campaign. My main body is recovering in the palace's Spirit Pool, so only my dragon spirit could come to greet you. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Zhao Xing reduced his size and entered Li Palace. Li Palace merged with the mountain, within which lay a massive Fire Spirit Pool. A colossal dragon was submerged in it, which was Hogg's body. Hogg's scales were originally black, but now, bathed in the fire, they glowed crimson, making him appear like a fire dragon.

"Hogg's body is incredibly strong, renowned for its physical prowess. Even he, despite Yin Xiu and Yin Li excelling in magic, is injured. It seems the battles have been fierce these past years," Zhao Xing mused. He began reviewing Guding Royal City's century-long campaign records.

(Dragon Emperor Era, Year 1: Dragon Emperor Zhao was born. Yin Xiu, Dragon Lord of Guding Kingdom, was appointed First War General.)Guding Kingdom's chronicle began a separate record from Zhao Xing's arrival, that is, when he first entered three hundred years ago.

Dragon Emperor Era, Year 52: The Ruize Kingdom provoked a conflict in the Blazing Fire Territory. Dragon King 'Xiu' led a counterattack and occupied Ruize Kingdom's Hundred Mountain Territory.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 55: The Frostbloom Nation attacked the eastern part of the main kingdom. Dragon Lord Xiu led a counterattack and occupied Frostbloom Kingdom's Seven-Colored Sea.

Zhao Xing nodded. These two territories were the reason he had questioned Yin Xiu about escalating the war without permission during his second visit to the Dragon Court. He had only told Yin Xiu to prepare for war, not to fight at that very moment. They needed to wait for the opportune moment. What timing? Zhao Xing had left a message for Yin Xiu to interpret: "When a hurricane emerges from the Dragon Abyss and vital energy surges from the Grass Sea, these are the signs of a vital energy tide." Therefore, when the outside world was in the early stages of the Yuan Hunt, Yin Xiu's campaigns became more frequent.

Dragon Emperor Era, Year 158: Dragon King Li led fifteen thousand lords to conquer the Northern Spirit Sea Nation.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 159: Dragon King Li killed Dragon King 'Xin'.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 162: Dragon King Li conquered the Northern Spirit Sea Nation, renaming it the Northern Spirit Territory.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 170: Dragon King Xiu led thirty thousand lords to conquer the Ancient Sky Dragon Kingdom. Dragon King 'Quan' awakened and rallied the nation's lords to resist. Dragon King Xiu, using the Dragon Emperor's Golden Script to command the dragons, caused half of the lords to surrender without a fight.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 173: "Refusing to submit to the Dragon Emperor's will, Dragon King Xiu deployed the Dragon War Xuanhuang Grand Formation," and in the Four Ye Territory, "slaughtered Dragon King 'Qu'." The Ancient Dragon Kingdom was annihilated.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 183: Dragon King Xiu campaigned against the Dragonwood Kingdom. He went alone to the Skywood River, fighting one against three. He imparted the Dragon Clan's innate secret techniques, subduing Dragon King 'Hong' of Greenleaf at the Skywood River. Birch Dragon King was slain, and the third Dragon King disappeared without a trace.Dragon Emperor Era, Year 203: Dragon King Xiu... Zhao Xing read the records, nodding in approval.

Guding Kingdom's campaigns were primarily led by Yin Xiu. Compared to Yin Li's brute force, Yin Xiu's campaigns were more rhythmic and strategic, not just focused on killing. As a result, after one major battle, Yin Li retreated to a secondary role. Yin Xiu fully took over leadership of the war, while Hogg and Yin Xiu guarded Guding Kingdom, responsible for logistics.

The dragon records were richly illustrated, and Zhao Xing could see some of Hogg and Yin Xiu's contributions on this stone tablet. For instance, scenes of the two dragons breathing fire in the Fuming Temple to forge warships, divine weapons, and formation artifacts. There was even an instance where the two dragons jointly carried a secret weapon, the Dragon God's Toe, to deploy on the battlefield. The Dragon God's Toe, a very simple name for a divine artifact, was rumored to be a claw shed by a Dragon God, crafted by Fuming into a large-scale killing weapon capable of severing dragon bloodlines. Later, the Dragon God's Toe became a significant heirloom of Fuming's Dragon Craftsmen. The original's whereabouts are unknown, but its crafting method was passed down, allowing Dragon Kings and Great Dragon Kings' bodies to be used as materials.

