Nantian City was the border between the northwest and the Southern Wasteland.
It could be said that to the west of Nantian City was the northwest, and to the south was the Southern Wasteland.
However, there was a famous river between Nantian City and the Southern Wasteland — the Longtao River.
The Longtao River spanned tens of thousands of miles between the northwest and the Southern Wasteland. The river surged and roared like a giant dragon. On both sides of the river, there were strange cliffs, dangerous mountains, lush green trees, and the cries of spirit beasts. It was like a natural water painting on paper.
In front of the pier were a few boats that traveled between the northwest and the Southern Wasteland.
From time to time, the boatman leaned against the bow and sang loudly.
The wild songs echoed in the gorge, creating a unique charm.
There were forces controlling both the upper and lower reaches of the Longtao River.
The upper reaches were the territory of the Great River Sect, and the lower reaches were under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Sea Pavilion.
Both sects were ranked ninth rank sects in the northwest. The Great River Sect was ranked 18th, and the Dragon Sea Pavilion was ranked 19th. Their strength was about the same.
The two sects had been fighting openly and secretly for the supremacy of the Longtao River.
… …
After Ling Xiao and the other two left the auction, they didn't dare to stay and immediately ran toward the Longtao River.
They found a few stalkers, but the Demon Emperor killed them without a sound.
"Boatman, are you still going to cross the river?" Ling Xiao asked a boatman.
The auction took half a day, and they had tangled with Fairy Cai, the Wei brothers, and Guba. It was already evening.
Now, most of the boatmen were packing up their hooks and chains, and seemed to be planning to rest.
An old boatman wiped the sweat off his face and said, "I'm sorry, but we've already made two trips today. It's late now, and there are sea ghosts in the river. It's not good to go out."
"Master, why bother? We can just fly over." The Demon Emperor didn't understand why Ling Xiao wanted to take a boat.
"The Longtao River is controlled by two major sects. If we fly over their territory, I'm afraid we'll attract unnecessary trouble," Ling Xiao replied.
Then, he took out a bag of gold coins and handed it to the old boatman. "Boatman, is this bag of gold coins enough to buy your boat?"
The boatman looked at the big bag of gold in Ling Xiao's hand and his eyes sparkled. He nodded and said, "Enough, enough. I can buy both of them."
"Alright, that's good. We'll buy this ship. You can go now." Ling Xiao nodded and stuffed the coin into Bo Fu's hand.
The boatman was overjoyed. He repeatedly thanked Ling Xiao and quickly left with the gold coins in his arms.
"Let's go. We'll cross the river ourselves," Ling Xiao said to the Demon Emperor and Xuan Yao.
The three of them entered the cabin, and the poor Demon Emperor was arranged to be a boatman by Ling Xiao.
Thinking about how he was once an ambitious and ruthless person who had shaken the entire continent, yet he had actually fallen to such a state, he really had the urge to cry.
Although the Demon Emperor hadn't recovered to his peak strength, he was still at the Earth Sovereign realm. Using spiritual qi to move the boat was a piece of cake for him. The boat shot out like an arrow.
This scene caused the nearby boatmen to be so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.
The Dragonwave River was very wide, and a round trip would normally take half a day.
For the Demon Emperor, it would take him less than an hour to arrive.
However, Ling Xiao wasn't in a hurry. He ordered the Demon Emperor to sail the boat to the center of the river. He needed to refine the flood dragon blood essence here.
The night was hazy, and the beautiful moon hung high in the sky. The scenery of the river was very pleasant.
A small boat floated across the river, swaying with the current. It was quite a relaxing scene.
Xuan Yao stood at the bow of the boat, gently waving his white paper fan. He softly chanted, "A lonely night on the cold water. Gazing at the moon in the distant sky, a hundred worries in my heart. The river wind blows them away."
His voice reverberated through the river, carrying a hint of melancholy.
No one knew what Xuan Yao was thinking about.
The Demon Emperor at the stern of the boat stared at Xuan Yao with an indescribable hostility.
Ling Xiao, who was in the cabin, didn't have the same elegant mood as Xuan Yao.
He had just adjusted himself to his peak state when a bottle appeared in his hand.
This bottle contained the flood dragon blood essence that he had obtained from the Dong Family's auction house.
Ling Xiao took a light breath and opened the bottle. A gust of warm air gushed out.
He didn't make any unnecessary movements, and directly poured the blood essence in the bottle into his mouth.
At first, he only felt that it had a slightly fishy and spicy taste, making it hard for him to swallow.
He endured it for a while, but in the end, he swallowed it all into his stomach.
Immediately after, he felt as if his stomach had been set on fire. His internal organs felt as if they were being burned by fire, and it was extremely uncomfortable and painful.
Ling Xiao tried his best not to make a sound, but his face was already dripping with sweat, and his face was extremely red.
Ling Xiao didn't dare to be careless. He hurriedly operated the Ancient Emperor's Divine Technique and started to refine the blood essence in his stomach.
When the Ancient Emperor's Divine Technique started to operate, the energy in the blood essence was divided and absorbed. A part of it flowed into his dantian, and the other part was divided into his meridians, acupoints, and internal organs.
Within those wide golden meridians, it was as if there were miniature flood dragons happily swimming about. In the end, the energy that was divided cleansed all of the muscle energy in his body, causing the original golden color to become even deeper, making him appear even more noble.
The energy that flowed into his dantian also began to condense around his dantian.
The first layer of defense around his dantian began to solidify, and it quickly formed a second layer of defense. It only stopped when the third layer was formed.
