"You dirty beast! Give us your blood essence and we'll show you mercy by at least giving you a decent
death!" The eight men shouted ferociously in response to the skeleton dragon's ear-splitting roar. Even
though they were all at the ninth grade of Bone Reinforcement, that fight was no easy job for them.
They all had to steel their resolve as they called out their battle cries.
Boom!
The blasts from the collision of the two sides' attacks continued. The blows were producing deafening
sounds. When the last wave of explosions backfired, both sides were thrown back and onto the ground.
The eight warriors vomited mouthfuls of blood as they were struggling to get up onto their knees. For a
moment, the wind was knocked out of them and their ears were ringing.
Their injuries were not really serious though. After a while, they managed to catch their breath and
stood back up. Soon, they had adjusted themselves and were confident that they could fight at 90
percent of their potential if the skeleton dragon was still not defeated. The energy they used in the
head-on collision just then was from eight demi-immortal orbs instead of themselves after all. The
backfire was no big deal for them as long as they made sure to preserved enough strength to fight
back.
Things sadly looked different for the Skeleton Dragon, however.
Its huge body was flung into the air before being slammed back onto the floor. A crater was formed in
the ground where its body struck. Neither the ground nor the crater could stop its suffering. It was
forced to roll across the ground by the force of the blast. It broke one thick tree trunks and another as it
rolled over them on its way down before its tumbling ceased.
No one moved for a few seconds. When the dragon finally gathered the strength to moan and tried to
move, the eight men noticed that it was already covered all over in wounds. Its two relatively small fore-
paws were broken off, and one of its hind legs was broken. Worse still, nearly all of the sword-like bony
plates on its back and tail were shattered, leaving horrible scars that went all the way down to its
bones.
Its once powerful maw that had dagger-like teeth was now twisted and unable to snap at its enemies
like before.
Of course, the most fatal wound was an unseen one. After dozens of years, its internal injury had
eventually mounted in severity and was killing it. Once re-opened by the strike, the old injury was what
finally killed it.
By then, it might already be too late, even if it was willing to refine the Great Dragon's blood essence.
"It seems like it's all over now. I could only expect that the competition between those eight would be as
fierce as possible," Ricky grumbled from inside the Chaotic Fire Zone, clearly a bit unsatisfied with
what had happened.
If things didn't work out later, he would have to take the risk and exposed his two powerful zones.
Just then, loud whines came from out in the distance.
Seeing that the fearsome Skeleton Dragon had been brought down, the other fierce beasts in the area
were terrified that they would be next. So one by one, they fled into the depth of the mountains without
even looking back.
The Great Dragon's blood essence was undoubtedly something that they craved, but they cherished
their lives more. It seemed that flight was the best policy for them after witnessing the Dragon's defeat.
As soon as the beasts fled the area, the eight advanced Bone Reinforcement warriors went to examine
the slain Skeleton Dragon.
"Give us what we want, beast, and you may receive a quick death. We can only promise you that you
will be brought back to the Chaotic Region where a painful death awaits you otherwise!" Zarlyk gloated
with killing intent in his sharp and cruel eyes.
The same look could also be seen in the other seven men's eyes.
The Skeleton Dragon growled up at the sky upon hearing his words. With its last bit of strength, the
dragon raised its head and seemed to be bringing something from deep inside it out.
The next moment, a drop of red blood shot out from its gnarled mouth and into the distance!
The moment the blood drop touched the air, the Fire Dragon Egg in Ricky's Chaotic Fire Zone shook
violently, and the resonance he felt became incredibly stronger.
'The Great Dragon's blood essence!' This was the first thing that crossed Ricky's mind when he caught
sight of the bright red drop.
The men from the eight Forces recognized the blood essence at once as well. Still in shock, they all
made a beeline and rushed in the blood drop's direction.
"It's the Great Dragon's blood essence! Someone get it!" The eight Bone Reinforcement warriors
shouted out loud, scrambling for the blood drop because they were all hoping to make it their own.
They truly wished they could fly at that moment!
But just when they got nearer and nearer to the treasure, they came to a halt all of a sudden.
Ricky noticed it and was both surprised and confused.
It didn't take him much time to figure out what had happened. In the next instant, the Skeleton Dragon
convulsed in a strange way and roared again in a different direction than last time. As it howled with all
strength, it spat something else out.
The thing shot out at a high speed through the air. It was fast enough to even travel through different
spaces. Its incredible speed had made it impossible for Ricky to see it clearly. Trying his best, he could
only figure its color out; it was bronze.
