Ye Fan walked the perimeter of the abyss, carving patterns along its edge and condensing threads of the Heavenly Source Script. Combining his Terrain Observation Arts with his Qi Sight Arts, he attempted to extrapolate everything within the Myriad Dragon Nest.
The female holy master remained within the ice palace, undestroyed — this gave him a glimmer of hope, and so he wanted to deduce what exactly lay below.
He did not know how much time passed before he stood up at last, mentally exhausted, having unknowingly walked one full circuit around the abyss.
“Well?” The Great Black Dog was the most impatient.
The Myriad Dragon Nest was a supremely dangerous forbidden ground, but it also contained boundless divine treasures. If they could enter, there might be an extraordinary stroke of fortune awaiting them.
“From above the abyss, I can only extrapolate a rough outline — it’s very difficult to get a clear picture.”
“So what do we do? Leave now, or risk going in?” Pang Bo asked.
Ye Fan said, “We can descend a stretch and see. My extrapolations show the open abyss itself holds nothing — the true dangers lie within the dragon nest.”
“Young man, you’d better have a firm grasp on this,” the Great Black Dog warned, baring its teeth. “Otherwise we might as well be leaping into a demon’s pit.”
Tu Fei supported going down to explore, saying, “It’s absolutely worth attempting. The ancient holy land of the Netherworld Divine Palace must have obtained their mysterious inheritance from below. Perhaps we can gain something as well.”
In the end, the group reached a consensus and prepared to descend for a look.
Ever since the great battle in the Hall of Timelessness, after the Great Black Dog’s golden bell emerged, it had soon gained the ability to fly — so at the moment it needed no one’s assistance.
To be safe, they prepared a Dark Jade Platform. If necessary, they could traverse the void and escape upward.
The dragon qi surged powerfully like ocean tides, and they met great resistance during their descent. Unwilling to plunge down recklessly, they moved very slowly, sinking bit by bit.
The further they descended, the darker it grew. Eventually, they could not see their hands in front of their faces — but fortunately their spiritual senses were all very strong, allowing them to perceive their surroundings.
“This abyss was carved out by human hands!”
On the walls of the abyss were clear marks of blades and axes. Upon seeing this, everyone was greatly shocked. Who would dare to excavate the Myriad Dragon Nest?
Clearly, the Myriad Dragon Nest had been hidden underground and was revealed only after being dug out.
Midway down, they encountered the ice palace again, gleaming and crystalline.
At regular intervals, the ice palace was pushed upward by the surging dragon qi, drifting up and down.
The woman inside the ice palace was entirely crystalline, her black hair lustrous and bright, her expression entirely serene. She could truly be called a woman of peerless, dynasty-toppling beauty — it was difficult to imagine she was a female holy master.
“I think I just saw her eyelashes flutter!” The Great Black Dog gave a startled shudder and retreated backward.
“Stop trying to spook everyone, you wretched dog!” Tu Fei scolded.
Seventy or eighty thousand years had passed. None of them believed she was still alive — not even an ancient great emperor could have a lifespan that long.
The ice palace ascended, while the group continued to sink, pressing toward the Myriad Dragon Nest. Opportunity and danger coexisted here, and they intended to take the gamble.
One thousand meters… two thousand… three thousand…
Their hearts began to falter. After descending a full four thousand meters, they had still not reached the bottom. It seemed endless, as though it led straight to the underworld.
Ye Fan had no choice but to stop and once again use the Heavenly Source Script to extrapolate. A single misstep here could mean a calamity of life and death.
After a long while, he let out a slow breath. The results indicated no danger — they could continue downward.
Five thousand meters… six thousand…
Descending all the way to over nine thousand meters, they finally sensed the bottom of the abyss. They were still several hundred meters from the ground.
“Damn it — this might truly be a natural sinkhole. Nearly ten thousand meters deep!” the Great Black Dog muttered.
“Everyone be careful,” Ye Fan reminded them. They were close to the bottom of the abyss now, and not far from the dragon nest — danger could arise at any moment.
Approaching the bottom of the abyss, their hearts pounded in waves of anxiety. They had truly arrived at the dragon’s lair.
At last, they landed on the ground. An ancient and desolate aura washed over them, as though they had been transported back to a primordial age.
The floor of the abyss was not particularly dark. Scattered fragments of divine source glimmered with light here and there.
