When a black hole that seemed capable of swallowing the world appeared in the sky, the shock in Shen Lang’s heart on the other side was visibly much greater than anyone else’s. Because the faintly discernible Small Cauldron at the center of the black hole looked exactly identical to the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron! Moreover, the moment that Small Cauldron appeared, the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron within Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness immediately began to spin rapidly! The Small Cauldron in the black hole and the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron in his Sea of Consciousness echoed each other from afar, as if connected by an invisible pulse.
Through the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron in his Sea of Consciousness, Shen Lang could sense a will emanating from the black hole! It was a will that stood above countless living beings and Divine Demons. A will to destroy the heavens and bring about Destruction Land, a will to obliterate all life! Such a terrifying scene was like the end of the world, making one’s very soul tremble!
"What... what exactly is this?" Shen Lang gasped heavily, sweat pouring down like rain.
Just as Shen Lang and the various powerhouses were gripped by inexplicable fear, the blurry Small Cauldron inside the black hole suddenly transformed into endless purple mist and began to slowly spread. The moment the Small Cauldron changed, the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron in Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness unexpectedly underwent a transformation as well, similarly turning into a patch of purple mist!
Before Shen Lang’s eyes, the massive black hole looked as if a giant hole had been torn in the fabric of the world. And the purple mist, as if mending the heavens, continuously spread... spread, until it finally sealed this giant hole! At the same time, the purple mist formed by the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron completely covered Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness.
At this moment, a realization seemed to dawn in Shen Lang’s heart... The Heaven-Sealing Cauldron and the Small Cauldron in the black hole were like a physical entity and its projection. The Small Cauldron in the black hole was likely the true physical form of the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, while the one in Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness should be its projection!
"Is it just a projection? If a mere projection is already this formidable, then to what extent is the physical entity... or rather, the true form, powerful?"
The moment this thought emerged, the monstrous purple mist formed by the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron had already completely obscured the entire black hole. The unimaginable aura of destruction finally vanished completely. And on that purple mist, two massive characters appeared, as if capable of suppressing the world...
"Heaven-Sealing!"
These two bold and flowing characters, radiating unfathomable power, appeared for only about ten seconds before they began to blur and then vanished without a trace. The Heaven-Sealing Cauldron in Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness likewise returned to normal. Everything else suddenly disappeared without a trace as well.
It came fast and left fast. The wind was light and the clouds were sparse; all was peaceful and serene. Panting heavily, Shen Lang found a bluestone to sit on and closed his eyes.
On the other side, Xue Dangdang, Lin Yafeng, and Bai Luobing similarly stared at the sky, speechless for a long time.
"What exactly happened? Such terrifying Celestial Might..." After a long while, Lin Yafeng muttered to herself, her eyes full of disbelief. "Under this Celestial Might, I felt as if I could suffer Soul Scattering at any moment. What exactly is going on? Is the Demon God Hall behind this? No, impossible. This has far exceeded the power level of the Human Realm. Even if thousands of Divine Demons fought in the Human Realm during the Ancient Era, causing Mountain Collapse, Earth Split, and monstrous floods, it wouldn’t even amount to a fraction of what just happened!"
Bai Luobing, who had always remained calm and steady as a mountain, similarly underwent a drastic change in expression. She couldn’t believe such a thing had appeared right at the top of this Dragon Scale Divine Hall! As a Late Stage Emperor Martial Realm powerhouse and a regional supreme entity, even Bai Luobing trembled all over when facing that black hole, filled with unspeakable fear!
Nobody could clearly articulate what exactly it was. Lin Yafeng and Bai Luobing exchanged a glance, and both smiled bitterly at the same time. Unless the legendary master of the Demon God Hall returned, no powerhouse or faction in the Human Realm could cause such a commotion! Such unfathomable divine might was truly bizarre to the extreme. The various powerhouses within the Dragon Scale Divine Hall only felt as if all of this was an illusion, completely surreal.
Over there, the great battle between Taotie and the Candle Dragon paused for a moment because of this.
At this time, one of the Purple-robed People, who remained unnoticed by anyone, suddenly sighed softly. "My time is running out, and my power is constantly weakening. Interfering with the celestial secrets is something I absolutely cannot do next time. I can only place my hopes on him." Nobody knew who this "he" was.
"Shielding the celestial secrets for a thousand years is already my limit. This is all I can do." Muttering to himself, the member of the Purple-robed People turned around and stepped toward the Endless Void, slowly disappearing.
"Dingdang, my plans have changed, but since you have returned, I will absolutely not allow this world to be destroyed under any circumstances. If the Celestial Dao opposes me, I will slaughter the Celestial Dao! If fate tries to choke my throat, I will destroy fate!
"I will give you a world where you can be carefree and live a life of Xiaoyao..."
The instant that member of the Purple-robed People vanished, a teardrop suddenly fell from Xue Dangdang’s eye. "Sister Lin, I really want to see Brother Lang right now. Can you take me to find him? I suddenly feel as if he has disappeared from my life... It hurts so much!"
"..." Seeing Xue Dangdang suddenly shed tears, Lin Yafeng immediately panicked.
"Earlier, Dingdang said she felt Shen Lang spying on her, and then this unimaginable event occurred," she thought to herself. "Now that everything has returned to peace, even Bai Luobing and I haven’t settled our emotions yet, but Dingdang is showing such abnormalities and even shedding tears... Could all of this truly have something to do with her?
