Plundering the Heavens

Fang Xing knew his words were useless. He grew quiet, and after a long moment, he suddenly turned and looked at the Head Exalt to ask, “Respectable Old Senior, this dragon has saved my life many times and is even as important as my own life. It is my only family, and it has more value to me than most human lives in this world. So I want to ask you, exactly what are you going to do to it?”

The Head Exalt became quiet for a moment before responding, “Little Friend, do you remember when the Vermillion Bird infiltrated our clan only to flee after you discovered its true identity? However, you do not know that when it fled, it accidentally left behind a secret scroll. I and other fellow Daoists investigated this scroll, and we appraised it to be an ancient secret spell related to peril beasts that was left behind by the Taishang Daoism. It must have come from the depths of the Guixu Ruins….”.

‘That red-feathered bird did indeed cause trouble for me….’ Fang Xing didn’t respond and merely looked expressionlessly at the Head Exalt.

The Head Exalt continued, “The power and skills of the ancient Taishang Daoism were beyond the heavens. They’d once tamed hundreds and thousands of peril beasts into their mounts or soldiers, and even the Foremost Perils—the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise—were all tamed by the Taishang Daoism and willingly became their guardian beasts to help rule over the land. Most of the peril beasts within the Guixu Ruins today are said to be the descendants of these tamed peril beasts. Even disregarding their other skills, their ability in beast taming is extremely strong. The importance of this secret scroll, I believe there is no need for me to say anything else, right?”

Fang Xing nodded. “Peril beasts roam all over the Guixu Ruins, and they are more powerful than all the human clans combined. If it were possible to control all these peril beasts, the power of the Hentian clan would reach the peak and be unmatched by the other clans!”

“What Little Friend said is indeed correct.” The Head Exalt smiled. “This secret scroll, us few old guys studied it for a few months and already verified it as authentic. Through it, we will be able to craft a spirit treasure close to a Divine weapon that is able to control peril beasts. We have at least fifty-percent confidence we can craft such a Divine weapon, but it requires an ancient peril beast as the catalyst….”

The Head Exalt’s intentions were made clear with these words, and he looked to Fang Xing with anticipation.

“After your use, is it going to be dead or alive?” Fang Xing asked.

The Head Exalt paused slightly before replying, “It will become the weapon spirit!” He paused again at this, but he continued as though trying to convince a bit more, “Little Friend, from what I see, this red dragon of yours seems to have parts of its spirit missing. Its intelligence is nearly completely scattered away, and the reason it’s close to you is likely because you have been with it for a long time and its scent is on you. Truthfully speaking, this sort of connection is very weak; who knows when it’ll become crazy and forget you completely?

“Why is there the need to protect it so much now? Heh, if you marry Qing’er and take her as your wife, with your talent, even the position as next clan master is possible When you become the clan master, this Divine weapon would be yours to use, and it would be no different from having never left the dragon at all—”

“Head Exalt, tell me the truth,” Fang Xing interrupted after taking in a deep breath. Considering this old man had said so much, it seemed he at least had a conscience. “If I do not accept this, what will you do?”

“If you are determined to leave, I cannot guarantee you will do so alive.”

“If the red dragon were to go mad in here, I’m afraid half the Hentian clan would lose their lives,” Fang Xing coldly replied.

The Head Exalt closed his eyes and lightly shook his head. “We have prepared for this.”

Fang Xing was speechless. He understood now; these old guys had been so moved, what did it matter if half their clansmen were sacrificed? If they were able to control peril beasts and have control over the entire Guixu Ruins, perhaps even sacrificing the lives of all their clansmen was something they’d be willing to do.

“Heh, that peril bird has no good intentions at all; is a secret spell it left behind actually reliable?” Fang Xing persisted in asking even knowing there was no other option.

The Head Exalt didn’t even entertain the notion and only calmly replied, “We have already appraised it. It is real.”

“Then there is no other choice.” Fang Xing let out a long sigh, seemingly finally giving up. “Head Exalt, thank you for your willingness to speak so much with me!”

The Head Exalt smiled. “This is because I’d like to help you inherit the position of the next clan master. I am also missing a pupil to study under me!”

Fang Xing laughed, uncaring if such words were genuine or not. “In that case, I believe you, Head Exalt!” As he walked to the door, he paused slightly in his steps. “Head Exalt, I have a small favor to ask. Although this red dragon is somewhat mad, it has accompanied me for a long time. Hunting for me when I’m hungry, rescuing me when I’m in danger; I feel extremely in debt to it. I do not dare refuse to hand it over since the clan needs it, but at least allow me to do something for it one last time. Allow me to catch some peril beasts so it at least won’t be hungry when I see it off….”

The Head Exalt nodded. “Behind this mountain is a prison cell that has been passed down by the great ancestor Hentian. It can be used to encage the dragon. All you have to do is lure it inside, and anything after that will no longer require your presence. We started the preparations two months ago and everything is ready. If we start extracting its soul today, we would need to drive a Cleave Nail into him every two hours. Eighteen Cleave Nails would require approximately two days; this should be enough time for you to go out and hunt.”

