Chapter 349: The Beginning of the Struggle

"Yang Long, what do you mean?" Long Batian glanced at him lightly; right now they were disputing over the ownership of a Golden Core stage monster king's corpse.

"What do you mean?" Yang Long chuckled: "My meaning is, this monster king was originally discovered by me; I merely asked you to help block its path. How dare you still ask me what I mean?"

Long Batian said disdainfully: "Don't boast. Without my intervention, could you have caught it? How stingy have you become?"

Yang Long naturally knew, but this monster king was of great help to him, so he had to seize it regardless.

"Don't think I'm afraid of you, Long Batian."

"Then come and try!!"

The two sides immediately clashed, and the battle caused a huge commotion.

Soon after.

Reinforcements arrived for both sides; Yang Long and Long Batian both withdrew from the fierce battle and returned to their respective forces.

"Dragon Brother!"

"Dragon Uncle!"

Zhang Yao and Wang Chao rushed over and shouted.

Long Batian sank his face and said: "I'm fine.... Wang Man, what do you mean?"

Wang Man frowned, looking at Yang Long: "What happened?"

Yang Long waved his hand: "He just snatched my prey."

Long Batian said lightly: "Let me reiterate: you came to me asking me to help you capture that monster king, yet you swallowed it all yourself—this is unreasonable."

Wang Man looked at Yang Long strangely and said: "Is that so?"

"No, even without Long Batian I could have captured that monster king. But now he insists on splitting it with me, which I cannot accept." Yang Long said.

You really are shameless.

Zhang Yao glared at Yang Long angrily: "How can you be so shameless?!"

"I won't waste words with a lady like you, Long Batian—you're asking for too much. I originally wanted this monster king's corpse, yet you demand to split it, which I painstakingly obtained. As for other things, I'd give them to you, but you want the corpse? I was planning to give you the monster pill; don't be so greedy!" Yang Long said.

"Then give me the monster pill."

"I don't want to give it now." Yang Long snorted coldly.

Wang Man frowned: "Yang Long, better to do less than more—you...."

"Get lost—when did it become your turn to lecture me?" Yang Long looked at Wang Man disdainfully.

Wang Man's face darkened, about to speak.

A figure suddenly walked over from the side and said: "As a person, one should understand the rules, Yang Long—give the monster pill to him."

Yang Long turned his head—wasn't that Yan Buji?!

Yan Buji spoke; Yang Long pondered a moment, then tossed the monster pill over, sneering: "Long Batian, today I give Fellow Daoist Yan face—if you dare be this greedy again, don't even think of taking anything from me!"

Having said that, Yang Long turned and left.

Long Batian accepted the monster pill, his gaze solemn as he looked at the person before him.

Speaking of which, this was also their first time seeing Yan Buji's true form—indeed, as rumored, he is an incompletely transformed Dragon Person, with strength not low, likely having reached the late Golden Core stage.

"What a powerful aura!" Zhang Yao frowned; cultivators at the Golden Core stage are exceedingly rare, especially since martial cultivators themselves are few, and those about to enter the Golden Core stage as martial cultivators are even rarer.

Now, Yan Buji has refined his true essence and physical body, and has a method for tempering his soul; thus he has been steadily growing stronger, and condensing a martial Dao Golden Core will take only a few more years.

With Yan Buji's talent, aside from the daily supplements he needs, he requires no other spiritual medicines to aid his martial Dao breakthrough—this is inversely proportional to his magical cultivation talent.

Yan Buji looked at them, revealing a sinister smile, and said: "How have you all been lately?"

"Are you Yan Buji?" Long Batian frowned, looking at him.

"You must be Long Batian, the Dragon True Person, right? I am Yan Buji; pardon my rudeness." Yan Buji bowed.

Wang Man stood aside, unsure why Yan Buji had come over at this time.

Shouldn't he be in seclusion preparing to condense a Golden Core? If he entered the Golden Core stage sooner, his influence and combat power would rise to a new level.

Long Batian looked at him: "You also came here to gather resources?"

"Yeah, breaking through to the Golden Core stage isn't easy; one needs to move about."

"That's right, then we won't disturb you further—we're leaving."

Long Batian led his people away quickly; Yan Buji glanced at Wang Chao in the crowd.

"This guy is probably also on the verge of breaking through to the Golden Core stage."

Wang Man walked over and asked: "What are you up to...."

"I intend to go deeper to scout the situation; there may be many dangers to handle near those resource sites." Yan Buji said lightly.

"Want me to come with you?"

"Not for now; I'm about to condense a Golden Core, and I'll tell you later how to handle things."

Wang Man nodded: "Good."

Setting out from the Dead Volcano Mouth, they headed toward the deeper Boundless Sea Trench.

Along the way, Yan Buji encountered many great monster kings, but even if he couldn't defeat them with his current strength, he could easily avoid them.

After a safe arrival at the edge of a bottomless dark sea trench, the Heavenly Devil King's apparition appeared beside Yan Buji: "It's just ahead."

"My lord, why are resources so scarce in the Boundless Sea Trench?"

"Scarce? Not at all—the Boundless Sea Trench is divided into inner and outer seven layers; you're currently in the outer three layers, while the inner seven layers are mostly inhabited by powerful demon beasts above the Divine Transformation stage. Naturally, resources are also more abundant inside."

"I see." Yan Buji nodded.

"The fifth inner layer has a spiritual stone mine, and near the seventh inner layer there are two veins of profound heavy water; besides that, there are also some threefold and fourfold transformation spiritual materials."

"Perfect—I need to retrain my accumulation device." Yan Buji laughed.

The Heavenly Devil King looked at Yan Buji and asked: "How do you intend to use it?"

"Wait until the Dragon People number exceeds a hundred thousand before we talk; for now it's still too early." Yan Buji estimated this time would be about twenty years from now, meaning he still has twenty years to break through to the Golden Core stage, after which he will begin planning to transform the Dragon People's ecological environment.

The Heavenly Demon King wore an indifferent look: "Anyway, that's how it is—go on down yourself."

Thank you, sir.

The Heavenly Demon King vanished; it seemed he had come merely to remind Yan Buji.

Soon after, Yan Buji circulated his True Essence, protecting himself as he stepped deeper in.

Just as the Heavenly Demon King said, the boundless sea trench is enormously vast; beneath the ocean of the Dongxing Sea Region lies such a huge trench, and if it were truly littered with rare treasures, it would surely have become a cultivator's paradise long ago.

Precisely because of the widespread desolation coupled with that strange current of lethargy, it's easy for one to lose their fighting spirit, which is why it's called the Forbidden Land.

When a cultivator loses their conviction, they are hardly different from an ordinary mortal.

And mortals cannot survive in the sea.