Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"Who... who are you, exactly?"

Xiao Yuanzhen, still not having drawn his last breath, stared intently at the exquisitely crafted child before him. In the end, he managed to squeeze out such a question, seemingly unable to believe that this truly was just a two- or three-year-old child.

It was impossible for cultivators on the Hidden Dragon Continent to be just two or three years old and already possess Meridian Qi cultivation strong enough to kill a Half-step Earth Rank powerhouse. Xiao Yuanzhen, his mind somewhat muddled, seemed to have mistaken Little Dragon as an old monster hiding its strength and changing its form.

"I am indeed Daddy's son, Little Dragon, no faking!"

Little Dragon, with his round little eyes, appeared somewhat dissatisfied. He had already said it once; was this old guy really confused by his anger?

"Pfft!"

Hearing the innocent words of Little Dragon, Xiao Yuanzhen couldn't hold on any longer. A mouthful of blood spurted out violently, and then his body pitched forward and fell down, motionless.

"This... this child, is he really Yun Xiao's son? How come he seems even more formidable than his father?"

After a brief period of shock, the affiliates of the Xuanyue Empire were both alarmed and delighted. Although they still found it hard to believe Little Dragon was Yun Xiao's son, they did not deny this fact in their words.

Yun Xiao was already a prodigious figure, but this son who had appeared out of nowhere had killed the half-step Earth Rank King Xiao Yuanzhen of the Yulan Empire in a single strike. Was this to say that the child actually possessed the strength of the Earth Rank?

Looking at Little Dragon's tiny form, people couldn't help but feel poignant. As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy; these old fellows, who had cultivated for decades or even centuries, were only at the Middle or Late Stage of the Spirit Vein Realm, yet here was a two- or three-year-old capable of slaying a Half-step Earth Rank powerhouse.

However, no matter how the people tried to sense it, they couldn't detect the true aura emanating from Little Dragon; he seemed just like a normal child from an ordinary family, wearing a bellyband and at most just looking a bit cuter.

Still, the corpse of King Xiao Yuanzhen of the Yulan Empire lay conspicuously not far away, with even the blood continuously flowing out – all these signs declared that what had happened just now was no illusion.

"Xiao Wu, come back!"

Just as the crowd was feeling astonished and confused, Little Dragon paid no attention to their expressions and instead shouted loudly. Immediately after, people saw a streak of golden light shoot towards them from a distance, which seemed somewhat familiar.

"What is that? A Vein Demon? Or a Meridian Spirit?"

When the crowd saw the golden light reveal its true form, they were thrown into disarray once more. They clearly saw that the entity flying back to wrap itself around Little Dragon's right arm was none other than a small snake radiating golden light.

The golden snake was only a few inches long, coiling just twice around Little Dragon's slender arm. Still, none of the onlookers underestimated this brilliantly-gleaming snake, for this very creature had just slain the half-step Earth Rank King Xiao Yuanzhen of the Yulan Empire on the spot.

This child, who claimed to be Little Dragon, was naturally the human-formed Dragon Guiding Tree Spirit, and even Yun Xiao, his adoptive father, didn't fully understand the details about his fortuitous son.

Yun Xiao returned to Xuanyue Imperial City to withstand the Lingtian Emperor Nie Wencang; Chi Yan went to the South Gate to aid the Yuchi Sect; the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion went to the West Gate to assist the Luoyi Sect. However, they couldn't arrange enough support for the East Gate of the Imperial City.

It was at this difficult moment that Little Dragon volunteered to come to the East Gate. Initially, Yun Xiao didn't agree, but when Little Dragon said he could command the Golden Snake Worm, Yun Xiao's worries lessened.

Having lived with the Golden Snake Worm for several years, Yun Xiao knew it was not easily swayed, only appearing to help during times of mortal danger, otherwise utterly indifferent to him.

Yet, this Golden Snake Worm, which paid no heed to Yun Xiao, inexplicably favored the Dragon Summoning Tree Spirit, even accepting the name "Xiao Wu" without any resistance from Little Dragon.

Such a situation made Yun Xiao somewhat jealous, but at that moment, he had no time to ponder it further. He immediately had Little Dragon and the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu come to the outside of the East Gate to assist the Xuanyue cultivators.

Nobody knew the reasons behind these events, but as the multitude of cultivators present witnessed the golden snake on Little Dragon's arm, they all came to a realization.

It seemed not that the child himself was overwhelmingly powerful, but rather that he was aided by the golden snake. With this understanding, their spirits were somewhat balanced, for they were unwilling to accept that they had been outdone by a mere child in terms of cultivation.

Given the current strength of the Golden Snake Worm, even Yun Xiao might be somewhat lacking in comparison. Although it fought only in its original form, it was more than King Xiao Yuanzhen of the half-step Earth Rank could handle, killing him almost instantly.

"Well done, Xiao Wu!"

Little Dragon petted the golden snake wrapped around his arm, voicing a word of praise, which made the proud golden snake flicker its tongue.

Had Yun Xiao seen this scene, his jaw would have likely dropped in shock. He had always seen the golden snake as extremely aloof and never imagined it could show such a docile side.

