Chapter 172: Is the Dragon Clan Truly Doomed? (Part 2)

Chapter 172: Is the Dragon Clan Truly Doomed? (Part 2)

To survive, they would have to throw the flag again, and the one who caught it would continue in the same manner.

It was a simple rule.

If the cultivators in the mystic realm were of similar strength, it would indeed be a highly competitive realm, but it leaned slightly towards body cultivators or those proficient in defensive techniques.

These cultivators could simply hold the flag in their embrace and rely on their defense to withstand the attacks, allowing them to endure for a considerable amount of time.

Or they could be extremely fast.

Or there could be other variations.

It was a mystic realm with quite a few variables.

Currently, all the members of the Mock Heaven Sect were scattered, selling redemption tokens, and he was alone; even Shusheng Feilong and the others had been sent out by him. Today, he was the only one there.

Before the "Nascent Soul Power Ranking" began, he suddenly thought of something and, with a thought, suddenly arrived in the Heavenly Palace above the nine heavens.

In the Heavenly Palace above the nine heavens, Chen Qiu first looked up at the two statues and then at the ten empty circular pedestals. He took a few steps towards one of the circular pedestals.

"One of the Twelve Milestone Tasks"

"Win the top rank in the Heavenly Dao Rankings five times."

"Completed by: None."

He had won the top rank in four Heavenly Dao rankings.

One was the "Heavenly Dao Heaven's Pride Ranking" in Daxia, another was the "Virtue Points Ranking" in Daxia, and there were also the "Xuantian Continent Virtue Points Ranking" and the "Xuantian Continent Sin Value Ranking."

There was also the "Heavenly Dao Evil Slayer List," a time-limited leaderboard added by the Heavenly Dao during the Demon Race invasion in Daxia, but that time didn't count.

So, this meant he had won four times and needed one more.

If he could secure the top rank in this "Nascent Soul Power Ranking," he would have won the top rank in the Heavenly Dao rankings five times, completing this milestone task. At that time, he would gain another statue and two medium-grade Heavenly Dao roulette wheels.

Suddenly, he realized that the reason why no one on the Xuantian Continent had completed a milestone task for so many years was probably because these people didn't even know what the milestone tasks were.

As long as one knew what the milestone tasks were, they should be able to complete several of them.

For example, this milestone task.

It mentioned winning the top rank five times, which meant that topping the same ranking five times would also count.

Taking the "Xuantian Continent Sin Value Ranking" as an example, first, he would top the ranking, then artificially create someone stronger than himself, making him second. He would then kill that person and create another stronger one, becoming second again. Then, he would...

"Alright."

Chen Qiu pursed his lips; this seemed a bit more challenging.

Chen Qiu then walked to the crack in the Heavenly Palace's door and looked outside. The outside was still enveloped in a blinding light, and nothing was clear. He then turned and left the Heavenly Palace.

The Heavenly Dao Roulette is truly a remarkable item. It was from here that he obtained the Primordial Soul Dao Cultivation Pills that propelled his cultivation from the First Level Spirit Infancy to the Fifth Level Yuan Ying. Without these pills, he would still be at the First Level, let alone the Fifth. Unfortunately, he has no idea where to obtain more of these pills in the future.

The power of a Fifth Level Yuan Ying is undoubtedly greater than that of a Second Level, and he might not be able to claim the top spot on the Soul Core Power Ranking without it.

As for now, he is relatively confident in his abilities and believes he has at least a 40% chance of securing the top rank, as long as no freakishly talented individuals show up. After all, he feels no pressure when facing off against other Fifth Level Yuan Ying cultivators from Quzhou.

His Lightning Summoning Technique is now at its peak damage.

To advance from the peak of Yuan Ying to the Divine Transformation stage, one must undergo the tribulation of thunder. He considers this an early tribulation for his fellow Yuan Ying cultivators.

"Soul Core Power Ranking?"

Kong Ming, who had not ventured far from Zhongzhou, stood in a bamboo grove, clad in a kasaya, gazing up at the bright moon above. His palms were pressed together, and between his fingers was a string of 108 beads forming a Buddhist rosary. With a calm and unperturbed demeanor, he patiently awaited his turn.

Above his Dantian, a relic with a strong Buddhist aura slowly levitated in mid-air, purifying his flesh and Primordial Soul with its Buddhahood.

The ten cloud patterns on the Primordial Soul's forehead indicated that it was a Tenth Stage Primordial Soul!

He had only recently advanced to the First Level Spirit Infancy.

Logically, his power should be inferior to those at the peak of Yuan Ying. But logic had no place here.

He possessed a Tenth Stage Primordial Soul, carried the relic of his ancestor, wore the kasaya—a treasured item passed down through generations in the Buddhist Sect—and held a string of 108 beads, a lower-grade Earth-level Soulbound Spirit Artifact crafted by his master specifically for the Nascent Soul stage.

Each bead could self-destruct, unleashing a full-power strike equivalent to that of a peak Yuan Ying cultivator.

The string of beads was an incredibly powerful artifact in its own right.

