Chapter 211 - Great Harvest
The Dragon Palace was mostly constructed of crystal. Qin Yun marveled at its crystalline beauty through the cracks.
After pa.s.sing through cracks, he entered another hall at the other end.
There were scattered vessels on the ground, and not far from the entrance were damaged Dharma treasures and weapons. Qin Yun judged at a glance, "The Four Seas Dragon race have yet to come to this district."
After taking a few steps, he beckoned for a sword on the ground to fly into his hand. Qin Yun sized it up. "A sixth-grade Dharmic treasure, but it has gone too long without the nourishment of Dharmic powers. It’s already showing signs of damage." With that said, he injected his Golden Core Dharmic powers into the sword. It immediately suffused lightning and, as the Dharmic powers circulated through the sword, the minute damages healed slowly.
"Nouris.h.i.+ng it for about half a month will restore it completely." Qin Yun nodded. It had probably the least amount of damage of all the Dharma treasures and weapons on the ground. The others" runic patterns had dissipated and they were completely damaged. It was troublesome even to melt them for materials. Unless the materials were expensive, there was no need for him to gather them.
The hall he was in was considered as part of another district within the palace"s periphery. Qin Yun carefully explored the area.
"The battle back then must have been truly terrifying."
As he walked, he picked up the Dharma treasures that were still barely usable. He also saw more obvious signs of the fateful battle that happened a long time ago as he approached the Ancient Skydragon Palace"s core.
Without the fiendmonsters blocking his path, Qin Yun traveled through three districts in the Ancient Skydragon Palace"s periphery. He obtained a pile of Dharma treasures, the most precious item being a third-grade Dharma treasure. It was likely left behind by a soldier of the Dragon Palace from that era.
"Oh?" Qin Yun suddenly caught sight of a ma.s.sive dragon corpse through a crack in an adjacent hall.
"This corpse has been preserved all this time?" Qin Yun was astonished. "It would be pretty impressive if a few bones of a Connate Golden Core corpse were left from ancient times."
"For this corpse to be intact, could he have been be at the level of immortals?" Qin Yun was delighted. He did not believe it was the ancient Skydragon. Through the crack, the dragon"s corpse did not release a powerful suppressive aura. It was nowhere comparable to the red-scaled arm.
"I should get there quickly." Qin Yun immediately searched for the path. As the crack was too fine, he could not crawl through it even if he tried to squeeze.
After searching for some time, he was pleased to realize that the adjacent hall was in the same district. He soon circled the area and followed a pa.s.sage into that hall.
In that hall lay the remnants of a dragon corpse. It was covered with azure-colored scales and its whiskers were sprawled to the side. Its body had been torn into two and the ground was covered with dried blood. The dragon corpse had many wounds that suffused a black, fiendish aura.
"This must be a dragon at the True Dragon realm." Qin Yun made the judgment. "He is on par with ordinary Essence Soul immortals and must have been be a subordinate of the ancient Skydragon. Back when the ancient Skydragon fought the Other Realm Fiendcelestial, the battle caused many areas of the Ancient Skydragon Palace to collapse. The subordinates must have been killed by the Other Realm Fiendcelestial."
Based on his judgment of the aura, the Other Realm Fiendcelestial"s claw probably needed just two to three strikes to kill a True Dragon realm dragon.
"Oh?" Qin Yun beckoned.
Immediately, treasures flew up.
They were a white threaded net, a huge seal, and a big bag.
"The treasures of a True Dragon realm dragon must be pretty good." Qin Yun felt a little excited. He injected them with Dharmic powers, causing the white threaded net to instantly expand. Furthermore, water began to circle around him. As for the huge seal, it produced swirling lightning bolts.
"They are all first-grade Dharma treasures. This threaded net can bind an enemy and also temporarily block enemies. This huge seal is used to attack enemies head-on." Qin Yun nodded. "The present Four Seas Dragon race, such as the West Sea Dragon race, does not have more than ten figures at the True Dragon realm! This dragon that died in the Ancient Skydragon Palace must have been a member of the upper echelons."
