Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
The two-meter-tall wild grass grew in the mud, and it was exhausting to trudge through the mud for Hao Ren and Su Han.
Su Han wore a white windbreaker and a purple sweater with black tights and white boots.
However, while she trudged with Hao Ren, her white boots were covered in mud, and her white windbreaker turned dusty after she rolled on the ground to dodge the huge birds.
It would take people several hours to walk more than ten kilometers even on a highway, let alone in the Nine Dragon Palace which was full of fierce beasts.
The level 8 and 9 fierce beasts possessed some degree of intelligence, but fortunately, they hadn’t transformed yet and didn’t possess true intelligence.
Despite the same environment as the Demon Sea, Hao Ren and Su Han hadn’t seen any Transformation Realm fierce beasts while they trudged through the grassland.
“There should be level 10 demon beasts in the Nine Dragon Palace, but I don’t know if there are any Transformation Realm demon beasts here,” Su Han said while she stumbled through the mud, holding onto Hao Ren with her left hand.
“I don’t think so since the Nine Dragon Palace is sealed off from the outside world, and there’s no heavenly lightning for them to pass the Transformation Tribulation,” Hao Ren said.
Su Han turned her bright eyes toward Hao Ren and realized that he was right after a moment of consideration. She was surprised that Hao Ren was so familiar with the details of Heavenly Tribulations.
She didn’t know that Hao Ren had gained some knowledge about the habits and features of demon beasts after his trip in the Demon Sea, especially how they passed Heavenly Tribulations.
It was why he had a general idea of the movement patterns of the ancient fierce beasts in the Nine Dragon Palace and had chosen the safest route accordingly to reach the mountain on the other side.
The longer Su Han walked with Hao Ren, the more experienced she thought he was, and thus the safer she felt.
Her fast walking pulled the wound in her shoulder, and she was in pain. However, Su Han gritted her teeth and didn’t show any sign of pain.
“If you are tired, I can carry you on my back!” Hao Ren turned his head and said after feeling Su Han’s steps getting heavier
“I’m fine!” Su Han frowned.
She didn’t want Hao Ren to think that she was fragile.
The sky had brightened. There was no sun in here, but Hao Ren estimated that it was about noon, and they had covered less than half of the distance.
If they didn’t speed up, they wouldn’t be able to reach the mountain on the other side before nightfall, and fierce beasts on the plain would surround them. More importantly, they probably wouldn’t be able to fend off the cold during the night.
After entering the Nine Dragon Palace at midnight, Su Han almost couldn’t bear the chill even though it had been only half a night. Today, she was wounded and exhausted. If she couldn’t have a good rest, she would find it difficult to pass the night.
The chilliness in the Nine Dragon Palace was different. No matter how much they wore, they couldn’t fend off the chill alone.
They must increase their speed.
Determined, Hao Ren suddenly caught Su Han’s left hand and pulled her into his arms before lifting her legs with his left hand.
Caught off guard, Su Han was lifted into his arms.
Then, Hao Ren swung her over his shoulder and carried her on his back.
“You!” Su Han was surprised and felt ashamed.
With his hands pressing under Su Han’s smooth thighs, Hao Ren bent forward a bit and dashed like a shooting arrow.
Thud! Thud… Running on the muddy ground, Hao Ren dashed through the dense grass with his body tilted forward at 45 degrees.
The grey sword energies followed Hao Ren’s body like hundreds of cameras, scouting the surrounding area.
Lying on Hao Ren’s back, Su Han bounced and felt her chest constantly crashing onto his back. Blushing, she immediately reached out to tighten her arms around his neck, making herself press onto his back tightly.
She didn’t want Hao Ren to carry her because she didn’t want to feel weak and was worried that she would exhaust Hao Ren’s physical strength.
However, now she knew that her second worry was ungrounded!
Hao Ren’s physical strength far exceeded her expectation!
