"What kind of formation is this?" Xiao Wenbing asked softly.
"I don't know, I've never seen this kind of formation before, but it's somewhat similar to your Spirit Gathering Formation."
Xiao Wenbing nodded slightly. The Food King had specifically pointed out his Spirit Gathering Array, meaning that the array should also have been passed down from ancient times.
"Senior Food King, did you trigger a mechanism?" Zhang Yaqi asked.
Although the King of Food has become a god, if he were to fall into an ancient formation, the chances of escaping unscathed would be extremely slim.
"I don't know either." The Food King blushed and said, "I was just wandering around outside the formation when I accidentally touched it. Unexpectedly, a divine artifact aura shot into the sky." Its two eyes suddenly flashed with intense light, and it said heavily, "It's a divine artifact. It must be the light and aura of a divine artifact. I would never be wrong."
Xiao Wenbing nodded secretly. As one of the gods, he naturally had an extraordinary ability to sense unclaimed artifacts. Since the Food King said so, there must be an artifact inside.
"King of Food, what's going on with those dead bees?" Xiao Wenbing asked in a deep voice.
"As divine energy flew out, it covered the sky and the earth, it was everywhere." The Food King's body trembled slightly, clearly the danger just now had left a deep impression on him.
"Strange, these things seem much more powerful than those guys on the first floor," Xiao Wenbing muttered to himself.
“That’s for sure.” Long Ming said solemnly, “Lord Xiao, these Death Bees should be creatures from the fifth level of the Underworld. Their strength is naturally incomparable to those trash from the first level.”
Xiao Wenbing and the others suddenly realized what was happening and couldn't help but feel a deep longing for those cannon fodder death bees on the first floor.
If only the Death Bees on the fifth floor had that little bit of power.
Xiao Wenbing sighed, then suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Senior Longming, is it really the Dragon King who summoned us?"
“Indeed, I just received a decree from His Majesty the Dragon King, requesting that you all come over for a meeting.” Long Ming said respectfully, “His Majesty the Dragon King also asked me to convey that your old friend has been waiting there for quite some time.”
"My old friend?" Xiao Wenbing was taken aback. He and Zhang Yaqi exchanged a glance and couldn't help but think of the same person at the same time.
Led by Long Ming, they swam toward a hidden cave, but before that, Xiao Wenbing opened the space again and took over the wandering Shabir.
To Xiao Wenbing's amusement and exasperation, after passing through that strange teleportation array, Shabir was actually teleported to the first level of the underworld, and happened to be in the place where they had previously encountered the Turtle God.
Only then did Xiao Wenbing and the others realize that the guiding spell was nothing more than a random teleportation device with no purpose. Once inside, it would be extremely difficult to reunite. Without Xiao Wenbing's immense divine power—the combined power of his five thousand divine swords cleaving through space—they would have been trapped in a situation where each fought their own battle.
Long Ming was moving quickly, and the cave wasn't deep. However, the more he looked at the path, the more familiar it seemed. Xiao Wenbing gently tugged at Zhang Yaqi's sleeve and asked, "Yaqi, could there be a guiding spell here too?"
"Very likely," Zhang Yaqi said. "Since there was a first guidance spell, there can naturally be a second one."
Sure enough, a moment later they arrived at a vast open space, where a huge Bagua diagram was displayed, with a tiny black dot in the center.
Seeing the doubt on everyone's faces, Long Ming couldn't help but ask, "Gentlemen, have you all been here before?"
“No, we have absolutely never been here.” Xiao Wenbing laughed. “If I’m not mistaken, the needle’s eye should be at the center of the array. And there is powerful magic power there, which should be… the guiding technique of the Thunder Clan.”
Long Ming's mouth dropped open. He never expected Xiao Wenbing to be so capable, guessing the answer so accurately.
Zhang Yaqi smiled slightly and said, "Senior, although we have never been here, we have seen a place that is very similar to this place, so we know a little bit of the inside story, which he guessed out."
Xiao Wenbing waved his hand and sighed, "Yaqi, at least let me have a taste of being a prophet."
