Chapter 157: Dragon King's Treasure

The mountains stretched wide and open, ancient trees were sparse, and the ground was hard and dry. In this area, both firelight and auspicious energy flickered. Especially from the ancient cave, life essence mingled with crimson fire-glow, erupting outwards.

"No wonder this fellow is known as the Fire God; his dwelling is quite extraordinary," the Yellow Ox remarked, his small hands clasped behind his back. His voice was childlike, and his large eyes darted around as he took in the surroundings.

"Roar!" A beast's roar echoed. From the ancient cave, a massive head emerged, its eyes cold, its body radiating firelight, covered entirely in crimson scales, and a single horn protruded from its head. It slowly crawled out.

"Foolish humans, how dare you trespass on the Red-Scaled King's territory? Do you wish for your cities to be razed and your race annihilated?!"

The colossal beast spoke, its voice shaking the mountain forest and causing many leaves to rustle to the ground. It was an enormous creature, a full fifty meters long!

"A quasi-king?" The Black Ox observed with interest.

Chu Feng also studied it. This was clearly an exotic beast guarding the cave, and reaching the quasi-king realm was no easy feat. It resembled both a crocodile and a lizard; when its enormous mouth opened, its teeth appeared stark white and menacing.

"Roar..." It let out a mighty roar that shook the earth. From its mouth, red liquid erupted, sweeping over with a thunderous sound. It was crimson flame, burning with intense, blazing firelight.

As the quasi-king's aura erupted, many exotic beasts throughout the mountain range trembled with fear. They all knew the Red-Scaled King's assistant was fierce and domineering, and now it was clearly ready to unleash a slaughter.

The Black Ox glared. Dressed in a suit and polished shoes, wearing large sunglasses, and with a cigar clamped between his teeth, he calmly strode forward. "A mere crawler dares to roar at me? Are you tired of living?" he declared. "Your aura is heavy with malevolence; clearly, you've killed many creatures. Today, I shall send you to your rest."

Flames surged, and within dozens of meters, the ground melted from the crimson inferno. Yet, the Black Ox remained unharmed. Carrying his purple-bronze saber, he effortlessly approached the beast.

"You..." The gigantic beast was aghast. It was a quasi-king; a single breath of its flames would incinerate any human or exotic beast. Even iron and stone would melt and then vaporize if struck by its breath. Who were these people? Three of them had appeared out of nowhere, completely disregarding its attacks.

The Black Ox delivered a kick; his gleaming black leather shoe radiated light as mysterious energy surged. The quasi-king was sent rolling across the ground, howling in agony. The sound of cracking bones came from within its body, and blood spewed from its mouth.

"You are a king!" it roared, its voice like thunder, shaking the entire mountain forest and reverberating throughout the Olympus mountain range.

Many unusual creatures within the mountain range heard the roar and were utterly shocked. Had human kings arrived?

"Boom!" The giant beast roared, and fire blazed. This quasi-king was ready to fight to the death; it sensed the man in the large sunglasses harbored killing intent and would not spare it.

*Bang, bang, bang!* It attacked relentlessly, pressing forward.

But regrettably, it was far inferior to a true beast king. With just a few kicks from the Black Ox, its claws and teeth shattered. The final kick sent it flying into the mountain wall, its bones broken, tendons ruptured, and blood flowing from its seven orifices. It died there.

"Meow!" In the distance, the mountain cat that had guided the Black Ox and Chu Feng bristled all over. Witnessing the scene, it was so terrified it nearly collapsed on the spot.

That was a genuine quasi-king, accustomed to roaming the mountains unimpeded. Who dared defy it? It frequently threatened to massacre human cities, and no army ever came to eradicate it. Yet, now, it had been kicked to death in mere moments!

"Kings! Three human kings! Oh my god, this cat is terrified!" The mountain cat trembled, meowing incessantly.

Indeed, many exotic creatures throughout the Olympus mountain range were horrified, petrified to their very core, not daring to make a sound. The entire area fell silent. Many of them were subjects of the Red-Scaled King, living in this region and obeying the commands of the Red-Scaled lineage. But now, no exotic creature dared to stir.

Just then, low growls emanated from the ancient cave, and more crimson-scaled monsters crawled out. However, they were clearly not as powerful as the previous one.

"Large lizards covered entirely in red scales," Chu Feng murmured to himself. "This entire species must have evolved from giant lizards." It was conceivable that the Red-Scaled King had undergone a super-evolution unimaginable to outsiders, transforming from a lizard into a Western dragon. This was a qualitative metamorphosis, a reversion to an ancient bloodline! It was not difficult to imagine that the Red-Scaled King's power must be terrifying.

There were more than a dozen of these red-scaled lizards in total, their bodies wreathed in firelight, their fangs stark white and fearsome. However, none were as formidable as the quasi-king.

"If you don't wish to die, leave immediately!" the Black Ox commanded. Instantly, he emitted the mental fluctuations of a king, and terrifying pressure surged towards them.

