Chapter 55: Dragon and Tiger Secret Realm

Before entering, everyone would have assumed the area below resembled an underground palace.

After all, situated beneath the earth with a door opening and closing above, it looked like an underground structure from every angle.

But as Jin Mingxiu hovered in midair looking down, his heart gave a sudden thud.

Below was actually a vast plain. Like a mirror image of the space above, the skeletal remains of a dragon and a tiger embraced the area below, where something should have been placed in the center, yet it was now missing.

Those dragon and tiger bones were incomparably huge, like mountains; the dragon's half of the ground was fiery red, while the tiger's half was ice-blue like crystal, creating a truly shocking visual effect.

At least in Great Qian, people had never seen a dragon, nor had they ever seen a tiger grown to such a size.

The dense, overwhelming spiritual qi was almost about to solidify, slowing their descent by a third. Glancing around, amidst the surrounding darkness, boundaries seemed visible; those boundaries looked like mountains but were not mountains—they were... spirit stone veins!

Jin Mingxiu held his breath.

If he could monopolize this place...

Glancing over, he saw four people had descended besides himself; among them, only the Sect Master and he were fourth grade, the white-haired girl was fifth grade, and the other two were negligible. If he found an opportunity to ambush the Sect Master, wouldn't this place be at his mercy?

The fall was not actually very high; with his mind racing, his feet already touched solid ground, right in the central open space of the dragon and tiger bones.

Jin Mingxiu hadn't even had time to devise an ambush strategy when those four people moved first.

The seemingly negligible child and the white-haired girl attacked suddenly from left and right. Shen Tang sat seated ahead, pushing both palms forward.

Overwhelming purple qi surged like a tidal wave; Jin Mingxiu quickly drew his sword and slashed furiously, but it was like striking a wall. He barely managed to split the energy, yet his own blood and qi became chaotic, and he stumbled backward.

The fists of the children on both sides and the sword of the white-haired girl arrived before he could dodge, striking his double ribs squarely.

Jin Mingxiu truly never expected that before he could ambush, he would be ambushed first by this group of women and children, let alone that the child was so strong! He let out a cry of pain, rapidly shook off A Nuo and Du Gu Qingli, turned, and fled: "The Sect Master ambushes a loyal subject and acts against the natural order! This Seat will go out and inform the entire sect, asking everyone for justice!"

Fortunately, that child was only fifth grade, and the white-haired girl was also fifth grade. Although injured, his grade was established here; he was confident he could outrun them.

Shen Tang was lame anyway and couldn't chase.

Just as he thought this, the sound of wind whistling suddenly came from behind.

Jin Mingxiu looked back in horror, only to see Shen Tang following less than a zhang behind as if strolling in a garden: "Pity you cannot get out."

Jin Mingxiu was as if he had seen a ghost: "You... your legs..."

"Unfortunately, they only just recovered completely yesterday."

"So you let me come down just to kill me in a place where no one else could see!"

"Then you are overthinking it." Shen Tang smiled slightly: "It is simply because your thoughts are hard to predict. Leaving you outside means we wouldn't know who you might inform. It is better to bring you down and resolve this beforehand."

Despair filled Jin Mingxiu's heart. This Sect Master really didn't have so many twists and turns before; what had happened now...

Between those two sentences, Shen Tang had already caught up behind him and slapped with her right palm again.

That terrifying, violent energy surged once more. Jin Mingxiu, whose injuries had not yet healed, barely managed to raise his sword to meet it. Yet that flying sword, which he usually took pride in as high-grade, was like scrap iron before Shen Tang's domineering purple qi. As her palm struck, the sword broke.

"Bang!" Her jade hand easily dispersed the sword energy and slammed heavily into Jin Mingxiu's chest.

Jin Mingxiu spat a mouthful of blood, fell to the ground, and looked at Shen Tang approaching slowly as if looking at a demon: "You... to cultivate the Huangji Jing Shi Jing to this extent is simply..."

Even if the Huangji Jing Shi Jing was a supreme-grade cultivation method in the world, it never said one could slap away a same-grade flying sword with bare hands as if slapping tofu. This was not just the power of the method itself, but the power of the cultivator; his body refinement had reached an incredibly astonishing state, and he had condensed the method's energy to resemble solid matter.

Jin Mingxiu could almost be certain that even if some Imperial Prince had also cultivated to fourth grade, he still could not be Shen Tang's match.

Invincible among peers refers to people like this.

"You only now realize it is the Huangji Jing Shi Jing, which shows you are not Father Emperor's person, and Father Emperor's people would not kill me now anyway..." Shen Tang walked to his front and whispered: "Tell me whose person you are; perhaps I can still consider giving you a quick death."

Jin Mingxiu sneered: "It is simply because I see you acting against the natural order after ascending at such a young age, slaughtering eight elders who worked hard to protect your escape to Xiazhou. You are unworthy to be the master!"

"Why must you state your desire to replace me in such a lofty manner?" Shen Tang sighed, slightly raising her palm as if to use an interrogation technique.

"Sister, wait." A Nuo ran over carrying the Bai Fan: "Master said our Human Emperor Banner has just advanced a grade; now it can retain more memories when imprisoning souls. Should we try? Perhaps we can dig out more secrets."

Shen Tang turned and rubbed her head: "I leave it to you."

A Nuo looked at Jin Mingxiu, who lay collapsed on the ground, and revealed a simple, honest smile.

Shen Tang returned to the center of the dragon and tiger. Lu Xingzhou didn't even bother looking at the pursuit over there; he had been surveying the area for a while, and Du Gu Qingli had gone to check the surrounding spirit stone veins.

"How is it?" Shen Tang asked.

