365: Chapter 365 Bullying the Small

The atmosphere gradually grew silent.

The middle-aged man from the Dragon Clan calmly opened the box, took out a piece of broken bone, and held it in his hand, pointing it at the Fifth Elder.

After moving past his initial fear and worry, the Fifth Elder also calmed down, his expression remaining arrogant.

He pulled out a ruler from a long case, pointed it at the middle-aged Dragon, and stepped forward.

"What, you think holding a piece of heavenly balance is going to scare me?"

The middle-aged Dragon didn't waste words, directly pressing the hand holding the broken bone against the Fifth Elder's face.

"Try me!"

The Fifth Elder was full of disdain, turning his face to the side to make it easier for the other to act.

"Go ahead! Don't you know who I am? Do you think I'm afraid of death? Go ahead!"

At this moment, many of the humans and Yao present lowered their heads or turned away, unable to help but feel nervous.

Seeing that the opponent didn't take any further action after he turned his face, the Fifth Elder breathed a sigh of relief and then tried to rest his ruler on the other's neck.

Unexpectedly, the broken bone held by the opponent suddenly flickered with red light, and the patterns engraved on it gradually became clear.

Just as the light was about to flare up, the Fifth Elder grabbed the middle-aged Dragon's hand.

At the same moment the other person grabbed his hand, the middle-aged Dragon withdrew his power.

"Ao Ze, Brother Ze."

"I've realized you're a really serious person, you know that?"

"It's just a Secret Realm; anyone can come. It's born of heaven and earth anyway, it doesn't have an owner."

"Be good, put it away. Don't be naughty."

While these two sides were having a 'friendly exchange,' on the other side, Zhou Yan had already begun his blatant robbery.

"I wondered who it was, so it's you?"

"I didn't expect to run into you here."

It had to be said that the suppression of Divine Sense and senses in this place was greater than imagined, to the point that Zhou Yan only discovered the person below was that Dragon kid and his lackeys after arriving beneath the barrier.

Ao Ye was at the Nascent Soul Perfection stage. The strongest person beside him was only a Dragon at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage and a Flood Dragon at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage. There was also one nearby that was hard to describe—looking like both a sheep and a dragon—and that fellow was at the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

Among these four, excluding Ao Ye, the Dragon was the strongest, followed by the Flood Dragon, while the one that looked like a sheep was the weakest.

Although a one-against-four fight would be taxing, it just so happened that all four of these guys had the 'Dragon' tag.

Although he didn't know why Ao Ye, who had been drawn away by the purple light pillar, would suddenly appear here and hide his dragon horns, one thing was certain.

"You can't handle this Opportunity. Hand it over to this seat, and then—get lost!"

Zhou Yan let out a low shout carrying Dragon Might. The legs of the lackeys beside Ao Ye went weak, and they all struggled to stand.

This was something Zhou Yan had only discovered later.

It could only be said that Zhou Yan's development of his Dragon form was still too minimal.

Mainly because he was a homebody, things like Dragon Might were mostly unnecessary.

Aside from using it to drive away wild beasts or bully lower-level Yao Race members, it was basically useless.

And the places Zhou Yan stayed rarely had Yao Race members present; the ones he occasionally met were all proper officials or residents.

In the wild, if he encountered Yao Beasts or wild animals, he could resolve it with a casual slap; he didn't need Dragon Might to drive them off.

It was only during his journey toward the Eastern Extreme Secret Realm that he became more proficient with it. He also discovered that this Dragon Might could actually benefit from set bonuses, providing extra intimidation against targets with the 'Dragon' tag.

This was a result Zhou Yan had obtained during his journey when he was bored and casually caught a few wild beasts, applied the 'Dragon' tag to them, and experimented.

Seeing the intimidation take effect, Zhou Yan walked toward the group with a wicked grin. Meanwhile, Ao Ye was currently facing away from Zhou Yan, his whole body trembling.

The other Yao just looked at each other, wanting to stop Zhou Yan, but they could not overcome the heartfelt fear originating from their Bloodline.

