Chương 342: Spitting dragon fountain

"Oh. I see…" he muttered with a soft sigh. He couldn't say anything else. He has no idea that the maps were actually for sale. That was the preparation the other disciples were making while he cultivated. It wasn't his fault as well. He didn't really have anyone who would tell him about that, and he never entertained the thought to ask about it. Since he knew this now, he didn't see any reason to reject the team invitation.

He more or less already knew their strengths, and even if something happened, leaving would be a stroll for him.

"So, what do you think? The opportunities in the mystic realm are hard to obtain, especially if you move alone. We would be much safer if we group our strength. The only condition is that none of us can attack each other until the cooperation ends." Long Feng nodded.

"I have no objections to that." The smiles of the three youths immediately became less forced.

"Great decision. You won't regret it. Once we leave the spitting dragon fountain, you may even decide to stick with us all the way." One of them grinned. Long Feng also smiled back, a strange gleam in his eyes. While they each had smiles on their faces, each of them has different thoughts. Long Feng could sense their caution, not just towards him but also towards each other. They each kept a distance of a few meters away from each other.

This didn't seem to hold much meaning, but Long Feng was aware that this distance just ample enough for them to react to any sudden attacks. In order words, they didn't trust each other at all. Their caution towards Long Feng was probably greater, and there was a simple reason to that. They were rather familiar with each other. As top fifty outer peak disciples, they had a certain understanding of each other's strengths. As for Long Feng, they knew nothing about him.

They hadn't been in the sect recently, so they weren't really aware of who he was. As for his cultivation… it was a total mystery to them. They couldn't sense anything at all no matter what they did, which added a layer of mystery to Long Feng while heightening their caution. While they were sure he was not a deity, they weren't sure exactly how strong he was as a peak Imperial. But in their perception, he couldn't be stronger than them.

After all, they already stood at the utmost limit of what was realistically possible for a peak Imperial. Surpassing them didn't seem possible. He was at most as strong as them, and chances were he was slightly weaker than them. If he was really strong, they felt that he would've been famous among the top fifty disciples. Even then, they didn't lower their guards. This team was a last minute idea; it was as fragile as paper in the face of their own personal benefits.

"I guess there's no need to waste more time. Let's rush over before we're too late." The four of them began to fly in the same direction. Long Feng lagged a few meters behind, following them cautiously while keeping his soul power spread out as subtly as he could. He also noticed that they didn't bother to ask for his name; they didn't care. It was his bet that this team would easily crumble even before they could corporate to gain any treasure. Time slowly passed and the group of four had covered a large distance.

While they faced some wild beasts attacks, their combined strength allowed them to easily dominate the fight and slaughter the beasts. At the same time, none of them revealed their full strength out of caution. It really wouldn't bode well for them if they left their backs open for the others to attack them right? As time passed though, they began to start some conversations.

Long Feng took the opportunity to ask about the serene heaven mystic realm and the other three weren't really bothered to share their information. The serene heaven mystic realm was a rather new mystic realm, found a few hundred years ago. Over the years, many geniuses had ventured into it. Some lost their lives, some gained nothing while others found some fortuitous encounters. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

They also found the core inheritance of the realm; the serene heaven inheritance ground. From the speculations of the past disciples, this inheritance belonged to a very powerful Dao realm cultivator; apparently a former outer peak head warden. As for how powerful exactly, only the wardens and the elders would know. The inheritance had yet to be cleared even after a few hundred years.

Many disciples couldn't contain their greed at the thoughts of the cultivation manual of a Dao realm master, their weapon, which wouldn't be anything less than a peak mortal grade armament and the many other things they would've gathered. That was pretty much everything Long Feng learned from the trio. He didn't fully believe everything they said, just in case they hid anything from him. Slightly over an hour later, the four disciples began to slow down.

"We're here. That should be the spitting dragon fountain over there." One of the three disciples pointed. Long Feng had already spotted the fountain. It was a dragon head shaped fountain, sculpted out of rocks with the mouth wide open. The sculpture was extremely detailed down to the scales and the fangs. Even the eyes of the sculpture seemed to contain a hint of life. Around the sculpture was a wide clearing, and some figures could already be seen.

Some of them were seating while some stood and discussed with their friends in low tones. Few people paid attention to the arrival of four more youths. The four of them rushed over and descended to the ground, standing close together. Long Feng immediately looked around and confirmed that none of the top ten geniuses were here. Each of them were deities; they would easily claim whatever opportunity here if they were present. Then he swept his gaze across all the youths already here.

A rough estimation revealed almost twenty youths gathered here, which was roughly two fifth of the total disciples in this realm. He also noticed that there was almost no one standing alone. They all formed teams of at least two disciples. Once he was done scrutinizing everyone, he sat down and waited patiently for whatever was supposed to happen.

"According to those three, the main fortuitous encounter of this realm is the serene heaven inheritance ground. Nothing else is as tempting." He traced his chin and thought.

