Chapter 181. A Great Harvest, The Water-Crystal Palace, A Battle In Ancient Times

A faint trace of blood still lingered in the seawater just before the entrance to the Dragon Palace.

A Snakehead at the Venerable King Realm was killed. He couldn't withstand even a single blow before being annihilated.

Everyone present stared in shock, and they all had the same thought. Lu Yuan from the Milky Way Starfield was far too domineering, and he attacked without any hesitation at all.

Moreover, he was terrifyingly strong.

Despite facing a Snakehead a full realm above him, he killed the former in an instant. Could any of them present do the same? The answer was obvious, and it was a resounding "no."

"Yes, yes, of course, you may. You can always go in. We'll go in after you." The Three-Headed Ghost was the first to react. He spoke without the slightest hesitation, fear evident in his voice.

He truly didn't dare risk angering Lu Yuan any further.

Among all those who had descended, no one could contend with Lu Yuan aside from those powerful Rankers.

In other words, he only had one choice. He had to give up and submit.

Lu Yuan said nothing in response. He simply led Zhu Qingyu and the others straight into the Dragon Palace.

A being from the Outer Cosmos had jumped out to provoke him, and he killed them—that was all.

If he hadn't been here, the people behind him would have suffered greatly at their hands. He had no intention of wasting time on a meaningless confrontation, so he decided to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

"What a domineering human. And he has the capital to be domineering, too," said a Primeval Daemon shrouded in fog. The dark patterns on his skin shone faintly. He knew that if he had made a move, his fate would not have been any better.

They had painstakingly traversed the universe and descended on Earth with great difficulty, only to be suppressed by a mere human being. Naturally, they felt bitter in the face of the harsh reality.

"Our clan's genius rankers are the only ones who can deal with him." The Three-Headed Ghost sighed. "All we can do is show that we're weak compared to him."

The two members of a great race in the Outer Cosmos exchanged glances, both feeling helpless. The Milky Way Starfield had only just begun its awakening, yet it had already produced such a terrifying expert.

When Lu Yuan's figure finally disappeared, the others began entering the so-called Dragon Palace. Of course, they remained wary of one another. This folded space contained opportunities. Whoever obtained them could advance even further down the path of evolution.

***

Upon entering the Dragon Palace, everyone noticed that the bizarre "shattered glass" phenomenon was even worse inside. In fact, it was so bad that many places looked extremely distorted to explore.

More importantly, the place was enormous, and they had no idea where to go.

Lu Yuan had the Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes, but he found them to be of limited use. First of all, he was too weak to unleash their full power, and secondly, they were in a folded space.

Even he couldn't investigate every nook and cranny of a folded space.

Lu Yuan took out the map that the three sect masters had given to him. Every location was clearly marked—the main hall, medicine garden, the treasury, and more.

After committing them to memory, he soon made a decision.

First, he would head to the medicine garden, and then the treasury. If this truly was the Dragon Palace, those two locations were indispensable.

With clear objectives, the group set off. There were some creatures within the folded space as well. They resembled mutated sea beasts, but none were particularly powerful.

Along the way, Lu Yuan dealt with anything the group couldn't handle. As for the rest, he left them all to Zhu Qingyu and the others.

It also counted as training, after all.

The group lived up to being the cream of the crop of the Celestial Court. Though young, each possessed excellent talent and solid foundations.

At first, they struggled with underwater combat, but they quickly adapted.

Upon seeing that they had already adapted to underwater combat, Lu Yuan deliberately allowed the slightly stronger mutated beasts to attack them.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng and the Spirit Monkey stayed nearby, offering occasional guidance. Both were also members of the Celestial Court.

The group fought as they advanced. Three hours later, the group reached the medicine garden.

"My goodness!" the Golden-Winged Great Peng exclaimed. "Dragon Blood Vine, Nine-leaf Golden Resonance, Earth Core Dragon Marrow?"

The quality of the spiritual fruits and exotic herbs here far surpassed what Mount Olympus had to offer. More importantly, there was a Dragon Blood Vine here, which was exactly what the Golden-Winged Great Peng needed the most.

As its name suggested, the Dragon Blood Vine contained dragon blood. Upon refining it, the Golden-Winged Great Peng's bloodline would surely advance, allowing it to lay down the foundation for its next breakthrough.

Even the Spirit Monkey's eyes went wide, and it was practically drooling.

"The Dragon Palace! We must be in the Dragon Palace!"

Anyone would lose their composure in the face of so many spiritual fruits and exotic herbs.

"King Lu, what do we do?" Zhu Qingyu asked.

"Since we're here, we can't leave empty-handed. Take everything away."

Lu Yuan was pleasantly surprised as well. Several items here would greatly benefit him. If added later to the Meridian Heavenmend Furnace, the effects of the pill that he was refining would significantly improve.

The rest could be used by the Celestial Court to train some more Awakened. Once those people became strong enough, they would become his support.

Without hesitation, everyone began collecting whatever they could find. In no time, the medicine garden was completely emptied. With that, they headed to their next destination—the Dragon Palace's treasury.