As a Buddhist treasure, it dealt increased damage to evil spirits and demons, and with the secret Buddhist techniques he had learned, he had surpassed the Great Completion of Golden Core. Under the guidance and empowerment of the contemporary Buddhist master, his skills had reached a higher level.

He was unsure of his current strength.

All he knew was that during the day, he had casually passed by a gathering of demons and monsters. With just one of the Six Word Seals, the 'Om Seal', he had effortlessly slain a demon of the late-stage Yuan Ying.

The Six Word Seals consisted of six techniques: Om, Ma, Ni, Ba, Mi, and Hum.

Their power increased in that order.

The Om Seal, being the initial technique, was also the weakest of the six. However, with the empowerment of his ancestor's relic, each of his seals carried a strong Buddhist aura, making them incredibly powerful.

Just as his master had said when he sent him out into the world:

"No one under the heavens can kill you."

Although he was only at the First Level Spirit Infancy, he believed that defeating a peak Yuan Ying demon would be relatively easy. He may be alone, but he carried with him the accumulated power of the Buddhist Sect over thousands of years.

This was the heritage of a top-tier Zhongzhou power.

With many top-tier powers sealing themselves away from the world, perhaps no one under the heavens could rival him.

Unless...

Kong Ming turned his head slightly towards Quzhou, his expression calm. Unless it was Chen Qiu, the cultivator with a Twelfth Stage Nascent Soul.

Kong Ming had attained his Tenth Stage Primordial Soul through the Seven-Colored Jade Scroll, a legacy passed down in the Buddhist Sect. He wondered where Chen Qiu had obtained his Seven-Colored Enchantment Scroll, which was incredibly powerful but could only be maintained for a single day, fleeting like the moon reflected in water.

If he had to guess who his strongest opponent would be, it would be this Chen Qiu.

With a Tenth Stage Primordial Soul, he understood the power it held, and the Twelfth Stage Nascent Soul was even more formidable.

If his Tenth Stage Primordial Soul was already so powerful, he could only imagine the capabilities of Chen Qiu's Twelfth Stage Nascent Soul.

However, this ranking was not limited to the human cultivators of Xuan Tian Continent. All cultivators who met the requirements would participate, including the demon race, the sea race, and other long-hidden races.

Anyone within the boundaries of Xuan Tian Continent was forced to join, unless they were like the top-tier Zhongzhou powers, sealing themselves within their own small worlds, thus avoiding the mandatory participation. This was the effect of seclusion.

"Ah?"

In the dense forests of the southernmost part of Upper Nine Provinces, a tree demon, who had not moved in countless years, slowly opened its eyes, looking at the Heavenly Edict in front of it with a dazed expression.

It had just slept for thirty-seven years, and now it was being disturbed again.

During its recent slumber, it had heard the constant crackling of the Heavenly Edict, mentioning something about a Twelfth Stage Nascent Soul. It didn't care about that; it just wanted to block out the sound of the edict.

All it wanted was to sleep; it had no desire to do anything else.

But today, the new edict seemed different, and upon opening its eyes and seeing the Secret Realm panel, it was certain something was amiss. Damn it!

Could it be that it had to participate too?

It was just a tree demon that could only sleep; why would it want to compete for the Soul Core Power Ranking? Although it had the cultivation of a Nascent Soul, its race could only take human form at the Divine Transformation stage, and moving with tree roots was painfully slow. Who could it possibly defeat? It couldn't beat anyone! The tree demons were a peaceful race with no offensive abilities.

"How annoying."

The tree demon, which had not spoken in ages, sighed. Its long-dormant mind began to think again, wondering if there was a way to surrender in this "Soul Core Power Ranking."

West of Quzhou, deep within the ocean, on a large island surrounded by water on all sides, a middle-aged man stood with one hand behind his back, his expression complex as he looked at a black dragon before him. "Only at the Divine Transformation stage can the Dragon Clan take human form. If you go to the Soul Core Power Ranking, the existence of the Dragon Clan will soon be exposed."

"The Dragon Clan hasn't appeared in Xuan Tian Continent for many years."

"The last time you sneaked off to Quzhou, you almost exposed our existence."

"But since we have no choice but to participate this time, we must show weakness and not seek any rankings. The Dragon Clan was severely injured in the war tens of thousands of years ago, and we haven't recovered yet. This time, during the Turbulent Era, we must stay out of it and not get involved again."

"The Dragon Clan is not like other races."

"I understand." The massive black dragon, currently coiled around another mother dragon, nodded earnestly.

The middle-aged man sighed, gazing down at the mother dragon beneath the black dragon.

He had even forgotten the relationship between this mother dragon and the black dragon.

The Dragon Clan had an extremely low birth rate.

Tens of thousands of years ago, a great battle had nearly wiped out all the male dragons, leaving only three or four barely alive. However, once injured, dragons found it incredibly challenging to recover, and their low birth rate only exacerbated the problem.

By the time it was his generation, there was only one male dragon left—himself. All the other dragons on the island were female.

For the sake of his race's legacy, he had spent thousands of years doing nothing but one thing: breeding.