"Without the Dragon Emperor's Tome, Yin Xiu would still be a dominant Dragon King capable of ruling the ancient lands." Zhao Xing thought, "Indeed, Yin Xiu is naturally strong, which is why he's worthy of the Dragon Emperor's Tome." This Dragon Emperor's Chronicle, ostensibly under his name, was actually a record of Yin Xiu's glorious achievements.

"In the 62nd year of the Yuan Hunt, large-scale tides also began to appear in the ancient Dragon Court.""That was also the third time the Dragon Court opened, but I didn't enter. Dragon King Yin Xiu wasn't in a hurry and maintained his conquest rhythm.""Now, exactly three hundred years later, he has conquered seven out of the ten Dragon Kingdoms, excluding the Dragon Abyss Kingdom and the Sky Sea Kingdom!"

Zhao Xing retrieved the latest Dragon Court map. He marked Guding Kingdom in red, other unconquered areas in gray, special regions in black, the Central Dragon Court area in gold, and seas in blue. It was visible that the red land now occupied eight-tenths of the map, and many areas within the central Dragon Court had flags bearing his image.

"Out of the ten Dragon Kingdoms, only the Dragon Abyss Kingdom and the Sky Sea Kingdom remain unconquered.""As for the special regions, Sky Abyss and Sinister Sea, Yin Xiu has heeded my advice and not touched them.""These two regions are adjacent to the Sky Sea Kingdom and the Dragon Abyss Kingdom. It seems Yin Xiu did listen to my words."

Zhao Xing was pleased that Yin Xiu hadn't acted recklessly, which would save him a lot of time. "Now Yin Xiu has become a dominant Great Dragon King, with many Dragon Kings under his command. Yet, he has managed to refrain from touching Sky Abyss and Sinister Sea, instead focusing on retrieving the remaining two parts of the Dragon Emperor's Tome. His destiny is now different from his previous life," Zhao Xing thought. In his previous life, Dragon King Yin Xiu had reversed the order of conquering the nine kingdoms and retrieving the Dragon Emperor's Tome, and the timing was also a bit early, leading to his ultimate failure. Now it was different. With his guidance, Yin Xiu had avoided many disasters.

"First, I'll contact Yin Xiu." Zhao Xing went behind Li Palace, where a star conch resembling a large mountain lay. Star conches are used for communication. This particular star conch was refined from a mother star conch found in the deep sea, equivalent to the Life Palace Realm, allowing for ultra-long-distance communication.

"Hwoom~"A dragon's roar reverberated within the giant conch. Inside the deep, dark conch shell, layers of light illuminated, and soon another dragon's roar emerged. "Great Dragon Emperor, is that you?"

"It's me, Yin Xiu. I've returned.""Excellent!" Yin Xiu's voice was filled with excitement. "I'll return immediately to pay my respects!"

Why was Yin Xiu so excited? Because many things he encountered during his conquest of the nine kingdoms were exactly as the Dragon Emperor had foretold! This included when and where to consume certain treasures to purify his bloodline and comprehend more powerful innate secret techniques. It also included what treasures each dormant Dragon Lord possessed and what secret techniques they excelled in—most of which the Dragon Emperor had accurately predicted! In other words, the war was progressing according to the Dragon Emperor's implicit guidance. If his brother Yin Li had led the battles, the effect would have been the same, just perhaps a little slower.

Although Dragon Lord Yin Xiu was now a Great Dragon Lord, he still held Zhao Xing in great reverence. To Zhao Xing, he hadn't appeared for a long time, but to Yin Xiu, a mere one or two hundred years was not long at all. Thus, Yin Xiu felt that the Dragon Emperor had never left, always guiding him.

"No need, Yin Xiu. Continue with your plans as scheduled." Zhao Xing refused Yin Xiu. "I will summon you when the time is right.""Additionally, you must be wary of someone who calls himself the Purple Dragon God. His bloodline power is immense, and he may pose a significant threat to you. Never part with your Dragon Lord Reverse Scale Sword; bestow it upon other Dragon Lords for use."

"Yes, I understand. I will strictly follow your commands!" After a brief exchange, Zhao Xing emerged from the star conch.

