Chapter 120 - 119: Obtaining Water

Chapter 120: Chapter 119: Obtaining Water

Silence.

After a long silence, the voice came. "Are you saying... I should trip them up a little, make that Lu Jinzhang who’s running the Array suffer a hidden loss?"

No matter the species, the older one gets, the shrewder one becomes. The dragon had finally understood Chen Qingyang’s meaning.

Since Lu Jinzhang and his senior disciple love to take advantage of others, why not just go with the flow and give them a little push? Send a whole lot more Li Yang Earth Fire their way all at once.

This burst of Qi Mechanism could only be slowly converted within the body using the Nine Yang Separation Fire Technique. If it erupted all at once, it would be overwhelming, making one extremely susceptible to a backlash. If it damaged their foundation, that would be even better.

The Conscious Fish’s lack of response was its affirmation. A rumbling voice boomed from all directions, sounding angry. "Are you insane? Putting aside how much energy I’d have to waste, Lu Jinzhang is the one controlling the Array! He’s a Junior Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm! What if he discovers my existence?"

After saying its piece, the voice paused briefly before continuing its rant. "You’re a rotten kid, you know that? You tricked me at the beginning, and now you’re threatening me. I’m not doing it. I’d rather be exposed!"

’Scheming against a Foundation Establishment Master probably won’t get me any Immortal Seedlings. Master Xuan Gui was a perfect example.’ Chen Qingyang had figured it out. With his current Cultivation, he could at most steal from a Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivator. To plot against a Foundation Establishment Master, he would need to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

’Stealing Immortal’s rules must prevent me from stealing Immortal Seedlings from someone a full realm above me. Maybe it’s because the karmic link is weakened by the vast difference in Cultivation, or maybe it’s for some other reason.’

Thus, Chen Qingyang only wanted to scheme against that senior disciple, the one at Half-Step Foundation Establishment. If he could strip away even half of his Immortal Seedlings, it would probably be a huge amount.

An opportunity like this was too good to miss and would never come again. Once he left the Separation Dragon Assembly, he’d never find such a perfect chance.

But... the True Dragon before him was wary. He had to think of a good plan.

Once again, he wrote on the wall: "I have a way. If you help me, I will definitely help you in the future."

He had said almost the exact same thing once before.

The True Dragon chuckled, its voice echoing from all directions, seemingly filling the entire space. "Then tell me, how can I help you?"

The Conscious Fish continued to write: "Give me the ability to control the Li Yang Earth Fire here."

The True Dragon fell silent once more. The Conscious Fish waited patiently beside it. "I get it. The cup overflows when it’s too full. Since I can’t make the cup overflow, you want to do it yourself. Cunning. However..."

Another long silence followed, one that would make any waiting person anxious. "This is something I’ve cultivated for thousands of years. It’s not something you can learn overnight. So, forget about it!"

Chen Qingyang felt that it was just making excuses and not telling the truth.

’That’s it. This dragon is worried about being exposed.’

The Conscious Fish wrote once more: "You have to help me, or Jade Gold True Monarch will definitely come tomorrow."

The dragon itself had said that within this domain, it could do anything. This shouldn’t be too difficult for it.

"You..." This time the True Dragon didn’t remain silent. "I knew you were a bellyful of bad news from the start. If I hadn’t mistaken you for some strange species that had wandered in, I never would have revealed myself. Such bad luck. Truly, terrible luck..."

Just as it was complaining, the Conscious Fish wrote again: "If you’re not happy, then I’ll leave."

The surroundings fell quiet. The True Dragon offered no response. Chen Qingyang knew the beast was playing deaf. He directly maneuvered the Conscious Fish, attempting to move it toward the grand hall, but as soon as it moved, it felt like it had hit an invisible barrier, unable to advance even an inch.

’This dragon wants to trap me.’ Fortunately, he could still retreat. The Conscious Fish wrote again on the rock wall, "This is a Divine Soul Avatar. Even if you trap me for ten thousand years, what happened here will still get out!"

"Sigh!" Left with no other choice, the True Dragon let out a long sigh. "It really sucks to live under someone else’s roof. When has a magnificent True Dragon like me ever been schemed against by a Junior Cultivator? Back in my glory days, that Jade Gold was nothing but dog shit..."

After listening to its complaints for a long while, it finally got to the point. "I can help you, but can you be trusted? I don’t even know who you are."

The Conscious Fish wrote on the wall again, "This benefits me and benefits you. Such a relationship will last."

"Haha!" The True Dragon suddenly burst into laughter. "That’s right. A brat like you, full of nasty tricks, will always see some benefit to be gained from me, so you’ll be back for more. Interest is what’s truly long-lasting."

"You can already bring Li Yang Earth Fire back with this fish, right? In that case, I’ll just use a little trick to modify this fish slightly, allowing it to control the Li Yang Earth Fire by itself."

The Conscious Fish was one with his own body. The Li Yang Earth Fire left by the True Dragon could be absorbed after returning to him, but to control it independently and gather it elsewhere was absolutely impossible.

As he was thinking, the True Dragon’s voice came again. "Remember, this is just a little power I’m bestowing upon you. I can take it back at any time while you’re here."

This time, the Conscious Fish wrote just one word on the wall: "Deal."

"Hehe, this might be a little uncomfortable. Just bear with it." As soon as the True Dragon’s voice faded, the world around the Conscious Fish seemed to freeze, immobilizing it completely.

Immediately after, fiery colors swept in from all directions, enveloping it. Far away, Chen Qingyang, who was sitting in meditation, suddenly broke out in a torrential sweat as a sharp pain tortured his mind.

