Chapter 184. A Day in the Cave, a Thousand Years in the World, the Alliance of Three Races

Indeed, it was the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token.

The light it radiated, the aura it emanated, and the majesty sweeping out of it told Lu Yuan everything he needed to know. The token before him was completely identical to the token he had obtained on Mount Tai.

He had never expected to find another Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token here.

He promptly picked it up. As soon as he made contact with it, the same majestic aura as before erupted, but unlike his first encounter with it, there was no sense of rejection whatsoever.

The token in his mind even resonated with it, but he hadn't refined this one yet, so it only trembled slightly before gradually dimming.

I got another Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token. I wonder what it can do once I've refined it,

Lu Yuan pondered, knowing this was some kind of forbidden artifact.

According to Jiang Ningxian, the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token would allow one to bestow titles upon others, declaring them either an immortal or a god. It was said that obtaining this artifact granted one the qualifications to be called a "Human Sovereign" or "Celestial Emperor."

In short, the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token was

very

important. The top ten great clans and races across the universe were even searching for it, hoping to obtain one of them.

Today, two of such tokens had fallen directly into Lu Yuan's hands.

Of course, he wouldn't refine it right now. He would wait until he was in an absolutely safe environment with no one to disturb him.

Lu Yuan put away the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token and looked at the crystal slab before him.

The crystal slab had become incredibly sturdy upon being specially refined. Even he couldn't leave a mark on it. Earlier, he thought there was no way he would obtain the divine artifact that the Bagua Diagram had pointed out, as it was underground, but the situation had taken an unexpected turn instead.

When I touched it, my blood actually churned. Was it because of this?

Lu Yuan thought, speculating on his own. He felt that was most likely correct.

Upon refining the blood essence that Shennong had left behind, all the blood in him had transformed. Perhaps this artifact had been waiting for someone to come and claim it.

However, who exactly had left the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token behind?

The dragons?

Lu Yuan wasn't certain, but they had to be a formidable figure.

Forget it. Overthinking is useless. I'll head out first.

Shaking his head, he returned the crystal slab to its original position. He then used Fuxi's Bagua Diagram to scan the area once more.

After confirming that he hadn't overlooked anything, he walked out of the Water-Crystal Palace.

Zhu Qingyu, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, and the others had been waiting outside for him. They had already collected most of the boons inside.

No one said much as they decided to leave. After all, the best treasures were already in their possession. As for the rest, the map was incomplete, so they wouldn't be able to find the rest of the areas here.

For now, there was no need to continue their exploration. Perhaps an opportunity would arise again someday. Their journey had been slow due to the mutated sea beasts and the fact that they still had to find their way to their destination.

Leaving, however, was much faster.

The Dragon Palace was vast, so on their way out, they didn't encounter those beings from the Outer Cosmos.

Lu Yuan knew that the boons worth taking had already been claimed. Those beings from the Outer Cosmos could turn the Dragon Palace upside down, but they still wouldn't find anything.

Zhu Qingyu and the others felt no guilt about this whatsoever. The reason was simple—the Dragon Palace was located on Earth. Were they supposed to leave those boons behind and leave them for those outsiders?

The Dragon Palace indeed contained great opportunities and boons to be claimed. Setting aside the spiritual fruits and exotic herbs, as well as the divine weapons, the dragon blood pool alone was a massive profit for them.

It could create a batch of truly powerful Awakened in a short period of time.

Right now, they had to become even stronger in preparation for another batch of powerful invaders from the Outer Cosmos.

Soon, they burst through the surface of the sea. The nearby ships patrolling the seas immediately moved in to receive them.

After boarding a ship, they were informed of something shocking. It turned out that more than a month had passed since they descended to the seabed. It was just like the ancient saying, "a day in the cave, a thousand years in the world."

Even though it sounded surreal, they were shocked to know that it could actually happen.

"Over a month? But we were only there for a few hours!" exclaimed Ice Fairy in disbelief. The shock in her voice was genuine, as she truly had no idea that it had already been a month since they reached the seabed.

The Spirit Monkey and the Golden-Winged Great Peng also found it strange, yet neither doubted the report.

"The folded space may have a different flow of time compared to the outside world," Chunyang said calmly, offering his opinion.

However, the Three Immortal Islands were also in a folded space, but the flow of time in there remained the same as the outside world.

"Master, what should we do next?" asked the Golden-Winged Great Peng.

"Let's head back first."

Lu Yuan had a rough deduction behind the distortion of time. It was probably due to the fact that the folded space containing the Dragon Palace was shattered and distorted.

A great battle in the distant past had to have shattered that folded space.

Of course, this was only speculation. To know the truth, he would need to ask Jiang Ningxian. She knew far more than he did, after all.

Moreover, he had something else to do. The pill in the Meridian Heavenmend Furnace had reached a critical stage. Returning to rest first and making plans afterward was the most reasonable course of action.

No one objected. Just like that, they all returned to the Mount Tai Trials Academy.

The Trials Academy on Mount Tai had become the headquarters of Huaxia's officials at this point. With abundant resources, it served as a hub of the five supercities, as nearly all commanders and officials now resided there.