"I'll try to get a map of this realm here if possible. The inheritance ground seems like a good place. But…" he furrowed his brows.

"Bai Zijun will definitely be there as well. I don't know what the place will be like. If there's no restriction, then he'll not hesitate to attack me." Bai Zijun was a huge threat to Long Feng right now. His power was beyond what the current Long Feng could withstand, and he was hell bent on avenging his younger brother.

"If he's really there, then I suppose I'll sit it out. It won't be worth it to head there and put myself in danger." He decided. Since he was the weaker one among them, he had no qualms with staying away until he was strong enough. And if Bai Zijun pushed him too far, then Long Feng wouldn't mind sending him to his brother and end their lineage for good. Shortly after their arrival, a low rumble spread out from the dragon head sculpture.

The rumble began as a faint echo and slowly became an intense sound similar to a roar. All the disciples present immediately stopped whatever they were doing and turned to the sculpture. Long Feng also rose to his feet while the other three disciples beside him focused and revealed serious expressions.

"This is exactly what the description said. When the roar sounds like a dragon's roar, the dragon will spit out the treasures." Minutes slowly ticked by. The rumble echoed in everyone's ears, causing their ear drums to hurt slightly. All of them were powerful, so the sound waves didn't really bother them though. As time passed, the sound soon reached a certain intensity, sounding similar to the mythical roar of a dragon. Long Feng raised an eyebrow at this moment couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. This sound…

it was nothing similar to the roar of the three dragons in his Dantian. They were worlds apart in fact. He couldn't exactly pinpoint the difference, but this sounded more like a tiger's roar to him than that of a dragon. The eyes of the dragon sculpture suddenly revealed a dazzling glow that illuminated the surroundings. The glow lasted for a few seconds before it faded away.

"Get ready… this is the last minute!" One of the youths beside Long Feng muttered just audibly enough for the other three to hear. Just then, the mouth of the dragon widened. Before they could even think about how a stone statue could move, a beam of light flew out of the dragon's mouth. Everyone's eyes followed the beam of light as it shot into the sky before falling back down. As it descended, the light faded away, revealing a dagger that emitted a very powerful aura.

The aura of the dagger alone was on the same level as the aura of a deity. The pressure that followed it's appearance was also indistinguishable from the pressure of a deity. Eyes grew red with greed immediately the dagger fully appeared.

"That's a mortal grade armament!"

"It's actual level is unknown but it could be a mid mortal grade!" The breathing of a few disciples became haggard as they stared at this falling dagger. It was a perfect piece of artwork, sleek, beautiful and deadly. No one doubted that this dagger could slice an Imperial into pieces. A mortal grade armament was one of the very few things that could allow a peak Imperial to face a deity. Of course, that was possible if the said deity didn't utilize their true essence, but it was still shocking.

If they could get their hands on it, then their strength would gain a huge boost. They would be invisible among other Imperials, and becoming an Inner peak disciple won't be an impossible feat any more! Of course, the backlash for using a mortal grade armament would be equally huge, but few would calm down to weigh the cost. Even the three disciples beside Long Feng could barely conceal their greed. Strangely though, no one moved to grab the dagger.

It simply floated some distance away from the dragon head sculpture, shimmering under the rays of the sun. The sharp edges of the dagger actually cut the air apart just by floating there, forming a tiny space devoid of air around it. Long Feng inhaled sharply at this sight.

"A mortal grade armament is fully deserving of it's fame. Unfortunately…" He peeled his gaze away.

"It's not a sword." As a swordsman, he would only be able to unleash half of his strength without a sword, no matter which weapon he used, unless it was an earth grade armament or above. Welding an earth grade armament would enable him to literally kill deities, though it was more likely he would die before he could even use it. That wasn't the issue here. What piqued his curiosity was the fact that nearly all disciples here were red eyes with greed but no one dared to approach the dagger.

He decided to watch in silence without asking. Since the trio hadn't bothered to tell him about it, asking them would be a waste of time. Luckily, he didn't have to wait for Long before someone rushed towards the dagger. The person was a young peak Imperial, about eighteen or nineteen years old. His aura was remarkable and his speed was even more so. He lost control of his greed and sped towards the dagger with an outstretched arm.

In his mind, he could picture himself killing everyone here with the dagger and claiming all the treasures in the dragon fountain. He would get a true essence pill, become a deity and using the dagger, he would be powerful even among early stage deities. He would become an Inner peak disciple and grow into a true powerhouse in the future. All these imaginations caused him to lose his mind. The dagger was reflected in his pupils and he reached out, about to grab it.

Long Feng narrowed his eyes when no one else moved. Instead, they all suppressed their greed and watched with a mixture of scorn, curiosity and expectations. The youth was beside himself with excitement.

"Those fools… to think they really believed the warning on the description! I've already come so close and nothing happened. It must be a trick!" He thought. The dagger was already within reach. All he needed to do was grab it and he would open the door to his success. Unfortunately, he was doomed to never touch it before he died.