Chapter 838: Assistance from Rui Jin
Although the Class 9 dragon soul had the ability to damage the saint artifact, just dragonflames were not enough to deal anything significant. At most, it could just heat up the saint artifact.
The saint artifact stared at the scorching dragonflames and transformed into a golden streak of light, shooting across the sky. It directly shot out of the dragonflames and flew toward the exterior of the Fantasy Star Ocean.
Roar!
The golden Class 9 dragon soul produced a long roar once again. Shortly afterward, it shrunk to only a hundred meters in length, flying out of the necropolis in pursuit of the saint artifact. It clearly did not intend to let it go.
Afterward, a few more Class 9 dragon souls also shot out of the necropolis with shrunken bodies and chased the artifact with lightning speed.
Currently, the artifact was being completely piloted by the artifact spirit. Its speed absolutely could not match the Class 9 dragon souls; they possessed the abilities of their former lives they caught up instantly. One of the Class 9 dragon souls directly opened its mouth and bit at the saint artifact.
Screech!
The Class 9 dragon soul’s ethereal-looking teeth seemed tangible. Its teeth were extremely tough and intense sparks were produced as it scrapped the artifact. Combined with the screeching of metal, the dragon’s sharp teeth actually left a shallow mark on the artifact.
The golden glow of the artifact grew brighter and brighter as it began to tremble violently. It immediately shot out of the dragon soul’s mouth just as the dragon soul widened its jaws again. The artifact flew into the distance with even greater speed than before.
Although the artifact spirit also possessed the strength of a Saint Emperor, it could only be wholly used inside the artifact space. If it were outside, it would struggle to even deal with a Saint Ruler.
This was because the artifact was not primarily an offensive treasure, so the power of its attacks outside was pitiful.
In the direction the artifact fled, the space suddenly cracked open. A blurry and huge dragon claw swept downward at the artifact. This ordinary-looking strike was filled with great amounts of dragon aura. Wherever the claw passed by, the surrounding space would immediately rip and produce a space of empty darkness.
Cling!
The sharp claws forcefully swept across the saint artifact. The fist-sized artifact was immediately sent flying faraway and a clear scratch appeared on it.
Even the space within the artifact was greatly affected by this heavy strike. The entire space began to tremble violently and the hazy white sky constantly churned. It was as if a serpent was swimming around, causing the clouds to surge and the space to tremble.
Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress had already emerged from their secluded cultivation. They had already received the notification from the artifact spirit. They currently stood side by side in the air as they stared grimly at the constantly-trembling artifact space.
“What’s happened? Have the dragon souls outside discovered us?” An odd light flickered through the Heavenly Enchantress’s mesmerizing eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed with faint worry.
This was because she knew extremely well that the most dangerous aspect of the Fantasy Star Ocean was certainly those mindless dragon souls. It was definitely not those fallen living corpses or the region full of formations.
If they encountered the living corpses or formations, there was a chance for victory or escape. On the other hand, once they met dragon souls, it would be almost guaranteed death. Even supreme Saint Kings would face the danger of dying because once they provoked one dragon soul, it would draw in even more dragon souls with greater strength.
“Artifact spirit, what’s the situation outside.” Jian Chen asked with a gruff voice.
“Master, we’re currently facing the attacks from several Saint Emperor dragon souls,” the artifact spirit’s grim voice sounded out of nowhere.
Both Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress sucked in a breath of cold air and they paled slightly.
“Several Saint Emperor dragon souls!”
As soon as they thought of this line-up that was already invincible on the Tian Yuan Continent, they felt their mouths go dry and a feeling of despair permeated their minds.
“Artifact spirit, do you have confidence in escaping from the Class 9 dragon souls, and can those dragon souls break through the artifact?” Jian Chen asked gruffly once again. Currently, the saint artifact was their only hope. If they left the artifact space, they would certainly die against the Class 9 dragon souls.
After all, these dragon souls possessed no intelligence. There were no chances of negotiation.
“The dragon souls still possess abilities from their former lives. If they use secret techniques of the Dragon clan and strike with their full strength, the saint artifact will not be able to sustain attacks from that degree. Master, I will do all I can and see if we can escape from them,” the artifact spirit’s voice boomed sternly. At this moment, the artifact spirit had completely lost its calm and cool because it was also dancing on the edge of life or death now.
Inside the Fantasy Star Ocean, the tower-shaped golden saint artifact was sent flying by the Class 9 dragon soul. It directly collided with a great boulder that was a dozen or so kilometers away and was deeply imbedded in it.
Bang!
Shortly afterward, the boulder exploded. The saint artifact shot out as it glowed with dense golden light, transforming into a golden streak of light as it flew along the ground through the messy mountains. Using the rocks as cover, it quickly fled toward the outskirts of the Fantasy Star Ocean. It could only shake off the Class 9 dragon souls behind if it left this place.
The dragon souls all roared one after another from behind, closely pursuing the saint artifact. They seemed to be pursuing enemies from blood feuds, unwilling to give up. The surroundings that the dragon souls passed would immediately face destruction. If it did not turn into chasms thousands of meters deep, it would become a land of magma or an icebound plain. This was all due to their dragonbreaths, which would destroy countless heavenly resources permanently.