"What, scared witless?"

"Weren't you quite arrogant outside just now?"

"Be good and leave quickly to avoid physical suffering. If word gets out, people will think I, Schrödinger, am someone who bullies children."

Although Zhou Yan knew this guy likely recognized him, he figured he'd throw some dirt anyway—what if the kid believed it? Zhou Yan had been annoyed by this brat back outside; he really disliked spoiled children.

So, after preparing for battle, he threw some mud in advance. If the kid went out and tried to cause trouble for Schrödinger, that would be a good thing; if not, he wouldn't lose anything either.

However, Ao Ye didn't do anything extra. Instead, he turned his head somewhat shakily to look at Zhou Yan, not daring to meet his eyes, only stealing a faint glance.

Then he hurried to bow and left quickly.

Seeing the boss leave, the lackeys didn't dare stay. They quickly supported each other and fled toward another direction of the maze.

Seeing this, Zhou Yan scratched his head in surprise and turned to look in the direction they had fled.

"That's not right?"

"They just left like that?"

"This guy is a pure-blooded Dragon with a high cultivation level. Logically, he should have at least a basic glimpse of the Law's edge and shouldn't be scared like this. Is this equipment really that invincible?"

Originally, Zhou Yan thought the other would be like Chen Jingyuan—highly countered but still capable of a fight. He hadn't expected them to just run away.

It was exactly like a child being frightened out of their wits.

"I couldn't tell this kid was so prone to bullying the weak while fearing the strong?"

"Whatever, getting the item is the priority."

Zhou Yan looked at the object in front of him that looked like a man-sized mirror leaning against a small flower bed.

Fortunately, he had arrived early before they had officially started, otherwise it would have been troublesome.

Zhou Yan walked toward the mirror made of special materials.

As he approached, his body quickly began to transform into a Dragon.

When his Dragon form was reflected in the mirror, the original mirror began to deform, changing from man-sized to a transparent vortex of his own height. The mirror surface vanished, revealing a square floating platform behind it.

Through the vortex, he could see platform after platform, extending upward like a spiral, leading to an unknown destination.

Zhou Yan was certain this thing was related to a stage in the Middle or Late Stage.

From his limited memory, he knew the Yao Sovereign had relied on luck; because he had Dragon Clan blood, he had accidentally activated this mirror and opened this passage.

The key item obtained inside was related to whether he could clear the stages in the Middle and Late Stages.

Zhou Yan didn't have the content for the Middle and Late Stages and wasn't sure what the subsequent stages were, so this thing might serve as a clue to provide him with some help.

Looking around once more to confirm no one was watching, Zhou Yan stepped into the vortex.

As he entered, the vortex turned back into an unremarkable mirror, standing there as before.

On the other side, Ao Ye, who had run far away, finally stopped. He collapsed onto his knees, barely supporting himself with his hands.

The wretched lackeys behind him, no longer needing to support each other as the residual pressure dissipated, rushed forward to hold their boss.

"Brother Ye, are you okay?"

"Brother Ye, what's wrong? Don't scare us!"

"Brother Ye, you... you're sweating so much."

The Yao Race was different from the Human Race; their bodies still retained some primitive characteristics, such as sweating, metabolism, and hunger.

While they wouldn't die of hunger, these special states would affect their strength.

Therefore, his profuse sweating indicated he was in extremely poor condition; if it continued, it could even affect his combat power.

Corresponding to the state of a Human Race dao body, it was similar to a shattered Dao Heart.

To prevent the situation from worsening, everyone began to show concern and comfort him, trying to find the reason Ao Ye had become like this.

Although they didn't know why he was like this, they at least knew that Ao Ye's state was definitely caused by Zhou Yan.

If Zhou Yan had looked at the mini-map again at that moment, he would have discovered that Ao Ye, who was originally neutral, had shifted from neutral to friendly after he revealed his aura.

But aside from Ao Ye himself, no one knew what had happened.

His heart was trembling violently, and only one thought remained in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Isn't he dead? Why is he still alive... Father?"