"Old Fan, where are we going now?" Long Xuan asked, having digested the massive dragon blood.
He had formed a habit now.
He followed Ling Fan's lead implicitly.
Whatever Ling Fan said, he did.
Ling Fan didn't answer his question immediately.
Instead, he countered, "If the remains of that Heavenly Dragon Emperor expert still exist in the world, where do you think they would be?"
Long Xuan showed a thoughtful expression. After pondering for a good while, he said, "Just tell me the answer. Thinking makes my head hurt. I prefer to use my hands, not my brain."
Ling Fan rolled his eyes.
The guy actually had the nerve to say that.
"The remains of that Heavenly Dragon Emperor should be..."
The mark of the Heavenly Demon Eyes suddenly appeared in Ling Fan's eyes. Instantly, his gaze, which seemed capable of discerning all things, swept across the surroundings. He pointed towards the direction of the Heavenly Vein.
Long Xuan asked, "You mean, over by the Heavenly Vein?"
Ling Fan shook his head and said, "No. If I'm not mistaken, this Heavenly Vein is connected end-to-end, forming a loop. The treasures of that Heavenly Dragon Emperor expert, and his own remains, should be in the central area enclosed by this Heavenly Vein."
"Then let's not delay, let's go quickly!" Long Xuan said impatiently.
But after waiting for a moment.
Ling Fan didn't move.
He asked curiously, "Old Fan, why aren't you going?"
Ling Fan said, "Transform into your dragon form and carry me over."
Long Xuan exclaimed, "Damn it, why should I! You riding on me, I have dignity, you know! Fly over yourself."
Ling Fan replied, "Don't you realize the resistance to flying in the sky above this Heavenly Vein is immense, and the further we go, the greater the obstruction. Even a sixth-tier Profound Emperor cannot fly, they will fall into the Heavenly Vein and die. Only those who have obtained a large amount of dragon blood from the creatures of this Dragon Cave world can gain the recognition of the Heavenly Vein and pass through successfully."
"I gave all the dragon blood to you, shouldn't you let me ride you for a bit?"
"Is that so? I didn't read much, don't lie to me," Long Xuan said.
Ling Fan replied, "You're so clever, it's hard for me to lie to you."
"That's true!" Long Xuan grinned proudly, transformed, revealing his massive azure dragon body. Ling Fan stepped onto his back.
"I feel like something is off, like I've become your mount," Long Xuan said as he took to the sky, his massive dragon body soaring at lightning speed.
Ling Fan said, "Not at all. We just have different roles. Your talent and abilities are too good to waste."
"Good horses are common, but good masters are rare. It's good that Old Fan, you understand me!" Long Xuan said, feeling very proud. He showed off even more, increasing his speed and soon disappearing above the Heavenly Vein.
...
If a giant were to look down from the heavens.
They would see a Heavenly Vein stretching for hundreds of millions of miles, forming a ring.
And in the center of the ring-shaped Heavenly Vein.
A grand palace, as magnificent as an epic myth, stood there.
The palace was unimaginably vast.
Its gates were as high as heavenly gates.
Its pillars were like ancient mountains.
Even the gems adorning the palace were stars with diameters of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles.
It was hard to believe how enormous the being who once resided in this palace must have been.
"We're here! Holy crap! There really is a palace, and it's too damn big!" Long Xuan, transformed into an azure dragon, had flown for tens of millions of miles along the Heavenly Vein before finally seeing this awe-inspiring, magnificent palace.
Long Xuan looked at his own dragon body, which exceeded a hundred thousand feet in length.
He had been a little proud of himself earlier.
But now, compared to this palace.
He felt his proud dragon body was as insignificant as a small earthworm.
He couldn't help but raise his dragon head, gazing up at the great hall soaring into the nine heavens, and immediately felt a sense of dizziness.
"Old Fan, the gate is closed, how do we get in?" Long Xuan tried to push the massive, endless palace gate, but it didn't budge.
Considering Long Xuan's strength, pushing a star with a diameter of millions of miles was effortless, which showed the weight of this gate.
Furthermore, a dangerous restrictive light flashed, chilling Long Xuan to the bone and making him feel the approach of death.
Before he could react, a terrifying dragon flame, capable of annihilating even a sixth-tier Profound Emperor, ignited out of nowhere and spread onto him. Instantly, crackling sounds of crisp burning were heard, and Long Xuan cried out in agony.
Ling Fan frowned slightly, the mark of the Demonic Fire Red Lotus appearing in his eyes. A powerful suction force emanated, drawing all the dragon flame from Long Xuan's body.
