"The location of the Tiger Domain is inland, close to the center of the Ob Empire, masked by the Misty Swamp!" The Great Elder tapped the air, and a clear image rippled into existence like a wave.

"Misty Swamp? Why does that sound so familiar?" Chen Feng pondered for a long moment, unable to place where he had heard the name, then shook his head and focused on the image.

The image displayed a range of mountains, within which lay a swamp shrouded in surging, pale grey mist, obscuring everything below.

"This is the Misty Swamp. The Tiger Domain lies deep within it, in a separately carved-out space. The entrance is extremely difficult to locate," the Great Elder explained.

"A separately carved-out space?"

"Similar to a spatial artifact, but one capable of sustaining life. The Golden Profound Tiger spent over a thousand years creating it. Inside is much like a minor world," the Great Elder elaborated.

"Such a marvelous place!" Chen Feng exclaimed in surprise.

"We have long known the location of their entrance, so that is not an issue. I wonder where Lord Dragon God perceives the problem to be?" the Great Elder inquired.

Chen Feng stated, "Even if the Golden Profound Tiger is injured, who could have inflicted the wound? Who in this world could hurt him? If he weren't injured, how many of us would it take to simply hold him back?"

"Hold back a God-level powerhouse? Even ten thousand Saint Domain experts would be useless!" the Great Elder replied. "The Golden Profound Tiger must be injured. Otherwise, he would never allow his daughter to run off to our Dragon Domain. As for the reason for his injury, I truly do not know!"

"Regardless of his injury status, we must maintain our strength. It would be best to dispatch a separate team to lie in ambush on one flank. If things truly go awry, we will have reinforcements," Chen Feng voiced his reasoning.

"Lord Dragon God is correct. We were remiss in our consideration just now. Here is my suggestion: we send the First Contingent of disciples—ten thousand strong—the Second Contingent with twenty thousand, and the Third Contingent with thirty thousand. A total of sixty thousand disciples will conduct the main assault. The Third Elder will lead ten thousand inner disciples to the most advantageous position to set up the Grand Formation for support. If the Golden Profound Tiger is truly uninjured, we can still manage a complete withdrawal," the Great Elder proposed. "The remaining disciples will maintain the illusion array within the Dragon Domain to guard against pursuers or sneak attacks!"

After all, they were facing a divine being. When dealing with a god, one must plan with extreme thoroughness.

Chen Feng nodded. "Also, send a contingent from the Purple Courtyard Demon Territory to join the Third Elder. If they encounter any Xuan Hu tribesmen wielding the Dragon-Binding Ropes, let the Purple Courtyard Demon Territory forces take the main offensive."

The group spent more time debating the specifics of deployment and the attack strategy. Chen Feng was largely ignorant of military tactics, but having been a university student in his previous life, he could still offer some reasonable suggestions, even if he couldn't command the crucial moments. They deliberated for a full two hours before reaching a final consensus.

With the plan settled, the Great Elder eloquently penned two letters, tasking the Third Elder and the Fifth Elder with carrying them to the Phoenix Domain and the Qilin Domain, respectively.

Ordinarily, mere envoys would suffice for such matters, but for the sake of formality, it was deemed better to send elders in person.

The Great Elder departed to organize the attacking forces, and the Third Elder went to arrange the ambush teams. Soon, everyone had left.

Chen Feng had originally intended to conduct the Dragon God Sacrifice, but that ritual required at least three days and the presence of all five elders. Three days was too long; if the enemy discovered the envoys had not returned, they might become wary.

Furthermore, Chen Feng was preoccupied with the safety of the Yan Dragon's remnant soul and had no mind for such a ceremony. It would be better to rescue Senior Yan Dragon’s remnant soul first before proceeding with any rituals!

"Boss, you have to take me when we attack the Tiger Domain!" Xiao Hu shouted from the side.

"You want to go too?" Chen Feng feigned surprise.

"..." Xiao Hu rolled his large eyes, feigning near collapse. "Boss, we've faced life and death together so many times. It would be wrong if you didn't take me. I must go, to get more demon cores... to eat!"

Only then did Chen Feng realize Xiao Hu's true objective. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. "Fine, I'll take you. But you must stay right behind me and not cause trouble!"

Xiao Hu smiled, clenching his thin fists. "Of course, I'm going to protect the Boss. Right, Boss, when do we set off?"

"We depart precisely at noon tomorrow!" Chen Feng announced.

"Great! I'll go digest these demon cores now. By noon tomorrow, I'll be a Rank Nine Magical Beast!" Xiao Hu cheered excitedly and dashed out of the great hall, vanishing to digest the cores he had swallowed.

Chen Feng smiled, feeling a warmth. His smiles had become more frequent recently, and his demeanor had softened considerably. Perhaps this was also related to entering the Dragon Clan; here, he felt a sense of his past life.

He stood still for a while, then found a spacious room and took out the Purple Fire Crystal Stone in his hand, rapidly absorbing its energy.

His physical cultivation was now sufficient, as was his spiritual perception. What he lacked was pure energy, so he wasn't worried about absorbing too much causing a backlash.

He sat motionless for a full five hours, having absorbed less than one Purple Fire Crystal Stone.