In the Nine Dragon Palace which was full of hundun energy, Hao Ren was like a fish in the water. The only drawback was that his realm was lower than those demon beasts’, so he didn’t dare to fight them head-on.
While Hao Ren inhaled the hundun energy quickly, he maintained a quick pace.
Su Han had never been carried by a man before, which was why she couldn’t help but blush despite her efforts to contain her distracting thoughts, knowing that they were still in the Nine Dragon Palace.
Hao Ren had crossed the line by forcing his will on her!
Despite her anger, she admired his great strength when he dashed forward in the grassland as if he were in a 100-meter race!
“I will settle the accounts with him later!” Clenching her fists, she held Hao Ren’s neck tighter and pressed her chest onto his back.
Swoosh!
Hao Ren leaped lightly over a rock.
His movements were so agile that it seemed like he had been moving around in the mountains all year round.
Su Han bounced up and down on Hao Ren’s back. Feeling her chest tingling and hurting, she wished that she could walk by herself.
However, Hao Ren locked his hands on her thighs tightly, and his fast pace didn’t give her to chance to jump down from his back.
Having sent the sword energies to scout the situation ahead of them, Hao Ren suddenly moved aside and walked around a swamp that was hidden by the grass.
Lying on his back, Su Han was swung to the side violently before swinging back. Her chest rubbed against his back so forcefully that she was sure that Hao Ren felt it. It made her blush even more.
“Did he do it on purpose?”
Su Han gritted her teeth and put that thought away when she saw Hao Ren’s grim expression.
The fierce beasts in the Nine Dragon Palace would dash out anytime from anywhere in the grass. Hao Ren was concentrating on the running and didn’t have time for such antics.
If Hao Ren were a true pervert, he would have gone to bed with Xie Yujia and the Lu sisters who had stayed with him for a long time. At least he would have done that with Xie Yujia.
However, before they entered the Nine Dragon Palace, Su Han had clearly sensed that Hao Ren had an intact Vital Yang Physique. In other words, he was still a virgin!
Boom!
Hao Ren’s sword energies suddenly flew to the side and exploded a fierce black beast that was at least two-meters-tall.
With Su Han on his back, Hao Ren leaped up lightly and covered more than ten meters while the sword energies hit back and knocked away a black three-tailed tiger that was lurking in the grass on the left.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Hao Ren sped up and continued to run.
Distracted, Su Han tightened her grip on Hao Ren in a hurry.
The two-meter-tall wild grass shook in waves as if small beasts were running around in it.
Spitting black flames from their nostrils, two three-tailed black tigers sprang at the spot where the grass shook, surrounding the prey from the front and the back with their excellent hunting skills.
With Su Han on his back, Hao Ren moved quickly as if small engines powered his legs.
Roar!
The two black tigers leaped up at the same time, crashing toward the movement in the grass.
With a wave of flashing lights, sword energies shot out from the grass and disappeared gradually.
Su Han looked back and saw the two black tigers leaping up, which made her admire Hao Ren’s smart strategy.
He had made the grass move with his sword energies and thus drew the two black tigers toward the opposite direction, buying them time to escape.
“He is not only brave but smart as well,” Su Han said in her heart.
“We’ve reached the end.” Hao Ren suddenly bent down, and Su Han slid from his back toward the ground. Before she dropped to the ground, Hao Ren held her slim waist lightly, helping her gain her balance.
Gritting her teeth, Su Han looked at Hao Ren with anger and helplessness.
She looked in the direction of Hao Ren’s gaze and saw that they had reached the edge of the grassy swamp on this vast plain, and there was a big grassland in the open space before them.
Although grass could conceal all kinds of fierce beasts, it also offered them protection from the huge, fierce beasts. However, it was difficult to reach the mountain on the other side if they had to travel through the open space.
If they waited until midnight, the chilling cold was one problem. Also, traveling through the resting places of the fierce beasts in the dark night was a greater and almost impossible challenge.
“There is about…” Hao Ren looked into the distance ahead and said, “Five to six kilometers left.”