A massive line of fire continuously flowed from Long Xuan's body into Ling Fan's eyes.
"Damn it, my dragon whiskers are all burnt off! Luckily, I saved my life. Old Fan, I owe you another life!" Long Xuan said, filled with fear.
"Alas, Old Fan, what's wrong!" Long Xuan hadn't even finished speaking.
He saw a look of pain appear on Ling Fan's face, and Ling Fan closed his eyes.
A fiery red halo flickered beneath his eyelids.
Two streams of hot, bloody tears flowed out.
Long Xuan had personally experienced how terrifying that dragon flame was. He immediately cried out in shame.
Ling Fan didn't have the time to attend to him.
Under the burning of that overwhelmingly domineering dragon flame, even his Demonic Fire Red Lotus struggled to suppress it, and the Red Lotus mark was on the verge of collapse.
This was not to say that the Demonic Fire Red Lotus was of a lower grade than this dragon flame, but rather that Ling Fan's current cultivation realm was a bit low. One had to remember that this palace once belonged to an expert who was at least an eighth-tier Heavenly Dragon Emperor.
The level of restrictions left behind by such a being would naturally not be low.
"I don't believe I can't handle a mere wisp of your dragon flame!" Ling Fan snorted coldly, sending a portion of the dragon flame into his own world to suppress and refine it into the Flame Great Dao within his world.
At the same time, he sent the remaining portion of the dragon flame into the Samsara Divine Cauldron.
This barely stabilized the situation.
"Hoo!"
A full half an hour later.
Ling Fan finally let out a long sigh and opened his eyes.
A terrifying light flame flashed and disappeared, startling Long Xuan.
"Old Fan, you... you didn't refine that wisp of dragon flame, did you..."
Ling Fan remained noncommittal.
Long Xuan was deeply shocked.
After all, that was a terrifying dragon flame that could threaten a sixth-tier Profound Emperor.
Anyone who could subdue it would gain a great killing weapon!
"Now, how do we get in?" After the shock, Long Xuan transformed back into his human form and said with a worried frown.
He didn't dare to touch the gate again now. Who knew what other terrifying restrictions he might trigger.
"Break the restrictions, and then we can enter," Ling Fan said calmly.
"You say it so easily. These are restrictions left by a Heavenly Emperor level expert. Can the two of us do it? Besides, I know nothing about restrictions. You know, I don't like things that are too mentally taxing. Hey, Old Fan, do you know how?" Long Xuan was still babbling.
Ling Fan had already stood before the gate and reached out to touch it.
"Danger!" Long Xuan quickly called out a warning.
But what appeared before him made him stare in disbelief. Countless light beams erupted from Ling Fan's palm, weaving into obscure talismans and patterns. They landed on the gate, and surprisingly, did not trigger the dragon flame restriction from before.
"Holy crap, you know this too? I heard that the art of restrictions and formations is as difficult as reaching the heavens, and its inheritance is almost extinct. There are very few people who can achieve great success in this field!" Long Xuan no longer knew how to describe his shock.
It was as if the word "impossible" did not exist for Ling Fan.
"How is it, any progress?" Long Xuan asked tentatively after waiting for a while.
Ling Fan replied, "The original restrictions on this gate number ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, forming an extremely powerful formation, capable of blocking even an eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor."
"My goodness, that's amazing! Then we can't get in," Long Xuan sighed.
"I haven't finished speaking." Ling Fan continued, "This ruin has existed for countless years, and the power of the restrictions has been greatly weakened. Moreover, we don't need to break all the restrictions, we just need to open a small gap for us to enter. It's not a big problem."
As Ling Fan spoke, the light beams in his hands became denser, weaving into various celestial diagrams and anomalies. Soon, a heavy rumbling sound was heard.
A small crack in the door opened.
"Amazing, brother!" Long Xuan exclaimed with joy. The two of them quickly transformed into two streaks of rainbow light and entered.
Without Ling Fan's support.
The restrictions closed again.
The great gate also boomed shut.
Not long after Ling Fan and Long Xuan entered this central dragon palace.
Figures one after another crossed and passed through the Heavenly Vein.
They arrived before this central dragon palace.
Everyone who could reach this place exuded an incomparably powerful aura. They were at least the overlord geniuses of their respective sects.
Among them were several familiar figures to Ling Fan.
Lu Rui.
Yuan Hongsheng.
Mei Zhenzhen.
Mo Fei.
The four of them were among them.
In addition, there were the three true disciples of Wind, Rain, and Lightning from the Tianyi Sect.
As well as some top prodigies from the Xiaoyao Sect, Night Demon Mountain, and Linghai Sect, and a few rogue cultivators.