26: Chapter 26 The Suspended Tower

High above the Hanging Secret Realm, a pitch-black dragon shadow tore through the clouds, flapping its wings and soaring past.

Below, a deity hurrying along abruptly stopped, looking up at the massive dark shadow spanning the horizon. His pupils constricted sharply, and he gasped in disbelief:

"That is... a dragon?!"

He stood there blankly for a long time before suddenly snapping back to his senses, hurriedly shaking his head to deny the thought.

"That's not right. Everyone entering the Hanging Secret Realm is a deity who awakened this year; no one can possess a true dragon-type dependent. It must just be a dependent carrying a thin trace of dragon bloodline."

Even so, the look of envy in the depths of his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

"Even a sliver of dragon blood is extremely rare! It's truly enviable, I, He Xun, am completely jealous!"

He Xun stared fixedly at the direction the dragon shadow was leaving in, filled with envy.

But the next moment, his expression changed drastically, and his heart sank heavily.

"Not good!"

He recognized at a glance that the black dragon's flight trajectory was precisely the direction of the Hanging Pagoda!

The Hanging Pagoda was a top-tier fortuitous encounter in the secret realm. Every time the Hanging Secret Realm opened, there were only ten entry slots available, making them extremely scarce.

Having hurried all the way, he had long since learned that several proud prodigies had already arrived ahead of time to wait.

If this person snatched the final slot first, his rushing around this time would end up completely in vain!

With this thought, He Xun dared not delay any longer. His figure flashed, transforming into a streak of light as he galloped toward the Hanging Pagoda at full speed.

...

High above, Sargalian steadily flapped its wings, and a low dragon voice resounded in Su Ming's ear: "Divine Lord, ahead is the Hanging Pagoda."

Su Ming looked out in response, his gaze piercing through layers of sea clouds to catch sight of that wondrous tower standing through the ages at a glance.

The giant tower soared into the clouds, supporting the heavens and standing upon the earth. Its tower body was majestic and heavy, forcefully tearing through layers upon layers of sea clouds.

Its base was rooted on shattered, floating ancient rock layers, and the tower body shot straight up, its upper half concealed in rolling and surging purple-gold divine mist, making the end of the tower peak completely invisible.

The entire ancient tower was weathered and primitive, its patterns mottled, carrying a heavy aura precipitated through eternity, as if it had stood here since the very beginning of heaven and earth, overlooking the endless vicissitudes of time.

"To think several people found this place, but why haven't they entered the tower?"

Su Ming swept his gaze across and saw nine figures currently standing on the flat ground in front of the tower.

The nine of them had obviously long since noticed the commotion in the sky, and they all raised their heads to look at Su Ming in the air, their eyes churning with shock and astonishment.

"Let's go down."

"As you command, Divine Lord."

Sargalian folded its wings, enveloping a wisp of black wind as it steadily swooped down to land. The moment it landed, a gale swept in all directions, blowing the robes of the nine people in front of the tower into a frenzy and making it almost impossible for them to open their eyes.

When the wind and sand settled, an incredulous exclamation suddenly exploded: "Holy shit! It's really a living dragon descendant!"

Su Ming leaped down from the broad dragon back, landing steadily.

The gazes of the nine people present instantly focused entirely on him, intertwining with emotions of curiosity, inquiry, and envy.

The youth who had spoken just now was the most enthusiastic. He walked straight up to Sargalian, his eyes shining, sizing him up with fanatical expression, curious to the extreme.

This youth's overly familiar temperament made Su Ming feel slightly helpless.

The youth also realized that his behavior was somewhat abrupt, so he quickly reined in his loss of composure, smiled, cupped his fists, and introduced himself: "Pardon my rudeness, my name is Shen Ce, from the Shen family of Liluan Star."

"Blue Star, Su Ming." Su Ming pondered briefly and calmly stated his name.

"Blue Star?"

Hearing this, the few people present all wore puzzled expressions, exchanging glances with each other, their eyes full of incomprehension.

They had heard of the top aristocratic families of all major star domains, but they had never heard of any force like the Su family of Blue Star.

After a brief surprise, Shen Ce looked at Su Ming with eager anticipation once again, his tone warm: "Su Ming, can I touch your dragon-type dependent?"

As soon as his voice fell, a flash of violent anger instantly swept across the eyes of Sargalian, who was crouching on the ground. Its low dragon pupils swept coldly past Shen Ce, and an extremely faint dragon roar carrying deterrence was transmitted out.

How dare an ant offend a dragon's body?

Su Ming spread his hands and smiled helplessly: "Clearly, it's not very willing."

"Alright, what a pity." Shen Ce sighed regretfully, then exclaimed with eyes full of envy: "Su Ming, the purity of your dragon descendant bloodline is definitely not low! This is at least an elite-level hero dependent, right?"

"I'm so envious! I've exhausted quite a few resources and still haven't been able to cultivate a hero dependent to this day, yet you directly possess a dragon-type hero! Your family must definitely master a secret method for cultivating dragon descendants, right?"

Everyone present felt envious in their hearts.

Furthermore, the cultivation method for every single type of hero was bred through countless experiments and trials; it was the foundation of an aristocratic family or force.

With the cultivation method, they could continuously breed hero-grade dependents, which was also the reason they could stand tall without falling.

"There is no secret method, just good luck, obtained by chance." Su Ming smiled faintly, then changed the subject and took the initiative to ask: "You all gathered here, you should also be here to clear this Hanging Pagoda, right?"

"That's right!" Shen Ce nodded decisively, speaking straightforwardly: "As soon as you came, Su Ming, it happened to make ten people. The trial can finally be started!"

"No wonder they arrived early but delayed entering the tower; it turns out the Hanging Pagoda has this kind of rule restriction."

Just as Su Ming wanted to inquire more about the trial details, a cold and impatient cold snort suddenly interrupted.

"Enough, Shen Ce, stop talking nonsense. Entering the tower is imminent, no need for idle chatter."

The one who spoke was a gloomy-looking man in black, with cold and stern brows and eyes, a detached aura, and an extremely indifferent attitude towards others.

"Yin Rong, can't this guy be a bit more amiable?" Shen Ce curled his lips helplessly, but did not argue further.

Yin Rong completely ignored everyone and walked alone towards the stone tablet in front of the tower.

As he approached, one of the ten long-dormant crystal beads on the stone tablet instantly lit up.

Seeing this, the remaining waiting people stepped forward and stopped, and the crystal beads lit up one after another.

"Su Ming, let's go." Shen Ce turned his head and enthusiastically invited him.

"Mhm."

Su Ming nodded slightly, a thought moving in his mind to signal Sargalian to return to the Jiuyou Divine Domain first and await orders.

Then he stepped forward, standing at the last empty spot on the stone tablet.

Hum—!

As Su Ming took his position, the last crystal bead on the stone tablet instantly lit up, and all ten spirit beads shone brilliantly, their light connecting the entire heaven and earth.

A majestic and dazzling pillar of light reaching to the heavens suddenly rose from the ground, instantly enveloping all ten people present.

Holy light circulated, and laws surged. The figures of the ten people simultaneously blurred, instantly disappearing in front of the ancient tower.

...

Just moments after everyone had entered the tower, a disheveled figure sprinted over at full speed, landing heavily on the open space in front of the tower.

The person who arrived was none other than He Xun, who had hurried all the way.

But when he saw the ten spirit beads glowing on the stone tablet, he instantly froze in place, his expression turning livid and his fists clenched tightly.

"Damn it... I'm still a step too late!"

He gnashed his teeth, filled with unwillingness and remorse.