Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 253 Fostering Dragon Seeds, A Leisurely Painter?
While Evil Island was bustling with activity
The battles in the territory of Haiyuan City in the Land of Misfortune were equally fierce.

Two days ago, the Dragon King branded the eighteen City Gods onto his dragon scales, then leaped down from the suspended mountain and entered Ehuang Valley after passing through the water curtain barrier.

After entering Ehuang Valley, the Dragon King did not go directly to the side of the Misty Land.

Instead, it found a secluded valley and spat out a golden dragon egg.

If Li Wushou were here, he would recognize at a glance that this is the very one cultivated in the Dragon King's Blood and Flesh Pool Forest.

The moment the golden dragon egg fell into the valley, the surrounding birds and beasts fell silent as if their throats had been choked; some even lost control of their bowels and died from ruptured livers and gallbladders.

The Dragon King stared at his dragon offspring, his thoughts inexplicable.

He has been cultivating this dragon seed for nearly two hundred years, but it is still not quite mature.

Originally, he planned to first become a celestial god, and then thoroughly purify his Yin spirit, which had been refined by merging Yin and Yang, into a pure Yang primordial spirit, while waiting for the dragon seed to mature.

Once the dragon seed is successfully conceived, his pure yang spirit will merge with the dragon seed's body, allowing him to break free from the constraints imposed by the suspended mountain.

It could even reverse the situation and become a great master, making the suspended mountain prostrate at his feet.

But plans can't keep up with changes. The situation is urgent. If we lose even the position of a god, how can we talk about the great success of the dragon seed?

Moreover, having lost his status as the strongest deity in Huazhou, even if Xuankong Mountain doesn't abandon him, it will be difficult for him to obtain enough resources to cultivate dragons.

Therefore, the position of the gods must not be lost!
For the Dragon King, this was not a question of whether he would become a celestial being first or later, as the patriarch of the Kongzi lineage had said, but rather a matter concerning his path to enlightenment and his very life.

His physical transformation was so severe that it exceeded the expectations of the two lineage masters of the Floating Void.

At first, he didn't intend to hide it from Suspended Mountain; he just felt that he should be able to hold out until the God of Heaven.

However, he did not expect that the rate of alienation would increase rapidly as time went on, far exceeding his expectations.

Decades ago, the Dragon King began using the coiled dragon pillars beneath the Dragon Palace to suppress the mutated dragon bodies.

By this point, he was no longer able to remove the dragon's body from under the dragon pillar.

The founders of the two floating lineages thought he was tempering his physical body, but in fact he had no other choice.

Otherwise, his physical body would have been out of control long ago.

The dragon's body resides at the bottom of the Hengyang River. If it loses control, its chaotic and mutated flesh and blood will run along the Hengyang River for eight hundred miles, and the thirty-six cities on both banks may be wiped out.

The Dragon King dared not reveal his condition, because if the two Floating Ancestors found out, they would never allow his dragon body to remain coiled beneath the Dragon Palace.

Even the patriarch of the Fu Zi lineage who supported him was the same!
Once his dragon body loses the suppression of the coiled dragon pillar, it will instantly lose control.

Moreover, with such a distorted dragon body, the founder of the Fuzi lineage would never have had the confidence to elect him as a celestial being.

After all, even if he succeeds, the Dragon King will need to consume a lot of incense to cleanse himself of the evil, which does not fit the plan of conquering the Mysterious Calamity at Suspended Mountain.

Therefore, the Dragon King had no way out; he had to win this election and become a god!
Then, by relying on the incense and prayers of Yizhou, they can alleviate their own alienation.

Once the alienation is alleviated, and more places of confusion are opened up, he will be able to turn the tide as the number of worshippers increases.

This is good for him, and it's also good for the people of Huazhou.

He didn't want Huazhou, which he had painstakingly built, to become a dead land again.

But what if we truly cannot exalt the gods?

Then I'm not far from death. When I'm about to die, why should I care about so many other things?

Let the thirty-six cities on both sides of the strait perish with me!
The Suspended Mountain owes him a debt, and it is only right that the Suspended Mountain repays it with its foundation built over hundreds of years.

Therefore, before ascending the suspended mountain, he commanded the dragon seed to devour the Blood and Flesh Pool Forest and brought the dragon seed out of the Dragon Palace.

When he ventured into the Land of Calamity to fight, and with his dragon body unable to move or be controlled, stimulating the birth of dragon offspring was his only option.

Although it's a bit of a pity that the dragon seed didn't mature, after elevating the gods, it can be nurtured over several hundred more years, so there's nothing to regret.

After more than two hundred years of gestation, the Dragon King has great confidence in his dragon offspring.

This is also why the Dragon King was extremely confident when faced with Li Wushou's reminder on the suspended mountain.

