Chapter 915: Demon Emperor Black Dragon's Scales

Again?

In front of the Void Island rift, Rao Yaoyao felt another surge of saint force fluctuations approaching and a hint of hesitation crossed her face.

Last time, when the rift spewed treasures, she had mistakenly thought it was an attack by ghost beasts and immediately gathered all the enforcers, setting up the Seventy-Two Jie Longyuan Array.

Unexpectedly, a flood of treasures came out.

Could it be treasures again this time?

"Perhaps they are using a wave of treasures to show weakness and make me complacent, then mix ghost beasts in the second wave to sneak through?" Rao Yaoyao speculated, not daring to let her guard down. She immediately summoned everyone again through the combat channel.

In no time, all the enforcers stopped their current tasks and returned to the Void Island rift.

The Seventy-Two Jie Longyuan Array was set up again.

"Rao Jianxian, aren't you being a bit overly cautious?"

Among the Thirteen Taixu, Huang Yang Zhenren said with a smile, "Last time, the Hongyi group was short on hands, but now, with us here to help, whatever comes out of the extradimensional space rift, we can handle it."

Rao Yaoyao let out a cold laugh but didn't respond.

Teng Shanhai turned sharply, his eyes like knives as he stared. "Did I ask you to speak? When you are not ordered to act, stay put and wait quietly."

Huang Yang Zhenren was shut down and awkwardly retreated, saying no more.

He had wanted to help Rao Yaoyao secure those saint force-infused treasures, but unfortunately, she was too cautious and didn't give him any opportunity.

Before long,

Amid the serious vigilance of the enforcers, the familiar whistling sound assaulted them again.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Like flying arrows, the second wave of treasures burst forth, even more fiercely than the first.

Boom!

The leading Zhantao enforcer tried to block a saint force treasure with the same force as last time, only to be blasted back, spitting blood and flying through the air.

In shock, he quickly steadied himself, flashed back to his position, and maintained the array.

As for that saint force treasure, once it lost its protective aura, it was intercepted by those behind him.

"Everyone, be careful."

"This time, the impact of the saint force treasures is more than one level stronger than before. Those at Wangzuo Daojing, exert your strength wisely, rely more on the array, and don't overexert yourselves."

The Zhantao enforcer immediately notified everyone.

Within the array, the others became even more cautious.

After two waves of treasures,

Even the densest among them sensed that something was seriously off, and any greed had long been put aside. Now, their focus was on executing the task properly.

Boom, boom, boom...

The first saint force treasure was taken down, and the ones that followed shot out like charging spears and fierce halberds, knocking the figures inside the array head over heels.

"Damn, why is this wave so intense?" A Wangzuo enforcer was hit, his chest caved in and body cracking, leaving him in a state of self-doubt.

He had just tried to grab a spirit sword, but it nearly pierced his chest with its saint force. Luckily, he reacted quickly, dodged in time, and let the sword pass to those behind.

Yet, that sword didn't lose momentum; it pierced through three Wangzuo enforcers before being intercepted by the Zhantao enforcer.

"It's ramped up!"

Rao Yaoyao narrowed her eyes, sensing the threat.

The previous wave from the Void Island rift was likely a probe, testing the Hongyi side's defensive capabilities.

After gauging the power of the Seventy-Two Jie Longyuan Array, this time they had pushed it right to everyone's defensive limit and then raised the attack level even higher.

"Using treasures as carriers for cross-boundary attacks makes sense. But how could they have figured out the external defense details?" Rao Yaoyao wondered.

The distance between Yunlun Mountains and the inner island of Void Island was vast—greater than between two domains—if no true channel for spiritual senses was opened.

Only a Bansheng could qualify to probe this place.

So, the only explanation was that the people on the inner island of Void Island had spies in Yunlun Mountains, and despite the spatial restrictions, they had a way to communicate.

"The storyteller, perhaps?"

Rao Yaoyao quickly thought of the external incarnation of the storyteller that Shouye had discovered.

Maybe only the storyteller's bizarre external incarnation ability could explain all this.

"Teng Shouzuo!" Among the forty outsiders, Huang Yang Zhenren couldn't stand it anymore.

He pointed to the group inside the array being knocked about by the treasures and asked, "Are you sure we don't need to step in?"

Teng Shanhai didn't even glance sideways, saying calmly, "Under the saint force impact without the array's protection, what you could do might not be any better than them. Forty more or forty less won't make a difference. Just stay put."