Even so, only three dragon cubs had been born in thousands of years.

Two of them were female dragons.

This black dragon was the only male.

He was already old, nearing the end of his reproductive years, and as a Divine Transformation powerhouse, he had to participate in the power ranking battles. However, he had already decided to concede defeat before even entering.

This black dragon was born a hundred years ago.

In terms of dragon lifespan, it had just passed the Juvenile Dragon Stage.

Usually, dragons don't engage in battles right after the Juvenile Dragon Stage, but there was no choice now. Aside from the two male dragons, all the others on the island were female, a total of ninety-eight elderly mother dragons.

After their defeat tens of thousands of years ago, the then-Dragon Clan leader had returned to the island with the remaining clan members and semi-sealed the mother dragons. In this state, the mother dragons had no consciousness but could still reproduce, and their lifespan could be extended to thirty thousand years.

But now, that thirty thousand years was almost up.

Even though the black dragon was still young, it had to enter the battles immediately. Otherwise, once these elderly mother dragons died, the Dragon Clan would truly become extinct.

"Father, what's her name?" the black dragon asked, panting.

"..."

The middle-aged man's expression turned complicated as he took out a thick ancient tome from his bosom. After flipping through dozens of pages, he found the corresponding "Dragon Seal" for the mother dragon beneath the black dragon and murmured, "She's from the Cloud Hiding Dragon Bloodline, extremely fast and skilled in concealment."

"Her name is Little Fei."

"In terms of generations, she's over ten generations older than you."

"Be gentle, she doesn't have much time left. Don't kill her."

The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with sorrow as he gazed into the distance. He knew that once these elderly mother dragons died, the Dragon Clan would truly become extinct. The Dragon Clan was naturally lustful.

It was in their nature.

But now, the sight of mother dragons made him feel nauseous.

This showed what he had been doing all these years. He had tried his best to carry on the Dragon Clan's bloodline, to ensure their legacy, but their low birth rate was truly appalling.

In the past, when there were more dragons, their low birth rate was manageable, but tens of thousands of years ago, the Dragon Clan had nearly been exterminated.

He had even transformed into a human form, secretly traveling to Xuantian Continent to find various remedies, all to no avail. The Dragon Clan's low birth rate was deeply ingrained, supposedly dating back to the beginning of ancient times, the early days of Xuantian Continent.

Back then, the Dragon Clan ruled Xuantian Continent, while humans were confined to a small corner.

However, it was said that due to the Dragon Clan's lustful nature, the Heavenly Dao disapproved, and during a Heavenly Dao version change unfavorable to the Dragon Clan, they gradually lost their dominant position, falling from an ancient great clan to a semi-secluded race.

The ancient records spoke of the Dragon Clan's past glory.

The middle-aged man sighed, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes filled with sorrow as he gazed at the sea. If he died, all the treasures he had collected over the years would be wasted.

Aside from their lustful nature, the Dragon Clan also loved collecting.

It was in their blood.

The benefit of being the only male dragon was that all the treasures were his; there were no other male dragons to compete with. He had collected a vast array of useful and useless items.

"Father," the black dragon panted, raising its head to look at its father, its eyes brimming with tears. "Can we stop here today?"

"No," the middle-aged man replied sternly, shaking his head. "I must visit all ninety-eight mother dragons on the island daily. I only have over a thousand years left, and these mother dragons have less than a hundred years."

"Within this century, we must give birth to enough dragon cubs."

"Otherwise, the Dragon Clan will perish!"

"Then..." The black dragon shook its head in dissatisfaction, its dragon beards brushing against the ground, making a clattering sound. "Can I have the two youngest mother dragons on the island?"

"No, they're mine."

"If you say another word, we'll follow the Dragon Clan's customs. If you want to fight for a mother dragon, do you think you can beat me?"

"Hmm?"

"Fine."

The black dragon, exhausted, dove into the sea, washed itself, and then flew towards another mother dragon, three thousand years older than him. He felt that the ancient records misunderstood their Dragon Clan.

Who said the Dragon Clan was lustful?

He didn't feel that way at all.

Not only did he not feel lustful, but the sight of mother dragons made him nauseous.

The middle-aged man sighed again, looking at the black dragon's retreating figure, then turned to watch two young mother dragons playing on the shore.

Aside from the ninety-eight sealed elderly mother dragons, there were two more mother dragons, aged over three thousand years, born in the same era as him, three more aged over a thousand years, and these two, aged over a hundred years.

But they were all his.

As the clan leader, he should have enjoyed better treatment.

He casually took out some sugar beans from his Spirit Artifact and popped them into his mouth, chewing as he gazed at the horizon with sorrowful eyes.

Would the Dragon Clan truly become extinct?

He couldn't bear it!

These sugar beans were actually a mix of Golden Core Celestial Cultivation Pills and Primordial Soul Dao Cultivation Pills, valuable items on Xuantian Continent, but on the Dragon Clan's island, they were treated as mere sugar beans.

PS: Mistakes will be corrected later. Please vote!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end