162: Chapter 162 Ruins of Yaochi
Inside the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, Li Xuan sat cross-legged, the Grand Unity Law around him condensing into substance.
Having achieved a Breakthrough to the second level of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal, the world in Li Xuan's eyes was vastly different.
If he had previously only watched the River of Time surging, now, he felt as if he could reach out, scoop up a wave, and examine it closely.
Opening his palm, the black Jade Slip obtained from the remains of the creature from the Boundary Sea hovered above it.
The Jade Slip was neither gold nor stone, ice-cold to the touch, and the ancient runes upon it did not seem to belong to the Immortal Realm.
He probed it with a sliver of his Grand Unity Divine Thought, and a torrent of complex, chaotic information rushed into his Sea of Consciousness.
A series of fragmented, eerie images appeared.
Collapsing jade palaces, withered ten thousand acres of peach forests, and the silhouettes of countless Fairies dissipating amidst shrill, sorrowful cries.
At the end of the visions, all the Death Qi and resentment pointed towards a towering giant tree pierced by some kind of weapon, dripping with black blood.
And beneath these images, two names written in Primordial Divine Script were branded upon it.
"Yaochi."
It really was that place.
The Holy Land where the female immortals of the Ancient Heavenly Court resided, the dojo of the Queen Mother of the West in myths and legends, had now actually become a forbidden zone filled with death and resentment.
Li Xuan withdrew his Divine Thought, his gaze returning to calm.
This trip would undoubtedly be extremely dangerous; the origin of that black Jade Slip was already bizarre, and the resentment that had been silent in the Yaochi Ruins for endless years was enough to make ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortals retreat.
But opportunity and danger always coexist.
Besides, he now had a specialist for the job.
"Come in."
Li Xuan spoke.
As soon as he finished speaking, a small white figure rushed in like a gust of wind, his voice arriving before he did.
"Dad! Are we going out to fight? You must take me this time!"
The Li Yao who arrived was none other than Li Changsheng.
He now looked like a child of about seven or eight, dressed in white as snow, carrying that unremarkable wooden sword on his back.
The little guy couldn't hide his excitement, his eyes shining bright, and his whole body exuded a restlessness that screamed, "Hurry up and let me fight!"
As he stepped into the hall, an intangible, sharp Sword Intent permeated the space, and the surrounding air emitted faint "hissing" sounds as if it were being cut.
Some of the Immortal Gold ornaments in the hall even developed fine sword marks on them.
Li Xuan was somewhat surprised.
Good grief, this brat's Dao of the Sword had improved again.
This Sword Intent had reached the point where it couldn't be contained and was leaking out naturally.
A typical young Sword God, his edge too sharp.
Being too rigid leads to breaking; it wasn't a good thing.
"Changsheng, your Sword Intent is too exposed."
Li Xuan pointed out, "It needs to be polished."
"Polished? I polish it every day!"
Li Changsheng was unconvinced and waved his little fist, "Actual combat is the best polishing! Dad, just take me with you, I promise, I'll chop anyone who comes!"
Li Xuan looked at his fearless expression and shook his head.
"No, you can't go this time."
"Why?!"
Li Changsheng's face fell, his mouth pouting enough to hang an oil bottle, "I'm super good at fighting! I'm already at the Peak of the Golden Immortal Realm!"
"It is precisely because you are too good at fighting that you cannot go."
Li Xuan tapped his forehead with one finger, and a gentle force pressed his overflowing Sword Intent back.
"Your sword only knows how to advance, not how to retreat; it only knows how to kill, not how to withdraw. This won't do."
"Then how am I supposed to learn?"
Li Changsheng looked aggrieved.
Li Xuan kept him in suspense, smiling without a word.
"I have arranged a task for you. If you do it well, it will count as completing your apprenticeship."
He called out to the outside of the hall, "Ao Tian!"
The tall figure of Dragon Emperor Ao Tian appeared at the hall entrance, bowing respectfully:
"Your Majesty, I am here."
Li Xuan pointed at Ao Tian and said to Li Changsheng:
"See that? Your task is to go and teach the newly formed 'Heavenly Dragon Guard' sword techniques."
"Teach... teach that group of big worms to practice swords?"
Li Changsheng almost popped his eyes out, looking incredulous.
He was being asked to teach a group of giant dragons that didn't even have hands to hold swords, and only knew how to whip their tails and breathe dragon breath, to practice swords?
What kind of human suffering was this assignment?
Death is but a nod of the head, but Dad's move was truly heart-wrenching!
"When you can make them use their tails to perform sword techniques more skillfully than using claws, you will be considered qualified."
Li Xuan said earnestly, patting his son on the shoulder.
