Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-1884

Chapter 1884 (Raw 1895): The Same Journey but Different Paths

Early in the morning:

After Tang Dan’s group made some simple preparations, they mounted Savage Beasts and continued traveling through the desert.

Savage Beasts were large beasts with a Fiendish Demon bloodline. They moved very quickly in the desert.

If a Savage Beast stored up power, it could even fly in short, explosive bursts, moving several times faster than a fired arrow.

Savage Beasts were much better than any war chariot or ship.

The group traveled silently, not saying much.

As for Xiao Chen, he shared a Savage Beast with Tang Dan. The Savage Beast’s back was very broad. If he was not afraid of slipping and falling, he could even sit cross-legged without any problem.

Since Xiao Chen already woke up, the eyes of the others occasionally shifted to him; they all felt exceptionally curious.

To them, this white-clad bladesman who had lain beside the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox was quite mysterious.

Tang Dan did not say much about Xiao Chen, making the rest even more curious.

Deng Yun, who traveled beside Tang Dan, occasionally looked at Xiao Chen, feeling slightly upset.

He had learned last night that Xiao Chen had killed the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox. However, he did not quite believe it.

Nevertheless, the Beast Core ended up in Deng Yun’s hands.

Deng Yun felt that he had to thank his Senior Sister Tang properly. He had to remember this debt of gratitude and repay it when he broke through to Holy Venerate in the future.

Given this thought, Deng Yun let it go. There was no need to get into a conflict with Xiao Chen.

Of course, no matter what Deng Yun thought, Xiao Chen could not be bothered. Xiao Chen just closed his eyes and rested on the Savage Beast’s back, anxiously recuperating from his injuries.

He needed to return his combat prowess to its peak quickly.

Xiao Chen’s battle with the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox allowed him to realize that he was still insufficient in many areas.

His Movement Technique was still not fast enough.

He had to refine the Thunder Dragon Steps, improving it further.

Ultimately, Xiao Chen’s ken was too low. After entering the Heavenly Dragon Palace, he would see if he could take reference from some Movement Techniques to refine the Thunder Dragon Steps.

When the sun set, a red hue covered the sky. It was so boundless that the setting sun looked like a sea of fire.

This beautiful scene of the desert inspired one to be carefree and relaxed.

In one day, the Savage Beasts they rode on traveled four million kilometers. A cultivator would take at least three days to do the same—at a great drain.

After traveling like that through day and night, the group finally left the desert three days later.

The group arrived at a majestic city at the edge of the desert.

Possibly due to the Dragon Race’s nature, the buildings in the Dragon Race’s city were extremely large, even larger than those in the Yanwu Dynasty’s cities.

After Tang Dan identified herself, the group quickly entered the city.

Only after entering would one truly be in the Divine Dragon Empire.

In the streets—both large and small—be it the ordinary people or the cultivators moving about, they were all people with some degree of the Dragon Race bloodline.

Due to his bloodline, Xiao Chen felt an ineffable warmth as he walked around the city.

It was like a wanderer returning home. Xiao Chen had already been in the Great Thousand Realms for four years or so. However, this was the first time he felt this way.

After checking into an inn, Tang Dan left some simple instructions before leaving in a rush.

The group rested in this place, ordering some food and wine.

As Xiao Chen sat there, eating and drinking, the others asked him questions, casually chatting a little.

They had spent the past few days rushing on their way, so they had not had the chance to ask Xiao Chen much.

Now that there was a rare moment of rest, the Heavenly Dragon Palace disciples traveling with Xiao Chen asked him the questions that had been nagging them.

“Xiao Chen, did you really kill that Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox?”

This was the question that bugged the others the most.

Xiao Chen nodded and said, “You can put it that way. However, it is not due to my personal strength. There was some luck involved.”

Xiao Chen did not want to shock this group of people too much, so when the others continued asking, he only “explained” a little.

“No wonder. I was wondering how you could possibly kill the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox.”

“However, that is still difficult. Even if luck was involved, your strength goes without question. You must be quite strong.”

“Right. Even with the best luck, it would be pointless without strength.”

Such an explanation was rather acceptable, so the others did not continue asking.

Deng Yun showed a slightly uncomfortable expression, feeling awkward.

Logically speaking, the Beast Core belonged to whoever killed the ferocious beast. At this moment, the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox’s Beast Core was in Deng Yun’s hands.

Deng Yun did not know that Xiao Chen had taken the initiative to hand the Beast Core over.

“You really killed that Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox?” Deng Yun asked Xiao Chen with a stern expression and a sullen tone.

“Although there is some luck involved, I did indeed kill it.”

