"All right, see you in three hours."
Yu Tianheng immediately led Yu Louli and four other sect disciples westward, while the rest, under Yu Tianxin and Yu Luo Kong, headed in the opposite direction.
Following the areas marked on the map, they searched swiftly. Every soul beast corpse in their path was examined without exception. Before long, Yu Tianheng's group arrived at a densely forested area.
From afar, countless dragon roars echoed, and ahead on a slightly flattened rocky hill lay the remains of numerous sub-dragon spirit beasts, their skeletons radiating a brownish glow. Most of these fallen beasts were over ten thousand years old.
"Tianheng, our luck is truly extraordinary. This is the site recorded by our ancestor where the Mountain Dragon King fell.
The remains before us are the skeletons of powerful sub-dragons and dragons with Mountain Dragon King bloodlines."
"We should focus on searching around the incomplete skeletons. Only there do soul bones have a small chance of being found. Intact skeletons indicate natural death, and naturally dead beasts won't drop soul bones."
"Once we finish here, we'll go to the Thunder Marsh to find a ten-thousand-year-old dragon spirit beast for you. Maybe you can complete your Thunder Dragon Bone Set."
"All right, Uncle Li. This area is large, so let's fan out to search."
After explaining the search strategy, the six began combing the area for dragon beast remains. Though many corpses were present, the chances of finding soul bones remained slim. After two and a half hours, having covered roughly one-sixth of the area, they had only found three sub-dragon soul bones.
One of the right leg bones had a small break. Though the break didn't nullify the soul skill, it drastically reduced its effectiveness. A skill that should have had a ten-thousand-year potency now only retained a thousand-year-level power.
Suddenly, the Mountain Dragon King's fall site rumbled.
Trees toppled, and dragon roars approached rapidly. At the peak of a dragon mountain formed by the Mountain Dragon King's enormous skeleton, a massive beast appeared—its body black, exuding dark energy, armored with heavy stone-like plates, about twenty meters long, with the head of a dragon and body of a tiger.
Its deep brown eyes locked onto the six below.
"Humans, the dwelling of dragons is not for you to tread."
"Kill them."
The beast's powerful, resonant voice filled the valley, dripping with killing intent. The six disciples of Yu Tianheng broke into cold sweat. Surrounding them, heavy footsteps echoed from all directions.
"Tianheng, before that 100,000-year-old talking soul beast moves, let's run!"
Yu Louli immediately summoned his soul manifestation, carrying the six disciples onto the back of a Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus. They ascended swiftly, escaping.
Occasionally glancing back, Yu Louli only relaxed once the Mountain Dragon King area disappeared from view. The heavy dragon beasts hadn't pursued them. He sighed:
"Luckily, those beasts are too heavy to fly. Otherwise, if that 100,000-year-old soul beast had attacked, we'd be dead."
"Still, finding three ten-thousand-year soul bones is fortunate. With these, the sect's overall strength rises drastically. If we find more, who could challenge the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Sect?"
Halfway to the rendezvous point—just over thirty li away—a white-haired youth holding a spear appeared midair, blocking their path.
"Yu Tianheng, long time no see!"
"You? Ignaz, how did you get to Dragon Valley?"
Yu Tianheng and his group were stunned. Their reconnaissance indicated Ignaz should be in Hanhai City, or at sea seeking the Sea God Island. How could he suddenly appear here?
If Ignaz was here, that meant Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling might also be in Dragon Valley. A wicked smile spread across Yu Tianheng's face.
If he could cripple Ignaz, he could force information about Dugu Yan and the others' whereabouts. Then, personally, he could deal with them one by one in Dragon Valley, ensuring his rise to sect leader. Even if Dugu Bo bore a grudge afterward, Ignaz would be dead, and his granddaughter would bear Yu Tianheng's heir. Who could stop him?
In three years, with soul bones aiding his grandfather, their sect could reach level 97 or higher, becoming even stronger. As for Dugu Bo, if he played smart and accepted his grandson, Yu Tianheng could allow him to remain a sect elder.
If not, the grandfather would deal with him. Dugu Yan would become a vessel for passing on the sect bloodline. Her poison dragon soul skill and Yu Tianheng's Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus soul skill would produce extraordinary offspring, potentially a dual-dragon genius in the God of War realm.
Shui Bing'er and Ye Lingling, though less prominent, would serve as concubines. The remaining men would be killed, women given to loyal followers.
"Uncle Li, strike! Kill him."
With Yu Tianheng's command, two of the disciples summoned flying thunder-type soul beasts, taking the other two down, while Yu Tianheng activated his third soul skill, gaining temporary flight to descend.
Only Yu Louli and Ignaz remained in the air. As Yu Louli prepared to unleash his sixth soul skill to eliminate Ignaz, the air suddenly vacuumed around them. Yu Louli couldn't deploy soul power quickly to activate his skill. Staring in shock at Ignaz, he exclaimed:
"You… how is this possible?!"
Before he could finish, Ignaz's spear struck, piercing Yu Louli's chest. A full-fledged Soul Master fell dead instantly. His body dissolved into blood energy, flowing into Ignaz's spear and blood eyes.
The others, seemingly frozen, were equally shocked. Yu Tianheng, in particular, was utterly terrified.
"Don't—kill—me—"