CHAPTER 278: CHAPTER 278: SLAUGHTERING DRAGON MONSTERS, MEETING DOUGLAS AGAIN

"Stage 11?" Nalorin Sylvia and the Longevity Wood Emperor couldn’t help crying out, staring at the Red Carp in disbelief.

"Is stage 11 that strong?" Benz asked, curious.

He was at stage 9, legendary peak, and could try the heavenly tribulation to become a god at any time. But he wasn’t sure he could survive it, so he’d been stuck at stage 9.

He didn’t really understand the realms beyond stage 9.

The Longevity Wood Emperor explained."Forget stage 11—even stage 10 is extremely rare across the whole Universe Continent. If you reach stage 11 and then break through to Half-God, you’d be at the top among Half-Gods."

His face was full of envy and longing.

"Then do I have a shot at reaching stage 10?" Benz asked hopefully.

"You?" The Longevity Wood Emperor sneered. "Maybe in your dreams."

Benz frowned and snapped."Old man, what’s with that attitude? Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up!"

"Hm?" The Longevity Wood Emperor’s eyes turned cold and anger rose in him. He had just revived, got beaten badly by Skye, then spent a lot of source power to revive the Undead Tree. He was full of pent-up rage. Even though his strength had dropped a lot, he was still a Core God. Benz had no right to provoke him.

"Enough." Johnnie cut them off and shot Benz a glare.

This guy really didn’t know his place, daring to pick a fight with the Longevity Wood Emperor.

Benz realized it too, hunched his neck, and didn’t dare act up again.

"Let’s go. Keep looking for dragon monsters." Johnnie said.

He checked the next advancement condition for the Dragon Patterned Sword: it needed to kill one million Sub-Dragon-type monsters.

This world is vast, and there are at least tens of millions of dragon monsters. Advancing the Dragon Patterned Sword should be easy.

"Master, I can fight on my own now. Killing dragon monsters will count too." Red Carp said excitedly.

"Really?" Johnnie’s eyes lit up.

Before, Red Carp could act on her own, but she was too weak to help much. Now it’s different. She’s broken through to stage 10, far beyond a stage 9 legendary peak. Even if she can’t match a Half-God, she can still help him a lot.

"Red Carp, can you use the wind element law?" Johnnie thought of the Skywind Sword that dropped from Altair. It’s a powerful divine weapon and holds Wind’s True Intent, not to be underestimated. Sadly, his sword style is the heavy-sword type, so a soft sword doesn’t suit him. Red Carp’s sword work is delicate and fits a soft sword well, but to use the Skywind Sword you need the wind element law.

She shook her head. "No. I already gained the wood element law power, so I can’t master other element laws."

Johnnie sighed. Looks like he’ll need another Elemental Heart.

That’s not hard for him. Slime leaders always drop Elemental Heart shards, and three shards can be fused into a full Elemental Heart.

There are quite a few slime leaders in the Land of Confusion, but that will have to wait until they get the Dragon Pulse.

"Let’s go keep killing dragon monsters." Johnnie said. He summoned the merman leader he had imprisoned and kept using it to find islands where dragon monsters gathered.

Almost every island had at least a hundred thousand dragon monsters. If they wipe out ten more islands, the Dragon Patterned Sword can advance again to stage 7.

This time, Johnnie headed toward the Fractured Sea. While slaughtering dragon monsters, he could also look for the Dragon Pulse.

He had been in this secret realm for about a week. Other than dragon monsters and deep-sea fishmen, he hadn’t run into any other powerhouses.

According to the merman leader, everyone else was gathered outside the Fractured Sea, unable to get past the storms there.

As for the powerhouses who entered the Dragon’s Lair, their landing spots are random, so it’s hard to run into them.

Johnnie didn’t care. With the Longevity Wood Emperor, a Core God, by his side, he wouldn’t fear even if he ran into Pitiless.

Led by the merman leader, they moved quickly across the sea, searching for islands packed with dragon monsters and went on a killing spree.

...

Three days passed before they knew it. Johnnie wiped out the dragon monsters on two islands—about 270,000 in total, including a few legendary flying dragons.

Those weren’t Sub-Dragon-type monsters anymore; they carried true dragon blood.

At this pace, the Dragon Patterned Sword could advance again to stage 7 in about a week.

"Hm?" Johnnie felt a tug in his heart and took out the Induction Compass.

Light flashed on the compass and the needle started to turn.

Could there be a Map of Heaven and Earth shard here too?

"What is it, my lord?" Benz asked, puzzled.

Johnnie didn’t answer. He frowned at the compass as the needle swung back and forth, like it was broken.

"Master." Nalorin Sylvia leaned in and, seeing his doubt, said."It looks like there are two ancient artifact–level treasures here, and they’re moving."

Johnnie blinked, then understood. The Induction Compass can sense not only Map of Heaven and Earth shards, but other ancient artifacts too.

