Chapter 666: The Incredibly Great—

"Brothers, do help a brother out this time..." As he spoke of his woes, Dong Tianleng wiped his tears away which were quickly replaced by new ones. His face was full of mucus and tears - he did not resemble even the slightest bit of his lawless, unruly self back. "I-I can't bear to live anymore..."

The mustard was truly effective!

The crowd was clearly astounded by his bizarre antics as they mused beneath their breaths. "Has this boy gone out of his mind?"

"Sigh... it is hard to explain in just a few words..." Dong Tianleng continued to blubber. "Perhaps I have been spending to much time in the limelight recently, inciting jealousy at every corner. I'm not saying that only a dimwit wouldn't incur envy of course, but... sigh, it was just yesterday when I was targeted by ill-intentioned men. The two pieces of a treasure map... they were gone within a single exchange of glances... sigh..."

Reaching this part, his face was already full of tears and unspoken sorrow; his acting was truly on point.

"What then?" Everybody clearly prioritized their curiosity more than anything else. Whatever had happened to this chap yesterday was already public knowledge; his reaction to it had everyone impressed to the core - how much more stupid could he get?

"I didn't pay much mind at first, but it was only after some inquiries that I realized how big of a mess I have created..." Dong Tianleng cried out in frustration. "The fur hide yesterday was indestructible and impenetrable. From the looks of it, it seems to be the fur hide of a mythical beast from the legends, and if I am not mistaken, it could be dragonhide..."

Gasps of astonishment could be heard from the masses.

"I believe everybody present today are knowledgeable, learned seniors, so you must have heard of this item that has been mentioned since the beginning of time in the land of Tiaxuan, be it in official documents, personal recounts, or even in the records of novels - a treasure map carved out of dragonhide, the one and only one in the world..."

Dong Tianleng's face was now full of remorse as if a treasure had landed on his lap and had been taken away at the very next moment. "How precious! How rare! And I... I-I'd just..."

He could no longer bear to continue upon reaching this point, his tears raining down in torrents.

A young master amongst the crowd could not hold in his curiosity any longer. "What sort of treasure map is it? Why does Brother Dong seem to know a lot about it? A piece of news this tantalizing has to be shared right this moment!"

"Absolutely! You have to tell us everything - from the beginning, please - for us to help you! What kind of help do you need? How can we help?"

"What's happening? If you don't explain it clearly, how do we participate? How do we get involved? It would be bad if our help worsens the situation or causes it to fall into even more trouble than it already is in!"

....

Opinions rose and fell incessantly.

Dong Tianleng calmed his emotions down. After half a beat, he proceeded to explain himself amidst tearful sobs.

"To protect myself at this point, I cannot help but be more thick-skinned by seeking help from my brothers... I have no qualms about telling everyone about this, but please, help me - don't just leave me be! I only knew about this after inquiring more about it; the dragonhide treasure map was rumored to have originated from one of the legendary beings who appeared on our land eons ago. This legendary being was also known as the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss..."

"The Seventeenth Master of the Abyss... !"

"Hiss—"

"Hiss—"

"Hiss..."

Waves of sharp inhalations could be heard.

A solemn expression was suddenly etched upon every face in the room.

The original owner of the dragon hide treasure map was the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss? Now it did not seem too strange that the treasure map was carved out of dragonhide!

This was an incredibly esteemed, legendary character!

The so-called Unrivaled Experts, Unrivaled Swordsmen, or those of similar accomplishments were worth nothing when compared to the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss - they did not even resemble the dregs of society!

...

After the era of the Gods, it was the time that civilizations developed, and the continent was undergoing a massive change. Land was first discovered and the birth of humankind came after; any earlier traces had already been erased by the ever-changing seas and scape, deeply buried beneath this land.

Yet, in one fateful month of a random year, a person emerged out of the blue, calling himself the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss - his legend was thus created!

The so-called first ever record of a legend was referring to the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss and his unknown origin. However, he had adopted Seventeenth as his nickname ever since he made his appearance. There was a record of someone asking him; why are you the Seventeenth?

Seventeenth Master explained. "Where I was from, there were sixteen other elders before me who had already ascended into immortality. They had become the masters of the world, reigning over heaven and earth! How can a descendant like me, who came after them in the seventeenth place, hope to adopt the titles of my elders, when my sole wish was to merely keep up with their pace?"

The biggest revelation from that statement was that there were actually sixteen other similar individuals before the Seventeenth Master. For example, the First Master of the Abyss, the Eleventh Master of the Abyss - so on and so forth; without exceptions, they had all ascended to the heavens, attaining immortality.

