Just then, Gu Changsheng’s figure appeared at the edge of the void. He naturally knew of this domain boundary as well.
His gaze swept anxiously toward Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu; seeing that neither was harmed, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Er... where's my son? Where is Huaizhi?"
Li Guanqi recounted everything that had happened in the briefest words.
Gu Changsheng’s expression turned grim. He had never expected intruders to infiltrate right under his nose on his family’s own territory.
Had it not been for the four black flood dragons from the Nine Dragons Immortal Sect, Li Guanqi and the others might already have fallen into enemy hands!
Gu Changsheng looked toward the crimson flame barrier, his eyes flashing sharply as rolling heavenly thunder crashed down overhead in rapid succession.
Deep within the thunder pool, an enormous figure soared into the sky, completely fearless before the thick, violent lightning bolts.
Tearing the thunder apart and devouring it, Jiuxiao’s aura grew steadily stronger.
Gu Changsheng had never witnessed a true dragon breaking through before. He could not resist speaking up: "Young friend."
"Could you save some of the shed dragon scales for Uncle Gu?"
Li Guanqi could not help chuckling. "Sure. You can just ask Gu Li for them later."
Hearing this, Gu Changsheng grew anxious at once. Gu Li was like a Pixiu—taking everything in and never letting anything out!
Prying anything out of his hands was next to impossible, even for his own father.
Seeing the aggrieved look on the man's face, Li Guanqi could only promise to give them to him directly.
Meng Wanshu found the Gu father and son quite amusing as well. At least neither put on lofty airs; they were comfortable to be around.
Gu Li in particular drew a flicker of appreciation in her lovely eyes.
She had long known of Ye Feng and the others, but Gu Li had left a good impression on her from their very first meeting.
He never blindly went with the flow, possessing his own convictions and judgment, and he would not hesitate even if he had to stand in opposition to them.
Moreover, he was kind-hearted. Stingy as he was, when it came to friends and those he cared about, he would gladly spend hundreds of thousands of inscribed talismans without batting an eye.
Gu Li’s stinginess was never directed at his friends.
Rumble!
As thunder crashed down, dragon scales across Jiuxiao's entire body ruptured, only for new scales to gradually grow in their place.
The newborn scales possessed even greater defensive power, gleaming with a metallic luster.
The heavenly tribulation thunderclouds churned ceaselessly, seemingly enraged by the greater demon’s breakthrough.
Each lightning strike proved more formidable than the last, yet Jiuxiao was entirely fearless, opening his maw to unleash a lightning breath in defiance.
Every shattered wisp of thunder was thoroughly absorbed by Jiuxiao. Soaring through the heavens, he finally displayed the majestic might of a true dragon.
Roar!
Jiuxiao reared upright, glaring furiously at the firmament to mock the heavenly tribulation's impotence.
Boom!
An incomparably powerful aura erupted with a blast as the heavenly tribulation's lightning finally struck down to the very last bolt.
The thunder pool below, having absorbed the lightning of the heavenly tribulation, became even more potent and pure.
This time, Li Guanqi and Jiuxiao's absorption of the pool's power for body tempering had not depleted what the Gu clan had accumulated over millennia; rather, it had grown even stronger.
The oppressive might of a tier-seven greater demon weighed down upon the void. Gu Changsheng accessed his storage ring and instantly tossed out two fist-sized tier-seven pills!
Both pills were exceedingly precious, capable of replenishing the depleted primal energy and mending injuries suffered by a greater demon after a breakthrough.
Gu Changsheng did not hesitate in the slightest as he threw both pills toward Jiuxiao.
Jiuxiao did not hesitate either, opening his maw to swallow them whole. At once, a resounding dragon roar echoed between heaven and earth!
The sound waves rippled across a thousand li. The dragon might bleeding from the shattered void forced every demonic beast within a thousand li to drop to the ground, trembling.
Terrifying pressure flooded the void as Jiuxiao's aura surged past the threshold into the tier-seven Demon King realm!
Auspicious glow from heaven and earth bathed an area of a hundred li, illuminating the entire void in iridescent splendor.
Opening wide his maw, Jiuxiao devoured heaven and earth's gift like a whale swallowing the sea, and his draconic eyes shone with greater brilliance.
The terrifying dragon might of his bloodline grew substantially stronger, at least thirty percent more formidable than before.
Thoroughly invigorated, Jiuxiao lightly closed his eyes as old dragon scales peeled away from all over his body like falling flower petals.
Even his dragon horns snapped and regenerated, growing longer and thicker than before.
Seeing the falling dragon scales and dragon blood, Gu Changsheng's eyes practically turned green with envy, yet he held himself back and did not move.
Li Guanqi gathered up all the scattered dragon scales and horns, along with the dragon blood drifting in midair, filling an entire storage ring to the brim.
Looking at the massive dragon that now measured fully a hundred and fifty zhang in length, Li Guanqi felt an inexplicable surge of emotion.
Back then, on the altar of that small secret realm, he had found Jiuxiao. When Jiuxiao had just hatched, he had looked like a little snake, only as long as an arm.
Now he had grown into such a colossal behemoth, looking so majestic that no one could have anticipated it.
Li Guanqi could not help thinking inwardly, 'All those hard days I endured back then were not in vain. And for Jiuxiao to have hatched at all was quite a miracle of fortune.'
Jiuxiao seemed to sense Li Guanqi's nostalgic emotion.
His body shrank abruptly, winding around Li Guanqi's neck like a python and affectionately nuzzling his chin.
No one would ever imagine that this petite little purple dragon was a greater demon that had officially broken through to tier seven.
Gu Changsheng chuckled. "Congratulations, congratulations! A true dragon's breakthrough is truly breathtaking."
Li Guanqi did not say much in reply. Jiuxiao was a lightning dragon by nature; heavenly tribulation served mostly as great nourishment for him.
As for danger, it had not been as perilous as he had imagined.
Seeing that all was well, Gu Changsheng did not bring up the dragon scales of his own accord. Instead, with a serious expression, he said:
"We old fellows have already discussed and pieced together some details regarding the pill recipe."
"Our families can gather nearly ninety percent of the spiritual herbs on this recipe, but there are a few items that we have only ever heard of in ancient texts."
"Finding them will be quite difficult."
Li Guanqi nodded and said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Gu. We'll find a way for the remaining spirit herbs."
Gu Changsheng glanced back at the thunder pool behind him and simply handed Li Guanqi a purple jade slip.
"Whenever you want to come to this thunder pool, just come by yourself. Saves me making the trip every time."
Li Guanqi smiled, accepting the jade slip without refusing. Bringing the disciples of Tianlei Peak over in the future would be an enormous boon, after all.
Li Guanqi was not stingy either, gifting Gu Changsheng half of the scales Jiuxiao had shed.
Accepting the storage ring, the man grinned so widely his eyes narrowed to slits and his smile stretched nearly to his ears.
Just how numerous were Jiuxiao's scales?
He had kept some, intending to forge a dragon-scale treasure armor each for Lu Kangnian and his master.
These scales were only tier six; otherwise, he would have prepared a set for Meng Wanshu as well.
Gu Changsheng said, "Let's go. We'll head back first, and once Huaizhi returns, we can discuss the details."
"A few of those items can probably only be found in a domain like the Ethereal Immortal Domain."
Li Guanqi nodded silently. It seemed that in the end, he might need to ask Grandfather for help with this matter...
As for the Seventh Domain, Li Guanqi longed deeply to go, but he knew the time had not yet come.
Nothing regarding his grandfather's affairs was within his reach right now.
Li Guanqi looked back toward where the Zhu clan's cloud boats had vanished earlier, murmuring with chilling eyes:
"No rush. Once my brothers have all broken through, we'll settle every last score."
Chapter 867