Presently, immortals and fiendcelestials typically used a first-grade Dharma treasure.
As for transcendent-grade Dharma treasures? Very few used that. As for Numinous treasures? That was something that could determine the fate of the entire human race! Those that could use a Numinous treasure were typically the leaders of a Daoist or Buddhist sacred land! Furthermore, there was a high barrier of entry to being able to bring out the power of a Numinous treasure. Back then, Immortal Scenic Yang was a leader of the Daoist movement. After him, no one from the Scenic Mountain Sect could really use his Tuṣita Divine Fire Talisman Amulet to its full potential.
For example, if Qin Yun gathered all the Cosmic Bangles, they would be considered a Numinous treasure. However, Qin Yun"s Dharmic powers were insufficient to use it, and his comprehension of the runic patterns on the Cosmic Bangles was still too shallow. He was capable enough to use the scattered three but to use the entire Numinous treasure? He needed to have deeper levels of comprehension before he could use it.
Qin Yun put away the treasures and following that, stored the two parts of the dragon corpse inside his Cosmic Bag. With this second large corpse in his possession, Yi Yun was grateful that Elder Sword"s Cosmic Bag was bigger than the True Dragon realm dragon"s Cosmic Bag.
"Time to go elsewhere to take a look." Having harvested a great yield, Qin Yun was in an extremely good mood.
He continued walking. Previously, the periphery of the palace complex was mostly intact but the deeper he went, the more damage he encountered.
"This place is completely isolated by array formations. I can"t enter…" Qin Yun searched the entire way and finally found a flaw in the array formation. "I knew it. It"s impossible for an array formation to be in perfect condition after running for so long. There has to be a flaw," said Qin Yun as he attempted to enter.
"Halt."
A voice boomed.
Whoosh.
A stocky soldier appeared out of thin air. He was slightly more than ten feet tall and he was covered in golden armor. He held a golden hammer in each hand as he stared at Qin Yun.
"A Yellow-scarved Strongman?" Qin Yun was alarmed.
"I"m the Dragon Palace"s Guardian General." The stocky soldier pointed at Qin Yun and shouted, "The interior of the Dragon Palace is the living quarters of the Dragon King and his children. You are not to barge in."
Qin Yun was enlightened as he nodded with a smile. "Looks like this is the inner district of the Dragon Palace. However, Guardian General, the Dragon King and his children are long gone, aren"t they?"
The Guardian General was slightly taken aback, but he nodded. "Yes, they are all dead! But I"m responsible for keeping watch here. Naturally, I will keep watch forever."
Qin Yun was rendered helpless.
Ent.i.ties like Yellow-scarved Strongman were not real lifeforms. They were absolutely loyal. Even after their master"s death, they would continue to abide by the orders that were given to them.
"Then let me see how powerful you are." Qin Yun waved his hand as the gray blurry Seven Kills Sword shot out in the form of a sword beam that resembled a swimming dragon.
"How audacious!" the Guardian General bellowed.
Boom!
Immediately, a surging bolt descended from the sky and gathered over the Guardian General"s body. It increased his might greatly as he brandished the golden hammers in his hands. With a boom, he reduced the sword beam to smithereens. The Seven Kills Sword was sent flying back before it rapidly returned to Qin Yun"s side.
"Go." The Guardian General threw one of its golden hammers. With lightning bolts, the golden hammer hurtled towards Qin Yun.
Qin Yun retreated rapidly as his Intrinsic Flying Sword flew out, immediately forming the Cyclic Sword Flash to block it.
"Bam!"
A loud explosion was heard.
The Cyclic Sword Flash distorted and quaked but Qin Yun had already directed the Seven Kills Sword to form a second Cyclic Sword Flash layer.
"Thankfully, it did not crack." Qin Yun was alarmed. "But that smite is stronger than the combined attacks of six hundred plus fiendmonsters."
"Human, you have some interesting tricks up your sleeve. Take another strike of mine!" The Guardian General suddenly threw out another golden hammer. It struck the Cyclic Sword Flash with bolts of lightning, disintegrating it immediately. And at that moment, Qin Yun had already fled a distance away. With a thought, he immediately summoned his Intrinsic Flying Sword to return.