Long Ming shook his head with a wry smile and was about to walk into the formation when Xiao Wenbing grabbed him.
"Lord Xiao, what are you going to do?"
"Senior Longming, the guiding spell here should be a disordered teleportation spell, right? Are you sure you can move all of us to one place?"
"Huh? That's impossible. In the underworld, all guiding spells have fixed teleportation points. How could there be random teleportation?"
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback, then suddenly smiled and said, "Perhaps we've made a mistake. Please go first, senior."
Long Ming did not refuse and took the lead into the black hole in the formation.
"Wenbing, look..."
"He wasn't lying. Perhaps all the teleportation spells in the underworld are for transporting people to a designated location."
"And when did we arrive?"
“Perhaps…” Xiao Wenbing pondered for a moment, then said, “Perhaps, that is the only difference.”
The giant snake looked around for a moment and asked, "Lord Xiao, shall we go down again?"
"Of course we're going, let's go." Xiao Wenbing shouted, leading everyone into the guiding spell for the second time.
Volume 23, Chapter 23: The Dragon King
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Long Shi…
A flash of white light, and Xiao Wenbing and the others were indeed not separated, but were teleported together to an unfamiliar place. As soon as the flashing white light disappeared, Xiao Wenbing immediately shouted.
Indeed, the one who came to greet them was none other than Long Shi, the number one expert of the Dragon Clan, with whom they had once fought side by side in the cultivation world.
The group gathered happily, but after a short while, Long Shi sighed deeply and asked, "Brother Xiao, how did you cultivate? How could you become a god so quickly?"
"Hehe, isn't it good that I became a god? It's your brother who hasn't made much progress." Xiao Wenbing teased, "Could it be that you put your skills down when you got to the underworld?"
Long Shi shook his head silently, feeling a sense of awe as he saw that all his former friends had reached the level of gods, while he himself had only been in the underworld for a short time.
Urged on by Long Ming, they cast spells and moved forward.
Xiao Wenbing secretly sensed the flow of the seawater and the network of energy formed by various energies, and couldn't help but be secretly amazed.
The energy concentration here is extremely high, and the spatial sealing is also extremely strong, not at all inferior to the space where he rescued the Food King. If he is not mistaken, this should be the fifth layer of the Underworld.
Not far away, a majestic mountain lies coiled on the seabed.
The surrounding seawater lingered a hundred meters above this mountain, blocked by a mysterious and powerful force, making it impossible for it to land.
Xiao Wenbing silently sensed this power and immediately realized that this was the dragon power unique to the dragon race. However, this dragon power was already incredibly strong; even if he combined his five thousand swords into one, he might not be able to easily defeat it.
"Brother Xiao, this mountain must be the Dragon King himself. He truly lives up to his reputation as an old monster who has cultivated for countless years. I really don't know how he managed to grow such a huge body," the Food King secretly transmitted.
Xiao Wenbing nodded slightly. Both dragons and sea creatures share a common characteristic: the higher their cultivation level, the larger their bodies become. Therefore, in terms of size, this mountain is undoubtedly the king of the dragon race.
Long Ming and Long Shi made a gesture, indicating that they should wait a moment before flying together towards the mountains.
As the leader of the dragon race, no one cared if he put on a little airs. Xiao Wenbing and the others looked around, taking in the entire scene. Of course, to avoid misunderstandings, they didn't use their divine sense to investigate.
At the foot of the mountain, there were hundreds of exotic flowers and trees. They happened to stop under the trees and smelled the fragrance. Everyone knew that these things were no ordinary items.
Looking at the giant snake's greedy eyes, Xiao Wenbing couldn't help but whisper, "Giant snake, be serious and stop making a fool of yourself."
The giant serpent reluctantly withdrew its gaze and said, "Lord Xiao, the fruit trees here are extraordinary. The fruits they bear are an immense tonic for us newly ascended gods." It lowered its voice and said, "I see no one around and there are no restrictions."
How about we all chip in a few, split the cost 20/50?
Xiao Wenbing, both amused and exasperated, kicked the snake, sending it tumbling to the ground. He said, "You good-for-nothing! What are these fruit trees? I have even better ones on me. I'll give them to you when we get back."
