"It's alright, it's alright. It's their honor that they waited for you."

Hei Xiangling said dismissively, and the people below chuckled dryly, "Young Master, you're too kind..."

"······"

Feng Qingxue looked at them with a puzzled expression. The young man in black seemed to want to say something, but changed his mind after Feng Che reminded him. What was it that she couldn't know? Feng Qingxue's gaze fell on Ji Jiuying. Her intuition told her that all her mysteries stemmed from this young man.

Just then, before everyone could relax for a second, the familiar clanging sound rang out again, and everyone's hearts jumped into their throats.

From that pile of dragon bones, a dragon puppet was pieced together once more.

"Again?"

Jiang Xin's eyes widened, and she swallowed hard.

"Here you are, just in time. This time I must do my part." Although the people in the crowd were afraid, after the comparison with the previous time, they instantly understood a principle: if they wanted to obtain more spiritual energy to improve their strength, they had to pay a price.

In an instant, these people were no longer afraid; instead, they became somewhat excited.

However, this dragon puppet was different from the previous one. This one was crackling with lightning power, and it was clear that this dragon's attribute was lightning.

roar!

A dragon's roar startled everyone, who immediately channeled their spiritual energy to protect themselves. They watched the dragon hovering in mid-air with wariness, while Ji Jiuying's eyes seemed to hold a storm brewing.

Lightning continuously gathered on the two horns of the puppet's head. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the group, causing the heavens and earth to tremble. The group was also knocked aside. Perhaps because they had just been injected with adrenaline, these spiritual cultivators not only did not retreat but also launched a fierce attack on the puppet.

Jiang Xin thrust her sword straight at the puppet dragon's abdomen, but the puppet dragon remained unharmed. Jiang Xin was shocked and, unable to dodge, was thrown away by the force. Jiang Ling quickly stepped forward and caught her, preventing her from suffering secondary damage.

However, the puppet dragon was enraged by her and lashed its tail fiercely towards the spot where Jiang Xin and Jiang Ling were standing. If they were hit by that huge tail, they would definitely be splattered with blood and shattered to pieces on the spot.

Jiang Ling pulled Jiang Xin up and dodged, but how could they possibly outrun the puppet dragon?

Just as the two were about to perish under the dragon's tail, several afterimages flashed by, and with a series of fierce attacks, the puppet dragon was struck instantly. Taking advantage of the moment, Feng Che pulled the two off the ground and landed them not far away.

The puppet dragon roared furiously, its dragon might seemingly tearing everyone apart. It turned around and glared angrily at Hei Xiangling and the others.

In mid-air, the group moved with the agility of swallows, fighting against the puppet dragon. In an instant, only a few afterimages remained. The speed was incredible. However, the puppet dragon seemed to have seen through Ji Jiuying's strength, constantly dodging Hei Xiangling and Yin Han's attacks, and fiercely attacking Ji Jiuying.

The clash of skills between the dragon and the human caused Ji Jiuying to tremble with the lightning on the puppet dragon's body. Ji Jiuying gritted her teeth and resisted, but she was quickly defeated and was struck by the lightning on its body, instantly crashing to the ground. The puppet dragon did not give her a chance to catch her breath and charged towards her with a dragon tail swing.

"Xiao Jiu!" Feng Che rushed towards Ji Jiuying, but it was too late. Feng Qingxue helped Jiang Xin up and then rushed over as well.

Hei Xiangling and Yin Han were shocked.

Ignoring the blood she was coughing up, Ji Jiuying rolled on the ground to dodge the puppet dragon's tail, but she couldn't escape the sweeping force. Ji Jiuying was about to cough up blood again. Seeing that her skill had missed, the puppet dragon was enraged. The lightning power on its horns exploded instantly, and countless bolts of lightning struck everyone.

Within the Dragon Palace, screams erupted one after another, and the stench of blood filled the air. Just as the puppet dragon was about to attack Ji Jiuying again, several forces blocked her path.

"You brat, get out of the way!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Ji Jiuying walked to the side, grabbed a pill, and swallowed it in one gulp. Then, she took out some spiritual spring water from her spatial storage, quickly drank it, and circulated her spiritual energy to restore her physical strength and spiritual power.

With a thud, a figure fell beside her. Ji Jiuying glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then took out a bottle of pills and tossed it over.

Tu Ba wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, took the pill without even looking at it, and swallowed it in one gulp. Ji Jiuying raised an eyebrow. He trusted her that much?

Tu Ba froze, stunned. This was… Realizing something, he quickly opened the medicine bottle, his eyes widening. “This is…”

Ji Jiuying put her hand to her mouth, signaling him to keep quiet. Tu Ba quickly put away the pill in his hand, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes. Just who was this kid? He was giving away Saint-level pills so casually. Could he be a Saint-level alchemist? Thinking of this, Tu Ba shook his head. This didn't make sense. Judging from the boy's bone age, he was only a teenager. How could he be a Saint-level alchemist?

However, given that he could produce so many Saint-level pills at once, he must have a Saint-level alchemist by his side. Tu Ba's gaze fell on Hei Xiangling. That young man might be a possibility…

Tu Ba came to his senses and laughed, "Thank you! You've got guts, kid. I didn't have time to thank you earlier. If it weren't for you, I, Tu Ba, would probably be a ghost under the puppet dragon by now."

"Since I, Tu Ba, owe you two favors, I'll give you this token. Although Hell Gate doesn't have a great reputation outside, we at Hell Gate have always valued loyalty the most. If you ever need anything from Hell Gate in the future, you can come to Hell Gate to find me."

As Tu Ba spoke, he placed the token in Ji Jiuying's hand. Besides repaying her for saving his life, Tu Ba also had some selfish motives. After all, who wouldn't want to win over a Saint-level alchemist?

What he didn't know was that Ji Jiuying also had some selfish motives. When she first arrived in the Heavenly Domain Continent, what she lacked was connections and power. Although the Hell Gate was a mixed bag of people, it was also a good place to do things and hide.

Ji Jiuying's eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled: "Alright, thank you very much, Brother Tu. Then I won't be polite."

After recovering from their injuries, the two rejoined the battle. Although the puppet dragon was dangerous, it was also an excellent resource for cultivation, and they couldn't let it go to waste.

Ji Jiuying flashed behind Hei Xiangling, gathered spiritual energy in her hands, and activated the third level of the Divine Control Technique, [Wrath of Heavenly Thunder].

Strands of lightning danced across her body, and suddenly dark clouds gathered over Julong Lake outside the secret realm, accompanied by thunder and lightning. A dazzling light pierced through the darkness, tearing a rift in the sky, followed by a deafening roar that seemed to blast the entire Julong Lake apart.

As Gong Mingyue was about to leave, he glanced at the thunderclouds on the horizon, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. Such pure lightning attribute.

At this moment, Ji Jiuying was surrounded by lightning, and a wave of lightning was gathering in her hand. This scene also attracted the attention of the puppet dragon, which became competitive and seemed to want to compete with Ji Jiuying's lightning attribute.