The Yinglong Scale

“It seems, then, that even if I hadn’t come, you would have handled those two on your own,” Su Hanxing remarked, his voice filled with praise as he watched the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion disciples flee in disarray.

“That’s hard to say. Which of these major sect disciples doesn’t carry some life-saving treasures? If you hadn’t arrived, they most likely wouldn’t have given up so readily.” Chi Qiu shook her head. She remained clear-headed, never arrogant. This grounded perspective was precisely why she, as a rogue cultivator, could establish herself in the cultivation world.

“You should collect these items. I imagine they will all be useful to you.” Su Hanxing gestured towards a small pile of spirit pills and magical artifacts on the ground. These were items he had extorted from the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion disciples under the pretense of compensating Chi Qiu for her injuries.

“It’s a pity he adamantly refused to hand over that great saber. That saber was truly peculiar.” Chi Qiu did not refuse. With a sweep of her hand, channeling her true qi, she gathered all the scattered treasures into her storage ring.

“That great saber is not particularly valuable. The reason it can unleash formless and traceless qi-blades is due to the unique cultivation method of the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion,” Su Hanxing explained to Chi Qiu with a smile.

“Oh? The Heavenly Abyss Pavilion’s method is actually so miraculous?” Even if Chi Qiu coveted it now, she would find it difficult to cultivate this method.

“The Heavenly Abyss Pavilion is extremely mysterious. This method is likely related to the forbidden land, the Heavenly Abyss. His unwillingness to give you the saber was probably out of concern for the sect’s secrets being exposed.”

Chi Qiu nodded. That cultivator’s attitude had been resolute, showing a willingness to perish together, which was why the two of them had given up on taking the jet-black saber.

“I thought you would slaughter every one of the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion disciples. I never expected you to let them go.” Chi Qiu changed the subject, turning to look at Su Hanxing beside her.

“Am I such a bloodthirsty person? Besides, the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion is no ordinary sect; it’s not wise to make an enemy of them.” Su Hanxing shook his head and began pacing. He then added, “Previously, the Meng family gathered over a dozen God Concealing stage cultivators to ambush and kill me, which is why I slaughtered every God Concealing stage cultivator within their stronghold. But these Heavenly Abyss Pavilion cultivators have no past grievances with me, so why would I kill them?”

Chi Qiu nodded, then asked, “What about the disciples from the other Eight Great Sects? You promised those three to help ambush and kill them. Do you have any enmity with them?”

Su Hanxing was somewhat curious why Chi Qiu would ask him this, but he didn’t evade the question, instead answering candidly, “No enmity. I won’t make a move against them either, unless they strike first.”

“Why? Haven’t you already agreed to help them?” Chi Qiu couldn’t help but feel confused, seeing Su Hanxing so self-assured.

“I only swore an oath not to reveal the map information and to form an alliance with them. I never said I would join them in dealing with the disciples of the Eight Great Sects.” Su Hanxing smirked slyly. “My Tianyan Sect is far inferior in strength to the Eight Great Sects; we cannot afford to make enemies of them. As for the Imperial Family… hmph.” Su Hanxing let out a disdainful snort.

“What about the Imperial Family?” Chi Qiu leaned closer to Su Hanxing, curious.

“If they want to move against the Eight Great Sect disciples, why would they need our strength? Who could possibly stop the eight hundred Black Armored Imperial Guards they brought into the Yinglong Tomb?” Su Hanxing turned to see Chi Qiu’s small, inquisitive face, and his expression softened considerably as he explained with a smile.

“But Qi Feng said…” Chi Qiu asked in confusion.

“Just an excuse. Once the Imperial Guards are dispatched from the Imperial City, blood is bound to be shed. The previous incident in the Imperial Family’s forbidden land caused the Imperial Family to lose face completely. Now, the emergence of this Yinglong Tomb is a heaven-sent opportunity, and the Imperial Family will certainly launch a fierce counterattack.”

Su Hanxing reached out, placing a hand lightly on Chi Qiu’s shoulder, and leaned closer to her face, adding, “When immortals clash, it’s best for small fries like us not to get involved, lest we become collateral damage. Little Chi, as a rogue cultivator, it’s normal that you don’t understand the implications of these conflicts between sects.”

Chi Qiu felt the slight weight on her shoulder and frowned. “I never realized you had such a personality. Everyone in the cultivation world says you are upright and honorable, treating others with the warmth of a spring breeze. But now, it seems…”

“Just rumors. If I were truly a benevolent person, I would have died in some forgotten corner long ago.” Su Hanxing dismissed it nonchalantly.

That makes sense, Chi Qiu thought. Perhaps being a rogue cultivator has its benefits, at least it saves one from a lot of scheming and internal strife. Chi Qiu was no child; though her appearance suggested she was only seventeen or eighteen, she had actually reached the age of thirty. Thus, after a brief moment of thought, she understood the entire situation.

“Is my image in Little Chi’s heart also like those rumors? That would truly be an honor.” Su Hanxing teased, watching Chi Qiu’s pensive expression.

“You’ve never had a good image in my heart.” Chi Qiu replied without the slightest hesitation.

