After passing through several mountains, the group soon spotted a massive group of beasts floating before a cavern in a terribly neat formation, almost as if an army waiting for a command.
“Isn’t this place scarce in spiritual energy? Why are the spirits of these beasts so united? Furthermore, it seems like their fighting prowess has also improved considerably from before…” Sovereign Chen Yong was stunned once more.
When he drove these beasts into exile, he had led his great army to battle them. While the beasts had been fairly strong opponents, they had hardly been as strong as they were at that very moment.
He had thought that it would already be a blessing if they could maintain their cultivation realms after being exiled there, but to think that they had managed to grow so much ever since then!
In his moment of shock, he saw a spatial distortion in front of the cavern, and two figures materialized there.
The first figure was completely cloaked its flames. Black streaks could be seen on its golden exterior, an indication that it was slowly changing colors.
The incredible heat coming from made it feel as if it was cooking the surrounding space-time.
“Such prowess…” Sovereign Chen Yong clenched his fists grimly.
Without a doubt, the figure before him was the very Ancient Sage Allfire whom he was intending to rally to his side. During the war back then, he had exchanged blows with the other party, so he knew the other party’s cultivation very well. He had thought that it would be nigh impossible for the other party to advance any further after being forced here, but who could have known that Ancient Sage Allfire would actually make such a huge leap in his cultivation?
In terms of prowess, the other party could be said to be close to being on par with his peak!
To think that the Beast Tribe would be so resilient as to continue growing stronger even when they had been exiled to such remote land…
What in the world was going on?
Previously, Sovereign Chen Yong had thought that he would still be able to lure the other party over to their faction by offering them some favorable terms, but with Ancient Sage Allfire’s current strength, it was unlikely that their terms could move him anymore.
“Is that person over there Ancient Sage Mo Ling? How did he grow so much stronger? I met him three years ago, but he wasn’t so strong back then!” one of the Ancient Sages exclaimed.
It was only after hearing that voice that Sovereign Chen Yong finally turned his attention toward the other figure standing beside Ancient Sage Allfire. With just a glance, his eyebrows immediately shot up in astonishment.
He had met Ancient Sage Mo Ling as well, and the latter was indubitably a rather troublesome opponent to deal with. Fortunately, it was extremely difficult for soul oracles to advance their cultivation, so the latter had never posed too great a threat to him. However, somehow, the latter’s cultivation had also advanced to an unimaginable level.
Were the heavens really signaling that his era had come to an end?
“Master, we are deeply grateful for your benevolent enlightenment. We shall brave through any peril with you without uttering a single word of complaint!”
It seemed like Ancient Sage Allfire had not noticed Sovereign Chen Yong and the others, who were hiding behind the mountain. Instead, he clasped his fist and bowed deeply toward the cavern before him.
After acknowledging his new master, he did not rush into leaving their area of exile. Instead, he chose to make use of the underground lava to recuperate from his injuries.
Using the technique that his master had imparted to him, not only did he recover swiftly from his wounds, he felt like his cultivation had advanced considerably. It left him with a feeling of indescribable exhilaration, and the feeling of gratitude toward his young master deepened as well.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony!” a young man said calmly as a silhouette slowly flew out of the cavern.
Upon seeing this silhouette, Sovereign Chen Yong’s body jolted.
He had been thinking that the person who would come out was going to be Sovereign Chen Ling, and he had been prepared to find a chance to end the other party’s life. However, when he took a closer look, what he saw left his astounded instead.
“Young Master…”
It was the Young Master who had left for the capital in search of dragon blood!
Did he not go to Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace?
Why would he be there?
Could it be that the master whom Ancient Sage Allfire was speaking of earlier was actually referring to him?
In other words, the Young Master had already managed to tame Ancient Sage Allfire!
Despite being the number one Otherworldly Demon Emperor of the Spirit Tribe, he suddenly found his mind incapable of comprehending what was going on before him.
In the midst of his astonishment, Sovereign Chen Yong heard a chuckle not too far away.
“Come over since you are already here!”
Even though Ancient Sage Allfire and the others did not notice a thing, Zhang Xuan had sensed the power of magnetism lingering in the area. Activating his Eye of Insight, it did not take him long to notice Sovereign Chen Yong’s tracks.
Hu!
Seeing that he had been found, Sovereign Chen Yong flew out without any hesitation.
“Sovereign Chen Yong…” Upon seeing his old nemesis, Ancient Sage Allfire narrowed his eyes in fury. Flames swiftly surged forth from his body, and it seemed like he would turn the entire mountain range into a living hell in an instant.