Gazing at the constantly buzzing dragon seed, the Dragon King opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of golden dragon breath.

This dragon breath resembled a pure aura, yet it was incredibly intense, slowly adhering to the surface of the dragon.

Suddenly, a series of cracking sounds rang out in the valley, and cracks appeared on the dragon seed.

About half an hour later, a high-pitched dragon roar rang out from within the dragon seed, echoing through the valley.

With a flash of golden light, a massive dragon body flew out from the dragon seed, swallowed the broken shell of the dragon seed in one gulp, and then hovered in the valley.

The dragon's long and lithe body, winding and coiling, seemed capable of supporting the heavens and the earth. The golden scales covering its entire body were as smooth as a precious mirror.

Sunlight shone on the dragon, reflecting a dazzling light, like flowing gold.

The thick dragon claws stirred up the wind and clouds, and the sharp toes pierced the void, as if they could tear the sky apart.

The Dragon King looked up at the figure, a look of joy on his face. Although he had expected it, he was still overjoyed when he actually saw it.

Very strong! It's no weaker than its own dragon form, and perhaps even stronger!
With a shake of its body, eighteen scales flew out from the Yin spirit and landed on the dragon's body.

The Yin spirit transformed into a stream of light and entered the space between the dragon's eyebrows.

The Dragon King raised his head and let out a dragon roar, and a command resounded in the minds of the eighteen City Gods.

"Use the full power of the incense to conceal the dragon's body and follow me into the maze!"

"As the Dragon God commands!"

The eighteen City Gods responded quickly. Because of the Dragon King's Yin spirit's cover, they did not see the scene of the Dragon King hatching the dragon seed, but they could feel that they were now inside a terrifying body.

Even through the scales, they could feel a surge of intense, burning blood energy flowing through them.

With the incense burning at full power, covering the dragon's body, the Dragon King flicked his tail and entered the other half of the Misty Land of Ehuang Valley.

The world changed, and suddenly everything turned gray.

The clouds and mist swirled, seemingly scrutinizing and eroding, constantly swirling around the Dragon King's body, but all were kept away by the power of incense and prayers.

This is why the Suspended Mountain, a place of immortals, needs to expand into thirty-six cities and appoint city gods.

Only the power of incense can ward off the erosion of the eerie mist in the Land of Misfortune; if a member of a celestial sect were to come here for too long, their Dao foundation would shatter.

The amount of incense power allocated this time is limited, and the Dragon King cannot refine his own incense power in large quantities.

Therefore, it did not choose to linger in Ehuang Valley. With a leap, the dragon left Ehuang Valley in a short while.

The Dragon King already had a plan for this perilous journey: he wanted to accumulate enough incense offerings to give him an absolute advantage before Haiyuan City could even react.

Moreover, it had to be quick, before the painter could act. Otherwise, if the painter made his move and alerted Haiyuan City, it would be much more difficult for him to take action. Soaring through the eerie mist, ignoring the corrosive influence, the Dragon King particularly favored this environment.

His over 100-foot-long dragon body was perfectly concealed in the mist.

Overlooking the villages along the way, the boundaries that are difficult for ordinary people to see are made particularly clear under the powerful yin spirit of the Dragon King.

Because the Dragon King's Yin spirit has merged Yin and Yang, his Yin spirit does not have the aura of evil spirits and appears unusually peaceful, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect.

Therefore, the entire journey at high speed did not arouse any suspicion.

However, not long after the Dragon King's dragon body flew away from Ehuang Valley.

Among the eighteen scales, the white jade snail held tightly in Mu Tong's hand was slightly warm and shimmered with a soft light.

However, Mu Tong was focused on channeling the power of the incense at that moment and therefore did not notice.

Inside Ehuang Valley, a streak of white light suddenly flew out and landed on the canopy of a tree.

"Is this the Dragon King that Li Wushou mentioned? He flies so fast? And his body smells a bit familiar, somewhat like the dragon species that Li Wushou saw?"

Li Wushou's white jade snail incarnation watched the Dragon King fly away with some amazement, his beard twitching.

Although he is the incarnation of Li Wushou, he still retains his own logic and way of thinking.

In his mind, he was entrusted by Li Wushou to investigate the painter's movements in the Misty Land and to protect a minor city god named Mu Tong.

Although he was somewhat reluctant, he reluctantly came because of Li Wushou's sincere request.

Who asked Li Wushou to do him such a big favor?
These past few days he has been traveling back and forth between Daishan City, Shiqiao Temple and Qinglianpo without stopping, and has finally united the incense worshippers there.

Now, as the ancestor of the three cities and the only true god, the old snail's status and position are different from before.

He wouldn't have come if it weren't for Li Wushou giving him the information!
Moreover, Li Wushou has several trees that he hasn't had time to take care of yet; he's really busy!
Seeing that the Dragon King had disappeared, the old snail was not in a hurry.

