In the sky above and earth below, the fiery storm raged on.
“Brother! Brother! My brother!” As soon as Tianming sent the little eggs back to his lifebound space, Yu Ziqian came rolling and tumbling toward him, his face excited and purple hair fluttering in the wind. He slid all the way down, leaving two deep lines behind him.
“What’s wrong with you? Have you gone mad?” Tianming mocked.
“Brother, look up! Look at the Skyward Stele! It’s been a month and something big has happened. The Voidsky Skirmish has definitely entered the next stage!” Yu Ziqian was excited and nervous. He was still incapacitated and had to rely on Tianming for everything. But after pondering it for a time, he realized that even if he didn’t make the top ten on the imperial star ranking, he would still have someone backing him up. Perhaps Tianming’s position in the Azuresoul Palace might surpass Jiang Qingliu if he managed to bolster the sect’s ranking so they overshadowed the Supracloud Sanctuary. He would be fine as long as Tianming spoke up for him.
Tianming looked up in astonishment. On the Skyward Stele, ten thousand names gleamed in gold; there was nothing out of the ordinary. As he took a closer look, Tianming discovered that a red dot had appeared behind several hundred names. Upon scrutiny, the red dots seemed to form a dragon head.
“What is it?” He focused on the names with the red dots using his Plundering Eye. For example, there was a red dot after the name “Lan Feilin.” The names with red dots were basically concentrated in the upper half of the imperial star ranking.
At that moment, the red dots flashed, combining into a bright, red light which pierced through the fiery storm and shone on a certain location. The clouds parted and light reappeared. Under the brilliance of the red light, an enormous underground palace emerged from below as loud dragon roars shook the heavens and earth. The violent earthquake reached Tianming’s feet as a huge crack in the ground expanded toward him. Tianming rose into the air just as the ground beneath him split wide open, revealing an endless abyss. Countless magma columns sprang up from below.
The underground palace was so enormous it was impossible to gauge its height. What the red light illuminated was merely the tip of the iceberg. Tianming caught sight of a massive dragon sculpture. Mighty and majestic, it was the very picture of the coming of the celestial emperor.
“What’s that?” Tianming exclaimed.
“The Nine… Nine…” Yu Ziqian trembled, struggling to speak.
“Nine what? Calm down, buddy.” Tianming slapped him on the back of his head.
“Brother, that’s the Imperial Ninedragon Tomb!” Yu Ziqian strained to speak the words.
Tianming looked strange.
“Are you in shock?” asked Yu Ziqian.
“No? What’s the Imperial Ninedragon Tomb?” Tianming was calm. Wasn’t this the Voidsky Skirmish? Then what on earth was the Imperial Ninedragon Tomb?
“It’s an Orderian legend!”
Yu Ziqian looked at Tianming strangely. How could he not know this?
“We’ve been cultivating in the mountains over the past two decades. My master forbade us from meeting other people. The reason we left was to see what’s out there,” Tianming replied.
“You’re a weird one,” Yu Ziqian said speechlessly.
“Cut the crap. Tell me, what’s so special about this underground palace?” Tianming asked.
“Alright!”
Yu Ziqian took a deep breath and began explaining. “For millions of years, the emperor of Orderia has always been a celestial orderian, except once when an invincible beastmaster from the Myriad Solar Sects subdued the entire world, defeated the elites of the celestial orderian race, and almost succeeded in unifying the myriad sects. That man was the Ninedragon Emperor! Back then, his status was equivalent to the present-day sun emperor. He kept the celestial orderians’ defensive formation open throughout his reign, and it wasn’t until his death that the celestial orderians dared close the formation.” As Yu Ziqian spoke, his eyes were filled with longing. Undoubtedly, the man was a legend.
“What then? Go on,” Tianming urged.
“It would take me forever to list all his great achievements. Anyway, legend has it that he built the Imperial Ninedragon Tomb before he died, leaving behind everything, including the secret behind his meteoric rise. However, no one has ever discovered traces of the tomb, not even his descendants. So this is the site of the emperor’s legacy and it belongs exclusively to the Myriad Solar Sects, not the celestial orderians,” Yu Ziqian explained.
“It’s all very strange. How could it have appeared here? And it’s clearly part of the Voidsky Skirmish. With the emergence of the tomb, shouldn’t all the elites be rushing into action?” Tianming asked.