“Stop!” Zhang Xuan quickly raised his hand and stopped him.
“Yes!” Ancient Sage Allfire did not dare blatantly disobey his master’s instructions, but that did not stop the fury from burning in the depths of his hearts. Just as he was perplexed as why his master would stop him, he saw the number one Otherworldly Demon Emperor of the Spirit Tribe clasping his fist, bowing deeply, and greeting, “Young Master!”
“Young Master?”
Taken aback by what he had heard, Ancient Sage Allfire quickly turned his gaze over to Ancient Sage Mo Ling, only to see the latter with an equally incredulous expression.
The fact that Sovereign Chen Yong was addressing the young man as ‘Young Master’ meant that he was subordinated to the young man… but how could that be?
For the great Sovereign Chen Yong, the highest leader of the Spirit Tribe, to willingly serve as the subordinate of another man… something felt really off!
Thus, Ancient Sage Allfire could not help but ask, “Master, is he your subordinate?”
Zhang Xuan nodded with a smile. “Sovereign Chen Yong can indeed be considered my subordinate. Sovereign Chen Yong, I have just accepted Ancient Sage Allfire as my tamed beast, so I expect you to put aside any conflict you have with him, alright?”
Even though Sovereign Chen Yong was equally shocked, he still subconsciously nodded before looking at Ancient Sage Allfire with a perplexed look on his face. “We meet again…”
They could be considered two of the most outstanding experts in the otherworldly battlefield. There was no one who did not know of the battle that had happened between the two of them, and it had even been proclaimed as the greatest battle that had happened in the past several millenniums!
Yet, of the two of them, one had become a subordinate whereas the other had become a tamed beast…
What was even more frightening was that they were both serving the young man named Zhang Xuan!
Just the thought of it felt ridiculous in itself!
“Un…” Ancient Sage Allfire nodded.
To be honest, he had thought that the young man’s claim that he would lead the Beast Tribe to claim back its rightful land was just an empty promise, but upon seeing that even Sovereign Chen Yong was a subordinate to him, he realized that the young man was serious about it.
“Sovereign Chen Yong, I have already agreed to help Ancient Sage Allfire return to the land that they used to reside in, so I want you to promise to push for the coexistence between the Beast Tribe and the Spirit Tribe. You are not to regard the Beast Tribe as an outsider and ostracize them!” Zhang Xuan instructed.
“I’ll obey your orders, Young Master!” Sovereign Chen Yong quickly nodded in agreement.
Even if he wanted to refute those words, he was already powerless to do so, especially since the young man had Ancient Sage Allfire on his side.
No wonder the Young Master could catch the Spirit God’s eye. He was indeed an exceptional individual!
Ancient Sage Allfire was an opponent whom he would have to tread carefully around, but in the blink of an eye, it had already been tamed so obediently. He really could not help but wonder how it was done.
“Good! With this, we already have the strength to stand against Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing! It’s about time for us to return to the capital and end this farce!”
There was still an air of tension between Ancient Sage Allfire and Sovereign Chen Yong, but he knew that it would take much more time for them to resolve the grudges between them. Thus, he did not force the matter.
Right now, they had four Ancient Sage 3-dan experts on their side, namely Sovereign Chen Yong, Ancient Sage Hao Xun, Ancient Sage Mo Ling, and Ancient Sage Allfire. If they factored in the Dragonbone Divine Spear and Vicious, that added up to a total of six Blood Reincarnation realm experts on their side.
As for Ancient Sage 2-dan Great Philosopher realm experts, they had four of them in total.
Taking into account those Soulless Metal Humanoid that Zhang Xuan had forged not too long ago, their total fighting force was already beyond that of Sovereign Chen Ling.
Even if Sovereign Chen Xing sided with Sovereign Chen Ling in the midst of the battle, Zhang Xuan was still confident that they would be able to emerge victorious!
This meant that it was time for them to return to the capital, declare the truth that Sovereign Chen Yong was still alive, and have the final showdown!
“Yes!”
The crowd nodded grimly.
Knowing how important this matter was, Ancient Sage Allfire turned around and instructed, “Children, you will have to wait here. After we resolve the issue at the capital, I’ll take you all back to where we truly belong…”
There was no way that he could take everyone into the capital with him. Otherwise, it could very well incite a full-blown war between the Beast Tribe and the Spirit Tribe, which was not what he wanted.
For the time being, it was best to leave the rest of the Beast Tribe there. As long as they took out the main culprits, Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing, and returned power to Sovereign Chen Yong, everything else would be a walk in the park!
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