Chapter 216. The Glory of the Pre-Qin Period, the Legend of the Primordial Dragon, the Road of Conquest

After Lu Yuan gave the word, the Peacock King reverted to its true form. Though it was also at the Venerable King Realm, it flew faster in its original form rather than its human one, and they also didn't want to waste time on the road.

The Nine-tailed Fox King, however, remained in human form. Her beautiful eyes drifted toward the Golden-Winged Great Peng nearby, and a playful smile tugged at her lips. She clearly intended to share a seat with Lu Yuan.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng noticed that, and a flicker of reluctance shone in its eyes. In the end, though, Lu Yuan spoke up, and the Golden-Winged Great Peng had no choice but to comply. It enlarged itself to accommodate three passengers, as Jiang Ningxian would also be riding with them.

The Spirit Monkey went with the Peacock King.

Lu Yuan helped Jiang Ningxian and the Nine-tailed Fox King onto the Golden-Winged Great Peng's back, and then he nodded at Elder Ji and the others.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng spread its wings and took to the skies, transforming into a streak of golden light that pierced the clouds.

The Peacock King followed close behind them. It was not as fast as the Golden-Winged Great Peng, but the difference was negligible.

The two figures soared one after another into the heavens, vanishing into the clouds in mere moments. They moved far faster than any military aircraft.

"Old Ji, what do we do now?" Elder Yun turned to his old comrade of many years.

"We follow King Lu's instructions," Elder Ji replied after a moment of contemplation. "Keep a low profile for the time being and keep gathering intelligence, especially anything related to the Zhou Family."

The Zhou Family was important. He knew that Zhou Yunqiong was no simple woman, and it'd be bad if she ended up causing trouble for Lu Yuan.

"Understood." Elder Yun nodded, raising no objections.

As for the members of the younger generation, represented by Zhu Qingyu and the others, they knew that the days ahead would only become more difficult.

In times like these, they had to push themselves even harder.

If they hoped to face whatever came next, they had to be powerful like King Lu.

***

Two figures streaked across the skies well above the clouds. The overwhelming aura they exuded parted the clouds in their wake.

On the back of the Golden-Winged Great Peng, three figures sat cross-legged.

The Nine-tailed Fox King had positioned herself right beside Lu Yuan, and her eyes glimmered as she made small talk from time to time.

The journey from Mount Tai to Mount Kunlun would take a while, even at the Golden-Winged Great Peng's speed, and she found the silence to be quite unbearable. However, she certainly had no interest in spending the trip with the Spirit Monkey or the Peacock King.

Lu Yuan was feeling helpless; foxes were indeed troublesome creatures. Still, he had to admit that her human form was quite pleasing to the eye, and he saw no reason to refuse the company of such a beauty.

Time ticked by just like this, and eventually, Jiang Ningxian stood up and approached them.

The Nine-tailed Fox King immediately grew alert at her presence. She stared at the woman before her, whose grace and beauty could only be described as "peerless," and she felt the spirit of competitiveness come alive inside her.

Jiang Ningxian met the Nine-tailed Fox King's gaze with a faint smile, showing no signs of backing down.

In the end, the Nine-tailed Fox King relented.

The reason was simple. She could feel that Jiang Ningxian was no ordinary woman. She also knew that Jiang Ningxian and King Lu likely had important matters to discuss, and staying here would only make her a nuisance.

With a mixture of reluctance and a faint trace of wariness, she moved to another spot on the Golden-Winged Great Peng's back and focused on her cultivation.

"It seems the Fox King has taken quite an interest in you," Jiang Ningxian said as she sat down. A teasing glint flashed in her eyes as she added, "Are you not interested in capitalizing on that? Her bloodline is exceptionally powerful.

"She's certain to reach the Sage Realm in the future, and at that level of evolution, there's not much difference between mutated beasts and humans."

"You sure know how to joke, Miss Jiang," Lu Yuan replied, shaking his head. "You must have something to talk to me about."

He knew she hadn't driven the Nine-tailed Fox King away just to make small talk.

"Sure enough, nothing escapes King Lu," Jiang Ningxian smiled, saying, "You're right, there's something we must discuss. This trip to Mount Kunlun wasn't done on a whim on my part. I'm going there to confirm something."

Jiang Ningxian's face grew solemn as she said, "Several thousand years ago, the power of the Separation of Heaven and Earth receded for quite a while, allowing this world to experience an awakening, but it was on a smaller scale.

"My clan happened to have sent scouts to the Milky Way Starfield during that time. According to your ancient historical records, it was during the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasty eras, spanning no more than one or two centuries."

"During that brief period of time, someone evolved to reach great heights on the path of evolution. He even harbored ambitions of waging war across the starfields. He knew many secrets and sought to restore the glory of the ancient era.

"All of a sudden, however, he failed."

Jiang Ningxian's voice tone became completely solemn, a far cry from her usual lighthearted way of speaking.

"Could you be talking about the Primordial Dragon?" Lu Yuan asked upon seeing a crucial detail. He had visited the Mausoleum at Mount Li and knew full well that the ancient era had been far from ordinary.

However, the waters turned out to be far deeper than he had expected.

Waging war across the starfields? That sounded like something the Primordial Dragon would do. However, the history books contained not even a single mention of it. Was it deliberately erased?

"Correct." Jiang Ningxian nodded. "According to my clan's investigations, this world contains several passageways leading to unknown places. One of them is located at Mount Kunlun. The Primordial Dragon set out from there, but he failed before he could even attempt to fulfill his ambitions."

"And Mount Kunlun isn't the only one. There are similar passageways at Shennongjia; there's even one at Mount Tai's Jade Emperor Peak. My clan calls them the Roads of Conquest."

She had shared a ton of newfound information with Lu Yuan. Now that they were en route, she hoped he could help her uncover the truth—what had caused the Primordial Dragon's failure? What lay beyond those passageways?

She had examined those passageways at Mount Tai and Shennongjia, but she hadn't discovered anything significant. Mount Kunlun was her last hope.

Passageways? Lu Yuan's mind stirred at her words. He recalled encountering the same thing at both Mount Tai and Shennongjia—the Nine-Colored Altar.

The Spirit Monkey had called it some kind of passageway, an ancient road.

Jiang Ningxian's words just now further solidified Lu Yuan's suspicions. However, what exactly did the Nine-Colored Altar represent? He had once assumed it led to outer space, but now, it seemed unlikely.

"It appears the major starfields have been watching this world for a very long time," Lu Yuan said with a faint smile, his gaze settling on Jiang Ningxian. "The Jiang Clan's arrival here surely isn't just for a few legacies and opportunities, is it?"

When they had first met, she had mentioned that the Jiang Clan had left their homeland to wage war.

Against whom? Who was the enemy? She had never given him a concrete answer.

He suspected that even Jiang Ningxian herself didn't know the answer to that.

Otherwise, she would have told him by now.

And those questions led him to another question—Could the so-called Great Calamity mentioned at Shennongjia and at Guang Chengzi's Dao ground be connected to all of this?