97: A golden opportunity! A critically injured, dying, and slumbering Bloodline Dragon?

Chapter 97 Gold Opportunity! The Heavily Injured, Dying, and Sleeping Bloodline Flood Dragon?

"This matter is settled; it's time to leave the Panlong River."

Inside the newly built temporary Immortal Cave, Lu Qiu sat cross-legged beside the spirit eye spring, carefully reviewing the gains from his nearly half-year absence from Yellow Maple Valley.

First, the direct gains from exploring two Immortal Caves.

From Venerable Xuanji's Immortal Cave in the Qiyun Mountain Range: the ancient Formation secret canon "profound mechanism array canon", the cultivation method for the auxiliary Divine Ability "Xuanji Pupil", two mysterious ancient treasures—a dark copper mirror and a pitch-black short sword—several thousand-year spirit herbs like Red Essence Lingzhi, ice soul lotus, and thousand-year dragon-patterned fruit, along with some hundred-year auxiliary herbs, and that special companion Spirit Beast, the "Ice Soul Snake".

From Venerable Golden Malice's Immortal Cave by the Panlong River: the top-tier Dual Cultivation secret technique "Yin-Yang Crown", the complete Cultivation Technique "Golden Malice Art" which can be cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage along with cultivation insights, a damaged imitation ancient treasure "yin yang mirror", the Lifebound Treasure "golden malice seal", over fifty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, plus the tattered Storage Pouches of five fallen Cultivators outside the cave.

Second, various collections guided by Opportunity intelligence.

Several rare Materials for Artifact Refining, array Formation, and beast rearing, such as top-quality demonic blood stone, gui water sinking silver, illusion-colored cloud mica, cold iron essence, ghost-face mushroom, and purple spirit crystal.

A complete set of Materials from a Third-Tier Middle-Stage Yao Beast "Green Water Python", parts of the corpse and essence blood of a Third-Tier Yao Beast "Iron-armored Crocodile", a cyan bird egg suspected to be from a "Wind Thunder Falcon", and part of the legacy of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage Loose Cultivator "Lu Yong" and several Qi Refining Cultivators.

Third, gains from battles and experience.

Successfully enslaved the "Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis", ranked seventy-third on the list of strange insects, and hatched and gained preliminary control over the mutated Spirit Beast "Purple Crystal Sable".

Regarding himself, the second layer of the "Great Evolution Art" was stable, his use of "Spirit Shocking Thorn" was proficient, he had preliminary mastery of the "Dragon Imprisonment Seal", he had reached the threshold of "Xuanji Pupil", his cultivation was steadily advancing toward the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, and his understanding and practical ability in Formations had significantly improved.

Finally, there was the key that had always pointed here and eventually led him to the Golden Malice Cave—the "golden fiend sword"—and the powerful, top-quality set of Magical Artifacts obtained from a market auction, the "sky burning gilded plumes".

"Truly... a bountiful harvest, a trip well worth it." Lu Qiu let out a long breath, an uncontrollable look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

The gains from this trip, in both quality and quantity, far exceeded any of his previous excursions for experience, enough to support his cultivation for a long time to come and even lay some Foundation for the path to Core Formation.

He was especially glad for his consistently cautious style.

"If I hadn't always kept 'acting within one's means' in mind, knowing how to lie low and endure, and had instead chosen to stay hidden in the Immortal Cave to watch the situation unfold during the world-shaking events of the Bloodline Flood Dragon's appearance and the Tianxing Sect's dragon slaughter, I might not only have missed these opportunities but could have also been caught in danger, with my life hanging in the balance." Lu Qiu warned himself secretly.

In the cultivation world, opportunities and dangers coexist; knowing when to advance and when to lie low is often more important than mere strength.

He composed himself and took out from the gray spatial bead a bird egg obtained from the Wind Thunder Falcon's nest in Eagle Sorrow Gorge. It was cyan-green all over, with faint silver lightning patterns flowing on the surface, emitting pure wind and thunder Spiritual Qi.

The egg of a Fourth-level Monster Beast, the 'Wind Thunder Falcon'.

Lu Qiu's fingers lightly stroked the cool eggshell, feeling the tenacious and unique rhythm of life within. "It contains the power of wind and thunder. Once mature, its speed will be extremely fast, and its attack style combines the swiftness of wind with the violence of thunder. It is indeed a top-tier flying and combat spirit pet."

He already had the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis, the Illusion Spirit Butterflies, and the Purple Crystal Sable. If he added a Wind Thunder Falcon, known for its speed and capable of both flight and attack, his spirit pet system would be even more complete.

However, this Wind Thunder Falcon egg was produced by a wild Yao Beast, not hatched and raised from birth, so it required a secret technique to imprint a Divine Soul brand to ensure loyalty.

Lu Qiu stood up and cleared an open space in the center of the Immortal Cave.

He took out a set of simple Formation Flags he had prepared long ago, specifically for applying Divine Soul control to Yao Beast eggs, and planted them one by one according to specific positions, forming a circular Formation three feet in diameter.

The Formation patterns were ancient, with an eye-like rune at the core.