“One and a half days?” An unnoticeable chilling light flashed across Fang Xing’s eyes, and he finally showed a stiff smile. “That is enough.”

After leaving, Fang Xing felt the auras of a few elderly men standing expressionlessly above the courtyard. The clan master was also among them observing his every movement, and it was clear if Fang Xing tried to refuse earlier, he might have already been turned into dust. He knew this much earlier and wasn’t surprised; instead, he bowed towards the clan master with a smile. “Future father-in-law, it is great to see you….”

The clan master was slightly taken aback. The edge of his lips twitch slightly and he softly laughed, “All’s well!”

The clan master’s expression looked unwilling, and Fang Xing immediately understood that even if he did hand over the red dragon, things still might not go his way. Of course, he wouldn’t reveal his thoughts so readily, and he instead made a pointed effort to become more relaxed. He swaggered his way to the side of the pond and patted the head of the red dragon who’d been lying next to the pond and glaring towards those in the air.

“Big doggie, come with me!” Fang Xing jumped onto the dragon’s head and it excitedly took off into the sky. After seeing so many powerful cultivators surrounding Fang Xing’s courtyard, the dragon had thought they were going to hurt Fang Xing.

When the dragon flew into the sky, the elderly men went on high alert and didn’t relax even a small amount. “Where’s the cage?” Fang Xing asked the Head Exalt, and the latter began leading him towards the back mountain.

Within a lower basin was a giant black cage standing over a hundred feet tall. The cage door alone was as tall as a mountain peak, and every single black iron bar was like a peak in its own right. Strange spells and scripts were carved on all of them, and the aura it gave off was extremely terrifying. Fang Xing flew in front of the cage and his eyes chilled a little as though remembering an unpleasant experience, but such thoughts lasted for only a moment.

Fang Xing jumped from the dragon’s head up into the empty sky while pointing at the iron cage. “Big doggie, you go inside from here. Stay inside and be good, and don’t think about wanting to come out. You were the one who caught peril beasts for me to eat before, so today, I’m going to catch a couple fat ones for you so you can have a feast!”

The red dragon didn’t doubt Fang Xing’s words, so it shook its giant head before flying inside. When an older cultivator standing above the cage saw this, he immediately shot out a spirit light from his hand and the giant cage door instantly slammed down. The loud sound caused the red dragon to flinch, and only after it turned and saw Fang Xing wasn’t far away did it finally calm down. The cage started to shrink at a very fast speed afterwards, and in moments it was nothing more than a few feet tall and thirty or so feet long, like a long coffin with only enough space for the dragon to lie inside.

The red dragon tossed and turned with clear discomfort, but a thunderous light appeared above the cage and caused the dragon so much pain it began shaking. The dragon instantly became anxious and wanted to resist, but an old bald cultivator above the cage let out a snort and pointed his finger, causing a one-foot-long Cleave Nail to fly down from the sky and slam right into the red dragon’s flesh.

“Aooooo….”

The red dragon began convulsing violently in pain, but it couldn’t reach where the nail had embedded itself. Instead, the more violently it thrashed, the more it triggered the reactions of the cage, causing even more thunderous lights to strike its body.

“Don’t move, big doggie!” Fang Xing shouted from the side.

The red dragon had been thrashing out in near madness, but it stopped moving at the shout and its eyes looked at Fang Xing with grief.

Fang Xing landed on the ground and knelt beside the red dragon before reaching his hand into the cage and gently caressing its nose. “During this period of time, you will feel a lot of pain, but wait a little and you soon won’t feel the pain anymore….”

The red dragon felt wronged and didn’t understand why Fang Xing would allow it to be in so much pain, but when it saw the look Fang Xing was giving it, it lowered its head as though in awe and had agreed. Fang Xing’s expression became even more peculiar at this and he clenched his teeth while preparing to leave, but the red dragon’s tongue suddenly stuck out from the gaps of the cage to lick him all over, causing him to stand stiff.

“Wait for me. I’ll be back very soon!” Fang Xing didn’t wipe himself clean this time, nor did he turn back; instead, he gave a look at the Head Exalt who then nodded.

They’d used all kinds of methods to lure Fang Xing into actively handing the red dragon over, and it was all because they feared being forceful would cause the red dragon to go mad and make it difficult to pin the nails inside it. They had enough battle prowess and advance preparation that taking down the red dragon with a formation wouldn’t be an issue, but anything could happen in such a forced situation. If the nails didn’t hit the right spot, the red dragon’s soul might be dispersed and they wouldn’t have the confidence to extract the soul for their own purpose.

Fang Xing’s performance just now had left them all satisfied. The red dragon had actually willingly entered the cage thanks to his orders, and even if it was unable to endure the pain and started struggling, their confidence in success with so many cultivators present was over sixty percent.

Fang Xing didn’t care about this. He drew in a deep breath and jumped onto a cloud before flying directly towards the clan’s outskirts. His mind was filled with anxiety and nervousness, and although his face was expressionless, his nails had already stabbed into his palm. The pained cry of the red dragon sounded out behind him; it must have wanted to struggle again when it saw him leave, but it had been struck by the thunder of the cage.

Fang Xing did not dare to turn back and waste time. He could only fly off with his cloud.