21: Chapter 21 Ancient Dragon Bones

In the center of the battlefield, the Fiend Dragon's mountain-like colossal body was already covered in wounds.

The dragon scales, originally as hard as divine metal, shattered, curled up, and cracked over a large area, and pitch-black dragon blood soaked the earth, pooling into gurgling pools of blood on the ground.

Its once swift and domineering dragon body was now stiff and sluggish, the monstrous ferocity in the depths of its eyes rapidly fading, leaving behind only the fatigue of impending demise and bone-deep unwillingness.

"Des... pi... cable... ants..."

The Fiend Dragon managed to squeeze out a hoarse and venomous curse, its massive body no longer able to support itself, and it crashed heavily onto the earth.

Rumble——!

A massive tremor swept across all directions, the entire valley violently shaking, and shattered rocks rolled across the sky.

This Fiend Dragon had completely fallen!

"It's finally taken down."

Su Ming looked at the motionless Fiend Dragon on the ground, his tightly wound mind completely relaxing, and a surge of intense joy welled up in the depths of his eyes.

Beneath the Fiend Dragon's body, the entire battlefield was a complete mess, littered with incomplete undead remains everywhere.

In order to slay this dragon-species demonic monster, the large batch of Undead Retainers he had painstakingly converted recently were almost completely lost, and even the Purple Zombie, nether soldiers, and Red-robed Grievous Woman had fallen by nearly two hundred in total.

Although Wawan and Ada were safe and sound, they were also covered in wounds, their auras fluctuating, and their consumption was extremely heavy.

This was the strongest battle Su Ming had encountered since entering the Hanging Secret Realm.

The Fiend Dragon, carrying the bloodline of the dragon race, possessed strength far exceeding ordinary extraordinary demonic monsters.

This battle was a victory hard-fought entirely by Su Ming relying on the Undead Army's fearless charges to grind it to death.

But there was not the slightest bit of regret or heartache in Su Ming's heart.

This Fiend Dragon carcass alone was enough to cover all battle losses.

Let alone the treasures containing dragon might that might lie behind this lair.

Su Ming had already roughly guessed in his heart: the Fiend Dragon slain just now was ultimately just a dragon species with a thin bloodline, and it must be related to the abundant dragon might in the lair.

"Let's go, let's go in and take a look."

Su Ming calmly spoke to Wawan and Ada.

The remaining retainers on the outer perimeter all stayed behind to clean up the battlefield and gather resources.

The three of Su Ming strode deep into the dark and gloomy monster lair.

Su Ming glanced at the low-tier spiritual materials and monster crystals scattered along the way, completely ignoring them.

His target was extremely clear.

Advancing deep along the way for about a quarter of an hour, the end of the lair suddenly opened up.

"This is..."

The instant they saw the scene before them, the three of them—Su Ming, Wawan, and Ada—simultaneously stopped, their eyes filled with astonishment.

The deepest part of the lair was not a gloomy stone cave, but a towering, archaic, and abandoned palace.

The palace body was rugged and mighty, the stone beams as heavy as mountains, and the patterns ancient and desolate; it was definitely not something that could be built by those dull-witted monsters who only knew how to fight with brute force.

At this moment, everyone grew even more wary and expectant of the items inside the palace.

"Lord God, this place is bizarre. It would be better to let me or Ada scout the way first." Wawan's eyes were alert as she softly advised.

Su Ming nodded slightly and said cautiously: "Ada, go into the hall and scout first."

Ada acknowledged and stepped forward, putting force into both hands to slowly push open the heavy, mottled palace doors.

Creak——

The rusty sound of the door opening pierced the dead silence.

An aura of vicissitudes and ruin rushed toward them.

Broken giant beams were obliquely inserted into the ground, dust accumulated over a millennium covered the floor, and the once smooth and jade-like floor tiles were covered in cracks, with dark ancient moss growing between the gaps.

The painted divine patterns on the palace walls had completely faded and peeled off, and the hanging ancient battle flags had rotted into shreds, swaying gently in the wind.

The entire grand hall was dead silent and empty, with only the wailing echo of the cold draft through the hall, as if whispering the supreme glory of ancient years and the present desolation and vicissitudes.

