"He..." Yan Yun was stunned by the scene before him as soon as he arrived. He glanced at the person on the ground, then at his senior brother, and stammered, "He doesn't look like he's injured, he looks like he's been hit by..."
Li Chixue suddenly turned to look at Shen Ange: "What exactly is going on?"
His questioning was so fierce and so self-righteous that if Shen Ange hadn't been afraid that someone coveted the Heavenly Mystic Mirror, she probably would have told him everything.
Fortunately, she managed to calm herself down. Her pretty face darkened, and just as she was thinking about how to speak, Fu Mingxu on the ground struggled to sit up.
"Don't worry." His voice was unusually hoarse, and only his fingers, tightly gripping the grass, betrayed his true feelings. "It's just an old injury recurring."
Li Chixue glanced at the blush on his face, her gaze lingering on the beads of sweat that slid from his forehead to his chin. The beads of sweat, seemingly about to fall, swayed gently with his movements, as if capable of stirring one's heart.
Fu Mingxu looked embarrassed to speak, which made Yan Yun even more certain of his guess. He touched his senior brother's arm, but Li Chixue seemed to be frozen in place by magic and did not give any response.
"Help me up, find me a quiet place to recover." Fu Mingxu's eyes were misty, and the redness at the corners of his eyes was alarming.
Shen Ange had a feeling that something was wrong, but when she saw Li Chixue kill Bai Lengxia without hesitation, she didn't dare to reveal the real reason why Fu Mingxu was acting strangely.
In the cultivation world, killing and robbing are commonplace. If Han Tao were around, no one would dare to covet Fu Mingxu's Heaven and Earth Mystic Mirror. However, she and Li Chixue were not close, so she dared not gamble.
The best way is to make them mistakenly believe that Fu Mingxu's old injury has relapsed and stop mentioning what just happened.
“Okay.” Shen Ange reached out to help him, but Li Chixue blocked her behind her.
He lifted Fu Mingxu up, and the latter stood crookedly to one side.
“I know a place we can go.” A gentle, warm breath filled her nostrils, and Li Chixue’s face remained tense. “Come with me.”
Fu Mingxu was very resistant to his touch, but he stood still despite the pain in his ankle and said, "I can walk by myself."
Li Chixue paused in her grip, turned her head to look at him deeply, and slowly let go of his hand.
Shen Ange quickly went to Fu Mingxu's side to prevent him from falling, but she inadvertently stood between the two of them, which relieved Fu Mingxu's embarrassment.
Li Chixue led the way, bypassing the two of them. Fu Mingxu followed with difficulty for about a hundred meters, and after passing several clumps of grass and trees taller than a person, he actually saw a waterfall.
The waterfall cascades down from the high mountain, and the noisy sound of the water echoes between the cliffs.
“There’s a cave behind us, it’s very safe.” Li Chixue turned to look at him and saw that his cheeks were already flushed, so she couldn’t help but twitch her brow.
The heat within him intensified under the influence of the demon bone chain, and his eyes lit up when he saw the cave hidden behind the waterfall.
Just as Shen Ange was thinking about how to take Fu Mingxu inside, Li Chixue suddenly said, "I'll take you inside."
Fu Mingxu considered his situation and felt it wasn't a good idea to trouble Shen Ange. The heat within him was urgent, and if he stayed in front of the three of them any longer, he didn't know how he would embarrass himself.
"Thank you." This was not the time for him to be sentimental.
As expected, Li Chixue's words and actions matched. As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Mingxu felt his waist tighten, and then he was lifted into the air. He heard the wind blowing past his ears, followed by water vapor, and then fell into a dry and dark space.
This is the cave that Li Chixue mentioned.
Fu Mingxu staggered as soon as his feet touched the ground. The tears in his eyes almost solidified. He quickly braced himself against the wall, looking down and saying, "Thank you. My old injury is not suitable to be shown to others. Please leave."
As the restraints on her waist loosened, Li Chixue's voice sounded somewhat stiff for some reason: "Okay."
