Chapter 18: Yinlong Lake

The front courtyard of the Hall of Treasures.

The shopkeeper Qin An, as thin as a bamboo stick stubbornly watched as Yu Yuan walked away from him with the pair of Black Dragon Shears.

“Come and visit again another day!”

Yu Yuan waved to say goodbye. He raised his voice and yelled toward the back of the hall, “Thanks again, Uncle Zhao! After the battle between the four clans is over, I will come again. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I will be one of the comparators, too.”

“Mr. Shopkeeper, it has been a pleasure to meet you today! See you soon.”

Under the confused looks of Qin An, Yu Yuan stepped out of the Hall of Treasures.

He was the first person that Qin An met who came in empty-handed and came out not only alive but also with a priceless treasure!

“Boss?”

It took a long time before Qin An recovered from the surprise. After he noticed that Zhao Dongsheng came out of the hall, he hesitated before asking, “How come you just let him take away a Spiritual Class Grade Three – Black Dragon Shears?”

“Stop asking about things you shouldn’t know!” Zhao Dongsheng commended with his hard tone. “From now on, collect all the information you can get about Yu Yuan! I need to know who he has been with recently and what he has been doing! As many details as possible!”

“Yes, sir!” Qin An replied immediately.

Zhao Dongsheng’s massive body was almost as wide as the doorway. He squinted his eyes towards where Yu Yuan had left and thought, After the battle is over, and you are proven wrong. Not only you but the whole Yu Clan will be punished!

…

The Yu Clan. Midnight.

“The Black Dragon Shears, Spiritual Class Grade Three.”

Holding the black translucent shears and looking at the orb inlaid at the intersection of the two blades, Yu Yuan quietly spoke to himself, “Even though this Dragon Orb is not real, but it still contains a real dragon’s breath. It must have been a weapon from Yinlong Lake.”

The Land of Qianxuan and the Land of Extinction were separated by vast areas of oceans and lakes. There were countless amounts of islands in between that were dangerous and mysterious.

The Nine Deep Cliffs were one of them.

The mysterious “Yinlong Lake” was another in the depths of the vast oceans.

As a former leader of a large sect, Yu Yuan had long heard about the existence of Yinlong Lake. He also knew that the cultivators from Yinlong Lake called themselves “dragon servants”.

The cultivators, methods, and weapons of the Yinling Lake were all closely related to “dragons”.

In Yinlong Lake, the real commander and decision-maker was not a person, but dragons.

All kinds of dragons!

The human cultivators of Yinlong Lake were only serving the dragon, obeying the dragon, and staying loyal to the dragons.

The Zhao Clan was a small clan from the Land of Qianxuan affiliated with the Yinlong Lake.

The life spans of dragons were much longer than those of average humans, and the growth of a young dragon was also slower. It would take a lot more effort for a dragon to mature than for a human.

The so-called “raising dragon” was to take a part of the young dragon’s soul and merge it into one of a human child, and since a human child was likely to mature faster, the carrier of the dragon’s souls would help the dragon to mature faster as well. This could largely benefit the dragon to understand the world.

And the spirit of the young dragon could also give back to the “dragon raisers” so that the cultivator could become a member of the Yinlong Lake.

Of course, if the young dragon encounters something unexpected, the dragon’s soul in the “dragon raiser” would swallow the cultivator’s souls instead to keep itself alive. The dragon could then combine the raiser’s blood and soul to reborn from death.

Zhao Yafu was spotted to be a “dragon raiser”.

As that young dragon was able to grow and transform smoothly, Zhao Yafu was also benefited by being a cultivator of the Yinlong Lake.

The mysterious Yinlong Lake was considered to be even more powerful than the Seven Sects from the Land of Genesis.

Zhao Yafu was perfectly set for a great future in Yinlong Lake to cultivate the secret high-level methods.

However, for some unknown reason, that young dragon’s soul that was in her body suddenly died.

When the young dragon died, Zhao Yafu knew that the Zhao Clan had an agreement between Yinlong Lake to sacrifice her in order to save the dragon.

But the Zhao Clan did not follow the agreement…

Not only did they decide to hide the truth, but they also plotted the “Swallowing the Dragon” plan to let Zhao Yafu “swallow” the dragon’s soul and use it as her own.

No matter if the plan would work or not, the Zhao Clan had already betrayed Yinlong Lake!

If anyone from the Yinlong Lake found out about this, the whole Zhao Clan would be wiped out overnight.

Zhao Yafu would also be brought back by Yinlong Lake’s cultivators, and she would be sacrificed in a special ceremony to revive the young dragon the unfortunately died.

“Since they now dare to betray Yinlong Lake, the elders from the Zhao Clan must have found a new supporter.” Yu Yuan knew it clearly. “Otherwise, the people from the Zhao Clan will rather sacrifice Zhao Yafu for their safety.”

He thought as his finger rubbed across the orb inlaid at the intersection of the two blades of the pair of shears.

“Nine Bright Heavenly Cycles!”

