Chapter 4566 — The Dragon of the Five Balefuls Again

Man and bird crept forward a little further, palms slick with cold sweat from the tension, until at last the ghost thing's voice sounded again and they could breathe easy: "All right, this distance will do. I'll begin breaking through its spiritual-sense shield now—just a bit of time is all I need."

"Good." Wei Zhao hurriedly halted. This pressure of not knowing what the other party was, yet being forced to inch closer and closer, was truly not something an ordinary person could endure—especially in an empty underground place like this. Anyone with a slightly weaker constitution would have collapsed outright by now.

Wei Zhao could clearly feel a wave of spiritual sense radiating out from above his head. Though the Five Poison Marsh severely restricted spiritual sense, and even down in this space Wei Zhao at his current strength could scarcely employ his spiritual sense freely—his perception here was countless times weaker than on the surface—the ghost thing was on his person. Even if he normally could not sense it, when the fluctuations of spiritual sense were strong, they were still plainly evident.

It was a purely unconscious reaction. Wei Zhao's spiritual sense, which had been inexplicably trapped in this empty clarity, followed the ghost thing's fluctuations and unexpectedly emerged from his body along with them. This had never happened before. More absurd still, Wei Zhao's spiritual sense did not stop there; using the ghost thing's spiritual sense as a bridge, it spanned a distance of dozens of li and connected all the way to the target.

"Hm?" The ghost thing was briefly stunned—this was the first time even it had encountered such a thing. But then it laughed: "Interesting. This kid truly cannot be measured by common sense. It seems not only are his five-element, seven-attribute talents astonishing, but in spiritual sense he is a freak as well—a rare seedling indeed. Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me from now on..."

Once it recovered, the ghost thing did not stop Wei Zhao. After all, for him this was an unconscious awakening of spiritual sense. Though he had not yet reached the threshold for systematic cultivation of spiritual sense, this kind of spontaneous "preschool education" was a chance that could not be sought—it would greatly benefit his future cultivation of spiritual sense, so naturally the ghost thing would not interfere.

"Eh? This feeling really is a bit familiar. But that makes no sense—apart from you, Senior, I've never encountered any other dragon clan?" Wei Zhao suddenly said in surprise. He himself was entirely unaware of what had happened, and assumed the ghost thing had linked their spiritual senses together, deliberately letting him see just who this being was.

"Never mind. Once I break through its spiritual-sense shield, we'll know what we need to know." The ghost thing said this, then settled its mind and began trying to infiltrate the other's spiritual-sense shield.

Wei Zhao was about to nod, but before the ghost thing's words had faded, a thunderous roar suddenly burst out from dozens of li ahead, and the target locked by spiritual sense came charging toward Wei Zhao at tremendous speed—so fast it made the scalp prickle. Wei Zhao had not yet witnessed the spirit bird's current limit, but instinct told him the other's speed would effortlessly crush the bird's.

"Could it have noticed?" Wei Zhao tensed at once. He had never imagined such a thing could happen—that the other party could detect him, also shielded by spiritual sense, before the ghost thing had even broken its shield. Did that not mean the other's foundation in spiritual sense, even if inferior to the ghost thing's, was not inferior by much? Just what level of existence was this, damn it?

"Of course. Isn't it obvious..." The ghost thing smiled bitterly. It had been confident of slipping in unnoticed, but who could have guessed that Wei Zhao's spiritual sense would come along to join the fun? If the other's spiritual-sense shield were a door, the ghost thing had meant to enter quietly with a master key—but because Wei Zhao had barged in, it had turned into kicking the door down outright. If the other party still failed to notice that, then one might as well say the sun had risen in the west.

Still, the ghost thing had no choice. Though being discovered carried no small risk, by comparison it was more important not to disturb Wei Zhao's awakening of spiritual sense. In its view, so long as Wei Zhao was unwilling to give up this heaven-made cultivation treasure ground, he would have to deal with the other sooner or later. Being discovered was no great matter.

"What must come will come sooner or later. Then let's get a good look at what this thing really is." Wei Zhao quickly calmed down, battle intent surging through his whole body. Since entering this place he had had no chance to fight; now was the perfect time to test just how strong his early-stage Nascent Soul really was. Even knowing he was no match, he would still strive with all his might to find where his limits lay.

"Heh heh, fine spirit, but I think all that battle intent is wasted feeling." The ghost thing suddenly laughed, and its somewhat tense tone turned relaxed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wei Zhao looked utterly baffled. Before he could make sense of it, his spiritual sense had already withdrawn into his body of its own accord, so unless the other party came into view, no matter how close it was he could not tell who it was.

"Heh heh, doesn't a kid like you also find the other's aura a bit familiar and strange? I'll tell you—this thing really is an old friend. Your old friend." The ghost thing laughed.

"My old friend?" Wei Zhao was all the more bewildered. He knew very few spirit beasts—even counting the mortal world and Cloud-Tier Island together, they could be counted on one hand. Running into the great fire lion and the giant spider in the ruins of Aoduo Cultivation City had already been an accident beyond accidents. Could it be them again this time? Surely not?

"Roar, roar, roar!" While Wei Zhao stood stunned, the other had already arrived before him with a thunderous roar and a great din. At this distance there was no need for spiritual sense at all—even the naked eye could see it clearly.

Its whole body exuded an almost materialized, terrifying baleful aura that left one breathless. By rough estimate it was at least ten meters long, with four thick, sturdy claws, a long tail full of sharp menace, a pair of enormous wings on either side of its spine, and down the center a row of exceedingly hard, sharp, sabre-toothed spikes that made the heart quail at the sight—it was a living, breathing dinosaur straight out of the Jurassic!

"The Dragon of the Five Balefuls? How is it you?" Wei Zhao blurted out, dumbstruck. He could never in a thousand years have imagined meeting this old friend from the mortal world in a place like this!

"So it's you, human cultivator?" The Dragon of the Five Balefuls recognized Wei Zhao at once, and seemed likewise both startled and delighted. The materialized baleful aura and killing intent around it dispersed in an instant—it had thought some powerful enemy was attacking, never expecting an old acquaintance.

"How did you get to Cloud-Tier Island too?" Wei Zhao asked in shock. (To be continued) R752