Since an Ancestral Dragon Palace had flown across the mountain on the other side, Hao Ren had the optimistic notion that there were probably less fierce beasts in the mountain, which meant that they would be safer there.
He moved his arm, and the hundun sword energies that were floating in the wind returned to his palm.
Shall we… dash over?” Hao Ren looked at Su Han’s cold face and asked.
“What percentage of success do you think we have?” Su Han asked with a grim expression.
“Thirty percent,” Hao Ren answered.
He felt like the fierce beasts didn’t move fast despite their enormous sizes, and it gave them a chance to dash through.
“Let’s go!” Su Han decided without hesitation. Standing behind Hao Ren, she brought her hands under his arms and held his chest.
“Ok!” Hao Ren moved the sword energies from his palms to his feet instantly, lifting them.
“Hold tight!” Hao Ren reminded her.
Su Han blushed at his reminder and thought, “Don’t need you to remind me!”
While pressing her chest tightly against Hao Ren’s back, she placed her chin on his shoulder, and one of her ears almost touched his.
“Up!” Spotting the fierce beasts on the grassland, Hao Ren created a grey energy sphere before shooting toward the distant mountain.
Just as Hao Ren expected, the fierce beasts in the Nine Dragon Palace could see through the energy sphere formed by Hao Ren’s hundun sword energies. With furious roars, they dashed toward Hao Ren and Su Han.
Hao Ren had expected that the energy sphere which could block mortals’ views was useless against the fierce beasts, but he had underestimated their speed!
The seemingly clumsy big-sized fierce beasts suddenly covered thousands of meters instantly as if they were flying!
The fierce beasts which had been resting in the distance were suddenly only hundreds of meters from Hao Ren!
Meanwhile, all kinds of lights shot out from their claws, eyes, and mouths!
Although the level 8 and 9 fierce beasts didn’t possess full intelligence, they were conquerors with countless battle experience!
Hao Ren took in a deep breath and used the connate nature essence in his body. It began to circulate like crazy!
This was the five-elemental nature essence that he had cultivated during the week of the Poison Pill Plan.
After he recovered his realm, it was converted into connate nature essence which was unique and precious.
At this critical moment, he had to use it even though it couldn’t be replenished.
The grey sword energy beneath his feet shot out a grey light beam while his speed tripled!
Clutching onto Hao Ren tightly, Su Han was surprised that Hao Ren had such great energy hidden inside him. However, she also felt that Hao Ren was using a core part of nature essence in his body and was afraid that his realm and body would be damaged!
“Release!”
Hao Ren’s grey sword energies shot out in all directions.
He had to release Zhao Haoran’s 1,000-year cultivation strength!
Hundreds of blinding sword energies containing intense, hundun lightning energy pushed the hundun energy in the Nine Dragon Palace toward more than ten high-level fierce beasts which were trying to surround them!
Almost instantly, the sword energy that carried Hao Ren and Su Han dashed out from these fierce beasts’ trap.
Swoosh… Hao Ren’s sword energy dashed into the mountain on the other side like a shooting star.
The wounded fierce beasts got wild and began to attack, biting each other and turning the relative quiet grassland into chaos.
Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Su Han had passed the mountaintop and fell to the other side of the mountain.
Su Han rolled on the ground, leaving several scratches on her smooth skin. Meanwhile, Hao Ren’s sword energy shot into the cliff, and Hao Ren crashed onto the rock, making a deep crater in it.
Alarmed, Su Han drew out her longsword and climbed onto the rock. She climbed to Hao Ren’s side without sparing a glance at the burning scratches on her legs and hands.
“Hu… I’m fine!” Climbing out from the deep crater, Hao Ren smiled at Su Han with a face full of debris.
Su Han was relieved after holding Hao Ren in her arms.
However, her expression turned back to cold while she tried to observe this side of the mountain.
