Chapter 007: Dragon-Shaped Jade Pendant

Under the wide-open city gates, a group of fierce-looking guards stared at the passing crowd, each wearing a plaque on their chest engraved with the words "Crazy Cloud." This place was a mix of dragons and snakes, with no shortage of martial artists, and its overall strength was several times greater than that of Green Stone Town.

Most were adventurers and mercenaries, and they had to pay taxes when purchasing or selling goods. These taxes naturally went into the hands of the lord of Crazy Cloud City. Though somewhat dissatisfied, they dared not complain in the face of this behemoth.

The entire market consisted of just two streets, lined with dozens of houses of varying heights, but all were dazzling in appearance.

In the middle of the streets, various stalls of all sizes were set up, displaying all kinds of items marked with prices or exchange terms. The stalls stretched endlessly, and the dense crowd was overwhelming. Clearly, the market was of great importance to cultivators.

Yang Tian was also visiting the market for the first time. His eyes swept over the surrounding stalls, overwhelmed by the array of pills, techniques, and refining materials.

After observing for a while, he realized his pockets were empty, and gradually lost interest. Just as he was about to leave, the dormant Ancestral Dragon Ring inside him suddenly trembled.

"What's going on?" Yang Tian's mind shook as he looked at the ring, which had returned to normal. After a moment, as soon as he took a step, the ring trembled again.

"Could there be something nearby attracting it?" His pupils suddenly contracted, and an incredible thought crept into his mind. Then, Yang Tian calmed himself and walked around. When he approached a certain stall, the Ancestral Dragon Ring trembled more intensely.

His gaze fell on the stall owner, an old man over fifty sitting listlessly in a chair. Yang Tian's eyes moved to the stall, which had some beast hides and inner cores, but the thing attracting the ring was a dragon-shaped jade pendant.

"Young man, see anything you like? Feel free to pick. Everything I have is rare treasure. These hides were stripped from high-level beasts. Look at this luster..."

"Tsk, not even at the fifth level of Blood Refining, and you call this the pelt of a high-level beast." Casting a glance at the stall owner, who looked like he was about to fleece a lamb, Yang Tian's mouth twitched slightly as he cursed inwardly.

Examining the beast pelt, Yang Tian cast a covert glance at the dragon-shaped pendant. The pendant was blood-red and extremely ornate, yet it emitted no trace of energy fluctuation.

Yang Tian picked up a red pelt from the stall, but before he could speak, a flurry of praise erupted.

"Tsk, young man, you have good taste. This pelt is top-grade leather. Look at the luster—it was stripped from a high-level beast and can be made into a defensive treasure..."

The old man, as if injected with adrenaline, rattled on incessantly like a lotus blossom, nearly claiming it was the only one of its kind in the world.

"How much for this red wolf pelt? Judging by the hardness, it should be from a first-tier, third-level beast, right?" Rolling his eyes, Yang Tian couldn't help but chuckle.

"Uh... young man, you have a sharp eye." The old man, thick-skinned, showed no change in expression even after being exposed, and immediately held up four fingers.

Yang Tian shook his head, picked up the dragon-shaped pendant from the stall, and said flatly, "At most, two blood stones plus this pendant. If you won't sell, I'm leaving."

"That won't do. This is my family heirloom. Look at how beautiful the pendant's luster is..." Seeing that Yang Tian was about to leave, the old man hurriedly said, "Fine, fine, let's do it your way."

"..."

The transaction complete, Yang Tian's tense mind relaxed. If the old man hadn't agreed, he would have had to risk buying something utterly useless. Glancing at the road, Yang Tian headed toward the direction of the Beast Mountain Range.

In the small city, the only city gate leading to the Beast Mountain Range was unusually lively. Groups of mercenaries were organizing their forces to march into the Beast Mountain Range. The Beast Mountain Range was extremely dangerous, and having more people meant greater safety.

Inside, there were countless low-level ferocious beasts, and marshes were everywhere. The place was fraught with danger, with innumerable poisonous insects and ants entrenched within, ready to claim lives at any moment.

Yet it drew countless people flooding in, because the resources within were inexhaustible, enough to drive one mad. Hunting ferocious beasts or gathering spiritual herbs, only with a strong foundation could one step into a higher realm—such was the cruelty of the cultivation world.

This was also a land stained with blood; the most terrifying thing was not the beasts, but humans!

A handsome young man strode over, attracting the attention of many. Several lone travelers among the crowd tried to recruit Yang Tian into their group, but he politely declined each time.

Under the astonished gaze of the surrounding crowd, Yang Tian plunged alone into the Ferocious Beast Mountain Range.

"Tsk, tsk, this kid really isn't afraid of death?"

"Judging by his appearance, he's just come of age. Truly ignorant of the world's immensity?" A group of mercenaries shook their heads helplessly, as if foreseeing Yang Tian dying in the jaws of a ferocious beast.

Just then, several furtive figures followed one after another shortly after Yang Tian had left. The regret on the mercenaries' faces deepened.

In the woods, with his blood and qi enveloping his feet, Yang Tian's rapid forward dash suddenly halted. Like an ape, he leaped into the nearby shrub layer, his thin frame completely vanishing into the mountain forest.

A li outside the Ferocious Beast Forest, atop a large tree that took several people to encircle, Yang Tian recovered his blood and qi and then jumped straight down.

He flipped his palm, and the blood-red jade pendant appeared before his eyes, emitting an eerie red glow under the refraction of sunlight.

"What the hell is this?" Yang Tian muttered incredulously after observing for a moment. From the jade pendant, he discerned a faint, elusive charm, a subtle aura that, though sparse, exuded a domineering will.

"What kind of ghostly thing is this?" Shaken by the will that stirred his mind, Yang Tian's face paled slightly. He looked at the dragon-shaped jade pendant with a sense of dread, vaguely sensing a tremor deep within his bloodline.

With a grave expression fixed on the dragon-shaped jade pendant, Yang Tian channeled a wisp of his blood essence into it.

"It's working." Seeing the dragon-shaped jade pendant absorb the essence and a faint bloodlight appear on its surface, Yang Tian's face broke into a smile. He then furiously poured his abundant blood essence into it.

As time passed, the bloodlight on the dragon-shaped jade pendant grew brighter. When Yang Tian began to feel a sense of fatigue, he hurriedly tried to stop, only to find that his blood essence was uncontrollably surging into the pendant.

"Damn it, stop!" Yang Tian growled, desperately trying to suppress the loss of his blood essence, but the suction force grew stronger, and a dull pain spread from his qi sea.

"Calm down, calm down." His mind raced. If the dragon-shaped jade pendant continued absorbing like this, a year's worth of hard cultivation would be ruined.

"I have to rely on you." Yang Tian's mind sank into the Ancestral Dragon Ring, and streams of thoughts were rapidly transmitted.

As Yang Tian's face grew paler, the eerie red glow of the dragon-shaped jade pendant intensified.

Hum!

The Ancestral Dragon Ring suddenly stirred. It stood in the center of his sea of consciousness and abruptly released an overwhelmingly domineering aura, forcibly suppressing Yang Tian's qi sea.

At that moment, the dragon-shaped jade pendant, which had been frantically absorbing blood essence, suddenly began to spin in midair.