That little city god had his own white jade snail shell, which allowed him to locate the Dragon King.

But what about the artist?
Where is the Dragon King? And why hasn't the artist arrived yet?
The old snail decided to wait a while.

Concealing its aura and body, the old snail lay on a leaf, looking much like any other snail.

After all, according to Li Wushou's hints, this painter was very strange, with the ability to see through people's hearts and make fake paintings real, and his strength was unknown as a fellow divine being.

Previously, the opponent had not activated the power of incense, yet he was able to walk on flat ground within the Misty Land.

All these messages reveal the artist's extraordinary talent.

It's never too much to be careful!

The reason he's been able to live this long is because he's careful and fast.

The old snail waited for almost half an hour. Although he wasn't in a hurry, he began to wonder if he had waited in the wrong place and if the other party had entered the Land of Misfortune through another exit.

Logically, that shouldn't be the case, since Li Wushou said they only have ten days.

In such a short time, they must choose to attack cities with large populations to refine enough incense offerings.

After waiting a while longer and seeing that there was still no movement in Moth King Valley, the old snail shook its body and prepared to go to the Dragon King's place first.

Through the white jade snail shell, he vaguely sensed that the Yin energy fluctuations of the minor city god were much more intense than before, as if they had already made their move.

Just then, the old snail suddenly froze and lay down again.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entrance of Moth Emperor Valley. He was dressed in a long black robe, had a goatee, and carried a book basket on his back.

Who else could it be but the artist?

The other party looked relaxed and carefree, a stark contrast to the excited Dragon King.

"It was actually Moth Queen Valley that strolled out from?"

The old snail was speechless for a moment as it watched the strolling painter. Although the painter did not walk like an ordinary person, but rather covered three or four zhang (approximately 10-13 meters) with each step, his ease and leisure were genuine.

Is this really a competition with that Dragon King?
If the other party doesn't want to give up, then it can only mean that they are absolutely certain of success.

However, he had only glanced at the Dragon King from afar. Like Li Wushou, he did not understand the power of the Nascent Soul True Monarch. But he thought that even if the Dragon King was strong, it might not be much stronger than the Dragon King.

The Dragon King has been the source of incense offerings for hundreds of years in the thirty-six cities of the food and beverage industry, and has also nurtured the thirty-six cities on both the north and south banks of the river. In addition, with the original physical body of the dragon race, he has reached his current status.

Where did this painter and the spirit path get their resources to get to where they are today?

How strange!
Seeing that the painter was about to disappear from his sight, the old snail composed himself and quietly moved between the tree canopy and the grass, following the painter at a distance.

Perhaps because he was tired from walking, the artist took a pen out of the book basket.

He drew a picture in the air, and a black horse leaped into the air.

Suddenly, the horse raised its head and let out a neigh. Then, it leaped out of the air and stopped beside the painter, its front hooves kneeling, waiting for the painter to mount it.

The painter moved his feet and landed on the horse.

He picked up a pen and drew a few strokes on his forehead, creating a lifelike cloud pattern.

With a squeeze of its legs, the horse galloped forward through the air, seemingly heading in the same direction as the Dragon King.

The old snail's mind stirred, and it quickly followed closely behind the painter. Fortunately, although the horse was galloping non-stop, it was still slower than the Dragon King, so the old snail didn't have much trouble keeping up.

The two of them, one in front of the other, arrived at a city. The city was sparsely populated and not very prosperous.

It is named "Wushi Town"!
The old snail had heard about the town of Wushi from Li Wushou; it had been ravaged by evil spirits overnight.

Even a Golden Core cultivator skilled in controlling defensive formations couldn't escape. Well, no, that's not quite right. The Golden Core cultivator was eaten by Li Wushou. The final piece of Li Wushou's Golden Core formation puzzle was contributed by the other party.

After more than a month, Wushi Town seems to have been reorganized. Although it is not as prosperous as before, the number of people is gradually increasing.

However, many people still harbor fear of this place, after all, the fact that everyone in the city had died inexplicably is a terrifying thing for anyone.

Therefore, although Haiyuan City had sent word that the ringleader had been killed, many people still preferred to travel further away and stay in Guifan City and Kaiping City, which were located behind Wushi Town.

These two cities are slightly larger than Wushi Town and serve as hubs connecting Haiyuan City and its subordinate towns. Therefore, they have a relatively large number of Golden Core cultivators stationed there, with five Golden Core cultivators stationed in each city.

It is much safer in comparison.

The old snail thought the painter would immediately head to Guifan City and Kaiping City after passing through Wushi Town.

After all, in his perception, the Dragon King was in that direction.

However, the painter found an inn, ordered a pot of wine, and began to enjoy it.

The old snail was pondering a thousand thoughts: what exactly was the artist planning?
(End of this chapter)