The giant snake got up, patted its rear, and, having been bullied by Xiao Wenbing and the Roc for so long, didn't feel ashamed. However, it harbored some doubt about Xiao Wenbing's words: "Lord Xiao, these fruit trees are all extinct species. Where are you going to find better ones? You can't possibly..."
"Can't do what?" Xiao Wenbing looked at it coldly.
"You're not planning to keep it all for yourself, are you?"
"Bang……"
With a mournful howl, the giant serpent rose from the ground, its body shuddering and instantly transformed. It was one of the most diligent creatures when it came to using divine power to tidy its appearance.
"Here you go." Xiao Wenbing opened his divine realm, casually picked a peach, and tossed it over.
The giant snake snatched the peach, its eyes shining brightly. Although it couldn't recognize the variety, it could tell the quality of the fruit. Just by looking at the peach in its hand, it knew it was a good one, much better than the fruit from the trees.
"Haha, Lord Xiao, you are so generous!" The giant snake laughed three times and was about to swallow the thing when suddenly, it felt its hand lighten and the peach was gone.
The giant snake was startled and looked around. It saw that everyone's eyes were on its back. It turned around abruptly and saw a small white monster holding a peach, which was spilling out of its mouth without any regard for its image.
"What kind of monster is that? A snake?"
"No, it should be a dragon, a young dragon, a young dragon that has not yet cultivated to the stage of human transformation."
Listening to the discussion between the Food King and Shabir, Xiao Wenbing nodded slightly.
Indeed, this small snake was only about a foot long and as thick as a baby's arm. According to the classification of dragons' strength, it was probably just a young dragon.
However, this young dragon was no ordinary creature. It moved with lightning speed, and even the great serpent, which had already become a god, was caught off guard and had its peach stolen.
The giant snake, its brows furrowed, was furious that it dared to steal its own things; it was truly courting death.
A cold smile appeared on its lips. Just as it was about to unleash its ultimate power to kill this arrogant little snake, it heard Xiao Wenbing say, "Big snake, this is the territory of the dragon clan. Don't cause me any trouble."
Yes, this is the dragon clan's stronghold. A young dragon that can appear here must have powerful backers. If we kill it, wouldn't we be breaking ties with the dragon clan?
"Fine," the giant snake said through gritted teeth, "I won't kill it, but I'll get the stuff back."
“Every sip and every bite has its cause and effect. It’s its fate that it stole your things. I’ll give you another one.” Xiao Wenbing flicked his finger, and another peach appeared in the giant snake’s hand.
The giant snake was overjoyed and was about to consume it when Xiao Wenbing said, "This thing is called the Peaches of Immortality. Its greatest use is not to enhance divine power, but to heal injuries. So you'd better put it away, giant snake."
"Healing?"
“That’s right. If one day your divine body is destroyed and the divine realm collapses…” Xiao Wenbing looked at the giant serpent’s angry but speechless expression and laughed happily, “That will be when this substance will be most effective.”
"Lord Xiao, I don't want that day to come," the giant snake said, grinding its teeth.
"Being prepared is always better. I'll only give you one; the choice is yours."
"Alright," Xiao Wenbing said calmly.
After pondering for a long time, the giant snake finally sighed and carefully put the object away.
The Food King looked on with envy. He stepped forward, pointed to his nose, and bluntly asked, "Where's mine?"
Xiao Wenbing glared at him, annoyed. Reluctantly, he took out three more peaches and gave one each to Shabir, the Food King, and the Roc.
As for Zhang Yaqi, she's my closest person. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so let's take it slow.
After waiting for a while, the group still hadn't seen Long Ming and the other person return, and they couldn't help but feel a little resentful.
"Where did you get your fruit from?"
Suddenly, the little dragon spoke, asking a question that startled everyone.
"This little thing can actually talk, how interesting!" the giant snake chuckled. "Let me tease it."
After saying that, the giant snake took out a golden pill, placed it in its hand, and said, "Come, come, Uncle will give you something good to eat."