He couldn't see Fu Mingxu's expression when he lowered his head, but he could hear his suppressed, slight breathing and see the fine beads of sweat on the half of his face that was exposed.
Li Chixue glanced at his trembling shoulders, then turned and walked away.
After the footsteps disappeared, Fu Mingxu finally released his strength and slid off the wall to the ground. His clothes were slightly loose, and the water mist in his eyes was finally forced out by the heat in his body, turning into condensed water.
"Han Tao." He murmured the name almost inaudibly, almost instinctively.
The power of the furnace brought by the demon bone chain was overwhelming, but fortunately, the cave outside the waterfall allowed him to digest it and conceal all his movements.
Li Chixue sat cross-legged by the spiritual pool where the waterfall flowed down. Shen Ange was not familiar with him and was only concerned about Fu Mingxu's situation. Yan Yun was still preoccupied with his senior brother's affairs and had no mood to meditate. Not daring to disturb him, she simply went for a stroll nearby.
The sound of the waterfall filled her ears, but Li Chixue, who had no intention of entering a meditative state, heard an unusual sound mixed in with the noise of the water.
The sound was intermittent, each tone imbued with heat, and one could even imagine how the person making the sound was gently biting their teeth and humming softly.
Li Chixue closed her eyes, and her circulating spiritual energy stagnated.
...
In the endless darkness, time seemed to stand still, and a golden dragon floated motionless in the water.
After an unknown amount of time, ripples began to appear on the surface of the water, as if it were slowly awakening.
"Han Tao." Someone called out with rapid breathing.
The voice was filled with discomfort and deep grievance.
Without even opening his eyes, he could imagine that there must be shattered starlight in those eyes, with specks of starlight gathering into a swirling mist.
The dark space was too quiet; there was no sound that should exist in the world.
Han Tao slowly opened his eyes, feeling a sense of disorientation as to what day it was.
The dragon's tail swayed gently, and there seemed to be no discomfort in its dragon soul area.
who is he?
Where is this place?
It's so quiet here; it's a perfect place to sleep.
The dragon's eyelids drooped, and the amplitude of its tail swaying began to decrease, as if it had just opened its eyes and was merely bored in its sleep.
The ripples on the water slowly receded, and the last trace of movement in the world seemed to be disappearing as well.
"Hantao." Someone called out.
"I feel so bad." Someone was sobbing softly, as if complaining about why the person who should have been there didn't come.
Who is crying?
The dragon's droopy eyelids snapped open, its head swaying as it surveyed the darkness.
The intermittent sobs were heart-wrenching, making one want to offer him all that was beautiful for him to choose from.
Who is it?
The dragon couldn't help but wander around in the darkness, but it still couldn't find the source of the sound.
This made him inexplicably anxious, as if he had lost his most precious treasure somewhere and was at risk of being coveted by others.
Ripples appeared on the water's surface again, and these ripples showed no sign of dissipating; instead, they spread faster and faster, as if a giant wave were about to form.
"Hantao".
The voice, seemingly tinged with moisture, uttered those two words heavily before disappearing completely.
The sound disappeared; the dragon could no longer hear it.
This realization drove the dragon into a frenzy, causing even its soul to ache.
The intense emotional turmoil broke through the shackles of memory, and the dragon flame ignited, burning away the darkness that attempted to imprison the dragon.
After a dragon's roar, the golden eyes reopened in the darkness, and memories flooded back like water. Fu Mingxu's impatient voice kept resurfacing, and his already indifferent face became even more stern.
The golden sword pointed straight into the depths of darkness, and Han Tao's voice was as cold as frost and snow on a high mountain: "Come out!"
The darkness remained silent, as if mocking his misjudgment.
Han Tao's expression was neither happy nor angry. After saying two words and receiving no response, he gripped the hilt of his sword and slashed forward without even looking. Instantly, towering flames burned wildly in the darkness.
The water level at our feet quickly receded, revealing the black rocks beneath.
The demonic seed within the dragon's soul stirred restlessly, but was fiercely suppressed by the dragon's aura, unable to move an inch.