That means at least two people here are carrying ancient artifacts.

He thought of the Doe Family’s Ancestor, Douglas.

He has at least three ancient artifacts: the Celestial Mirror, the Demon-Refining Pot, and the Kantorin Seal he showed when he fought Mountain Hunter.

If one of them is the Doe Family’s Ancestor, who’s the other?

"The newly advanced Demon God!" Johnnie’s eyes lit up. A Demonic Creature powerhouse in the Land of Confusion also has a Map of Heaven and Earth shard, and he just advanced to Demon God recently.

"Let’s go find the ancient artifacts first." With that, he put the merman leader away into the Map of Heaven and Earth.

There’s no rush to keep slaughtering dragon monsters. This is the Dragon Pulse area, and there are tons of them—plenty of chances. Ancient artifacts are rare and hard to find, so they tempt him more.

The needle on the Induction Compass swung back and forth. Clearly, the two targets were in different directions.

Johnnie picked the stronger signal and took off on his sword.

Nalorin Sylvia and the others followed close behind.

"Benz, go back into the Map of Heaven and Earth first." Johnnie said, then put Benz into the Map of Heaven and Earth as well.

Benz couldn’t fly. Before, he was riding on the merman leader. Without flight, he couldn’t keep up.

All around was still endless sea, with no clear landmarks. The target’s speed kept changing too, like he was lost in this stretch of ocean.

With the Induction Compass guiding him, Johnnie wasn’t worried about losing the trail.

They flew at full speed, very fast.

After half a day, a figure appeared far off over the vast sea, flying through the air with a powerful aura.

"Douglas!" Johnnie’s eyes lit up as he recognized him. He sped up again and said."Senior Wood Emperor, can you seal the space?"

"I can." the Longevity Wood Emperor nodded, looking confident.

His strength had dropped a lot, but he was still a Core God. Sealing space was easy.

"Good." Johnnie moved, unleashing the Myriad Sword Technique. His sword intent hummed as countless sword lights swept out, closing in on Douglas.

They only blocked his escape routes and didn’t attack yet.

"Hm? Johnnie!" Douglas recognized him too. His face changed slightly, and he pulled out the Celestial Mirror without hesitation, trying to escape.

Buzz!

The Celestial Mirror flashed and the space trembled, but it didn’t teleport him away.

"Oh? What a powerful spatial treasure!" The Longevity Wood Emperor was surprised, then pushed more power to fully lock down the space.

Douglas steadied himself. He glanced at the thousands of cold sword lights hanging above him, shock flickering in his eyes, and said."Johnnie, how about we work together?"

"Work together?" Johnnie frowned, unsure what he was planning.

Douglas went on."I’m not here for the Dragon Pulse. I’m here to look for other treasures."

"Oh?" Johnnie asked, curious. "What treasures are here besides the Dragon Pulse?"

Douglas shook his head. "I can’t tell you. It won’t help you much anyway. Also, only I can take you across the Fractured Sea."

Johnnie frowned. Anything this guy wanted had to be extraordinary.

He glanced at the Induction Compass in his hand. It showed no other signs.

"We can work together, but hand over the ancient artifacts on you." Johnnie said coldly. He snapped his fingers, and the thousands of sword lights above pressed down lower.

Douglas didn’t flinch. "It’s not that I don’t want to give them to you. The ancient artifacts on me don’t fully belong to me. How about this: help me get what I want, and I can talk to them and give you the Demon-Refining Pot."

Johnnie didn’t understand what he meant.

What surprised him was that Douglas was willing to trade the Demon-Refining Pot.

He had seen the power of Douglas’s three ancient artifacts.

The Celestial Mirror could move through space at will—a life-saving treasure.

The Demon-Refining Pot could refine all things to grow stronger, especially Divine Souls.

As for the Kantorin Seal, it was strong too, but nothing special.

If Douglas was going to give one up, it should be the Kantorin Seal. Did that artifact have some hidden use Johnnie didn’t know about?

"Not one." Johnnie said coldly. "I want all the ancient artifacts on you."

"Sigh." Douglas let out a breath, looking disappointed. "Then we can’t work together. In that case, see you around!"

As he spoke, a surge of power burst from him, tearing open the Longevity Wood Emperor’s spatial lock.

Not good!

Johnnie’s face shifted. He sent the countless flying swords to attack without hesitation.

Buzz!

Space rippled, and Douglas vanished in an instant. The storm of sword light stabbed into the deep sea without causing a single splash.

"Stage 10!" the Longevity Wood Emperor said in shock. "What happened on the Universe Continent? Why are there so many stage 10 experts?"

You could go a hundred years without seeing a stage 10 expert. Yet in a single day he had met two—Red Carp and Douglas.

Johnnie frowned. "Senior, what’s special about stage 10 experts? They can even break your space lock?"