Chapter 219: The Mysterious Letter!
"You're saying the Ancient Emperor's Mansion is in the magma sea beneath Jia Nan Academy?" After listening to Zi Yan's account, Su Qian's eyes became dull. The skin of his face twitched fiercely. Even his heart couldn't help but pound violently.
"My father is trapped within the Ancient Emperor's Mansion. Back then, Jiang Yun and I already entered it and saw him," Zi Yan looked at Su Qian, nodding affirmatively. She then slowly continued, "Now, the Hun Clan, one of the ancient eight clans, has already gathered all of Tuo She Ancient Emperor's Jade. Before long, they will find this place and open the Ancient Emperor's Mansion..."
"And the remaining three clans will not let the matter rest. This place will soon become the most top-tier battlefield on the Dou Qi Continent. In an instant, Jia Nan Academy would be reduced to ashes. That's why I moved the entire Jia Nan Academy away."
After listening to Zi Yan's account, Su Qian, having regained his senses, nodded woodenly. Then he abruptly looked at Zi Yan and asked with some hesitation, "Now that you are the Dragon Emperor of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan... judging by the circumstances, you also wish to participate?"
Sensing the faint worry in Su Qian's tone, Zi Yan couldn't help but smile. She spoke as if it were only natural, "My father has already reached the very limit beneath the Dou Di realm. With such an opportunity, how could we not contend for it?"
"Sigh—" Seeing this and knowing he couldn't dissuade her, Su Qian sighed. He looked at Zi Yan and said with emotion, "You have already become a top-tier expert in this world. I can no longer give you any help. Nevertheless, you must still prioritize your own safety."
"Understood, Old Man Su," Zi Yan nodded gently, her face full of smiles.
Su Qian smiled with gratification at this. Guided by a Taixu Ancient Dragon, he headed into the distance.
Watching Su Qian leave, Zi Yan swept her gaze over the crowd and said, "Let's go. Follow me to the Ancient Emperor's Mansion!"
Hearing these words from Zi Yan, everyone instantly grew excited. Retrieving the Old Dragon Emperor had always been their long-held obsession. Although Zhu Kun's soul clone currently existed, it still felt imperfect in everyone's hearts. Now that the time had finally come to welcome back the Old Dragon Emperor, how could they not be stirred?
With a wave of her sleeve, she tore space apart. The crowd filed in after Zi Yan. When they reappeared, they were already at what was once the tenth floor of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, the magma sea. This place had long been emptied of people.
Zi Yan, familiar with the route, took the lead and plunged fiercely downwards into the magma. Behind her, one expert of the Ancient Dragon Clan after another followed closely. The color of the magma beside them rapidly changed.
It went from bright red to crimson, and finally even turned slightly purple.
However, just then, ripples of fluctuation transmitted over. One after another, fiery-red lizardmen appeared. The two at the front had white hair and beards, their auras no weaker than high-level Half-Saints.
"Humans, withdraw!" One fiery-red lizardman roared angrily, "This is the tomb of the gods! If you awaken the guardians, you will be buried here forever!"
"Insolent noise!" Without needing Zi Yan to act, Zhu Huo snorted coldly. With a wave of his sleeve, spatial fluctuations swept forth, instantly tearing the magma and these lizardmen to shreds.
With the two Half-Saint lizardmen dead, the remaining lizardmen dared even less to approach. Trembling with fear, they watched the group sweep past their territory.
Rip!
As space rippled slightly, the group's figures instantly vanished. What appeared before them was a pitch-black, utterly empty space.
This space was permeated with an aura of vicissitude and ancientness. At the edge of their vision, a cluster of white light drifted quietly.
The numerous Ancient Dragon Clan experts who had followed along—none of whom were below Dou Sheng—all wore expressions of amazement upon seeing this layer of space. The moment they entered, they realized this layer of space was something they couldn't break through. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have even discovered this hidden layer of space existed.
For there to exist a being whose mastery of spatial force surpassed even the Taixu Ancient Dragons... the only possibility was that the person was a Dou Di expert.
"Hahaha~~~ You've finally come..." Just then, a hearty, unrestrained laugh rang out from the depths of the pitch-black space. The soul clone of Zhu Kun, which had accompanied the group, instantly shot towards that dark space.
Immediately following, Zhu Kun's figure appeared in everyone's line of sight. At this moment, he exuded a complete, perfect aura that distinguished him from his soul clone.
"Old Dragon Emperor..."
At this moment, Zhu Ming and the others who had followed in let out excited shouts...
Holy Pill City.
Gu Yuan sat quietly cross-legged atop the Pill Tower headquarters. His soul power, vast and boundless, spread out towards all parts of the Central Plains.
