Xianxia Online

As the heated battle continued, Xuan observed from the shadows. The beast in question was a Chimera—just like Xuan had remembered. As described in ancient mythology, the creature had the head of a lion, with a goat sprouted out from its back. Its tail was in fact a rattlesnake in disguise, and on top of that, it carried the grand golden wings of an eagle.

Zi Xinruo didn't seem to care that much about this, and had a completely unbothered expression on her face like she could leave here at a moment's notice. On the other hand, the young man was sweating profusely, like a tryhard in a video game. Just judging from this, Xuan could roughly tell what was going on—the guy was trying to impress the girl by defeating the guard alone and securing the treasure that it guarded.

'… Well. As respectable as that motive is, it does not seem like you will be able to defeat that thing anytime soon. If anything, you will run out of stamina and energy far before it does. Therefore, please do not mind me.'

*****

​ "Ngh!"

For the fifty-seventh time that day, young master Li Shenhe was sent flying. The beast it had been fighting, the legendary chimera, was simply too strong for him to take on alone. It was an Eight-Stage Magic Beast with the head of a lion that breathed ferocious fire, and instead fur, it had tough dragon-like scales that lined its body. From its back sprouted a goat's head, screeching like a banshee and causing permanent hearing damage to anyone who got too close. Its tail was in fact a deadly rattlesnake in disguise, with fatal venom stored inside its poison glands.

But Li Shenhe couldn't give up—he couldn't afford to lose here. After all, the love of his life, Xiruo, was right here watching him! That bored expression in her eyes—he had to change it, somehow! He had to impress her by defeating this god-forsaken creature! Sure, she had originally planned on fighting it together with him, but as a man, how could he let his woman do the dirty work? (Only he thought of her as his woman. She did not reciprocate these feelings, although that is something he does not seem to understand).

"… Awwn." Gently placing a hand to her mouth, Zi Xiruo yawned softly. This battle was beginning to really get boring. If something interesting didn't happen soon, she feared she might actually fall asleep. At this rate, she didn't even care who won. Even if Li Shenhe died here, she would be able to freely escape without being marked as a 'traitor' or 'coward'.

She knew how this man thought of her, of course. Many men thought of her the same way—a stunning beauty that anyone would want inside their bed at night. But in her eyes? All of them were idiots—and this Li Family young master was a particularly big one.

'What a shame I was engaged with him by my family…' She sighed internally. She'd never been one to care much about romance. She just wanted to live life leisurely, going where she pleased and doing what she wanted. But alas, once she married, she'd essentially be living the life of a housewife—staying home, watching kids, et cetera et cetera.

As she thought of this, she couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment. Li Shenhe, seeing this gesture and thinking that her emotion was directed towards his failure thus far, was immediately fired up again and yelled before charging at the beast once more with his sword drawn.

Naturally, the outcome of the skirmish was the same.

Easily, the beast tossed the cultivator away with its powerful flaming wings like that of a phoenix or eagle, and Li Shenhe's Third-Layer comprehension of Sword Intent bounced uselessly off of the chimera's thick scales.

"Agh…"

Groaning in pain, the Li family young master popped another Revitalization Pill into his mouth from his endless supply of it—a benefit of being rich—and was instantly re-energized to fight again. Seeing this, Zi Xinruo yawned once more.

So began round fifty-nine.

*****

Little did the two know, while they were keeping the chimera busy, a third person was profiting off their troubles.

Xuan moved through the shadows of the coliseum, concealing his presence as he moved. He'd ascended to the floor above where he had been, and using the sound of the fight coming from the level below, he pinpointed the treasure area where the chimera was meant to be guarding. Then, from above, he smoothly cut a hole in the ground with his sharp blade, and dropped in below.

He landed with a thud.

Of course, given all the chaos that was going on in the room right beside his, there was no way anyone could've picked that sound up, be it the two human cultivators or the beast. In fact, both were probably equally annoyed of the other—one was pissed at how the other was so strong, while the other was simply and utterly irritated by how this opponent of his always seemed to crawl back up no matter what, only to be sent flying again.

But that was none of Xuan's concern. Since they were so generous to grant him free passage into this room, then out of respect, he might as well take the opportunity.

Inside the treasure room was a single stone pedestal. Unlike the other 'treasure' places Xuan had been in before, this one only carried one single treasure. Given how ferocious the guard was, however, the treasure had better be good.

And that it was.

Nearing the pedestal, Xuan could feel an incredible amount of raw, radiant energy coming from the object that was placed on top of it. It was a flimsy, thin item oddly shaped like a rhombus, and glowed pure golden. That was not all, however—inside Xuan's body, his bloodflow suddenly surged in speed, and began heating up.

It was reacting to the object.

'Just what is this thing…'

Xuan already had a few guesses in his mind, but just to be sure, he carefully reached out with his hand and touched its surface. And the moment he did that, he knew.

Something in his body sparked. His blood ran wild, craving the object. The synergy heat up his veins, and he could feel his golden bloodstream boiling.

'This… is a Dragon's scale?'

Not just any Dragon's scale, either. This was a Golden Dragon's scale, the top of the bunch. That much was obvious given its color, and as expected, that was the reason it reacted with Xuan's body so much. Now that he thought about it, a treasure like this being here made sense—the Chimera had dragon-like scales to begin with, after all. It was plausible to think that this mysterious deformed creature had been born when a Dragon mated with a different race. That was usually taboo amongst their tribe, but rules were made to be broken.

But if Xuan were to consume this, then… his Divine Dragon Body should increase once more in level, given that the scale was part of the five Dragon body parts he needed—and naturally, he'd be able to unlock the next ability of the special physique.

'Alright…' Xuan thought, sitting down in a lotus position in preparation to meditate and clear his mind. 'The fight outside shouldn't last too much longer. I should quickly consume this, and get out of here.'