Chapter 1012: Four Caves (1/3)
The Four Divine Beasts of Heaven and Earth were born at the beginning of the universe, as one of the earliest creatures, even predating the Five Great Saints.
After countless years of reproduction, the Four Divine Beasts have large numbers of descendants and established their own factions. Among them, the domain established by the Old Azure Dragon is the Dragon Domain. Although initially not as powerful as the forces of the Five Great Saints, it did not suffer significant losses in the great battle from a million years ago, preserving its strength, and is now the top-tier power in the Bright Realm.
When heaven and earth gave birth to all things, the stronger a creature, the fewer in number they would be, especially for beings like the Four Divine Beasts, unique in all existence.
But it is precisely this uniqueness that made things awkward for these four Divine Beasts. To reproduce, they had to find other species to... mate with. From the second generation onward, the bloodline began to thin and mutate.
And the further down the line, the thinner the bloodline became, directly affecting the strength of their descendants.
The greatest strength of the Divine Beasts is their physical bodies, especially for creatures like the Old Azure Dragon, among the first beings born in the universe. Born at the Chaos Realm, its body's toughness is completely at the level of a Chaos Realm Treasure Artifact, making it practically invincible!
However, as the bloodline thinned, even this invincible body began to "weaken," making it difficult to maintain dragon form, only possible when activating the bloodline, as seen with the Five Dragon Sovereigns, Ye Guyu, and Li Yuncong.
The Dragon Domain has a strict hierarchy, with the highest position naturally belonging to the Old Azure Dragon, revered by all of the Dragon Clan as the "Ancestral Dragon." This old dragon had nine sons in total, but only five of them had dragon forms; they are the second generation of the Dragon Clan and, besides the Old Azure Dragon, have the purest bloodline.
These five are the ancestors of the Golden Dragon, Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, Red Dragon, and Black Dragon, truly prospering the numbers of the Dragon Clan.
However, their power was far from that of the Old Dragon, spending their lives without stepping into the Chaos Realm, all dying in battles over the endless millennia. Finally, in the seventh generation, the Dragon Clan produced a member whose bloodline was extremely akin to their ancestors, with a very pure Azure Dragon bloodline, ultimately stepping into the Chaos Realm.
Thus, the Dragon Domain has two beings in the Chaos Realm, with the other Azure Dragon also honored as the "Second Ancestor."
In every place, the strong are revered, and the Dragon Clan is no exception.
Only a Nine Caves King has the qualification to contend for the position of clan leader, and they are called the "Ancestral Dragon" of each generation, with five Ancestral Dragons leading a branch of the Dragon Clan. Despite sounding similar to the Ancestral Dragon, the significance differs vastly.
Eight Caves Experts are called Great Ancestors, Seven Caves are Yuan Ancestors, Six Caves are Great Elders, Five Caves are Elders, Four Caves are Executors, and those from One to Three Caves are collectively known as Protectors.
The elder known as "Mo River Executor" hails from the Dragon Domain and is an Executor. His name is Long Moxing—only upon breaking into the Black Cave Realm can one be bestowed with the dragon surname, symbolizing nobility.
In his view, the Dragon Domain can now be regarded as the strongest force under heaven, as the once strongest Five Great Holy Domains have declined!
The Saints are all fallen; it is now the era of the Chaos Realm Heavenly Venerates!
As an executor of the Dragon Domain, Long Mohe naturally brimmed with arrogance; although a Four Caves might not be a top-tier expert in the Dragon Domain, it was enough to suppress all under the heavens.
In his eyes, deciding life and death with a word was only natural, considering Zhou Heng's extraordinary talent. Otherwise, others wouldn't be so fortunate and would surely be torn into pieces to show that the Dragon Domain's majesty cannot be violated.
"No, no, please spare him, we are willing to take his place!" The Five Dragon Sovereigns, however, all rushed out together, kneeling in front of Long Mohe.
"Absurd!" Zhou Heng's face turned stern, and with a wave of his hand, the Five Dragon Sovereigns were instantly lifted and landed behind him. He didn't need women to plead for his life!
Long Mohe was slightly amazed. He could naturally see that those five women were members of the Dragon Clan, only with very thin bloodlines, which might not even be enhanced by the baptism of the Ancestral Pond.
But for five women of the Dragon Clan to kneel for an outsider? This was an utter disgrace to the Dragon Clan!
Long Mohe snorted coldly and said, "Killing my Dragon Clan offspring, no one could save you!"
His words carried an overwhelming might, instantly spreading to every corner of the Hundred Dragons Star, no longer merely sound, but a transmission of Divine Sense; wherever his Divine Sense covered, nothing was missed!
This also demonstrated the might of Four Caves; his Divine Sense could completely envelop such a gigantic planet as the Hundred Dragons Star.
It was spoken with such dominance, completely disregarding the presence of a Black Cave Sovereign nearby, giving no face whatsoever!
Lin Wubing, however, showed no expression, merely helping his son up and using his own Spiritual Power to treat Lin Xianyang, as if nothing else existed in his sight, and his ears were deafened.
Although ordinary people didn't understand the divisions of the Black Cave Realm, witnessing this scene, they could guess that the suddenly appearing old man possessed greater strength than Lin Wubing!
What happened to the Hundred Dragons Star?
First, a disproportionately powerful Dead Spirits Black Cave King emerged, causing the fall of the five Black Cave Kings of the Hundred Dragons Star, followed by the arrival of a Black Cave Sovereign, dominantly annihilating the White Bone Skeleton.