"Ha ha ha! Now there are two treasures waiting for you guys. Let's see you make a decision over which
to chase!" The dragon laughed, and those were its last words. It then drew its last breath and its head
fell heavily to the ground.
Its final strategy worked. The eight warriors all changed their direction without a second thought and
went after the bronze object. If it was greed that had filled their eyes when they saw the blood drop,
then it could be said that it was strange craze that could be seen in their eyes now.
"So, the bronze thing is what they are truly after?" Ricky was suddenly enlightened. It couldn't be more
obvious that the bronze object was something much more valuable than the Great Dragon's blood
essence. The eight men's reaction spoke volumes for that fact.
Ricky activated his Chaotic Fire Zone immediately, but instead of making for the bronze thing, he aimed
for the blood essence.
It didn't mean that Ricky had given the seemingly more valuable bronze object up. It was just that he
thought the right timing was also very important under those circumstances. Given that all the powerful
warriors were now focusing on that bronze object, he stood little chance of getting it, even if he
exposed his two zones.
So, he adopted a different strategy. He would go for the Great Dragon's blood essence first, and when
he got it, he believed that the eight warriors would have been weakened by each other in the scramble.
Then, he might be able to seize the chance and snatch the bronze thing.
The Great Dragons blood essence was flying like an arrow. It was spat out by a demi-immortal beast
with every last bit of its strength before its death and the power inside was not to be underestimated
after all.
Fortunately, with the help of his Chaotic Fire Zone, Ricky could act more quickly than the men from the
eight Forces. Ricky was able to get to the blood drop much sooner than they would have.
Two hours later, Ricky caught up with the Great Dragon's blood essence. At the same time, he found
that he had arrived at the top of a grand and gaping canyon.
Without hesitation, he reached out to grab the blood drop with his bare hand. It was not as easy as he
had thought it would be. The Great Dragon's blood essence was no ordinary thing, as after years of
refining and evolving, it had condensed a large amount of energy within itself. It was a powerful force
that a warrior at the second grade of Bone Reinforcement like Ricky could hardly stand. Ricky closed
his eyes and turned his face away to avoid the explosion of energy. He could feel the air and even his
blood shaking from the blood drop's incredible force.
To resist the power, he activated both of his zones. With great effort, he finally suppressed the Great
Dragon's blood essence into his Devourer Zone. He didn't choose to put it in the Chaotic Fire Zone
because he feared that the Fire Dragon Egg would swallow it all up when he wasn't watching it.
He would like to take a share of such a valuable thing after all.
After acquiring the blood essence, Ricky hastened to travel back the way he'd come using the Chaotic
Fire Zone. His mind was back on the bronze object. He had to catch up with the eight warriors as soon
as possible and watch for his chance to get the bronze thing.
"Come on, I think that the Great Dragon's blood essence went and dropped into this huge canyon!" It
was no sooner that Ricky had left the canyon that the men from the eight Forces arrived. They rushed
into the canyon like a swarm of bees, jostling against one another without the slightest idea that they
were actually looking for nothing. .
Another two hours had passed and Ricky went back to where the body of the Skeleton Dragon lay.
With no hesitation, he drew its body into his Devourer Zone as well.
For him, even though it was dead, the body of a demi-immortal beast contained great dragon blood and
was no less precious than whatever treasures it produced.
Then, wasting no more time, he headed in the direction which the bronze object had previously gone.
Meanwhile, he searched for the eight Bone Reinforcement warriors using both of his zones.
After about two hours, he found them. He had not only found the eight warriors, but had also seen the
bronze thing for what it really was. It was a bronze key that was as long as one yard!
As a casting master, Ricky could feel how intricate and delicate its patterns were when he set eyes on
the Bronze Key. He could sense the superb technique that had made it. He even could tell what
philosophy had been cast into it. He knew instantly that the thing was much more significant than it
looked.
Vaguely, he somehow perceived the power it released. He could tell that the Bronze Key was in fact a
kind of spiritual weapon. Whatever it was, its level was definitely not low.
It seemed that the price of the high level weapon had been partly paid already. Of the eight advanced
Bone Reinforcement warriors, four had been killed by the others, while the remaining four were all
covered in blood. They were lying on the ground, barely alive. The Bronze Key was placed quietly in
the middle of the four dying men, with no one having the strength to crawl over to it and seize it.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda