CHAPTER 812: CHAPTER 497: SKY-HIGH PRICE

Star Realm Jump and Void Shuttle will leave traces, and with the Xukun Dragon King’s strength, it’s very easy to track them down.

Therefore, relying on flying is actually safer.

A shadow clone appeared in place.

After Ji Xinghuo flew north, the shadow clone flew south, entered Star Realm Jump hundreds of kilometers away, flew again after each Jump, then changed direction, and Jumped again until star power was exhausted, dissipating on the spot.

Meanwhile, Ji Xinghuo had already flown more than two thousand kilometers away into the heart of Pangling Island.

This is the Star Edge Domain, one of the most important governing areas of the Canglong Family, with hundreds of cities built on two hundred million square kilometers of land, nearly ten billion people, and multiple cities equipped with Jump Arrays, serving as one of the transportation hubs of Donghuang Island.

A moment later.

A massive Xukun Dragon, like a mountain, leapt from the void, appearing at the site of the recent battle.

The trees within a ten-kilometer radius all collapsed, crushed by a thousandfold gravity.

The ground was in chaos.

The most shocking sight was a kilometer-long trench in the earth, with the edges of soil and rock melted by high temperatures, resembling a canyon.

Xukun Jicai hovered in mid-air, looking at the corpse of the Xukun Dragon split in half, his handsome face twitching with grief and the anger in his eyes on the verge of eruption, while the Xukun Dragon beneath him emitted mournful cries.

At this moment, a blaze of light flew from the distant west, quickly appearing before him, revealing the figure of Xia Wei.

"Your Majesty!"

Xia Wei’s face was also difficult to look at.

"What are you doing?" Xukun Jicai finally couldn’t suppress his emotions and loudly questioned, "I sent you and Tian Lin to Donghuang Island to help retrieve the Azure Sky Ring, but not only did you fail, Tian Lin is dead, and the family has lost another Xukun Dragon!"

Xia Wei opened her mouth, unable to explain.

She indeed wasn’t very concerned about retrieving the Azure Sky Ring, but the death of Xukun Tianlin was his own doing; she had advised him multiple times not to act rashly, but he wouldn’t listen. What could she do?

Xukun Tianlin wasn’t a child; was she, a Shepherd Star Saint, supposed to babysit him all day?

Of course, she couldn’t say such truths.

Xia Wei was well aware of why the Xukun Dragon King was so angry; the losses to the Xukun Family this time were too great.

Xukun Tianlin was the most promising junior in the family to be promoted to Shepherd Star Saint, a rare genius in the Hidden Dragon Series in many years, and he was regarded as a chance for the family’s resurgence.

To outsiders, the Xukun Family had shown signs of reversing its decline in recent years.

Now it was all a pipe dream.

Even more unbearable was the death of a Shock-level Xukun Dragon. The family originally only had nine Xukun Dragons, which grew extremely slowly, with only three Shock-level and one Meteor-level.

The only Meteor-level Xukun Dragon was the one beside the Dragon King—the oldest, largest, but still far from evolving to the Slaughter Star Level, possibly taking a thousand Star Realm Years, with evolution being more difficult than the promotion to Shepherd Star Saint.

Thus, the Shock-level Xukun Dragon had been the backbone of the family, their last hope for a revival.

Now it was slain!

The loss was even heavier than Xukun Tianlin’s death.

Xukun Jicai glanced at Xia Wei, who seemed to want to speak but hesitated, and ultimately decided not to blame her further.

Including himself, there were only three Shepherd Star Saints in the Xukun family, and she was the only one willing to pledge her allegiance in recent years. If she left in a fit of anger, the family’s strength and prestige would take another blow.

Several True Dragon Families under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Void Territory had long coveted the Dragon King’s position.

With only two Shepherd Star Saints, it would be hard to suppress the ambitions of other families.

"After all, an outsider."

"If Tianlin hadn’t died and successfully ascended to Dragon Lord, with the family regaining three Seventh Rank powerhouses, they wouldn’t be so passive."