"Heavens, I feel like my head is going to explode... It’s as if I’ve caught onto something, yet I also seem to have no clue at all!"
Lin Yafeng wiped the tears for Xue Dangdang, took a deep breath, and said, "Dingdang, don’t worry. Later, after we go up to the Fifth Floor platform and meet Taotie and the others, I will immediately take you to find Xiaolang, okay?"
"Mhm," Xue Dangdang replied, feeling downcast as she sat down. She hugged her knees with both hands, completely lacking her previous spirited demeanor of an eldest young miss. Instead, she looked more like a homeless little girl who had lost her loved ones.
Meanwhile...
In an herb garden, Monk Bu Se, Yin Qianshang, and the rest of their group of Four crazily harvested the herbs inside while quietly discussing the black hole that had appeared earlier. Shen Lang sat on a bluestone outside the garden, staring blankly into the distance.
For some reason, after the anomaly in the sky vanished, Shen Lang continuously felt restless. He was clearly still thinking about the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, but suddenly the faces of Xue Dangdang and Xue Shiyin appeared in his mind. An impulse flared up from the bottom of his heart, giving him an urgent desire to see these two. This impulse came too suddenly, so much so that Shen Lang was caught somewhat off guard.
"Ever since those Purple-robed People appeared, I’ve become a bit neurotic," he thought. "Whether it’s the Dragon Race or that black hole just now, they all involve the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron... And involving the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron naturally involves me. The terrible part is, I know absolutely nothing about all of this." Shen Lang rarely wasted time and energy guessing about matters he had no clues for.
Sighing, Shen Lang took out the claw that Lu Qianqiu had given him. According to Lu Qianqiu’s intentions, he gave this to Shen Lang in the hopes that Shen Lang would use it to re-forge the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a claw at all, let alone a Dragon Claw. It should be a fingernail that had fallen off the tip of a Dragon Claw. However, calling it a fingernail sounded too weird. The second Shen Lang obtained this item, he had already internally defined it as a "Scale."
After all, saying "a Magical Treasure forged from the Scale of a Red Dragon" sounded absolutely majestic. On the other hand, saying "a Magical Treasure forged from the toenail of a Red Dragon" seemed far too degrading... Moreover, holding it just didn’t feel right. It would constantly make him think of picking at toes, which was disgusting no matter how he thought about it.
"A Scale, this is a Scale. Yes, a Scale... Important things must be said three times!" Shen Lang forced himself to treat this item as a Scale. Sometimes, playing dumb made life a bit more comfortable.
Shen Lang flicked his finger against this thick "Scale."
THUD!
The Scale emitted a muffled sound, faintly mixed with the ringing of clashing metal. "This guy Lu Qianqiu might have had other fortuitous encounters, or perhaps it was due to the Elemental Power Fragments underground... His physical body is visibly much stronger than the rest of the Dragon Race. Even before advancing to the Emperor Martial Realm, he was already comparable to a Dragon Race member in the Emperor Martial Realm!" A look of joy appeared in Shen Lang’s eyes as he began to inspect the Scale from top to bottom.
This Scale was as large as a round table, a full two meters in diameter and half a foot thick. Furthermore, it didn’t even seem to be in its complete form. Through this item, one could roughly imagine just how gigantic Lu Qianqiu’s true form was! However, Shen Lang had no interest in Lu Qianqiu right now; he was only interested in Lu Qianqiu’s toenail... er, this Scale.
For Emperor Martial Realm Powerhouses whose true forms were Demon Beasts, their physical bodies were comparable to an Emperor Artifact. And the physical toughness of the Dragon Race was absolutely second to none among all kinds of Divine Beasts. This thing in Shen Lang’s hand, apart from the teeth and Sharp Horns of the Dragon Race, should be the hardest and sharpest part.
If he used this item as the main material to perform Artifact Refining for a Magical Treasure Secret Artifact, there would absolutely be no problem forging an Emperor Artifact that surpassed an Imperial Artifact! Moreover, based on the material usage for refining an ordinary Magical Treasure Secret Artifact, if used to forge Sword and Saber weapons, a single piece could basically forge more than ten of them. If used to forge Armor, forging two complete sets of Battle Armor from a single piece would be a breeze...
There were as many as eight of these Scales in total; he only needed to take a small portion to use on the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle. Wasting all of them entirely on the Ten Thousand Beasts Circle was something Shen Lang would never do. These were exceptionally rare Artifact Refining Treasures!
Chuckling with shining eyes, Shen Lang grabbed the edge of the Scale with one hand and forcefully bent it!
HUM!
The Scale let out a melodious hum but wasn’t bent by Shen Lang at all.
"It’s hard enough, as expected!" Shen Lang pinched the edge of the Scale once more, channeled the power of the Chaos Divine Body, and forcefully bent it again!
The change that occurred this time, however, left Shen Lang somewhat dumbfounded... He saw a faint light, akin to gray mist, suddenly radiate from the spot where he pinched the Scale, spreading across the entire piece in an instant! The Scale, which had originally been shimmering with a dark gleam, was now completely covered by this gray mist, appearing heavy and solid! Faintly, the Scale seemed like a Giant Shield that had formed a gray mist defense due to the influx of the Chaos Divine Body’s power!
"This Scale can conduct the power of the Chaos Divine Body!"
Shen Lang almost leaped right off the bluestone!