Yin Xiu is a dominant Great Dragon King, stronger than many human cultivators in the Rule Realm, but not yet at the Dao Establishment Realm. "My younger brothers are already at the Rule Realm, so I need to improve my combat power before meeting Yin Xiu." A Great Dragon King can already defy one-third of the Dragon Emperor's Tome's power. If Zhao Xing were to rush there and find Yin Xiu battling another Great Dragon King or the Purple Dragon God, he wouldn't be able to offer much help. With his soul in the mid-Rule Realm, he could probably only offer minor assistance, playing a negligible role. In that case, it would be better not to go at all! Wouldn't that diminish the Dragon Emperor's prestige?

"Great figures always make their appearance last. I'll wait until I've gathered all four divine trees of the Four Seasons Divine Splendor Dao field," Zhao Xing thought to himself. "For now, I'll be a behind-the-scenes manipulator."

After finishing with Hogg, Zhao Xing left a straw figure clone and then flew north. "The Dragon Spirit Bamboo of Spring governs the East." "The Lihuo Lotus of Summer governs the South.""These two plants have survived in my Pure Essence Soil for over two hundred years, and now they have fully adapted, capable of unleashing their full power.""Based on their domains and inherent characteristics, their combined strength is estimated to be at the late Rule Realm.""However, once released, they only attack instinctively, with rather clunky and singular attack patterns. Whether their combat power can be further elevated depends on how I, as their master, utilize them.""The Four Seasons Divine Splendor Dao Field, the Divine Soldier Arts, and Rule Leaping — these are the means to unleash the combat power of my plant soldiers.""The Dragon Court should also yield two more plants: the Autumn Splendor of the West, and the Winter Splendor of the North." As Zhao Xing flew north, he also activated his soul vision to search.

Yuan Shuo Year 43, Winter: The Northern part of the ancient Dragon Court. White snow covered the mountains, as if all life had perished, leaving no vitality. Zhao Xing flew through the icy mist in the sky. Even with his Ultimate Transformation Dragon body, he felt a chill. "In such a frozen forbidden land, even a Dragon King could easily freeze to death." "I wonder how it has grown."

The divine tree Zhao Xing was seeking was the one that governed the winter splendor of the North. "Hmm? The intensity of the cold suddenly increased over there." Zhao Xing immediately sensed it, changed direction, and flew rapidly towards the northwest.

Three days later, on a mountaintop, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon settled down. "Whoosh~" "Thump thump thump~" The freezing winds howled between heaven and earth, and ice pellets struck his dragon scales, producing dull thuds. "This isn't just ice; these are ice cannons!" Zhao Xing looked down at his scales, which were covered in a layer of ice crystals. After a while, he transformed from a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon into a colossal Ice Crystal Dragon. "Clang~" Zhao Xing shook his body, activating the power of the Ancestral Dragon, and the ice crystals immediately shattered. "It seems the Ice Soul Divine Tree is nearby."

Zhao Xing released streams of his divine soul, sending them into the vast snowstorm to search for the exact location of the Ice Soul Divine Tree. Another half month passed, and Zhao Xing finally found the Ice Soul Divine Tree. "A peerless rarity, the Ice Soul Divine Tree." Zhao Xing stopped a hundred li away from it. "Just looking at it makes my soul feel frozen. The growth trajectory of the Ice Soul Divine Tree is itself a manifestation of the Dao of Ice and Snow!" "It's perfect to govern the winter splendor."

Every leaf of the Ice Soul Divine Tree appeared transparent, its veins incredibly clear, like Dao patterns. Zhao Xing looked at the tree and felt as if it wasn't a tree growing from the ground, but rather the Dao itself emerging from beneath. "It's at least late Rule Realm, possibly even perfected Rule Realm," Zhao Xing mused. "If such a divine tree advances further, it will be very difficult to subdue." A divine tree that reaches the Ascension Realm would certainly possess self-will. Previously, when he subdued the Dragon Spirit Bamboo and the Lihuo Lotus, they only had survival instincts; their instinctive resistance was due to being relocated. Possessing self-will already falls within the category of spirits or monsters. Taking another step, a great tree in the Dao Establishment Realm would become a spirit. In some parts of the universe, there are even instances of great trees ascending and breaking through space. "Fortunately, this one hasn't reached the Dao Establishment Realm." How to judge? Of course, the conditions simply aren't present right now. The vital energy tide can only support cultivation up to the perfected Rule Realm. To truly enter the Ascension Realm? Only special cases like Ji Che, Witch Moon God, and Qing Yu Zi could achieve it.