Han Tao stood still. Although the darkness seemed the same everywhere, he squinted and looked around. Then he threw the golden sword into the darkness, and the dragon flames instantly transformed into a fire dragon that split the darkness in two.
Countless golden rays burst forth in the darkness, their boundless power and fury crushing forward, then transforming into a fierce sharpness that pressed directly into a certain place within the darkness.
"No, stop hitting me!" a childish voice rang out, full of complaints. "Why is your dragon so fierce? Why am I so unlucky?"
The fire dragon's power remained undiminished. Han Tao reached out with his hand into the darkness and pulled out a child.
But he knew this was not a child, and no child could trap a dragon.
"The spirit of the secret realm?" Han Tao raised an eyebrow slightly, grabbing the child by the back of the neck. "So it was you who trapped me?"
The child thrashed about in his hands, his whole body enveloped in dragon flames, shouting, "Stop your damn fire! It's burning me!"
Han Tao glanced at his big head and round belly and said coldly, "Let me out, and I'll let you go."
The spirit of the secret realm retorted indignantly, "If it weren't for me, you would have been besieged by those two humans. Instead of thanking me, you grabbed me by the neck!"
Han Tao released his grip, and the spirit of the secret realm fell to the ground with a "thud," then quickly floated back up in front of him. The dragon flames enveloping him weren't enough to harm him, but they did restrict his movements.
The darkness receded like the tide, and light returned to his eyes. He then realized that he was in a valley surrounded by mountains.
The valley is filled with strangely shaped rocks, and although there is not a single blade of grass or tree, the spiritual energy within is pure and abundant, making it an ideal place for cultivation and advancement.
"Alright, I've let you out. Now hurry up and put your fire back." The spirit of the secret realm muttered, "If it weren't for the fact that you're a golden dragon, I wouldn't bother with you at all."
"By the way, your ancestor's remains are in the Dragon Palace up there. Go find them yourself."
Han Tao looked down at him, puzzled, and asked, "Is this the Dragon and Phoenix Realm?"
The spirit of the secret realm rolled its eyes, mimicking a human: "You're only just realizing that?"
Han Tao fell silent for a long time before slowly saying, "The Dragon-Phoenix Realm was sealed in the void by the leaders of the Dragon and Phoenix clans a thousand years ago. It can only be opened with the blood of the phoenix and the soul of the dragon. Why has it suddenly appeared?"
As he spoke, he suddenly recalled the phoenix clan's inexplicable annihilation a long time ago.
Could it be related to the appearance of the secret realm today?
The spirit of the secret realm has always existed in the Dragon and Phoenix Realm, but it has only now developed self-awareness.
He floated in front of Han Tao, his young face filled with hatred: "The reason why the Dragon and Phoenix Realm was sealed was because Yama was sealed in this realm. The Dragon and Phoenix races sacrificed their habitat to bring peace to the Cangling Realm."
"But a thousand years later, a human actually used the blood of the entire Phoenix Clan to open the sealed interface."
"Originally, based on the rate at which the Phoenix Blood was absorbed, this realm would not be able to open for another year. However, for some reason, the Ancestral Dragon's remains inside sensed a certain existence, which is why it opened ahead of schedule."
Enma?
This is the legendary demon race. Back when the Cangling Continent was still the Cangling Realm, humans, demons, dragons and phoenixes coexisted with the demon race. Yama was the demon lord at the time, and because of his ambition to conquer the entire realm, he was suppressed by the powerful beings of the time. Little did he expect that he would be sealed within the Dragon and Phoenix Realm.
The events of a thousand years ago are untraceable, perhaps because the existence of the Dragon and Phoenix Realm was too secretive, and the existing records are only brief mentions.
However, Han Tao noticed something unique about this timeline. It seemed that after this incident, the Cangling Realm became the Cangling Continent as it is today, and no one could ascend to immortality anymore.
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, the spirit of the secret realm became anxious: "They hid some stinky things in the Dragon Palace. You are a dragon, so you should be responsible for cleaning them up."
“If I hadn’t pulled you into the dark realm, those two humans would have used the cultivation rules of the secret realm to attack you.”