As soon as Ye Qingzhou heard the name of this treasure, he felt a connection with it.
Kang Jinlong seemed to see through Ye Qingzhou’s little thoughts and scoffed dismissively, saying, "Mortal, do not covet foolishly. The Dragon Pearl is one of the Life Essence of the Dragon Race. It’s useless to you and would only bring disaster upon you."
Naturally, Ye Qingzhou didn’t believe it, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue.
Then, Kang Jinlong began talking about its feud with the Cyan Flood Dragon: "The Cyan Flood Dragon was originally a Python, with my bloodline running through its veins. Seeing its extraordinary talent, I took it in and nurtured it tirelessly. Yet, unexpectedly, its serpent nature remained unchanged. It conspired with the other four flood dragons to harm me while I slept, stealing my True Essence."
"But the heavens are just, and retribution is swift. I have already slain three flood dragons and reclaimed the Dragon Spirit, Dragon Heart, and Dragon Eye. Yet the Dragon Marrow and Dragon Pearl remain lost. The first thing you must do for me is to kill the Cyan Flood Dragon and retrieve the Dragon Pearl for me."
Ye Qingzhou listened and nodded repeatedly, "A compelling story."
The Flawless Sword Heart didn’t sense that Kang Jinlong was lying, yet Ye Qingzhou still felt something was amiss. He never believed anyone easily.
Ye Qingzhou joked with a smile, "I thought only we humans liked to cloak our evil deeds in righteousness before acting, but it turns out you dragons are the same."
"It’s not important."
Ye Qingzhou shook his head, "Your grudges are none of my concern. I’m just a worker being paid to do a job, so you don’t need to fill me with grandiose reasons."
"Hmph, remember, come to Celestial Halberd Peak tomorrow to receive the Dragon Essence. Without my help, with your current strength, you can’t kill the Cyan Flood Dragon."
Ye Qingzhou responded in his mind, and Kang Jinlong promptly cut off the telepathy.
Early the next morning, the martial arts newcomers in the camp completed their ablutions and were eager to form teams and set off.
Leon, Miao Yi, and Zhu Jinfeng, along with Xu Yuebing, came to find Ye Qingzhou to form a team, but after knocking on the door for ages, no one answered.
Xu Yuebing twisted the doorknob, finding it unlocked: "Ye Qingzhou, I’m coming in."
The small room was empty.
"Where’s that guy wandered off to again?"
Thunder rumbles on Celestial Halberd Peak.
"Mortal, this is my Dragon Essence. When you encounter the Cyan Flood Dragon, consume it immediately, and your cultivation will break through to the Heaven-Ascending Seventh Layer for the time of three incense sticks."
"Heaven-Ascending Seventh Layer?"
"The Dragon Race is the source of martial arts across the world. The Twelve-Stories Celestial Tower is the method of leaping like a carp through the Dragon Gate, achieving Godhood. By human standards nowadays, the Heaven-Ascending Seventh Layer is the Martial Saint Realm."
Martial Arts Profound, Human World Saint!
Ye Qingzhou looked at the golden light orb in his hand, finding it hard to imagine that consuming this small portion of Dragon Essence could make him a Martial Saint?
Even temporarily, it would still be astonishing.
The power of a Martial Saint far exceeds that of a Master Level Martial Artist!
The Martial Arts Two Extremes of Dongji Kingdom, Qi Shengtian and Zhangg Xinwu, their realms are barely that of Martial Saints.
Of course, the Dongji Kingdom surely has more than just those two Martial Saints, but overall the number can’t be too many, probably counted on two hands.
Seeing Ye Qingzhou seemingly quite shocked, Kang Jinlong became even more smug: "My Divine Power is like an ocean. If not for my soul being out of body and disaster besetting me, this mere Heart Prison could never restrain me. If you are willing to serve me faithfully and accomplish a real Martial Saint, it is as easy as turning over a hand."
Listening to Kang Jinlong’s enticing offers, Ye Qingzhou wasn’t moved at all.
A true worker knows you’re better off believing that pigs can climb trees than trusting a boss.
Promises like the company going public and making you a founding member, giving you stock options, taking you to Nasdaq to ring the bell, achieving common prosperity...
Such nonsense is best heard and not believed; whoever takes it seriously is a fool.
Every donkey always has a sweet carrot dangling above its forehead.
No matter how good a thing is, only what you eat is yours.
Ye Qingzhou received the Dragon Essence and said, "I want an advance on my salary."
"Greedy mortal, this better be your last request."
So generous in words when promising, but when it came to paying, Kang Jinlong instantly showed another side, stingy, with a tone of impatience: "Catch."
Kang Jinlong plucked a golden scale stuck with rotten flesh from the top of the huge dragon corpse and flicked it to Ye Qingzhou.
Ye Qingzhou steadily caught it, and to him, the huge scale was like a shield. He scraped off the rotten flesh attached and dusted away the dirt.
Suddenly, the entire golden dragon scale was revealed before him.
Flowing with golden brilliance and emanating dazzling light.
After tapping a few times, Ye Qingzhou nodded in satisfaction: "Absolutely Upper Grade Treasure Level Divine Gold." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Ye Qingzhou then glanced at the massive dragon corpse on the ground, with eyes looking like they were gazing at a mountain of gold.
Regarding Kang Jinlong’s stinginess, Ye Qingzhou internally criticized: ’Truly lacking in vision, clearly having an endless mountain of gold but when asking me for a job, only willing to pluck a tiny golden scale.’
’How is this different from a drop in the bucket?’
’So miserly and stingy, it’s no wonder you’ve been trapped here so many years. You absolutely deserve it.’