Ambush

Looking around the location they had been informed of by the Cultists they captured, all they saw was yet another destroyed camp.

It was originally their plan to ambush them with some form of boundary, however, once they saw no one there, they once again went to investigate.

"Well, that is shit."

Julong scowled as he looked over at the now barely conscious Cultist whom they had kidnapped.

"Did you lie to us?"

He quaked and didn't respond as he spotted his two tormentors, Qingchan and Xiao Dai.

He rapidly shook his after a gentle prompt from Qingchan's boot.

"N-No, they should be here!"

"Well clearly they aren't, and we're back to square one. That means we can just kill him right?"

Xiao Dai looked over at Julong questioningly.

He shook his head slowly at the expression she gave him.

"If that's what you want."

She gave him a mirky grin.

While that was happening, Qingchan was examining the campfire. It had only recently been extinguished. Like they knew they were coming. That means someone had been able to inform them and they were able to run away. Or at least that's what it appeared like.

She looked over at Julong, whose Spirit was now out. He was looking in the sky and his expression turned sullied.

"Watch out!"

He pulled both Qingchan and Xiao Dai toward him with Genesis Qi, erecting a turtle shell around them.

An intricate bounded field appeared overhead trapping them in the vicinity of the camp. From it came rays of Genesis Qi which repetitively struck Julong's shield.

Looking outside the barrier, two dozen figures had surrounded the bounded field, watching them as they were struck by attacks.

Xiao Dai who followed Julong's line of sight growled.

It was clear who the leader was outside of the field. He was dressed differently from the others with a pouch on his waist which exuded a profound power. This was no doubt, Xiao Dai's father.

"That's him."

"I figured as much."

Qingchan lamented with an expressionless face.

"Do you need some help Julong?"

He scrunched his brow.

"No, I need you to charge up an attack powerful enough to destroy the bounded field. It's a Grade-4 Rune Boundary, however, there is a weak point at the top, where the Jade Tablet the main inscription is housed. If you destroy that, the boundary will fall."

"I understand. So this was more of an ambush boundary to get rid of people fast."

"Correct."

Xiao Dai frowned.

"What about when we get out? I don't care what you two want, I'm going to take on my father."

Julong gave her a blank look. He wasn't surprised by this, and in the end, shook his head.

"Xiao Dai, surely you can feel how strong he is from here. He is not your match. Qingchan and I will take on the rest of them, but we'll intervene if we have to. Minus your father, they are all Sixth-Layers meaning we should be able to help rather easily if needed. However, for your sake, something tells me that if he loses whatever's in that pouch, he will also lose a lot of his power I can't say for sure though."

Xiao Dai narrowed her eyes, a little upset. She knew he was right. However what he had said also made her curious.

 "And why would that be?"

"Because that's what Qingchan and I came here for. I'm sure those are the Scales."

Despite his reasoning, Qingchan gave him a perplexed look.

"But if they were, surely he would have absorbed the Ancient Serpent Scales by now if technical power is what he's using them for."

"Well about that... What happened before, when I blacked out? I don't know what I saw really, but I'm fairly sure those are Ancient Dragon Scales, not Ancient Serpent Scales. Hence why he can't absorb them, and why everyone seems a little robotic. I'm pretty sure that the brainwashing is enforced by the power of those Scales to some extent."

Julong once again told a white lie to Xiao Dai and Qingchan. However, he resolved himself to tell them the full truth after they had the Scales.

"That's not possible, what would something like that be doing here?"

"I don't know, however, we cannot let the Sacred Palace get their hands on them."

While Qingchan agreed, she also knew it wouldn't be that bad, just a small setback for their Sect in comparison. However, she also felt that Julong was still holding out on her.

The reason for that was because if anyone were to find out what the skeleton really was, it could turn rather ugly, very quickly. Especially if the Sacred Race got involved.

Xiao Dai had had enough of sitting back.

"So get the pouch away from him right? Got it. Now let's do this."

"Okay."

Qingchan nodded.

"On the count of three, I'll remove our turtle shell. When I do that's when we act."

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

In an instant, profound Genesis Qi burst forth from the collapsing shell. Qingchan obliterated the Jade Tablet holding the boundary together, and with a well-timed attack from Xiao Dai, hit her father with the power of 54,000 Genesis Qi Stars.

It was to no effect, however, as a barrier was revealed to have blocked the attack.

"Xiao Ming."

"Xiao Dai."

Xiao Dai and her father acknowledged each other, as everything came to a standstill. Everyone was slowly observing the scene with cautious eyes.