This was the sign that the fourth layer of the Three Parts Harmonization Technique had reached the Great Accomplishment stage.
Ling Xiao didn't know what was going on in his body. He only felt that his pain was gradually disappearing, and the energy in his body was constantly increasing. It was as if he could transform into a dragon at any time and fly between heaven and earth. There was an indescribable surging feeling in his body, and he had a strong confidence that he could defeat any opponent he encountered.
Ling Xiao didn't know how long he had been refining it. The divine light around him emitted a bright golden light, illuminating the entire ship and making the surroundings of the river clearly visible.
From afar, the ship seemed to have a deity descending, and it gave off an indescribable feeling of nobility and solemnity.
The golden light lasted for an unknown period of time before it gradually disappeared.
Not long after, a roar that sounded like a dragon's roar came from the cabin.
Roar!
The dragon's roar reached the nine heavens, and it was deafening. The ship was smashed, and the waves of the river surged!
"Wa!"
Xuan Yao didn't have time to react. The dragon's roar made him dizzy, and his ears rang. His organs shook, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body fell into the river.
The Demon Lord's situation was much better than Xuan Yao's, but he was also scared out of his wits by the dragon's roar. He was sent flying with one leg, and his head felt dizzy. There was only a "weng weng" sound in his ears.
The Demon Lord forcibly calmed his chaotic breath, and hurriedly flew into the river to fish Xuan Yao up.
Even though he didn't like Xuan Yao, he couldn't just watch him die here.
The Demon Lord stuffed a pill into Xuan Yao's mouth, and he gradually regained some color.
"What … What's going on?" Xuan Yao asked weakly, and his head still felt dizzy.
"Master must have comprehended something!" The Demon Lord looked at Ling Xiao, who was like a Golden Dragon, and said calmly.
Ling Xiao stood in the air above the river, and he fell into deep thought.
He seemed to have forgotten everything around him. In his mind, there was only a golden dragon roaring at the sky.
The dragon's roar shook the sky and the earth, and the sea of clouds churned, and everything shattered.
This was the Dragons' Tenbin god art — Dragon's Roar!
The Dragons were a branch of the Mythical Beasts. Only a small portion of Dragons with a rich bloodline would have the Dragons' Tenbin god art, Dragon's Roar, and those with a thin bloodline would not have the Tenbin god art.
The Dragons's essence blood that Ling Xiao had just refined should be as the auctioneer had said. The essence blood was very pure, and the Dragons' bloodline was very rich. It was because of this that Ling Xiao was able to comprehend the Dragons' Tenbin god art.
Ling Xiao closed his eyes and quietly felt the earth-shattering roar of the dragon. Slowly, a shadow of a dragon appeared around him, looking disdainfully at the four directions. He felt as if he was in his own realm, and his chest felt like it was being held back, and he had an urge to release it.
Roar roar!
Ling Xiao looked up to the sky and roared continuously, causing the river water to churn and explode. Countless fish spirits in the river were inexplicably shaken to death. Countless splashes of water fell from the sky, forming a natural screen, with a bit of a fairyland charm.
The Demon Lord flew to the other side of the river with Xuan Yao. He could still feel the deafening sound, and his eardrums were hurting.
Xuan Yao was relatively weak, and his ears were bleeding from the vibration.
If not for the fact that the Demon Emperor had brought him away quickly, he would have been killed by the shockwaves.
"The Tenbin god art is really scary!" The Demon Lord murmured as he looked at the river.
At the same time, he began to see Ling Xiao in a different light.
From the moment he chose to rely on Ling Xiao, he felt that Ling Xiao was extraordinary.
After all, not everyone could keep the three foreign objects in their mind. At that time, Ling Xiao was only a Spirit Master. If it was an ordinary person, their mind would explode if they only kept one thing in it. However, Ling Xiao was fine, and the three foreign objects seemed to be under his control.
The Demon Lord knew that he didn't have this kind of opportunity and ability when he was at his peak.
However, this wasn't enough to make him truly convinced.
However, the more he came into contact with Ling Xiao, the more he realized how extraordinary Ling Xiao was.
First, in terms of advancement, it was quite impressive to reach the King Stage at the age of twenty. He also cultivated the Ancient Emperor Divine Technique, which had been lost for a hundred thousand years. He was invincible among those of the same level, and he could fight those of a higher level. He also had a mysterious secret technique that attacked the sea of consciousness.
All of this made him feel incredulous.
Now, with a few drops of blood, he comprehended the Dragons Tenbin god art, which had a very slim chance of success.
All of this didn't seem very real to him.
The Demon Lord's expression became more and more ugly, as if he wasn't willing to accept the fact that he was slowly getting the urge to submit to Ling Xiao.
He didn't know that the reason he had such thoughts was because Ling Xiao had already condensed true dragon qi. He had already begun to form the image of a real dragon, causing people to involuntarily feel a sense of reverence.
After a long while, Ling Xiao stopped howling and the surface of the river regained its calm. However, there were now countless corpses of fish spirits floating on the water.
Ling Xiao looked at everything in front of him, his expression filled with excitement.
He really didn't think that these few drops of blood would have such an effect. Not only did it double his physical strength, it also allowed him to comprehend the Dragons god art. This was simply a huge gain for him.
"Haha … this young master is indeed lucky!" Ling Xiao clenched his fists and laughed heartily.
He didn't notice that at this moment, there was an astonishing change quietly happening at the bottom of the river.