With a map in hand, they encountered almost no obstacles. Only a few mutated sea beasts blocked the way, and they were all swiftly dealt with. The treasury was a massive hall filled with weapons—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, and more.

Every single weapon emitted cold lights and oppressive auras that made one's scalp tingle.

They've got to be divine weapons!

Everyone thought the same.

Even Lu Yuan was surprised. He could feel the Great Luo Sword Embryo humming softly, seemingly yearning for the items here. Clearly, the items before him could help the sword embryo become even stronger.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Monkey was drawn to a massive pillar in the center.

It seemed to be made from the same material as its cudgel, but it was much stronger. It wanted to take it as a weapon. Unfortunately, it couldn't do so, as it was too heavy. It tried to pull it away with all its strength, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's useless. That iron pillar is connected to the entire Dragon Palace. Even I can't take it away." Lu Yuan walked over and instantly saw through the issue.

The iron pillar was indeed a rare material, but the Spirit Monkey could only stare at it. After all, they were in the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.

If those myths were true, then this place belonged to a god-like being.

The Spirit Monkey tried again, but the iron pillar just wouldn't budge.

"Once I become an immortal myself or someone even stronger than that, I'll definitely come back here and take you away," the Spirit Monkey remarked, sounding helpless.

Fortunately, the other items could be moved away, but there were just too many of them, and quite a few were very large. Taking them away without any means of storage was simply impossible.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng stepped up, opened its mouth, and inhaled.

It swallowed all the weapons.

After all, Lu Yuan had told them to take everything away.

The logic was simple. Were they supposed to leave all the good stuff for those beings from outer space?

Soon, the treasury was emptied.

Their next destination was their final one.

The Dragon Palace was vast, yet locations containing decent resources were few. Many areas were also inaccessible, so Lu Yuan decided to head directly to the most important place.

Guided by the map, the group passed through distorted folded spaces as they made their way to their destination.

Eventually, they spotted a grand hall nearly a hundred meters tall. Remarkably, it remained intact. Unlike the previous buildings, this hall had a bluish white color and seemed to be constructed entirely of crystals. Among all the buildings they had seen, it emitted the brightest light.

"King Lu, look! It says Water-Crystal Palace!" Ice Fairy exclaimed, pointing up ahead. The plaque above the hall entrance said, "Water-Crystal Palace."

According to mythology, the Water-Crystal Palace was the residence of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, and it was apparently an immortal palace that would exist for eternity.

Despite its imposing presence, however, the palace bore clear signs of the ruthless passage of time. Cracks spread across its surface, and weapon marks were visible in several places, as if a great battle had once taken place here in the distant past.

Lu Yuan stepped forward and touched the crystal wall.

The material was extraordinarily sturdy and seemed to have been particularly refined to be used as a wall. It was so durable that even he could not leave a mark on it.

Taking into account the distorted space around them, Lu Yuan frowned slightly. What exactly had happened here a long time ago?

Another question troubled him. How come everything had been smoothsailing so far? Thanks to the map, they had been able to move almost unhindered.

If this truly was the Dragon Palace's immortal palace, then there ought to be powerful arrays protecting it. Had they been deliberately destroyed?

"Let's go in first."

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Yuan made his decision and led everyone forward.

They passed through the gates and walked into the hall only to find it empty.

A throne stood at the highest point of the hall, but everyone's attention was not on the throne.

Their attention was on the blood pool just below it. Yes, a pool of blood. There was a huge pool of blood spanning a hundred meters in diameter right in front of them.

The blood inside the blood pool churned, releasing an extremely powerful aura. Waves of terrifying pressure spread outward, and even Gu Sang felt goosebumps rise across his skin, despite his formidable physique.

He felt as if he was facing a true dragon, and the instinctive urge to retreat engulfed him.

"That's a pool of blood made from a dragon's blood. And it's not just any ordinary dragon. From the aura coming out of it, it's a

very

formidable one," the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the Spirit Monkey said almost simultaneously.

As mutated beasts, they were far more sensitive to such things.

A pool of blood made from a dragon's blood.

Could the pool contain the blood of the Eastern Sea Dragon King?

Chunyang and the others were gripped by curiosity. They wanted to approach and investigate it.

"Wait," Lu Yuan said, stopping them. "There's something inside."

Lu Yuan's face was solemn. He could sense a terrifying existence within the blood pool. Its aura was extremely powerful, and approaching recklessly would invite serious danger.

Everyone tensed up and retreated several steps, yet their gazes remained locked on the blood pool; a mixture of curiosity and unease swirled in their eyes.

Roaaar!

A roar that seemed to have come from ancient times suddenly reverberated throughout the Dragon Palace. At the same time, the blood pool churned violently, and something slowly emerged from within.

A majestic voice immediately boomed. "Who dares trespass into the Dragon Palace and disturb this Venerable's[1] evolution?!"

1. Yes, Yinglong refers to itself as 本尊. This Venerable. ☜