Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
Hao Ren had been to this Baxia Palace once before. However, it was only a quick visit at that time, so he left before he could decipher the difficult ancient scriptures.
He never thought that he would come to this palace again on this trip.
The back palace was flying rapidly. Hao Ren and Su Han had gotten used to such speed, so they stood up by holding onto a stone nearby.
All the monuments in this palace had ancient scriptures and cultivation techniques engraved on them.
Since the Nine Dragon Palace was locked, and the cultivators nowadays couldn't unlock the array formations, this Ancestral Dragon Palace was almost deserted.
From the many stone monuments around the Baxia Palace, people could tell that this was a place where ancient scrolls and techniques were stored.
The Ancestral Dragon Palace flew fast. Su Han wasn't able to maintain her stability, so she firmly grabbed onto the stone monument next to her.
"See if you could decipher one and bring one back," Hao Ren said.
He was able to read the old texts in the techniques of the East Ocean Dragon Clan, but he couldn't recognize these ancient ones.
There was something really magical about these stone monuments; the words on them would become brighter or darker depending on the change of lights. The scriptures also didn't seem to flow as they were always s.h.i.+fting. It might be that the stone monuments had some array formations hidden in them.
Su Han knew that it wouldn't be easy to decipher these very ancient techniques. If she really wanted to do so, she would have to move an entire monument back and take her time to decipher it.
However, even if she dug out an entire monument, scriptures might not show on it. After all, almost everything in the Nine Dragon Palace was mysterious.
She walked around these stone monuments and finally decided on the smallest one.
"If I try really hard, I can understand a little bit. Let me take time to examine it," Su Han looked over and said to Hao Ren after she sat in front of it.
She had often read the ancient scriptures in the Dragon G.o.d Shrine, so she had some knowledge of these ancient characters that the ancient cultivators used. If she took her time, she might be able to understand it.
Hao Ren stood at the entrance of the Baxia Palace while holding onto the stone pillars tightly. He was looking at what was happening around them.
They flew past all sorts of mountains and rivers underneath them. Other than mountains and rivers, Hao Ren was able to see many fierce beasts gathering across a river.
However, he didn't see any fierce beasts within the movement area of the Ancestral Dragon Palaces.
From the look of it, the array formation in the Nine Dragon Palace had effects on fierce beasts.
Boom!
The Ancient Dragon Shrine suddenly went into a territory of utter darkness.
Hao Ren was able to hear the sound of the wind, so he was able to confirm that they were still flying.
Su Han was still examining the monuments. When she felt that the shrine had entered into darkness, she was not a bit scared. Instead, she continued to examine the words on the monuments to try to find patterns. Hao Ren was guarding at the entrance, so she felt very safe.
This Ancient Dragon Shrine flew in darkness for a while and still haven't flown out of it.
Hao Ren suddenly realized that the world inside the Nine Dragon Palace was separated between night and day!
It symbolized Yin and Yang, the foundation of the universe!
When he and Su Han barged into the array formation, they had fallen into the night area of the Nine Dragon Palace. If they fell into the day area instead, they would be in the territory of fierce beasts!
When he realized this, cold sweat dripped through Hao Ren's back!
At that moment, Su Han was reading the scripture on the monuments through the dim reflective lights. She had understood a bit of the opening sentences on the monument.
This technique was called Sky-Patching Scroll. According to the descriptions on the monument, this technique was used by Nuwa when she patched up the sky in legends.
Su Han was very excited. She realized that even this short technique was very valuable, so she kept reading.
If she were to understand this technique, it might be able to help her withstand the Heavenly Tribulation! Amongst many stone monuments, this one was the shortest, yet it was very suitable for female cultivators!
Su Han focused all her attention on the stone monuments, and she tried to memorize every bit. The scripture on this monument would change every few seconds. However, Su Han was very smart, and she had already figured out how to read it; she had to switch from the front to the end when the scripture changed order.
The whole technique was around 1000 words. Su Han had slowly memorized the words. Then, she read it again and compared it with what she remembered to make sure that there were no mistakes.
Although there were parts where she didn't really understand, she could go back and take the time to comprehend it
Boom!
The Ancestral Dragon Palace suddenly came out of the darkness.
Hao Ren used his fingers and counted time.
Su Han had memorized every single word in the Sky-Patching Scroll by heart. Then, she came back to Hao Ren's side. With Su Han's head, it was a piece of cake for her to memorize every word she read.
"3651, 3652…" Hao Ren mumbled.
Su Han didn't know what Hao Ren was doing but also didn't want to disturb him. There was a part of Hao Ren that was rarely shown most of the time.
Su Han was very satisfied already for getting a technique when they had just come in here by chance.
She knew that it was all thanks to Hao Ren, and she decided that when she fully understood this technique, she would teach it to Xie Yujia and Zhao Yanzi as well.
In terms of other techniques on the other monuments, she could only give up because she didn't have enough time to decipher them, and they were all too long. Even if she could remember the longer ones, it might take her tens or hundreds of years to understand them.