During this period, with the dual assistance of the Pill Tower and the Yao Clan, the allied forces' injuries had mostly healed.
"Still no news of the Hun Clan?" Lei Ying frowned, looking at the spatial rift in the distance that was growing larger and larger. He asked, a faint unease in his heart.
It wasn't just the Hun Clan that hoped a Dou Di would emerge to face the coming crisis. They, too, placed great hope in the Ancient Emperor's Mansion, wishing for a Dou Di to appear from within the allied forces.
Otherwise, this extraterritorial threat was like a sharp sword hanging over everyone's heads, making even sleep uneasy.
"The Clan Head has been monitoring the Hun Clan's space this entire time. He hasn't detected any signs of large groups entering or leaving. Even individual comings and goings are extremely few. As for those Hun Clan members who have appeared alone, we've intercepted all of them, but haven't obtained any substantive information," Gu Lie, beside him, replied with a grave expression.
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but frown. Logically, the Hun Clan shouldn't be so calm. They had pursued Tuo She Ancient Emperor's Jade for hundreds, even thousands of years. Now that they had finally obtained it, how could they not be anxious to quickly open the Ancient Emperor's Mansion?
"What exactly are these fellows up to..."
"For now, we can only wait..." Yao Lao put down his teacup and sighed.
"Yao Chen, a letter appeared in my room this morning. I find the contents... somewhat suspicious!" Just then, Venerable Feng walked in quickly with a solemn expression. He came beside Yao Chen, his face full of hesitation, and slowly spoke under the other's puzzled gaze.
"Did you feel any discomfort?" Yao Chen's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He looked at his old friend of many years and asked with concern.
Venerable Feng's current strength had greatly improved due to Yao Chen's return. Although not enough to reach the Saint level, he was now a Three-Transition Dou Zun.
An expert who could silently infiltrate his room without Venerable Feng noticing could only be someone at the Half-Saint level or above.
No wonder Yao Chen felt worried.
"The other party didn't harm me!" Venerable Feng shook his head.
"That's good!" Yao Chen subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked at Venerable Feng and asked curiously, "Where's the letter? What was written in it to make you show such an expression?"
Upon hearing this, Venerable Feng took out an utterly ordinary letter from his storage ring and handed it to Yao Chen.
Yao Chen examined it front and back. His soul power swept over it but still found nothing special about the letter. It was indeed just an ordinary letter. Seeing that he couldn't detect any abnormality, Yao Chen could only slowly remove the letter inside. He merely glanced at it, and his expression immediately changed drastically. He cried out in shock and shot to his feet.
"What—"
Yao Chen's loss of composure instantly drew everyone's attention. They had never seen Yao Chen in such a state before.
"Teacher, what does the letter say?" Xiao Yan stepped forward and asked curiously upon seeing this. At this moment, Xiao Yan had already emerged from seclusion in the Heavenly Tomb. His cultivation had stabilized at seven stars, and his soul power had unsurprisingly reached the Emperor Realm as well.
"See for yourself!" Yao Chen looked at Xiao Yan with a solemn gaze, then handed the letter to him.
"Jia Nan Academy, Ancient Emperor's Mansion!" Seeing the eight large characters on the paper, his body instantly stiffened for a moment. In the next instant, Xiao Yan's pupils abruptly contracted. He suddenly raised his head. Within his pitch-black eyes, sharp light flickered madly.
"The underground magma world!"
Xiao Yan's sudden bellow startled everyone present. They immediately crowded around.
"Xiao Yan ge-ge, what happened?" Gu Xun'er furrowed her slender brows slightly and asked with concern.
"The Ancient Emperor's Mansion... is in the underground magma world beneath Jia Nan Academy in the Black-Corner Region!" Xiao Yan looked at everyone and spoke in a deep voice.
"What—"
"Xiao Yan, are you certain?"
Hearing Xiao Yan's words, everyone's expressions changed somewhat.
"Are you certain? This could be false information released by the Hun Clan to confuse us..." After the shock, Gu Lie regained his composure and couldn't help but speak in a deep voice.
"I once accidentally entered that place. There, Tuo She Ancient Emperor's Jade reacted for the first time. Moreover, it was the only place I couldn't see through..." Xiao Yan looked at everyone and spoke deeply. Of course, he didn't speak the last sentence aloud, but murmured it in his heart.
When he had briefly borrowed the Plane's Power, the entire Dou Qi Continent had been fully visible to him. Only a few places had been impenetrable to his sight. Among them was that underground magma world.
"This matter is eighty percent true. Furthermore, right now we have no other leads. Our time is running out; we can't just sit and wait for death!" Xiao Yan believed his own judgment. Without the slightest further delay, he made a prompt decision.
