The Long-browed Real Person, following behind Ye Qiu, heard the sharp intake of breath and asked, “Little brat, what is it?”
“Look for yourself.” Ye Qiu pointed ahead.
The Long-browed Real Person leaned forward to see. Outside the cave mouth lay an immense canyon. At its centre rested a dragon skeleton a thousand zhang long.
Every bone shone with golden light and radiated a divine lustre.
Though this skeleton had lain there for an unknown span of time, dragon roars still echoed from it now and then. Its lingering might remained undiminished.
Most terrifying of all, the skeleton exuded a power that made the heart tremble.
“Dead for so long, yet the bones have not decayed and still carry such overwhelming might. Truly worthy of a Dragon Emperor of his generation.”
The Long-browed Real Person asked, “Little brat, is this dragon skeleton of any use?”
“Of course it is useful,” Ye Qiu replied. “The bones of a divine beast are supreme materials for artefact refining.”
“With a skeleton this vast, an Emperor-grade artefact refiner could forge a divine weapon capable of shaking heaven and earth.”
At this thought, Ye Qiu could not help imagining what kind of treasure he might create if he used his Chaos Qi together with these dragon bones.
At once, excitement surged within him.
“I claim this dragon skeleton.” Ye Qiu had barely spoken when the Long-browed Real Person added from beside him.
“Little brat, if you want this skeleton, you had better act fast. Delay, and it will no longer be yours.”
Hm?
Ye Qiu looked down. In his line of sight, he saw several figures.
They were disciples of the Desolate Ancient Holy Land and the Heaven-Mending Sect, busy gathering dragon bones.
Ye Qiu spotted Fang Tianming at a glance.
Without hesitation, Ye Qiu leapt down into the canyon and asked, “Brother Fang, what are you doing?”
“Brother Long?” Fang Tianming, seeing Ye Qiu, first showed utter astonishment, then smiled and asked, “Brother Long, you are not dead?”
The other disciples from both factions who had been collecting bones also stopped and stared at Ye Qiu and the Long-browed Real Person in shock.
“Were you not sacrificed? How are you still alive?”
“What on earth is going on?”
“Are you living men or ghosts?”
A chorus of voices rose.
The Long-browed Real Person cleared his throat and said, “Everyone, we did not die. Before we came, the Heavenly Venerable imparted a life-preserving technique to my master, so he and I were fortunate enough to survive.”
So that was how it was.
Fang Tianming smiled. “Seeing Brother Long safe and well brings me great comfort.”
“By the way, what are you doing here?” Ye Qiu asked.
“We are collecting dragon bones.” Fang Tianming pointed to the thousand-zhang skeleton and said, “Brother Long may not know this, but these are the true bones of a Dragon Emperor. Though only bones remain, they are outstanding materials for artefact refining. The divine sons ordered us to gather some to take back, so that Saint-grade refiners in the holy lands can forge several saint artefacts.”
Ye Qiu thought to himself, “These are true Dragon Emperor bones. Using them for mere saint artefacts is nothing short of sacrilege.”
He then asked, “Brother Fang, why do I not see my senior brother or the divine sons?”
Fang Tianming pointed north. “Earlier, bloody qi soared into the sky from that direction. The divine sons all headed that way.”
“Oh?” Ye Qiu gave a faint acknowledgement, then asked, “Brother Fang, may I take a few pieces of dragon bone?”
Fang Tianming looked troubled. “Brother Long, I fear that will not be possible.”
“Before they left, our divine sons and Divine Son Xiao of the Heaven-Mending Sect instructed that this skeleton is to be divided equally between the Desolate Ancient Holy Land and the Heaven-Mending Sect. No one else may touch it.”
“Brother Long, forgive me.”
Ye Qiu smiled. “It does not matter.”
“Brother Long, I must continue collecting bones, so I cannot keep you company.” With that, Fang Tianming seized a dragon bone.
At that moment.
“Ah…”
Fang Tianming suddenly screamed in agony and collapsed.
This sudden turn startled the disciples of both factions. They quickly gathered around.
“Brother Fang, what happened?” one Heaven-Mending Sect disciple asked.
“I…” Fang Tianming had barely spoken when his face turned black. Blood poured from his seven orifices, his head lolled, and he died.
The sight shocked everyone present.
“Brother Fang died of poison.”
“How strange. What poison could kill him?”
“His primordial spirit was completely destroyed by the toxin as well.”
“What a tyrannical poison!”
A Desolate Ancient Holy Land disciple said urgently, “I will report to the divine sons at once.”
“Hold on.” Ye Qiu suddenly spoke, stopping the disciple. “Everyone, when Brother Fang was speaking to me earlier, he showed no sign of poisoning. It was only after he grasped that dragon bone that he suddenly succumbed.”
“I suspect the dragon bones are poisoned.”
At these words, everyone froze.
Many disciples from both factions had already collected bones.
“Impossible! Brother Fang could not have been poisoned by collecting bones!” one Heaven-Mending Sect disciple declared. “We have collected bones too. Why are we unaffected?”
Many others agreed.
“Yes, if the bones were poisoned, why only Brother Fang?”
“It makes no sense.”
“There must be another reason.”
Ye Qiu said, “Everyone, let me ask you this: if the dragon bones are not poisoned, then how did Brother Fang become poisoned?”
No one could answer.
Ye Qiu continued, “Moreover, these are the true bones of a Dragon Emperor. As a supreme powerhouse of his era, even in death, his skeleton is not something ordinary people can claim.”
“I assert with certainty that these bones bear poison.”
“That includes the bones you have already collected. They carry an extremely domineering toxin.”
“If you do not believe me, take them out and examine them carefully.”
They had all witnessed Fang Tianming’s sudden death, and Ye Qiu’s words now filled them with panic.
One by one, without hesitation, they produced every dragon bone they had gathered.
A cunning Heaven-Mending Sect disciple, fearing the bones truly were poisoned, suddenly said, “Brother Long, why not examine them for us and see if they are poisoned?”
“Gladly!” Ye Qiu agreed at once. With a thought, he swept all the bones they had produced into his Qiankun bag.
“Brother Long, what are you doing?” a Desolate Ancient Holy Land disciple demanded.
“You ask what I am doing?” Ye Qiu smiled. “True dragon treasure bones. Trash like you are unworthy of them.”
Boom!
As his words fell, anomalous fire poured forth. In an instant, every disciple of the Desolate Ancient Holy Land and Heaven-Mending Sect present perished in a sea of flame.
“Your pretext was so feeble, yet they believed it. What a pack of fools,” the Long-browed Real Person said. “Now only Qi Tian, Xiao Yichen, Chen Tianming, and Wang Cong remain.”
“Old thing, let us press on and see.” Ye Qiu led the Long-browed Real Person along the thousand-zhang skeleton, continuing forward.
When they reached the position of the dragon head, both their expressions changed abruptly.
Because…
The dragon head was gone!
