Chapter 2294 (Raw 2401): As Gentle as Flames
The vast snowy region spanned only five hundred thousand kilometers.
A Sovereign Emperor could cover such a distance in a few breaths. If Xiao Chen sent out his Soul Energy, he should be able to sweep through the entire snowy region and observe all movements in this place.
However, this was the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb, a world that had not changed since ancient times.
The aura of the Great Desolate Eon had never appeared so clearly before everyone before.
Even Xiao Chen’s Heavenly Eye, a divine technique, remained restricted to fifty thousand kilometers.
This showed how horrifying the pressure from the Great Desolate Eon was.
Fortunately, Xiao Chen’s Ten Thousand Dragons Art was strangely active in this place. Without needing him to drive it, it circulated automatically, greedily absorbing the Great Desolate Eon aura in this place.
The Ten Thousand Dragons Art seemed like it could break through the second layer’s limits at any time.
“This place is a treasure land for cultivators with a Great Desolate Eon bloodline,” Xiao Chen muttered to himself while in deep thought. The effects of this phenomenon on him, who possessed the Ten Thousand Dragons Art, went without saying.
At this point, the pressure that Xiao Chen faced only made movement inconvenient.
“Rushing around like this incurs a rather big drain,” Xiao Chen sighed as he endured the snow around him. The cold was too intense, keeping the accumulated snow from melting. The cold contained in the snow could even be called a cold poison.
This cold poison was not too damaging to a Sovereign Emperor’s body. However, having to scatter the snow occasionally off one’s body took some effort.
Furthermore, running about drained Divine Energy. This made one feel somewhat helpless, like one’s legs were bound.
“Boom!”
A red light flashed as Xiao Chen summoned the Demon Blood Vulture.
The Demon Blood Vulture’s bloodline had undergone reversion, and it now showed some characteristics of its ancestor, the Blood Phoenix.
“How much of your strength can you bring out in this Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb?”
About eighty percent.
As a mutated beast carrying a Great Desolate Eon ferocious beast’s bloodline, the Demon Blood Vulture acclimatized itself much better than humans did.
“That’s enough.”
Xiao Chen gently pushed off the ground and sat on the Demon Blood Vulture, using it as a means of transport within the snowy region.
The Demon Blood Vulture flew close to the ground, not daring to fly too high.
Firstly, there was the spatial pressure. Secondly, it would be easily targeted if it flew too high.
All the ferocious beasts in this place contained Dragon Essence. If anyone saw a ferocious beast, they would kill it for the Dragon Essence.
“Help me to find the inheritance. If you discover anything suspicious, remember to let me know.”
Heavy snow flew about, rendering the entire place white. It would not be easy to find the inheritance of this Yan Emperor skilled with ice and snow.
Fortunately, Xiao Chen had the Demon Blood Vulture’s help, which allowed him to take it easy and close his eyes to cultivate.
He could work on two things at the same time, not delaying his search for inheritances.
—
At the same time, the other princes continued to enter the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb.
However, these people appeared in different places. It could be ancient blue pine forests, desolate plains, or rocky deserts.
In a desert of yellow sand with strong winds and wild sandstorms:
After First Prince Wang Fei landed, he frowned slightly. Without saying anything, he drew his Yan Imperial Sword.
The Yan Imperial Sword released a bright beam in the next moment, with a dragon image coiled around it.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The mysterious, evil-eyed, black-clad man, the 6-Vein Sovereign Emperor Zuo Yu—the imperial ancestral temple’s trump card—the Black Lotus Church’s Holy Son, and the Azure Lotus Holy Daughter appeared one after another.
The First Prince’s other guests either chose to move independently to find inheritances or hunt ferocious beasts.
The Black Lotus’s Holy Son said softly, “This is just the first round. Actually, Your Highness does not need to waste Luck and summon us here.”
Wang Fei said indifferently, “Naturally, I am confident of clearing the first round. However, I summoned you all here for another matter. I know of a Superior Grade inheritance of a past Yan Emperor. I called you all here to ensure that nothing goes wrong.”
Initially, there were no grades to the inheritances that the Yan Emperors left behind.
However, the various generations of Yan Emperors possessed varying strengths, leaving inheritances of corresponding values. Slowly, the later generations added a grading system to differentiate the benefits and value of the inheritances.
The imperial ancestral temple understood the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb very well, so it could provide the First Prince with more information.
A Superior Grade inheritance was an extremely incredible inheritance—naturally, this interested Wang Fei.
“Oh…so that is the reason. In that case, you all go and accompany Brother Wang. I will not take part in this excitement.”
Even though that evil-eyed man exposed just the right side of his face with a half-face mask that revealed only his eyes, the First Prince could still make out a disinterested expression on his face.
This counted as a response to Wang Fei. The masked, evil-eyed man left directly without saying anything more.
“How bold!” Zuo Yu frowned. With such disrespect, he felt that he should have killed the evil-eyed man.
The Black Lotus Church’s Holy Son advised softly, “Your Highness, don’t be angry. This is how Lord Xi has always been. What inheritance managed to get the First Prince so excited? The Azure Lotus Holy Daughter and I will do our best to help.”
The Azure Lotus Holy Daughter smiled, showing a refreshing image. She looked at Wang Fei and said, “Your Highness, please lead the way.”