"Alas..."

Xukun Jicai was troubled, but he quickly suppressed his pain and anger, regaining the composure that a Dragon King should have.

"Was this Yunhuo Liaoyun’s doing?"

"It should be, Your Majesty," Xia Wei replied. "Yunhuo Liaoyun left from Cangming Auction, and at that time Tianlin followed with two people, one was Jing Qin, and the other was Lei Mingke. I thought with their combined strength, dealing with Yunhuo Liaoyun wasn’t difficult, so I didn’t stop them."

She still made a small plea for herself.

"Lei Mingke?" Xukun Jicai raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Her strength was stronger than Tianlin’s, and she also died!" He looked at the canyon on the ground, "If I’m not mistaken, this should be Magnetic Pole Potential Slash."

"It is Magnetic Pole Potential Slash!"

Xia Wei had long recognized it but was still very puzzled, "Yunhuo Liaoyun is on the ’Iron Blood War God’ evolution path, how could he use Magnetic Pole Potential Slash?"

"And the power of this slash..."

"Can a Sixth Rank powerhouse really cause such damage?"

Her gaze traveled from one end of the canyon to the kilometer away endpoint, her pupils slightly contracting with apprehension.

If she were hit by this slash, she wouldn’t dare say she’d survive for sure.

Xukun Jicai wore a contemplative expression and finally said, "Last time we investigated Yunhuo Liaoyun’s identity, it now seems it must be fake. Send someone to Titanium Ring City to investigate secretly, and do not act rashly until his true origins are discovered."

"Your Majesty, aren’t we going to track him now?" Xia Wei was a bit confused.

Xukun Jicai’s gaze turned south, seemingly able to penetrate the void to reach thousands of kilometers away, then he looked north.

Finally, he shook his head, "Can’t catch up."

In fact, if they started tracking immediately, there was still a slim chance, but he chose to forgo it.

"But..."

Xia Wei was about to persuade further but was interrupted by Xukun Jicai, who pointedly said, "The Yuanci Clan is not someone we can afford to offend."

The Yuanci Clan referred to the Titanium Cobalt Family.

Xia Wei’s expression changed.

She realized the king’s concern.

The Mutant from Titanium Ring City, with a fake identity, yet possessing Electromagnetic Element Ability and Magnetic Pole Potential Slash, was highly likely to be related to the Titanium Cobalt Family.

As fellow Divine Dragon Species families, the present strength of the Yuan Magnet Titanium Cobalt Family far surpassed the Xukun Family, to the point where they weren’t even on the same level. That Yuan Magnet Titanium Cobalt Dragon King was at the Seventh Rank peak, second only to a few Dragon Emperors, and was one of the most untouchable existences of the Dynasty.

If Yunhuo Liaoyun truly belongs to the Titanium Cobalt Family, even if it’s verified, the Xukun Family might have to endure it temporarily.

Revenge is inevitable.

But it will certainly require careful planning and to proceed secretly.

"Yunhuo Liaoyun is extremely powerful and very vigilant; he is sure to become a major enemy in the future." Xukun Jicai pointed at the corpse of the Xukun Dragon and said, "He hadn’t even finished scavenging the Alien Species, realized we were coming and fled ahead of time."

"Count him as quick to escape."

Xia Wei snorted coldly, her mind conjuring the image of Yunhuo Liaoyun, previously indifferent but now etched into her memory.

Yet she was unaware that Ji Xinghuo was watching her.

A city over three thousand kilometers away.

Ji Xinghuo arrived at the Jump Array but didn’t enter immediately; instead, he used the Macro Heavenly Eye to remotely view back, with Microscopic Perception conveniently covering Xukun Jicai and Xia Wei’s locations, hearing the entirety of their conversation.

"Sure enough, once the Magnetic Pole Potential Slash was used, it was impossible to conceal it from the Shepherd Star Saint."

He anticipated this before making his move.