Su Hanxing froze for a moment at her words, then gave a sheepish laugh and said nothing further.

“Let’s see how to open this door. Since those Heavenly Abyss Pavilion cultivators tried for so long, there must be treasures hidden within.” The two remained silent for a while before Su Hanxing finally broke the silence.

Chi Qiu nodded. She stepped forward alone, approaching the refined iron gate. The gate was approximately ten zhang high and seven or eight zhang wide, seamless and incredibly thick and sturdy. Chi Qiu reached out, gently caressed the gate, then exerted a slight force with her body. The refined iron gate remained as unmoving as a mountain, without the slightest tremor.

“Hehehehe… This door can’t be opened with brute force, Little Chi. Look here.” Su Hanxing cheerfully walked to the refined iron gate, pointing a finger at a glowing purple indentation on its surface.

“What is this?” Her attempt yielded no results, but she wasn’t annoyed. If the door could be opened so easily, the Heavenly Abyss Pavilion cultivators wouldn’t have lingered before the door for so long.

“This is the mechanism to open the gate. It requires being infused with a specific type of true qi or demonic energy to open. Without it, one can only forcibly blast it open with a vast amount of true qi. Those Heavenly Abyss Pavilion disciples had that idea, but it seems they failed.” Su Hanxing, being knowledgeable, naturally recognized what it was.

“Special true qi? Would my true qi, fused with a bit of Yinglong divine power, work?” Her eyes lit up.

“Worth a try.” Su Hanxing nodded, looking full of confidence.

Chi Qiu immediately channeled true qi into her palm. Soon, a pale blue true qi laced with streaks of gold formed in her hand. Chi Qiu aimed at the glowing purple indentation on the gate and slammed her true qi onto it.

Rumble—

The moment Chi Qiu struck it with her true qi, the gate emitted a tremendous roar. Dust billowed, and the ground trembled as the refined iron gate slowly began to open, golden light spilling forth from beyond.

“It truly works!” Chi Qiu couldn’t hide her joy as she turned to look at Su Hanxing.

Seeing the gate open and radiant golden light pouring out, Su Hanxing immediately activated his true qi and set up a simple illusion array outside the door. “There’s no time to lose; let’s go in quickly.” After setting up the array, Su Hanxing turned to see Chi Qiu still standing still and urged her.

Chi Qiu nodded, channeled her true qi to disperse the swirling dust, and stepped inside the gate.

Beyond the door was a small secret chamber, entirely forged from refined iron, with walls three zhang thick. The chamber itself was about twenty zhang long and wide.

“Such thick refined iron walls, with traces of demonic energy tempering them. No wonder they’re so sturdy.” Su Hanxing also entered the chamber, reaching out to touch the refined iron wall as he exclaimed.

Chi Qiu’s gaze, however, was drawn to an object hovering in the center of the chamber. It was a gigantic scale, approximately one zhang tall and seven chi wide, as magnificent as golden glazed tile, captivating anyone who beheld it. Golden lightning pulsed and flickered intermittently across its surface, and the golden light emanating from the chamber was the light of this lightning.

Though the scale was an inanimate object, Chi Qiu could feel an ancient and supremely dangerous aura emanating from it. As the golden lightning flickered, a destructive aura pulsed within.

“This should be a Yinglong scale. I wonder if it’s the legendary inverse scale,” Su Hanxing mused, looking at the massive dragon scale before them. The giant scale appeared within the Yinglong Tomb, and the same golden lightning that emanated from the Yinglong’s phantom pulsed upon it. Reaching this conclusion was not difficult.

“This dragon scale definitely can’t be stored in a spatial artifact. The golden lightning on it is so potent that even I might not be able to withstand it. Storing it in a spatial artifact would likely destroy it in moments.” Su Hanxing once again moved closer to Chi Qiu. Chi Qiu took a subtle step forward, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Su Hanxing, not understanding why he always seemed to cling to her.

“Then what should we do?” Chi Qiu looked pleadingly at Su Hanxing. Su Hanxing possessed far more cultivation knowledge than Chi Qiu, so whenever Chi Qiu encountered something she didn’t understand or found difficult to comprehend, she would immediately consult him.

“This Yinglong scale is a first for me too. Let me think…” Su Hanxing, who Chi Qiu usually considered omniscient, was now at a loss.

“I’ll try touching it with my true qi first. You guard me.” Seeing Su Hanxing lost in thought, and recalling that she had used true qi fused with Yinglong divine power to open the gate, Chi Qiu decided to attempt it first.

“It’s likely very dangerous…” Su Hanxing’s brows furrowed deeply; he was quite worried.

“What opportunity worth seizing isn’t fraught with danger? Delay only invites trouble.” Chi Qiu dismissed his concern. Cultivation itself was a path of defying the heavens, so encountering some danger was perfectly normal.

“Alright, I’ll first set up some arrays to conceal the corridor outside the door. Then you can close the great gate, and after that, try to make contact with this dragon scale.” Seeing that Chi Qiu’s mind was made up, Su Hanxing stopped trying to dissuade her.

Chi Qiu nodded.