Ch. 1286 - Hidden Hand of The Dragon God Imperium

Xu Zimo’s eyes narrowed slightly. With a single swing of his blade, the Shadow Tyrant, he tore through the obstacles ahead, shattering all the dragon bones across the ground.

When he chased forward again, he discovered that behind the great hall lay countless densely packed tunnels. The Dragon Monarch, after shrinking his body, had vanished into one of them, who knew which.

It seemed the Dragon Monarch had long prepared for this.

“Trying to run?” Xu Zimo gave a faint, amused smile.

Above his head, the Traceless Compass compass spun slowly. With that tool, as long as the distance wasn’t too far, his target could never truly escape.

After a few rotations, the pointer fixed on one of the tunnels. Xu Zimo followed its guidance and rushed inside.

The passageways twisted endlessly in every direction, countless paths, winding and complex. Without the Traceless Compass, not to mention catching up to the Dragon Monarch, Xu Zimo himself would have easily lost his way.

His figure darted through the darkness for an unknown length of time and countless turns, until finally, a faint light appeared ahead.

When he stepped into the light, he realized it led into a massive crystal mine.

The mine walls were studded with countless embedded crystals, each radiating a gentle, steady glow.

Xu Zimo stopped walking.

“Come out. You can’t hide from me,” he said.

His voice wasn’t loud, but in the depths of the endless cavern, it echoed again and again.

“How did you find me?” the Dragon Monarch’s hoarse voice sounded, his shadow slowly emerging from behind a crystalline boulder.

“As long as I want to, you can’t run,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.

“Spare me, and whatever you desire, I can give you,” the Dragon Monarch said, his massive body stepping backward, ever wary of the distance between them.

“There’s no path for mercy,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile. “Only a road to death. You want it?”

The Beast Compendium turned in his palm, page by page, as strands of dragon energy began gathering around it once again.

“Kill!” the Dragon Monarch roared, striking first before Xu Zimo could move, hoping to seize the initiative.

“Pointless struggle,” Xu Zimo murmured, shaking his head.

Forming a hand seal, he unleashed one of the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures, the Aryan-Swastika God-Seal.

Like the gates of Hell, the seal erupted with overwhelming killing aura, reflected in the void above.

The Dragon Monarch charged straight into it. The Aryan-Swastika God-Seal detonated at point blank range.

A deafening explosion echoed through the cavern as the Dragon Monarch’s body smashed into the mountainside, leaving a gaping hole through his abdomen.

The surrounding crystal veins shattered, and the fragments shimmered through the air like scattered starlight.

Xu Zimo walked forward step by step.

The Dragon Monarch spat blood, his voice trembling with pain and fury. “Kill me.”

“No hurry. Killing you isn’t my goal,” Xu Zimo said lightly.

He flipped open the Beast Compendium again. Streams of dragon energy rose from it, wrapping around the Dragon Monarch.

The Dragon Monarch’s instincts recoiled, that aura filled him with dread. He tried to retreat, but there was nowhere left to run.

“What is that thing?!” he demanded.

Xu Zimo gave no answer.

The dragon energy continued to gather until the Dragon Monarch’s massive form was completely engulfed.

The Beast Compendium then burst with powerful suction, pulling him inside.

Xu Zimo looked down at the artifact. On its second page, once blank, now appeared the image of the Primordial Dragon.

The second page was complete.

He closed the Beast Compendium and walked deeper into the crystal mine.

This, he thought, must be the Dragon Monarch’s true lair.

But clearly, the so-called “inheritance” was just bait. He found nothing of value, only a single dragon scale.

When he picked it up, the scale embedded itself into his skin on its own.

Within seconds, scales spread across his body, forming a living armor, a flexible dragon-scale cuirass.

“Interesting,” Xu Zimo murmured, retracting the armor.

He made his way out of the tunnels. The earlier battle had caused too much destruction, half the underground area had already collapsed.

Seawater from the nearby ocean surged in, flooding the tomb.

Xu Zimo climbed out swiftly, emerging back near the Sun-Sword County, the same spot where he’d entered the tomb.

He looked around. Neither Wu Zhaodi nor Sun-Sword himself were anywhere to be seen.

Frowning slightly, he made his way toward the city.

But as soon as he reached the gates, a group of armed men surrounded him.

They wore blue robes and carried identical long swords, disciplined, orderly, well-trained.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Xu Zimo asked, his brows tightening.

“Our lord wishes to speak with you,” one of them said.

“Then take me to him,” Xu Zimo replied.

He didn’t bother resisting. In this Godfiend Abyss Heaven, he was still unfamiliar with the powers at play, and whoever sent these men piqued his curiosity.

Led by the blue-robed guards, he was brought to the Sun-Sword residence, into the same council hall as before.

Inside sat Shu Hai, along with an elderly man with gray hair. The two were speaking quietly, and from the way Shu Hai kept nodding, he was clearly deferring to the old man.

“My lord, we’ve brought him,” one of the blue-robes reported.

The old man waved his hand and rose slowly. Accompanied by Shu Hai, he stepped toward Xu Zimo, studying him carefully.

“Where are the people from the Vast Heaven Imperium?” the old man asked.

“And who might you be?” Xu Zimo countered.

“This is Grand Tutor Vast Cloud of the Dragon God Imperium,” Shu Hai explained quickly.

“Do we know each other?” Xu Zimo asked dryly.

“No,” Shu Hai replied hastily, “but when Lord Vast Cloud asks, you answer honestly.”

“I represent the Dragon God Imperium,” Vast Cloud said. “Think carefully before you speak.”

“You people from the Dragon God Imperium really are something,” Xu Zimo said with a half-smile. “While others fought tooth and nail, you didn’t even bother entering the tomb, just waiting to swoop in and reap the spoils.”

At that, Shu Hai wiped sweat from his forehead.

He too had wondered why the Dragon God Imperium had shown no reaction to the appearance of the Primordial Dragon’s inheritance in Sun-Sword County. Now he understood, the mantis stalks the cicada, and the oriole waits behind.

“Matters of the Empire are none of your concern,” Vast Cloud said coldly. “Just answer me, where are the people from the Vast Heaven Imperium?”

“They’re all dead,” Xu Zimo said.

“You killed them?” Vast Cloud’s gaze sharpened as he sized him up again.

“They were all slain by the old Dragon Monarch,” Xu Zimo said evenly, of course, he wouldn’t admit the truth.

“So many entered that tomb, yet only you returned alive,” Vast Cloud said. “Do you expect me to believe you found no inheritance?”

“And if I told you there was no inheritance at all, would you believe that?” Xu Zimo replied.

“Tell me now, and I can let you leave safely,” Vast Cloud warned. “But if you’re taken to the Empire… the consequences will be beyond what you can bear.”

“As it happens,” Xu Zimo said with a faint grin, “I was already planning to visit the Dragon God Imperium. I hear your Grand Chancellor is an Ancient Demon himself.”

Seeing that Xu Zimo showed no fear, Vast Cloud frowned deeply, his expression growing darker.

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