Wang Fei sneered in his heart but did not show it on his face. He smiled and said, “Commander Zuo, there is no need to make a big deal out of this. Lord Xi is an honored guest that I invited. Naturally, an honored guest has to be treated differently from others.”
—
The many princes’ guests quickly started making their moves in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb’s periphery.
The Fourth Prince Wang Yun drew his Yan Imperial Sword in an ancient, blue pine forest, calling a few of his important guests to his side.
One of these guests wore a hood, tightly covering himself up. This was the Hidden Spirit Temple’s Yuan Zhen.
Wang Yun looked at Yuan Zhen and said with a respectful tone, “Mister Yuan, what should we do?”
“The other princes should be focusing on seeking out inheritances. However, Fourth Prince, your accumulation and strength are comparatively weaker, so you should not fight with others. If you suffer heavy casualties, the loss would not be worth it. We will just work harder and focus on killing ferocious beasts to collect Dragon Essence. Then, we will make further plans after clearing this round.”
A hoarse voice came from the hood, making the others feel some discomfort.
The other guests appeared somewhat upset. What was the point of coming to the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb if they did not seek out inheritances?
The Fourth Prince Wang Yun had already made up his mind about Yuan Zhen’s suggestion. He said, “Let’s follow Mister Yuan’s advice, then. Everyone should work on killing ferocious beasts to collect Dragon Essence. After this is over, I will heavily reward everyone. Furthermore, you might still run into treasure when hunting ferocious beasts. Everything is possible in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb.”
After he said this, the other guests felt less resentment.
Yuan Zhen kept a low profile during this round, not intending to expose his identity.
—
“Great! Heaven is helping me!”
At the Thirteenth Prince’s side, the eyes of the White Marsh Beast Empire’s Bai Yunfei gleamed with excitement. He said, “This place is simply the best for us, cultivators with the Great Desolate Eon bloodlines.”
Wang Yi smiled; he felt surprised as well. To think that the Great Desolate Eon aura in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb was much more horrifying than legends said.
Of the Thirteenth Prince’s seventeen guests, only two were Royal Court experts. The rest were the Martial God Palace’s Sovereign Emperors.
“Senior Sikong, what should I do in this round?”
The straw-rain-coat-clad Sikong Shu, who looked like a fisherman, appeared exceptionally calm. He replied after some thought, “We split into three groups. Our advantage is the greatest in the first round. We should obtain as many inheritances as we can. We even need to let some inheritances go to waste. Directly refine those that can raise our strength, and don’t waste any time. After some time has passed, most people will get accustomed to the spatial pressure here. We will not have much of an advantage from our bloodlines then.
“So, we need to make full use of our advantage in this first month to get an even larger advantage.”
Wang Yi’s eyes lit up. He smiled and said, “Having Senior around is like having a treasure. Alright, we will follow Senior’s suggestion. During this round, we will split into three groups and obtain as many inheritances as possible.”
Everyone knew that unless one hunted ferocious beasts with extremely horrifying strength, it would be hard to collect sufficient Dragon Essence. Hunting strong ferocious beasts was hard work with little returns.
Clearly, there were many benefits to seeking out inheritances, benefiting everyone.
Aside from some special princes, the other princes worked with their guests to find inheritances.
—
Back at the imperial palace’s drill ground, the imperial ancestral temple’s many patriarchs on the Dao Platform worked together.
A huge screen of light rose, flickering with light and shadows. The figures of the many princes and their guests in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb appeared. The Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb had been altered many times before. After some alterations, the imperial ancestral temple gained a rough grasp of the place, even though there were still many forbidden lands there.
If the imperial ancestral temple’s patriarchs were willing, they could see the various places’ situation at any time. However, it would be difficult for them to interfere.
This grand show finally started.
—
Three days passed in the vast snowy region. However, the Demon Blood Vulture failed to find anything.
Xiao Chen, who cultivated the Ten Thousand Dragons Art cross-legged on the Demon Blood Vulture, opened his eyes. The freezing wind at night made it difficult to spot anything. Life was sparse in this place.
When he looked up, clouds roiled. He could not see the sun, moon, stars, or sky, only the vast snow.
“Could this inheritance have been destroyed?”
Xiao Chen felt some misgivings after not finding anything for three days.
His guess was possible. After all, it was located in the periphery of the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb. It would definitely suffer some damage from every succession race, slowly getting destroyed.
“Hey…”
Just at this moment, the snowfall lightened significantly, the thick clouds in the sky thinning out slowly.
At midnight, the thick clouds broke apart, and a bright moon appeared silently.
The bright moon hung high in the air, looking as gentle as flames.
Xiao Chen never thought that the bright moon could be this bright and pure. The endless snowstorm seemed to have cleansed the radiance of the bright moon.
There was still some remnant snow in the sky drifting down.
Under the moonlight, the remnant snow in the air created countless specks of light and shadow in the boundless, bright, white snowland.
The clouds broke, and the moon arrived. The snowflakes created shadows in the boundless snowy region, birthing a wondrous scene.
Xiao Chen, who sat on the Demon Blood Vulture, contentedly admired the beautiful sight, muttering to himself, “Is this the opportunity we are waiting for?