*Roar...* The group of fire lizards trembled, retreating continuously, then all fled.

The Black Ox and his companions paid no attention to the fleeing fire lizards. They stepped into the ancient cave, ready to plunder.

The ground was strewn with glowing stones, which was truly bewildering. It seemed ancient texts were accurate; Western dragons really did have a fondness for shiny objects. If they had been gemstones, it would have made sense, but many were utterly worthless. Some stones even contained radioactive substances, which explained their glow.

"What kind of broken treasure is this? Just a pile of rotten rocks?" the Yellow Ox grumbled, clearly displeased.

As they delved deeper, the cave's temperature steadily rose, becoming a fiery red. Eventually, they saw magma, and astonishingly, plants grew within the glowing red liquid. They resembled lotus leaves floating on the magma, but they were certainly not lotuses. Their entire bodies were fiery red, clustered together, impervious to the intense heat, and radiating firelight.

In addition, there were a few unusual trees; some were as short as three feet, rooted in the stone walls, while taller ones, reaching three or four meters, were rooted directly beneath the magma. All of them were crimson, covered in red glow and flames. This was the fundamental reason for the beast king's evolution in this place; extraordinary fruits had once grown on these fire trees.

"What a shame," the Yellow Ox lamented. "This magma pool is quite unique; it holds considerable fortune, and the Red-Scaled King got his hands on it."

"Isn't it just a pool of magma?" the Black Ox asked, puzzled.

"This pool once contained ancient dragon blood, which nurtured these fiery red exotic trees," the Yellow Ox explained. "The Red-Scaled King ate the fruits and bathed in this very magma pool, which enabled its super-evolution and qualitative transformation."

Dragon blood? Regardless of the type, it would undoubtedly be extraordinary. It was a pity the Red-Scaled King had gotten there first.

They continued their search and eventually almost cursed aloud. This Western dragon's collection was bizarre; it seemed to only fancy glowing objects, even hoarding a pile of mirrors.

"Gems! Antiques!" Finally, in one spot, they discovered something of value: a small bag. Upon opening it, they found it filled with colorful, dazzling, and brilliant gemstones. On the ground, there were also several antiques, including spears, shields, and ancient swords. They had no idea where the beast had plundered them from.

"I think we should call a few trucks," Chu Feng said. "There's too much junk here; we can't possibly move it all. We should just find some audacious auction house and have them organize it."

The Black Ox rolled his eyes. "You're too ruthless," he scoffed. "Humiliating the Red-Scaled King like that? Aren't you afraid it will go berserk? What auction company would dare to come here?"

In fact, news had already reached the outside world, sparking a commotion. After the pilot escaped, he immediately divulged the news, swearing to people that he had transported three humans to Mount Olympus, and that they intended to raid the Red-Scaled King's lair. Such news was, without a doubt, sensational!

Many factions and organizations, hearing the rumors, immediately dispatched personnel to Mount Olympus to wait outside the mountain and gather the most accurate intelligence.

"This dragon is too poor," the Black Ox fumed. "It collects all sorts of junk, but there's nothing of value! Where's the legendary treasure?!"

"Gems and antiques are quite valuable," Chu Feng pointed out. "If we auction these in the human world, we should instantly become quite wealthy."

"Oh, this shield is decent! Here, take it!" The Yellow Ox discovered an ancient shield that still retained a faint silver gleam, though it was very old, with parts so eroded by time that they were almost decayed.

"I could punch right through that; what use is it?!" the Black Ox complained.

"Just try it," the Yellow Ox challenged.

*Clang!* The entire ancient cave shook violently with the immense sound. The Black Ox's punch failed to penetrate the shield.

"This is a good item," the Yellow Ox explained. "If you were to have the Sacred Weapon-Refining Tree forge it, it would need to open thirteen flowers to melt the material." He added that the shield contained silver essence, making it quite extraordinary.

Chu Feng was surprised. This item was truly exceptional, especially considering that his own crimson flying sword had only required fifteen flowers! Materials that required the Sacred Weapon-Refining Tree to open ten flowers for smelting were considered treasures, extremely rare on Earth. Materials requiring thirteen or fifteen flowers were even more remarkable.

"Haha... we didn't come for nothing after all!" the Black Ox roared with laughter.

The Yellow Ox nodded. "This shield likely has some legends associated with it in the West," he said. "It's a valuable item, but this dragon clearly didn't recognize its worth. It must have plundered it from somewhere and just kept it as an antique."

Ultimately, each of them found a beast hide and fashioned a large bundle, packing all the various antiques from the dragon's cave to take with them. As for the glowing objects, they considered them utterly useless.

"This dragon is so poor," the Yellow Ox grumbled. "I had such high expectations, but I'm disappointed!" In his world, there were records of ancient, sacred dragons, each described as unimaginably wealthy, living for eons, and amassing countless treasures. The Red-Scaled King, having only recently evolved into a Western dragon, naturally lacked such deep reserves of wealth.