“I think it’s strange as well. This is clearly the work of the Sky Palace. It seems they’ve long discovered the tomb but had yet to announce it to the world. They’ve probably taken away all the good stuff, turned the tomb into a battleground, and designed trials inside.” Yu Ziqian speculated.
“It’s possible.” Tianming nodded.
“Anyway, the treasures are gone, but there’ll be leftovers. Who knows? Perhaps there’s treasure after all?” Yu Ziqian said, his eyes gleaming.
The location of the tomb was projected by the Skyward Stele. Very soon, everyone would gather, making it the perfect opportunity to hunt and kill. No one would miss out on such a momentous event.
“The Imperial Ninedragon Tomb? A beastmaster? Did he have nine lifebound beasts?” Tianming asked.
“Nine? You’re crazy! Five is the limit,” said Yu Ziqian.
“Is that the limit? Then why was he called the Ninedragon Emperor?”
“In the legends, he has five dragons for lifebound beasts, but cultivated his arms and legs into dragons through some unknown method. His four limbs and five lifebound beasts make nine dragons. I have a painting of him. I’ll show it to you.” Yu Ziqian reached into his crotch, fiddling for some time.
“What’re you doing?” Tianming stared at him strangely.
“I’m afraid others might steal my spatial ring so I wear it on my pecker.” He smiled suggestively.
“Fuck!” As soon as Tianming held the picture in his hand, he smelled a musty odor. His stomach rolled; if it weren’t for his curiosity, he would have slammed the painting onto Yu Ziqian’s face. “Hold on!” Glancing at Yu Ziqian, he laughed. “Spatial rings are usually worn on the ring finger, so the size of your pecker is…”
“Fuck off! I’m a grower. What do you know?!” Yu Ziqian blushed.
Xiaoxiao, who was standing beside them the entire time, had to struggle to keep herself from laughing.
“Who would’ve thought you gifted men would gather in this wasteland?” Lingfeng couldn’t help but laugh.
“Shut up! Yu Ziqian wished he could find a hole to hide in.
Tianming had already opened the painting. Amidst the clouds, the emperor was the embodiment of power and authority, yet seemed to possess the grace and compassion of a god. There were five dragons circling his figure, but what was even more shocking was the fact that he had dragons for limbs. It was hard to believe anyone could evolve into this form if Tianming hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. However, he wasn’t shocked by the emperor’s limbs, but his eyebrows! On that ferocious countenance was a third eye.
“Archaic House of Xuanyuan? The Trioptic True Dragon Branch?” Tianming was bewildered.
“I thought you knew nothing, but you’re familiar with the Archaic House of Xuanyuan? They’ve switched their surname to ‘Long.’ The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect that’s second on the myriad sect ranking was founded by the Ninedragon Emperor,” said Yu Ziqian.
Tianming was dumbfounded. Glancing at the painting, he asked, “How many years ago was this?”
“Over half a million years ago.”
Then this man had nothing to do with Great Emperor Xuanyuan of the Flameyellow continent. But it was very likely that the Archaic House of Xuanyuan in the Flameyellow Continent originated from the Ninedragon Emperor and the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect.
Perhaps an ordinary disciple left descendants in the Flameyellow Continent, leaving behind the Trioptic True Dragon Branch and changing the history of the continent. Love between a god and a mortal was normal. Not everyone was as self-righteous as the divine moonrace. However, it was still rare. Most romances ended up with the woman being abandoned and forgotten.
For the descendants of these superior races that grew up on the Flameyellow Continent, Ascension is the ceiling for them, which only proves how much influence the world has on human development. The Archaic House of Xuanyuan’s bloodline was diluted so they weren’t as talented as they were before. Of course, that was insignificant. More importantly, Tianming was certain the tomb was related to the next stage. He had to enter it.
“The names with a red dot are probably those who’ve already gone in!” Yu Ziqian exclaimed.
“Let’s go then!”
The four immediately set out. Unbeknownst to them, the emergence of the tomb had caused a sensation in Orderia. A thousand skyward eyes appeared in the sky above the tomb. Through the skyward eyes, the audience could see that all one billion disciples were headed in that direction like a dense colony of ants, flocking to the huge underground palace. The underground palace was still rising. When it had fully emerged, it would begin descending until it completely sank into the ground once more. Then the underground palace would be sealed again. The disciples would have to rely on their skills to enter the palace before that happened.
