Chapter Ninety-Two: The Trial Grounds?

In the end, the Daoist took his leave and departed.

The trio and their master had eaten and drunk their fill. The waiter brought over a long bill, and the sight of it made Zhou Qi dizzy. Though he had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the number. A plain, ordinary meal had somehow cost five thousand low-grade spirit stones. What did five thousand low-grade spirit stones amount to? It was the fruit of three days and three nights without sleep or rest for the likes of Xiao Qi, Xiao Ti, and Xiao Hui, enough to build up an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Seeing that Zhou Qi was not in a good mood, Xiaohua did not keep poking at him. Instead, she hid behind Jiu'er and pondered how to cheer up this unlucky benefactor.

The cultivators around them could not help but grow热 with interest at the sight of the three men and their servant. Since they were so generous, if they had any grievances to settle, the reward would surely be substantial. Yet none of them entertained the thought of robbery; the times simply did not allow it.

At last, one cultivator could not hold back and stepped forward to ask whether they needed any help. Zhou Qi asked who the Daoist from earlier had been.

The cultivator was momentarily stunned. The two of them had just been at the same table discussing matters of such taboo importance, and Zhou Qi did not even know who he was? Still, possessing fine professional decorum, he did not mock him.

"That Daoist was Dao Fan, the Dao Son of the Dao Sect," he answered honestly.

"The Dao Son of the Dao Sect? What rank is that?"

"The Dao Son is the head of the Dao Sect's direct disciples. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the next sect master."

What? The future master of the Dao Sect? Zhou Qi was startled. He had not expected the cultivator he had casually shared a table with to be such a hidden powerhouse. No wonder he dared to casually discuss the affairs of the world. Still, his way of thinking seemed somewhat at odds with the Dao Sect's doctrines.

"What level is his cultivation?" Zhou Qi asked on.

"Rumor had it that a few years ago he was in the early Golden Core stage. As for now, no one knows."

Zhou Qi handed the cultivator one hundred low-grade spirit stones as thanks for clearing up his confusion.

Just a few words, and he could get one hundred low-grade spirit stones? What was the difference between that and finding money on the street? For a moment, many of the cultivators felt a little regretful. They should not have been so concerned with saving face and let this man get there first.

Seeing the cultivators nearby all growing restless, Zhou Qi quickly led the three of them away.

Since they were not far from their destination, Zhou Qi decided it would be best to make proper preparations first. After settling down, he sent his spiritual sense into the Medicine Immortal Sacred Mansion.

"Senior, I am nearly at Dragon Burial Valley. How am I supposed to get through the formations inside?" Zhou Qi asked the giant dragon with a respectful bow.

"Not bad, boy. You really did find it. The formations are easy enough. The inherited memories of my dragon clan already contain the method to pass through them. Remember it carefully. Just do not forget the promise you made me." As soon as the giant dragon finished speaking, a stream of information flowed into Zhou Qi's mind.

Zhou Qi memorized it with great care. The power of a dragon clan formation was surely beyond imagination; one wrong step, and the result would be utter ruin. After committing the method to memory, he asked, "Will there be living dragons in Dragon Burial Valley?"

"Absolutely not. Dragon Burial Valley is the grave of the dragon clan. Would you choose to live in the grave of your human race?" the giant dragon scoffed.

"But I have heard that people once heard roars resembling a dragon's from the outskirts of Dragon Burial Valley. If there are no living dragons, where would such roars come from?" Zhou Qi asked again, feeling that the matter was not so simple. If there really were living dragons inside, he had no idea what attitude they would take toward humans.

"Rest easy. Perhaps some dead dragon souls have not dispersed completely. Those are likely mindless roars. There is nothing to fear," the giant dragon said.

Zhou Qi asked no further. This giant dragon had been confined by the Medicine Immortal Sacred Mansion for far too long; perhaps there were changes it simply did not know about.

