Chapter 497: Space Dragon King (4k)

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong hadn't been to the surface for over a year, so when they came out, they both felt as if they had stepped into another world.

As soon as they emerged, they happened to run into Song Lao.

Seeing them come out, Song Lao was very excited, she pestered them with questions again, and after they explained the situation in detail once more, she reluctantly let them go.

While flying in the sky, Huo Yutong suddenly smiled.

"Wulin, don't you think Song Lao is starting to see you as her grandson?"

Tang Wulin's body swayed for a moment, he was torn between laughter and tears.

"Why do you suddenly think that?"

"Look, the way she looks at you isn't like how she'd look at an ordinary junior; it feels just like she's looking at her own grandson."

"Don't talk nonsense, it's just because she's a kind elder."

Tang Wulin said helplessly:

"We need to hurry and find the Space Dragon King's dragon bones; she's been acting as Sea God Pavilion Master for me for a year, we must finish our business quickly to ease her burden."

"Alright."

Huo Yutong stuck out her tongue embarrassedly, then asked:

"By the way, Wulin, have you figured out the exact location of the Space Dragon King?"

Tang Wulin nodded.

"Yeah, I've figured it out—it's in Hell Valley."

Before entering seclusion, Tang Wulin only had a vague sense of the Space Dragon King's whereabouts and couldn't pinpoint the exact location.

But over the past year or so, his perception has become increasingly sharp, and combined with a map of the continent, he has located the target.

It is precisely one of the Five Great Forbidden Lands of Heaven and Earth—Hell Valley.

It is a vast, deeply unknown canyon; what lies inside is completely unknown, but so far no one has ever emerged alive from it.

Unlike the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest, which relies on powerful savage beasts, or the Extreme North, which relies on harsh weather, Hell Valley—also one of the Five Great Forbidden Lands—is utterly mysterious.

If the dangers of the Star Dou Great Forest's core and the Extreme North are still visible to the eye, then Hell Valley is totally unknown; people have no idea what perils lie within, and the only ones who could know are those who enter—none of them ever make it out alive.

Throughout history there have never been a lack of adventurous or skeptical powerhouses; every so often, some overconfident soul masters venture down there to explore.

Even as recently as a thousand years ago, a group of ten Honored Douluo entered together, yet none came out, which finally caused this suicidal practice to ease somewhat.

Bear in mind that among those ten Honored Douluo were three Titled Douluo of the highest rank; their combined strength could easily storm a large city, yet they couldn't even escape Hell Valley.

This terrifying fact makes people instinctively shy away from the mysterious Hell Valley.

But by now, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong have understood why this place is so strange.

Just as the corpse of the Water Fire Dragon King created the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well, a paradise on earth, it's likely that the Space Dragon King's corpse has turned Hell Valley into a hell on earth.

They can't be sure what lies below, but they're confident that with Tang Wulin present, things will probably be fine.

Even if problems do arise, they're confident they can make it out alive.

After all, even the strongest lineup that ever challenged Hell Valley—those ten Honored Douluo—might not last ten seconds against the two of them now.

Hell Valley, like Shilake Academy, lies within the Heavenly Soul Empire, so the two reached their destination in less than half an hour.

They landed at the edge of Hell Valley and gazed together into the endless abyss below.

Tang Wulin asked, "How is it, Yutong? Can your spiritual detection work here?"

Among the strong challengers who came to Hell Valley before, there were plenty with detection abilities, yet all of their attempts failed.

I don't know if Huo Yutong will encounter the same problem.

Huo Yutong furrowed her brows, seeming to feel quite strange.

"The effect does work; there's a spiritual barrier down there that blocks all spiritual power below the Ultimate Douluo level, but this level alone can't stop me."

She crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and said solemnly:

"The real trouble is that after my spiritual power pierces the barrier, it seems to enter a vast domain where its forward speed is severely limited."

"This feeling is weird—clearly, in her perception, her spiritual power has extended tens of thousands of meters forward, but in reality it has only moved a few kilometers."

"This experience is really not pleasant."

Just then, a lazy voice echoed in both of their minds.

"Alright, don't overthink it—this is my little sister's usual trick; her skill at creating spatial mazes is getting better and better. Go on down, I'll guide you."

"Your Majesty, Light Dragon King? Why don't you show yourself?"

"……"

The Light Dragon King fell silent for a moment, then said lightly, "This remnant soul of mine has only a last shred of strength left; if I manifest my true form, I'll dissipate soon afterward and won't be able to help you."

"……Understood."

Tang Wulin's heart suddenly felt heavy.

Although he also knew that the Light Dragon King's true body remained in Dragon Valley, the life or death of this remnant soul wouldn't affect its main body, yet having a person residing in his mind for so long, popping out to help whenever danger arose, would still feel lonely if that person were gone.

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong clasped hands, leapt forward, and began flying toward the valley floor.

After flying about a hundred meters, the Light Dragon King's lazy voice sounded again.

"Turn left."

The two immediately complied.

Something miraculous happened: at the instant they began flying left, space instantly inverted, and their direction switched back to downward.

"……"

This sudden change left them both stunned.

The Light Dragon King said helplessly, "Don't stop; this is just her usual spatial maze trick. In this maze, if you don't follow the route she set, your sense of direction gets scrambled—if you had kept flying down just now, you'd unknowingly reverse course. I think she relies on this method to make people in this world lose their way here."

"There's still this kind of method?"

Tang Wulin was genuinely startled all at once.

Although I have encountered quite a few teammates or enemies who could use spatial power in the past, there really hasn't been anyone who could master spatial power to this extent.

Tang Wulin frowned and asked, "If it's just us, is there a way to escape this spatial labyrinth?" "Yes."

Unexpectedly, the Light Dragon King affirmed it quite lightly.