However, in the process of fleeing, the saint artifact received a few more attacks. The markings on the artifact increased but fortunately, the Class 9 dragon souls did not use any secret techniques. Otherwise, the damage to the saint artifact would not be limited to this.
Meanwhile, the artifact was also knocked about the depths of the Fantasy Star Ocean. After half a day of fleeing, it still remained in the deepest parts.
As the saint artifact was knocked flying by a Class 9 dragon soul, Rui Jin suddenly appeared beside it with Hei Yu this time. Rui Jin directly grabbed the saint artifact and with a flash, he disappeared with Hei Yu.
The dragon souls growled deeply as they flew past the saint artifact’s previous location, slowly coming to a stop. They all floated around mid-air as they looked about with their huge dragon heads, searching for the artifact’s presence.
Rui Jin stood on a cliff over ten kilometers away with a hand on the artifact. He radiated with a great dragon aura, concealing the presences of the saint artifact and Hei Yu. He was a member of the Dragon clan himself, so he did not become a target of the dragon soul’s attacks.
“Artifact spirit, only by following me can you be safe here. Otherwise, you won’t be able to escape from the island at all,” Rui Jin said deeply. Meanwhile, he stared at the golden, hundred-meter long Class 9 dragon soul far away with mixed emotions. The gaze was sorrowful.
A thought emerged from the saint artifact. The artifact spirit was currently communicating with Rui Jin. After a while, Rui Jin glanced toward the mutated Divine Alligator beside him. “Hei Yu, it’ll probably be a few days before the island can recover its peace. Having you always following me is still not safe in the end. You should return to the artifact space first, where you might as well borrow the artifact spirit’s origin energy of Radiant Saint Force to heal your missing arm.
Hei Yu glanced at the Class 9 dragon souls with some lingering fear, before nodding silently.
Afterward, a white light shot out from the artifact. It enveloped Hei Yu before disappearing, sucking him into the artifact space.
Rui Jin carried the palm-sized saint artifact in his hand. He looked toward the Class 9 golden dragon again. It was pacing around, as it had lost track of the artifact’s presence. With mixed emotions, Rui Jin slowly kneeled down. From afar, he bowed his head down nine times toward the Class 9 dragon soul and said, “Grandson pays respects to ancestor.”
…
Rui Jin did not leave the island. Instead, he took the saint artifact with him to a safe area and carved out a cave, temporarily settling down to wait for everything to calm down outside.
Inside the artifact space, Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress remained floating in the air grimly. They had no idea about the situation outside.
At this very moment, the space before the two rippled violently. Shortly afterward, a black-robed old man appeared out of nowhere. To no surprise, it was Hei Yu, the mutated Divine Alligator.
Hei Yu’s sudden appearance immediately caused the Heavenly Enchantress to narrow her eyes. The Heavenly Enchantress did not know about the details of the saint artifact, so she thought that Hei Yu wanted to do horrible things to them. She immediately became cautious.
When Jian Chen saw Hei Yu properly, his eyes also narrowed abruptly. He had obviously recognized Hei Yu and asked out of reflex, “Why would you appear here?”
Hei Yu glanced passed Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress indifferently. He paid no attention to them and instead said to the empty space, “I hope sir artifact spirit can heal my missing arm.”
The artifact spirit appeared out of nowhere. He saw Jian Chen’s doubt and immediately opened his mouth and said, “Master…” The artifact spirit explained what happened outside to Jian Chen. When they learned that the Golden Divine Dragon, Rui Jin, was currently using his dragon aura to conceal the saint artifact and that there were now safe, the two of them could not help but relax slightly.
However, when Hei Yu was shocked when he heard the artifact spirit refer to Jian Chen as master. A storm brewed in his heart; he was perturbed. Hei Yu had stayed in the artifact space for thousands of years. He knew extremely well just how powerful the artifact spirit was. It was an existence that could rival human Saint Rulers, yet currently, the powerful spirit took a mere Saint Ruler as a master completely willingly. It was unbelievable to him.
However, Hei Yu soon remembered that even the Winged Tiger God was with Jian Chen, so his doubts disappeared. He could already tell that Jian Chen was extraordinary, his background and origin was probably beyond imagination.
Realising this, Hei Yu’s gaze toward Jian Chen immediately experienced some changes. He no longer dared to look down on Jian Chen, who was a mere Saint Ruler.
Only at this moment did Jian Chen realize that Hei Yu’s left sleeve was empty. He asked out of curiosity, “Senior, is your arm missing due to the Class 9 dragon souls outside?”
If it was before, Hei Yu would not bother responding to Jian Chen’s question with his status. However, it was different now. He said indifferently, “My arm was not severed by the Class 9 dragon souls but by a weird formation in the sky of the island.”
With that, his thoughts jumped to a conclusion. He immediately thought of the forbidden sky ten meters above. He gained a clear understanding of just how terrifying it was once again. He had never thought that even the mutated Divine Alligator would also need to pay such a great price as a Saint King of the Eighth Heavenly Layer.