Having taken on two opponents alone, seriously injuring one and killing the other, Song Xianhe and the others erupted with excitement. They shouted in unison,
"Glory to the Young Patriarch! Long live our clan's might!"
"Glory to the Young Patriarch! Long live our clan's might!"
Song Changsheng descended atop his lotus platform. After confirming that Zhang Chenlong was completely dead, he swept up his spatial pouch, his battle armor, and his long spear. As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Zhang's total wealth was surely nothing to scoff at.
Returning to Song Xianhe and the others, Song Changsheng spoke solemnly,
"After this battle, the Earthfire Sect should no longer dare to invade our territory. But nothing is absolute. That sect is full of ambition. Elder, I ask you to remain vigilant."
"Young Patriarch, rest assured. As long as this old body still draws breath, I shall not betray the clan's trust," Song Xianhe replied solemnly.
"Your contributions are clear for all to see. Once I've slain that Earth Dragon, I'll return to the clan to report and petition merits for you all."
Defeating the invaders from the Earthfire Sect and the Lieyang Sect was only the first step. That fleeing Earth Dragon was no less of a threat.
"We're grateful for your efforts, Young Patriarch. After that intense battle, you should rest."
"That was my plan."
...
Back in his cave residence, Song Changsheng took out Zhang Chenlong's spatial pouch. With a casual swipe of his finger across the seal, the restriction on the bag was easily broken.
As his spiritual sense probed inside, Song's eyes widened in astonishment it was a windfall!
The first thing he saw was a huge pile of spirit stones over two thousand low-grade ones, plus twelve middle-grade stones.
Song Changsheng himself only had a little over a thousand spirit stones on hand. Now his wealth had more than doubled. He wouldn't have to be stingy about crafting and setting up formations anymore.
"Tsk, no wonder he was an elder from a Purple Mansion sect. That kind of background shows. Can't compare, can't compare," Song Changsheng muttered, shaking his head in awe, then promptly pocketed everything without hesitation.
Aside from the pile of spirit stones, the bag also contained many rare pills and elixirs. But without someone to identify them, Song wouldn't dare to consume any randomly who knew if some of the bottles had been tampered with?
There were also numerous spiritual materials, all top-notch for crafting or formation setups. They'd save him a significant amount of money.
As for the rest, some miscellaneous items are not worth mentioning, including undergarments and corsets...
The most valuable items, however, were Zhang Chenlong's battle armor and long spear.
The spear was his life-bound artifact, already showing signs of spiritual awakening, on the verge of evolving into a true spiritual artifact similar to the current state of Song's Soul-Slaying Gourd.
On the market, it would fetch at least ten thousand spirit stones. But unless someone was utterly brain-dead, no one would sell an artifact of that caliber. Even if Song couldn't use it himself, it would serve as a great asset for the clan maybe even help nurture a future spiritual artifact for their forces.
The battle armor was a replica of the Xuan Gang Battle Armor, a mid-grade Tier-2 artifact with extraordinary defense. Normal attacks couldn't break through it; only direct assaults on the soul would have any effect.
It was a rare and precious treasure, worth nearly as much as a true spiritual artifact. Song Changsheng planned to keep it for himself.
After experiencing the thrill of physical combat in the previous battle that raw, flesh-and-blood intensity he decided to train more in body-tempering arts. And this armor fit him like it was made just for him.
After spending several days refining it, he named it Xuantian Battle Armor and wore it close to the skin under his robe after all, wearing it openly would be far too ostentatious.
Once everything was sorted, Song Changsheng set out once again toward Mine Tunnel B. This time, he was taking the initiative to eliminate the Earth Dragon once and for all!
"That Earth Dragon was only lightly wounded last time, but its cultivation still dropped. It will likely choose a secluded place to hibernate and recover. If I follow the tunnels it dug, I should be able to find it."
Spreading his spiritual sense, Song entered the tunnel without hesitation.
But he quickly realized he'd underestimated the situation. It was true that the dragon's path could be traced but the tunnel wasn't just a single one. There were many, branching out everywhere.
Every ten zhang he moved forward, another fork appeared. After twisting and turning through several, he had completely lost his bearings.
The Earth Dragon had turned this underground space into a three-dimensional maze. Though Song had marked his path, the deeper he went, the less those markings helped.
"Damn it. This Earth Dragon is too cunning. It even deliberately left misleading auras to throw me off."
The creature was much smarter than he had expected. But Song Changsheng hadn't come unprepared he had full confidence in his abilities.
With two fingers like a blade, he gently traced over his eyes. When he opened them again, a strange, demonic pattern had appeared in his pupils.
The Eye of True Sight primarily used to dismantle formations was perfectly suited to this situation.
With a single glance, the world turned black and white. Song scanned up, down, left, and right until finally, in an inconspicuous corner, he spotted a large, earth-yellow glowing serpentine form.
"A spiritual beast of this size, buried underground this must be the Earth Dragon! I finally found you!" Song clenched his fists in excitement. That maze had taken a toll on his patience.
He summoned the Soul-Slaying Gourd to clear a path and charged directly toward the dragon's lair.
"ROAR!"
Awakened from its slumber, the Earth Dragon let out a furious roar. But the moment it caught Song Changsheng's scent, it shuddered violently and tried to flee.
This time, Song had no intention of letting it escape. He immediately summoned the Lu Wu Bell and slammed it down on the dragon's body.
The Earth Dragon thrashed wildly, causing the ground to quake but the Lu Wu Bell didn't budge, as if welded into place.
"You dared take the lives of my clan members this day was destined for you. Die!" Song's arm muscles bulged as he threw the long spear with all his strength.
"ROAR!"
The spear pierced straight through the Earth Dragon, severing its spine. The beast shrieked in agony.
Driven to madness, the dragon unleashed all it had earth spikes, petrification, spell after spell but it was all in vain. With the battle armor shielding him, Song wasn't even scratched.
"Soul-Slaying Gourd, execute the kill!"
The gourd in Song Changsheng's hand gave a gentle spin, and the Soul-Slaying Blade shot out, piercing straight into the Earth Dragon's sea of consciousness.
There was no luck, no surprise the Earth Dragon let out a final wail before its massive body collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash.
Only after the dragon's death did Song Changsheng have time to inspect the place where it had been healing. This appeared to be its main lair spacious and expansive.
What was unusual was that despite being over a hundred zhang deep underground, where no sunlight could reach, the ground was still covered in wild grasses, and even a few small flowers bloomed.
This was highly abnormal.
Song Changsheng spread his spiritual sense outward. After a long moment, his eyes widened in shock...
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