Chapter 418: Return to the Sect!
Jiang Chen sneered, “We’re evenly matched, you and I!”
His left hand ruthlessly continued the bloodline extraction, while his right hand swept out a streak of Five-Colored Divine Light with absolute, detached authority. Within the Five Elements, this divine ability obliterated and shattered all it touched.
Moreover, the higher the user’s cultivation realm, the more devastating the unleashed force.
The Mirage Dragon, a demon boasting thousands of years of cultivation, recoiled in shock as the luster of its dragon pearl instantly dimmed upon contact.
Although its strength was less than half its peak after separating from its physical body, it had assumed that as long as the opponent wasn’t at the Nascent Soul stage and hadn’t manifested a Dharma Idol, it shouldn’t suffer any significant damage.
Yet, the Five-Colored Divine Light defied all logic. The moment it washed over its target, it mercilessly eroded power, consciousness, and even the very soul.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. *Wu Lao, a Golden Core Perfected Master, was erased in less than a breath when the Five-Colored Divine Light swept over him. Yet, this Mirage Dragon merely suffered a dimmed dragon pearl.*
This alone proved that the ancient demon’s cultivation and raw strength were beyond imagination.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen had no intention of fighting to the bitter end; he only needed to buy time. Once he absorbed enough of the Mirage Dragon’s bloodline, he could activate the third transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Wandering Dragon and flee straight back to the sect.
After all, the one committing this robbery was the Water Spirit Root cultivator, ‘Gonggong’. What did that have to do with Jiang Chen, a Wood Spirit Root cultivator?Ever since he left Mystic Heart City, he had worn the Phantom mask. His face, voice, attire, and very aura had been completely overhauled. He was, for all intents and purposes, an entirely different person.
Enraged, the Mirage Dragon unleashed an endless tide of grayish miasma that rapidly coalesced into a sprawling, undulating mountain range.
By using Earth to suppress Water, the sheer scale of the attack was apocalyptic.
Normally, this would be a mere illusion—terrifying to the eye but hollow in substance. But this Mirage Dragon was different. Having lurked in the Canglan Sea for over a millennium, gorging on the Spirit Qi bleeding from undersea dragon veins and the vital essences of countless cultivators, its illusions had achieved true materialization.
This wasn’t a trick of the light; it was reality.
Even before the crushing weight of the mountains descended, the atmospheric pressure forced the ocean itself to cave inward, the water violently receding as if terrified of contact. The sky vanished behind the craggy peaks, plunging that stretch of the sea into absolute, suffocating darkness.
Unfazed, Jiang Chen kicked the Thunder Dragon Water-Repelling Boat—which was still greedily feasting on the dragon’s flesh—into the water, dragging the Ancestor along with him onto the deck.
He had no intention of abandoning his prize. Diving beneath the surface, he repositioned himself from the dragon’s back to its vulnerable underbelly and ruthlessly resumed his extraction.
Realizing its own materialized mountains were about to crush its physical body, the Mirage Dragon willed the peaks back into weightless miasma, dissipating the apocalyptic threat without stirring a single ripple.
*Damnable human!*
*You… you…*
*Wait, a Soul Formation cultivator is approaching!*
The Mirage Dragon hadn’t expected to encounter such a cunning human. Yet, what truly triggered its panic wasn’t Jiang Chen, but the sudden arrival of other cultivators.
Ever since the Yellow Springs Alliance severed the dragon vein, core and formal disciples from various Cultivation sects had been swarming the area, with Nascent Soul old monsters observing from the shadows.
But to think a Soul Formation Venerable was hidden among them!
Sensing the sweeping Divine Senses of Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even Soul Formation experts, the Mirage Dragon knew staying meant certain death. Golden Core cultivators were insects, but Nascent Soul experts were a genuine threat—especially now that it had severed a portion of its power from its main body.
The beast faced two choices.
First, return to its physical body. Though it had bled a massive amount of its dragon bloodline, its millennia of accumulated power meant its physical form remained terrifyingly strong—but it would be trapped.
Second, flee with only its dragon pearl. This meant abandoning its physical might and retaining only its purest essence, stepping into an uncertain future.
It didn’t take long to decide.
The Mirage Dragon decisively abandoned its massive body—stretching thousands of feet long—and transformed into a streak of gray light, shooting off into the horizon. Starting over from scratch wasn’t exactly a new experience for it anyway.
Before vanishing, it left behind an echoing vow: “Human, I will remember you.”