Xiao Chen did not understand why Deng Yun brought this up again, but he still repeated his answer from before.

The atmosphere seemed somewhat off. Just when everyone thought that something would happen, Deng Yun took a swig of his drink in sorrow and took out a small brocade box. Then, he placed it on the table and said, “I’m returning this. Even without this Beast Core, I can still break through to Holy Venerate.”

Xiao Chen felt surprised. He said calmly, “Take it. I have already handed over everything of the Six-Tailed Heavenly Fox to you all. After Tang Dan returns, she will explain it to you. This is a fair deal.”

“Deal?” Deng Yun gave Xiao Chen a strange look, not understanding what was happening.

Xiao Chen did not explain much as Tang Dan already appeared at the door.

Come with me.

Tang Dan’s voice projection rang out beside Xiao Chen’s ears. Then, he put down his wine cup and went off directly, leaving behind the stunned group.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Tang Dan led Xiao Chen around the city for a while before finally stopping at a desolate alley.

“My clan has some accumulations and power in the Divine Dragon Empire. Hence, I have some channels that specialize in transacting information in secret or creating false identities.”

Tang Dan looked at Xiao Chen and said, “I’ve already used my clan’s connections to create an identity for you. Thirty years ago, there was an average-sized Xiao Clan in the north that was wiped out by the Underground Demons. Right now, your identity is that of the sole child of that Xiao Clan that managed to escape. This is the jade pendant of your clan, keep it properly.”

Xiao Chen received the jade pendant, somewhat impressed at Tang Dan’s efficiency in managing this. It seems that she has an impressive family background.

“The jade pendant is real. This is that Xiao Clan’s information. You can take a look.”

“Many thanks.”

With this identity, it would be much more convenient for Xiao Chen to do things later.

In order to become an inner sect disciple, he would have to stand out, attracting attention. It would be too difficult to avoid investigation. If anything went wrong and problems appeared, preventing him from entering Ancestor Dragon City, he would have come here for nothing.

“You’re welcome. I can tell that you are very confident of standing out and gaining the qualifications to enter the inner sect. However, I want to remind you not to get careless. People like Deng Yun and me are only barely above the bottom feeders. We are not considered strong.”

Xiao Chen felt slightly surprised. Originally, he was about to leave, but he stopped and asked, “What do you mean?”

Tang Dan gave Xiao Chen a deep look before continuing, “There are the core disciples above the inner palace disciples. Those that can become core disciples are all Holy Venerates. Furthermore, they are not the strongest of the Heavenly Dragon Palace. Above the core disciples are the even-stronger heaven-class core disciples.

“The Heavenly Dragon Palace is not as weak as you think it to be. As an independent palace, rivaling a peak Rank 6 sect, it has been passed on for tens of thousands of years. It has its own accumulations and is very terrifying. Although it consists mostly of mixed-blood dragon bloodlines, there is a lot of competition. The many layers of selection mean that those that can climb to the top are not weak.

“The empire’s territory contains over a thousand counties. Among the mixed-blood bloodlines, there is no lack of clans that have produced a Heavenly Dragon. The resources that these people obtained since childhood might not be any less than that of the True Dragon bloodlines or the Divine Dragon bloodlines. They only chose to go to the Heavenly Dragon Palace because their bloodline prevented them from going to the other palaces.

“So, take care.”

Xiao Chen pondered this for a while. If not for Tang Dan’s words, he might have gotten somewhat careless.

That was indeed something he should not do. After all, Jiang He was also a mixed-blood dragon cultivator.

“Many thanks for the reminder. It looks like I did not lose out at all in this deal. Goodbye.” Xiao Chen gave his thanks as he performed a cupped-fist salute. Then, he smiled faintly and turned to leave.

When Tang Dan returned to the inn, her juniors surrounded her and asked about the deal.

Tang Dan felt somewhat helpless. After a while, she warned, “Don’t ask too much. That person is different from us. When we return to the Heavenly Dragon Palace, don’t say that you met him. Major things will definitely happen to him. It is best not to hang around him.”

“This…”

These words stunned her juniors; they found this inconceivable. They had eaten and drunk with Xiao Chen but had not felt anything extraordinary about him.

Only Deng Yun felt a shiver in his soul when he remembered the events of the night when Xiao Chen opened his eyes.

Deng Yun believed Tang Dan’s words.

This Xiao Chen was indeed someone on a different path.

Xiao Chen and Tang Dan’s group both headed for the Heavenly Dragon Palace. They had the same journey but different paths.

The path that Xiao Chen was going to take was destined to be full of hurdles, layered with difficulty, and his chances of survival were low.