The Bait

While the battle outside raged on between the Origin Comprehension phase masters and the Ninth-Order Golden Wyvern, Xuan took the outer path around the battlefield, covered by trees and veiled by the dark of night. His destination was, of course, the cave that the Wyvern had emerged from—its lair. As for his purpose… that was something no one knew but himself.

Thanks to the knowledge and experience he'd accumulated from his past life, he knew exactly why a Wyvern had appeared outside of Dragon Island, where they usually stayed—it was part of the incubation process for Dragon eggs. These things weren't like other beasts—they required to be brought all around the world and absorb some World Qi from every major region in the Xianxia Continent in order to develop properly.

The reason why this had to be done was a mystery even to Xuan, but given how strong these creatures were, naturally the process to raise them was an incredible hassle. For every Dragon egg sent out, a Wyvern was to accompany it as its protector due to how rare and valuable a Dragon was—that was the main role of Wyverns in the Dragons' society in the first place.

And since the protector sent to defend this egg was a Golden Wyvern, the strongest of the bunch… it was safe to assume the Dragon egg being guarded was also 'the strongest of the bunch'—in other words, a Golden Dragon.

If Xuan could get his hands on that egg… an incredible companion could be born. With a Golden Dragon by his side, once it matured, no one under the Transcendent Realm would be able to stand against him, not to mention just Lower Asphodel where the highest cultivation was merely Origin Emperor.

He had to obtain that egg, no doubt stored inside this cave—or at least try. All he needed was some time—which those masters outside were so gracefully stalling for him. How could he refuse their good intentions?

'They're still following me…?' Xuan thought, sensing the presences of the there behind him. 'Good, good. In that case, let's begin phase two of the plan.'

Suddenly, an exact copy of Xuan appeared to split from his main body, summoned with a single thought and appearing to be made from Qi. This was the Mimic Projection ability of the Sheep from the Twelve Zodiac technique, and it had the ability to create a clone of anything, both living and inanimate.

Of course, it was not without its limits. The clone could easily be seen through if someone were to touch it, and close inspection could reveal tiny flaws as well. Not only that, the clones also couldn't last forever, and would drain the user's Qi the longer it remained. Though… that wasn't particularly a problem for Xuan, who was overflowing in Qi anyway.

Then, he masked his own presence with Ruo Xi's brooch, and hid within a nearby bush while leaving the clone to continue onwards into the cave.

Naturally, he made sure to execute all of this smoothly and while the three idiots couldn't see—a blind spot. Due to the arc of the path he was traveling on, there were a few select locations that could be considered brief blind spots. Xuan utilized this to his advantage, and by the time he came into the vision of the three fools once more, all they saw was the clone.

Without suspecting a thing, they followed the mirage into the Wyvern's cave, making sure to keep their distance. The real Xuan, slowly emerging from the back of the tree he had been hiding behind, smiled deviously, and trailed after them.

"All the preparations are set in place. The fun part begins… now."

*****

As Zhou Hai and the two Origin Transformation Realm masters followed the image of Xuan into the cave, they slowed their footsteps in caution. A translucent bubble around them prevented anyone the sphere from hearing them speak or walk, generated from an artifact held in one of the masters' hands. The bubble also provided a dim amount of light, just enough so that the three could see the footprints Xuan had left behind.

"Be careful, young master," one of the masters said. "This place is the Wyvern's lair, so there are no doubt many hidden traps scattered around. We should proceed with caution."

Zhou Hai gave a nod. "Just follow exactly where that bastard Xuan walks. He's not an idiot—he didn't come here without a plan. Since he's here, it means he's looking for something, and also has his ways to navigate the place. Little does he know, he's also lighting the path for us… heh."

"Young master is truly wise," the masters said in unison, showing off their mastery of the Dao of flattery like true experts.

Together, the three followed the image of Xuan, remaining vigilant and careful of traps. So far, there was nothing, but as they headed deeper and deeper into the cave, it gradually became harder and harder to see. Dragons—and Wyverns along with them—both had night vision, so there was no need for the cave to be bright at all.

In the distance, however, there appeared to be what seemed like… a source of light?

