A thousand feet deep underground, indeed, lay a massive dragon skeleton.
Moreover, it was a relatively complete dragon, not just a single bone fragment.
The dragon skeleton lay hidden within, absorbing the earth's energy, eventually drying up the land for miles.
Yan Qianlie stroked the dragon claw, which was taller than himself, with great satisfaction. He could faintly sense an astonishing aura of crimson flames contained within the dragon skeleton, like a raging storm lurking in the deep sea, ready to erupt and shatter the heavens and the earth.
He secretly thought that if he could refine this Dharma Body, perhaps he could truly push his peak strength to another level. At that point, he wondered if he could actually kill Dog Heavenly Dao…
Uh… no, this thing couldn't be refined casually.
He sheltered Chu Ge beneath the dragon bones, then turned to the Azure Serpent Venerable and asked, "Venerable One, since you know there are Crimson Flame Dragon Bones here, why don't you use them yourself?"
"These are for the Gu God to refine into a dragon bone corpse puppet. They need to be buried for another hundred years to absorb enough of the earth's energy. For you, this is unnecessary."
"So this is a gift from the Gu God?"
"Hehe." The Azure Serpent Venerable chuckled. "Of course, otherwise how could I dare to give away something the Gu God intended for someone else?"
Yan Qianlie nodded, placing his hand on the dragon bones, casting a spell to first expel their wildness, making them his own. He would have to take them back to study them slowly; who knows what secrets they might contain…
Seeing Yan Qianlie's actions, the Azure Serpent Venerable chuckled, "Since you've taken the bones, can you hand this person over to me?"
Yan Qianlie said, "I still need time to take the bones. Since there's no one here now, why don't you tell me about our important matter?"
The important matter referred to defying the Heavenly Dao.
Yan Qianlie felt like a clown as he said this, with the Heavenly Dao sitting there blinking its big eyes and listening—it was incredibly awkward.
The Azure Serpent Venerable looked at Chu Ge, a hint of eagerness in his eyes: "Brother Yan, do you know what the power of the Heavenly Dao is?"
"Your Excellency has become Brother Yan..." Yan Qianlie chuckled inwardly, calmly saying, "You and I defy Heaven, defying predetermined fate. My destiny is in my own hands, not in the hands of some damned Heaven."
He kicked Chu Ge again.
Not satisfied, he kicked him once more.
Chu Ge: "..." This is written in my little notebook. You just wait.
Seeing this, the Azure Serpent Venerable could fully understand Yan Qianlie's indignation and grinned, "Brother Yan, there's no need for this."
Yan Qianlie sneered, "So you ask about the power of the Heavenly Dao? That's the ability to interfere with everyone's fate. If you're told to play with snakes, you play with snakes; if you're only at the Nascent Soul stage, you're only at the Nascent Soul stage, able to manipulate things as you please, just like your puppetry."
"Ah!" The Azure Serpent Venerable clapped his hands and laughed, "Brother Yan is indeed a top figure of this era, hitting the nail on the head! This is why we cultivate puppetry—we can glimpse the heavens."
Yan Qianlie's heart stirred: "Glimpsing the heavens through this? It's not even in the same league. Even the principles might not be the same."
"You can glimpse a little, at least you can experience the feeling of manipulating puppets. Extending this further, the billions of living beings in the world are nothing more than puppets in your hands."
Yan Qianlie seemed to understand.
"Furthermore, we can imbue the puppets with personalities, making them appear incredibly real to outsiders. Even if you want to kill them, your puppet will only show sincerity and affection, no matter how you search their souls. Brother Yan, do you think this is a kind of Heavenly Dao power?" Yan Qianlie had to admit, "Indeed, at least a part of it. Perhaps it could be called a minor Heavenly Dao beneath the Heavenly Dao… Does Your Excellency mean for me to switch to puppetry?"
"Not at all," the Azure Serpent Venerable laughed. "As Brother Yan said, this is only one link beneath the Heavenly Dao, a glimpse into its power." "It's a way, but it can't replace it." Yan Qianlie nodded: "So you really want to replace it, not tear it apart... I understand, you want to capture this person to devour him, and thereby further explore the power of the Heavenly Dao?"
"Devour... I want to too." A burning desire flashed in the eyes of the Azure Serpent Venerable, but then he sighed: "But this step is too radical, and it will inevitably arouse the Heavenly Dao's vigilance, so I still only intend to imprison him, take his hair and blood for research, or further refine him into a puppet... Once I completely control this person, will I be on par with the Heavenly Dao?" Damn... on par with the Heavenly Dao! Yan Qianlie was somewhat impressed; this person really had a grand vision. Compared to this person, his and Qiu Wuji's struggles to break free from the Heavenly Dao were child's play.
However, besides trusting him, this person had another fatal mistake.