Huang Yang Zhenren fell silent and gripped his fly-whisk as he stepped back.

Truth be told, when he said that, he wasn't thinking about the treasures anymore; he was trying to personally experience the saint force impact.

After all, he had lived his whole life only hearing about the might of a Bansheng, never daring to provoke it, let alone feel it firsthand.

He watched as the impressive Zhantao enforcers inside the array were all thrown off balance without exception.

"Is it really that strong?"

Huang Yang Zhenren felt envious.

Being able to feel the saint force under the array's protection, without any worries, was a rare opportunity for any Lingshi on the continent.

Especially for their group of Taixu desperate for Fengsheng Daoji, they thirsted for even a trace of saint force fluctuation.

Glancing back at the Void Island rift, Huang Yang Zhenren felt tempted.

He didn't want the treasures, but if one flew his way and he lightly intervened to sense the saint force aura before returning it to Rao Yaoyao, that wouldn't be too much, right?

Thinking this, Huang Yang Zhenren shifted his feet, about to step forward.

Teng Shanhai saw through it instantly and snorted coldly. "Without orders, I advise you not to make any rash moves. If you dare ignore the Shengshen Hall rules, you won't even know how you die!"

Huang Yang Zhenren was startled and immediately stopped.

The other Taixu and Zhantao with similar thoughts also halted.

Seeing this, Teng Shanhai softened his tone. "I know what you want, but with a great battle at hand, we seek no merit, only no faults. If the time comes when we need you, give it your all. Even if you don't get the Fengsheng Daoji from Sky City, with enough credit, I can help you petition Shengshen Hall for what you desire most."

As the head of the war department, Teng Shanhai knew how to manage his subordinates.

Sure enough, the Thirteen Taixu and Twenty-Seven Zhantao perked up at his words.

Even though they knew Teng Shanhai might be making empty promises, having a basic assurance was still better than flailing around aimlessly.

The forty of them set aside their ulterior motives and even began anticipating the potential battle ahead.

Prosperity is easy to come by, but merit is forged in war.

For them, idleness meant stagnation; only by risking their lives for that elusive Shengdao could they have a glimmer of transcendence.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Boom, boom, boom!

The second wave of treasure torrent lasted a full quarter of an hour before stopping its onslaught.

Inside the Seventy-Two Jie Longyuan Array, the enforcers were panting heavily, drenched in sweat, and utterly drained from the pounding saint force.

Some Wangzuo Daojing enforcers couldn't hold out until the end; they dropped out midway, rested, and then rejoined the fight, repeating the cycle.

But the result was commendable.

The entire treasure torrent had been intercepted.

"We've struck it rich!" Huang Yang Zhenren looked at the enforcers with envy written all over his face.

"Not bad—these treasures aren't saint-level, but most are second- or third-grade, with plenty of first-grade ones. I can hardly imagine any place besides Sky City supplying so many valuables." Tianling Popo was equally jealous, sighing repeatedly.

"Sky City definitely has Fengsheng Daoji!" Jianglong Shou Hong Dang stated flatly.

The other Taixu and Zhantao behind him nodded in agreement.

Perhaps before, everyone had approached the legend of Sky City's Fengsheng Daoji with a "better to believe it exists than not" mindset.

But after witnessing these two waves of treasure floods today, they all believed it!

A quarter-hour of spewing treasures, numbering in the tens of thousands or more—who would dare believe it if they hadn't seen it?

This one wave nearly matched the entire foundation of a Taixu family.

Rao Yaoyao, unlike the others, didn't dwell on these minor details; people with different perspectives see things differently.

Treasures?

To Rao Yaoyao, as long as they weren't saint-level, they were just numbers.

"Hurry and inventory them, check for any ghost beast aura."

Rao Yaoyao issued the order, and the enforcers continued their tasks.

Shouye stepped forward to oversee, using the Xun Gui Pan, a process everyone was familiar with, so the search proceeded smoothly.

Soon, the results came in.

Just like the previous wave, nothing abnormal.

Rao Yaoyao received the report and fell into a long silence.

"What's the motive?"

"What are they after?"

This was already the second wave of treasures.

The two waves thrown out by the inner island of Void Island were worth nearly two years of Shengshen Hall's total income.

Had the people on the inner island of Void Island gone mad, giving away treasures like this?

With these ready-made, usable spirit swords, elixirs, ancient texts, and more,

The various subordinate forces of Shengshen Hall, once allocated the resources, could boost their combat strength by more than a level.