Yet the abyss was simply too vast to be fully illuminated, and still a degree of dimness remained. Looking around, all was open and expansive — nothing like the interior of the earth. It was more like arriving at an ancient battlefield.
“What is that?”
Just ahead, there appeared to be ancient structures, crumbling and in disarray.
They quickly moved toward them. Discovering structures outside the Myriad Dragon Nest exceeded their expectations.
“It looks like an altar — could this be a place of sacrifice?”
“It’s nearly completely collapsed, having stood abandoned for untold ages.”
Before they even drew close, the group had already identified it as an ancient sacrificial platform. How many years it had stood was impossible to guess — it bore the carvings of age upon age, and even the stones were on the verge of crumbling away.
“That is…” Ye Fan’s pupils constricted sharply.
“How is this possible?!” Pang Bo cried out in shock.
The moment they arrived nearby, both were struck with disbelief, their faces etched with incredulity.
From outside the altar, nothing particularly unusual could be seen. But when they climbed up the crumbling stone platform and reached the very top, their hearts pounded uncontrollably, unable to settle.
At the top was a five-colored altar, constructed from five varieties of ancient stone. It was saturated with an aura of great age. Though nearly collapsed, its form could still be made out.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo became so stirred that words could barely capture it — they nearly pressed themselves flat against it, running their hands ceaselessly over the surface, muttering nonstop under their breath.
The resemblance was uncanny!
Had they not been at the bottom of this abyss, they would have thought they had arrived at the summit of Mount Tai, returned to the moment the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin first set sail.
This five-colored altar was nearly identical to the one on Mount Tai — the style, the form, barely any difference, even the materials were much the same.
“A path back…”
“One day, we will certainly be able to return!”
Ye Fan and Pang Bo kept murmuring to themselves, unable to calm down, their hands stroking the ancient stone platform.
“What’s gotten into you two?” Tu Fei asked.
“You haven’t been possessed by some ancient creature, have you?” The Great Black Dog backed up a few steps.
After a long while, Ye Fan and Pang Bo finally settled somewhat. For them, this represented a path of hope. The earth and this world were connected in countless ways — they firmly believed they could go back.
“Have you ever seen an altar like this before?” Ye Fan asked.
Tu Fei shook his head — he had never heard of one, and it wasn’t recorded in any ancient texts he knew.
“Great Emperor array patterns!”
The Great Black Dog let out a startled cry, pressing its large face nearly to the ground. Now it was its turn to grow agitated — it nearly started howling. Tu Fei was also startled and quickly began to examine the ground as well. The mention of a Great Emperor was irresistible — no one could remain calm.
“This was definitely laid down by a Great Emperor!”
The Great Black Dog was nearly trembling, its large copper-bell eyes fixed on the ground below, where several strange runes could be seen — their meaning impossible to interpret.
It ran its great paw over those patterns, saying, “If I could understand even one or two parts in ten of these, it would benefit me for an entire lifetime.”
Ye Fan’s heart stirred. “Can you restore the five-colored altar? Can you determine its purpose?”
“Unless a Great Emperor is reborn, there is no way to restore it. I cannot make sense of even a single one of these patterns,” the Black Emperor said, shaking its head, though carefully tracing and copying the runes.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo sighed. They searched the crumbled altar thoroughly but found nothing of value.
Only the Great Black Dog seemed as though it had stumbled upon the greatest treasure in the world — its mouth split into a foolish grin reaching nearly to its ears, laughing on and on without stopping.
After lingering for a long while, Ye Fan and the others finally departed, heading toward the Myriad Dragon Nest ahead. There, dragon qi flowed like rivers, surging ceaselessly. Nine great dragons spiraled above, as though alive.
Ahead, arranged in a row, were nine large caverns, all glowing, with rolling dragon qi pouring out from within.
Ye Fan read the terrain, observed the dragon qi, and continued carving patterns in the ground, extrapolating with the Heavenly Source Script — then took the lead and walked forward.
All nine dragon caverns were interconnected internally, all leading into the Myriad Dragon Nest. When they stepped inside, the dragon qi washed over them, opening their pores and filling their bodies with ease and refreshment.
“Wait, could this be that place?” The Great Black Dog began to grow suspicious, its expression turning to one of astonishment.
“Tell us quickly!” Tu Fei urged.
“Damn it — nine dragon caverns — I know what this place is!” The Great Black Dog said, as though something had suddenly clicked into place.
“What did you remember?” Ye Fan asked.