They were facing another big grassland, but there was no trace of fierce beasts as if they all stayed on the other side of the mountain.
A black Ancestral Dragon Palace soared in the high sky at an extremely fast speed while another black dot was moving in the distance; it must be another Ancestral Dragon Palace.
Hao Ren brushed the debris off his cheeks and stood beside Su Han to observe the situation.
He had thought that his realm would be greatly damaged, but besides some wounds on his body, the connate nature essence in his body had been replenished quickly by hundun energy.
In the Nine Dragon Palace, the intense hundun energy was boundless. With Hao Ren’s low realm, he could open his meridians and fill them with the outside hundun energy freely!
It was a perfect place for cultivation!
Su Han turned her head and found that Hao Ren had turned energetic again in the blink of an eye.
“He is a weird creature, and I had made the right decision to ask him to come along,” she thought.
Then, she suddenly blushed after thinking about what happened.
“You observe the directions and see which route we can take,” Hao Ren said in a steady voice.
“Ok.” Su Han nodded and studied the terrain on this side of the mountain carefully.
She had looked through all the materials in the Dragon God Shrine, including those ancient scrolls that only deputy shine masters had access to.
That was why she had a general idea of the place even though it was her first time entering the Nine Dragon Palace.
I want to go to the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. You must have been there before,” Su Han said.
Hao Ren thought for a while and remembered that when he entered the Nine Dragon Palace the first time, the first place he went into was a huge black palace in which the Dragon God was worshipped.
“By the flying routes of the small Ancestral Dragon Palaces, my guess is that the Origin Dragon Grand Palace should be in the center which is the hub of the array formation of the whole Nine Dragon Palace,” Su Han continued.
“Let’s go then.” Without another word, Hao Ren took Su Han’s hand and walked down the mountain.
This mountain separated the large plain into two zones; on one side lived all kinds of fierce beasts while the other side was unimaginably quiet.
Hao Ren thought about it and realized that he and Zhao Yanzi probably had landed in this zone which was protected for the first time.
Su Han glanced at Hao Ren and didn’t know what to say.
Without any poisonous mist or fierce beasts, there was no need for him to hold her hand. However, Su Han didn’t object.
It seemed like she had gotten used to holding his hands after half a day.
The green plain at the foot of the mountain was very beautiful while the air was refreshing.
“It will get dark in a few hours. We must find a place for the night,” Su Han reminded Hao Ren after walking with him hand in hand for hours.
“Ok. Let’s go to the top of that hill,” Hao Ren said while looked up at the Ancestral Dragon Palace which flew across in the high sky again and then pointing at a small hill before them.
“Ok!” Su Han took the opportunity to draw her hand from Hao Ren’s grip and walked forward self-consciously.
Hao Ren followed her and walked back to Su Han’s side.
He didn’t want to take advantage of Su Han; he just needed to hold her hand so that he could act faster when she was in danger.
Of course, it indeed felt good to hold her slim hand.
Just as Su Han predicted, the sky darkened slowly, and they climbed along a gentle slope toward a hill, trying to find a place for the night.
“Sky Heart Bamboo!”
Walking ahead of Hao Ren, Su Han’s eyes lit up.
In a valley, about a dozen green bamboos were swaying in the wind.
The Sky Heart Bamboo was the top-tier material for making sword-shaped dharma treasures, but it was extinct in the outside world. Su Han had tried to find such material but couldn’t find any all over the world.
However, she found more than ten flourishing Sky Heart Bamboos in the Nine Dragon Palace! It must be noted that the Sky Heart Bamboo grew only one inch in one hundred years. Right now, these bamboos were more than one meter long!
Su Han ran over in exhilaration and cut down one with her longsword.
The swords made with Sky Heart Bamboo was very light. Despite their slow-growing speed, they were very fragile. Even an ordinary weapon could cut them down.
This was why the Sky Heart Bamboo had become extinct.