"Actually, it's also very simple. You use that martial soul fusion technique called Ice Sky Dragon Emperor, and unleash the spatiotemporal light with full force once—that soul skill not only involves the law of time, its destructive power against space is also extraordinary. Although Xiaobai's spatial labyrinth is highly precise, its overall mass is really just so-so; anyway, it definitely cannot withstand your barrage."

"... I see."

It's a powerful flying brick, right?

This is indeed feasible in theory.

Afterwards, the two of them continuously changed their flight direction in Hell Valley under the Light Dragon King's instructions.

Only when Tang Wulin felt that he and Huo Yutong had flown several hundred thousand meters did the Light Dragon King say, "Alright, you're out of the labyrinth now; just keep flying downward."

Upon hearing his words, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong instantly felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

At the same time, they couldn't help but feel somewhat dumbfounded by the Space Dragon King's strength.

They had been flying all along according to the Light Dragon King's instructions, following the correct direction, and had flown several hundred thousand meters—no wonder those strong challengers who came here could never get out; they probably became completely trapped in this chaotic spatial labyrinth after taking a wrong turn.

Moreover, on the Douluo Continent, even a Limit Douluo's stamina is not infinite; flying nonstop without eating, drinking, or resting would likely become unbearable after just a few days.

After silently mourning those past strong ones for a few seconds in their hearts, the two no longer delayed and flew at full speed toward the valley floor.

Soon they arrived at the ground of the valley floor, where they saw the Space Dragon King's dragon bones.

It is a colossal dragon skeleton several hundred meters long; merely lying here sideways, it seems to affect the surrounding space, with the air around the bones subtly twisting.

The two had just taken a few steps toward the direction of the space dragon bones when they suddenly heard a youthful voice.

"Hey, stop right there—how did you get through my labyrinth?"

Hearing the voice, the two instinctively turned around and saw a little girl in a white dress standing on a piece of dragon bone.

Her hair and eyes were both white, making her look about ten years old; the dress made her appear extremely cute, but her gaze was icy cold, showing she was quite displeased.

……

Tang Wulin's and Huo Yutong's gazes both became somewhat strange for a moment.

They had prepared themselves to encounter the Space Dragon King's true form here, but they never imagined that this manifested image would be such a young little girl……

Seeing the two not answer, the Space Dragon King grew even more dissatisfied; she stomped her feet hard and said fiercely:

"I'm talking to you—don't ignore me! Don't think that just because you can solve my spatial labyrinth I have no way to deal with you; I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve!"

"Um…"

Tang Wulin came to his senses and quickly said:

"Your Excellency, we only managed to break through your spatial labyrinth with the help of the Light Dragon King; your spatial labyrinth is indeed impressive, and without your elder brother's assistance, we could never have gotten out."

He figured she was quite concerned about face; he guessed that their direct breakthrough of her labyrinth had annoyed her, so he needed to soothe her quickly.

Besides, he wasn't lying—he really couldn't have gotten out on his own; without the Light Dragon King's help, the only way for him and Huo Yutong to break the labyrinth would be to smash it outright.

But doing that would cause too much commotion and consume too much, truly not worth the loss.

Unexpectedly, hearing Tang Wulin's words made the Space Dragon King's emotions even more agitated.

"That old brother also came? Great, after not seeing each other for so many years, our first meeting still has to disgust me, huh? Hurry up and get him out here!"

"Um… Light Dragon King, Your Excellency?"

Seeing her indignant appearance, Tang Wulin instinctively sent a call into the Sea of Spirit.

However, the only response he got was silence; the Light Dragon King, who had just been guiding him and Huo Yutong, seemed as if it had never existed at all, not uttering a sound.

Tang Wulin couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It seems that among the siblings, at least in the Space Dragon King's eyes, his reputation is not good.

But since the Light Dragon King is unwilling to come out, there's nothing he can do—he can't force the other to appear.

Tang Wulin could only apologize to the Space Dragon King, saying, "Sorry, he seems to be in a bad state right now and can't manifest."

"Hmph?"

The Space Dragon King gave a doubtful hum, then suddenly seemed to notice something, lunging close to Tang Wulin and sniffing his nose.

"Wait, why do I sense the auras of my older brothers and sisters on you, and also… my father's aura?"

Tang Wulin instinctively stepped back two steps, facing the Space Dragon King's doubtful gaze, coughed twice, and began to explain his situation.

The Space Dragon King listened quietly as he recounted his past experiences, though her scrutinizing gaze never faded, carefully observing Tang Wulin's expression.

Finally, when Tang Wulin finished speaking, she narrowed her eyes.

"Alright, I understand your background. In short, you want me to give you a bone filled with my power, right?"

"Yes."

Although he felt a bit embarrassed, Tang Wulin still nodded candidly.

Having come this far, there's no need to hide anything; if we stopped here, not only would the Light Dragon King be upset, but he himself would feel miserable to death.

"Heh."

However, the Space Dragon King let out a cold chuckle and tilted her head.

"Then the question is, on what grounds should I give you my… according to your words, a soul bone?"

Tang Wulin somewhat anticipated her reaction.

After all, not everyone is like the Light Dragon King, willing to stake a bet on him; if he failed, the other party would suffer a huge loss.

A soul bone is not merely a beast's bone; it almost condenses the beast's quintessential power. Given the Space Dragon King's current state, using a great amount of power to forge a soul bone makes it hard to say what she would become.

He had no other chips, so he could only offer sincerity, telling her his future plans.

"I guarantee that once I become stronger in the future, I will definitely find a way to help you restore your power, and even strive to revive you, to repay your kindness."

"Oh?"

The Space Dragon King curled the corner of her mouth in a sneer and asked indifferently:

So, if I don't give it to you, you won't revive me?

(End of chapter)