Unexpectedly, upon Xukun Jicai suspecting his affiliation with the Titanium Cobalt Family, he was cowardly and dared not pursue.

"I still underestimated the prestige of the Titanium Cobalt Family."

"That’s fine too."

"However, the identity of Yunhuo Liaoyun can no longer be used. I’ll seal it on my return to Titanium Ring City and ask Sister Lan to make another fake identity later."

"The only flaw lies with Cang Ya, but with the shelter of the Bibo Dragon Emperor, there shouldn’t be a problem."

"Xukun Jicai didn’t dare provoke the Titanium Cobalt Dragon King, let alone the Dragon Emperor."

Ji Xinghuo was very confident.

He withdrew the Macro Heavenly Eye, stepped into the Jump Array, selected a destination, jumped to an island not far from Donghuang Island, then flew southwest toward Donghuang Island, returning to Cangming City.

The auction hadn’t ended yet, but only a few items were left.

Ji Xinghuo approached Zhu Xing Lake Manor, created a Shadow Clone, handed the Azure Sky Ring to the Shadow Clone, and entered the manor.

Meanwhile, he himself departed Donghuang Island once again.

Cangming Auction House.

Ji Xinghuo’s Shadow Clone still sat on Terrace 35012, and finally, in the spotlight, Cang Hao solemnly announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, next is the final treasure of this Cangming Auction."

As Cang Hao spoke, a stream of water rose from the lake below, delivering a delicate box to his hand.

Cang Hao opened the box and gingerly extracted an Alien Species.

Everyone’s attention was captured.

It was an almond-sized grayish meat, with irregular folds on the surface, appearing unimpressive at first glance, even devoid of the vitality typical of Alien Species, as if discarded roadside.

However, upon lingering for a few more glances, one would feel mentally dazed, as the mind gradually detached from the body.

As if the soul was about to escape, ready to be absorbed.

Pop!

Cang Hao closed the lid, breaking the psychic anomaly, causing tens of thousands of Mutants to shiver with relief before becoming fervent.

"Eclipse Species, Multiple Personalities!" Cang Hao looked towards the distinguished Shepherd Star Saints and shouted, "Starting bid at 8 million Dragon Crystals, each bid increase at least 500 thousand Dragon Crystals, please begin!"

Several Shepherd Star Saints immediately raised their plaques.

The bidding process was extremely intense.

After numerous rounds of bidding, multiple Shepherd Star Saints competed, combative and employing a variety of tactics, until the Alien Species was finally won by a Seventh Rank Third Dan "Dominator" in front of tens of thousands of Mutants.

The Dominator is an ultimate profession.

It evolves through Mind Hacker, Sanctioner, and Kinetic Stringer, mastering hearts and reality, thereby dominating the world.

This Dominator hailed from the Candle Star Dragon Domain, ruling over the Wan Jue Domain.

The final price was 17.5 million Dragon Crystals!

Even within the True Dragon Dynasty, such a high transaction hadn’t occurred for hundreds of years.

It instantly caused a huge sensation.

After the auction ended, those who witnessed it were excited, the whole of Donghuang Island was abuzz with discussions, and news rapidly spread to various Dragon Domains and Territories of the Dynasty. Yet in unnoticed corners, no one knew of the deaths of the Xukun Tianlin trio.

When Yunhuo Xiao returned to Zhu Xing Lake Manor, Ji Xinghuo’s Shadow Clone handed over the Azure Sky Ring to him.

"Great!"

"I enjoy dealing with those who honor their promises."

Yunhuo Xiao smiled broadly, accepting the Azure Sky Ring, detecting that the Void Cage had been used but chose not to inquire further.

"Thank you, Master." The Shadow Clone bade farewell and immediately dispersed on the spot.

At the same moment.

Titanium Ring City, when Titanium Cobalt Lan’s trio emerged from the Jump Array, they immediately received the news, and Titanium Cobalt Qingwei exclaimed in surprise, "Jin is back!"