Chapter 145 The Aggrieved Dragon

However, Leng Tian knew nothing of this. At that moment, he was resting comfortably on a hill among the rolling mountain ranges of the Monster Clan in the Ancient Realm, roasting some beast meat a hundred miles away.

"Hey, Boss, won't you at least tell me which almighty being you are? This large saber has been inside my body for quite a while now, and you've never shown yourself. Is there some unspeakable secret?"

Leng Tian tore off a piece of the roasted beast meat, popped it into his mouth, and chewed slowly while chatting leisurely with the mysterious man residing within his body.

"You brat, you don't respect your elders at all. Still, I like it, because I'm the exact same kind of person. As for why I brought this large saber and stayed inside your body—heh heh... I'll tell you when you advance to the Saint Transformation realm. Besides, by that time, this large saber will belong to you as well. It is an extraordinary treasure, so you'd better put your back into your cultivation for its sake!"

After saying this, the mysterious man paused for a moment before continuing, "Lending you my power earlier exhausted my energy greatly. I won't appear again for quite a long time. You'll have to take care of yourself from now on! Heh heh..."

"Have a safe trip, Senior. Forgive your young master for not seeing you off..." Leng Tian replied heartlessly, then continued eating his roasted meat.

A short while later,

"Boss, so you actually have a big brother watching your back too? I'm so envious I could die!" Judas, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up.

"What? Are you very dissatisfied with me watching your back?" Leng Tian bit into a piece of beast meat, his tone chillingly cold.

"Of course not! Having Boss watch my back is the only reason I get to eat so well. It's just that the majestic bearing you displayed when you beat the devil to a pulp truly looked like a supreme powerhouse! My admiration for you is like the endless rolling waters of a mighty river—"

Before Judas could finish, Leng Tian tossed him straight into Purgatory. He was in no mood to listen to Judas's flattery right now; the mouth-watering roasted meat in front of him was what he cared about the most.

"Brother Yu, please spare your little sister! Considering how well I've served you these past few days, please let me go!"

As Leng Tian was eating with great relish, he suddenly heard these words. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, so he immediately set down his food and looked over.

"It's her..." Although Leng Tian did not know that Zhuang Jinlian was the manager of the Wilds City, since they had entered the Ancient Realm together, he still remembered her.

At that moment, Zhuang Jinlian looked utterly disheveled. Not only was her hair unkempt, but she also had several bleeding wounds on her body. Her silk dress was tattered, looking as though it had been violently torn apart.

Behind the woman, Chen Yu was dressed in white with cold lightning flashing in his eyes, radiating an icy killing intent. The long sword in his hand still bore traces of blood.

Hearing Zhuang Jinlian's plea for mercy, Chen Yu let out a cold laugh, his face dark with furious rage. "You bitch, do you really think I'd let you go?"

"Brother Yu, I am merely a weak woman, why must you push me into such a desperate corner? If you drive me too far, I will drag you down with me to our deaths!" Zhuang Jinlian was truly driven to desperation. What she said was true; if Chen Yu refused to spare her, she would indeed turn around and fight him to the death.

"Shut your trap, you bitch! Once I capture you, I will violate you a hundred times... making you wish you were dead yet unable to die..." The two of them—one fleeing for her life, the other pursuing with lethal intent—flashed across the sky above Leng Tian in the blink of an eye.

"Asking for trouble..." Murmuring to himself, Leng Tian took the remaining roasted meat and entered Purgatory. He had no desire to get mixed up in whatever vendettas or crimes of passion they were involved in.

As soon as he appeared in Purgatory, Leng Tian heard Li Dongqing's wild, booming laughter. Feeling a surge of joy in his heart, he walked over. Upon getting closer, he saw Li Daneng, the formation prodigy, lying prone on a highly polished, circular Jade Spiritual Stone, dancing with his hands and feet while laughing out loud.

"Brother Li, what has made you so overjoyed? Is the teleportation array already a success?" Leng Tian suppressed a smile and asked with a feigned expression of utter seriousness.

Leng Tian's sudden appearance caused Li Dongqing to instantly quiet down, his face turning a purplish red. Raising his head to look at Leng Tian, he laughed rather awkwardly before excitedly saying, "Brother Li, you've come at just the right time! The array is indeed complete, and the preliminary test was a massive success. Miss Guoguo and the others were just teleported away!"

"That is truly wonderful! Brother Li is indeed a genius of formations, successfully engraving the teleportation array in such a short time. I dare guarantee that in the near future, your name will shake the continent, you will become a grandmaster of formations, and your name will echo through the ages!" Leng Tian praised sincerely.

"Brother Li flatters this humble one too much. If I can achieve even a minor accomplishment on the path of formations, I will be utterly satisfied. As for echoing through the ages, I wouldn't dare harbor such extravagant hopes!" Although Li Dongqing spoke modestly, Leng Tian could clearly see that his bones were filled with pride.

Just as the two men were talking, the teleportation array beneath Li Dongqing's feet began to emit a bright glow! "Brother Li, what is the meaning of this?" Leng Tian asked in astonishment upon seeing the changes in the array.

Li Dongqing stepped out of the teleportation array and, observing the change in Leng Tian's expression, smiled as he said, "It must be Miss Guoguo and the others teleporting back!"

No sooner had he spoken than the array burst into dazzling brilliance, and a blue pillar of light filled with complex runes soared several zhang high. Several figures flashed within the beam of light.

When the light faded, it revealed Miss Guoguo and the others. "Brother Tian, you're back!" Xuehan spotted Leng Tian at a glance, bounced over, and tugged on his sleeve coquettishly.