At this rate, reaching the Fourth Heaven Realm would take at least half a month.

"Is there a better method?" Chen Feng mused. "Absorbing like this is indeed too slow!"

It had taken him less than ten days to progress from Third-Tier Dou Zun, and he was complaining about needing twenty-plus days to advance from Second-Tier Dou Zun to Fourth-Tier Dou Zun. If the so-called geniuses of the outside world knew this, they would likely weep themselves to death!

However, Chen Feng’s current bottleneck was energy. With a sufficient supply, he could advance at least three tiers in a short time!

"If only I had an Energy Gathering Array!" Chen Feng couldn't help but think.

The moment this idea surfaced, it was like seeing a beacon of light, and his eyes shone brightly.

"Energy Gathering Array? Right! The Dragon Clan uses magic, so they must have some research into formations. I should ask the Great Elder if there is a way for me to rapidly increase the energy within my body!"

With that thought, he stood up and walked out.

The Great Elder had gathered all the leaders of the inner and outer contingents for a brief meeting. When Chen Feng entered, the elder was delivering the final motivational address.

"This mission is arranged by Lord Dragon God. We absolutely cannot disgrace ourselves in front of the Lord, do you understand?" His commanding voice resonated slowly.

"Yes!" Everyone stood up simultaneously, their eyes filled with determination.

Everyone in the Dragon Domain was unified, so there was no situation involving infighting or intertwined factions. An order from Lord Dragon God would be obeyed and executed with full commitment by all.

"Alright, disperse now, hurry back and prepare. Everyone must bring ten days' worth of rations. Assemble in the plaza at noon tomorrow and depart on schedule!" the Great Elder instructed.

"Yes!" Everyone stood and filed out.

"Lord Dragon God, why have you come?" the Great Elder asked, bowing deeply.

Chen Feng inquired, "Does the Dragon Clan possess any special formations capable of gathering energy?"

"Gathering energy?" The Great Elder looked slightly confused.

"Yes, like an Energy Gathering Array—one that can rapidly amass vast amounts of Heaven and Earth energy!" Chen Feng clarified.

"We do have one! The Great Dragon Array beside the Altar serves to gather energy!" the Great Elder responded. "Almost all newly born Dragon Clan members are in their original lizard-like forms. They pass through the Evolution Pool to transform into the Golden Dragon physique, which allows them to absorb the special energy structure within the Dragon Domain. Before evolving, they almost exclusively absorb energy from the Great Dragon Array!"

The Dragon Domain was structured exactly like China in his past life, and the ambient vital energy here was thinned out by several magnitudes compared to the outside world. Even the energy fluctuations were different. Chen Feng had been so excited and familiar with the environment that he hadn't noticed until the Great Elder mentioned it. He realized now that cultivation in this environment was several times slower than outside!

Senior Yan Dragon was known for his supreme intelligence, unparalleled in his age. How could he have made such a basic error, allowing the entire Dragon Clan to suffer slow cultivation simply out of nostalgia for his past life?

There had to be a specific reason.

"If the evolved dragons absorb energy from the Great Dragon Array before evolving, what do they absorb to enhance their cultivation after evolving?" Chen Feng couldn't help but ask.

Based on the Great Elder's previous statement, the Great Dragon Array must gather external energy—frankly, energy from another realm. This energy sustained the native, lizard-like dragons, allowing them to improve their cultivation.

"Once evolved dragons reach the Saint Domain, they can utilize the local energy form to condense the Dragon Clan's special power. Senior Yan Dragon named this power—the Power of Huaxia!" the Great Elder explained.

"The Power of Huaxia?" Chen Feng froze. "Is the Power of Huaxia more potent than the magic power cultivated previously?"

"Of course!" The Great Elder's face showed awe. "The quantity of the Power of Huaxia depends on one's comprehension of Nature—the absolute Way of Nature itself. Saints already borrow the momentum of Heaven and Earth, manipulating the elemental forces for their use. Condensing the Power of Huaxia allows for even better control over this Heaven and Earth momentum! This is precisely why, among Saint experts of the same rank, we are many times stronger than other races!"

"The Way of Nature?" Chen Feng felt as if struck by lightning. Comprehending nature, grasping nature—wasn't this precisely the quintessential path of Daoist cultivation from his previous life?

Deeper comprehension of the natural world led to a deeper understanding of borrowing the momentum of Heaven and Earth! It was like learning calculus before tackling algebra—naturally intuitive!

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, and Chen Feng's eyes widened in shock. Comprehending Nature... could this be similar to the comprehension of Laws at the God level?

Could it be that Senior Yan Dragon intended for the Dragon Clan to comprehend the Way of Nature while in the Saint Domain, so that once they acquired sufficient Godheads, they could rapidly forge a large cohort of powerful gods?

An expert like the Great Elder, who had deeply comprehended the Way of Nature, if he possessed a Godhead now and ascended, he would likely leap directly to becoming a Middle or even High-Tier Deity!

However, if one comprehended the Way of Nature, passing the Heavenly Tribulation to become a god should not be difficult. Why hadn't the Great Elder and the others attempted their ascension? A multitude of questions flooded Chen Feng's mind. (To be continued. For further developments, please visit www**com for more chapters, supporting the author and legitimate reading!) First published