The land was overwhelmed by shock over such sensational news when the truth was revealed!

Of course, this truth was based on the premise that the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss was rivaled by none ever since his appearance, and this was on the basis where there were no equals across the whole of Tianxuan. Eventually, there seemed to be no worthy adversaries even after going through the borderless oceans, the endless snow-capped mountains, and the boundless forests... he was left alone at his own leisure.

Another outcome he had gathered from his state of leisure was the innumerable rare mystical beasts that had perished under his hands. It seemed that many powerful species that had low means of reproduction had gone extinct and vanished forever from the face of the world. Until much later, where he felt truly unrivaled in the mortal world, he gave a long sigh and said, "A sea of heroes in this world, yet none was a worthy match; why should I subject myself to a state like this - a lonely and miserable life? Very well, I should find another place to sharpen my skills."

"Alas, Tianxuan, the Great Continent - a land blessed with a multitude of heroes, yet none of which, a worthy prodigy? The Seventeenth shall slaughter one dragon today, and a special map shall be etched upon its hide before it is left beneath these skies. Should one man be fated to lay hands upon it, he shall be bestowed with the entire arsenal of my wisdom; hopefully, after many years, we will meet in the heavens!"

As he finished, he grabbed a dragon from the borderless ocean and slashed at it with a sword. He obtained a piece of dragonhide from its neck and inscribed a map upon it, then, after a moment's thought, tore it into six pieces and exhaled a breath of air upon them, spreading them across the whole of Tianxuan.

Upon completing these gestures, the Seventeenth Master then proclaimed. "Behold, the First Master and the rest of the elders above - the Seventeenth shall ascend now!"

In a flash, his body ascended into the mass of clouds. At the very same moment, thunders roared and rumbled before the descending darkness as a path to the heavens appeared, allowing a short glimpse of the world beyond. As the Seventeenth took his leap of ascension, heaven's path disappeared along with him.

The Seventeenth Master had since vanished from the mortal realm.

All of the above was the truth!

No matter how long it had been since this event took place in history, it was still an undeniable, non-negligible legacy!

The existence of a legendary being as such would certainly tickle the imaginative minds of the masses, and his legacy would certainly be yearned and desired by many. However, in many years, there was not even the slightest clue of the dragonhide treasure map. To think about it, it was pretty reasonable - anyone who had a piece of the map would undoubtedly treasure it themselves and not reveal it to anybody else.

Tens of thousands of years stood between this myth and the present day. After all this time, the six pieces of dragon hide treasure maps never once did surface in this world, and there was never the appearance of a powerful being like the Seventeenth Master ever again. It had gradually became a myth - a passed-down anecdote - which was half-forgotten by the masses in the present. If it was not for the shocking incident yesterday, not many would have associated that with this long-forgotten tale.

The so-called hide of a mythical beast - dragonhide, in other words - was only meant to exist in myths. Hence, who had really encountered a dragon in this present world? How about the existence of other mythical beasts?!

Now, however, it was all because of one man!

A great man!

A great dumbf*ck!

Before everyone's eyes, he burned it with fire and sliced it with a saber, thoroughly proving that such an indestructible, impregnable hide existed in this world. It was, unquestionably, a precious item!

Undeniably, this was an incredibly great dumbf*ck!

Someone had been backed into a corner from having the two pieces of maps in his possession but had stuffed them in his embrace as a distraction that stemmed from a spontaneous improvisation of plans. Initially, judging from the extents of his vision and extensive experiences, the person did not think that any clue of its existence would be discovered and had planned to discreetly retrieve it afterward...

Due to this incredibly great dumbf*ck's usual foppish way of conduct, he had blatantly made this known to the public just to satisfy his frustration!

Coincidentally, this dumbf*ck actually possessed some of his senses, be it his cultivation base, experience or knowledge. First, he desired to destroy without a care by way of revenge to the person who came up with the improvisation plan. He then developed a fear over the indestructible nature of the treasure map and had directly attempted to destroy it with the exquisite, treasured saber. However, his impulsive reaction had only served to highlight that this treasure map was indeed the dragon hide treasure map of legend!

In the end, it was inevitably stolen by a covetous observer in the shadows!

To sum it up simply, it was like someone had placed a bank note worth half the world's riches in your arms, which you then took out to examine if it was genuine... and when you confirmed it was, it had been pilfered by someone else— How much more could this...

Everybody suddenly recalled all these upon Dong Tianleng's mention of the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss.

At that moment, the looks directed at Dong Tianleng were full of complicated emotions.

'Your father has never been impressed by a dumbf*ck, but I must admit that I am terribly impressed by this dumbf*ck before me!'