Chapter 1001: War Dragon Ridge

"Will the dragon's tears never dry up?" Lei Ming asked curiously.

After Lei Ming's reminder, Ye Liuyun immediately activated his Golden Pupil and discovered a Spiritual Stone Vein beneath the pool.

"No wonder! Everyone, let's quickly absorb, and then we'll excavate the vein!"

Ye Liuyun said, then released Skeleton Puppets and Monster Beasts to mine the vein, while he, his duplicate, Lei Ming and others leapt into the pool to begin absorption.

The water surface immediately receded at a visibly rapid pace.

Ye Liuyun and his duplicate absorbed the fastest, together draining more than half of the pool.

Ye Liuyun's realm, after absorbing this pure energy, instantly rose to the breakthrough threshold.

"It seems that absorbing this pure energy together with a duplicate accelerates realm advancement dramatically!"

Moreover, both he and his duplicate felt the Golden Pupil's power had further increased.

Lei Ming and Long Nv's eyes also grew brighter.

Consequently, Ye Liuyun immediately ceased absorption, leaving the remaining pool water to Lei Ming and Long Nv.

He and his duplicate then helped mine the vein, gathering all the Spiritual Stones.

After the pool was emptied, the group walked out of the Cave together.

Seeing the blackened corpse of a giant python outside the Cave, Ye Liuyun felt a tinge of regret.

"In the future, when dealing with monster beasts, try to avoid poison; otherwise you waste so much meat!"

Ye Liuyun gave a brief instruction, placed Lei Ming and Long Nv into a Storage Ring, and with his duplicate—one bright, one dark—rushed toward the next direction indicated by the divination board.

The deeper they went toward the Secret Realm's center, the higher the monster beasts' realms became.

Ye Liuyun, to prevent battle aftershocks from alerting War Dragon Sect disciples, had the Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly emit oppressive aura to drive the monster beasts away, avoiding direct confrontation.

They also smoothly located two resource sites. Ye Liuyun and his party directly absorbed what could be absorbed and took away everything that could be carried.

As a result, Ye Liuyun, Lei Ming, and Long Nv all reached the brink of breakthrough; a bit more energy and they could transcend.

However, they had now arrived at the central area and encountered a blocking Supreme Rank monster beast.

The Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly could no longer hold them back, but could swiftly slay early-stage Supreme Rank monster beasts.

Especially when they coordinated, even Zao Hua Third Realm monster beasts were no match for them.

Nevertheless, the battle's aftershocks would still attract investigation from some War Dragon Sect disciples.

Thus, Ye Liuyun and his duplicate employed a Shadow Concealment Technique, withdrew the Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly, and replaced them with a Barbarian Ox and a green wind wolf.

This way, even if someone investigated, they'd assume the Secret Realm's monster beasts were fighting, raising no suspicion.

Moreover, the disciples' realms are generally below Supreme Rank; no one dares to target a Supreme Rank Fourth Layer monster beast.

"Going further inside leads to the center of the Zhanlong Mijing, the War Dragon Ridge! Li Qingyun's words might be true; the War Dragon Divine Soul resides here!"

Ye Liuyun hesitated; if the War Dragon Divine Soul truly existed and surpassed the Supreme Rank Sixth Layer, it would exceed his capacity.

Even combining his own Soul power with his duplicate's, he could at most contend with Supreme Rank Fifth or Sixth Layer souls.

Within the Hundred-Refined Soul Banner, the highest Yin Soul realm is Supreme Rank Sixth Layer.

Beyond that, he has no other means to confront souls of such high realms.

"Poison could still be used!" the duplicate pointed at the staff in hand, reminding Ye Liuyun.

"That would at most handle a Supreme Rank Seventh Layer soul; what if a stronger soul appears?" Ye Liuyun and his duplicate pondered together.

"Mourning Bell!"

Finally, Ye Liuyun and his duplicate voiced it together.

"Let's go! We've come this far; how can we be satisfied without entering!"

Ye Liuyun called out, sending the Barbarian Ox and green wind wolf ahead, while he and his duplicate slipped into the shadows they cast.

Ye Liuyun also released the Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly, staying alert for danger.

The outer perimeter of the central area teemed with many Supreme Rank monster beasts; ordinary War Dragon Sect disciples could never reach here, so he wasn't worried about being discovered.

However, upon arriving at the War Dragon Ridge, Ye Liuyun felt a bit disappointed.

It was merely an ordinary mountain ridge, vaguely dragon-shaped, with no discernible energy fluctuations.

Ye Liuyun double-checked the divination board, which indeed pointed to this spot.

He activated his Golden Pupil, scanned the surroundings, yet found no energetic resources.

"Impossible! According to the board's needle, such a strong energy fluctuation must be the Secret Realm's Primordial Power. Yet why can't even the Golden Pupil detect it?"

Ye Liuyun was puzzled.

"Could there be a Formation here?" the duplicate asked.

"Impossible! If there were a Formation, we should see it!"

Although Ye Liuyun didn't understand Formations, if one existed here, their Golden Pupils should detect it.

He recalled the Soul Search data, indicating this should be the burial site of the Dragon Clan.

Yet here stands only a single ridge, without even a tombstone.

Suddenly, he realized, "This entire ridge? Could a dragon's body be buried beneath it?"

He and his duplicate exchanged a glance, minds aligned, and simultaneously rose into the air to survey the ridge from above.

"Start the search at the Dragon Head!"

The two instantly split: one rushed to the Dragon Mouth, the other to the Dragon Head Sea of Consciousness.

"Roar!"

Before they arrived, a monster beast below let out a roar.

The Dragon Mouth is guarded by three pterosaurs, while the Giant Dragon Sea of Consciousness is occupied by a flock of pterosaurs.

Within the entire pterosaur flock, the lowest realms are Late Zao Hua, and the highest have reached Zao Hua Fifth Realm.

"Kill!"

Ye Liuyun waved the Hundred-Refined Soul Banner, releasing the Sixth Layer blood-colored bats and the venerable Yin Soul, and at the same time released two Fourth Layer Suanni souls, all charging toward the winged dragon clan.

At the same time, his clone, the two-headed dragon eagles and all the ferocious beasts rushed toward that winged dragon clan.

Ye Liuyun, from a distance, drew the Vajra Divine Bow and shot at a Third Layer winged dragon.

For this arrow, he used Demon Qi and Nether Ghost Fire, wanting to see the effect of this combination.

"Swoosh!"

A black flash streaked straight toward that Third Layer winged dragon.

The winged dragon was quick to react, sidestepping immediately, but unexpectedly, Ye Liuyun's arrow had a locking function and, after a slight turn, struck the dragon's abdomen.

"Pop!" the sound echoed as the arrow pierced the winged dragon straight through, though it did not shatter its body.

But the Nether Ghost Fire had already lodged inside its body and begun to burn.