The techniques that were stored in this Ancestral Dragon Palace were probably ones that ancient cultivators couldn't even fully understand and cultivate.
The Baxia Palace flew along the wind. Sometimes, they would see other Ancestral Dragon Palaces pa.s.sing by.
Hao Ren was very focused and continued to count.
The palace had returned to the mountain that Hao Ren and Su Han jumped from. When Su Han saw those shattered pieces of wood, she got a little scared.
The Ancestral Dragon Palaces were like super trains controlled by the array formation. Suddenly, it was all dark again.
Hao Ren suddenly raised his hand and pulled Su Han's hand, making her stand next to him.
He used a bit more force while putting the other hand on her back so that she would be in his arms.
They were hugging face to face, so Su Han's red lips were so close to Hao Ren's that they almost touched.
Hao Ren's expression was still very serious. He continued to count while pulling Su Han's hands to his waist.
Su Han was slightly discontent with how Hao Ren moved her, but she still hugged onto Hao Ren tightly.
"18586…"
Hao Ren hugged Su Han and suddenly jumped off this Ancestral Dragon Palace!
Almost at the same time, sword energies appeared under his feet.
With the speed of the Ancestral Dragon Palace, they were sent flying for a few thousand meters in seconds. Hao Ren had maintained steady sword energies and held onto Su Han tightly.
Finally, they were able to land on the ground while being surrounded by pitch darkness.
Hao Ren's lips were pressing onto Su Han's neck, and a hickey was left on Su Han's neck due to the strong force. Although it was because he used too much power, it still made Su Han a bit embarra.s.sed.
He had taken advantage over her in all possible ways during this trip to Nine Dragon Palace.
"It was very different when the palace flew in the light versus the dark. The movement in the darkness was much shorter. It meant that the Baxia Palace was much closer to the Origin Dragon Grand Palace in the dark. We have landed in the middle of the movement pattern of the Baxia Palace in the darkness. If we walk perpendicular to the movement pattern, we would be able to reach the Origin Dragon Grand Palace."
Hao Ren said to Su Han while looking at her.
"OK." Su Han wasn't stupid. After hearing his explanation, she knew his plan straight away.
Imagine that the nine Ancestral Dragon Palaces were circling the Origin Dragon Grand Palace in the shape of an oval. According to Hao Ren's calculations, they would be able to reach the Origin Dragon Grand Palace by following his plan.
It wasn't a difficult strategy to understand. However, it was extremely difficult to think of. It took the Baxia Palace so long to fly one round. If they walked on foot, then it would take them years to get to the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
Su Han looked at Hao Ren and was impressed again.
Just when such thoughts came up in her mind, Hao Ren had acted again without her consent by holding onto her delicate hand and flying forward with her.
The hundun energy was much denser here compared with other places. They could guess that they were getting closer to the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
Hao Ren's realm had successfully increased from top-tier Dui-level to mid-tier Xu-level. He was much better at controlling his hundun sword energies.
Now, Hao Ren was able to use his sword energies in such an area where the hundun energy was dense without a break.
Hao Ren felt like he had gone back in time to when he had to searched for the Origin Dragon Grand Palace in the dark with Zhao Yanzi. However, he was only a low-level Li-level cultivator at that time, but he was now a Xun-level.
In this never-ending darkness, it was tough to tell which direction they were going at, making it close to impossible to reach the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
When he and Zhao Yanzi entered the Nine Dragon Palace last time, they had information from many past cultivators. They also accurately calculated the route and direction to get to the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
They didn't know how long they had flown. However, they had reached a big black thing in the mist.
"The Origin Dragon Grand Palace!" Su Han almost shouted out in excitement.
It was a giant-tower-like black building in the dark. If it weren't the Origin Dragon Grand Palace, then what was it?
However, the four stone doors in all four directions of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace were firmly locked.
The Dragon G.o.d Shrine tried to imitate the structure of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. However, the Dragon G.o.d Shrine wasn't as big and awe-inspiring.
When they were a few hundred meters away from the Origin Dragon Grand Palace, Hao Ren's hundun sword energies suddenly stopped working. He was caught off guard, and he fell into the cold mud with Su Han in his arms.
He suddenly sensed no hundun energy within a few hundred meters of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace!
The center of the Nine Dragon Palace was the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. It seemed like the Origin Dragon Grand Palace was a large array formation, and all the hundun energy was spreading from hundreds of meters away from it.
Su Han landed and got out of Hao Ren's arms. Her windbreaker fluttered in the wind and made her look very cool.
Tink!
Her longsword which she held all the time suddenly flew up and went back into her palm!
Hao Ren stood up and looked at Su Han in shock.
Bang!!!"
A strong aura exploded from Su Han's body.
Hao Ren was immediately blown away by many steps.
Qian-level… peak!
Hao Ren couldn't believe what he had just seen.
"If you're brave enough, then come with me. If you're not, then stay outside and wait for me!" Su Han jumped up and looked back down before saying to Hao Ren.
She was so cold that it seemed like her eyebrows were made from frost, and her eyes were made from snow.