Or perhaps the Golden Snake would only show such emotions in the presence of the Dragon Summoning Tree's Little Dragon. The proud Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, even if faced with the Holy Rank powerhouses of the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, would likely consider them beneath its notice, right?

"This time, we're saved!"

No matter how curious the cultivators from the various Xuanyue Imperial City's great families were about the origins of the Little Dragon and the Golden Snake, there was one thing they could be sure of: the Golden Snake, capable of killing Xiao Yuanzhen with one strike, already possessed the power to contend with an Earth Rank powerhouse. This could be the turning point in the situation.

"Hey, you old coot, do you also want to taste Xiao Wu's methods?"

Little Dragon didn't care about the thoughts of the people nearby, but turned his head to a certain place. With his sensing ability, he felt that the guy there was somewhat stronger than the one lying on the ground.

However, Little Dragon was fully confident in the Golden Snake, Xiao Wu's strength. It was just an old guy in the Qi Seeking Realm Early Stage, and wouldn't be too difficult to handle.

"Hmph, a mere Vein Demon trying to impede my Xie Jiupeng's progress?"

As the Sect Master of the Luoyi Sect and the de facto ruler of the Yufeng Empire, Xie Jiupeng was not easily intimidated, and with his Qi Seeking Realm Early Stage cultivation, he certainly didn't see himself as the same waste as Xiao Yuanzhen.

Indeed, Xiao Yuanzhen, killed by the Golden Snake with one strike, was automatically relegated to the 'waste' category in Xie Jiupeng's mind. Despite the Golden Snake's peculiar speed, the name 'Jiupeng' included the character for 'rooc', renowned for speed, which was as fitting as it was unique throughout the Hidden Dragon Continent.

In Xie Jiupeng's opinion, even Thunderwind Empire, known for its mastery of speed, would likely be no match for him, let alone the myriad techniques possessed by the Luoyi Sect, which had been passed down for a thousand years and were beyond ordinary people's imagination.

"That old man's pretty gutsy. Xiao Wu, teach him a lesson for me!"

Xie Jiupeng's words clearly irked Little Dragon. With a flick of his right hand, the Golden Snake was already soaring into the air. Seeing this, many felt a sense of déjà vu.

Hadn't Yulan Empire's King Xiao Yuanzhen just been stabbed through the heart and met an untimely end under the Golden Snake's blinding golden speed?

Many cultivators from the Xuanyue Empire held the expectation: would the Sect Master of the Luoyi Sect, reputed to be the strongest man on the Hidden Dragon Continent, also die instantaneously like Xiao Yuanzhen in the blink of an eye?

If not even an Earth Rank powerhouse like Xie Jiupeng could withstand a single strike from the Golden Snake, wouldn't that mean the plan of the joint attack by the Eight Great Empires was doomed to fail?

With a Vein Demon capable of killing Earth Rank powerhouses as easily as slaughtering chickens on the side of Xuanyue, if it managed to kill every emperor one by one, the whole joint operation by the eight empires to overthrow the Xuanyue Empire would probably crumble to dust in an instant, wouldn't it?

Bang!

However, the following scene dashed the hopes of those Xuanyue Empire cultivators, as Xie Jiupeng quickly clashed with the Golden Snake. The outcome they had imagined did not occur.

In fact, the current combat power of the Golden Snake Worm was at most equivalent to a Seventh Rank Vein Demon. After all, despite being a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, it had only been born three or four years ago; how formidable could its combat strength be?

If the Golden Snake Worm was leveraging Yun Xiao's body, it could indeed unleash a much more formidable fighting capability due to certain factors. But when it fought with its own form, it was only slightly stronger than Xie Jiupeng.

The Luoyi Sect's control over the Yufeng Empire, making it the empire reputed to be number one on the Hidden Dragon Continent, was not without reason. At the very least, Xie Jiupeng's battle techniques were a notch more formidable than those of Xuan Haoran, Nie Wencang, and others.

"This old man is quite something!"

Seeing Xiao Wu and Xie Jiupeng fighting evenly matched, Little Dragon couldn't help pouting, seeming somewhat dissatisfied. Although this situation differed slightly from the bystanders' expectations, he was now extremely excited.

"Um, Young Master Little Dragon, is your daddy really Yun Xiao? Why hasn't he come?"

One of the cultivators at the Peak of Spirit Vein Realm from one of the families took a deep breath and mustered the courage to ask, and upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze toward him.

After all, Yun Xiao's name was definitely bigger than that of the Little Dragon in front of them. If that astonishingly talented youth were to arrive, the forces of the Eight Great Empires might just dissipate instantaneously, right?

"My father? He is currently battling an old man in the Earth Rank Realm. I don't know how it's going."

Hearing that cultivator's query, Little Dragon's gaze suddenly shifted toward the North Gate of Xuanyue Imperial City, showing a hint of worry. After all, Lingtian Emperor Nie Wencang was indeed quite formidable.

"A battle at the Earth Rank Realm?"

The words of Little Dragon entered the ears of the crowd, making them all inhale sharply. Could it be that in just a few months, that champion youth from the Countries Hidden Dragon Conference was now capable of taking on an Earth Rank powerhouse head-on?