"Is that… a fire?" Zhou Hai muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"It appears to be hanging from the ceiling, somehow," one of the masters said. "A chandelier seems like the most plausible option, but I thought Wyverns had night vision… why would there be a chandelier here? Unless… that fire marks something? Like a treasure…"

"Look, that idiot Xuan is heading closer. As long as we follow him, it should be fine," Zhou Hai said. "Any traps in the way will be triggered by him first, and once he obtains whatever is there, all we have to do is kill him and steal it for ourselves."

The two masters nodded in agreement and the three resumed their footsteps with the same slow pace as before. A good few meters in front of them, Xuan appeared to descend down a flight of stairs, into the chamber with the fire. At this, the three looked at one another in suspicion for a moment, then followed cautiously.

Too bad they weren't cautious enough.

As soon as they took their first step down the stairs, the trap sprung. Translucent golden barriers on all four sides instantly rose from the ground all the way up to the cave ceiling, trapping the three in a confined, unbreakable rectangular prism.

"Wha-?" Zhou Hai's eyes widened at the sudden attack, too quickly for him to even react. The two masters around him were similarly confined into the same translucent prison made out of a thick Qi barrier of some sort, and left in shock at what just happened.

Before they could further analyze the situation, however, the jail cell they were trapped in began to ascend—elevate towards the cave ceiling. The two old masters, who were taller than Zhou Hai, felt the top of their heads touch solid rock, and gulped.

The prison showed no sign of stopping.

"Damn it…!"

The two hurriedly crouched down as Zhou Hai did the same, and only when their heads touched the ceiling once more did the prison stop elevating further. In these positions, however, the three men were practically forced to hug each other tightly to all fit in the jail cell, and Zhou Hai wasn't a fan of being warmly embraced by two old geezers.

"What is this? I am certain we followed that boy's footsteps exactly!" One of the Origin Transformation Realm masters cried out in frustration and incomprehension.

"Followed my footsteps exactly? Look closer."

In that moment, the deepest cavern they had been descending into lit up gold from the light of the chandelier, as the fire fueling it burned brightly with flames.

From behind them, the real Xuan appeared, and they struggled to turn around in the tiny confined space they were in. Zhou Hai was in the perfect angle, so he glanced between the real Xuan and the clone of him up ahead in confusion.

"What… there's two of you…?" He narrowed his eyes, still not getting it, and Xuan laughed.

"Fools."

With a snap of his fingers, the clone disappeared, and immediately, the three realized what had happened—how horribly they'd been tricked.

"No… impossible!" Zhou Hai growled, gritting his teeth in anger before struggling to turn to the two Origin Transformation stage masters trapped together with him. "You two incompetent idiots, how did you guys not sense his presence with your cultivation base?!"

"F-Forgive us, young master! Even now, we cannot sense his presence—he must have an incredible aura-concealing artifact of some sort on him!"

"Tch…" Zhou Hai clucked his tongue and glared back at Xuan, who wore a gentle smile on his face.

"Don't blame them, Zhou Hai," he said calmly. "Mere Origin Transformation realm cultivators have just developed their knowledge seas, so naturally their Divine Sense isn't powerful enough yet to see through my presence concealment. It's not their fault. If you want to blame someone, you can only blame yourself… for making an enemy out of me, that is."

"Heh… 'mere' Origin Transformation realm cultivators?" Zhou Hai laughed boldly despite the situation he was in. "You're only a Body Tempering stage yourself. On what grounds can you call Origin Transformation stage 'mere'? Just wait until we break out of here—under my father's orders, I'll be sure to give you a gruesome, painful end."

"Ah… about that." Xuan scratched his hair awkwardly. "Good luck breaking out of there. It is made out of raw Dragon Qi from the Golden Wyvern itself. Even if it isn't as pure as that of a true Dragon's… two Origin Transformation stage cultivators would never be able to break out of it. Have a good day."

"Wha…"

After delivering those grim news, Xuan promptly waltzed past them, completely nonchalant and uncaring. Zhou Hai screamed insults and strings of curses in reply, but the only ears they reached were that of the masters trapped together with him.

That was one job done. Now, for the other—finding the Dragon egg.