Chapter 498: Using the Mystic Crystal
Hearing the words, Hao Ren was slightly surprised.
Hao Ren didn't know that until now, Zhao Kuo still hadn't used the Seven-Core Five-Color Lotus he had given him.
Zhao Guang's face turned serious as well. "Good. We must be careful with it, and I'll triple the guarding forces around the Purple Bamboo Island. You can use it without interruption!"
"Thank you, Big Brother!" Zhao Kuo cupped his hands and strode into the palace through the viewing deck.
"Fuma, here is your robe!" Premier Xia returned to the viewing deck with a blue robe.
Hao Ren pulled it on and turned to Zhao Hongyu. "Is it dangerous to use a mystic crystal?"
"Of course." Zhao Hongyu nodded. "After all, it's against the laws of nature to cultivate and take the life essence from nature. It's a blessing from nature for the dragon cultivators to have dragon cores, and it's natural that one can't gain any progress after reaching Dui-level. Planting the mystic crystal into the body is against nature, so it's a very dangerous practice."
Hao Ren understood the situation now. Although Zhao Kuo succeeded before, it didn't mean that he could successfully plant the mystic crystal this time, which explained why Zhao Guang and Zhao Kuo suddenly got so serious.
All Qian-level and Kun-level masters including Su Han had experienced life-and-death moments, and many had died in the process of planting the mystic crystals into their dragon cores after acquiring the materials.
Accepting the Seven-Core Five-Color Lotus from Hao Ren, Zhao Kuo was also doing the experiment for Hao Ren!
After all, none of the previous dragon cultivators had ever cultivated five elements at once before!
Also, none of the dragon cultivators had tried planting a mystic crystal that had all five elements into their dragon cores.
With his cultivation experience, Zhao Kuo was experimenting at the cost of his life. He was trying things out and teaching them to Hao Ren, just like how he had taught everything he knew about the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll to Hao Ren!
At this thought, Hao Ren had zero regrets for giving Zhao Kuo the Seven-Core Five-Color Lotus. Instead, he felt more respect for Zhao Kuo.
Da! Da... Concerned for Zhao Kuo, Zhao Yanzi immediately turned and ran toward the palace.
Feeling uneasy, Hao Ren also hurried into the palace.
"Third Uncle! Third Uncle!" Zhao Yanzi called out.
Zhao Kuo paused and looked at Zhao Yanzi while a smile appeared on his black face. "Zi, your third uncle will be fine."
"Third Uncle even survived the Heavenly Tribulation. I'm sure you'll be fine!" Zhao Yanzi said confidently.
"Yeah!" Zhao Kuo nodded and glanced at Hao Ren who just jogged over. "Kid, I'll fight you again after I plant the mystic crystal! And you must use all your strength!"
"Ok!" Hao Ren promised.
Elder Xingyue walked over and said. "I... will guard for you."
The gentle words contained infinite care.
Zhao Kuo stared at her for a few seconds and cupped his hands. "Thank you."
"Pu!" Even Hao Ren felt like Zhao Kuo was a bit too dull.
"You're welcome." Elder Xingyue waved her hand and walked toward the secret chamber in the Summer Palace with Zhao Kuo.
"Eh, these two..." Exasperated, Hao Ren followed them while holding Zhao Yanzi's hand.
Zhao Kuo and Elder Xingyue entered the secret chamber while Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi had to stay outside.
One must make full preparations before using a mystic crystal, and the cultivator who would act as the guard must possess a high realm and a close connection with the cultivator they guarded. This way, the guarding cultivators could offer help at the critical moment.
Elder Xingyue was guarding for Zhao Kuo, which meant that their minds were in sync.
With the stone door of the secret chamber closed, Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren stood outside without any knowledge of the situation inside.
A while later, Zhao Guang, Zhao Hongyu, Elder Lu, and Elder Sun came to the door of the secret chamber one after another.
"Mom, will Third Uncle be Ok?" Zhao Yanzi asked anxiously.
"Silly girl, what are you talking about!" Zhao Hongyu glanced at her helplessly. "It takes at least one day to use the mystic crystal. I guess your third uncle will be fine since he did it before."
She didn't sound very convincing. After all, no one could be certain about what would happen during the process, especially when the mystic crystal had all five elements.
Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang didn't plant mystic crystals into their dragon cores because they didn't want to get to higher realms. Zhao Guang was busy managing the East Ocean Dragon Clan and didn't have enough time for cultivation while Zhao Hongyu wasn't sure if she could succeed and didn't want Zhao Yanzi to lose her mom in the process.
Zhao Yanzi clenched her fist anxiously.
She hadn't been born yet when Zhao Kuo planted his mystic crystal last time. However, Zhao Kuo's failure while he charged at the Heavenly Dragon Realm left a deep impression on her mind.
She hoped that nothing would happen to her third uncle.
"Your majesty, we tripled the guarding forces around the Purple Bamboo Island." Premier Xia came to the door of the secret chamber and reported to Zhao Guang.
"Ok." Zhao Guang nodded gravely.
He looked at the stone door of the secret chamber anxiously.
After all, he had a deep brotherly bond with Zhao Kuo who was also the only master who could charge at the Heavenly Dragon Realm in the East Ocean Dragon Clan.
Most of the dragon cultivators who reached peak Qian-level were at least 800 to 900 years old. If they failed to pass the Heavenly Tribulation, they would be turned into dust. Even if they survived, they wouldn't have another chance to charge at Heavenly Dragon Realm again.