"Even if it's perfected Rule Realm, it's not easy to subdue." "I still need to call Big Brother."

Zhao Xing unfurled his Pure Essence Projection, then pulled out a flower basket from the ground. The flower basket was very small, at least relative to his dragon body. In reality, it was fifty meters long and twenty meters wide, crafted from various precious materials like dragon crystals and Xuanmu. Inside it was also the Grand View Realm, a small Spirit Pool for water storage. This was Zhao Xing's exclusive small home for the Moyun Vine. "Big Brother naturally deserves Big Brother-level treatment." "It's all up to you, Moyun. Come and scare it for me, make it stop moving."

Zhao Xing didn't care if Moyun Vine understood. His dragon body, carrying the flower basket, approached the Ice Soul Divine Tree. "Rustle~""Rustle rustle rustle!!"The Ice Soul Divine Tree shook violently, as if saying: "Don't come closer!" But Zhao Xing ignored it, continuing to approach rapidly. The Ice Soul Divine Tree trembled even more violently, and large numbers of leaves began to fall, showering towards Zhao Xing's position. "Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh~" Zhao Xing's dragon body throbbed with pain, and even his scales developed cracks. The Pure Essence Soil churned as a result. Moyun Vine was displeased. The Pure Essence Soil was where it lived; how could he destroy its home? "Yoo~" Two purplish-black leaves gently trembled, emitting waves of energy. The next moment, the Ice Soul Divine Tree seemed to solidify, remaining perfectly still. "Hahahaha," Zhao Xing chuckled. It looked as if the Ice Soul Divine Tree didn't even dare to drop a single leaf!

"Collect!" Zhao Xing enveloped the Ice Soul Divine Tree's roots with his Pure Essence Projection, instantly severing a large portion of them, then wrapped it and drew it into his body. The Ice Soul Divine Tree's instinctive counterattack simply didn't appear; it remained in its solidified state. "Big Brother is awesome!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this.

He then returned Moyun Vine to its original place and performed the Divine Soldier Arts. A surge of spiritual energy, infused with his own will, began to invade the Ice Soul Divine Tree's body. "A ninth-tier ice domain. Indeed, it's a rarity at the late Rule Realm.""The Ice Soul Divine Tree is a true war tree with no auxiliary functions. Its two innate secret techniques are entirely offensive.""First is 'Snowfall Across the Sky,' an area-of-effect attack. The Ice Soul Divine Tree has many pores from which it can unleash ice, cold winds, and heavy snow, capable of breaching even my Ultimate Third Transformation Ancestral Dragon defense.""Second is 'Extreme Frost Bloom.' When stimulated externally, the Ice Soul Divine Tree instinctively gathers ice power in its underground roots and crown, altering the celestial phenomena above and suppressing the earth veins below. This causes the temperature within a hundred-li radius to plummet rapidly, dropping to minus 208 'ticks' in an instant." Based on the Great Zhou's Wen Hua scale, below the standard mark, every 20 'ticks' drop in temperature can freeze a cultivator of one realm to death. "Rapid freezing exceeding 200 'ticks' can even freeze Rule Realm cultivators to death.""Thankfully, Moyun Vine suppressed it; otherwise, its counterattack would certainly have triggered this innate skill, and I would have been in trouble." The seven souls would be frozen, and soul thought speed would slow down, making it difficult to react."Both innate skills are based on a ninth-tier domain. Logically, the Ice Soul Divine Tree also has a suicidal attack called 'Ice Soul Divine Meteor'.""However, I need to possess the third layer of the Divine Soldier Arts to control it to self-detonate.""This move is best suited for the Ice Soul Divine Tree's self-detonation. Other plants can't unleash much power with this move. Only the Ice Soul Divine Tree, if I compel it to self-detonate, can instantly create a dead zone.""Unleashing the power of Extreme Frost Bloom to minus 249 'ticks' would instantly freeze even an Ascension Realm cultivator to death, plunging everything into oblivion.""However, I myself would find it hard to escape. This is a suicidal attack, unless I combine it with a spatial ring to traverse the void, only escaping with my soul and abandoning my physical body."