After parting with the dragon carving, Zhou Qi shared the formation-passing method it had given him with True Lord Tianxuan, asking him to see whether there were any problems with it.

True Lord Tianxuan pondered for a long while before saying that the formation itself was fine, but that dragon had not taken into account that Zhou Qi was in a human body. If a dragon clan member passed through it, there would certainly be no trouble. For a human, however, it would be difficult.

Take the first hurdle, the Sea of Buried Spirits. If a dragon clan member encountered it, they would simply swim across. But in Dragon Burial Valley, spiritual power could not be used at all. Was Zhou Qi supposed to cross it relying only on his flesh and blood? How many years would that take?

And then there was the enormous chasm between the Blazing Fire Array and the Heavenly Thunder Array. Dragons were born with wings and could fly, so crossing it would not be a problem. But Zhou Qi had no wings, and he could not ride a sword. How was he supposed to get across?

With True Lord Tianxuan's guidance, Zhou Qi suddenly realized that problems were everywhere. The method for passing the Heavenly Thunder Array only mentioned the weaker places in the lightning; that did not mean he would not be struck. According to the dragon's meaning, those weaker points could be passed with ease, but only by dragon standards of physical toughness. The same went for the Blazing Fire Array.

"I feel like Dragon Burial Valley is not really a place to bury dragons," True Lord Tianxuan said. "It is more like a place of trials. The layers of formations arranged there can serve defense, and they can also temper the dragon clan's bodies. If you can make it through, it will greatly benefit your body tempering."

A place of trials?

Zhou Qi could not help feeling uneasy.

He had come for the Dragon Pearl, not for some trial. If there were no Dragon Pearl inside, then would he not have come all this way for nothing? And would Huangfu Xiu not be beyond saving?

If that was the case, then this giant dragon certainly did not harbor any good intentions. It must have had some purpose he did not know about.

So be it. Since he had come this far, he might as well go in and take a look. If the matter could not be done, then at least he had tried his best. Besides, if it truly was a place of trials, there would surely be failures, and perhaps by chance he might even pick up one or two Dragon Pearls.

It was just that crossing the gap between the Sea of Buried Spirits and the Blazing Fire Array, as well as the Heavenly Thunder Array, was a problem indeed.

After much hard thought with no solution, Zhou Qi had no choice but to set it aside for the time being and continue cultivating the Primordial Guardian Art and the Mountain-Holding Seal.

By now, the Primordial Guardian Art had already been cultivated to a fair degree. Though it still could not defend his entire body over a vast area, protecting his Golden Core should not be a problem.

After Zhou Qi gave up on visualizing Mount Kunlun and Mount Tai, the Mountain-Holding Seal also made great progress. After all, Jade Dragon Mountain was merely an ordinary mountain, with no special structures and no forbidden legends. Over this period of practice, the miniature projection of Jade Dragon Mountain had begun to slowly take shape.

The Mountain-Holding Seal could be driven not only by spiritual power, but also by essence, energy, and spirit. It could even be activated by burning away lifespan. In Dragon Burial Valley, where spiritual power could not be used, this would be a major trump card. Zhou Qi practiced with exceptional diligence, hoping to transform it into a true combat asset before entering the valley.

Jiu'er and Little White could not go in. They did not cultivate the body, and the baleful qi there would only harm them, bringing no strengthening effect at all. Moreover, there was no telling what dangers lay within; if they entered, he might not even be able to look after them properly.

As for Zhou Qi and Xiaohua, the cooldown period for the Disguise Art had arrived once more. For the moment, the group could only wait. If they grew too anxious now, they were bound to run into Dao Fan, who was body-tempering there. Zhou Qi did not want to get tangled up with such big figures. If he stayed too close, even a random one or two protectors under their command would be enough to give him a terrible time. Dao Fan himself might seem decent enough, but that did not mean the protectors behind him would be any good. It was just like Jiang Yiyi: though she possessed a noble status and appeared to be a lofty saintess in the eyes of outsiders, she still could not go against the will of her sect.