“Phew!”
Suddenly, a fierce wind arose.
The starry sky vanished, and a blood-red moon hung high, as if infused with blood, startling to behold.
The air between heaven and earth filled with a strange aura.
“A red moon in the sky?”
Fairy Baihua exclaimed, her delicate face paling slightly.
Ye Qiu glanced at her and asked, “Do you know something?”
Fairy Baihua said gravely, “In the cultivation world, there are two legends about the red moon. First, when the red moon appears, a saint descends!”
“And the second legend?” Ye Qiu pressed.
Fairy Baihua replied, “When the red moon rises, heaven and earth fall into chaos.”
Ye Qiu’s expression grew serious, and he said, “I wonder if this red moon heralds a saint’s arrival or chaos in the world?”
Noticing his expression, Fairy Baihua said, “These are just legends, their truth unverified, you needn’t take them seriously.”
Ye Qiu asked, “Old man, how long has the red moon been appearing?”
“This is the third day,” Longmei Zhenren answered. “For the past three days, the red moon has appeared precisely at midnight.”
Xiao Zhan, standing nearby, said, “Strange, why didn’t I see the red moon in Jiangzhou?”
Chongxu Daoren explained, “It’s likely due to different locations, so the phenomena differ, like how it might rain on Dragon Tiger Mountain while it’s clear on Wudang Mountain under the same sky.”
Ye Qiu asked, “Since the red moon appeared, has anything changed in Kunlun Mountain?”
“The dragon vein appears,” Longmei Zhenren said.
“Where’s the dragon vein?” Ye Qiu looked around but saw no trace of it.
“Follow me,” Longmei Zhenren said, vanishing in a flash.
Everyone followed closely.
Half an hour later, Longmei stopped atop a snowy peak.
Ye Qiu stood beside him, looking down to see a valley surrounded by mountains at the base.
The valley was deep, pitch-black, like a forbidden zone.
“Where’s the dragon vein?” Ye Qiu asked.
Longmei chuckled, “Be patient, wait another quarter hour, and the dragon vein will surely appear.”
The group waited quietly.
Time slipped by.
As the quarter hour approached, Longmei said, “Little brat, the dragon vein’s about to appear, I must warn you, stay calm when you see it, Kunlun’s dragon vein will shock you.”
As he spoke, the red moon’s light poured into the valley, instantly staining it blood-red.
“Roar!”
Suddenly, a deafening dragon cry echoed, followed by a golden dragon shadow emerging from the valley’s depths.
“The dragon vein’s here,” Longmei said excitedly.
Even without his prompt, everyone saw it.
Ye Qiu was stunned by the sight, Kunlun’s dragon vein was a hundred zhang long, as thick as a mountain.
Though just a golden shadow, it looked identical to a real dragon, with a massive head larger than a swimming pool, whiskers ten zhang long, and eyes as big as five bathtubs.
Its dragon might was overwhelming!
Most astonishingly, the dragon vein’s four claws each had nine toes!
Ye Qiu had only heard of five-clawed golden dragons.
Ancient emperors, to signify their supreme status, embroidered five-clawed dragons on their robes, but this nine-clawed golden dragon was a first for Ye Qiu.
“I never imagined the mortal world could have such a powerful dragon vein,” Fairy Baihua said, shocked yet secretly thrilled.
“If I obtain this dragon vein, I could instantly restore my cultivation, then, even without finding Kunlun’s entrance to the cultivation world, I could return using a secret technique.”
Fairy Baihua glanced at Ye Qiu, thinking, “What will he do if I return to the cultivation world?”
Soon, she reconciled herself, “With a demon clan disciple, he’d face mortal danger in the cultivation world.”
“Once I return, I’ll find the culprit who destroyed Baihua Palace, avenge my master and sisters, then prepare to welcome him to the cultivation world.”
While Fairy Baihua thought this, Lüluo and Xiao Zhan were equally stunned.
Both were seeing a dragon vein for the first time, utterly awestruck.
Longmei Zhenren and Chongxu Daoren remained calm, having seen the dragon vein before.
As for Huzi, his eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty light, seemingly repulsed by the dragon vein.
“Roar…”
The dragon vein opened its massive mouth, letting out a earth-shaking roar, causing the surrounding peaks to tremble.
“Little brat, isn’t this dragon vein huge?” Longmei said with a grin. “If we get it, we’ll definitely break through the peak of the King realm.”
“It won’t be easy to catch,” Ye Qiu said, feeling intense pressure from the dragon vein.
This pressure was greater than that of ten peak King realm experts combined.
“What’s there to fear? With so many of us experts, we can’t catch one dragon vein?”
Longmei said, “Here’s the plan, Ox-nose and I will set up a dragon-trapping array to corner it.”
“Then we all attack together to capture it.”
“Once we catch it, we’ll discuss how to divide it, how’s that?”
Before Ye Qiu could speak, Fairy Baihua said, “I think it’s feasible.”
Longmei asked, “Little brat, what’s your opinion?”
Ye Qiu said, “I think you’re too optimistic, this dragon vein won’t be easy to catch.”
“What’s with you, little brat? You used to charge into big tasks fearlessly, why are you so hesitant now?” Longmei said, “Don’t tell me you’re not tempted by such a massive dragon vein?”
Ye Qiu was indeed tempted, who wouldn’t want Kunlun’s dragon vein?
With it, his cultivation would soar, allowing him to enter the cultivation world early to find Ye Wushuang.
But could they, with just their group, capture it?
Yet, letting it slip would leave him unwilling.
“Since we’ve encountered it, let’s try!” Ye Qiu cautioned, “Everyone be careful, do your best, don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry, with so many of us, we’ll surely catch it.”
Longmei said, “Dog, shall we set up the array?”
“Alright,” Chongxu nodded.
They each pulled dozens of black wooden nails from their sleeves.
The nails, about a foot long, slightly thicker than a pencil, were sharp and engraved with dense runes.
Ye Qiu recognised them instantly, dragon-locking nails.
“Looks like these two old guys came prepared!”