Subduing this Ice Soul Divine Tree meant Zhao Xing had completed half of his goal! There aren't many rare treasures in the Dragon Court, and using the Ice Soul Divine Tree to govern winter is ideal. "Let's go, find the next rare treasure!"

While Zhao Xing was searching for treasures, in the Dragon Abyss Sovereign Kingdom. A purple-gold dragon descended upon the royal palace of the Dragon Abyss Kingdom.

"Roar!" Ji, the Sky Dragon Lord of the Dragon Abyss Sovereign Kingdom, roared continuously, but its body was held fast by the purple-gold dragon. The massive dragon claw emitted a thick aura of malice, spreading outwards. This purple-gold aura was like a razor's edge. Each time it rolled over Ji, large patches of dragon scales were peeled off.

"(Dragon Clan Golden Script) Surrender, or die." "You are a rogue dragon! I will never surrender!" Ji roared, exposing the Purple Dragon God's identity! "How dare you use the Sky Abyss Demon Clan's divine artifact to kill me? You will be punished by the Dragon God...""Poof!"The Purple Dragon God gave it no more chance to speak, and purple-gold energy blades sliced it into more than a dozen pieces. "Gachi, gachi~" The Purple Dragon God devoured the dismembered remains piece by piece. Dragon Generals, Lords, City Lords, and even seven newly awakened Dragon Kings from the surrounding Dragon Abyss Kingdom lowered their heads in horror at this brutal scene.

"The Purple Dragon God actually tortured and devoured Great Dragon King Ji!" Dragon King Xiu watched the scene, letting out a low growl. "He used the Sky Abyss Demon Clan's weapon to kill his own kin! This violates the Dragon God's rules!" A Great Dragon Lord could be killed, but not tortured to death, much less killed and eaten by a fellow dragon using an enemy's divine artifact.

"The Dragon Emperor was right after all; this rogue variant is very powerful." Yin Xiu's pupils trembled slightly. "Order to halt the offensive! Retreat from Dragon Abyss Kingdom territory and garrison the Xuanhuang Territory!"

Due to the appearance of the Purple Dragon God, the Dragon Abyss Kingdom and Sky Sea Kingdom's strength greatly increased, as he also united the rogue dragon types from the Sinister Sea and Sky Abyss regions. Great Dragon Lord Yin Xiu strictly followed the Dragon Emperor's instructions, ceasing his offensive and shifting to defense. Because of the Purple Dragon God's existence, the Outer Realms Alliance was able to openly begin their operations, exploring regions like the Central Royal Court and the Inner Sea. Dragon Emperor Zhao's unification efforts were forced to halt. Time flowed, and in the blink of an eye, the ancient Dragon Court experienced nine years of peace.

In the ancient Dragon Court, far west, Forbidden Forest, Zhao Xing was perched on a large tree, his clones continuously returning and departing. "It's already the fifth year since I came to explore the Forbidden Forest in the far west. Why haven't I found it yet?" For four of those years, Zhao Xing had moved from north to west, continuously scouring for treasures from his memories. The appearance of the Purple Dragon God meant he needed to find more treasures to increase his chances of unification. It wasn't until four years ago that Zhao Xing packed and sent his findings back to Guding Kingdom, then set off again to search for the last rare treasure.

"Could it be that the vital energy tide caused the Dragon Court's terrain to expand, and I'm searching in the wrong place?""That shouldn't be it. I'm searching using the geomantic fluctuations of the ancient Dragon Court as coordinates. It should be roughly this area.""Even with some error, my soul's heavenly vision can cover an entire prefecture. Combined with my clones for exploration, I could search all nineteen states in a year.""Could it be dormant in autumn? No, it should only appear in autumn... Damn, something's wrong!" Zhao Xing suddenly shivered, yelled, and shot into the sky.

Just then, the massive dry tree, where he had been perched, was suddenly uprooted, and eighteen huge holes inexplicably appeared in the ground. Eighteen tentacles silently shot out from the holes towards the sky, heading directly for the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon soaring upwards. Fast, too fast! The tentacles' ascent speed was twice as fast as his flight speed after transformation! They extended and stretched almost explosively. "Transform!" Zhao Xing immediately transformed into his human form, his body rapidly shrinking. At that very moment, a massive sound echoed in the sky! Two colossal tentacles crossed paths. If he had maintained his original transformed dragon body, Zhao Xing would have been ensnared by the tentacles! A powerful impact force emanated from the tentacles, from which a red mist spread. Zhao Xing instinctively held his breath, but his blood and qi still surged, and a wave of blood-soaked malice rushed into his mind.