He sat cross-legged before the Formation, his expression solemn. His hands formed seals, and he chanted incantations as streaks of pure Crimson Heaven Mana were infused into the Formation Flags.

"Buzz..."

The Formation Flags trembled slightly, emitting a low resonance, and the Formation patterns lit up one by one with a pale gold light.

Once the Formation was fully activated, Lu Qiu used his fingers like a blade and made a light cut on the tip of his left index finger.

"Drip."

A few drops of crimson blood with a pale gold luster, containing pure mana and life essence, slowly dripped down, landing precisely into the "eye" rune at the core of the Formation.

As soon as the blood droplets touched the Formation, it was as if they had been dropped into boiling oil!

"Sizzle—!"

The pale gold light of the Formation suddenly became brilliant!

The entire Formation seemed to come alive, the light flowing as it quickly "melted" and "decomposed" the essence blood in the center, turning it into countless blood-colored threads thinner than hair, shimmering with a pale gold-red glow, winding and swimming through the Formation's halo as if they were alive.

Seeing this, Lu Qiu carefully moved the Wind Thunder Falcon egg into the center of the Formation.

The moment the eggshell touched the Formation's light, the swimming blood-colored threads seemed to find their target. They swarmed over, following the natural Spiritual Qi meridians and tiny pores on the surface of the eggshell, penetrating inside thread by thread, leaving no opening untouched!

Visibly, within the cyan-green eggshell, a network of pale gold blood threads spread out, establishing a mysterious connection with the tiny life being nurtured inside the egg.

Lu Qiu closed his eyes and concentrated, sending out a strand of pure Divine Sense along the channel built by the essence blood threads. He slowly probed into the egg, imprinting his own Divine Soul brand and an absolute master-servant contract deep within that newborn, ignorant consciousness.

The entire process lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

When the last blood thread had completely entered the egg, the Formation's light slowly retracted and subsided.

The Wind Thunder Falcon egg lay quietly in the center of the Formation. There was no significant change in its appearance, but Lu Qiu could clearly feel a close connection with the life inside the egg, as if their Bloodlines were linked and their minds faintly shared.

"It's done." Lu Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

He carefully picked up the Wind Thunder Falcon egg, feeling the sense of closeness and dependence from the life within, and felt satisfied.

Afterward, he placed the newly branded beast egg into the gray spatial bead, next to the spirit eye spring.

The pure Spiritual Qi and vitality of the spirit spring were most suitable for nourishing such unhatched Yao Beast eggs, accelerating their hatching and laying a better Foundation.

Having finished all this, Lu Qiu was about to pack his things and leave this temporary Immortal Cave, ending his trip to the Panlong River.

Just as he pushed open the stone door of the Immortal Cave and was about to investigate the situation outside...

"Tianxing Sect business, all bystanders leave immediately! Violators will be executed without mercy!"

A cold, majestic voice, grand and containing the unique Spiritual Pressure of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, suddenly came from the direction of the Panlong River like rolling thunder, spreading across dozens of miles in an instant!

The voice carried unquestionable commands and chilling killing intent, making the mountains and forests rustle and causing birds and beasts to flee in terror!

Lu Qiu's heart tightened, and he instantly retreated into the Immortal Cave, leaving only a sliver of Divine Sense extremely covertly attached to the edge of the cave entrance Formation, carefully "observing" the outside.

He saw that above the Panlong River, which had regained some calm, dozens of streaks of light from Cultivators dressed in Tianxing Sect robes had appeared at some point!

They were in groups of three to five, forming small teams, conducting a tight, net-like search along the riverbanks, the river surface, and even the mountain forests on both sides, like a comb!

The lowest cultivation level was the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, with several Late Foundation Establishment Stage or even False Core Cultivators leading the teams!

These Tianxing Sect Disciples acted extremely overbearingly, their Divine Sense sweeping unceremoniously over every inch of suspicious area.

Encountering Loose Cultivators still lingering nearby, hoping to scavenge or just passing through, they didn't ask for reasons at all and simply drove them away harshly.

Any slight hesitation or explanation was met with merciless attacks!

Lu Qiu "saw" that not far downstream, an Early Foundation Establishment Stage Loose Cultivator seemed to want to explain he was just passing by. Before he could finish, a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Tianxing Sect Disciple snorted coldly and sacrificed a starlight-shimmering flying wheel, instantly shattering his protective Magical Artifact and opening a bloody hole in his chest!

The Loose Cultivator screamed and fell into the river, his fate unknown.

"You Tianxing Sect are a disgrace to the Righteous Path! Acting so cruelly, how are you any different from the Demonic Path!" From another part of the forest came the indignant curse of a middle-aged Loose Cultivator. Responding to him were several intersecting beams of brilliant starlight Sword Qi and a muffled groan that cut off abruptly.

The air of blood and slaughter once again filled the sky over the Panlong River.

Lu Qiu quickly withdrew that sliver of Divine Sense, retreated deep into the Immortal Cave with a solemn expression, and activated the strongest concealment and protection Formations.

The Tianxing Sect... why have they made such a big scene again?" He was full of doubt. "Hasn't the Bloodline Flood Dragon already broken the Formation and escaped? Did they fail to catch it and return to search for clues again?"