"Hmm, I think there might be something else beneath this pool," the Yellow Ox mused suspiciously, gazing at the magma pool and the fiery red plants as they prepared to leave. Coming from another world, he was familiar with many allusions and secrets. Seeing how intensely spiritual the fiery red plants were, he suspected something significant lay beneath.

*Thump!* Eventually, the three began to divert the magma, digging a trench to drain it away.

"A fiery red stone!" the Black Ox exclaimed.

The stone was wreathed in firelight, radiating a crimson glow, and was clearly extraordinary at first glance. The Yellow Ox reached out and retrieved it. Even after a long time, the stone remained scalding hot, though its glow had receded.

The Yellow Ox struck it forcefully. With a *crack*, the head-sized stone shattered, revealing a fist-sized piece of crimson metal wreathed in firelight.

"Haha... we're rich!" The Yellow Ox laughed exuberantly, his boyish face looking exceptionally radiant.

"What is this?" Chu Feng inquired.

"Flame Gold!" the Yellow Ox declared. He explained that even in his original world, ancient records described this as a rare and precious material. He didn't specify its rank, but it was clear it must be extraordinarily valuable.

"This dragon truly guarded a treasure without even realizing it," the Yellow Ox remarked. "If a knowledgeable power knew about the Flame Gold within this stone, they would surely fight to the death over it."

"Let's go. We've certainly returned with a full haul," the Yellow Ox concluded. Finally, they were satisfied. After all, the Yellow Ox had acquired an exceptionally remarkable treasure, and the Black Ox had obtained a shield possibly linked to ancient legends.

As they departed, Chu Feng diverted the magma, causing it to flow everywhere and incinerate the ancient cave.

The mountain cat in the distance saw them emerge and was utterly thrilled. These three truly were divine beings, daring to plunder the lair of the tyrannical Red-Scaled King—it was simply extraordinary!

"My lords, some humans have arrived outside," the mountain cat reported. "They are all observing from a distance, not daring to enter the mountains."

"Oh, let's go take a look," Chu Feng said.

These people hailed from various major organizations. After the pilot leaked the information, numerous parties mobilized, and a large crowd had gathered! Among them were many reporters. They didn't dare to enter the mountain, but they were bold enough to wait outside, hoping to unearth shocking news at the first opportunity.

"Oh my god, there really are three humans!" someone exclaimed. "Look, each of them is carrying a large bundle. Did they really empty out the Red-Scaled King's lair?!"

However, no one dared to approach or enter Mount Olympus. They could only observe from a distance with binoculars.

Chu Feng and his companions paused, frowning, as there were simply too many people gathered. After a moment, a reporter finally made a move, demonstrating astonishing courage. Desperate for a firsthand scoop, she ventured into the mountain area, trembling slightly. She was a female reporter with long brown hair, quite attractive, carrying various recording devices. Her face was somewhat pale as she finally drew near.

"Hello, I'm Kelly, may I..." Kelly was on the verge of tears as she spoke, trembling uncontrollably from the king-level pressure she felt.

"Alright, Old Black, stop scaring her," Chu Feng interjected.

Only then did the Black Ox retract the trace of beast king's might.

"Little boy, you're so cute, so beautiful," the female reporter gushed. "I've never seen a more lovely and exquisite child."

The Black Ox chuckled. He understood Greek and was translating for Chu Feng.

The female reporter was genuinely afraid of the Black Ox; he looked like a mob boss and anything but a good person. Therefore, she tried hard to ingratiate herself with the seemingly harmless Yellow Ox.

"Excuse me, are you truly king-level powerhouses, and what did you just do?" the reporter asked cautiously, her heart still gripped by fear.

The Black Ox, standing nearby, translated the question for the Yellow Ox.

"We went and raided a beast king's lair," the Yellow Ox replied in an Eastern language, his beautiful, delicate face alight with innocence.

"Ah!?" The female reporter, who was recording, nearly sat on the ground in shock after hearing the Black Ox's translation. Was even this child a king-level creature?

The Yellow Ox gently blew a puff of air, and a nearby boulder exploded with a thunderous *boom*.

The reporter felt her entire body go weak, yet she struggled to remain standing. Her voice began to tremble uncontrollably, and she stammered, cautiously asking only a few more questions, too afraid to say much.

"Excuse me, is the beast king's lair very large? Are there many treasures inside?" the reporter whispered. She had more important questions in mind but was too nervous, leading her questions to be somewhat subpar.

"It's a pauper; there was nothing there," the Yellow Ox said, dissatisfied, addressing the camera. "We only brought out these three bundles. Red-Scaled, you truly are poor!"

Behind him, Chu Feng already foresaw the enormous storm this interview would unleash, expecting it to infuriate the Red-Scaled King to the point of madness.

"Ahem!" Chu Feng cleared his throat, signaling the Yellow Ox to add even more fuel to the fire against Red-Scaled.

The Yellow Ox, with his long golden hair, looked beautiful and innocent. He suddenly shouted, "Red-Scaled, stop causing trouble in the Vatican! Your mommy's calling you home for dinner!"