Leng Tian stroked Xuehan's little head, exchanged greetings with Guoguo and the two fox demon sisters, and then turned to Li Dongqing to ask, "Where does the energy source for this teleportation array come from?" This was what he wanted to know most.

Although Leng Tian knew nothing about carving teleportation arrays, he knew that a successful array did not mean it could be used for teleportation immediately; it required a sufficient energy supply to transport people across space, otherwise it would merely be an empty shell!

"Hehe... for this, we must thank Miss Xuehan for providing the crystals, which allowed the array test to succeed!" Li Dongqing gave Xuehan a smiling look as he answered Leng Tian.

Leng Tian directed his gaze toward Xuehan, wondering what kind of crystals she possessed that could serve as the energy source for a teleportation array.

Xuehan merely smiled playfully and said, "Brother Tian, guess! You actually have a lot of these crystals yourself!"

"Could it be..." Naturally, Leng Tian thought of the emerald crystals he had harvested at the bottom of the Fenglan Sea. With a single thought, a hill-sized pile of crystals appeared before everyone's eyes.

"This... this is too much..." Seeing so many crystals materialize before him, Li Dongqing was instantly struck dumb with astonishment.

Leng Tian pointed at the mountain of crystals with a smile and looked at Xuehan. "Is it this?"

"That's right, it uses True Qi Crystals! Furthermore, the energy supply of these crystals is much stronger than ordinary Yuan Qi crystals. On top of that, these crystals were condensed from the Great True Qi of the Azure Sea, placing them at a higher energy grade than standard crystals. Therefore, using them as teleportation energy couldn't be better!"

Xuehan bounced over to the crystal mountain, picked up a few evenly sized green crystals, walked over to the teleportation array, and familiarly slotted the crystals into several grooves. Then she looked at Leng Tian and said, "Brother Tian, do you want to try it?"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Leng Tian stepped into the teleportation array. Following Li Dongqing's instructions, Leng Tian channeled the True Qi within his body into the array runes. In an instant, light flashed, a pillar of light rose, and Leng Tian was teleported away!

Feeling a blur before his eyes and a tightening sensation in his body, Leng Tian found himself standing once again on a teleportation array. Looking down at the pale blue Jade Spiritual Stone covered in array runes, Leng Tian knew he had been teleported to another location.

"Hehe... Big Brother, you're back!" Tu Maomao stood up from the ground and walked over with a happy expression.

"Brother Tu has been living quite well lately; your complexion looks much better than before!" The moment Leng Tian saw Tu Maomao, he couldn't help wanting to laugh, especially regarding his name, which left him completely speechless. He couldn't imagine what his parents were thinking to give him such a name.

"Hehe... This is all thanks to Big Brother's care for this little brother. Maomao thanks Big Brother for your kindness!" Tu Maomao bowed solemnly and saluted Leng Tian.

"Rise, brother. As long as your feelings for Guoguo are genuine, I am more than happy to fulfill your wishes." Leng Tian had a very favorable impression of Tu Maomao; his scholarly exterior alone was the biggest factor preventing anyone from feeling any aversion toward him.

"Big Brother, rest assured, Maomao genuinely loves Guoguo. On this point, please be completely at ease!" Tu Maomao promised with absolute sincerity.

Leng Tian nodded and said, "Let's go. Teleport back with me, I have other matters to attend to." With that, he stepped into the teleportation array once again, and Tu Maomao followed him onto the runes.

Light flashed, and Leng Tian returned to the original location along with Tu Maomao. Upon returning, Leng Tian first sensed Judas's position and discovered that this fellow was currently locked in a life-and-death brawl with a Slaying Heaven Leopard.

"This guy... sure holds a grudge!" Leng Tian muttered to himself, exchanged a few more words with everyone, and then flashed over to where Max was located.

Ever since entering the Ancient Realm, Leng Tian had rarely summoned him, leaving Max feeling very leisurely yet extremely stifled. To think that he, a renowned and majestic dragon, would be dumped here by his master with no way to put his abilities to use! During this period, feeling utterly lonely in his heart, he had retreated alone to a quiet place to cultivate in silence.

Leng Tian's arrival thrilled him greatly, as he assumed his master had come to take him out for battle. A wave of warmth instantly surged through his heart, and two very un-dragon-like tears slipped down to the ground.

"Boss, are you taking me out? I was about to go crazy from being cooped up!" Max expressed his joy with a mixture of bitterness and tears.

"Hehe... Since when did a dignified dragon become so sentimental? Pull back your tears, don't disgrace the dragon clan!" Leng Tian said with a stern expression, continuing, "The reason I haven't let you out for all this time is simply because your strength is too weak; going out now would only be courting death."

"Wuwu..." Hearing Leng Tian say his strength was too weak, Max felt even more aggrieved. Covering his massive dragon head with his front paws, he lay on the ground whimpering in a manner most desolate.

Leng Tian was momentarily left speechless, so he simply said in a calm tone, "I've come this time specifically to raise your strength, so you won't embarrass me when we return to the Red Peak Continent."

Upon hearing that Leng Tian had come to elevate his strength, Max instantly stopped whimpering. Raising his colossal dragon head, he looked at Leng Tian with a pitiful expression, terrified that all of this might just be a dream.

"In truth, your cultivation realm has long reached a critical threshold; what you lacked was a potent medicine to help you ascend to a Holy Beast, and I now possess that potent medicine!"

Seeing Max's aggrieved appearance, Leng Tian casually tossed him a reassurance pill, pulling him out of the abyss of inferiority he had just tumbled into!

Chapter 145 of The Pinnacle of Martial Dao—Chapter 145: The Aggrieved Dragon update complete!