"Whoosh!" Zhao Xing used Cloud Steps, activating the Heaven's Edge in a Single Pace technique, and his entire body dispersed into mist. He first dodged the impact of the bloody malice, then slipped out between the arch-like encirclement formed by the eighteen tentacles. "Whoosh!" The tentacles also seemed to have countless dense smaller tendrils, which were actually blood-red dragon shapes, rushing straight towards Zhao Xing. It had a way to deal with large targets and a way to deal with small ones! "Substitute Straw Man!" Zhao Xing completed a Rule Leap at the moment of encirclement. The next second, a straw figure clone was crushed, then sucked underground by the hemispherical blood-red barrier formed by the eighteen tentacles.

From a safe distance, Zhao Xing looked down. He saw the eighteen pale red vines slowly retracting underground, after which the holes were covered by soil as if by a geomancy spell. "That was close, almost a major mishap." This vine before him was the Dragon Court's plant rarity, the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine! The Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine lay dormant in the earth veins, feeding on dragons. It was it that attacked Zhao Xing just now. "What a Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine. Its spiritual intelligence is probably about to awaken." Awakening spiritual intelligence usually requires reaching the Ascension Realm, but in some extreme cases, plants not in the Ascension Realm can also possess autonomous consciousness, like the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine. It had devoured countless powerful dragons and retained their consciousnesses, forming a collective consciousness within the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine. Strictly speaking, this wasn't true awakening of intelligence, but rather the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine being possessed by numerous remnant souls. However, these remnant souls had become fully integrated with the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine, intrinsically linked.

"Damn, I was ambushed by a vine! It would be too embarrassing to tell anyone." Zhao Xing first felt the danger, followed by indignation. "I spent four years hunting it here, and it spent four years laying a trap for me?" "That's right, it's extremely sensitive to dragon aura." "I must have entered its sensing range long ago. It concealed its own fluctuations in advance. My soul vision could see clearly above ground, but not beneath the surface, at least not through its camouflage."

"Let me see how strong you are!" "Rise!" Clones immediately flew out of Zhao Xing's body, then plunged underground to take root. The Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine enjoys feeding on dragons but can coexist harmoniously with other plant life. Zhao Xing's clones had no flesh-and-blood fluctuations, so the clones successfully burrowed underground. Zhao Xing employed his top-tier Mysterious King technique, descending three thousand meters underground, but still didn't see the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine's roots. Down to nine thousand meters underground, an invisible rule seemed to be blocking Zhao Xing's clones from exploring. "Thump thump thump thump thump!" A red wave swept along the earth veins, destroying most of Zhao Xing's weaker clones, but three of his strongest ones remained hidden.

"Found you!" Zhao Xing immediately teleported in the direction of the attack. After teleporting a thousand li, a brutal roar suddenly erupted from deep underground. "Roar!" All three of Zhao Xing's clones almost couldn't stand firm. "Good heavens, it truly is a pseudo-Dao Establishment Realm being. This dragon's roar actually conveyed a clear meaning." What meaning? Probably something like "Get lost!" or "Go die!" from a dragon. "Good, good, good, you're quite perverse. I like you even more now." The stronger the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine, the happier Zhao Xing became.

"The Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine feeds on dragons; it greatly restrains the dragon race and even has a record of hunting Dragon Emperors!" Zhao Xing had read many ancient texts in the Dragon Emperor Jie's palace. One record described a certain Dragon Emperor who perished under the attack of the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine. However, the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine itself disappeared with the end of the ancient era. Dragon Emperor Jie had also never seen it with his own eyes. "Although such records are from ancient times, they are enough to prove the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine's power."

"Collect!" After Zhao Xing's clones confirmed its location, he immediately recalled them. "Yoo~" The Pure Essence Projection unfurled, and a large flower basket appeared in the air. The usual rule: if he couldn't subdue it, he'd call Moyun Vine. "They're both vine types. Can the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine be stronger than a Void Seed? Big Brother, go! Suppress it!" Zhao Xing poured a large amount of spirit fluid into the flower basket, then tossed it towards the main root of the Bloodthirsty Dragon Vine. After that, he fled far away, retreating to a safe distance.