After they departed from the cave, they were traveling towards the island's center where the Demon Dragon's Heart was lying dormant. The depths of The Treacherous Ocean had almost become a paradise for powerful mutated beings, they could be seen wandering in the mountain ranges everywhere like they were taking leisure strolls. The center of the island was covered with thick smoke, giving the area a gloomy ambiance.
In the center of the island, a human-sized orb was radiating bright beams of light, resplendent and dazzling. Countless powerful mutated beings were wandering around the orb. The orb had a ruby red surface as from within, one could see a bright red light flickering in a rhythm. Veins and roots ran chaotically on and around the orb lessening the warm light radiated by the orb.
This was the Demon Dragon's heart, the item Michael and Lailah were searching for. Suddenly, the orb shuddered from within, glowing brighter and brighter.
Roar!
At this moment, no matter if it were the powerful mutated beings closer to the orb or those roaming on the outskirts of the island, they all roared loudly. Several tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of mutated beings roared together, this commotion could literally be described as earth-shaking, causing mountain ranges to fall and the void to collapse purely from the sound.
The roars from several tens of thousands of powerful mutated beings were filled with absolute hatred for some unknown reason.
The Treacherous Ocean's appearance was finally changed at this very moment after countless years. The entire island shook violently, the ground jolting and opening up chasms thousands of meters deep. Many of the surrounding mountains directly exploded as they could not withstand the roars of over ten thousand powerful mutated beings. The mountains and forests turned into a mess. Following closely, the powerful mutated beings still roaming outside roared angrily, flying toward the orb as fast as their limbs allowed them to.
While the mutated beings were chaotically running around, two figures were slowly walking through the mist towards the glowing orb.
"There it is" It was Lailah who said this, pointing her fingers at the glowing orb a couple of meters before them. Michael closely followed Lailah while cautiously looking at all the wandering mutated beings in the area. His heart was pounding against his chest in fear because all of the mutated beings were at least at the Soul Refining stage and he could even see a few level 10 Fusion stage mutated beings guarding the orb. He had no more saliva to swallow as his mouth became dry, any single of the mutated being could end their life right now if they detected their presence. After recalling the events that happened in the Treacherous ocean, he identified only when he was alone that the mutated beings were able to detect him but when he's with Lailah, the death-kissed aura proved to be effective.
The two of them took each step with utmost cautiousness, avoiding the gazes of the mutated beings. Currently, thousands of powerful mutated beings roared at the sky above them.
Step by step, they got closer to the orb. Michael felt the warm energy coming from the orb and soon, he could hear a faint heart beating sound.
"Place the dragon on the heart" she whispered to him. He grabbed the baby dragon tied to his chest as gently and silently as he could before placing the baby dragon on the orb.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!
The moment the baby dragon's body touched the orb, it began to tremble violently producing an unearthly humming sound. His heart skipped a beat fearing the commotion would draw the attention of these wandering mutated beings. Just as he was about to reach for the swords, Lailah grabbed his hands, shaking her head.
"What now?" he whispered but instead of answering him back, she just gently tapped his shoulder, wordlessly telling him to wait.
Calming himself down, he just stared at the baby dragon who was lying on the orb absorbing the heat coming from it.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Suddenly, the orb began to crack producing crackling noises. The veins and roots on the orb's surface retracted themselves while the cracks got wider and wider. He started to sweat under his robes fearing that they were going to notice them but fortunately, the mutated beings were oblivious to what's happening.
"Look" Lailah tapped at his shoulder to turn his gaze away from the mutated beings to the baby dragon. His eyes immediately widened in shock and surprise as the baby dragon's greyish scales began to revert back to their original shiny crimson red scales at a visible speed.
Just as they were witnessing the changes in the baby dragon, the orb suddenly exploded yet surprisingly, the explosion did not produce any sounds but a bright light of flash that momentarily made them blind.
When the bright light disappeared, they saw the baby dragon floating in the air a couple of meters above their heads carrying two small orbs of violet fire in its claws.
Locking her eyes with the two orbs of violet fire, Lailah raised her hand at the baby dragon as he slowly flew towards her.
"Is he?"
"Yes, he's cured," Lailah said indifferently without taking her eyes off the violet fire orbs.
A relieved smile appeared on his face. He did not care for the two violet fire orbs as much as he cared for the baby dragon. After everything that he went through, he expected something dramatic to happen before curing the baby dragon but contrary to his expectation, the baby dragon got cured by the Demon Dragon's heart in a couple of minutes.
He was cradling the baby dragon as if he was his baby and beside him, Lailah immediately put the two fire orbs in her space ring.
"So those two balls of fire" his voice trailed away,
"Demon Dragon's heart," She said, sighing in relief. Although this trip was extremely dangerous and she nearly lost her life, in the end, it was all worth it because she got not one but two Demon Dragon hearts.
To suppress Christopher's curse, she only needed the energy of half the demon dragon heart, the remaining energy would be enough for her to break through from level 4 to level 6 of the Fusion stage.
Michael noticed the changes in her facial expression and he knew it was because of the two orbs of fires she put in her space ring. If he had the power, he would have at least taken one of them but for now, if she decided not to share them with him, he could do nothing.
For now, he wanted her to suppress the cure so he would get a Soul Refining stage cultivator to protect his base of operations and the herbal garden.
The lesson of no freebies in the world suited not only the earth but also here and in fact, it suited more for this world than earth as every cultivator he met in this world has their own schemes and they would rarely lift a finger unless they have something to gain.
The Demon Dragon hearts was her payment for leading him here though she would have died if it wasn't for him. However, he too couldn't have survived alone without her help so he was okay with her taking the Demon Dragon hearts.
"Let's leave this place" He did not need any push as he couldn't wait to leave this forsaken place, at least for now. When he was about to turn back to go in the direction where they came, Lailah shook her head.
"There should be an ancient teleportation array set by the Dragon clan if we go in that direction," she pointed at the direction further into the island and noticing the worried look on his face, she reassured," Don't worry, I can sense the array's faint energy. Besides, in this direction, there will be no more formations from here on"
The part where she said no more formation instantly made him agree to her plan because he hated formation and ran out of perception pills.
"Come," she said before taking out one of the Demon Dragon hearts from her space ring so the mutated beings won't attack them. The Demon Dragon heart substituted the death-kissed aura, only it was better and effective.
Having come this far, he had completed what he needed to do in The Treacherous Ocean. No matter if it was the extremely valuable herbs or curing the baby dragon or reaching the higher levels in cultivation, he had gained more than he initially expected. The herbs, in particular, the dozens of herbs all approached thousands of years in maturity and combined with the fact that they were almost unobtainable anywhere else, it made them even more valuable. Each herb he picked was like a priceless treasure on the continent.
Soon afterward, he followed Lailah behind towards the teleportation array carrying the baby dragon in his arms. When he first met the baby dragon, it was barely radiating an aura of a level 1 Arch sensing stage but now, his energy was slowly and steadily climbing high as he already reached level 8 of the Arch Sensing stage. Michael realized that it was the illness that was stopping the baby dragon from reaching a higher stage and by inspecting the baby dragon's body, he noticed the changes in his wings. His weak and frail wings had now become strong and firm. He could tell that soon after he woke up, he could fly like an actual dragon and also Michael expected him to breathe fire.
Imagining the things he expected the baby dragon to do, he walked behind Lailah further into the dragon island.