Li Changsheng's expression went through a series of changes, from shock to dullness, and finally turned into a deathly gray.
He could already imagine himself standing in front of a group of giant dragons with lantern-sized eyes, looking completely bewildered, trying to explain what "Unity of Man and Sword" meant.
The scene was too beautiful; he dared not look.
"Dad, I was wrong, can I just go into seclusion instead..."
Li Changsheng tried to make a final struggle.
"A sovereign does not go back on his word."
Li Xuan uttered four words, blocking all his arguments.
Ao Tian, standing to the side, tried hard to suppress his laughter. Their Dragon Clan had been coveting this little ancestor's Dao of the Sword for a long time.
His Majesty's arrangement was simply a godsend!
After sending away the dejected Li Changsheng, a moment later, a cold, elegant figure walked into the hall.
It was his second daughter, Li Qingyue.
She had grown into a young girl of thirteen or fourteen, wearing a moon-white dress, with fair skin and beautiful, elegant features.
It was just that her temperament was too cold, like a Fairy from the Guanghan Palace who didn't eat the food of mortals, her pair of eyes as calm as a cold pool, without a ripple.
Her cultivation had also entered the Golden Immortal Realm.
"Qingyue, accompany your father on a trip."
Li Xuan said.
Li Qingyue didn't ask where they were going, nor did she ask what they were doing, just nodded gently and replied:
"Yes, Father."
As concise as always.
Subsequently, Li Xuan personally came to Changchun Palace.
Liu Shenyan was holding the newborn little Li Yao, basking in the sun.
The little one seemed to like this feeling very much, laughing and babbling in her mother's arms; every time she laughed, the surrounding flowers and plants would sway slightly.
"Husband."
Liu Shenyan's eyes were gentle when she saw Li Xuan.
Li Xuan stepped forward and teased his little daughter in the swaddling clothes.
"Yaoyao, I'm borrowing you to go out and handle some business, is that alright?"
Little Li Yao seemed to understand, actually reaching out her pink, tender little hands to grab one of Li Xuan's fingers, opening her toothless mouth and laughing.
At this moment, Ao Qingxue's figure appeared outside the palace gate, and she bowed deeply to Li Xuan.
"Your Majesty, the Princess is still young, and the long journey through the Star Sea will be bumpy. May I accompany you to take care of Her Highness the Princess?"
Ao Qingxue was wearing a light blue dragon-silk palace gown, which accentuated her graceful figure.
After Awakening her Chaos Divine Dragon Bloodline, her temperament had become increasingly noble, and every smile carried the majesty of a superior, yet she remained humble and respectful only in front of Li Xuan.
Li Xuan glanced at her; she was indeed a good candidate.
"Granted."
The team for the expedition to the Yaochi Ruins was officially assembled.
The lineup was the most outrageous in the history of the Immortal Realm.
A Celestial Emperor at the second level of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal leading the team.
The team members were an ice-cold girl at the Golden Immortal Realm and an infant Princess who still needed to be breastfed, plus a Dragon Clan Princess at the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm... acting as a nanny.
If this news were to spread, it would probably shock the entire Immortal Realm.
"Set sail!"
Li Xuan gave the order.
Outside the Southern Heaven Gate, the massive zhou tian star boat was already waiting.
After an epic upgrade in the Dragon Clan's treasury, the current star boat looked completely different.
The hull was no longer pure star metal, but covered with a layer of dark gold dragon scale armor, smelted from dragon scales that had naturally shed from countless Taiyi and even Grand Unity level Dragon Clan powerhouses, with defensive Formation patterns personally supervised and laid out by Li Daoyan.
On both sides of the hull, the original Formation nodes had been modified into ferocious cannon ports, and deep within the muzzles, the light of destruction driven by Immortal crystals flickered.
The huge ram at the bow of the ship was crafted directly from the skull of a fallen Grand Unity Golden Immortal level Starry Sky Giant Beast.
The entire ship was no longer a carriage floating with Immortal Qi, but a ferocious and terrifying Starry Sky Giant Beast born for war!
Li Xuan held Li Yao, took Li Qingyue and Ao Qingxue, and stepped onto the deck in one stride.
"Set the course, destination — Star-Fall Sea!"
"Command received, my Master."
The artifact spirit of the zhou tian star boat made a respectful sound.
Immediately, the Void Realm beneath the star boat was forcibly torn open by a powerful, irresistible force, revealing the bizarre and psychedelic time-space turbulence behind it.
The massive hull plunged in and disappeared outside the Southern Heaven Gate.
Leaving behind, within the Heavenly Court, a small figure gesturing "chopping, hacking, and stabbing" basic movements to a group of giant dragons, looking completely hopeless.