It was as if someone had pried open his skull with a sharp object and was stirring his brains to a pulp. Amidst this groggy state, the pain finally passed.

When he once again visualized the Conscious Fish in his mind, it seemed to be stained with a layer of Gold Fire. Four flying fish-like fins had sprouted from its sides, burning like flames and beautiful as a brocaded carp. It also seemed to have merged with this domain, connected by countless fine threads.

When it gently flicked its tail, ripples of Li Yang Earth Fire energy spread out as if moving through water. It was truly like a fish back in water.

"Are you satisfied now?" When the True Dragon spoke, its tone was tinged with resentment.

Chen Qingyang hurriedly wrote on the rock wall, "Satisfied. The one who can save you in the future will most likely be me."

"Hmph!" The True Dragon snorted coldly. Then, another wisp of fiery color swept over, strengthening the Conscious Fish. "You’re stuffed to the brim. This is all you can take. Hurry back now."

The fish flicked its tail, swam a few feet, then turned and nodded three times toward the void in acknowledgment.

At this very moment, in the great hall, Chen Qingyang’s side was destitute while the senior disciple’s side was so rich it was bursting. Seizing the opportunity, the Conscious Fish shot forward and dumped the massive amount of Li Yang True Essence the True Dragon had given it into the Array Profound.

He was already at a saturation point. Now, with this new reinforcement, his body’s Meridians naturally couldn’t take it. The senior disciple clenched his teeth in agony. After glancing at his master with a puzzled expression, he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Even Chen Qingyang hadn’t expected the effect to be so potent. ’Truly, a man’s heart is never content, just as a snake can’t swallow an elephant. Greed doesn’t pay.’

He hurriedly looked at the small golden characters. He had actually taken 10,076 Immortal Seedlings. Even he was stunned for a moment.

’Back when I schemed against Master Wufang, I only got a little over three thousand Immortal Seedlings. It seems that for the Nine Acupoints of Ascension, the change in Cultivation with each opened acupoint is enormous.’

While the senior disciple was still confused, Chen Qingyang wanted to add more fuel to the fire. The Conscious Fish flicked its tail, mobilizing the surrounding Li Yang Earth Fire, and was just about to concentrate it for another wave when Lu Jinzhang finally noticed something was wrong. His burning gaze swept over.

He didn’t dare to delay and immediately retracted the Conscious Fish into his body. Sure enough, after noticing something was wrong with his own disciple, Lu Jinzhang’s gaze shifted to Chen Qingyang.

But he saw Chen Qingyang sitting motionless, his expression normal, showing no change whatsoever.

Although Lu Jinzhang hadn’t figured out what the problem was, he knew it was no longer realistic to keep funneling so much Separation Dragon Earth Fire to his senior disciple, so he abandoned the idea.

Instantly, Chen Qingyang felt the same sensation as at the beginning.

The nine streams of Golden Qi in his body gathered in his Three Jiaos, forming a fiery sun. His Dantian and Meridians were being refined by it, and his foundation was becoming extremely stable...

He persisted through one Circulation after another, no longer paying attention to the outside world, sensing only the growing strength of his Dantian and Meridians.

This was the foundation of all cultivation and could even determine how far a Cultivator could go. Chen Qingyang took the Refinement very seriously.

When he heard a bell ring, the Qi Mechanism beneath him disappeared. The Dragon Summoning Assembly was about to end.

Looking around, everyone had received some fortuitous opportunity and had joyous expressions, except for the senior disciple not far away, who was still grimacing in pain. Lu Jinzhang, ignoring the gazes of the crowd, floated directly over to him. As for what was said, no one knew.

In the distance, the fifteen Masters also put away their Magical Artifact Tokens and flew over. The Masters gathered together and began to discuss the results of this Dragon Summoning Assembly.

Then, the Array was dismantled, the high platform vanished, and the great hall returned to its original appearance. Some of the ten disciples who knew each other gathered to chat.

Chen Qingyang was all alone, so he sent his Conscious Fish back out, thinking he should at least say goodbye to the True Dragon.

"It’s all over. Are you about to leave?" the voice came from the void.

The fish nodded gently. The True Dragon then said, "The next time I see you will probably be in ten years. If I give you a hundred years, do you think you can reach Foundation Establishment?"

Chen Qingyang thought about this seriously. ’If there were a few more senior disciples like that one, it should be possible.’

He wrote on the wall: "I’m afraid it will be very difficult."

"Sigh!" The True Dragon sighed upon hearing this. "You haven’t even reached Foundation Establishment, yet you talk of saving me. I doubt you could even form a Golden Core in a thousand years. Only then would you have a chance."

"It’s all the fault of that damn powerful Daoist Sect. I can’t even get a sliver of my consciousness through, otherwise, I’d really want to go with you and see the outside world!"

Its tone was filled with helplessness and sorrow. Although it had loved to play pitiful from the start, Chen Qingyang now truly believed it was being serious.

He wrote on the rock, "A promise is a promise. I will return in ten years."

"Fine. At least... it gives me something to look forward to. And you absolutely must not tell anyone my secret."

Chen Qingyang paused, then wrote, "Don’t worry."

After bidding farewell to the True Dragon, the discussion between Lu Jinzhang and the other Masters had concluded, and they activated the Array once again.

His consciousness was stored in the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl. Now, inside it, he was like a fish in water. When Chen Qingyang passed through the wall of fire, he felt no abnormalities at all.