Su Han was about to pick up two pieces of bamboo and ask Hao Ren to put them into his necklace when a black insect crawled out from the soft soil where the Sky Heart Bamboo grew!
The insect was as big as a palm. When it broke out from the soil, it suddenly expanded and revealed long sharp knives like a mantis!
Startled, Su Han reacted quickly. She drew out the longsword from her belt and blocked the half-meter-long black sharp knife that the weird insect slashed out!
Slash… The tip of the sharp knife cut a long bloody wound in Su Han’s lower leg!
Bang!
At this critical moment, Hao Ren’s sword energies suddenly shot over Su Han’s shoulder and cut the insect into two halves.
While thick black liquid oozed out of the body of the insect, Su Han picked up the two pieces of Sky Heart Bamboo and backed off, stumbling backward into Hao Ren’s arms.
Her frightened look was the same as any scared girl.
“It is ok… Ok…” Hao Ren held her arms and said into her ear, comforting her as if she were a little girl.
The soil where the Sky Heart Bamboo grew turned black gradually after getting contaminated by the thick liquid. The fragile Sky Heart Bamboos turned from green to black, withering and falling.
Su Han regulated her breathing with concentration and finally regained her composure. If Hao Ren had acted half a second slower, she would have died under the second strike.
“I’ve checked. I think the spot further away is a good place for us to stay the night,” Hao Ren patted her hand lightly and said in a low voice.
“Ok…” Su Han immediately drew her shoulders from Hao Ren’s hands. Seeing Hao Ren walking over, she thought for a moment and jogged over, taking Hao Ren’s hand.
The lack of fierce beasts didn’t mean that it was completely safe. While walking beside Hao Ren, Su Han looked like a small girl who was admitting her mistake.
After looking at her limping right foot, Hao Ren hesitated for half a second and suddenly bent down, taking her into his arms.
In the Nine Dragon Palace, Su Han wasn’t as strong as she had been outside, which stimulated his protective instinct.
Being carried in his arms, Su Han gritted her teeth, and her shoulders struggled slightly, not knowing what to do.
To her surprise, Hao Ren tightened one of his arms and used the other hand to shoot dozens of sword energies into a rocky surface, opening a small cave with a depth of about five meters.
Hao Ren strode over and carried Su Han into the cave. Then, he took the purple gold hairpin from her hair and planted it in the ground at the entrance for its effect of suppression demon beasts.
During the day when the weird bird attacked Su Han, it probably had sensed the aura of a demon king from the purple gold hairpin and thus hesitated, giving Hao Ren the precious time to save Su Han.
Sitting alone in the cave, Su Han had a bad feeling when she saw black blood oozed from the wound in her right lower leg.
Soon, Hao Ren returned to the cave with a big pile of straw and twigs in his arms.
He shot out a small lightning bolt and lit the straw and twigs.
The sky turned dark in the blink of an eye. The fire in the cave abode illuminated Hao Ren and Su Han’s faces.
“How is your leg…” After laying the remaining straws on the ground, Hao Ren sat beside Su Han. He took off her white boots, pulled up her flexible tights, and looked at her lower leg.
There was a deep wound in her lower leg, and mingled in the red blood that was oozing out was a trace of black blood.
Hao Ren looked down and saw a pool of black blood on the ground. It seemed that Su Han had tried to handle her wound while he was out collecting twigs.
“The poison is still in there.” After glancing at Su Han’s charming face, Hao Ren lowered his head and kissed her lower leg which was as smooth as jade.
“Don’t…” The moment she said it, a wave of acute pain shot into her mind, and she endured it with a frown and clenched teeth.
Pu! Hao Ren spat out a mouthful of black blood after sucking on her lower leg.
Hao Ren didn’t stop until the blood he spat out was no longer mingled with blackness. He took out a Detox Pill from his necklace and broke it into two halves. He fed one half into Su Han’s mouth and ground the other half before applying the powder onto her wound.
Su Han swallowed the Detox Pill and then glanced at Hao Ren with intense emotions.
