Suddenly, Hei Yu who sat in cultivation on the side slowly opened his eyes. He looked towards Rui Jin and said,
Rui Jin, I feel the presence of the Winged Tiger God. It’s already come.
Rui Jin stared blankly at the red dragon soul that had just revived. Only after quite a while did he finally look away, shifting his gaze to Hei Yu.
I know. Other than the Winged Tiger God, even the human chased after by the saint artifact has come. Hei Yu, you’re currently in the most crucial period. Cultivate without worry. After you break through to the Ninth Heavenly Layer, we can go find the artifact spirit to heal your limb.
With a careful glance, one would notice that Hei Yu’s right sleeve was empty. He had completely lost his right arm.
Hei Yu nodded. He looked at Rui Jin in deep gratitude and said,
Rui Jin, thank you!
The only reason why he was able to absorb the energy of the world in the necropolis was because of Rui Jin. With him concealing Hei Yu’s presence, the dragon souls were unable to detect Hei Yu as a foreign existence. Additionally, he used his own abilities to convert the energy in the necropolis before giving it to Hei Yu to absorb.
Rui Jin roared at the sky. Deep sorrow and loneliness appeared on his face.
In my entire life, I’ve only had two friends. Other than that girl from the Divine Phoenix clan, there’s just you, Hei Yu.
Hei Yu glanced at Rui Jin with mixed emotions. He seemed to be able to understand Rui Jin’s current emotions and a sliver of loneliness also appeared on his face. However, he quickly refocused his attention, slowly closing his eyes to continue his cultivation. He was preparing for an attempt to break through to the Ninth Heavenly Layer.
Rui Jin did not leave Hei Yu’s side. Currently, no matter what happened, he could not even take a step away. He needed to conceal Hei Yu’s presence, to guarantee his safety.
Although the dragon souls had no consciousness and were filled with hostility, they would not attack clansmen.
In the rather dark cave, both Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress sat on the ground with their legs crossed. Jian Chen had already sent the white tiger back into the artifact space, allowing it continually increase its strength through the use of heavenly resources.
Outside the cave, the roars of the dragon souls pierced the sky. It caused the mountain range to shake, preventing the two of them from getting any peace during this entire period. This was all because the dragon souls had increased to over thirty outside, with the weakest at Class 7. The number of Class 8 dragon souls had also increased to three from the initial one. Thirty-odd dragon souls directly patrolled about in a radius of several dozen kilometers, without any leaving at all since the beginning.
In the cave, Jian Chen slowly closed his eyes. He stood up and paced about, while his eyebrows furrowed with a sliver of worry. He then looked at the Heavenly Enchantress and said,
Senior, it won’t work if this continues. Are those dragon souls going to keep moving about outside? Is there any way to make them leave?
The Heavenly Enchantress slowly opened her eyes and after a slight deliberation, she said,
There is one way.
Jian Chen’s eyes brightened. He immediately asked,
What is it?
The method is to have someone outside attract the attention of the dragon souls and then lead them away,
the Heavenly Enchantress said indifferently.
With that, a sliver of despair appeared in Jian Chen’s eyes. The Fantasy Star Ocean was a danger zone only second to the Death’s Nest on the Tian Yuan Continent. There were extremely few people who dared to enter this place; it was even ordinary for no one to enter even after several decades. It was virtually impossible to get someone to attract the attention of the dragon souls outside.
Looks like we can only keep waiting.
Jian Chen sighed softly. He sat down once again.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed. He and the Heavenly Enchantress had basically passed that period of time in silence, without saying much at all. Meanwhile, the patrolling dragon souls did not leave, and instead increased in number, reaching over forty from the initial thirty-odd. Those other dragon souls were all drawn over by the initial dragon souls. They moved around mindlessly, without purposefully searching for anything. They did not seem to know about the presence of the two of them at all.
Seven days later, Jian Chen could no longer sit around once again. He stood up and thought,
Why don’t I recover some Chaotic Force instead of wasting time?
With that, a golden light immediately shot from the center of Jian Chen’s eyebrows. It turned into a palm-sized golden tower.
What do you want to do?
As soon as Jian Chen did something, it attracted the Heavenly Enchantress’s attention. She stared fixedly at Jian Chen with her beautiful eyes, glancing at the golden tower without the slightest clue. She carried an expression of curiosity.
Currently, there were dragon souls moving about outside. They completely relied on the boulders blocking the cave entrance to isolate their presence and prevent the dragon souls from noticing them. As a result, the Heavenly Enchantress was worried that Jian Chen would create too large of a commotion and alarm the dragon souls outside.
