Chapter Four: The Furious Little Dragon, Qing

Storage rings!

They could be called the supreme treasures of this world, and their numbers were exceedingly scarce.

A hundred years ago, a group of alien warriors brought them here, and to this day, no one on Earth can craft such things.

Almost every storage ring is in the hands of top-tier powerhouses.

The old man with the missing eyebrow had sharp eyes; at a glance, he noticed the storage ring on Yang Ye’s finger.

Compared to his beast companion, the black hawk, the storage ring in Yang Ye’s hand was undoubtedly far more precious.

Apart from making travel and carrying items more convenient, what else can a storage ring do? It cannot accelerate a cultivator’s progress, nor can it store star force.

In daily cultivation, its importance is not so apparent.

But in secret realms, the situation is different.

A hundred years ago, those mysterious alien warriors left behind many secret realms to help Earth’s people cultivate more quickly.

Within these secret realms, there are vast numbers of rare star beasts to hunt, as well as cultivation manuals, elixirs, and other treasures left by the alien warriors.

Without a storage ring, it’s almost impossible to carry out a large amount of loot from these places.

With a storage ring, however, one can easily and safely bring out quantities of beast cores, precious star beast corpses, rare metals, herbs, and so on, without having to risk lingering in the secret realm for long.

Yet, to seize the storage ring from Yang Ye would not be easy.

Once a storage ring recognizes its master, even the death of the owner renders it unusable by others.

Unless Yang Ye willingly releases the binding.

This storage ring was left to him by his master; even if this old man killed him, Yang Ye would never hand it over.

He knew that even if he gave it up, the old man with the missing eyebrow would never let him live.

Facing the old man’s malicious gaze, Yang Ye curled his lips into a cold sneer. "Dream on if you want my storage ring!"

“Hmph! Capture him alive!” the old man barked with a cold snort, waving his hand.

He wanted Yang Ye alive, naturally to torture him and force him to hand over the ring.

The old man sensed no other cultivators nearby; even if Yang Ye had powerful elders, as long as he was quick to act and destroyed the evidence, who would know who was responsible?

To him, Yang Ye was just a child carrying a fortune down the street.

The four disciples who had come with the old man had long been eager for action. At his command, all four drew their blades and rushed at Yang Ye.

Yang Ye was already prepared. He raised his short blade and charged forward.

A crisp ring sounded as Yang Ye’s short blade clashed with a warrior’s sabre.

This sabre was not a Japanese katana, but a weapon similar to a Tang sword—the most common weapon among cultivators now.

With a clear ringing sound, the alloy sabre struck by Yang Ye’s blade broke cleanly in two.

The young man in black reacted swiftly, retreating just in time to narrowly evade Yang Ye’s follow-up attack.

“Interesting…” The old man’s eyes gleamed as he saw Yang Ye’s short blade shatter an alloy sabre. This boy has more treasures than I thought!

Beyond his equipment, Yang Ye’s swordsmanship was also fierce and ruthless.

The four disciples of the old man were all at the mid to late Mist Star Realm, similar to Yang Ye’s own cultivation.

But their combat power was clearly vastly inferior to Yang Ye.

—

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Three more sharp sounds rang out. The remaining three alloy sabres in the disciples’ hands were all shattered by Yang Ye’s short blade.

A fine weapon can double a cultivator’s strength—now, this was plainly evident.

Disarmed, the four disciples hastily retreated.

But Yang Ye did not relent. He pursued the young man in black who had shouted at him before.

Yang Ye was not one to forget a grudge.

Terrified, the young man in black thrust the broken half of his sabre at Yang Ye.

With a swift sidestep, Yang Ye dodged, shifted his short blade to his left hand, and slashed at his opponent’s neck with a hiss through the air.

The young man, unable to avoid the blow, turned ashen with fear.

But at that moment—

With a thunderous thud, the old man suddenly appeared and struck Yang Ye squarely in the chest with his palm.

The immense force sent Yang Ye flying, crashing heavily to the ground.

The old man had no choice but to intervene—otherwise, his beloved disciple would have died at Yang Ye's hand.

The young man in black let out a long breath, having escaped death by a hair’s breadth.

On the ground, Yang Ye forced himself up and spat a mouthful of blood.

The old man was at the Planetary Realm; no matter how skilled Yang Ye was with his blade, he was no match.

After coughing up blood, Yang Ye felt a blazing, searing pain in his chest. His strength failed him, and even the flow of star force within felt sluggish.

Seeing Yang Ye cough blood, Long Xiaoqing's eyes under the eaves nearby flew wide open.

How dare they hurt her husband!

This old man deserved to die.

For the first time since arriving in this world, Long Xiaoqing knew what rage was.

She felt an uncontrollable force swelling within her, demanding release.

“Boy, you are no match for me. Hand over the storage ring now, and I’ll spare your life. Otherwise, you’ll beg for death!”

As the old man strode toward Yang Ye, he threatened coldly.

But before he finished speaking, a terrified scream erupted behind him.

The old man halted and turned.

What he saw was a massive azure dragon.

The dragon was so enormous that just its head would not fit inside an ordinary house.

“A dragon…”

The old man was dumbstruck.

Even without considering the overwhelming aura it exuded, its sheer might and size filled him with deep dread.

—

The enormous azure dragon was, of course, Long Xiaoqing.

Even Yang Ye was stunned to see her in this form—he never imagined she could become so colossal.

“This woman is truly formidable…” he thought in awe.

Long Xiaoqing glared coldly at the old man, her voice clear and ringing with fury: “Old man, how dare you harm my husband—you’re courting death!”

Though her body had grown, her voice remained the same, but now it was laced with murderous intent.

“Husband…”

Both the old man and his disciples were astonished.

Long Xiaoqing’s voice still echoed across the open space as she raised her dragon claw and brought it crashing down on the old man.

The claw, gigantic as it was, moved with blinding speed!

In desperation, the old man summoned all his star force and leapt aside.

With a deafening crash, Long Xiaoqing’s claw struck where the old man had stood, making the ground tremble violently.

Though he dodged the blow, the force emanating from the claw shattered his protective star force and left him gravely injured.

He dared not look back at the dragon. Using the distraction of swirling dust and debris, he turned and fled.

The four disciples, too, realized what had happened and scattered in all directions.

A dragon—an actual divine dragon—existed in this world!

Surely it had come to Earth a century ago with those mysterious warriors.

What an explosive revelation!

As they fled, all five shared the same thought.

“Think you can escape? Not a chance!”

Seeing them scatter, Long Xiaoqing roared. With a flick of her tail, she smashed it against the ground.

Another thunderous boom.

One of the young men in black failed to dodge and was flattened to a pulp beneath her tail.

Witnessing this, the old man was seized by terror. He spat another mouthful of blood and, desperate, poured all his star force into fleeing even faster.

But just then, Long Xiaoqing opened her jaws and spat a searing crimson flame. In an instant, it crossed dozens of meters, engulfing the old man.

A terrible scream rose from within the fire.

In a matter of moments, the old man was reduced to ashes by the dragon’s flames.

Without pause, Long Xiaoqing charged after the remaining three.