Beneath the waves, Jiang Chen let out a soft grunt of surprise.
His Divine Sense had been scanning the area constantly. He had braced himself for a frenzied, suicidal counterattack, never expecting the ancient demon to simply cut its losses and run.
This abrupt retreat instantly put him on high alert. For a demon of the Mirage Dragon’s caliber to flee so decisively, there was only one logical explanation: an existence far more terrifying than it had just arrived on the battlefield.
Jiang Chen didn’t dare act carelessly. He might be a Golden Core Perfected Master, but he was far from invincible. Above him loomed Nascent Soul True Lords and Soul Formation Venerables; any one of them could crush him like an ant.
He immediately commanded the Ancestor to locate the most valuable core materials within the Mirage Dragon’s abandoned husk.
A frantic, hyper-efficient looting operation commenced. Jiang Chen devoured the dragon’s bloodline, the Thunder Dragon Water-Repelling Boat gorged on the dragon’s flesh, and the Ancestor excavated the core organs.
Working in perfect tandem, their efficiency skyrocketed.
Before long, Jiang Chen’s mind stirred as he pulled up his attribute panel.
[Nine Transformations of the Wandering Dragon: Mirage Dragon Transformation]
[Effect 1: Thousand-Faced Phantom Form]
[Effect 2: Phantom Shadow Follow]
[Effect 3: Aura Concealment]
[Effect 4: Phantom Realm Traversal]
[Special Effect 1: Thousand-World Mirage]
[Special Effect 2: Inner Demon Phantom]
[Special Effect 3: True Illusion Realm]
[Negative Effect 1: Divine Sense Depletion]
[Negative Effect 2: Vulnerability to Intense Light]
Jiang Chen’s eyes gleamed with pragmatic satisfaction. “Got it.”
Glancing down at the Thunder Dragon Water-Repelling Boat, he noticed the artifact was completely engorged, unable to swallow another bite. The hull was already undergoing a visible metamorphosis, though the full evolution wouldn’t manifest until it entered a dormant state.
Soon after, the Ancestor returned from its grisly excavation, its arms laden with an incredibly rich haul:
A pair of massive dragon eyes.
The entire throat.
A massive pile of reverse scales.
And a collection of vital internal organs.
With the power-dense dragon pearl gone, these were the most valuable materials left in the carcass.
Jiang Chen quickly swept the loot into his portable space. He had expected the storage to fill up immediately, but to his surprise, the spatial dimensions had expanded, allowing him to stuff even more inside.
He didn’t stop until he had packed away a mass of dragon parts the size of a small mountain, easily spanning a thousand feet.
As for the rest of the carcass, he had no intention of being greedy.
Stripping the corpse bare would undoubtedly provoke public outrage and paint a massive target on his back, practically inviting Nascent Soul True Lords to hunt him down. It was far smarter to leave the remaining meat as bait, drawing the approaching cultivators in and diverting their attention.
Without hesitation, Jiang Chen activated the Mirage Dragon Transformation. He first triggered *Phantom Shadow Follow* to conjure a swarm of identical clones, then layered *Aura Concealment* to suppress his energy signature and cultivation realm fluctuations.
In the next second, the phantom clones scattered in every direction.
Meanwhile, his true body commandeered the Thunder Dragon Water-Repelling Boat and shot away into the distance.
Moments later, several powerful figures descended upon the Mirage Dragon’s mangled remains, their expressions a mix of burning curiosity and utter bewilderment.
“How bizarre. It was alive just a moment ago. How did it die in the blink of an eye?”
“This… is this the legendary Mirage Dragon?”
“Damn it! The core materials have already been hollowed out!”
Among the gathering crowd were not only Golden Core core disciples but also Nascent Soul True Lords. While a standard flood dragon might not warrant their personal attention, a Mirage Dragon was a different story entirely.
Yet, every single one of them wore expressions of bitter disappointment and rising fury. They had rushed over expecting a heaven-defying windfall, only to find someone else’s chewed-up leftovers.
…
…
Miles away, Jiang Chen finally broke past the boundaries of the Canglan Sea.
He swiftly tossed the Thunder Dragon Water-Repelling Boat and the Ancestor back into his portable space, stripped off his disguise, and changed back into his pristine sect disciple robes. Only then did he summon the Shattered Moon Flowing Frost, stepping onto the blade as he streaked across the sky, returning to the Cloud Sea Sect!