As he spoke, he glanced once more at the pitch-black rift in the distance, whose aura was growing increasingly terrifying.
"Those Dou Shengs below five-star, follow me first. The remaining personnel, help Uncle Gu Yuan monitor the Hun Clan. Keep a close watch on their every move. The moment a large number of Hun Clan experts appear, hurry towards the Black-Corner Region as fast as possible!" Xiao Yan instructed rapidly.
"Good!" Lei Ying and Gu Lie exchanged a glance and nodded. If it was truly as Xiao Yan said, then this was indeed a monumental matter.
Seeing that the arrangements were complete, Xiao Yan bid farewell to Xiao Zhan and quickly departed with a large group.
Watching the departing figures of the group, Lei Ying spoke deeply, "This matter is far too suspicious. If it wasn't the Hun Clan, then who exactly is notifying us? What benefit does this bring them?"
"Whether it's true or not, we can only proceed with the attitude of believing it to be true rather than dismissing it as false. We can no longer afford to gamble!" Gu Lie stood to the side, his expression heavy as he spoke.
Nodding, the two then turned around with grave expressions and swiftly headed towards the council chamber.
Soul Realm.
Within a great hall where black flames blazed, Hun Tiandi sat at the head seat. He looked down from his elevated position at a figure prostrated below and said flatly, "Any news?"
"Reporting to the Clan Head, after this period of investigation, we have discovered a total of five regions that bear some resemblance to the description on the map. After further rigorous scrutiny midway, we found that one of the locations bears the greatest similarity!" The black-robed elder said with utmost respect.
Hearing this, light finally flickered within Hun Tiandi's indifferent eyes. He smiled as he looked at the person below, "Speak."
"That region is called the Black-Corner Region. Although numerous powers now stand there, the general terrain is almost completely identical to the map," the elder said in a deep voice.
"The Black-Corner Region..." Hun Tiandi murmured. He then turned his head and looked at Nihility Devouring Flame beside him to confirm, "I recall that Yun Yi came from the Black-Corner Region, didn't he?"
"Correct!" Nihility Devouring Flame nodded with an unsightly expression. Even now, he was still brooding over the matter of having been fooled.
"It seems he knew long ago..."
With a cold snort, Hun Tiandi slowly rose to his feet. His gaze swept across the great hall, "Dispatch a squad to continue tying down Gu Yuan and the others' attention along with me. The remaining personnel, led by Nihility, shall precede me..."
In the current world, the only ones who could evade Gu Yuan's perception were him and Nihility Devouring Flame. Now, Xiao Yan had to be added to that list.
As long as these people were swallowed into Nihility Devouring Flame's stomach, even Gu Yuan wouldn't be able to perceive where they had gone. This could ensure absolute certainty.
"Yes!" Hearing Hun Tiandi's orders, the crowd in the great hall immediately shouted in unison.
Watching the departing figures of the crowd, Hun Tiandi couldn't help but raise his head. The smile at the corner of his mouth slowly widened, finally transforming into loud laughter that echoed throughout the great hall.
"Finally found you... Ancient Emperor's Mansion!"
At this moment, within the Azure Nether Tower, it was as if a blazing sun had emerged across the sky.
An enormous black-and-white lotus flower slowly rotated at the bottom of the Azure Nether Tower. Upon it, the forces of life and death intermingled and circulated. It continuously emitted black-and-white spiritual energy that poured into Jiang Yun's body. His aura rose at a steady pace, incessantly climbing towards the level of a nine-star Dou Sheng.
At a certain moment, Jiang Yun's realm truly broke through to nine-star Dou Sheng in that instant. Moreover, the momentum of the breakthrough showed no signs of stopping, soaring skywards with an incomparably violent force!
A majestic, oppressively terrifying aura enveloped the entire bottom of the Azure Nether Tower. Black-and-white flames surged forth from the spinning black-and-white lotus upon which he sat, directly transforming the bottom of the Azure Nether Tower into a different world.
Had the Azure Nether Tower itself not been extraordinarily exceptional, it likely would have been reduced to ashes at this moment under the terrifying heat.
"Yun'er truly deserves to be the finest bloodline my clan has produced in tens of thousands of years," Qing Ming quietly watched the young man seated within the sea of fire, his entire being exuding a majestic aura that seemed to transcend heaven and earth. He spoke with pride in his tone.
At a certain instant, just as the aura on Jiang Yun's body soared to its peak, he directly opened his eyes. Within his eyes swirled black-and-white flames, as if about to burst forth.
In the blink of an eye, these black-and-white flames instantly retracted. In their place were a pair of deep, profound black pupils.
"Hoo~"
Jiang Yun exhaled deeply. The corner of his mouth slightly curved into a smile. The violent, imposing aura on his body abruptly vanished completely.