But judging from the Core Formation Cultivator's transmission and the ruthless, decisive actions of these Disciples, the Tianxing Sect's return this time was definitely not a simple search. It was more like... a clearing of the area?

Or rather, searching for something extremely important that must not be seen by outsiders?

Thinking of how the Tianxing Sect Disciples didn't hesitate to kill those who questioned them, Lu Qiu felt a chill in his heart.

"In this cultivation world, in the face of sufficient benefits, there is no absolute distinction between righteous and demonic," he sighed to himself.

The Tianxing Sect might usually be a model of the Righteous Path, but when faced with something that could involve the Sect's major interests, they could act so overbearingly and cruelly, treating the lives of Loose Cultivators like grass.

"It seems... I can't leave for now," Lu Qiu said helplessly.

With a Core Formation Cultivator personally overseeing and giving orders, and a large number of Disciples searching strictly, leaving by force now would be no different from walking into a trap.

With his current concealment methods, he might have tried it in normal times, but under the circumstances where a Core Formation Cultivator's Divine Sense might repeatedly scan and Disciples were conducting a net-like search, the risk was too great.

He could only continue to lie low.

The Tianxing Sect's move is clearly because they discovered something and want to conduct a thorough investigation of this area of the Panlong River.

Lu Qiu pondered: "What are they looking for? The Bloodline Flood Dragon? Probably not. The Bloodline Flood Dragon escaped heavily injured after breaking the Formation; logically, it should have fled far away long ago. How could it return to this dangerous area? Unless..."

A thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

The Bloodline Flood Dragon isn't that stupid.

"Then is it some other treasure? Or did the Bloodline Flood Dragon leave behind something crucial when it escaped?" Lu Qiu guessed, but with limited information, it was hard to be certain.

However, no matter what the Tianxing Sect was looking for, it had nothing to do with Lu Qiu.

The only thing he needed to do now was to ensure he wasn't discovered.

He pushed all the concealment Formations of the Immortal Cave to their limit, operated the "Myriad Transformations Hidden Origin Art" at full power, and even carefully restricted the Spiritual Qi fluctuations of the spirit eye spring within the Formation.

He seemed to have completely turned into a lifeless stone, merging with the surrounding mountain walls.

He didn't even dare to send out a sliver of Divine Sense, fearing he would attract the attention of that Core Formation Cultivator who might be overlooking the entire area from high above.

He even prepared for the worst-case scenario.

In his hand, he quietly gripped a Talisman—a silver-white Talisman inscribed with complex spatial runes, with faint spatial fluctuations flowing through it.

An Intermediate Middle-Grade Talisman—the ten thousand mile teleportation talisman!

Once activated, it could instantly teleport the user randomly ten thousand miles away; it was one of the ultimate trump cards for escaping, incredibly precious.

"If I'm really discovered and fall into a desperate situation... I'll have no choice but to use this Talisman." Lu Qiu's eyes were firm.

No matter how good a treasure is, it's not as important as one's life.

For the next three days, Lu Qiu stayed in the Immortal Cave like a true invisible person, even slowing down the pace of his daily cultivation to avoid generating significant spiritual energy fluctuations.

Every day, he just routinely checked the reorganized Opportunity intelligence to indirectly understand the movements outside.

[white information: Beneath a certain reef by the river, a two-hundred-year-old 'water spirit grass' is hidden, having luckily escaped discovery by the Tianxing Sect Disciples.]

[white information: A Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator was pursued and killed by Tianxing Sect Disciples; before dying, they hid their Storage Pouch in a secret tree hollow downstream.]

[white information: A Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator attempted to escape across the river by night but was... by Tianxing Sect Disciples.]

...One piece of information after another coldly revealed the cruelty and efficiency of the Tianxing Sect's clearing operation.

They seemed to truly disregard their reputation, determined to purge all "bystanders" from this area.

Until the morning of the third day.

Lu Qiu, as he had the previous two days, immersed his mind and checked today's reorganized Opportunity intelligence.

[white information: On the north bank of the Panlong River, twenty miles upstream, a nest of 'Iron-Beaked Sparrows' moved due to being startled, leaving behind two unhatched sparrow eggs in the nest.]

[silver information: On the western cliffs of Dragon Gate Gorge, deep within a crevice hidden by vines, grows a four-hundred-and-eighty-year-old 'Rock Marrow Mushroom'.]

[gold intelligence: At the bottom of the Panlong River, fifteen miles downstream from Dragon Gate Gorge, deep within a secret Yao Beast cave beneath an undercurrent vortex, the Fifth-level Demonic Beast Bloodline Flood Dragon is heavily injured and dying, its demon core on the verge of shattering, its essence blood exhausted, and it has cast its innate secret technique 'Blood Hibernation' to fall into a deep slumber.]

Lu Qiu's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpricks!

At that moment, his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand!

The Bloodline Flood Dragon?

It hadn't fled far?

It was actually... hidden in the nearby riverbed?

Heavily injured and dying?

Fallen into a slumber?

How is this possible?!