“Long ago, the Wushi Great Emperor visited a place that nurtured dragons — this must be it!” The Black Emperor was absolutely certain.
“How do you know about the Wushi Great Emperor’s affairs?” Tu Fei asked skeptically.
“This Emperor read an ancient text that recorded it,” the Great Black Dog said lightly, sweeping Tu Fei a glance before continuing. “This place is comparable to the terrain of nine dragons guarding a pearl — but the Wushi Great Emperor ultimately chose Purple Mountain.”
Purple Mountain — nine great dragons guarding a pearl. There lay the Wushi Great Emperor’s inheritance, and even his extreme Dao sacred weapon was sealed there.
Tu Fei was stunned. “You can’t be saying the Myriad Dragon Nest is second only to Purple Mountain? Which would mean neither the holy lands of the Eastern Desolation nor the hundreds of schools of thought in the Central Region can break into it?”
“The Wushi Great Emperor came to the Myriad Dragon Nest — many of the traces here were carved out by him…” Ye Fan could not settle his heart.
Without realizing it, they had walked some distance forward, and no longer spoke aloud, communicating instead through spiritual sense transmissions.
“What is that scent? Why is it so fragrant?” The Great Black Dog’s nostrils twitched.
They followed the dragon qi forward for more than ten li, arriving at a place riddled with stone caverns that resembled a honeycomb — and were stopped in their tracks.
The nine largest dragon caverns all led toward what lay ahead — a massive nest, visible from a distance, radiating brilliant divine light. It absolutely contained world-shaking divine sources within.
There was no question — this was the Myriad Dragon Nest!
They were still several li away, yet none of them dared to advance. Vaguely, they could make out divine source blocks drifting within the Myriad Dragon Nest — and it appeared that living creatures were sealed within!
“Damn it — we’ve run into something big here. They absolutely must be primordial royal bloodlines — they really know how to pick their spot, nesting inside the Myriad Dragon Nest!” the Great Black Dog said, clenching its teeth.
The group was dumbstruck. The strength and terror of primordial creatures were deeply ingrained in them — to say nothing of the royal bloodlines among them, which were simply beyond comparison.
“What a shame — we walked all this way, and clearly those vast divine sources are right there, yet we can only stop here,” Pang Bo said with immense regret.
“I truly cannot accept this!” Ye Fan’s need for source was pressing. He could vaguely see peerless divine sources within the Myriad Dragon Nest, yet could not obtain them.
“The primordial royal bloodlines are most likely still alive. The inheritance that the holy land of the Netherworld Divine Palace received may have been granted by them. Perhaps we could communicate with them…” Tu Fei said.
“Don’t even think about it!” the Great Black Dog said, shaking its head.
According to its deductions, the so-called Netherworld Divine Palace holy land was certainly founded by beings with primordial creature blood flowing through their veins — established to guard this place.
“By that reasoning, the invincible divine king of the Jiang Family wiped it out to eliminate a hidden threat to the human race?” The group muttered in stunned disbelief. One holy land’s destruction might have carried such a hidden story behind it.
“We should leave quickly. If even one primordial royal bloodline emerges, there will surely be mountains of corpses and rivers of blood aboveground — there is simply no way to contend with them,” the Great Black Dog was the first to lose its nerve, and for good reason — the more it understood, the clearer the terror became.
“One day, when my sacred physique reaches full completion, I will definitely come back here and walk this place!” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
“The fragrance has grown stronger,” Tu Fei said, feeling a wave of intoxication — and he was by no means the most sensitive.
“This is…” The Great Black Dog, which had been about to flee, suddenly grew excited. “This must be a primordial divine medicine — a world-shaking rarity many times more precious than divine source!”
In this world, virtually nothing could compare to a primordial divine medicine. A single plant could allow an unparalleled powerful being with a drained lifespan to be reborn — to say nothing of its effects on others.
It was a priceless supreme treasure. Even in the primordial age, only a handful could ever be found, let alone in the present era, where they had utterly vanished from existence.
Ye Fan activated the Divine Sense of the Heavenly Source Scripture, and two beams of violet light shot from his eyes as he gazed forward, searching for the primordial divine medicine.
“It truly is a primordial divine medicine!” His heart and mind were shaken — he had found a sacred object.
It stood just outside the Myriad Dragon Nest, where the dragon qi from every cavern had to pass through — concentrating the qi of ten thousand dragons!