Then, when they counterattacked, wouldn't the inner island suffer the losses?

Unable to figure it out, Rao Yaoyao waved her hand and ordered, "Dismiss for now."

She couldn't keep all the enforcers tied up here.

Perhaps the treasure spewing was just a distraction, and elsewhere, the inner island of Void Island was setting up some scheme.

The Seventy-Two Jie Longyuan Array was dismantled, and the enforcers dispersed.

In the sky above, only forty-two people remained.

"What do you think?" Teng Shanhai looked over, full of doubt.

Rao Yaoyao pondered for a long time before saying, "We'll handle whatever comes—soldiers to the general, water to the earth. For now, that's all we can do."

No sooner had they spoken than a faint sound came from the Void Island rift, and a streak of light shot out.

"Watch out!"

Teng Shanhai reacted swiftly, his figure flashing to meet the streak, grabbing it fiercely with his hand.

Boom—

A massive explosion erupted, with majestic saint force waves radiating outward.

Everyone's faces changed dramatically.

This saint force was more than one level stronger than all the previous treasures combined.

"So powerful!"

Teng Shanhai was blasted back over ten zhang before barely steadying himself. He lifted the object in his hand and stared in shock.

It was a black scale about the size of a human face, exuding fierce murderous energy, yet its surface shimmered like a magnificent treasure, its pure black hue utterly captivating.

What shocked Teng Shanhai most wasn't the scale itself, but its terrifying attack power.

It carried saint force, but clearly innate, not externally added.

At that moment, Teng Shanhai's Cang Shen Armor had withstood the saint force assault, but the black scale, relying solely on its own hardness, had pierced into the armor on his palm.

"This scale broke through the Cang Shen Armor's defense?"

Not just Teng Shanhai, but Rao Yaoyao was also stunned.

Cang Shen Armor was the pinnacle creation of Shengshen Hall's Dao Department, boasting the highest defense below Bansheng.

What Teng Shanhai wore was the most precious full set.

The cost of a full set of Cang Shen Armor exceeded that of a saint-grade spirit tool.

In short, aside from the eye areas and the three seams in the armor, anyone in a full set was virtually invincible below Bansheng.

The saint force attack on the black scale could be neutralized by the armor's attached Tianji Array, without the wearer expending extra energy—as long as no Bansheng controlled it.

That was why Teng Shanhai had been pushed back over ten zhang—to dissipate the force.

But the unbelievable had happened...

Teng Shanhai had blocked the attack, yet the scale, through sheer hardness, still embedded itself into the palm armor.

The defense of Cang Shen Armor had been breached!

Taixu power couldn't break Cang Shen Armor's defense.

A Bansheng could ignore it outright.

But between those two, nothing in the world could match it.

And now, something had truly surpassed Cang Shen Armor in "hardness"?

"Saint treasure!"

Huang Yang Zhenren's eyes turned red as he exclaimed in shock.

"It must be a saint treasure to break Cang Shen Armor's defense!" Tianling Popo was equally excited, staring straight at the black scale as if seeing Fengsheng Daoji.

"Ignorance!" Jianglong Shou Hong Dang muttered in disbelief, though he explained, "Even a saint treasure would need someone to wield it to breach Cang Shen Armor's defense. But this black scale is unclaimed, so it might not be just a saint treasure!"

The Thirteen Taixu and Twenty-Seven Zhantao stirred.

Huang Yang Zhenren turned his head, asking in surprise, "Do you mean 'not a saint treasure,' or 'more than a saint treasure'?"

Jianglong Shou Hong Dang paused, gazing at the black scale in Teng Shanhai's hand and swallowing hard. "I mean, 'more than a saint treasure'!"

In an instant, everyone was in chaos.

Huang Yang Zhenren instinctively stepped forward.

Teng Shanhai's expression turned icy. "More than a saint treasure? The thing's in my hand—if you've got the guts, come and take it!"

With a huff, the crowd calmed down.

This was the war department head, whose cultivation outstripped everyone present, and with the Cang Shen Armor, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Rao Yaoyao stepped forward on her own, taking the black scale from Teng Shanhai's palm. The more she examined it, the more her heart raced.

"Figured anything out?" Teng Shanhai asked. "This doesn't seem man-made—no trace of Tianji Dao principles, but it's full of Dao rhythms. It must be a natural treasure."

Rao Yaoyao lifted her head, her pupils trembling as she shook it slightly and whispered, "This isn't a natural treasure. This... is just a scale from the Mo Di Black Dragon!"