He hadn't gone out to see the world like he and Qiu Wuji had, and therefore didn't know the true nature of this world. He used the limited perspective of this world to fill in the gaps, believing the Heavenly Dao to be a powerful cultivator who had severed the three corpses, and this world to be a universe evolved from supreme magical power. From this perspective, everyone is essentially a cultivator, so naturally they could study each other's creative power and the power of creation, and seize it for themselves. At a low level, they could reach the level of the heavens, unrestrained; at a high level, they could control the Heavenly Dao, becoming omnipotent.
However, the reality is completely different; he misunderstood.
This fundamental analytical error means that this person absolutely cannot overturn the heavens. Even without him, he couldn't escape the alteration of the Heavenly Dao by that book-writing dog.
Therefore, the choice of sides is obvious.
Yan Qianlie asked calmly, "So, what do you want me to do in our collaboration? And what will I gain in return?"
The Azure Serpent Venerable chuckled, "You've obtained the Dragon Bone, and I've obtained this person. Isn't the deal already complete?"
Yan Qianlie sneered, "Don't give me that. If you didn't have anything else for me to do, you wouldn't have explained all this to me."
"Just kidding, just kidding." The Azure Serpent Venerable's expression turned serious. "The Path to Heaven is of paramount importance. Although I want to take it all for myself, I'm not crazy. I know perfectly well that I can't do it alone. Not to mention anything else, just the fact that Qiu Wuji is frantically searching for his missing disciple—if you handed me over, I wouldn't even be able to handle Qiu Wuji."
Yan Qianlie nodded, "You're letting me shoulder the troubles of this world for you, making things easier for you..." "Secretly hiding away and turning this person into a puppet... what would I gain?" The Azure Serpent Venerable said decisively, "Whatever I gain, I'm willing to share with Brother Yan. Brother Yan holds my secrets, so you're not afraid I'll deceive you; otherwise, if I reveal it, I'll be in big trouble, right?" Yan Qianlie smiled faintly, "That seems quite right."
"And since Brother Yan doesn't practice witchcraft puppetry, even if you research this person independently, it won't be of much use. Therefore, our cooperation is a match made in heaven. If Brother Yan doesn't trust me, we can become sworn brothers..."
Before he finished speaking, Chu Ge, who had been slumped on the ground, suddenly couldn't help but interject, "You two are already brothers, son." Before the Azure Serpent Venerable could react, Yan Qianlie, as if receiving a signal, suddenly attacked!
The annihilating white flames silently imprinted themselves on the chest of the Azure Serpent Venerable: "You think I'm an idiot? I don't even know who you really are, who would I tell? Trying to fool me into working for you for free? Go to hell!" The change was sudden. In desperation, the Azure Serpent Venerable summoned a puppet to die in his place, hastily attempting to escape.
In the dark underground space, shadowy figures flickered, filled with sword light.
Qiu Wuji's Prison of Ten Thousand Swords!
With a "whoosh," how could the puppet withstand Yan Qianlie? It silently vanished within the white flames.
The Azure Serpent Venerable spat out a mouthful of blood, horrified, "Qiu Wuji! How did you get here!"
Qiu Wuji smiled slightly, offering no reply.
This is the spatial invisibility technique my mother-in-law taught my husband.
"You two actually cooperated..." Venerable Jade Serpent murmured incredulously, "How is this possible?" It's utterly mind-blowing, too outrageous...
Who could escape from the combined might of these two?!
The worst part is, this underground place is a no-man's land, not a place to imprison Chu Ge, but a trap! Now, even with a thousand ingenious methods, there's no escape...
A crazed glint flashed in his eyes, and he burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahaha, hahaha... You think this is catching a turtle in a jar? You've forgotten that this Chosen One of Heaven is merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator! If I die, he won't live either!"
As he spoke, crimson light flickered throughout the dark space, clearly indicating an impending self-destruction.
Chu Ge sighed: "Here comes the chicken soup... Bye-bye."
Then he vanished.
Azure Serpent Venerable: "???" Qiu Wuji sighed: "You desire to seize the heavens, yet you don't even know what the Heavenly Dao truly is. He's merely a projection of his primordial spirit; he can return whenever he wants..." The Azure Serpent Venerable's self-destruction had already begun and couldn't be stopped. He watched helplessly as his body exploded, leaving behind his final, ruthless words: "The Gu God will avenge me!"
"Boom!" Space shattered. Without Chu Ge as a burden, Qiu Wuji and Yan Qianlie easily withstood the attack, watching the golden insect vanish into thin air unharmed.
Qiu Wuji curled his lip: "Hey, you suddenly signaled for us to make a move, do you already know who the opponent is? So reckless."
Yan Qianlie said: "It's not the Gu God, is it?"
Chu Ge descended back, sighing as he looked at the specks of golden light that the insects had transformed into: "Of course, the Gu God knows nothing from beginning to end. He was just a scapegoat. He'll even come to Qianqian's door over the stolen dragon bone. They'll all be biting each other, while someone else hides behind the scenes, silently watching. You agree, right? The same level as the Heavenly Scales… Lord Xie of Cloud City?"
Beyond the Nine Heavens, in the City of Clouds.
Someone opened their eyes, their expression drastically changing.