Confirming there was no fatal murderous intent in the hall for the moment, Su Ming and Wawan slowly stepped in.

Su Ming looked around, his heart filled with emotions: "This place must have been immensely glorious in the past. I wonder what kind of existence fell here to end up in such a dilapidated state."

The three of them crossed layers of broken walls and ruins, heading straight for the core of the grand hall.

The moment they reached the center, the pupils of all three instantly constricted sharply!

Right in the center of the grand hall, there was a huge, pitch-black crater that had collapsed.

At the bottom of the pit quietly lay an incomparably massive, terrifying corpse stretching for a hundred zhang.

A dragon might, a hundred times more noble, ancient, and pure than the Fiend Dragon's, heavily permeated the area, suppressing the entire grand hall!

"Complete dragon bones! It is actually a complete set of ancient giant dragon bones!"

Su Ming couldn't help letting out a low cry, his Adam's apple rolling slightly, raising monstrous waves deep in his heart.

Among the myriad races of the heavens, giant dragons were born demigods, and upon reaching adulthood, they could ascend to the realm of true gods, making them the top-tier race.

He had never expected that within this Hanging Secret Realm, specially designed for newcomers' trials, he would be able to witness with his own eyes the remains of a complete ancient giant dragon.

The faint dragon might he had previously sensed, he originally thought it was just a remnant treasure stained with dragon Qi, but he never expected that the source was actually a complete dragon bone that had been slumbering for eternity!

In an instant, all doubts became entirely clear.

"No wonder that Dark-scaled Fiend Dragon was able to develop a thin dragon bloodline. By soaking in the dragon Qi of these ancient dragon bones all year round, even ordinary monsters could undergo a rebirth and give birth to dragon-species anomalies."

Su Ming's gaze swept quickly across the entire grand hall, doubts multiplying deep in his heart.

"Looking at the degree of ruin of this relic, the giant dragon should have suffered heavy injuries outside and fled back to this place in its dying moments to fall. But the Hanging Secret Realm is merely a trial ground for newly ascended deities; why would it hide the corpse of an ancient giant dragon?"

Various mysteries lingered in his mind, but Su Ming quickly suppressed these distracting thoughts.

Doubts could be solved another day; the complete dragon bones before him were a supreme opportunity that absolutely could not be missed!

He raised his foot and walked toward the center of the crater.

The closer he got to the dragon bones, the heavier the ancient coercion permeating his body became, as if the gravity of the entire heaven and earth was superimposed upon his body.

Fine cold sweat soaked his forehead, and every step forward was arduous, heavy enough to suffocate a person.

Yet beneath the arduous steps, a look of intense joy blossomed on Su Ming's face.

An unexpected windfall!

A huge unexpected windfall!

Under the suppression of this pure and ancient dragon might, his divine body was being invisibly tempered, polished, and purified.

Ever since achieving his divine body, his physical body's improvement had always been slow and difficult, lacking body-tempering resources, forcing him to grind and polish it day after day.

Yet just a moment of dragon might pressing down on his body improved his physical physique by an amount equivalent to three days of bitter cultivation and polishing!

Such an opportunity was hard to trade for even a thousand pieces of gold!

Su Ming gritted his teeth and persisted, steadily moving forward. It took a full three hours before he finally felt that Jiuyou Divine Domain could absorb all the dragon bones.

He no longer hesitated, his mind shifting, and the power of the Jiuyou Divine Domain unfurled with a roar. A giant Divine Domain gate traversing the crater slowly condensed and formed, firmly enveloping the entire ancient dragon bones.

Hum——!

The void trembled, and the pitch-black nether ghostly Qi seeped out from Jiuyou, slowly pulling the dragon bones inside.

The dragon bones were too massive and ancient, carrying the heavy Dao rhythms of eternal years, and the crossing speed was extremely slow.

A massive amount of divine power continuously surged out from Su Ming's body, supporting the Divine Domain's crossing.

After a long period of consumption, the last segment of the dragon bones was completely taken in by the Jiuyou Divine Domain.

"Hoo——"

Su Ming let out a long breath of foul air, his divine power almost exhausted, his body growing slightly weak.

"I almost couldn't hold on, falling short at the very last step."