The thin spiritual energy surrounding him quietly flowed towards him as he started his cultivation. The energy seeped into his body through his nose, mouth, and skin, streaming toward his lower core.

A gloomy light suddenly flashed out from that orb!

Instantly, Yu Yuan keenly felt a slight force flew out of the orb and into his fingers pressing against it.

The force came straight for the Yellow Hall in the Lower Core!

In his Yellow Hall, the nine grain-sized energy ball swelled vigorously, becoming as bright as the sunlight.

The effects of the “Meridian Extension Pill” were completely activated!

The nine balls of light circled the Yellow Room faster and faster, soon forming a dragon-shaped light stream.

“This is only a carefully made counterfeit orb. Even though the amount of dragon breath contained in it was minimal, under the effects of his Nine Bright Heavenly Cycles Method and the Meridian Extension Pill, it still appears to be a great stimulant!” Yu Yuan felt content about what he got.

Without any doubt, he concentrated all of his remaining energy toward that orb in an attempt to reach the Meridian Establishment.

With only a few breaths, he was already sweating.

Along with the effects of the Meridian Extension Pill, the dragon’s breath activated the Nine Bright Heavenly Cycles so much that his meridians felt as if they were about to explode!

This was a sign that he was edging close to the next stage of his realm!

“Aunt, my realm is too low. The little amount of dragon breath could really take me to the level.” Yu Yuan gritted his teeth from the pain while persisting through his cultivation. “I just need to borrow a little bit of dragon’s breath, and before the battle, the shears will still be yours.”

…

Dark Moon City. Jinluo Mountain.

Just a few hundred meters high, the Jinluo Mountain was covered with holes and caves, looking much like honeycombs.

From time to time, one could see the miners carrying bamboo baskets tiredly walking out of those holes and handing the mined stones to Huang Clan members to register for pay.

The stone they mined was called Jinluo (Hard Gold) Stone. After refining, the stone would form Jinluo Stone and could be used to forging some of the lowest levels of spiritual weapons.

However, even with the ordinary low-leveled ores, the large quantities could still bring some wealth to the clan.

The Jinluo Mountain outside of the city was the largest source of income for the Huang Clan.

Therefore, this mountain was also highly valued by the Huang Clan.

On the mountainside, in one of the most spacious caves, there were fancy tables and chairs set up like a living room. The cave walls were also decorated with shiny jewels that lit up the whole room.

“Brother Lin, what brought you here today?” Huang Chen was a tall and muscular man. Under the rough skin of his strong arms, there were streams of light flowing through. He was also in the Dark Burst Realm, yet his body seemed to be much more powerful, “Hey! Ever since your daughter came to the city, she brought nothing but trouble to the Huang Clan.”

He paused for a moment and said, “Your clan is more powerful and we know that we are no match against you. But you now come here to our property, so you want us to purposefully lose to the Yu Clan in the upcoming battle?”

Lin Hanyu, who came here alone, seemed a little pale, but only he knew why. Even though the poison from the Red Shelled Pill was removed, his Middle Core was severely damaged, and the recovering process would take him a long time. His power was probably only half of what he had before.

Slam!

He dropped a heavy cloth bag onto the table in front of Huang Chen.

“Brother Lin, what is this for?” Huang Chen looked down at the spirit stones rolling out of the bag and said, “These stones were worth as much as a whole year of income from the Jinluo Mountain.”

“Has the Huang Clan hear about anything? Around two days ago?” Lin Hanyu stared at him with a weird look.

Huang Chen shook his head. “No.”

Yuan Lianyao did a cover it up quite well. Lin Hanyu thought. Then he said in a deep voice that said, “I want Yu Yuan to die in the battle under the hands of your clan members!”

Huang Chen was stunned for a few seconds. When he suddenly understood, he glanced again at the spirit stones on the table and said, “You know too. The battle designed to compete not to kill.”

“Of course I know, but if both sides agree, a deathmatch is also allowed.” Lin Hanyu smiled. “I will not disobey my mother’s will, but I want Yu Yuan to die before the marriage. No matter the price! As long as he dies, that absurd agreement will naturally become void!”

Huang Chen still seemed very hesitant.

“If this is done well, the Huang Clan will be your friend, and the Cold Shadows Sect will also return you the favor.” Lin Hanyu laid out more benefits to attract the Huang Clan.

“A favor from the Cold Shadows Sect…”

Huang Chen’s eyes lit up as he finally made up his mind, “Deal! I’ll go ask my son to plan for it, and I promise that Yu Yuan will die in the battle!”

“Great!” Lin Hanyu replied.

Lu Xun died. Yin Jue Died. According to Lady Mayoress, there might even be a superpower supporting Yu Yuan.

Yuan Lianyao warned him that the Lin Clan would not be allowed to mess around in the Dark Moon City.

Under the intense situation, he decided to leave the city with his daughter to satisfy Yuan Lianyao’s demand.

Then, he secretly found Huang Chen, seeking to use the Huang Clan’s hand to rightfully kill Yu Yuan in the upcoming battle, so that he would have a headache with that kid!