However, Zhao Kuo was only two hundred years old when he failed, and he could start over again. What did the Heavenly Dragon Realm mean? It meant a transformation of the entire situation!
In any case, Zhao Guang hoped no accident would happen in the process while Zhao Kuo used the mystic crystal.
As time ticked on, the secret chamber remained quiet.
Hao Ren's heart was in his throat, and Zhao Yanzi grabbed Hao Ren's wrist nervously as sweat began to seep from her slim fingers.
"Premier Xia, how much time has passed?" Zhao Hongyu asked suddenly.
"Dragon Queen, 12 hours have passed," Premier Xia answered.
"12 hours..." Zhao Hongyu murmured to herself before glancing at the grey stone door tensely.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Huge noises suddenly came from the outside of the palace.
Startled by the noise, Hao Ren looked toward Zhao Guang.
"Ren, Zi, Elder Lu, Elder Sun, go out and help with the defense!" Zhao Guang issued the order.
Even though he didn't understand the situation, Hao Ren followed Elder Sun and ran up to the ground through the stairs, and Zhao Yanzi followed Hao Ren closely.
When Hao Ren ran outside of the palace with Elder Lu, he realized that crazy wind and thick clouds were forming around the Purple Bamboo Island.
The heavy dark clouds swept toward the Purple Bamboo Island while ocean waves as high as five to six meters crashed against the edges of the island.
If the Summer Palace were built lower on the mountain, such giant waves would have swallowed the palace!
Under the crushing force of the ocean waves, the red energy sphere blinked. Since it was only built to block the sight of mortals, it couldn't even keep the rain out.
When a storm came a few days ago, Hao Ren was drenched in the rain while he cultivated in the Purple Bamboo Forest.
The reason the energy sphere became unstable was probably that the spirit stones which were used to build it had been loosened by the crashing ocean waves.
"Elder Lu, what's wrong?" Hao Ren asked.
"Demon beasts!" Lu Qing said two words while he looked around cautiously. "Third Lord is using the mystic crystal, and it has caused some special temporary changes in nature, attracting the demon beasts to this place."
"Most of these demon beasts are very close to the Transformation Realm and are looking for chances to pass the Heavenly Tribulation. That is why they came here," Elder Sun added.
Situated in the deep sea, the Purple Bamboo Island was not far from the Demon Sea. Therefore, the violent changes in nature attracted large groups of demon beasts.
However, if Zhao Kuo used the mystic crystal in the East Ocean Dragon Palace which was close to the coastline, the violent changes in the weather would affect the mortals!
"Don't worry, Gongzi Hao. These demon beasts came here to seek thunder tribulation and usually won't attack Purple Bamboo Island," Elder Sun told him.
"Humph! We'll kill all of them if they attack us!" Zhao Yanzi said with confidence.
Boom! A huge whale emerged from the ocean.
More than 300 meters long, the huge whale opened its huge red mouth, and large amounts of ocean water poured in.
Astonished, Zhao Yanzi swallowed her boasting words.
The moment the huge whale appeared, another giant black fish came out of the ocean, and it was more than ten times bigger compared with the huge whale. It looked like a small island that suddenly emerged from the ocean.
The black fish shot out a black beam of light from its mouth and immediately cut the huge whale into two halves. The remains of the huge whale turned into a pile of flesh, and the gigantic black fish instantly swallowed its white internal core.
Dumbfounded, Zhao Yanzi was at a loss for words with the longsword in hand.
"Whole island on guard!" Premier Xia stood on the high platform at the mountaintop and called out.
The troops there were under Zhao Kuo's command. Since Zhao Kuo was planting the mystic crystal, Premier Xia took his place in this urgent situation.
"Yes!"
More than 5,000 soldiers all over the island answered in unison.
The soldiers lifted their long spears, pointing them outward of the island. They were ready to strike down any demon beasts that tried to attack the island.
Boom! Boom!
Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed in the dark clouds.
As a cultivator who had broken through several realms, Hao Ren knew that cultivators' elevations of realms would cause special changes in nature, a symbol of communication between the cultivators, heaven, and earth.
The higher the realms of the cultivators, the more violent the changes in nature would be. The violent storm with lightning and thunder represented the violent reactions inside Zhao Kuo's body!
Hua! Hua!
Two huge pythons shot up into the sky from the ocean
Whipping at the ocean surface with their tails that were as thick as a skyscraper, they flew up into the high sky with great efforts.
Crack! Crack!
Two bolts of heavenly lightning shot down from the dark clouds and struck the bodies of the two pythons.
After cultivating in the ocean for years, the two pythons would go through the Heavenly Tribulations in a few years before reaching the Transformation Realm. Feeling the special changes in nature, they had swum here from a distance since the streaks of heaven lightning caused by a high-level cultivator's elevation in realm might give them a chance to transform into humans beforehand.
Even if they couldn't transform this time, they would get a feeling of the heaven lightning, which could help them pass the future Heavenly Tribulation.
Bang! Bang! Struck by two streaks of heaven lightning on the heads, the two pythons fell into the ocean, sending up huge waves as high as 100 meters.
Having never seen such a view, Zhao Yanzi was stupefied while she watched.
"Princess, some demon beasts don't dare to fight with the heaven lightning. But due to their grudges against the East Ocean Dragon Clan, they probably would take the opportunity to attack the Purple Bamboo Island. You must be careful," Elder Sun warned her when he saw the dazed expression on her face.