Pang Bo, Tu Fei, and the Great Black Dog’s eyes all flashed with divine light as they too finally caught sight of that sacred object.
“That is a primordial divine medicine nourished by the entirety of the Myriad Dragon Nest!”
“Indeed — sustained by ten thousand dragons’ qi, drawing upon the essence of divine source to grow to this!”
“In the world today, only a place like the Myriad Dragon Nest could nourish such a sacred object into existence.”
They could not move their feet, utterly transfixed, and desperately wanted to pluck it and bring it back.
Yet that plant was right in front of the Myriad Dragon Nest — far too close to the primordial royal bloodlines. Any attempt to approach it would likely be nine parts death to one part survival.
“The primordial royal bloodlines are all sleeping. There may be a chance to pick it,” the Great Black Dog said, its eyes glinting brightly as it goaded Ye Fan into going.
“Stop giving bad ideas, you wretched dog — why don’t you go yourself?” Tu Fei scolded.
“I’ll go,” Ye Fan said, having made up his mind.
“Little Ye, there’s no need to push this hard — it’s far too dangerous,” Pang Bo tried to dissuade him.
Ye Fan shook his head. “It will be fine. The chances of success are high, and if things truly go wrong, I’ll summon the Dark Jade Platform and escape immediately.”
Pang Bo insisted on going with him, but Ye Fan firmly refused.
In the end, he went forward alone, intending to see whether he could pluck it. To turn back and leave like this would truly be too great a shame.
Pang Bo, Tu Fei, and the Great Black Dog watched from a distance, ready to provide assistance at any moment.
The dragon qi surged relentlessly, crashing like tides. Ye Fan suppressed all signs of life, moving like a dried-out branch of wood, shifting his steps slowly, while shielding his body with the Cauldron of All Things’ Maternal Qi.
One step… two steps… The path was not short. He spent a long time and finally drew close to the Myriad Dragon Nest.
The nest was truly enormous. He could only glimpse the tip of the iceberg through the dragon caverns — but even that was enough to stagger him.
He saw an ancient coffin drifting up and down within a heap of divine source, sending successive waves of suffocating dread through him. His flesh and bones felt as though they might shatter apart — this was an aura of overwhelming oppressive force!
That pile of divine source fragments was two or three square meters in volume, enough to completely submerge the ancient coffin.
He angled slightly to one side and spotted a large block of divine source nearly two meters long — blindingly brilliant, too intense to look at directly — with a humanoid creature sealed within!
They were absolutely of primordial royal blood!
The Myriad Dragon Nest was truly enormous. What he could see, situated several li from the cavern’s mouth, was fortunate — otherwise he might not have been able to take a single step forward.
And all of this was merely a portion of what he could observe. What else lay within the Myriad Dragon Nest, he could not know.
Finally, Ye Fan reached the entrance of the Myriad Dragon Nest and drew close to the primordial divine medicine.
All the qi of ten thousand dragons flowed through this place. It was a single sacred object nourished by the entirety of the dragon nest.
Up close, Ye Fan could clearly see its appearance — extraordinarily wondrous, unmistakably a supreme divine object at a glance, its value immeasurable.
The qi of ten thousand dragons coiled around it. The divine medicine blazed with glory, its entire body golden in color, standing over a foot tall, bearing nine leaves.
Each leaf resembled a golden cloud — beautiful and dazzling, with a slightly drifting quality.
At the very top of this primordial divine medicine, a fruit had formed. Golden and radiant, it was uniquely shaped — a palm-length golden dragon, crystalline and translucent, exquisitely lifelike, as though alive.
And within the mouth of that golden dragon, it clenched a golden pearl — gleaming with light, crystalline and splendid.
The entirety of the Myriad Dragon Nest had nourished only this single sacred object. Its value was beyond imagination!
This primordial divine medicine — of those that could possibly be plucked in this world — was likely the only one that remained.
Coiled in the qi of ten thousand dragons, golden and crystalline light shimmered together. That fragrance nearly caused Ye Fan to become intoxicated on the spot, as though he might ascend to immortality.
He even wondered — if he consumed this divine medicine, would he achieve a white-day ascension?
Without any hesitation, Ye Fan moved quickly forward, preparing to pluck it. Then suddenly, his innate spiritual sense gave a violent lurch — as though he had fallen into the depths of hell! He had sensed an immense and overwhelming danger.
Should he take another step forward? In that instant between sparks of flint, he faced a torturous choice.