Senior, I want to cultivate a little and recover some strength.
Jian Chen replied.
No, with the residue energy, it will definitely attract the attention of the dragon souls outside,
the Heavenly Enchantress said sternly. Her tone allowed no exceptions.
Jian Chen looked at the golden tower and swore solemnly.
Don’t worry. I’ll cultivate in another space, so there won’t be any residue energy at all. Naturally, it would be impossible to alarm the dragon souls outside.
The Heavenly Enchantress looked at the golden tower. It was the second time she had seen it and she was extremely curious about its origins. She asked,
What is this?
Jian Chen hid nothing.
Senior may not have seen it, but senior should have heard of its name before. This tower is the saint artifact of the Radiant Saint Master Union.
What! The artifact of the union!
The Heavenly Enchantress was shocked. She stared at the tower in disbelief and said,
Impossible! How did the saint artifact end up in your hands?
Jian Chen chuckled but did not give any further explanations. He said,
Senior, there’s an independent space within the artifact. It’s extremely safe in there. Why don’t you come in with me? That way, even if our hiding location is discovered by the dragon souls, we won’t be harmed at all.
She calmed down very quickly. After some deliberation, she asked,
I’ve heard of the saint artifact from the Radiant Saint Master Union. Apparently, it’s an extremely powerful divine artifact. I never thought it would end up in your hands. I wonder if we can use the artifact to leave this place.
Jian Chen shook his head.
No, we can’t. I just discussed this with the artifact spirit. The artifact is not originally from the Fantasy Star Ocean, so its presence will still be detected by the dragon souls. Once the artifact leaves this place, it will be targeted by the dragon souls outside and attacked. The Class 7 ones may not be able to harm the artifact spirit but there are Saint Emperor dragon souls in the necropolis. Once we draw those dragon souls over, it’ll probably be dangerous even if we hide in the artifact.
The Heavenly Enchantress furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
Looks like we can only wait until the dragon souls leave. Alright, I’ll enter the artifact space with you.
Artifact spirit, take us in.
Jian Chen ordered.
Two pillars of light immediately shot from the saint artifact, encasing the two of them before disappearing. In the blink of an eye, the dark cave became empty, with only a faintly-glowing, golden artifact hanging in the air.
Shortly afterward, the artifact slowly began to dull, becoming extremely ordinary-looking. Next, it slowly flew over to a dark corner, hiding itself behind a large rock.
The current artifact space was very different from before. Before, when Jian Chen and the Radiant Saint Masters entered it to compete, the huge space only had a few Class 6 Magical Beasts, with no magical beasts stronger than that.
Now, the huge space had various magical beasts everywhere. They ranged from Class 1 to 5, and there were even some Class 6 Magical Beasts moving about.
On a grassy plain, there were two Class 5 Magical Beasts currently locked in a life-or-death battle. The energy ripples from the great fight turned the surroundings into a mess, kicking rocks and sand into the air. Meanwhile, the beasts roared angrily.
At this very moment, two pillars of white light suddenly appeared in the sky. The tight-clothed Jian Chen and the purple-dressed Heavenly Enchantress appeared. The Heavenly Enchantress held her zither in her arms. As soon as they arrived, she impatiently looked around with deep curiosity flooding her eyes.
The sudden appearance of the two attracted the attention of the two fighting magical beasts. They could not help but stop and look at the sky. They looked vigilantly at the two people above with their vicious gazes. Just from their bestial instinct, they could feel a great threat from the two of them.
Caw!
At this very moment, an earth-shaking sound appeared in the distance. Immediately afterward, a powerful presence with rocketing killing intent appeared too.
Jian Chen narrowed his eyes, looking towards the direction of the sound. He could not help but curl his lips into a cold smile.
It’s that Class 7 Crow King. I didn’t think it would still remember me. Looks like the Class 6 crow I killed last time is a close kin of it.
Saint Ruler abilities could be used at will in the artifact space. The Class 7 Crow King used Spatial Force, fusing with the surrounding space to shoot over from the distance at Jian Chen. In just a few seconds, a black dot appeared on the endless horizon, quickly increasing in size. It arrived before Jian Chen very quickly.
It was a huge, jet-black crow that was several dozen meters in length. It radiated with a vast presence, causing the Class 5 Magical Beasts below who had stopped their fight to collapse on the ground while trembling. Their eyes were filled with dread.
The crow stared fixedly at Jian Chen with its scarlet eyes. Hatred soared in its eyes and it soon producing a horrible cry toward the sky. It turned into a black blur, shooting at Jian Chen while its pair of sharp claws shone with a cold light, directly clawing at Jian Chen’s heart.