"He escaped rather quickly." The Guardian General stopped and looked at the fleeing Qin Yun. "But what a boring outcome. It"s rare for a human to give me some fun but he fled after a few throws of my hammer."
Qin Yun escaped a distance away and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the Guardian General had not pursued him.
"Guardian Generals man the Ancient Skydragon Palace"s interior districts. They will naturally abide by orders. Unfortunately, the interior is augmented by the array formation and the Guardian General is truly powerful. My Cyclic Sword Flash found it difficult just to withstand his strikes." Qin Yun shook his head. "Guardian Generals are similar to Yellow-scarved Strongmen. They are indestructible. Unless my Cyclic Sword Flash can completely withstand his attacks, I cannot enter for the time being."
Killing a Guardian General was meaningless. As soon as he killed it, the Guardian General would regenerate instantly.
"Whoosh." Qin Yun jumped onto the top of a relatively tall palace hall"s roof. He continued flying upwards before encountering the obstruction of the main array formation.
Standing atop the palace hall, he looked towards the direction of the inner palace compound.
"Tsk. The battle in the inner palace complex was even more horrifying," Qin Yun commented after a glance.
He saw that many areas in the inner palace compound had collapsed. There were blood stains everywhere. Because it was in ruins, Qin Yun could naturally see their interior. He easily found two dragon corpses and a gigantic black crab corpse. The corpses that remained intact since ancient times were probably at the level of immortals and fiendcelestials.
"The Ancient Skydragon Palace"s experts are probably all dead. Even the ancient Skydragon only managed to kill the Other Realm Fiendcelestial in a desperate attempt and died soon after." Qin Yun shook his head. "That Other Realm Fiendcelestial was too confident of himself. He dared to storm the ancient Skydragon"s lair. Although nearly all the experts of the Ancient Skydragon Palace were killed, he also lost his life."
"That is—"
Qin Yun suddenly caught sight of a ma.s.sive, red-scaled fiendcelestial corpse in the distant ruins. The corpse was missing a leg and half an arm. The other arm remained intact and there were three black bangles on it. Furthermore, the ma.s.sive fiendcelestial corpse had fiendmonsters lurking around it. They were all larger in size than the fiendmonster leaders that Qin Yun had previously encountered.
"The Other Realm Fiendcelestial"s corpse!" Qin Yun was alarmed.
"The fiendmonsters condensed from before came only from an arm. As for these fiendmonsters, they are condensed from a nearly intact Other Realm Fiendcelestial"s corpse. These ordinary fiendmonsters appear to be even stronger." Qin Yun gasped in shock.
He carefully studied the area.
The inner district of the palace complex was very large. Many of the palaces were very tall but thankfully, many of them had collapsed due to the battle. This allowed Qin Yun to see the various areas through the many cracks.
After carefully observing the area, he discovered five dragon corpses, a gigantic crab corpse, and a gigantic fish corpse. They were likely at the immortal or fiendcelestial level. Of course, the most powerful ent.i.ty was the Other Realm Fiendcelestial"s corpse. Even though it was tens of kilometers away, the evil and horrifying Dao that the corpse contained left Qin Yun feeling suppressed.
Qin Yun trod through the Ancient Skydragon Palace carefully and, including the district he first discovered, he found eight other districts on the Ancient Skydragon Palace"s periphery. In comparison, the area that Qin Yun had visited was just a tiny portion of the palace complex"s periphery that spanned more than five hundred kilometers.
As for the palace complex"s interior? He could not enter for the time being. It was isolated by an array formation and there was a Guardian General manning the entrance.
"Splash."
A beam shot out from the surface of the sea and rapidly streaked across the horizon as it headed east.
"I have obtained the Skydragon Blood Crystals. I can now tell Xiaoxiao what happened years ago." Qin Yun was overjoyed. He had been hiding the matter from his wife for the past few years. After all, he did not have confidence that he could obtain the Skydragon Blood Crystals until now.