“It’s poisonous,” Su Han said to Hao Ren with lights flashing in her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter. I can push out the poison with cultivation,” Hao Ren said.
While he spoke, he got into the position to cultivation.
Su Han looked at him helplessly, knowing that level 4 Detox Pill might not be able to remove the poison of that weird insect.
“Are you still in pain?” Hao Ren opened his eyes a moment later and asked Su Han.
“No.” Su Han shook her head.
“Good.” Hao Ren nodded with satisfaction and closed his eye to continue his cultivation with his hands on his knees.
Su Han looked at him quietly and exhaled a little.
Without nature essence, she couldn’t cultivate, and she couldn’t sleep either.
In the lights, Hao Ren looked magnificent with his back facing the stone wall.
Su Han’s heart melted and fell into Hao Ren’s arms. Caught off guard, Hao Ren who had been cultivating was pushed onto the ground.
Lying in his arms, Su Han’s lips touched his chest, then his chin, before kissing Hao Ren’s lips.
Beneath her windbreaker was a purple sweater. When she moved slightly against Hao Ren, he felt the astonishing softness and bounciness of her body.
While biting Hao Ren’s lips, Su Han wrapped her arms around his neck. Only one day passed, but she seemed to have entrusted herself into Hao Ren’s hands.
Crack… The burning fire let out slight crackling sounds.
Holding her slim waist, Hao Ren felt her smooth skin and beautiful waist under her fluffy sweater.
Hua… Hao Ren suddenly pushed Su Han up.
Su Han was still surprised when Hao Ren suddenly sat up and then pressed down on her.
Su Han’s soft body lay back on the white windbreaker which accentuated her elegant curves beneath her purple sweater.
Hao Ren lay on Su Han and bit her lips. Su Han wanted to struggle but realized that she couldn’t. Then, she closed her eyes.
Their tongues touched each other tentatively, giving Su Han a sensation that she had never felt before. She panted, and her thoughts were in a mess.
The person who had protected her during the day was now pressing down on her aggressively. To her alarm, Hao Ren pushed his cold right hand under her sweater and caught her chest.
Su Han’s shoulders shook violently while the tingling sensation spread from her toes to her head.
The events that happened today told her that Hao Ren was a man instead of a boy. While Hao Ren’s right hand moved, her shoulders shook, and her entire body tensed up.
She wanted to yell, but Hao Ren locked her lips, and his tongue tangled with hers tenderly.
The sense of being suppressed that she couldn’t release made her body tense up even more, and Hao Ren’s left hand rolled up her sweater, revealing half of her elegant body under the firelight.
Since things came to this point, Su Han knew that she couldn’t refuse him anymore. With her tongue between Hao Ren’s teeth, she closed her eyes while her long lashes shook slightly.
Hao Ren kissed her lips, then her neck, shoulders and… The force surging in his body had to be released.
While pulling her arms from the sleeves of the white windbreaker, Hao Ren took off her purple sweater, and Su Han’s long and slim arms rested on her sides charmingly.
While kissing her tenderly, Hao Ren was excited but didn’t dare to be too forceful. As if he were facing the best artwork, he was afraid that he would break her if he weren’t careful.
Closing her eyes, Su Han touched Hao Ren’s firm chest, and then her hands slid to his back to feel his strong muscles.
Skin to skin, Hao Ren cushioned Su Han’s neck with his right arm while he leaned his upper body onto hers, rubbing the fullest part of her body lightly and locking her breath with his lips.
Afraid that Su Han would stop him at this moment, Hao Ren’s left hand pushed down her last protection without hesitation and concentrated on it.
With her eyes closed, Su Han’s shoulders raised slightly while she bit Hao Ren’s lips with some anger. However, Hao Ren grabbed the opportunity and pulled her entire body into his arms.
The flames danced with crackling sounds, leaving two shadows on the uneven stone wall. Then, the shadows moved silently like a gentle rain.