Now, an even stronger existence than the Black Cave Sovereign appeared; why were all the strong ones emerging at once?
Zhou Heng smiled mildly; Hongyue had yet to appear, evidently honing himself, seeing if under high pressure, he could form the Thousand-Path Milky Ways. But such deliberate arrangement never managed to stir his extreme emotions, for he knew Hongyue would surely appear.
Unless Hongyue could erase his related memories, forcing him to forget everything to fight!
But the Milky Way Emperor against Four Caves Experts, it wasn't even a matter of victory; a mere thought could crush him, how could any life-and-death pressure be formed?
This simply couldn't achieve the effect of honing!
However, Zhou Heng still took a deep breath, hum, hum, hum, as five high-tier Treasure Artifacts appeared again, he had restored nearly ten percent of his strength.
"Huh!"
Long Mohe was just about to make a move, but when he saw those five Treasure Artifacts, he abruptly stopped.
To be precise, his eyes were fixed on the Fire Divine Furnace, Black Sword, and Sunset Bow.
"Fire Divine Furnace! Sunset Bow!" Long Mohe exclaimed in amazement, "...Black Shadow Sword!"
His knowledge was far beyond that of Ye Guyu and Li Yuncong; he recognized the origins of these three Treasure Artifacts at a glance.
"Good eyesight!" Zhou Heng praised, but to Long Mohe's ears, it sounded particularly irritating, as if an elder was complimenting a junior, which made it unbearable for him.
"Junior, you're quite lucky to have obtained these three supreme treasures!" Long Mohe's eyes flickered with greed. The greatest power of the Fire Divine Furnace was not to be used as a weapon, but for Alchemy. From this perspective, it was the most top-tier among all Black Cave-level Treasure Artifacts.
And the backgrounds of the other two were even more impressive!
The Sunset Bow was a Chaos-grade Treasure Artifact!
In this world, how many Chaos Realm Experts are there? Every Chaos-grade Treasure Artifact is the ultimate treasure among treasures. Even if it falls into the hands of a Black Cave Martial Artist who can't fully unleash its power, it can still erupt with terrifying strength for a short period, capable of cutting down even a Nine Caves True Monarch!
As for that Broken Sword... it was even more incredible!
This was a Treasure Artifact used by the Taixu Saint!
In terms of rank, it was still Chaos-grade, but having been nurtured by a Saint for countless eons, it was definitely hundreds of times stronger than average Chaos-grade Treasure Artifacts — even broken, it's stronger than ordinary Chaos Artifacts!
Long Mohe's heart was already uncontrollably pounding, his pupils dilated, his breathing involuntarily accelerated, greed was spiraling out of control.
Concern?
Ridiculous, the owner of the Sunset Bow fell long ago, his lineage rose and fell greatly, and they were annihilated by enemies hundreds of thousands of years ago! As for the Tai Xu lineage? Their strongest was merely an Eight Caves True Monarch, and though a Realm doesn't represent battle power, don't forget, Dragon Domain has two Chaos Realm Old Ancestors!
This kid must have incredible fortune, allowing him to obtain these treasures by chance, and with them, he killed Ye Guyu.
In an instant, Long Mohe pieced together a rough sketch of Ye Guyu's death, though he still had some doubts, because once Ye Guyu activated his bloodline, he should have been able to instantly kill Zhou Heng with overwhelming force, so why was he instead subdued?
But, whatever, obtain the treasures first!
"Heaven's treasures are for the virtuous, junior, you are unworthy of possessing these supreme treasures!" Long Mohe made his move, still finding a self-justifying reason for himself.
"Hahahaha, greed is greed, why posture like a whore trying to build a chastity arch?" Zhou Heng fully activated the five Treasure Artifacts. Though defeat was certain, he would never surrender without fighting.
Bam!
Long Mohe pressed down with one hand, and the attack formed by the five Treasure Artifacts was no more than child's play, completely suppressed with a slap, forcibly taking all five Treasure Artifacts, while Zhou Heng was also pinned to the ground by the powerful force, limbs spread, unable to resist at all.
In terms of strength, even the Comet King could suppress him, and after reaching the Black Cave Realm, this gap grew exponentially, let alone Long Mohe who was at Four Caves!
This was a hard gap no means could bridge!
Long Mohe hesitated whether to kill Zhou Heng or not.
He absolutely wasn't worried about Zhou Heng having any significant background — what background could be stronger than Dragon Domain? What made him hesitate was that leaving Zhou Heng alive might help him find more treasures!
The love for treasures is not exclusive to the Black Donkey, only it is more blatant.
"Hahahaha, old man, you better have thick enough blood, so that after you die you're still dragon-shaped, otherwise I'll struggle to turn you into Dragon Soup!" Zhou Heng, though unable to move his body or open his mouth, still managed to reverberate his Divine Sense to voice these words.
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Is this guy crazy?
Not begging for mercy, nor bringing up Hongyue behind him, instead openly defying Long Mohe? Isn't that foolish? If he angers Long Mohe, the man could kill him in minutes!
Besides, even bringing up Hongyue might not be enough to intimidate Long Mohe; this old man had already crushed Lin Wubing so much that he couldn't raise his head, definitely a Black Cave Emperor!
Long Mohe also felt his face twitch slightly; this boy dared claim he'd eat him?
Damn it! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you're welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)