Elsewhere, Ao Ze streaked across the skies. Whenever it beat its wings gently, it would leave a streak of light across the firmament. Its speed was simply astonishing. It was only slightly slower than the Golden-Winged Great Peng.

"According to the information they gave me, it should be around here." Ao Ze murmured to itself. Piercing through layers of clouds, it soon arrived above a remote forest.

It soon clapped its eyes on ancient, otherworldly buildings. There were a few humans inside those buildings, and all of them were Awakened. They noticed Yinglong but did not panic. Instead, they ran off to report to their leaders.

Soon, two figures appeared down below—a middle-aged man and a tall man dressed in black.

They were the head of the Zhou Family of the Wuzhou Group and the genius Ranker of the Celestial Race.

Yinglong descended upon seeing them.

"You're finally here[1]." The Head of the Zhou Family stared at Ao Ze with eyes glimmering in excitement. He knew this was a legendary Yinglong. Even with its bloodline currently suppressed, once it matured and continued to purify its lineage, it would become a tremendous asset, and perhaps even the Zhou Family's primary combat force.

"Don't be so polite. I'm merely continuing my ancestors' connection with you," Ao Ze said calmly. "I came here because you said you needed my help."

The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan had ascended to the heavens riding Yinglong. The Zhou Family was a branch of the Ji Clan, which meant there was indeed a faint connection between them. Of course, Ao Ze knew that they were merely one branch among many of the Ji Clan branches.

"Yes, yes. We are well aware of the reason you've come here," the Head of the Zhou Family responded, his smile never fading away.

"Tell me. What do you need me to do?" Ao Ze asked. Given the connection between their ancestors, assisting with a small matter posed no issue. After all, Xuanyuan had shown kindness to the dragons. As a descendant of a Yinglong, Ao Ze still remembered that debt.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Soon, we will hunt down and kill someone. We hope you can lend your strength when the time comes," said the 10th Ranker of the Celestial Race. His name was Lei Xuan. He was fully aware of the decision Lei You had made in outer space.

Now, it was time to execute that plan. As the tenth strongest among the younger generation in the Outer Cosmos, Lei Xuan was a formidable expert. He was far stronger than Ao Ze. Ao Ze had just emerged and was still a juvenile.

Still, its presence was an extra layer of insurance to the plan.

"We?" Ao Ze's eyes flickered.

"There are others? Are they also from the Outer Cosmos?" Ao Ze asked, its voice turning cold. It clearly disliked the Celestial Race and made no effort to hide its hostility, even in front of the Head of the Zhou Family.

The relationship between the Celestial Race and the Ji Clan was no secret to it.

"Correct. There are also two Rankers from the Primeval Daemon Race and the Three-Headed Ghost Race," Lei Xuan replied calmly, unfazed by the hostility.

"Before long, a mystical place will appear and draw the attention of the entire world. Our three great races will seize this opportunity to ambush our target. This is an order from a Sage of our race.

"That individual may interfere with our plans, so he must die."

"Three Rankers from three great races have decided to join forces against a native of this world?" Ao Ze instantly understood what was going on, and disdain flickered in its eyes.

In its view, grudges ought to be resolved personally. Why gang up on somebody?

From Lei Xuan's words, their target had to be extremely powerful. Otherwise, they wouldn't have to form an alliance just to hunt them down.

"Correct. His name is Lu Yuan," Lei Xuan said, his eyes glinting with a strange light. "I heard he recently went to the Eastern Sea. You should have seen him."

What?

Ao Ze's heart shook, but it quickly steadied itself and met Lei Xuan's gaze.

No wonder they needed so many people. Lu Yuan was indeed formidable.

Ao Ze shook its head without hesitation.

"Before you attack him, you should think carefully whether you can even succeed. It doesn't matter what you do; I will not participate. You should find someone else to help you. For the sake of our ancestors, I'll pretend that I know nothing about this."

Ao Ze had met Lu Yuan only once, but the latter's strength had earned its respect. With that in mind, there was no way it would agree to ambush Lu Yuaan.

If anyone else were involved, Ao Ze would warn Lu Yuan. However, the Yinglong clan had ties to the Ji Clan. In the end, it could only compromise by choosing to feign ignorance.

It had its own principles, and it would not violate them for anything.

As for what it would do afterward, Ao Ze had its own plans. Having made up its mind, it ignored the Head of the Zhou Family and Lei Xuan. With a powerful beat of its wings, it took to the skies and vanished into the horizon.

At first, it thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be some nonsense. Ao Ze had no intention of staying and listening to more nonsense from the Celestials.

"This..."

The Head of the Zhou Family was stunned. He never expected that Ao Ze would refuse so decisively. Their ancestors had a great relationship with each other, so why had this happened?

Could it be that Lu Yuan had done something in the Eastern Sea?

What could possibly make the proud Yinglong act that way?

"Dragons are just as unreliable as ever," Lei Xuan said with narrowed eyes, looking displeased. "Forget it. We've been laying the groundwork for a long time. All preparations are complete.

"As long as no one interferes, that Lu Yuan will definitely die."

1. polite form ☜