One look at Xiao Dai's father, whose name was now confirmed to be Xiao Ming, it was obvious he was stronger than Xiao Dai, even without the Scales. With the Scales, he was someone who could likely kill Xiao Dai with a look if he so wanted. They weren't able to feel the power of the Scales properly before, but now that they were in plain view without obstruction, it was clear that of the 78,000 Genesis Qi Stars they could feel from him, 20,000 were subsidised by said Scales.

"You dare not even call me Father anymore? Do you really despise me so much to renounce your own blood and your calling?"

"How dare you say such a thing! I was never your daughter in your eyes. I was only ever some piece in this game of yours."

"Your wrong. You are my daughter outside of this Cult, and I'm ashamed to have you feel that way. You could never understand."

Those words struck silence, it meant there was an actual meaning to what he was doing. Or at least he was trying to make it seem that way.

"Don't bullshit me with your lies! You never saw me that way. You only desired me to be the leader after you! Your only mistake was assuming I was so easy to convince without the power of those Scales."

Xiao Dai decided to take a stab in the dark to hope she could spite some information about the Scales from her father. She wasn't expecting anything but him to brush it off, but to her surprise, he said something completely different. Something which confirmed what he had previously said about him acknowledging her as his daughter was true.

"So you've figured it out, huh? That I use these Scales to brainwash people into following the cause. However, I'm sure you still have no clue about the real reason for my struggle, do you? If it is so important to you, than I will let you all hear it."

Julong looked on curiously.

"That carcass is no Serpent. It's the body of a Great Dragon, the body of the God that created our world!"

"Y-You mean the Ancestral Dragon!?"

Qingchan was the one who exclaimed boisterously, not able to contain herself.

Horror similarly etched Julong's face, how on earth could Xiao Ming know that?

It could be said, with that being known, Xiao Ming was Julong's greatest supporter, in one completely twisted kind of way.

Xiao Ming seemed to take notice of Julong's expression. It wasn't shock like the others.

"But it seems as though one of you already knew this."

Xiao Dai and Li Qingchan looked at Julong in the same shock they had previously directed at Xiao Ming.

It was almost like a small betrayal if what Xiao Ming was saying was true.

"Even if you say that, I'll tell you something irrefutable. It is impossible to resurrect that Skeleton, Xiao Ming."

"With our current following, yes. However, when I finally am able to reach the masses with this wisdom, we will be able to resurrect him. These Scales are a means for that to happen! With their brainwashing ability, it is not out of the realm of possibility!"

"No, you misunderstand. If word gets out about the Skeleton, the Sacred Race Prime Saints will immediately absorb those bones to help resurrect their own God."

Xiao Ming flinched a little under those words, however, he also knew that the All-Heavens had their own versions of Prime Saints.

"Do you underestimate the Human Saints so greatly, little one?"

"You didn't let me finish."

Julong's Spirit appeared on his forehead in a burst of Gold. Immediately, the pouch on Xiao Ming's waist trembled violently.

"What are you doing!?"

The Scales tore through the pouch and straight into Julong's hand where they began vibrating in glee.

Xiao Ming's Genesis Qi became far weaker, losing around 20,000 Genesis Qi Stars. It made him look at the boy with a different kind of reverence. It seemed as though he realised Julong's point. The Dragon had already been revived, otherwise, why would he be able to command the Scales like that and have them celebrate his touch?

"Who are you?"

Being the only one aside from Julong to know what the Scales truly were, it was a stupid question, but he was too shocked to say anything else.

Throughout this Xiao Dai and Qingchan could only watch in wonder. Julong always seemed to grow more and more mysterious by the day.

"My name is Wan Julong."

In the next moment, Genesis Qi flew through the sky, impaling every Cult member in the area, including Xiao Ming. It momentarily executed every single one of them as they all exploded in blood.

Xiao Dai grit her teeth at that. Whoever had done that, had stopped her from being able to enact her revenge on her father.

Looking into the sky where the attacks had originated, as all of the cultist's figures fell down, the remaining trio spotted three exuberant figures hovering in the sky. The most powerful of them was dressed in rather extravagant purple robes, while the other two were wearing uniforms that were all too recognisable: Sacred Palace robes.

Julong had been wondering when they'd finally have a run-in with them.

It was sooner than expected that was for sure.

"Ling Kei, Rank 4 Chosen of the Sacred Palace."

The strongest, and apparent leader of the three introduced himself.

"I was not expecting to see people of the Cangxuan Sect here."