Lu Xingzhou looked at a depression in the center and frowned: "This must have originally been a pill furnace. I want to know why the pill furnace flew away back then; unfortunately, I still cannot draw a conclusion from here. As for the rest..."

He pointed to the huge dragon and tiger bones surrounding them: "These bones originally contained immense energy, but they have long since been absorbed into useless dry bones; a slightly stronger impact would scatter them. I suggest preserving them well; they should still have some value... at least for archaeology, to study what these actually are, after all, Great Qian truly does not have them."

Shen Tang nodded: "Good."

After Lu Xingzhou finished speaking, he fell silent, and Shen Tang sighed slightly.

If these dragon and tiger bones were still in their initial state, the immortal bones could be said to be available in any quantity, and almost all could be calculated. But now, it felt somewhat like entering a treasure mountain only to find the treasures were already ruined. One could imagine the disappointment in Lu Xingzhou's heart; it would have been better not to find them at all.

Lu Xingzhou perked up his spirits and smiled: "I don't actually want these bones of livestock that much; it's awkward... This is such a large place; the survey has just begun, and there won't be only these few things. Come to think of it, even if there are only these few things, the Tianxing Sword Sect has made a huge profit this time."

Shen Tang nodded. Regardless of whether this dense, overwhelming spiritual qi and the special atmosphere of yin and yang embracing could create an excellent secluded training ground for the sect, just the surrounding spirit stone veins were a necessary condition for becoming a top-tier sect.

No top-tier sect rises by selling medicinal herbs or flying swords; that is the plan for ordinary sects to establish themselves. To say that Tianyao Holy Land relies on selling medicine to supply resources for its disciples would make people laugh their teeth off. Having mines is what provides the most confidence, and the most important among them are spirit stone mines.

Of course, one cannot simply sit and eat until the mountain is empty; various industries must still exist to achieve a virtuous cycle, which does not conflict with the previous plan for establishing themselves.

The most wonderful thing is that this spirit stone vein is hidden within a secret realm, so it does not need to be displayed openly to invite envy.

Yet Shen Tang still could not feel happy; looking at Lu Xingzhou's appearance, she felt he was putting on a forced smile. She said no more and quickly went to investigate in the opposite direction of Du Gu Qingli.

The so-called spirit stone mine is, of course, not purely piled up with spirit stones; its main body is still a mountain. Since it is a mountain, there may still be other things inside. For a mountain body where such dense energy converges, the probability of special transformations arising is quite high, such as the likely existence of an immortal cave dwelling.

These dragon and tiger bones and the original pill furnace all prove that human arrangement must have occurred; where was this person originally? They surely wouldn't have lived directly in the wilderness.

Du Gu Qingli had been investigating this aspect from the very beginning.

Little Bai Mao, having lived alone in the Frozen Moon Cold River for so many years, had personally dug up ancient tombs and cave dwellings beneath the glaciers that might be more than Lu Xingzhou had ever heard of.

"Lu Xingzhou." Du Gu Qingli tapped a certain part of the mountain body and pondered for a long time, then suddenly turned her head and called out: "You take out some spirit stones and try placing them in the eye sockets of the dragon and tiger."

Lu Xingzhou's heart stirred slightly. If there were an immortal cave dwelling, there must be a trick to open it; judging by where the dragon and tiger eyes looked, this made a lot of sense.

He slapped his wheelchair, leaped into the air, quickly took out four spirit stones from his ring, and accurately threw them into the hollow eye sockets of the dragon and tiger.

Spiritual qi seeped into the eye sockets; gradually, the dragon and tiger eyes seemed to gain a little liveliness, with a faint glimmer of light flashing.

Although there was only the faint glow of fireflies, it was already enough. With everyone's vision, they could vaguely see four extremely thin beams of light shooting onto the mountain wall in front of Du Gu Qingli, forming four somewhat irregular small points, but the up, down, left, and right positions were still quite clear.

All four quickly gathered together.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this is where the sealed formation opens, and it must be activated by corresponding with the power of the Four Symbols," Miss Qingli said seriously. "As for the power of the Four Symbols, I possess the Power of Ice and Cold, which corresponds to the Black Tortoise; Lu Xingzhou is a Pill Refiner cultivating Fire, which corresponds to the Vermilion Bird; Shen Tang, a Sword Cultivator, can correspond to the White Tiger..."

As she spoke, she looked at A'nuo: "Although I do not know your specific cultivation, I feel your Wood attribute is extremely strong. Am I wrong?"

A'nuo nodded: "I can."

The four exchanged glances, all feeling a strange sense of destined connection. They had never deliberately gathered specific attributes, yet unknowingly, the Four Symbols were now complete.

Shen Tang asked cautiously: "Since this is a place of Immortals, is our cultivation level sufficient to open it?"

Miss Qingli said: "According to logic, this is a sect's own barrier, not a tomb barrier, so it does not require too much power to open. No one wants to exert themselves just to return home; the energy of an eighth or ninth grade cultivator should be enough... What I cannot confirm now is whether they need to be activated simultaneously or in a specific order?"

A barrier like this might indeed not require much power to open, but if one presses randomly and triggers the wrong mechanism, even a thief would not be spared.

The original owner was most likely alone, but given their cultivation, triggering all four points simultaneously would be easy, making it truly difficult to judge. If they must be activated in sequence, that would be troublesome; no one knows what the password order of others is.

Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin, gazing at the four small points for a long time, then suddenly smiled: "Of course, it must be simultaneous. Since it is returning home, if one can open it with a single action, who would be patient enough to press four times? If I can use facial recognition, I will absolutely not press a password."

(End of this chapter)